However, Shimura Ri immediately commanded, "Support them!"
The flow of battle instantly transformed into a desperate struggle to protect and eliminate the Sarutobi trio.
Izuna, still hidden in the shadows of the trees, had secretly activated his Sharingan, observing the flow of chakra within the three Sarutobi ninja.
*That is...* Izuna was inwardly shocked. The chakra within the three was surging wildly, but at the same time, their life force was rapidly depleting. It felt like opening the Gate of Death from the Eight Gates—gaining power beyond one's limits by burning through one's life force. It was undoubtedly a forbidden jutsu.
*Tsk...*
Seeing this, Izuna secretly took out a Flying Thunder God kunai. For now, at least, he still had to "help" the Hagoromo.
"What are those guys up to?" The unease in Hagoromo Masanari's heart grew stronger. He charged forward himself, intending to kill Sarutobi Domoto as he focused his chakra.
"Don't even think about it! Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!"
A wind pressure cannonball, as large as a truck, shot at him from the side. Masanari had no choice but to raise his sword to block. The result was a deep gash on his right arm. Blood spurted into the air like a fountain, splattering on the ground.
"Shimura Ri..." Masanari's face was terrifyingly dark. As a Kage-level fighter, he was naturally a level above his opponent, but killing him wouldn't be a quick affair.
"It's ready!"
At that moment, the three Sarutobi ninja, who had been concentrating with their eyes closed, suddenly snapped them open. The wave of chakra that surged from their bodies stunned everyone present.
"My apologies!" Sarutobi Domoto said for some reason, and he and the other two Sarutobi Jonin flickered to the outer edge of the battlefield. From Izuna's vantage point, it was clear that the three had formed a massive triangle.
"Sealing Technique: Three Faces of Annihilation!"
Feeling a great sense of dread, Masanari yelled, "Everyone, scatter!" As a Kage-level ninja positioned near the edge of the triangle, he was fast enough to escape the perimeter.
But many of the Hagoromo ninja were still caught inside the formation. Just as they tried to retreat, a chaotic, grayish-white light erupted from beneath their feet, suffused with a sense of mortal danger, and shot toward the sky.
"What... what is this?!"
Among those who couldn't escape was the Hagoromo clan's number two, Hagoromo Naoyasu. Faced with this bizarre energy rising from below, all he could do was let out one final cry. As the strange energy pierced through his body, his life force was torn away with it.
When the light dissipated, more than twenty Hagoromo Jonin, including Naoyasu, and about ten Sarutobi and Shimura ninja all collapsed to the ground. Their eyes were vacant, their faces deathly pale. They looked just like those who had their souls extracted by the Human Path of the Six Paths of Pain in a later era.
*Is that... the Sarutobi clan's forbidden sealing technique, the Three Faces of Annihilation?* Izuna thought from a distance. He had only heard rumors of it—a sealing jutsu that required three elite Jonin to sacrifice their lives to activate. It would steal the life of everything within the sealing formation. Sarutobi Domoto's apology now made sense; he knew the technique would kill his own comrades as well.
"Naoyasu!"
Seeing his loyal guard of many years die so horribly, even Hagoromo Masanari, who was accustomed to death, couldn't help but let out a heartfelt cry of grief. But it was immediately followed by boundless rage. Like a furious lion, he roared at his remaining men, "Kill them! Kill them all! Make them die! The more painful, the better!"
"Lord! Lord! Shimura Ri is gone!" a Hagoromo Jonin shouted urgently.
Masanari's emotions instantly shifted from rage to astonishment. He whipped his head around. Shimura Ri, who had been standing to his right just moments ago, had vanished without a trace.
"That bastard!" Masanari was so angry his ears turned red. Ri had escaped while they were distracted by Sarutobi Domoto's sealing jutsu. It was only then that Masanari remembered there was still one person on his side who hadn't acted. He yelled, "Mister Tobi, one got away! Please take care of him!"
*Tobi!*
Hearing that name, the four remaining Sarutobi and Shimura ninja were aghast. But they had no chance to do anything more. A dozen Hagoromo Jonin swarmed them, turning their bodies into pincushions with swords and shuriken. In their final moments, they finally understood why their movements had been leaked.
***
Several li away.
Shimura Ri, moving at full speed, had covered this distance in an incredibly short amount of time. His taijutsu was already at a Kage's level by the standards of a later age. Ninja of this era placed extreme importance on taijutsu, likely, in Izuna's opinion, because there were only so many ninjutsu a clan had to offer. Especially for those at the Jonin level and above, who had probably learned every jutsu their clan possessed. Under such conditions, they could only devote their remaining energy to taijutsu.
Just as Shimura Ri was sprinting, hoping to find the four Fuma-led clans for aid, a special three-bladed kunai came flying at him.
Startled, Ri instinctively grabbed a kunai from his own tool pouch and deflected the incoming weapon.
*Clang!*
As he saw the deflected kunai, Shimura Ri's pupils contracted. *A custom-made kunai I've never seen before?* This special kunai, a trademark of the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, was not something that should exist in this era.
But there was no time for Shimura Ri to think. A dark figure suddenly appeared before him. In the next instant, he felt an agonizing pain in his abdomen, as if his internal organs had been displaced. His body plummeted, snapping countless branches on the way down.
After crashing to the ground, Shimura Ri coughed up a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with disbelief. "This... this technique is..." *It's even faster than when we ambushed the Uchiha three days ago. There's no mistake. It's his jutsu!*
*Shhh! Shhh! Shhh!*
From above, several more of those unseen, three-bladed kunai rained down. They didn't target Shimura Ri himself, but instead embedded themselves in the grass, tree trunks, and other spots around him.
*Swoosh!*
A dark figure appeared on a branch about seven or eight meters above and in front of Shimura Ri. Seeing the familiar spiral mask, Ri gritted his teeth and struggled to his feet. "This... this is... Tobi, what is the meaning of this?!"
He had been wondering how the Hagoromo could have gotten their intelligence so quickly. Connecting it to his current situation, everything made sense. But the one thing Shimura Ri couldn't understand was what this man stood to gain. Wasn't he one of the four northwestern clans? Wasn't he their ally? Was he actually one of the Hagoromo's men? But then why didn't he help when the Hagoromo were suffering such heavy losses?
There were too many questions. Shimura Ri's head felt like it was about to explode.
-----
Read up to 20 advanced chapters on my P@treon.
[email protected]/fanfictionsimp