Click.
Kirito raised his hand toward the forest ahead. At some point, a silver handgun had silently appeared in his palm, his signature weapon, the Desert Eagle.
"Come out."
After a few moments of silence, the enemy hidden in the shadows finally stepped into the open, forced out by Kirito's unwavering, razor-sharp gaze.
"Well, well… Not a bad sense of perception at all."
As that lazy voice rang out, two figures abruptly appeared before the group.
Neji and Sasuke's expressions instantly changed. They stared wide-eyed at the sudden intruders, neither of them had caught a glimpse of their movements. It was like they had simply materialized out of thin air.
"Conical hats… red clouds on black cloaks…"
Kirito's brows knitted slightly. He didn't need a second guess.
There was no mistake. These two belonged to the most secretive organization in the shinobi world. Few in number, but their collective power surpassed even the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
Akatsuki.
Standing before them were none other than Kakuzu and Hidan.
The two men swept their gazes slowly over Kirito and his companions. Their eyes passed back and forth several times, then they exchanged a glance, each seeing confusion mirrored in the other's expression.
"…Wait, is this a joke? Just a bunch of kids?"
Hidan pointed straight at Kirito's group, his tone sharp and mocking.
"Oi, kids, who the hell are you? What're you doing here?"
"We're shinobi from Konoha," Neji responded coldly. "That's our question for you. This is the Land of Fire, clearly not your home turf. So what exactly are you two doing here?"
"Tch."
Hidan shot Neji a dismissive glance, clicking his tongue with annoyance as he waved him off.
"Who said you could talk? Keep flapping your gums, and I'll slice that head of yours clean off."
"Big mouth for someone so loud."
Sasuke stepped forward, face dark with irritation. His mood had been bad to begin with, and now two unknown thugs blocked their way with unprovoked insults?
That was it.
Ever since awakening the Sharingan, Sasuke had developed a refined sense for reading others. No opponent on his level could hide from his gaze. Even someone like Kakashi, whose strength far surpassed his own, could at least be partially sensed.
But these two… gave off nothing.
There were only two possible explanations.
Either they were far too powerful, so far above him that his senses couldn't even perceive them.
Or they were just normal people with so little chakra it wasn't even worth detecting.
And Sasuke had already made up his mind: these two were just some deluded muscleheads.
As Hidan looked down at him with open contempt, Sasuke's fury erupted.
"I've had enough of your crap. I'll shut you up myself!"
With that, he rolled up his sleeves and advanced aggressively.
Neji furrowed his brows. He couldn't detect anything obviously dangerous about the two, but his instincts were screaming otherwise. He opened his mouth to stop Sasuke, but quickly gave up. Knowing Sasuke's temper, he wasn't going to listen.
All he could do was stand back, and observe.
"Hah! You gonna take us down?"
Hidan burst into laughter, then turned to Kakuzu.
"Hey, did you hear that? This little brat says he's gonna 'handle' the two of us!"
Kakuzu didn't even look at him.
"You!"
Sasuke's fury hit its peak. His eyes flashed, and he shot forward like a cannonball. Twin kunai slipped into his hands as he raced toward Hidan.
Let's see how smug you are with a blade at your throat.
He closed the distance quickly, confident. The two men hadn't moved an inch.
Just as he thought, slow-witted civilians.
But then, just as he stepped within three meters of Hidan,
His knees buckled.
THUMP!
Sasuke collapsed, both knees slamming to the ground.
He fell to the dirt like a discarded mutt, groveling at Hidan's feet.
"…What?!"
His vision spun. He felt as though an enormous invisible hand was pressing down on his skull, pinning him in place.
He couldn't lift his head.
Looking down, he stared blankly at his kneeling position.
"What… what am I doing? My body… I can't move… It's so heavy…"
Clink!
The kunai slipped from his trembling hands.
Only then did he realize, his entire body was shaking.
"What the hell is this?!"
With great effort, he lifted his head, and met Hidan's gaze.
The man stood tall, looking down at him like a predator eyeing a bug.
His grin curved upward, sinister and cold.
"Well, well… You gonna wet yourself already? Seriously? I've barely even released half of my killing intent."
The air felt like it was being sucked out of the world.
The sheer pressure, an invisible, suffocating wave of bloodlust, was nearly solid.
Sasuke couldn't breathe.
He couldn't move.
All he could do was kneel, and tremble.
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