“Sharingan! Activate!”
The crimson eyes lit up in the forest’s night, two black tomoe spinning rapidly.
With Hyuga Shinichi gone, his Sharingan was the only thing left in the entire squad capable of beyond-visual-range reconnaissance.
Senju Ken had specifically assigned him to the most dangerous second half of the night, requiring him to keep watch over the entire area alone.
This wasn’t Senju Ken intentionally picking on him, but simply because his Chakra reserves were astonishing, allowing him to keep the Sharingan active for extended periods.
If it were an ordinary Uchiha, keeping the Sharingan active for most of the night would have long since drained their Chakra to the point of sudden death.
Rinya did not stay in the same place; instead, he continuously patrolled within a one-kilometer radius, centering around the camp.
What Rinya didn’t know was that deep underground, just a few hundred meters ahead of him, danger was lurking.
An Iwagakure scout skilled in the Earth-Style Fish Transformation was hiding in the soil like a loach, his eyes locked onto Rinya’s patrolling figure.
“Lord Kurokawa, there’s a Konoha brat wandering around ahead. He seems to be an Uchiha. Should I sneak over and slit his throat?” the scout whispered to his leader.
Kurokawa shook his head and immediately vetoed the idea.
“Don’t act rashly. Jonin Matsui’s squad hasn’t arrived yet. Striking now will only alert the enemy. All units, retreat one kilometer to avoid this brat’s patrol range.”
With Kurokawa’s strength as a Jonin, instantly killing a lone Uchiha brat would be as easy as turning over his hand.
But to ensure that tonight’s annihilation plan was foolproof, he forced down his killing intent.
Consider yourself lucky, kid.
Take a few more breaths while you can.
In a moment, both you and the entire Konoha outpost will be turned to ash!
…
After three agonizing hours.
In a dense forest two kilometers away from the Konoha outpost, Kurokawa finally received the reinforcements he had been eagerly waiting for.
But when he saw what they looked like, he was completely dumbfounded.
“Matsui? How did you guys end up in such a pathetic state?”
Kurokawa’s eyes widened as he looked at the pitiable Iwagakure squad in front of him.
Every single one of them was injured, their armor was tattered, and a few were even limping, looking as if they had just crawled out of a pile of corpses.
Most importantly, the numbers were wrong!
“Where is Jonin Jonin Matsushita? Why are there only a few of you left?” Kurokawa demanded harshly.
To ensure the success rate of their surprise attack, Iwagakure had luxuriously equipped each elite squad with two Jonin leaders.
Two against one should have been an absolute crushing victory!
But now, the other Jonin leader of Matsui’s squad, Jonin Matsushita, was nowhere to be seen!
“Kurokawa-kun, to be honest, our squad ran into a tough Konoha squad near the border yesterday.”
Jonin Matsui panted heavily, gritting his teeth as he spoke.
“Led by three Konoha Jonin, they caught us completely off guard. To cover our retreat, Jonin Jonin Matsushita stayed behind with several elite Chunin. He has likely met a grim end.”
“We barely managed to break through the encirclement and were planning to rush back to the Village to report when we received your message via Yemaru.” This story is hosted at g.com.
“Thinking that we are all from the same Village, we rushed over to meet up so we could look out for each other.” Matsui slumped onto the ground, looking extremely disheveled.
Hearing this, Kurokawa’s burly frame swayed imperceptibly.
He cursed violently in his mind!
I called you over to play an easy game and harvest some heads, but you fucking came here as refugees to be a drag on me?
Kurokawa’s face was so dark it looked like it could drip water.
“Kurokawa-kun, what urgent mission did you summon us for? If it’s not urgent, we plan to rest a bit and then retreat back to the Village.” Matsui asked, catching his breath and looking at Kurokawa’s grim face.
Kurokawa took a deep breath, suppressing the irritation in his heart, and got straight to the point.
“Matsui-kun, we also discovered an elite Konoha squad ahead. Judging by their lineup, they should be led by three Jonin. Furin’s squad was wiped out by them.”
“I originally wanted to call you over for support, so we could join forces and slaughter these Konoha rats. I didn’t expect you to suffer such a heavy loss as well. It seems Konoha was prepared this time, specifically sending elites to hunt us down.”
Looking at the battered Matsui squad, Kurokawa quickly calculated the balance of power between the two sides.
“Matsui-kun, my squad is still at a full strength of thirteen. Adding the seven brothers you brought out, it’s twenty against a dozen or so. The advantage is ours.”
Kurokawa paused, his tone turning fierce.
