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"Huff… huff…"
"Did… did we get them?"
The tall Iwagakure Ninja looked at the street, which had been leveled by the Earth Pillar Blast. The scattered smoke completely obscured his vision, and the violent explosion made the surrounding houses teeter precariously. Faint, suppressed sobs could be heard from inside the rooms.
However, his attention remained entirely focused on the front.
"Hara Tsuchi!"
Just as he subconsciously mumbled to himself, he heard Kira suddenly call his name.
"Yes."
Hara Tsuchi turned his head to look at Kira.
Then, he saw Kira extend his hand, pointing to the Sealing Box behind them, which contained the S-rank intelligence.
Kira stood before him, not even turning his head, his voice muffled: "Don't worry about anything else right now."
"Follow our pre-planned escape route and get out of here."
Hara Tsuchi was stunned by the order.
Remaining a Chunin even past twenty years old, and being assigned to such a suicidal mission, clearly showed his importance, or lack thereof, within the Village.
Similarly, for the sake of the Village, he had long ago prepared to sacrifice himself.
But precisely because of this, at the moment he heard the command, the first thought that came to Hara Tsuchi's mind was not the relief of escaping death.
Instead, it was bewilderment.
Immediately, he spoke: "Sir! You are far more important than I am!"
"Shut up! Obey the order."
Kira, nearly two meters tall, stood there like a brown bear. The minor injuries on his body seemed to have no effect on him, only his breathing was slightly heavier.
It wasn't until two seconds passed, and Kira noticed Hara Tsuchi still hadn't moved, that he softened his tone slightly:
"Everything, for the Village."
Hara Tsuchi was speechless.
Yes.
This was the Ninja's code.
Neither he nor Kira were sacrificing themselves solely for the other.
Upon realizing this, Hara Tsuchi finally cleared his mind. Without another word, he turned, picked up the box behind him, and unhesitatingly rushed towards the pre-determined route.
However, the moment he leaped.
"Whoosh!"
Several shuriken spun and flew towards the direction Hara Tsuchi was escaping.
Kira's movements showed no hesitation. His seemingly massive body erupted with speed no less than a galloping horse. With a flick of his knuckle dusters, he swept away all the Ninja tools with just the force of his punches.
Almost simultaneous with his movement.
From within the dust, a slender figure suddenly rushed towards Hara Tsuchi, who was fleeing with the box, at a speed too fast for the naked eye to track.
The moment he saw this, a savage grin spread across Kira's face.
At the same time, he unhesitatingly sprinted towards the other end.
"Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique!"
In an instant, his body became light.
When he leaped, his speed was not a whit slower than Sawara Kiri.
At the same time, clutched in his arms, was a scroll signed by 'Tsunade'.
That's right.
Whether it was letting Hara Tsuchi escape with the sealed box, or feigning an attempt to block Sawara Kiri's pursuit, it was all a smokescreen released by Kira.
As early as the escape from the Hokage Building, he had already retrieved the items needed for this mission.
The reason he hadn't opened it yet was entirely because the Sealing Technique couldn't be undone quickly.
The moment he engaged Sawara Kiri, he realized it.
This guy, though seemingly young, was definitely not someone he could take down quickly. Moreover, the meticulous planning he used to set up their group should not be underestimated.
In this situation, there was only one way to complete the mission.
Use his subordinate as bait.
To uphold the name of "Kira the Thousand-Faced," he had done this countless times before.
As long as it was for a Village mission, he could bear any sacrifice and any darkness!
"Whoosh—"
The wind howled.
His escape speed grew faster and faster. Even the secret "Light-Weight Rock Technique" of Iwagakure reduced his weight to about one-third, yet his strength remained unchanged.
Thus, as he moved, his entire body seemed to be lifted by the wind, soaring towards the Konoha city wall at extreme speed.
'Just a little faster!'
'A little faster!'
'I'll be able to escape soon!'
This incredibly strong desire for survival seemed to refine his entire Chakra to its limit.
As for Sawara Kiri and Hara Tsuchi, who had been blocking him earlier, they were completely forgotten.
Kira didn't notice.
Every segment of his thought, every notion, revolved around "for the Village."
But the true driving force pushing him to frantically flee outside the Village was the extreme desire for survival deep within his heart.
"Whoosh!"
His massive foot landed, and his body, following the surging force, arced through the air.
Not far in front of him was the escape route he had already prepared.
At this moment, Kira's eyes seemed to glow.
However...
"Boom—"
With a deafening sonic boom.
A figure suddenly appeared in the previously empty field.
"Thud."
A headless corpse was thrown to the ground.
Kira's steps immediately halted.
He looked at the young man in front of him, and a look of horror involuntarily appeared on his weathered face. His expression towards Sawara Kiri was almost one of disbelief:
"Was that… a Space-Time Ninjutsu?!"
