Chapter 24: Am I Not Being Sacrificed to the Heavens Yet?
The mist before them had yet to disperse. In a moment like this, a sensor-type ninja's skills were indispensable.
"Kagami, Fire Release! Eight o'clock, to your left!"
"Torifu, Multi-Size Jutsu, overhead!"
"Human Bullet Tank, three o'clock on the right!"
"Uchiha Shurikenjutsu, straight ahead!"
With each sharp command from Stelle, the suffocating pressure on the two young ninja immediately lessened.
Watching Stelle calmly and methodically direct the battle, Akimichi Torifu couldn't help but express his admiration. "Stelle is so cool and reliable. My impression of her was still stuck on that image of her chasing people down to beat them up back at the Academy."
Beside him, Uchiha Kagami's tone was exceptionally proud, as if he were the one receiving the praise.
"Of course," he said, a confident smirk playing on his lips. "Stelle is Lord Madara's disciple and a trustworthy comrade. If she wasn't, Hiruzen and Danzo wouldn't have been so insistent on teaming up with her back then."
The enemy chunin, unable to break through their coordinated defense and even losing their own men due to the flawless commands, grew enraged.
"Damn it, how are these brats so troublesome!"
"The opponent has a sensor! Take her out first!"
In an instant, the focus of the assault shifted entirely onto Stelle. Yet, she remained unhurried, even finding the space to have Kagami and Torifu coordinate their attacks, using the enemy as live-combat practice.
It was a familiar feeling. Back when she teamed up with Tobirama and Izuna, she was always the one in command. Of course, that was mainly because Tobirama's commands had a tendency to devolve into petty squabbles with Izuna.
After fending off another wave, Stelle was forced to turn her back to the front lines to support her two comrades.
To a chunin, this was a fatal opening.
At that moment, the water-style jonin moved. A katana materialized from the thick mist, and in the blink of an eye, its tip was inches from Stelle's back.
'Kagami is to the right… No, Kagami can't dodge that attack, which means I can't dodge either,' she calculated in a split second.
The jonin's attack was clever. If she used the Fire Cremation Technique to phase through the blade, Uchiha Kagami—who was currently pinned down by two other chunin directly behind her—would be run through instead.
This was a tactic aimed specifically at her, forcing a choice. With a silent sigh, Stelle abandoned the idea of using her technique.
Besides, this was the perfect opportunity to help Uchiha Kagami awaken his Sharingan. A Two-Tomoe was simply not enough; he needed at least a Three-Tomoe to have a decent chance of survival on his own.
The katana plunged into her shoulder, piercing straight through from back to front with a sickening squelch.
"Stelle!"
Uchiha Kagami let out a guttural roar, his eyes wide with horror. He tried to rush to her aid, but the other chunin, seeing the sensor ninja grievously wounded, pressed their attack with renewed vigor. Kagami was forced back on the defensive, his movements becoming frantic.
"Focus on the enemy! I'm fine!" Stelle's voice was sharp, cutting through his panic.
She took two steps back, using the momentum of the jonin's thrust, her hand clamping down on the cold steel of the blade protruding from her chest.
In the next instant, eerie purple flames erupted from her hand, climbing the katana like a ravenous serpent. They moved with impossible speed, engulfing the water-style jonin's entire body before he could even react.
The jonin let out a bloodcurdling scream and threw himself to the ground, rolling desperately. But once the flames took hold, they seemed to gain a life of their own, burning hotter and more intensely with every passing second. Stelle followed him down, driving a single, brutal punch into his chest that crushed his heart and silenced his screams for good.
The surrounding ninja, startled by the horrific fate of their leader, retreated in unison, pulling back to create distance.
This jonin had been their commander. They had never imagined that instead of their three targets dying, he would be the first to fall. The opponent's Kekkei Genkai was simply too terrifying.
Freed from the siege, Uchiha Kagami and Akimichi Torifu finally had a moment to breathe. They rushed to Stelle's side, flanking her protectively. Neither dared to relax, their gazes fixed solemnly on the six remaining ninja who now circled them warily.
For shinobi of their age and rank, surviving the coordinated assault of so many elite chunin—and even managing to kill a few—was a proof of their excellence.
But a battlefield is no place for accolades. Being too excellent only invited a more determined enemy.
"Stelle, are you okay?" Uchiha Kagami gripped his kunai so tightly his knuckles were white, his face a mask of agony.
