Chapter 249: The Three Missing-Nin Titans Split Up
Action followed decision.
For the first time in a long while, Ritsu left Tamae Shrine in his real body, leaving only several shadow clones to continue standing guard. If any disturbance arose, these shadow clones would relay the message to him.
After all, he couldn't maintain his Byakugan to monitor the entire village from start to finish. Though his chakra could sustain such an effort, his brain couldn't process such massive, complex information. Over time, it would genuinely cause headaches.
Walking across rooftops, Ritsu looked down at Konoha Village's streetscape, deeply experiencing the taste of desolation.
Few pedestrians walked the streets, all hurrying along. None showed the liveliness of an approaching New Year. Only children's playful laughter let one feel a hint of the holiday atmosphere.
Passing a barbecue restaurant near the Hokage Building, he saw the portly owner holding a broom and dustpan, sweeping garbage outside the shop entrance. That plump face symbolizing prosperity lacked its usual honest, kind smile. Instead, it bore deep worry.
Then—
"Lord Ritsu!"
The portly owner called out.
"Hmm?"
Ritsu stopped, looking somewhat puzzled at this owner who could barely be called an acquaintance—he'd eaten barbecue here many times, so he barely qualified as familiar.
He looked at this owner he hadn't seen in quite a while. "Owner, what is it?"
The portly owner moved swiftly, rushing to Ritsu's side in two steps. "Um, Lord Ritsu, I just wanted to ask—has our Lord Hokage been determined yet? The Fourth passed away two months ago. Hasn't the Fifth Hokage candidate been decided?"
Ritsu raised an eyebrow, asking with interest, "How does determining the Fifth Hokage candidate affect your business? People who need to eat will still come eat. Why do you care about this question?"
"Ah!"
The portly owner slapped his thigh hard, looking distressed. "How could it not matter? Lord Ritsu, you don't know us common people's hardships. Without a Lord Hokage covering us from above, everyone lacks a sense of security. Many timid people now avoid going out if they can help it. Moreover, the number of customers from outside the village has decreased considerably. Business gets worse every day."
Hearing the owner's complaints, Ritsu glanced at the shop.
The barbecue restaurant was indeed empty—not even a customer's shadow. Though the New Year approached and it wasn't mealtime, this barbecue restaurant stood near the Hokage Building, right on the street. It shouldn't be so deserted as to have no customers at all.
He could only say he'd underestimated the impact of the vacant Hokage position on the village.
The Kage was the village's backbone. These words might not be exaggerated at all, but realistic instead.
"Don't worry too much. I estimate it won't be long before the Fifth Hokage assumes office." Ritsu smiled, offering words of comfort to this aging portly owner.
Hearing Ritsu's answer, the owner's eyes practically glowed. He kept muttering, "That's good, that's good. Lord Ritsu, I'm really sorry for disturbing you. How about coming to my shop? I'll treat you to a meal?"
"Next time! I still have some business right now..."
Before Ritsu finished speaking, he stopped abruptly. Without a word, he activated his Byakugan. Veins bulged at his temples. His pure white eyes looked toward Konoha Hospital approximately two kilometers away.
Since seizing Nagato's extremely pure Uzumaki clan bloodline, his sensory abilities had become increasingly excellent. Even without the Byakugan, he could sense movements within about one kilometer around him. For larger chakra fluctuations, he could capture them from several to over ten kilometers away.
Of course, such sensing was quite vague.
For specific details, he still relied on his eyes.
And with one look, he saw a figure appearing at Konoha Hospital—none other than Konoha's S-rank missing-nin, one of the Legendary Sannin: Orochimaru.
This fellow had appeared outside a hospital room.
Inside the room was the still-recovering "Shisui of the Body Flicker" Uchiha Shisui.
"Quickly take your family to the shelter."
Ritsu said this to the portly owner.
The owner froze momentarily, then his expression changed dramatically. Almost tumbling and crawling, he rushed back into the barbecue restaurant. After hanging up the "closed" sign, he led his family and employees in a charge toward the nearest shelter.
Ritsu stood in place without moving.
Orochimaru most likely colluded with Tatsuhata. Orochimaru appearing in the village at this time might not be solely his own idea. Behind it, Tatsuhata's schemes likely lurked.
Therefore—
He couldn't panic.
Observe the situation first.
Orochimaru couldn't cause too much harm. Though Shisui had suffered massive ocular power depletion with both eyes nearly blind, a genius remained a genius. He wouldn't be so easily bitten through the throat by Orochimaru's fangs!
