Shimura Ken's body was still trembling from chakra and physical exhaustion. The fact that he hadn't passed out was already a testament to his strong willpower.
Yun looked at him and asked, "After I left in pursuit, this place wasn't safe anymore. And yet, in your near-unconscious state, you chose to hide your teammates' corpses first?"
Shimura Ken shook his head slightly after standing up. "Do you know how often border outposts rotate shifts? Every three months. For three months straight, it's the same three people at one post."
"It's been six years. In this desolate borderland, we talk about the same things every day. So they know me well, and I know them just as well."
"With bonds like that… no matter what, I have to bring their bodies back intact. Their families are still waiting in the village."
Yun nodded slightly. After sealing the two bodies into a scroll, he looked at Ken and said, "You're… completely different from the Shimura I know."
"You mean Lord Danzō? I heard he was killed by an enemy."
Ken let out a long sigh and slumped to the ground. "Someone as powerful as you from the Uchiha clan would only know someone like Lord Danzō, head of the Shimura clan and a top leader in the village."
He shook his head slightly. "But I never liked a lot of what he stood for. That's why you see me here, posted at the border for years without being recalled."
Yun thought for a moment and asked, "Now that Danzō is dead, if the war ends, shouldn't you be able to return?"
"I don't know."
Ken shook his head. "Honestly, I suspect that even if I survive this war… I still won't be allowed back."
'That made sense.'
Yun didn't reply, but he understood the situation.
With Danzō's death, the Shimura clan, once politically empowered, would shrink back and behave, especially while the Third Hokage was still alive. No one would rush to restore their former influence.
In such a case, no one would bother to request Ken's transfer back. And border patrol commanders wouldn't want to reintegrate someone with the Shimura name, either.
Whoosh.
Suddenly, Pakkun appeared atop a tree, urgently reporting, "Just got word from Shiba, Outpost 23 has sent a distress signal! Kakashi had already left to reinforce them. If you're done here, you need to head there right away!"
'Outpost 23?!'
Startled, Yun instantly stood, grabbed Pakkun, and disappeared with a teleportation move.
Outpost 23, the last outpost along the line, marks the farthest point of Fire Country's border. If that point were breached, the enemy could easily sweep in and encircle the entire border defense.
'So this whole attack on Outpost 7… was just a decoy?'
The distance from Outpost 7 to 23 was more than triple the span. With Kakashi's speed, he might get there even faster than Yun.
Konoha Border, Outpost 23
"Did the distress signal make it back to HQ?"
The man nodded and looked toward the triggered sensory barrier. "Captain, we don't even know who the enemy is. Is it okay to send out a distress signal so quickly?"
The Konoha jonin's expression was grave. "Outpost 23 is the most critical checkpoint. It's always staffed with nine ninja, including one jonin, and that's triple the usual number."
"You should know why: if Outpost 23 falls, the entire border defense could be surrounded in no time. And once encircled, it's likely the entire force will be annihilated."
Just as he finished speaking, the jonin's heart began to race. A bad feeling was creeping in…
'Wait! Chakra!'
The moment he sensed it, the Konoha jonin's eyes widened in horror. The surrounding air shimmered as energy particles became visible; a massive chakra was rapidly condensing.
In the distance, a grotesque humanoid bull monster wrapped in blood-red chakra raised its head. In its mouth, a glowing chakra orb was slowly forming.
"RUN!!!"
With a roar, the jonin grabbed the two youngest chūnin and burst through the window, fleeing at top speed.
The signal was clear. The other Konoha shinobi scattered immediately, just as the Tailed Beast Bomb was launched.
BOOM!!!
A blinding explosion tore through the outpost. Under the force of the Tailed Beast Bomb, the entire structure was obliterated, reduced to rubble. The ground itself was carved into a massive crater.
"Gah!"
In the forest, the jonin, shielding his comrades, coughed up blood from the shockwave. The two rescued chūnin stood speechless.
"Wh-what was that… just now?!"
"The outpost's gone! All the traps and defensive layers are gone too. What the hell was that attack?!"
Wiping blood from his mouth, the jonin looked grimly toward where the monster had been. "That was the Jinchūriki of Kumogakure. And what you saw just now was the Tailed Beast Bomb."
He pressed his communicator. "Anyone still alive? Sound off."
After a long pause, static gave way to a voice. The two chūnin listening teared up.
"Only Uncle Lan survived besides us…?"
"Our teacher… they're all dead?!"
The jonin clenched his fist and nodded. "If I hadn't spotted it early, that one blast might've wiped us all out."
'Kumogakure used a Jinchūriki on their first day of the surprise attack?! If they're using that kind of power this early, then the real goal… wasn't just Outpost 23.'
'Their true objective… was all of Konoha's border forces near the border with the Land of Hot 'Water!'
If they wiped out the border defenses before Konoha's reinforcements could arrive, the balance of power in this war would tilt drastically in Kumo's favor.'
'What do we do?!'
Just then, movement was heard in the forest. The Konoha trio quickly concealed themselves.
"Let's see where the little rats of Konoha are hiding…"
Mocking voices echoed through the woods. A group of Kumo shinobi, swords in hand, swept the forest with bursts of lightning, searching aggressively.
In hiding, the Konoha jonin furrowed his brows tightly.
Lan's position… he was about to be discovered.
But rushing out now would be suicide.
Anyone capable of wielding lightning chakra like that wasn't weak. And then there was the Jinchūriki, the user of the Tailed Beast Bomb…
"Captain, Uncle Lan…"
"Shut it!"
The jonin growled softly, then sighed. "We can't save him. Going out there would just get us killed. Until reinforcements arrive, there's nothing we can do."
Silence fell.
Meanwhile, the Kumo shinobi searching nearby were drawing closer… to the barely surviving Konoha ninja, Lan.