Physical attacks were supposed to be useless against her, yet she had been wounded by that katana. She had been injured to protect him. If it weren't for his own weakness, how could she have been hurt? If only he were stronger…
The two tomoe in his eyes spun frantically. A stinging sensation spread through his pupils, as if some new power was trying to break through its limits. A third tomoe flickered into existence at the bottom of his iris, nearly completing the Three-Tomoe pattern, but at the last possible moment, it receded, fading back into nothing.
'Dammit, Uchiha Kagami, why did you have to fail at the final step?' Stelle complained wildly in her mind. 'Is it because I haven't been sacrificed to the heavens yet? Do I need to put on a whole death scene for you right here?!'
Outwardly, she gave a strained smile. "Don't worry. I have the healing scrolls Tobirama-sensei gave me. We'll be fine!"
She knelt on one knee and, with a sharp grunt, forcefully pulled the katana from her shoulder. Blood instantly blossomed across her purple combat uniform, staining it a deep crimson. She took several quick, ragged breaths, her face pale as cold sweat beaded on her forehead, a convincing performance of someone enduring immense pain.
She fumbled in her pouch and produced a scroll, unfurling it on the ground. As soon as the three of them placed their hands upon it, a warm, green chakra overflowed, enveloping them.
This kind of group healing scroll was truly a marvel. The color immediately returned to their faces. Across the clearing, the enemy ninja watched with expressions of shock and disbelief.
It was rumored that Senju Tobirama of Konohagakure could produce a type of group healing scroll that was highly sought after but impossible to find on the black market. They had always dismissed it as a tall tale, but they never expected to see it with their own eyes.
Suddenly, a violent roar echoed from the distant hillside. A colossal, blue skeletal frame appeared once more, accompanied by the faint sound of screams.
In a matter of moments, Uchiha Izuna broke through the encirclement. His Susanoo leaped across the battlefield, landing before them with a ground-shaking thud. After the skeletal frame dissipated, he moved with blinding speed, finishing off the remaining chunin with cold, efficient strikes.
"Follow me!" he commanded, his voice strained. He clearly intended to lead the three of them in a retreat.
The three other jonin who had been assisting him on the hillside had already made their decision: they would stay behind, using their lives to pave a path for their escape.
However, this was a killing blow aimed at Uchiha Madara's own brother. It was never going to be that simple.
Just as Izuna prepared to flee with the three genin, three figures who had been hiding in the shadows finally made their move.
Three elite jonin formed hand seals in perfect synchrony.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
It was a combination ninjutsu. The first technique turned the solid ground beneath their feet into a murky, bottomless swamp. The morass expanded rapidly, forcing the four of them to retreat again and again until their backs were to the lakeshore.
The second ninjutsu followed without pause. A massive sphere of water materialized, trapping all four of them in its center—Kirigakure's infamous Water Prison Technique.
The moment they were ensnared, the third ninja's jutsu descended. A bolt of pure lightning crackled down from the sky, aimed directly at the water prison.
Just as the lightning was about to make contact, Uchiha Izuna was forced to activate his Susanoo again. The blue giant roared to life, its raw power forcing the water prison open and shielding the three younger ninja within its spectral ribs.
His chakra, however, was nearly exhausted. The blue skeletal frame flickered a few times before vanishing completely.
Uchiha Izuna stood panting heavily, his body swaying. Wounds of various sizes now littered his body, the most severe of them deep enough to show bone. His traditional Uchiha clan uniform was completely drenched in blood and sweat.
In the time they had been stalled, new enemies emerged from the shadows. This time, there were no chunin among them. Ten ninja, all of them jonin with the hardened look of seasoned veterans, appeared, their faces grim.
The Daimyo had truly exhausted all his resources, finding so many powerful shinobi. Even after Izuna's Susanoo had cleared three waves of attackers, more enemies were only appearing now. This was a calculated strategy, designed to bleed Uchiha Izuna's chakra dry by sending in attackers in deliberate, measured batches.
Izuna struggled to steady his breathing, his vision blurring at the edges—a sign that his body was reaching its absolute limit. Feeling his own condition, his heart sank to the depths of despair.
His gaze flickered to the man in the black robe again. That person hadn't moved once, only issuing commands from behind the crowd. All of his weaknesses, all of his openings, had been expertly exploited by this mysterious figure.
It seemed he would not be returning to Konoha today. He lowered his head, taking a long, deep look at the three young shinobi beside him.
He had never expected that, in the end, the first of his generation to die protecting the village's young sprouts would be him.
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