Chapter 50: Something Feels Off
On the night of the 4th, a carriage left the Senju Compound.
The carriage compartment’s doors and windows were tightly closed.
Inside the carriage compartment were only two people: the elderly Mito Uzumaki and the young Whirlpool Princess Kushina.
Senju Rinki, Tsunade, and all the jonin of the Senju Clan followed in the darkness.
Behind the Senju group was the Konoha Anbu.
Yoru thought to himself, the replacement of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki is finally about to begin?
To avoid the Nine-Tails going berserk and destroying the village, the high-ranking officials and the Senju Clan decided to perform the critical sealing transfer on Ushi-ga Mountain, ten kilometers northwest of the village.
Yoru looked at the carriage in the center of the road.
If he died at the hands of Mito Uzumaki, would he draw some heaven-defying ability?
Uzumaki Sage Body? Mito’s Sealing Technique? Even certain abilities of the Nine-Tails?
Thinking about it made him a little excited.
Today was the 4th, and there were 11 days until the full moon on the 15th. If he actively sought death, the next resurrection would require enduring 11 days.
With the Anbu’s current tense atmosphere, enduring 11 days would be difficult. If he died on some Anbu mission, that would be bad.
Living long is the real truth; it’s best not to take risks.
As Yoru was lost in wild thoughts, the Kurozaru Squad Leader withdrew from the front of the Anbu team and gestured to the three squads behind him.
The Kurozaru Squad left the main force and accelerated toward due north.
Yoru turned back in confusion and glanced at Mito Uzumaki’s carriage. What was their squad going to do?
Not only the Kurozaru Squad, but two other squads also scattered out and disappeared in different directions.
After walking a few kilometers, the Kurozaru Squad Leader gathered the squad leaders and said:
“Your three squads have all secretly passed information outward: the Senju Clan will hold a funeral for Mito Uzumaki tomorrow.
According to border intelligence, an extremely powerful force has broken through the seal on the Land of Fire Border and entered the interior of the Land of Fire.
Our squad’s mission is to find that force, confirm their identity, and investigate if their target is Mito Uzumaki.
Aries, your squad is the main reconnaissance force; the other two squads are responsible for combat.”
The ninja wearing the Aries mask was from the Hyuga Clan, a reconnaissance ninja that the Kurozaru Squad Leader had worked hard to strive for.
The Kurozaru Squad arrived at Ushi-ga Mountain earlier, using it as a starting point to reconnoiter the surroundings.
One hour later, Aries suddenly made a hand gesture.
Suspicious individuals spotted at the 9 o’clock direction—four of them!
Enormous chakra amount, very fast speed.
The Kurozaru Squad hurried to confirm the identity of the suspicious figures.
When a large ninja force marches, they scatter many intelligence ninjas to gather information for the main force and detect enemies in advance.
Those four suspicious individuals were very likely a reconnaissance squad infiltrating the main force.
The Kurozaru Squad rapidly closed in.
The Aries Squad was at the rear, the Fox Squad and Yagura Squad on the flanks, with the Kurozaru Squad Leader in the center.
Aries shouted: “The enemies have spotted us! They’re turning and coming toward us!”
Kurozaru said:
“This is the interior of the Land of Fire—don’t delay time, fight with full strength and crush them in one strike!
Purple Cat, get ready! Gather intelligence from the brains of the corpses!”
The named Purple Cat was a bit nervous.
This was her first encounter with a strong enemy since joining the Anbu.
Enemies who could break through the border defenses and penetrate deep into the Land of Fire interior must be extremely powerful.
“They’re coming! It’s Earth Release: Earth Dragon!”
A massive earth dragon charged with great momentum, smashing over a dozen big trees along the way.
What a terrifying ninjutsu.
This ninjutsu alone proved that the opponent had a jonin!
Apart from the high-ranking officials’ direct line jonin, most jonin had personal pursuits and wouldn’t stay in the Anbu hiding their identities for long.
Jonin preferred to walk in the sunshine, accumulating mission records and prestige.
The Anbu were absolutely loyal, but the number of jonin was not large.
Facing a jonin, even Kurozaru felt some trepidation. He was a special jonin, with a certain gap to a full jonin.
Trepidation was one thing, but retreat was not an option.
