Chapter 237: The Rinnegan Reappears
The three of them tore through the dense woods, their boots kicking up dirt as they vaulted onto a steep incline. The moment their feet hit the elevated ground, the foliage across from them rustled violently. Two figures burst from the tall grass. Both groups, traveling at breakneck speeds, dug their heels into the dirt and skidded to an abrupt halt. A heavy silence fell over the clearing as they stared warily at one another.
These two newcomers wore the same distinct cloud symbols on their shoulders as the Jonin they had sensed earlier. They were researchers from the hidden facility.
Stelle let out a quiet, exhausted sigh. She really possessed a cursed, magnet-for-trouble constitution.
Back when she had just stepped out of the administrative office to team up with Uchiha Kagami and the others, she had somehow stumbled right into Black Zetsu actively trying to corrupt Uchiha Madara. Every single mission she took on escalated into a life-or-death crisis. If she did not possess an arsenal of cheat-like abilities, her ashes would have been scattered to the wind a long time ago.
Now, she had completely changed her alias. She was still an ungraduated academy student. This was supposed to be her very first trip out of the village for a mundane, low-rank trash-collecting mission. They were still inside District Two, sitting comfortably within their own central territory, yet she still managed to walk straight into the epicenter of a high-stakes Research Institute defection incident.
A suffocating wave of killing intent radiated from the two adult ninjas, sweeping over the three children in unison. The air grew heavy, pressing down on their chests like a physical weight.
Having already endured the brutal baptism of killing intent during their Elite Class training, the trio only suffered a momentary hitch in their breathing before their expressions hardened back to normal.
Kakashi dropped his stance, his hand instantly flying to the hilt of the White Fang short sword strapped to his waist. Beside him, Obito bared his teeth. Stimulated by the oppressive aura, his eyes bled into crimson red as his Sharingan flared to life. He kept his hands hidden behind his back, his fingers twitching as he prepared to weave hand signs.
"Do you two seniors have urgent business to attend to?" Stelle asked, her tone light and perfectly innocent. "Sorry for blocking your way. Please, go right ahead."
She swept her gaze over them. Their headbands were completely intact, bearing no scratches of defection. Playing the fool, Stelle pretended not to notice anything amiss and politely gestured for them to pass.
The massive spike of chakra that had erupted in the distance just moments ago was absolutely not a simple matter. They could not afford to start a fight right here, or they would inevitably be surrounded and crushed by reinforcements.
The two researchers ignored her completely. Their eyes locked onto Obito, burning with sudden, greedy intensity.
"Sharingan?" the ninja on the left muttered.
"What incredible luck to encounter a Sharingan out here," the right ninja sneered, drawing a kunai. "Capture him. We will present him to the Lord."
The two adults launched themselves forward simultaneously, their boots tearing the ground apart.
The three students, who spent every single day bleeding and sweating through joint training, did not even need to speak. A single passing glance was enough to exchange their entire tactical layout.
Obito completely ignored the concept of retreating. He lunged straight toward the approaching adults, his hands flying through a rapid sequence of signs.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
He inhaled sharply and blew out a massive, scorching sphere of flames. The fireball whistled through the air, radiating blistering heat as it barreled toward the two ninjas. Obito did not actually expect to incinerate them. His goal was purely tactical, forcing the two adults to dive in opposite directions and breaking their coordinated formation.
In the exact fraction of a second that Obito had started weaving signs, Stelle had already moved. She formed a single seal, summoning two shadow clones. The clones and her original body blurred, rapidly swapping positions in a chaotic shuffle. Two of the Stelles dashed forward, throwing a massive barrage of shuriken to completely blind the enemy's line of sight, while her true body remained planted in the back, her fingers flying through water seals.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
A violent torrent of high-pressure water blasted from her mouth, tearing through the clearing. The ninja on the right, having just swatted away the incoming shuriken, pushed off the dirt and vaulted high into the air to avoid the crushing wave.
He jumped right into the trap.
Kakashi materialized in mid-air, having perfectly predicted the man's evasive trajectory. The silver-haired boy spun, thrusting his gleaming short sword directly toward the researcher's exposed throat.
"Nice coordination, brats," the ninja scoffed.
The adult violently twisted his torso mid-flight, narrowly dodging the lethal thrust. As the blade grazed his vest, he threw a brutal backhand punch straight at Kakashi's face.
Kakashi brought his arm up just in time to block. The sheer, bone-rattling force of the adult's strike sent a painful numbness shooting up to his shoulder. Kakashi was swatted out of the air, his boots skidding back several steps as he hit the ground.
Such ridiculous physical strength. These two were definitely not ordinary desk researchers.
On the other side of the clearing, the second ninja suddenly accelerated, closing the distance in a blur to throw a heavy punch at Obito's head.
Obito dropped his center of gravity, bending backward into a fluid backflip. His hands never stopped moving. The moment his boots planted firmly back into the dirt, his final seal snapped into place.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
A volley of smaller, highly controlled fireballs spat from his mouth, swarming the approaching ninja. Forced to halt his advance, the enemy twisted and weaved through the scorching projectiles.
Using the flames as cover, Stelle drew her blade and rushed into the fray. She clashed against the adult, metal sparking against metal in a rapid exchange of swordsmanship and taijutsu. The sheer difference in physical stats quickly showed. The ninja slipped past her guard and slammed a heavy fist directly into her forehead.
With a sharp poof, the Stelle in front of him vanished into a cloud of white smoke.
