"Izanagi!"
Karatachi Makoto's face was somewhat grim.
He had calculated everything, even going so far as to expose part of his strength for a quick resolution, just for fear of complications, making too much noise, and attracting other Konoha ninjas into a siege.
But he never expected that Uchiha Shisui, at this age, would have already mastered Izanagi!
[Izanagi: The user can rewrite events that have happened to them within a certain period. It is an ultimate forbidden technique that can distort reality, even changing life and death!]
"This is big trouble..."
Karatachi Makoto's heart sank to the bottom.
Shisui isn't dead, so his intelligence will inevitably be exposed by Shisui.
And once that kid passes his information back, his name, Karatachi Makoto, and some of his abilities will probably be on Konoha's high-priority watch list!
Not only that.
When the news flows back to Kirigakure, how much attention will it attract?
"...Cousin Yagura, you really found me a great job!"
"What a hassle!"
Karatachi Makoto cursed inwardly, his figure weaving through the forest, swift as a shadow.
He now only hoped that everything went smoothly for the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, that they had shaken off the pursuers and were waiting for him at the designated support point.
This way, he could lead them to evacuate at the fastest speed, then return to the village, continue living his small life, and then find a way to slowly dilute the impact of this incident.
Or simply deny everything to the death.
Anyway, Shisui has no substantial evidence, his identity hasn't been exposed, and Kirigakure might not fully believe Konoha's intelligence...
Whatever.
If too much is really exposed, at worst, he'll find a boat and go out to sea. If he can't live a good life in the village, can't he live a good life on the sea?
The Great Age of Navigation, I will raise the curtain!
The duration of [God's Hand] is only ten minutes.
After the battle with Shisui, there was very little time left for the Swift Release, but it was enough for Karatachi Makoto to catch up with Hoshigaki Shin and the others as much as possible.
Just as his thoughts were flying, faint Chakra fluctuations and the smell of blood came from ahead.
Karatachi Makoto's eyes narrowed, his speed slowed slightly, and he approached more stealthily.
Before long, he found the target in a hidden valley fissure.
The number of people is wrong!
The three Swordsmen were all still there, just in worse condition.
On the support squad side, however, only one Chunin and Hoshigaki Shin remained, and both were injured.
"Captain Makoto!"
Seeing Karatachi Makoto appear, the only remaining Chunin and Hoshigaki Shin immediately came forward.
After confirming that Karatachi Makoto's identity was not a Transformation Jutsu, the expressions on their faces clearly relaxed, but immediately followed by suppressed anger and questioning.
"Where exactly did you go?!"
Hoshigaki Shin's tone was unkind, and he said coldly: "We were pursued by Uchiha Fugaku. If not for the desperate fight of the Lord Swordsmen, plus Yōsuke voluntarily luring the enemy away to cover the rear, we would probably all have..."
He didn't finish his sentence, but the meaning was obvious.
If not for their teammate sacrificing his life to cover the rear, not only would this mission have failed, but everyone present would probably have become souls under Uchiha Fugaku's blade.
And in this situation, as the squad captain, Karatachi Makoto was actually absent!
"Don't fucking mention it."
"I was attacked too. A Konoha brat, not very old, but wicked as hell!"
Karatachi Makoto gasped for breath and huffed: "I thought I'd pull some aggro for you guys and attract firepower. As a result, that guy was fast as a ghost, had three-tomoe, and chased me for several miles slashing at me!"
"If I hadn't run fast and used some life-saving trump cards, I'm afraid I would have fallen too."
"A three-tomoe Uchiha brat?"
Biwa Jūzō, leaning on the broken Kubikiribōchō (Executioner's Blade), suddenly spoke up: "Was it short black hair, extremely fast movements, using a short sword?"
"Yes, yes, yes, that's him! Lord Jūzō, you encountered him too?"
Biwa Jūzō snorted coldly and didn't answer directly, but the solemnity in his eyes explained everything.
After being kicked into the 'Three Auspicious Treasures' by that guy, they actually encountered that shockingly fast brat first, and then Uchiha Fugaku's pursuit followed.
