Uchiha Hezi rubbed her hands together, eager for action.
"So, what's next? Should one of us stay behind to guard the entrance, or are we all going down together?"
0015 shook her head cautiously. "I'll call the nearby units first to report the location of this secret warehouse to Lady Mikoto and ask if there are any reinforcements available before we enter the cave. That way, if there's any trouble, we can alert Lady Mikoto in time."
0015 also knew that because they had occupied many towns recently, Uchiha Fucheng was short on manpower.
Under these circumstances, it was highly likely they would have to complete the mission on their own.
But reporting via radio first, giving advance notice to Mikoto and the nearby Misaka Sisters, was the most appropriate course of action.
As a node of the Misaka Network, 0015 didn't even need to speak aloud.
She simply used her Level 3 Electromaster electromagnetic wave ability to transmit the information she wanted to convey, in the form of radio waves, to the Misaka Network and Mikoto.
With the information registered in the Misaka Network, the four of them and the dog carefully descended into the well using the ropes.
Viewed from the entrance, this hidden underground base looked rather unremarkable.
At the bottom of the well, there was only a brick-lined entrance just wide enough for two people to pass through side-by-side.
The initial passage was narrow, barely allowing a person to pass, but after moving forward another thirty or forty steps, the interior space suddenly opened up.
From the cave walls, they could see that this wasn't an artificially excavated underground base at all, but rather a natural cavern that had been simply expanded to utilize the spacious underground area.
Paru, their reconnaissance dog with a keen sense of smell, was even more useful in the underground cave.
The crisscrossing underground caves made it very difficult to determine the direction.
Fortunately, Paru discovered traces of medicine being transported.
The four of them then crawled through a slightly smaller opening into a deeper underground level.
The natural cavern seemed to be divided into many layers.
After going twenty meters deeper, a cavernous space with a ceiling height of six or seven meters appeared before them.
"It's so huge!"
Uchiha Hezi had already activated her Sharingan, granting her excellent night vision.
What greeted her eyes were rows of metal shelves standing in the distance of the cavern.
"We found the medicine warehouse!" Uchiha Hezi thought, secretly delighted.
She and Yakushi Nonou, who understood pharmacology, walked at the very front of the team, approaching the shelves to inspect the various supplies on them.
Just then, an accident occurred!
A sensation of weightlessness struck, and Uchiha Hezi and Yakushi Nonou, who were close to the shelves, suddenly fell into a perfectly concealed trapdoor.
The trap triggered instantly and closed immediately.
The two of them lost their balance, spinning dizzily as they plummeted to the level below.
"Oh no!" Hatake Shoichi and Paru, who were in the middle of the group, immediately drew their katana.
And 0015, the Misaka Sister who had been guarding the rear, let out a muffled grunt.
It was clear that some other trap mechanism was attacking 0015.
Crackle!
With a hiss of electricity and a flash of blue-white lightning, 0015 used her current to illuminate the entire cavern.
It could be seen that on the slightly sturdy arm of 0015, Sister Moon, four or five sharp Kunai had already embedded themselves.
"You go support Hezi and the others!" 0015 shouted, warning him.
She used her electromagnetic force to deflect the blood-stained Kunai.
"Leave these three weirdos to me."
As she spoke, Sister Moon lunged like a giant bird spreading its wings, pouncing toward the three enemies who were covered in a special type of mud.
"The honor of the samurai!" The three mud-covered enemies didn't release any Ninjutsu like Ninja; instead, they drew their long swords.
They formed a triangular formation, retreating while throwing flying needles and Kunai away from 0015.
Hatake Shoichi knew they had fallen into an enemy ambush.
He had to rely on himself to go save Uchiha Hezi and Yakushi Nonou first.
The scene of his former teammate, Matsumoto, being blown to pieces by an Explosion Release Ninja flashed through Shoichi's mind again.
But this time, Shoichi felt no fear or trembling; he simply gripped the hilt of his sword tighter.
He heard the enemies shouting.