Besides, Konoha Hospital's defensive forces weren't weak.
Of course, he didn't forget to withdraw the scroll he carried, extracting from it a complete set of signal flares and launching them skyward. Though it was daytime, the winter sky appeared iron-gray, making the fireworks from the signal flares extremely conspicuous.
This was the highest-level emergency signal. Fewer than ten people in Konoha Village were qualified to possess such signal flares.
Therefore, no one would use this thing as a joke.
Soon, piercing alarm sounds rang out.
Throughout Konoha Village, villagers moved skillfully toward nearby shelters. ANBU, the Police Force, and ninja from various departments and clans appeared fully armed in streets and alleys.
Large military forces moved toward Konoha Hospital because Orochimaru had used an extremely ostentatious Summoning Technique, summoning a massive python at Konoha Hospital, blatantly announcing his return!
But Ritsu still didn't move, still standing quietly on the street waiting.
Orochimaru was definitely a diversion.
The Orochimaru in his memory wasn't someone who'd fight unprepared battles, much less someone who'd behave so ostentatiously, inviting concentrated enemy attacks.
Yet now Orochimaru displayed such behavior. Excluding the option that Orochimaru's brain had broken, only the option of a diversion remained!
This snake was deliberately luring Konoha's forces to converge on Konoha Hospital.
"Is the target Tamae Shrine?"
Ritsu muttered to himself, his brow furrowing.
Seeing through Orochimaru as bait was nothing. The key point was he couldn't guess where Tatsuhata would appear or what his true purpose was.
Was it Tamae Shrine, which held three Tailed Beasts?
Or... did he have another purpose?
Ritsu calculated mentally, but he still stood in place without moving. Though with his Heavenly Transfer Technique, reaching Orochimaru's side would be a matter of blinking.
But he didn't plan to waste this initial-kill surprise on Orochimaru, this fellow who was difficult to kill to the extreme. Perhaps his Heavenly Transfer Technique's initial surprise would be directly wasted on Orochimaru. He also couldn't guarantee his Sage Art: Nine Aspects Rotation Kill would definitely kill Orochimaru.
This snake's survival abilities were just that... inconceivable!
So he remained patiently waiting.
Sure enough, when the battle at Konoha Hospital raged intensely, one of his shadow clones stationed at Tamae Shrine disappeared. Memories instantly transmitted to his mind. The reanimated Madara had appeared at Tamae Shrine.
"Madara?"
Ritsu nearly couldn't resist using Heavenly Transfer to return to Tamae Shrine. But a thought flashed through his mind, and he hesitantly stopped.
The reanimated Madara was also an unkillable existence.
And Tatsuhata, the main culprit, still hadn't shown himself. He suspected Tamae Shrine likely wasn't Tatsuhata's true objective either. Like Orochimaru, the reanimated Madara was probably another smokescreen.
After a moment's hesitation, he steeled his resolve and still stood in place without moving.
Moreover, because three Tailed Beasts were confined in the shrine, not only did Ritsu as clan head maintain watch day and night, but clan jonin also rotated guard duty, always maintaining six elite jonin working together.
If it was only the reanimated Madara, his many shadow clones and the clan jonin joining forces could still hold him off.
His shadow clones could also deploy sage techniques. Apart from their fragile ability to withstand attacks, they truly didn't differ much from the real body in other aspects.
Therefore, let his shadow clones and clan jonin work together to entangle the reanimated Madara!
They definitely couldn't hold out long-term, but enduring for a short period shouldn't pose problems.
After making this decision, he restrained his own chakra fluctuations as much as possible. Moving nimbly, he leaped onto the rooftop terrace of the nearby barbecue restaurant. Standing here like a shadow clone, he used his Byakugan to oversee the overall situation.
Then—
About one minute passed.
Another change occurred.
The tiger-masked Tatsuhata suddenly appeared in the Hokage Building.
Though after the Interrogation Department office building tragedy, defensive forces at various critical department office buildings throughout the village had been further strengthened, clearly such strengthening held little meaning for S-rank missing-nin like Tatsuhata and Orochimaru. They still came and went freely.
Tatsuhata, appearing in the Hokage Building, stood directly outside Hiruko's office door.
He waved his hand. Pale command threads surged forth, outlining five full figures: First Hokage, Second Hokage, Third Kazekage, Fourth Kazekage, Third Raikage.
"The target is Sensei?"
Ritsu frowned, unable to understand.
