Chapter 63: The Jinchūriki
The battlefield was a complete wasteland, littered with the bodies of the dead and wounded.
Violent winds tore through the area while flames scorched the earth, leaving behind large patches of steaming water.
The entire Mist squad—including Tenka and the other jōnin—had been wiped out.
Shuriken and kunai were scattered across a vast area. Some had shattered, while others had been melted by the intense heat.
In the distance, a caravan slowly approached.
"Stop."
The leading member of the caravan spotted the battlefield ahead and immediately ordered everyone to halt.
One of the wandering shinobi serving as a guard rushed forward to investigate. After examining the area for a while, he returned.
"Sir, this is the battlefield of the Mist shinobi. It looks like there was a battle here, and whoever won was extremely powerful. Judging from their equipment and the wagons in the distance, they seem to have disguised themselves as a caravan. The battle must have broken out after they were discovered."
"Hm. Check whether there are any explosive tags scattered around. If there aren't, collect every usable piece of ninja equipment. We'll take them to the Land of Fire and sell them."
The caravan leader's face lit up with delight.
"I didn't expect us to find some extra money on the way. What luck!"
Judging from the battlefield, dozens of people had already died. Even if he only kept the discarded ninja tools, he could still make a decent amount of money.
"Boss, the battlefield may have extended all the way here. We should ignore it and leave as quickly as possible."
One of the hired shinobi spoke up.
The caravan leader snorted.
"Tch. They're just shinobi. They're nothing more than my employees. As long as I have money, I can hire as many of them as I want. They're all useless anyway."
"..."
The guard was speechless.
He had been hired because of the money, and those words made him furious.
But there was nothing he could do.
The man was paying him extremely well. He didn't want to lose his job, so he could only swallow his anger.
Caw~
The crows perched on the corpses could only flap their wings and fly away when the caravan approached and drove them off.
...
Deep within the forest, a flock of crows suddenly took flight in alarm.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
"We'll reach Konoha's central command post in about half an hour. Hitō, are you ready?"
Jinpachi teased him as they continued forward.
This was the first time he had met someone who could remain so calm despite facing a ninety-nine percent chance of death.
It was strange.
Hitō's eyes were filled with a cold, merciless determination.
"I understand. This time, we'll inflict heavy losses on Konoha. If we can keep Uchiha Fugaku—the Uchiha clan leader—on the battlefield, that would be even better."
"Be careful. Konoha's people aren't easy to deal with."
Shirō Fubuki recalled Gōenji.
That man had made his previous battle extremely difficult.
He had never expected Gōenji to remain capable of fighting him after already battling Jinpachi for so long. Shirō had nearly died that time.
If Jinpachi hadn't absorbed his opponent's Chakra, Shirō might already have been killed.
"The intelligence didn't say whether that guy was here."
Jinpachi's expression became slightly annoyed.
"If he is, I'd definitely settle the score from last time. Failing to defeat a brat was a disgrace."
The intelligence they had received only confirmed that Konoha had established an interception line and intended to stop their Tailed Beast jinchūriki before he could reach the Konoha battlefield.
As for Konoha's actual combat strength, they only had a general understanding. They had no detailed information.
They also had no idea whether Gōenji was among the forces waiting for them.
Suddenly—
Hitō turned around sharply.
Shirō and Jinpachi simultaneously drew their ninja tools.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
They threw them in every direction.
Clang! Clang!
From the shadows, countless shuriken flew toward them, intercepting their weapons in midair.
The shuriken collided, then continued toward the three Mist shinobi.
"This is Uchiha shurikenjutsu!"
Shirō immediately formed hand seals.
"Everyone, be careful. It's probably Uchiha Shisui or Uchiha Gōenji."
He glanced at Hitō.
"If things become dangerous, we'll release the Tailed Beast. Even if you have to fight those two Uchiha geniuses, that's acceptable."
Shirō formed an Ice Release shield in front of himself, blocking the incoming shuriken.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The weapons fell to the ground.
Hitō nodded.
He understood what Shirō meant.
If things went badly, he would release the Tailed Beast right here.
"I didn't expect to run into them again. But this time, we might not be so lucky."
Jinpachi swung the Exploding Blade, Shibuki, deflecting the incoming shuriken.
"They might not be so lucky either."
Four familiar figures appeared before them.
The familiar Uchiha twins.
And the two other jōnin they had encountered on the battlefield before.
All of them were troublesome opponents.
One was Uchiha Gōenji.
The other was Uchiha Shisui, the man capable of summoning that terrifying giant.
Jinpachi had never been confident he could defeat those two.
Now there were two additional jōnin.
Which side had worse luck was still anyone's guess.
Jinpachi looked toward Hitō.
If they could eliminate these four troublesome jōnin—especially the two Uchiha—Konoha would suffer an enormous loss.
"Stop talking nonsense, Hitō. They're all troublesome opponents. The three of us can't beat them."
Jinpachi's voice was direct.
"Release the seal. We'll hold them back."
Only the Tailed Beast gave them any chance of stopping these four.
Shirō nodded as well.
Hearing this, Hitō immediately began forming hand seals with both hands.
Roar!
At that exact moment, a tremendous dragon's roar echoed through the forest.
A familiar Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique shot toward them at incredible speed.
"Explode!"
As the water dragon approached, Jinpachi swung Shibuki.
A cloud of smoke suddenly erupted from the blade.
Upon closer inspection, the smoke was actually made up of countless explosive tags.
Boom! Boom!
The explosion shattered the water dragon before it could reach them.
"Yo. It's you two again."
Gōenji appeared in front of Jinpachi.
"This time, you're staying here."
His blue-white flames surged around his blade.
"And this must be the Mist Village's jinchūriki. I wonder if he's as strong as the two of you."
Gōenji swung his arm.
Although he still couldn't completely control the temperature at the tip of the blade, he could now restrict the flames to a specific range.
He had used his ultimate technique from the very beginning.
He didn't want to fight a Tailed Beast.
Their squad had no means of sealing one, so his only goal was to eliminate the jinchūriki before the seal could be released.
Once the jinchūriki died, the Tailed Beast would disappear with him, only to revive after some time.
There was no reason for him to fight such a monster directly.
He had only seen Tailed Beasts in the anime of his previous life. He had no desire whatsoever to experience fighting one firsthand.
When Gōenji came within three meters of Jinpachi, an overwhelming wave of heat spread outward.
Jinpachi, who had been preparing to counterattack, suddenly felt a chill of unease.
"Damn it!"
The Exploding Blade Shibuki released countless explosive tags, attempting to stop Gōenji's advance.
But the moment the explosive tags appeared, the flames ignited them.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The explosions erupted one after another.
Gōenji was caught in the blast as well.
The blast waves caught all three of them and sent them flying backward.
At the same time, in the midst of the chaotic battle, Shisui used a long-range genjutsu on the jinchūriki, Hitō.
Hitō's hands abruptly stopped in the middle of forming his seals.
Fortunately, Jinpachi was clever enough to know that Shisui possessed long-range genjutsu.
He immediately broke the genjutsu.
"Don't just stand there! Release the Tailed Beast!"
Jinpachi shouted urgently.
"If you don't, we're all going to die!"
He hadn't expected this Uchiha to become even stronger.
Whether it was his Body Flicker Technique or his Fire Release, his strength had become absurd.
"Suiton: Water Mirror!"
Facing the incoming attacks from the four Konoha shinobi, countless enormous mirrors suddenly rose around the three Mist shinobi.
One after another, the gigantic mirrors surrounded them, forming a defensive barrier against Konoha's assault.