They were wondering why Uchiha Shisui was missing from such a pursuit; they didn't expect he went to hunt down Karatachi Makoto.
"To be able to escape from that kid's hands, consider yourself lucky."
Suikazan Fuguki coughed up two mouthfuls of blood and said somewhat weakly: "Let's retreat quickly. If those guys continue to chase, it will be difficult to handle."
"Uchiha bastards all deserve to die!" Kurosuki Raiga roared irritably in a low voice: "When my injuries heal, I will definitely use the Kiba (Fangs) to split these damned guys into charcoal!"
"Alright, alright."
"Captain Makoto, you... you really encountered that Uchiha brat?"
The only remaining Chunin at the side looked at Makoto with curiosity.
His name was Takeuchi Oyama, also from a small clan.
He had heard of the name Shisui of the Body Flicker. It was said that many seniors had fallen at that guy's hands. His Body Flicker Technique and swordsmanship were extremely powerful, plus he had the three-tomoe Sharingan.
Fighting an Uchiha.
One-on-one, turn and flee; two-on-one, attack from behind.
Yet Karatachi Makoto was actually able to escape from that guy's hands in a one-on-one situation; it was truly unbelievable.
"Nonsense! Do you think these injuries on me are fake?"
Karatachi Makoto pulled at his torn sleeve grumpily, revealing a bloody mark underneath that wasn't deep but was conspicuous enough.
"That kid was like a ghost, chasing and slashing me. Genjutsu one after another. If I hadn't been clever and used the Water Mirror Technique to block a critical attack, I would be cold by now."
"Water Mirror Technique, huh."
Hearing Karatachi Makoto's words, the people present understood.
The Karatachi Clan was considered a large clan in Kirigakure, and their most famous technique was this Water Mirror Secret Technique.
It was said that the Water Mirror Technique performed by that guy Yagura could completely replicate the enemy's attack moves and release them again one-to-one.
Although Karatachi Makoto was a silk-pants rich kid, it was still very possible for him to use information asymmetry to pull off a surprise move.
"Enough, now is not the time to discuss this."
Biwa Jūzō interrupted. His condition looked the worst, his face pale: "We have been exposed. Konoha pursuers could find this place at any time; we must move immediately."
"Go, the wind is tight, let's bolt."
The group quickly packed up. Karatachi Makoto supported Biwa Jūzō, and the six of them evacuated rapidly.
On the way, Karatachi Makoto also inquired about the battle situation.
Uchiha Fugaku and the others' pursuit was exceptionally fierce, biting relentlessly like hyenas.
However, during the pursuit, that guy seemed to always have misgivings, hesitating in combat. In the end, Yōsuke stayed behind to sacrifice his life, creating an opportunity for them to escape.
Aside from that, it was the battle with Might Duy!
The three Swordsmen didn't hide it and spoke about the Eight Gates Released Formation.
Now that the war between Kirigakure and Konoha had erupted, encountering that kind of monster once was enough. If they could let others know the intelligence information in advance, so they could be alert and avoid it in time, it would undoubtedly be a good thing.
Hearing about the earth-shattering power after Might Duy opened the Eight Gates, everyone revealed looks of shock.
"A Genin could actually unleash that level of power?!"
"I didn't expect Konoha to have such a monster... It's fortunate that the Lords are powerful enough to break out."
Biwa Jūzō and the others felt heavy-hearted. Not only did the mission fail, but the Seven Swordsmen were reduced to only three.
When they returned to the village, the Mizukage's punishment would be a small matter, but the impact brought by the mission failure would probably be huge!
The atmosphere was relatively silent; the group didn't say much more and evacuated quickly.
Fortunately, the evacuation process was relatively smooth. They didn't encounter large Konoha troops again. Occasionally encountering small groups of scout ninjas, they quickly resolved or shook them off with their strength.
The next day, the group finally crossed the border of the Land of Fire without any mishaps and entered the territory of the Land of Water.
Arriving here, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief.