Chapter 60: What if it's Poisoned?
I used to be a part of the Konoha Military Police Force. I dreamed of making a name for myself, of slaughtering our enemies with these eyes.
But this... this is war.
Most of the time, I'm the stronger one. I've sent countless enemies to the underworld. But even in death, it's hard to ignore the look in their eyes.
"Fugaku, are you alright?"
Tetsu Uchiha gently shook his shoulder, pulling him back from his thoughts.
"I'm fine," Fugaku said, shaking his head. "Just got a little distracted."
But Tetsu didn't let go. "Fugaku," he said, "your Sharingan is active."
Fugaku finally realized the strangeness in his eyes. The three tomoe, which had been spinning rapidly, slowly came to a halt, and his eyes returned to their normal black.
"Jiraiya should have drawn them away by now. It's time for us to move."
A week ago, Jiraiya had devised a plan. They would harass the Stone Village's supply lines along the Grass-Rain border. Under the attacks of Konoha's elite ninja, the Stone's transport units had suffered heavy losses, severely hampering their war preparations on the front lines. In response, the Stone had increased their efforts to eliminate Jiraiya's unit, but his forces were small and highly skilled (the weak were already dead). They were not an easy target.
This time, their luck was good. They had found another Stone transport convoy. But it could also be a trap.
After observing the situation, Jiraiya had made a decision. He would lead the main force in a feint, drawing away any hidden Stone pursuers, while the Uchiha squad, with their mastery of Fire Release, would attack the remaining convoy with the objective of destroying the supplies.
He couldn't draw all of them away, but by showing himself, he had managed to lure a significant number of the Stone ninja away. Now, it was time for the Uchiha squad to make their move.
Fugaku checked his ninja tool pouch and looked at his clansmen and teammates. "Yashiro, Inabi, Tetsu. Get ready."
The three Uchiha nodded silently and, along with Fugaku, crouched down and began to run.
The four of them charged forward, reached a cliff, and leaped off, their figures silhouetted against the sun.
Below them was the Stone transport convoy. Hearing the noise, the guards looked up, but their vision was blinded by the glare of the sun, giving the Uchiha a brief window of opportunity.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" x4
Their objective was to destroy the supplies, so all four of them used this low-level but wide-ranging jutsu. The small fireballs were not very powerful, but they were difficult to dodge completely, especially for the clumsy transport carts. Several of them were quickly set ablaze.
Fugaku landed and threw a volley of kunai, taking down the civilian porters. Stone ninja began to appear from all sides, but from the panicked looks on their faces, it seemed they had been caught off guard and were undermanned.
"It seems Jiraiya-senpai's plan was a success. There aren't many of them left."
Fugaku dodged a thrown shuriken. His three-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, and with a single glance, he caught the shuriken-thrower in a genjutsu. He then stabbed a kunai into the ground. A Stone ninja, who had been about to emerge from the earth to attack him, was impaled. Fugaku then unleashed a "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" at the enemy still caught in the illusion.
Though his Sharingan didn't have x-ray vision, the slight tremor of the ground before the enemy emerged was as clear as day to him.
Though he was surrounded, Fugaku remained calm. These were just Chunin-level ninja. With the help of his Sharingan, they were not difficult to deal with. The other three Uchiha were in a similar situation. The clansmen sent to support Jiraiya were all skilled fighters, with at least a two-tomoe Sharingan. The clan was hoping to re-establish the Uchiha's fearsome reputation on the battlefield. After years of running the Konoha Military Police Force, the ninja world had begun to forget what the name "Uchiha" meant.
Soon, the remaining resistance was mopped up. Their mission was more than half complete. All they had to do now was rendezvous with Jiraiya and help him take care of the Stone ninja he had drawn away, and it would be a complete victory.
After finishing off the enemies around him, Fugaku turned to help Yashiro, throwing a few kunai from a distance.
Then, his brow furrowed. He exchanged a subtle look with the other clansmen.
The last of the Stone ninja was killed. The civilian porters had all fled. The only thing left of the convoy were a few burning carts.
The four Uchiha appeared to be cleaning up the battlefield, but they were actually repositioning themselves.
Suddenly, all four of them unleashed a jutsu at an empty patch of ground.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!" x4
Four fireballs, from four different directions, converged on the same spot.
Four earthen walls rose up to block the massive fireballs.
"Impressive," a voice said. "Let me guess. You noticed the visual anomaly in the trajectory of the kunai? The observational skills of the Sharingan are as legendary as they say."
Fugaku looked closer. Several figures in strange masks appeared from behind a shimmering, transparent barrier. They were all wearing the same uniform, but it wasn't the uniform of the Stone.
A barrier ninjutsu? Fugaku thought. And the pattern on the mask... is that a mahjong tile?
The leader of the group, a short man wearing a "One of Circles" mask, was the one who had spoken.
"Who are you?" Tetsu Uchiha asked, his voice low.
"We were hired by the Stone Village to protect their supply lines," the masked man said. "You can think of us as mercenaries."
He walked over to one of the carts and put out the flames. "Of course," he continued, "we were only hired to protect the supplies. Repelling or killing enemy ninja was not part of the contract. That's a different price. So, I have a proposal. You've killed enough of the Stone ninja. You can retreat and rendezvous with your comrades. Do whatever you want with the ones that were drawn away. I, on the other hand, have to stay here, put out the fires, and make sure these supplies get to the front lines. So, let's just go our separate ways. What do you say?"
Yashiro Uchiha sneered. "Such arrogance!" he said, throwing a kunai at the short man.
The man simply reached out and caught the kunai in his hand.
Yashiro's eyes widened. "He caught it bare-handed!"
Even with the Sharingan's ability to track the kunai's trajectory, the body's reaction time usually wasn't fast enough to catch it bare-handed. Most would choose to block or dodge.
This man... his taijutsu was strong, and his reflexes were incredibly fast.
The masked man's feat had stunned everyone. He was holding the kunai, about to say something, when one of his teammates suddenly appeared behind him and knocked it out of his hand.
"My lord! What if it was poisoned? How could you just catch someone's kunai like that?!"
The man in the "One of Circles" mask—Dana—slumped his shoulders.
He has a point.
"Sorry," he said. "I could see it and I could keep up, so I just caught it instinctively. It won't happen again."
The subordinate retreated, and Dana turned back to the four wary Uchiha.
But the atmosphere had already become a bit strange.