"Barely,"
Sawara Kiri casually tossed the S-rank sealed box aside, explaining with a gentle demeanor: "The so-called 'Stopping Power' is actually the ability to manipulate space, making a tiny distance 'infinitely far'."
"Naturally, if you reverse it, you can also make a very distant area 'infinitely close'."
"This is my first time using it today."
"Pretty impressive, right?"
The moment Kira heard this information, his rich combat experience immediately made him realize something, and his entire body tensed up.
The next moment, Sawara Kiri suddenly took a step forward.
"Buzz!"
A violent tremor seemed to rise in the air, causing the very ground to tremble slightly.
Sawara Kiri's figure vanished.
When he reappeared, he was already a step away from Kira, as if he had plunged into his embrace.
His forward-stepping foot suddenly exerted force, his seemingly slender muscles abruptly swelled, and the surging Chakra coursed through his entire body.
Power rose from the ground, flowing through his waist and back.
The explosively unleashed force, with an unstoppable momentum, propelled his arm forward.
"Boom—"
As the heavy punch was thrown, the air rippled violently. A conical shockwave, at this extremely close range, abruptly exploded with a deafening roar, tearing his sleeve to shreds.
It struck Kira's chest and abdomen directly.
However, if observed at extremely close range, one would notice that Sawara Kiri's fist and Kira's body still maintained a minuscule distance.
Only Kira fully bore the rapid changes of this brief "Stopping Power" with his body.
His massive body was completely lifted into the air by this single punch. His shattered ribs and sternum caused his chest surface to completely cave in. Blood spurted from his mouth and nose with a 'thud', and his eyeballs bulged.
Clearly, this terrifying destructive power was also caused by the switch between "infinitely close" and "infinitely far."
Using the attraction brought by "infinitely close" to deliver a high-speed punch.
Using the repulsion brought by "infinitely far" to protect his fragile body.
However, the consumption was as terrifying as the destruction.
With his current "Dojutsu," he could only deliver five strikes at most.
Before Kira could react, Sawara Kiri's azure "Six Eyes" shimmered. With a 360-degree perception comparable to the perfect Byakugan, he unhesitatingly turned and distorted his waist.
His long right leg swept upwards like a battle-axe.
As he completed this movement, the Earth Clone, which had been hidden underground for a long time, had just managed to leap out from beneath the ground, its rock-encased arm swinging down fiercely.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
The kick, which accelerated briefly in its mid-section, once again exploded a burst of air.
"Boom!"
It swept across like a battle-axe.
With just a single, brief kick, it completely severed the rock-encased giant arm and the entire Earth Clone, which was made of earth and stone, at the waist, splitting it into two.
It exploded with a deafening sound.
"Ha!"
Kira, who had appeared completely incapacitated a second ago, suddenly refined his last bit of life force into Chakra the moment Sawara Kiri turned his back. He drove his massive body, infusing it into every corner.
"Explosion Release: Expl—"
"Snap."
Before he could channel Chakra to the corresponding tenketsu, his lower abdomen, responsible for storing Chakra, was suddenly severely damaged, even severing the faint Chakra flame.
At the same time, another hand gripped his neck tightly.
Preventing him from making any sound.
"Gulp."
Kira's weathered face turned purple from lack of oxygen, yet he still stared at the young man in front of him with bloodshot eyes.
Although he had long anticipated that he would likely not die peacefully in bed.
Still, when this day truly arrived, this legendary spy, who had dominated the intelligence world of the Five Great Nations for over a decade, found it hard to accept.
He could not accept that the one who killed him was an unknown young Konoha Ninja.
Supported by this intense obsession, even with his throat gripped, he still managed to squeeze out words.
"Who… who exactly are you?"
Sawara Kiri's smile was as calm as it had been from the start.
"Do you want to know?"
"Open your mouth."
Kira instinctively froze.
Then, he saw a clear, azure Chakra sphere appear out of thin air in Sawara Kiri's palm, without any hand seals.
"Rasengan."
The next moment, it was forced entirely into his mouth.
"Bang—!!"
His entire head was utterly pulverized.
As a spy, Sawara Kiri couldn't guarantee that he hadn't revealed any flaws in front of this seasoned colleague.
If those Yamanaka Clan members found anything suspicious, it would be life-threatening.
"Thud."
He released his hand.
The headless, massive corpse then knelt to the ground with a dull thud.
The scattered blood mist permeated the air, slowly drifting away with the evening wind.
Sawara Kiri stood silently, waiting.
After only a moment, he seemed to sense something and looked up towards the eaves.
Under the moonlight.
His azure eyes met Minato Namikaze's astonished gaze.
He looked at the two unbearable corpses on the ground, then at the familiar yet strange figure, and for a moment, he was speechless.
"Good evening, Minato."
Sawara Kiri was as gentle as ever.
As he spoke, his gaze fell upon the bloodstains on the Anbu youth opposite him, and the unbandaged wounds from his urgent pursuit, and he praised softly:
"You've worked very hard."
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