Night had fallen.
Land of Water.
Uchiha Keizumi and the others were rushing swiftly through the night, crossing one town after another, one forest after another. Just as they caught sight of an ordinary village ahead, Biwa Jūzō was the first to stop.
Gazing at the village not far in the distance, Biwa Jūzō frowned.
Behind him, Uchiha Keizumi and the others also came to a halt.
"Meow, there's a smell of blood."
Tachibana Jirō sniffed the night wind blowing toward them, narrowed his eyes, and said, "The scent of blood is very faint. A human's sense of smell wouldn't detect it. That means the blood scent up ahead was deliberately handled by someone."
Biwa Jūzō said gravely, "I may not smell anything strange, but my intuition tells me something's wrong up ahead."
"At this hour, ordinary people should be cooking dinner. The chimneys of every house in that village are puffing smoke, yet the scene feels a bit too deliberate. After all, it's impossible for every household to be cooking at exactly the same time."
"There should always be at least one or two families who have finished dinner early. Or, one or two who haven't started cooking yet."
Hearing this, Uchiha Izumi's eyes lost their puzzled look at once and showed a sudden expression of realization.
She took out a small notebook and jotted down the experience of this Kirigakure elite shinobi, Biwa Jūzō.
The girl did not consider herself a naturally gifted shinobi.
Aside from having to enact justice to receive the blessing of justice, she also needed to keep learning from others' experiences—only then could she become a little stronger.
Unable to make up his mind, Biwa Jūzō turned his head toward Uchiha Keizumi and asked quietly, "We don't yet know whether the people hiding inside are targeting us or someone else. Should we charge straight in? Or avoid trouble and go around—hmm?"
Biwa Jūzō suddenly froze, because he saw Uchiha Keizumi, without concealing his presence in the slightest, walking directly toward the front.
Hey, hey, hey!
Wouldn't that expose our position right away?!
"Meow, Keizumi-sama's style is the style of justice."
Following behind Uchiha Keizumi with equal openness, Tachibana Jirō said, "Come on, it's not like this is your first time meeting Keizumi-sama. What's there to be so shocked about?"
Biwa Jūzō: "…"
Well, that was true enough.
Once again outshone by that ninja cat, Biwa Jūzō's face was a little embarrassed, though he maintained good control of his expression.
"Tch, then we'll have to kill our way through."
Biwa Jūzō tightened his face, took down the Kubikiribōchō he carried on his back, and followed.
Izumi hurriedly put away the paper and pen in her hand and walked at the rear.
…
"They're coming… renegade Biwa Jūzō has already entered the range."
A Kirigakure Anbu shinobi hidden in the dark under the cover of night formed hand seals with both hands at high speed.
In an instant....
Thick fog began to spread from all directions, and the large amount of fog combined with the poor visibility of night made the sight before Uchiha Keizumi and the others instantly dim and hazy.
Anything more than one meter away could not even be clearly seen by the eye.
"Tch…"
A trace of displeasure flashed across Biwa Jūzō's face. He involuntarily tightened his grip on the hilt of the Kubikiribōchō and said, "It looks like they're after us, and possibly after me. This should be Kirigakure's Hiding in Mist Technique—so... the intelligence about the three Kirigakure shinobi on the ship must have been transmitted to Kirigakure long ago."
Biwa Jūzō barked quietly, "Everyone be a little more careful! This is Kirigakure's Silent Killing Technique! The enemy hides within the fog—do not overly trust your vision or hearing; the enemy's movements make no sound!"
"They will even deliberately create false sounds to interfere with our perception! What the eyes see and what the ears hear are not necessarily true—only trust your own intuition!"
Obviously, Biwa Jūzō's words were not meant to remind Uchiha Keizumi—after all, he felt he had no standing to instruct that terrifying man.
He was reminding the Uchiha girl, Izumi, who still looked like an immature rookie.
And, yes, that ninja cat that irritated him a bit.
…
At the same time, a Kirigakure Anbu shinobi hidden in the shadows glanced with some puzzlement and warned the nearby Yagura, "Mizukage-sama, it appears renegade Biwa Jūzō has several companions at his side; this is somewhat beyond our expectations and outside our intelligence."