Everyone jumped to the sides, dodging the earth dragon charging from a distance.
The Kurozaru Squad was separated by the earth dragon.
North side of the earth dragon: Kurozaru Squad Leader and Yagura Squad; south side: Fox Squad and Aries Squad.
“Not good!”
Three enemies suddenly emerged from the other side of the earth dragon, charging toward the Kurozaru Squad Leader.
A full squad’s combat power was very strong, but half a squad against a jonin-led team was extremely dangerous.
Yoru and Aries jumped up simultaneously, leading their respective squads toward the other side of the earth dragon.
The back of the earth dragon suddenly arched up, knocking the Fox Squad and Aries Squad flying.
The ninjas of the two squads tumbled mid-air.
Yoru and Aries adjusted their postures mid-air and landed steadily in the end, while the slightly weaker team members crashed to the ground in disarray.
Aries stared at the Stone Ninja Jonin standing relaxed on the opposite side and said resolutely:
“Fox, your close-combat ability is the strongest. We’ll all fight to the death to strive for one opportunity for you to strike.”
“Okay.”
The Kurozaru Squad Leader and Yagura Squad were on the other side, entangled with three Stone Ninjas.
They had to rendezvous with the squad leader, or they’d be defeated individually.
Purple Cat and another Anbu member handled long-range kunai throws, while Aries charged out first.
“Earth Release: Earth Spear!”
The Stone Ninja Jonin formed hand seals, and four stone spears instantly erupted from the ground.
“Rotation!”
Aries was very strong and used the Hyuga Clan’s secret jutsu Rotation.
The earth spears collided with the chakra hemisphere of Rotation and shattered one after another.
The Stone Ninja Jonin was greatly interested; he hadn’t expected to encounter a capable Hyuga Ninja.
He didn’t release his hand seals, firing wave after wave of earth spears.
The ground instantly became like a porcupine, covered with protruding earth spears or ones sprouting like bamboo shoots waiting to launch.
Aries quickened his pace and used Rotation again, shattering several more earth spears.
However, a jonin’s ninjutsu was not easy to break; after two consecutive Rotations, Aries was already gasping for breath.
Facing the relentless earth spears, Aries mustered chakra again and arduously executed a third Rotation.
This time, one earth spear pierced through the Rotation, stabbing into Aries’s abdomen.
“Keep charging!”
An Anbu member stepped on Aries’s shoulder and jumped toward the Stone Ninja Jonin.
He didn’t fly far mid-air before his abdomen was pierced by an earth spear.
Yoru immediately jumped next, stepping on the back of the mid-air Anbu member’s corpse, continuing toward the Stone Ninja Jonin.
Seizing the gap in the Stone Ninja Jonin’s ninjutsu, Yoru finally rushed right in front of him.
The ninja sword slashed down fiercely.
The Stone Ninja Jonin finally released his hand seals, raising his arm to block the ninja sword; his arm bore metal bracers.
“Cloud Style Sword Technique!”
At the last moment of Yoru’s downward slash, the blade suddenly turned into a diagonal cut toward the Stone Ninja Jonin’s neck.
The essence of Cloud Style Sword Technique was that changes in moves must come late—late enough that others couldn’t predict or react.
His eyes lit up brightly!
The ninja sword struck the Stone Ninja Jonin’s neck.
With long-range kunai interference, Aries drained his chakra, and an Anbu member served as a stepping stone—they finally strived for one striking opportunity.
However, Yoru immediately experienced what despair was.
The feel was wrong!
Hitting the throat shouldn’t give this kind of feedback.
The Stone Ninja Jonin suddenly collapsed entirely, turning into a puddle of mud.
Earth Clone!
The Third Hokage Hiruzen Sarutobi’s favorite A-rank Substitution Jutsu!
The Stone Ninja Jonin’s figure suddenly appeared behind Yoru.
Yoru abruptly bent backward, dodging the kunai the Stone Ninja Jonin thrust at his lower back.
This reaction ability was already exaggerated.
However, Yoru could dodge the jonin’s first strike but not the second.
An earth spear thrust up from underground, piercing Yoru’s chest.
【Host death detected, Moon Arc is activating···】
Dying on peripheral reconnaissance—what about the main battlefield?