Why target Hiruko?
Was it because Hiruko, as Hokage Advisor, was Konoha Village's current de facto helmsman?
Or... was there some other reason?
His mind filled with confusion, but he remained relatively calm.
Hiruko wasn't easy prey. Though after becoming Hokage Advisor his edge had been restrained, this didn't mean his blade had dulled. On the contrary—he hadn't let a single day pass without developing his own strength.
Therefore, Hiruko wasn't so easily dealt with.
The next second, the Hokage Building's "skull" was lifted again. Hiruko's Advent of a World of Flowering Trees burst through the ceiling and surrounding walls, making the battlefield quite open.
"Uchiha Tatsuhata?!"
Hiruko looked at the attacker appearing before him in surprise, his brow also furrowing tightly, his mind filled with confusion. Yet he shouted sternly, "You have some nerve, daring to cause trouble in the village again. Do you really think no one can handle you?"
"Isn't that the case?"
Tatsuhata appeared confident and composed. "The Hokage Building currently has hardly any decent experts. At Konoha Hospital, Orochimaru is holding back Jiraiya and the Uchiha clan members. At the Hyuga clan's Tamae Shrine, Madara is pinning down White Yaksha."
"Tell me, who else can you count on to deal with me? You have no one left to use, Hokage Advisor Hiruko!"
Tatsuhata's voice carried intense satisfaction.
Today's operation was carefully planned by him, Madara, and Orochimaru. Based on intelligence about Konoha Village gathered by the White Zetsu, they'd formulated this three-pronged action plan.
Orochimaru was responsible for attacking Konoha Hospital to attract the attention of Jiraiya and the Uchiha clan's strong members. The reanimated Madara was responsible for directly facing the most troublesome White Yaksha Hyuga Ritsu—not seeking victory, just needing to pin down Ritsu so he couldn't look elsewhere.
While he, Uchiha Tatsuhata, was responsible for hunting Hiruko.
They'd restrained their greed, not planning to capture the master-student pair Hiruko and Ritsu in one sweep. Instead, adhering to a strategy of easy before difficult, they prepared to first eliminate the weaker Hiruko.
Afterward, White Yaksha could be dealt with slowly.
"So your actual target is me?"
Hiruko's gaze turned grave.
"Correct."
Tatsuhata answered frankly. Anyway, in his view, today's plan proceeded extremely smoothly. Formidable characters like Jiraiya and Ritsu were separately held back. This Hokage Advisor Hiruko currently had no capable personnel guarding him.
With his abilities, finishing off Hiruko posed no problem.
Today was Hiruko's death day!
As he waved his hand again, the replica Third Raikage instantly charged out. Lightning surrounded his entire body. His right thumb curled, four fingers pressed together like a spear, stabbing fiercely toward Hiruko.
This was the Third Raikage's signature technique—
Hell Stab: Four-Finger Nukite!
He habitually used this move to break through enemies from the front. And as he continuously accelerated, he would gradually reduce the number of fingers, deploying Three-Finger Nukite, Two-Finger Nukite, and the strongest One-Finger Nukite!
His Hell Stab: One-Finger Nukite was thus called the "Strongest Spear," reportedly capable of directly confronting Tailed Beast Balls fired by Tailed Beasts!
At this moment, the replica Third Raikage deployed this ultimate technique!
This thrust with astonishing penetrating power struck Hiruko's... bones!
Pale white bones emerged grimly, blocking for an instant. Though the extremely hard bones were broken, with this instant's obstruction, Hiruko's entire body erupted with steam. Using Boil Release, he quickly retreated to open distance.
At the same time—
Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!
Ninja Art: Confusion Technique!
Surrounding Konoha ninja attacks descended like violent storms toward Tatsuhata. This was the Hokage Building. As Konoha Village's "brain," no matter how empty, the number of jonin here remained considerable.
At this moment, without needing anyone's command, they spontaneously began acting, coordinating with Hokage Advisor Hiruko to oppose this S-rank missing-nin Tatsuhata.
However—
There was a reason the Fourth Hokage hadn't chosen to fight Tatsuhata inside Konoha Village. Tatsuhata wasn't an enemy who could be dealt with by piling up jonin numbers.
The replica First Hokage deployed Advent of a World of Flowering Trees with one move. A forest far more extensive than the one Hiruko created appeared in Konoha Village's center, easily swallowing the numerous jonin's attacks. Like pebbles falling into the ocean, they couldn't even create proper waves!