Chapter 26 — A Recon Mission? An Open Trap!
"The target area is just ahead. Stay alert."
Hyūga Teru's low voice sounded as Team Seventeen arrived at the designated zone of suspicion. Teru immediately activated his Byakugan, his sharp gaze piercing layers of terrain as he conducted a long-range scan of the valley.
At the same time, Aburame Shibi silently released a swarm of kikaichū. The insects dispersed without a sound, spreading in all directions to gather information. Yami and Nawaki took up positions to the left and right, maintaining vigilance as they protected the two scouts.
Moments later, the intelligence was consolidated.
Based on feedback from Hyūga Teru and Shibi, the location truly appeared to be nothing more than an ordinary logistics outpost—perfectly matching the intelligence. There weren't even any competent guard-nin to speak of.
Hyūga Teru promptly laid out the plan: he and Yami would serve as the main assault force, while Nawaki and Aburame Shibi provided support from the flanks.
The others nodded in agreement without objection. Only Yami felt that faint, lingering unease in his heart. Even after repeatedly probing the area with his Kagura Mind's Eye, he found nothing out of the ordinary.
As the operation began, he deliberately slowed by half a step and, without a sound, concealed another kunai densely etched with runes at their starting point.
The squad slipped into the valley like phantoms. With the precise intelligence they'd gathered, eliminating the outer sentries took almost no effort at all.
Once the watch posts were dealt with, the camp failed to mount any meaningful resistance. The entire outpost fell quietly, without so much as a ripple.
The process went so smoothly that it felt almost unreal.
"Confirmation complete," Aburame Shibi reported, pausing briefly before adding, "The personnel here… don't seem like regular ninja from any of the Five Great Nations."
Before Yami could respond, Nawaki spoke up first.
"Whatever they were planning, we'll just blow the place up."
No one disagreed. This was standard shinobi procedure—no matter what schemes the enemy might have had, blowing the site to pieces was the safest answer.
Explosive tags were quickly set in place. The team withdrew to a safe distance.
A kunai with an explosive tag tied to its tail was thrown.
In an instant, a chain reaction erupted. Amid deafening thunder, the entire camp was engulfed in flames and reduced to rubble.
Almost simultaneously with the explosion came a roar—wild, furious, and overwhelmingly primal.
"ROOOOAAAR—!!!"
The sound shook the air itself.
A thunderous crack rang out—like the shattering of some colossal seal—and a titanic presence burst forth.
A gargantuan beast materialized in an instant, its massive body blotting out the sky. The shadow it cast swallowed Yami's team whole.
Even though they had already withdrawn dozens of meters after detonating the explosive tags, the monster still felt terrifyingly close.
"A Tailed Beast… It's the Five-Tails!"
Hyūga Teru's face drained of color as he stared at the newly freed monster, now throwing its head back and roaring toward the heavens.
No orders were needed. Pure survival instinct drove everyone to retreat at full speed.
Only now did Yami truly understand the source of that lingering sense of danger.
This was a trap—an exquisitely crafted deathtrap prepared specifically for Konoha's shinobi. A blatant, open scheme. As long as Konoha detected abnormalities in the valley, they would inevitably send someone to investigate—and the moment they stepped in, they had already fallen into the snare.
Those guards they had cut down earlier—clearly lacking proper shinobi discipline—were nothing more than expendable pawns. Likely shinobi from minor villages or conscripted rogue ninja, prepared in advance as cannon fodder.
No matter how events unfolded from here on out, the fact remained: it was Konoha ninja who had released the Five-Tails. Iwagakure would suffer no losses—and could even seize the moral high ground, turning the tables and accusing Konoha instead.
In a flash, Yami pieced everything together. His gaze swept rapidly across the surroundings, certain that Iwa's arrangements wouldn't stop here.
Sure enough, at the outer edge of his Kagura Mind's Eye, a large group of shinobi was closing in fast. At their head—
Ōnoki of the Two Scales.
"Withdraw—now! This is beyond what we can handle. It's a trap!"
Yami barked the warning to the team at top speed.
Even as he spoke, the Five-Tails—Kokuō—had already locked onto them with its violent gaze. With a furious roar, it charged straight at the group, its speed utterly disproportionate to its massive frame.
"Steam—!"
Yami's expression darkened further. His memories of the Five-Tails were vague at best. He only knew that when it appeared in later history, it had already been captured by Akatsuki, its jinchūriki being a man known as Han, the "Steam Ninja."
Despite knowing how fast the beast was, no one dared to slow down. Confronting a tailed beast head-on would be suicidal. Even Hyūga Teru—an elite jōnin—would be like stabbing an elephant with a toothpick if he tried to use Gentle Fist against the Five-Tails.
If this continued, they would be caught in moments. There was no time to hesitate—and no room to hold back.
"Eight Gates—Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain… OPEN!"
Dark green chakra erupted like pressurized steam as Yami's speed exploded upward. In one motion, he seized Nawaki and Aburame Shibi, transforming into a streak of green light and instantly widening the distance between them and the Five-Tails.
As for Hyūga Teru, being a taijutsu specialist, his speed was formidable in its own right. But Yami only had two hands—there was nothing more he could do but pray Teru was tough enough to survive.
Just as things seemed to be turning for the better—perhaps they could escape if this kept up—the Five-Tails' gaze grew distinctly more dangerous.
To a tailed beast, humans were little more than insignificant insects. And three insects were still more than one.
Its speed increased yet again. Ignoring Hyūga Teru entirely, it focused solely on Yami and the two he carried.
The sudden shift made Yami's face twist as he cursed inwardly, Is it really going to single me out today?!
Fortunately, his speed was just barely able to keep pace with the Five-Tails—though he knew that if he abandoned the others, he could go even faster.
But leaving Nawaki behind would be no different from tossing him straight into the beast's jaws.
As for Shibi, his kikaichū clearly hadn't been cultivated enough yet. Under the crushing pressure of a tailed beast, they were completely inert. With his strength tied to the insects, Shibi was nearly helpless.
The only hope left was that the main camp would notice the disturbance and that Orochimaru would arrive in time. Aside from him, no number of ordinary ninja would be anything more than sacrifices.
During the pursuit, perhaps irritated by its inability to immediately crush these "insects," the Five-Tails grew visibly impatient. Scalding steam poured continuously from its mouth.
Sensing the change behind him, Yami's heart thundered with alarm. The stench of death was pressing in.
He didn't even need to look back.
Through the Kagura Mind's Eye, he could clearly see the immense chakra inside the Five-Tails rapidly condensing. Its running slowed—then stopped entirely.
This wasn't retreat.
It was charging a finishing move.
A pitch-black sphere of chakra formed in the Five-Tails' mouth. In the very next instant, carrying power that seemed capable of annihilating heaven and earth, it was fired straight toward Yami and the others.
"Damn it—are you serious?! Using an anti-air cannon to swat mosquitoes?!"