“Since we’ve crossed paths, we might as well join forces to wipe out this Konoha squad before heading back! Even if there are casualties, returning with the heads of Konoha’s elites will leave those old fogeys in the Village with nothing to complain about.”
“If our two elite squads flee back to the Village with our tails between our legs after being beaten by Konoha, how will we ever hold our heads high in Iwagakure again? I cannot swallow this insult!”
Hearing this, a fierce glint flashed in Jonin Matsui’s eyes.
More than half of the squad he led had been lost, and even one of the leading Jonin had died.
Returning in such a pathetic manner would definitely lead to severe consequences.
If they pulled off a major success, they might even make up for their failure!
“Alright! Let’s do it!” Matsui slapped his thigh hard and turned to look at the remnants behind him.
“Hurry up and bandage your wounds, restore your Chakra! Before dawn, we will join Lord Kurokawa to slaughter those Konoha dogs and avenge our fallen brothers!”
“Yes!” several injured Iwagakure ninja roared, gritting their teeth.
Kurokawa nodded in satisfaction, ordering his men to stay alert and rest on the spot, setting the surprise attack for the pre-dawn hours when people were most prone to fatigue.
…
Fifty kilometers away from Kurokawa and the others, on another devastated battlefield.
“It’s over… Secret Technique: Insect Sphere Detonation!”
Aburame Shibi maintained his hand seal posture, his voice as cold as ice.
“Ah—!”
Accompanying a shrill scream, the Iwagakure Jonin trapped within the swarm of insects instantly withered like a punctured balloon.
Densely packed parasitic insects burst from his body, taking away his last trace of life.
A riddled corpse collapsed limply to the ground.
After completing this, Aburame Shibi’s legs gave out, and he slumped directly onto the muddy ground covered in insect corpses, panting heavily.
“Shibi, is it finally over?”
Beside him, Inuzuka Tsume, who had long since exhausted her Chakra, leaned against her massive ninja dog Kuromaru and barely opened her eyes to ask.
Not far away, Shimura Kensuke had also just slit the throat of the last Iwagakure Chunin. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
Iwagakure’s Earth Release defenses were practically like a turtle shell.
If it weren’t for the tacit cooperation of the three Jonin, defeating them in a short time would have been no easy feat.
“Phew…” Shimura Kensuke quickly walked over to the two, looking in the direction the Iwagakure ninja had fled, his face grim.
“Shibi, Tsume. We let that leader Matsui escape! Are these Iwagakure ninja made of loaches?”
Shimura Kensuke gritted his teeth in anger.
As one of the leading Jonin of the Second Elite Squad, watching the enemy leader break through was simply a disgrace!
Once they returned, if Lord Danzo asked about it, his promotion assessment for squad leader would surely fall through.
“It’s fine, they won’t get far.” Inuzuka Tsume patted Kuromaru’s head with difficulty.
“Kuromaru’s sense of smell can track scents within a hundred kilometers. Since they escaped while injured, there’s absolutely no way they can get away.”
“Woof!” Kuromaru let out a low response.
“Let’s hurry up and restore our Chakra first. In a bit, Kensuke and I will follow the scent to chase them down and lock onto them, while you, Shibi, lead the rest to follow and support from behind,” Inuzuka Tsume arranged.
Shimura Kensuke and Aburame Shibi exchanged glances, both seeing the killing intent in each other’s eyes, and immediately sat cross-legged to begin refining Chakra.
The surviving Chunin around them quickly began cleaning up the battlefield and establishing a defensive perimeter.
…
…
The sky gradually began to show a hazy, pale dawn.
This was the darkest hour before dawn, and also the time when people were most prone to sleepiness and drowsiness.
On the outskirts of the temporary Konoha outpost.
Rinya leaned against a thick tree trunk.
Having kept his Sharingan active for so long had left him somewhat mentally exhausted, and he couldn’t help but yawn.
*Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!*
The sharp sound of breaking wind suddenly attacked from the darkness without warning.
Several poisoned shuriken gleaming with a cold light flew straight toward Rinya’s throat and chest!
Despite his mental fatigue, the dynamic vision of his Sharingan remained sharp.
Rinya’s pupils contracted sharply.
Exerting force through his legs, he rolled backward like an agile cat.
The instant he dodged, his hands rapidly formed seals in front of his chest.
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
A blazing fireball erupted from Rinya’s mouth, illuminating the dark forest as bright as day, crashing straight toward the direction the shuriken had come from.
Rinya didn’t even bother to check if his Fire Release had hit the enemy.
The moment his feet touched the ground, he bolted back toward the Konoha outpost like a launched cannonball, without once looking back.
I’m not going head-to-head with you guys; calling for backup is the way to go!