"The honor of the samurai."
Could these people be the samurai guards under Nagashima Rusuke?
Hatake Shoichi quickly arrived at the right side of the trapdoor, carefully testing the metal floor.
He felt it was quite tricky.
"The material of this trap is extremely hard. Does it require..."
Before he could use Ninjutsu to destroy the floor, a samurai in armor, hidden in the shadows of the shelves, suddenly flashed out to ambush him.
"Someone's there!"
Paru shouted a warning.
This samurai had been hiding behind the medicine shelves, using the scent of the drugs to mask his own.
But the sound of the wind created by his ambush still couldn't escape Paru's ears.
Clang!
Clang, clang!
Sparks flew in the air.
After three exchanges of attacks and defenses, Hatake Shoichi barely managed to block the sneak attack.
However, Shoichi was still forced back three steps by the sheer power transmitted through the blades.
"This guy has so much strength!"
Opposite him, a masked armored samurai, whose calf was being bitten tightly by Paru, was slashing at Paru.
Summoning Release!
Hatake Shoichi quickly released the summoning to save Paru from harm.
He then cautiously created some distance.
Judging by the opponent's footwork and armor, this person was clearly not a Ninja.
He was likely a samurai similar to those passed down from the Sengoku era.
And seeing the opponent sheath his long sword after executing a move...
This technique was clearly a samurai close-combat style known as Iai.
Shoichi became increasingly cautious.
His right hand, gripping the sword, assumed the special starting stance of the [Hatake Style: Heart-Spirit Slash].
The armored samurai, Ogawa Uemon, did not speak at this moment.
He just looked coldly at Hatake Shoichi, approaching him with small, rapid steps, moving like feet gliding over water.
This guy was clearly the samurai leader and had lost his patience.
He intended to use his finishing move to end the battle quickly.
Ogawa Uemon shouted: "Ogawa Style: Crossed-Blade Iai Slash!"
Hatake Shoichi didn't show any weakness: "Hatake Style: Hatake Heart-Spirit Slash!"
Two figures were seen passing each other in the cave, their weapons clashing.
A straight, thin line suddenly appeared on Hatake Shoichi's body.
Behind him, Ogawa Uemon opened his eyes wide in shock, and surging blood gushed out wildly from the base of his throat.
It turned out that the finishing move, Crossed-Blade Iai Slash, was a special swordsmanship technique where one long sword was split into two.
After the first blade was blocked, a small katana hidden in the left hand would speed up for a second strike.
Poof! A cloud of smoke.
Hatake Shoichi, who had been split in two by the Crossed-Blade Iai Slash, turned into a puff of white mist.
Shoichi's Shadow Clone had successfully taken his place as the target of the kill.
Having dodged a bullet, Hatake Shoichi gasped for air.
By using the Shadow Clone and the psychological deterrence of the Hatake Style swordsmanship, he had defeated this powerful samurai with "not-so-samurai-like methods."
"You... you have no martial honor..."
With blood gushing out, Ogawa Uemon found it difficult to speak.
At this moment, a giant Ninja dog was biting his neck from behind.
His left hand, which still held the small katana, was being bitten by a strange Ninja dog wearing glasses.
Ever since Shoichi fell into the ambush and saw Yakushi Nonou and Uchiha Hezi fall to the level below, Hatake Shoichi hadn't relaxed for a single moment.
No matter how afraid he was this time, he didn't experience the same situation as during the last war against the Sand Ninja, where he was trembling and unable to act.
Having gone through life-and-death tests and arduous training, Hatake Shoichi was thankful for the first time that he was a Ninja and not a samurai.
To land a hit on his opponent, he had even summoned the giant Ninja dog [Green] and the Ninja dog [Akira], who possessed innate night vision.
Under these circumstances, Ogawa Uemon, who only knew swordsmanship, lost in a deeply frustrating way.
Hatake Shoichi leaned on his sword, panting.
"Heh,'samurai,' huh? Times have changed!"
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