A situation outside the intelligence was indeed sufficient to put the Kirigakure Anbu present on full alert.
"No matter."
Yagura said in a cold tone, "Since they are companions of Biwa Jūzō, they are enemies of Kirigakure! If they do not know when to behave, then kill them all!"
"…Yes!" The Kirigakure Anbu shinobi faintly felt that the Mizukage-sama's tone was somewhat different from usual.
But at such a time, he did not think further.
Under Yagura's command, more than 30 Kirigakure Anbu shinobi who had long been lying in ambush, each holding various ninja tools, silently advanced rapidly toward Uchiha Keizumi and the others.
...
"Meow, Keizumi-sama, these mists have a strange smell—it's making it a little hard for me to distinguish their scents."
Tachibana Jirō sniffed and spoke.
Compared to Biwa Jūzō's deeply grave expression, Uchiha Keizumi remained as calm as ever.
A faint sulfurous breath had already begun to spread in all directions, and Biwa Jūzō keenly sensed that the surrounding temperature had suddenly risen by quite a lot.
As his eyelids twitched violently, Biwa Jūzō subtly shifted sideways, moving slightly farther away from Uchiha Keizumi.
With a light drip, a droplet of crimson magma fell to the ground.
The moist earth beneath their feet instantly ignited into a small flame.
At that very moment!
A sharp scythe tore through the thick fog, slashing straight toward Uchiha Keizumi's head; two iron chains flew through the air, one to the left and one to the right, binding his left and right legs respectively; several kunai also shot directly for Uchiha Keizumi's vital points.
Izumi and Biwa Jūzō were also attacked at the same time.
Several ninja blades emerged from the dense fog, silently slashing toward Biwa Jūzō's back; a barrage of sharp shuriken then rained down like a sudden shower, shooting rapidly toward Biwa Jūzō's face.
Two ninja blades, one in front and one behind, thrust toward Izumi's throat and chest respectively!
This group of Kirigakure Anbu shinobi had, by relying on this Silent Killing Technique, slain countless enemies—and retreated each time unscathed.
[Bang—]
When struck by the ninja blade, Izumi's body suddenly turned into a puff of white smoke, leaving only a wooden log behind in her place.
Biwa Jūzō then sharply lowered his body, dodging the oncoming shuriken head-on; raising the Kubikiribōchō, he used its door-sized blade to block behind himself.
A series of metallic clangs rang out as all the attacks from behind were deflected.
Meanwhile—
The massive scythe slashing down toward Uchiha Keizumi's head suddenly halted when it was only a few centimeters away.
The scythe's blade trembled slightly—the wielder had clearly used all his strength, yet still could not make the weapon descend any further.
It was because, at some unknown moment, Uchiha Keizumi's right hand had already grasped the edge of the scythe, holding it firmly in midair.
The kunai that had been aimed straight for Uchiha Keizumi's vital points pierced through where his body should have been, yet caused not the slightest ripple, not a drop of blood, passing cleanly through his back.
But before those kunai could fly much farther, they turned into splashes of molten iron and fell to the ground.
The iron chains binding Uchiha Keizumi's legs also turned visibly red-hot.
"Hiss—" From within the thick fog suddenly came sharp gasps of pain.
At the very instant the chains melted and snapped apart, the Kirigakure shinobi holding them dropped the chains in horror and staggered backward again and again.
His palms had already been completely scorched by the extreme heat.
Uchiha Keizumi, unscathed, clapped his hands together, and the ground beneath his feet began to quake violently, causing the group of Kirigakure shinobi hidden in the fog to pale as they sensed something was happening.
The next instant.
Countless thorny wooden spikes pierced up from the ground beneath their feet!
The densely packed thorns transformed in an instant into a small forest, impaling one unprepared Kirigakure shinobi after another.
Some had their arms pierced through with bloody holes; some had their legs nailed fast to the ground; the unluckiest had the thorns drive up through their rectum and out through the crown of their skull.
A chorus of agonized screams.
Revealed their positions.