Chapter 103: Your Life Is Truly Pitiful【subscribe】
Nightfall descended, and the Kirigakure squad led by Kisame Hoshigaki had patrolled along the coastal forest line for an entire day, finally setting up camp to rest in an open area.
No campfire was lit, and several ninjas gathered together, gnawing on dried rations and chatting idly.
“Phew, I’m exhausted.” One chubby little guy let out a long breath and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“Furukawa, is this your first time on a mission like this?” A bald ninja next to him adjusted the Kirigakure headband on his forehead and grinned.
The ninja called Furukawa nodded: “Senior, I was just promoted to chunin last week, so this is my first time on a patrol mission like this.”
Another slightly older Kirigakure ninja said: “You’ll get used to it after a few more times. Right now, we’re just patrolling the home island. Later, we’ll have to patrol on the sea surface by water-walking—that’s the real test of chakra reserves and control over chakra.”
Hearing that they would have to water-walk on the sea surface for patrols, Furukawa gave a wry smile: “I’ll have to ask you seniors for more advice in the future.”
The group chatted and laughed, forming a stark contrast with Kisame Hoshigaki, who sat alone nearby.
After a day of patrolling, they had gradually grown accustomed to their captain Kisame Hoshigaki’s taciturn nature.
This captain, from Anbu origins, had decent strength but was extremely cold, never engaging in conversation with them outside of mission-related matters.
While the other Kirigakure ninjas chatted and laughed, Mei Terumi approached Kisame Hoshigaki again. Just as she was about to sit down, she saw Kisame Hoshigaki’s small eyes suddenly widen. He abruptly stood up and drew the ninja sword from his back.
Under the moonlight, a black-robed mysterious person wearing a White Three-Eyed Fox Mask appeared silently at the edge of the camp.
The other Kirigakure ninjas then suddenly became alert, hurriedly gathering beside Kisame Hoshigaki, drawing kunai and other weapons, fully on guard.
Kisame Hoshigaki glanced at the kunai stuck motionless in the ground nearby, his heart tightening.
That was the alert perimeter line he had set up around the camp—once someone approached, the thin wire linked to the kunai would be pulled.
But even until this black-robed mysterious person wearing the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask appeared in their camp, the outer perimeter line hadn’t been triggered at all.
“It’s… Shura!” Kisame Hoshigaki saw the fox mask gleaming coldly under the moonlight, and his small eyes trembled slightly.
‘This guy—wasn’t he supposed to have been injured by Jūzō Biwa and Suigetsu Hozuki and fled? How does he look completely unscathed!’ For the first time, Kisame Hoshigaki doubted the intelligence personally provided by the Mizukage.
“Withdraw!” Kisame Hoshigaki made a snap decision, coldly ordering the group: “You’re no match for him! Take the intelligence back to the village!”
The group was stunned upon hearing this, not even knowing who the enemy was.
But they swiftly carried out Kisame Hoshigaki’s command, immediately leaping onto the trees and fleeing quickly toward Kirigakure.
Moments later, only Shura remained in the camp.
‘The girl next to Kisame Hoshigaki… could she be?’ Earlier, while observing them from the shadows, the girl’s concern for Kisame Hoshigaki had caught Menma’s attention.
“Interesting.” A light chuckle came from under the mask, and Menma also leaped onto the treetops, following the fleeing group of Kirigakure ninjas northward.
Soon, the fleeing Kirigakure ninjas also spotted the figure leaping quickly between the treetops not far behind them.
A suffocating sense of oppression came from behind, making all the Kirigakure ninjas break out in cold sweat.
Their instincts told them that if they fell behind, being caught by this guy would mean certain death!
Thus, the Kirigakure ninjas sped up their escape.
However, they soon realized that no matter how hard they pushed to accelerate, the enemy maintained a steady, unhurried pace behind them, as effortless as a cat toying with a mouse.
“Damn it!” One Kirigakure ninja, under prolonged high tension, had grown panicked. He took out several kunai with explosive tags attached and hurled them directly at the mysterious ninja following behind.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Several explosions of firelight erupted from the forest behind the Kirigakure ninjas.
The group merely glanced back at the firelight and thick smoke from the explosions but didn’t dare stop for even a moment, continuing their flight.
Suddenly!
The mysterious ninja caught up to the Kirigakure ninja who had thrown the kunai earlier, and somehow, a great sword had appeared in his hand!
In the terrified gaze of that Kirigakure ninja, the Kubikiribocho slashed viciously across his waist, cleaving him in two.
Blood and various internal organs rained down from the sky into the forest.
“That’s! Kubikiribocho!” Kisame Hoshigaki glanced back and was shocked once again!
Jūzō Biwa’s Kubikiribocho—why was it in Shura’s hands?!
Could Jūzō Biwa already have…
But hadn’t the Mizukage said that Jūzō Biwa and Suigetsu Hozuki had injured Shura?
Kisame Hoshigaki’s mind was in chaos, not daring to think further. He led the group in accelerating their escape.
Soon, the Kirigakure ninjas, fleeing in panic without regard for direction, reached the edge of a cliff.
Before them was a chasm several hundred meters wide, and the cliff dropped into an unfathomable abyss. Even for ninjas, jumping from such a height meant nine deaths out of ten.
Whoosh—
While the group was in chaos, Shura had already arrived here.
Under the moonlight, the black robe billowed in the night wind, the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask gleamed coldly, and the man-sized Kubikiribocho was thrust into the ground beside him, emanating a chilling aura.
Some blood on the blade was gradually being absorbed by the Kubikiribocho.
The terrifying oppressive presence emanating from Shura filled the Kirigakure ninjas, including Kisame Hoshigaki, with despair.
Clearly, the enemy was just one person, yet they felt as if they were surrounded by dozens of times their number! It seemed there was no hope of breaking through at all.
Seeing the enemy closing in, Kisame Hoshigaki suddenly swung his blade at his companions!
Ah! Ah! Ah!
Several Kirigakure ninjas were caught off guard by Kisame Hoshigaki’s sudden attack, never imagining that their leader Kisame Hoshigaki would turn on them!
In an instant, four were slain.
Only Mei Terumi, her shoulder wounded by the ninja sword, looked at Kisame Hoshigaki in disbelief as she slowly collapsed.
“Why…” Mei Terumi gazed at him incredulously.
Kisame Hoshigaki’s small eyes widened, bloodshot and ferocious, as he said coldly: “To prevent the enemy from obtaining the village’s intelligence—this is my special mission…”
Yet Mei Terumi merely looked at Kisame Hoshigaki with pity: “Captain Kisame… your life has been hard, hasn’t it.”
Kisame Hoshigaki’s body trembled imperceptibly.
Silencing his own ninjas—this special mission, he had carried out countless times and should long since have been numb to it.
Why, when Mei Terumi asked that question, did the heart that had long been frozen tremble?
Was it because of her concern for him? Or because he was beginning to doubt the village’s missions and intelligence?
Kisame Hoshigaki dropped to one knee, raising his ninja sword to finish off Mei Terumi.
Whoosh—
A kunai whistled through the air, forcing Kisame Hoshigaki to leap aside.
He looked toward Shura, who was slowly advancing.
From beneath the White Three-Eyed Fox Mask, a low voice echoed eerily: “Selling your life for an inner traitor and slaughtering fellow village ninjas—your life truly is pathetic, Kisame Hoshigaki.”