The ninja's eyes widened. He instantly sensed the lethal trap and tried to throw himself backward, but his reaction was a second too late. The explosive tag that the shadow clone had quietly dropped at his feet flared with blinding light.
The explosion ripped through the grass. Though the ninja managed to retreat out of the lethal zone, the shockwave and shrapnel caught him, tearing into his leg.
The researcher stumbled, a look of pure, unadulterated ferocity twisting his features. He had never expected to actually take damage from three brats who had not even earned their headbands yet.
"This level of coordination... they have to be disciples from the Elite Class," the injured ninja spat, clutching his bleeding thigh. "However, this ends now. Finish them quickly. We cannot let this interfere with the Lord's plan."
He exchanged a dark look with his companion. The two adults raised their hands, forming signs in perfect unison.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A roaring gale of wind fused with a massive serpent of fire, creating a terrifying combination ninjutsu that expanded across the entire clearing, threatening to incinerate everything in its path.
Stelle cursed internally. Did these grown men really need to be this utterly shameless when fighting three academy students?
She genuinely had not expected them to be so hyper-fixated on Obito's eyes. Who in their right mind desperately needed a single-tomoe Sharingan? There were plenty of fully matured three-tomoe users running around the world. Why not go hunt them down? It was obvious. These cowards knew they could not win against actual warriors, so they resorted to picking on the weak.
But the three children were not helpless prey. Every single time they practiced, they drilled these exact survival scenarios. Stelle had personally written out pages of specific tactical combinations for them to memorize.
The trio shifted their formation instantly. Kakashi took the absolute vanguard, acting as the main offensive lead, while Stelle and Obito flanked him as dedicated support, intercepting attacks and creating openings. For a grueling stretch of time, the two Chunin-level researchers found themselves completely stonewalled. They could not break through the children's defense, but the children were also completely trapped, unable to secure an escape route.
The stalemate dragged on, leaving both sides battered, bruised, and panting for breath.
"Damn it, why are these three brats so troublesome?" roared the ninja whose thigh was still bleeding from the explosive tag and a grazing strike from Kakashi's blade.
The two researchers were already sweating with regret. They never should have let their greed take over upon seeing the Uchiha boy's eyes. If they had just ignored the kids and kept running, they would have successfully reached the designated safe zone by now.
"What useless trash. You cannot even handle three children."
A chilling voice echoed from above.
A new figure materialized on the steep slope. It was the Jonin who had just been fighting the two Anbu operatives in the distance.
Stelle's stomach dropped. Oh boy. The two Anbu guards had already been taken care of.
She took a small, deliberate step forward, subtly shielding Obito behind her back.
Being captured and dragged into the Research Facility's underground labs would be a nightmare. Even if someone like Orochimaru would normally look down on a pathetic one-tomoe Sharingan, it would not be strange at all for his desperate, lower-ranking subordinates to want it for their own twisted experiments.
"Lord Ryu," the injured researcher gasped, pointing a shaking finger. "That Uchiha brat's Sharingan..."
In the very next second, the Jonin vanished from the slope.
His movements were completely ghost-like. The sheer speed gap made it physically impossible for any of the children to react.
A ninja of this monstrous caliber fighting academy students was not a battle. It was a complete and utter stomp. Even Kakashi, who already possessed the combat awareness of a Chunin, was helpless.
Kakashi only saw a vague blur before a fist buried itself deep into his stomach. All the air left his lungs in a violent choke. Before he could even double over, a brutal kick slammed into his side, sending him tumbling across the dirt until he collapsed, completely paralyzed by the pain.
Out of the corner of his blurred vision, Kakashi saw Obito and the girl get swatted down to the ground by the most basic, effortless taijutsu strikes.
So strong.
Ryu easily subdued all three of them in the span of a single breath. He reached down, grabbed the incapacitated Obito by the collar of his jacket, and began dragging the boy away like a sack of garbage.
At that exact moment, Stelle pushed herself off the dirt.
She swayed slightly, blood trickling down her chin, but she stepped directly into the Jonin's path. She stared up at the towering adult and spoke, her voice cold and measured, enunciating every single word.
"Stop."
Ryu paused, looking down at her with dead, apathetic eyes. "Little girl, this boring ninja game is over."
He did not want to waste another second. He casually reached out a hand, intending to snap the annoying girl's neck and be done with it.
Just as his fingers brushed the air near her throat, Ryu suddenly froze.
He noticed that the girl's right eye had changed color. Driven by extreme, uncontrollable emotional fluctuations, her originally pitch-black iris had bled into a deep, piercing purple. Within that purple expanse, circles of mysterious, hypnotic ripples expanded outward from her pupil.
A legendary name, one that had been whispered in terrified tones across the battlefields during the Second Great Ninja War, violently surfaced in the Jonin's mind.
"The... Rinnegan?" Ryu whispered, his voice trembling for the first time.
In the very next second, an invisible, apocalyptic repulsive force erupted outward, using the small girl as absolute ground zero.
The majestic, crushing shockwave slammed into the Jonin. Despite all his elite strength and speed, Ryu did not possess a single ounce of power to resist. He was blasted off his feet, launched backward through the air like a broken doll. He flew across the clearing and crashed heavily into the thick trunks of the distant woods, splintering wood upon impact.
The shockwave did not stop there. Even the two Chunin researchers standing much further away were caught in the invisible blast radius. They were violently swept off their feet, sent tumbling through the dirt until they collapsed into a heap, groaning and completely unable to move.
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