Your Sacrifice Will Not Be in Vain

"Who are you?"

Glaring furiously at the two people besieging him, Shimura Ryoma demanded.

What had originally been a simple mission had unexpectedly turned into an ambush midway through.

It left him shocked and enraged.

Whoosh, whoosh—

The two people surrounding Shimura Ryoma did not respond. Kunai in hand, they lunged at him from both sides.

Their biting killing intent was like an icy wind, as though the temperature around them had suddenly plummeted.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Bullet!"

Feeling that killing intent, Shimura Ryoma's expression darkened.

Anyone capable of such intense killing intent was no ordinary ninja.

Glaring at the two attackers, he rapidly formed hand seals.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Clusters of breath shot from his mouth one after another.

They were highly compressed chakra, each with the power of a bullet, raining down on the two like machine-gun fire.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall."

One of the two quickly formed hand seals and pressed a hand to the ground.

With a rumble, a broad, thick earthen wall rose from the ground, blocking the breath-like projectiles. They struck it like machine-gun fire, leaving crater after crater across its surface.

Meanwhile, the other used the earthen wall to obscure Shimura Ryoma's vision and swiftly circled around from the side.

Reaching Shimura Ryoma's flank, he viciously slashed his kunai toward Shimura Ryoma's throat.

Clang!

Shimura Ryoma narrowly blocked the kunai aimed at his throat with his own, avoiding having his throat cut open.

However, his crisis was far from over.

The one who had used Earth Style had already darted in from the front and kicked at him.

Facing their combined assault, he hurriedly retreated.

Just then.

The eyes of the man whose kunai attack he had blocked suddenly turned red.

Within that crimson, three black tomoe spun rapidly.

"The Sharingan!"

His face filled with shock.

The Sharingan, the symbol of the Uchiha Clan. The ones who had ambushed them were members of the Uchiha Clan.

Though their relationship with the Uchiha Clan had always been exceptionally hostile, he had never imagined that the Uchiha Clan would dare to ambush and kill them. Were they not afraid of the village finding out?

At this moment, he had clearly forgotten something he himself had said not long ago—"As long as no one finds out, it's fine."

If today's ambush were discovered by the village, the Uchiha Clan would be in serious trouble.

But that was only if the village could discover it.

As long as they were not found out, nothing would be a problem.

"Not good!"

After all, he was an Elite Jonin. Though shocked that his attackers were members of the Uchiha Clan, he still made the most correct response.

He lowered his head to avoid the Sharingan's gaze, preventing the other side from using Sharingan genjutsu against him.

He absolutely could not fall into a genjutsu!

In this situation, if he fell into a genjutsu again, he would undoubtedly die.

Bang—

He successfully avoided the genjutsu cast by those Three-Tomoe Sharingan eyes, but he failed to evade the kick from the Earth Style user and was struck hard.

"Urgh—"

He grunted as he was sent flying, crashing into a tree that would take several people to encircle. The tree shook violently, shedding many leaves.

His chest, where he had been kicked, and his back, where he had struck the tree, burned with pain. His body felt as though it had been turned inside out.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

More than a dozen shuriken sped toward him.

He hurriedly dodged, but one shuriken still struck him.

A wound appeared on his body, blood seeping from it.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Claw Red."

Not giving Shimura Ryoma a chance to catch his breath, one of the two surrounding him rapidly formed hand seals and spat out a large mass of flames.

The flames scattered through the air, attaching themselves to one shuriken after another.

They became flower after flower of flame, attacking Shimura Ryoma from different directions.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Wave—"

Shimura Ryoma's expression changed at the sight of the dangerous flaming flowers rushing toward him.

His hands swiftly formed seals as he exhaled blade-like gusts of wind, blocking the dangerous flaming flowers.

Bang, bang, bang—

The dangerous flaming flowers were blocked one after another. Before he could breathe a sigh of relief, suddenly—

A figure with three spinning tomoe in his eyes burst from the ground beneath his feet.

He hurriedly dodged to the side, but the Sharingan's powerful perception caught his evasive movement.

The thrusting kunai suddenly swept sideways.

Slash—

A deep wound appeared on his body, stretching from his chest to his abdomen.

Blood splattered, leaving vivid red droplets scattered across the ground.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

Enduring the pain, he threw a large handful of shuriken at the man who had just cut him.

The man hurriedly dodged and blocked them. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he covered his wound and flashed backward, opening the distance between them.

"Ah—"

Suddenly, a scream rang out. From the corner of his eye, he looked toward where it had come from.

He immediately saw a kunai piercing Ichiro Shimura's chest.

Blood sprayed from his chest, and the light in his eyes dimmed.

"Damn it."

His expression was grim.

Ichiro Shimura was a genius of the Shimura Clan. Even if he could not become Clan Head in the future, he could still become an Elite Jonin like him and rise to the clan's upper ranks.

Yet now, he had died here, during what should have been an ordinary mission.

What made Shimura Ryoma's heart sink even further was that with Ichiro Shimura's death, two more people would be freed up to join the siege against him. His situation had grown even worse.

"Lord Ryoma, run!"

Just then, a furious shout rang out.

Shimura Sousuke, already severely wounded, faced an incoming attack without dodging. Instead, he rapidly formed hand seals.

Slash—

A kunai sliced open Shimura Sousuke's throat, but at the same time, he completed his hand seals.

"Wind Style: Storm."

Violent winds erupted around Shimura Sousuke, sweeping up dead leaves and sand.

Leaves and sand filled the sky, blocking everyone's vision. No one could see anyone else anymore.

"Don't worry. Your sacrifice will not be in vain!"

Overjoyed, Shimura Ryoma seized the moment when everyone's sight was obstructed and fled swiftly in one direction.

He had thought that today would surely end in disaster, yet Shimura Sousuke had actually used his life to create an opportunity for him to escape.

It seemed his usual efforts to win him over had not been wasted. At the critical moment, Shimura Sousuke had given him a chance to survive.

Run. He had to escape!

As long as he escaped and reported this to the village, the Uchiha Clan would be finished.

That man's sacrifice would not be in vain. The Uchiha Clan would be buried alongside him.

After running several hundred meters, he heard no pursuit behind him.

Joy rose in his heart. The enemy had likely gone in the wrong direction.

Though he had not completely escaped danger, his chances of getting away were high.

With the speed of an Elite Jonin, once he broke free of their encirclement, it would be difficult for them to catch up to him.

But in the next moment, his expression changed drastically.

Ahead of him stood a masked man dressed in black, waiting silently as though he had been there all along.

From the masked man in black, he sensed intense danger—greater danger than from either of the two people who had attacked him earlier.

Whoosh—

He changed direction, avoiding the masked man in black and sprinting off to one side.

But soon, cold sweat broke out over him, and his body turned icy.

With a single flash, the masked man in black intercepted him from the front. His eyes rapidly transformed into Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

But that was not the end.

The pattern of the three tomoe rapidly changed, becoming three tomoe embedded in a circular ring. Within each of the three sections divided by the tomoe was a black dot.