Naruto: Choosing from Birth Chapter 45

Mikoto slowly turned to look at the woman.

"Don't, don't kill me. I was captured and brought to this mountain stronghold."

The woman backed away in panic.

"Sorry, I frightened you. Hurry and leave this stronghold."

After speaking, Mikoto turned and walked toward the door. Outside, gongs and drums were already sounding as all the Mountain Bandits erupted into commotion.

Just as Mikoto turned away, the woman's face suddenly twisted into a vicious grimace.

She drew a sharp dagger from her long boot and lunged at Mikoto.

A Shuriken flew in from outside the door and pierced straight through the woman's forehead.

Uchiha Cheng rushed over after hearing the noise, arriving just in time to resolve Mikoto's crisis.

Mikoto turned back, staring in disbelief at the woman who had fallen to the ground with a dagger in hand and a savage expression on her face.

"Never trust anyone too easily on the battlefield, especially women and children." Cheng gently wiped the blood from Mikoto's face.

He then turned and leaped into the mass of Mountain Bandits who had assembled and surged toward them.

"Just a few little brats dare attack our stronghold?"

"Brothers, get them! Chop them into pieces!"

"Heh heh, kill the men. As for the girl, I'll make her wish she were dead!" roared a Mountain Bandit wielding a huge cleaver.

Hearing this, Uchiha Cheng lowered the kunai he had been about to throw and abandoned the ninjutsu he had been preparing to use. Instead, he drew Duan Xue, the famed blade that sliced through iron like mud.

Three-Tomoe Sharingan, activate!

Like the black tiger from the legends of Black Tiger Mountain brought back to life, he charged head-on into the crowd with brutal force. Every strike sent several fine heads flying, and wherever he went, waves of blood surged forth.

From the surrounding buildings to the council hall rising step by step above them, blood flowed into rivers in mere moments.

The leader, the only ninja among them, had planned to wait until Cheng had exhausted his strength before making his move.

The moment he stepped out of the council hall, preparing to unleash Water Release, Duan Xue came flying with crackling lightning and viciously nailed him to a hall beam.

Torrential rain poured down.

Mikoto and Annai stood blankly in the plaza below, staring at the youth standing at the highest point amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Dark clouds hung over the stronghold, while fierce flashes of lightning shimmered above his head.

His eyes gradually became blurred by the rain...

In this battle.

Uchiha Cheng killed: 205 enemies.

Anna Tachibana killed: 3 enemies.

Mikoto Uchiha killed: 1 enemy.

"Do you intend to shoulder the entire hell all by yourself?"

Rain mixed with tears as the two-tomoe Sharingan slowly spun in Mikoto Uchiha's eyes...

Team Growth Arc Complete!*

In the blink of an eye, a year and a half passed. Konoha's delegation camp in the Land of Rain.

Though it was already late at night, the entire camp was brightly lit and filled with excitement.

Everyone was thrilled by the news that they were about to reach an agreement and form a strategic alliance with the Land of Rain.

Tomorrow was the day they would formally sign the agreement. This negotiation had dragged on for a very long time.

The Land of Rain lay at the junction of the Land of Fire, the Land of Earth, and the Land of Wind. Rich in resources and abundant in water, it had always been a hotly contested strategic location.

Under the leadership of Hanzo of the Salamander, the Shinobi World Demigod, Amegakure possessed formidable strength, no weaker than the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

It was only because of its awkward geographical position and the collective suppression of the three nations that it had ended up surviving in the cracks between them.

Being able to establish a strategic alliance before the Land of Earth and the Land of Wind was undoubtedly a tremendous achievement for Konoha.

Thus, Asakura Senju, the head of the delegation, was too excited to sleep through the night as he waited for dawn and the final agreement.

Thud!

Suddenly, the sound of something falling rang out in the camp.

Although it vanished in an instant, Asakura Senju quickly caught it in the stillness of the deep night.

Something was wrong!

It was too quiet!

Even the insects that had never stopped chirping after nightfall had fallen silent.

"Enemy attack!"

Asakura roared, instantly alerting the entire camp. Explosions from all kinds of ninjutsu and Exploding Tags immediately erupted in rapid succession.

Asakura Senju swiftly threw open his tent flap. Shadowy figures filled the camp, and several kunai shot toward him.

He leaped from the tent. "I am Konoha's envoy. By doing this, you are making enemies of all Konoha."

"Konoha? Konoha ninja are exactly who we're here to kill!" came a faint reply from the other side.

Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!

An enormous water dragon roared as it charged toward him.

Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!

A massive earthen wall instantly rose from the ground, blocking the water dragon's attack.

"Captain! Run! Go to Konoha's border and find reinforcements. I'll hold them off!" A battered Konoha ninja ran over from the other side of the earthen wall.

At this point, the more than twenty Konoha ninja in the camp were almost all dead or wounded.

"No, I'll stay. Oda, you go back! I'm the one who can hold them off!"

"Stop wasting time. I'm covered in injuries—I can't run far anyway. After you return, help me take care of my little sister." As he spoke, Oda took out a kunai covered in Exploding Tags and held it over his body. He had clearly resolved to die.

"Oda... Fine! You are a hero of Konoha!"

Asakura Senju understood that time was of the essence. Though he was in immense pain, as a ninja, he had to make a swift decision.

He immediately turned, preparing to leave as quickly as possible.

A sharp kunai pierced directly through his back and out his chest.

Asakura's entire body instantly stiffened. He turned back in disbelief. "Oda, you..."

Tears streamed down Oda's face. "I'm sorry, Captain! For my sister, I... I have no other choice."

By the time Hanzo of the Salamander arrived with a large force of Rain Ninja, all he found was the destroyed Konoha camp.

Nearly every member of Konoha's delegation had died here. Only the bodies of Captain Asakura Senju and Oda Nishimura were missing.

"Who did this? Investigate this thoroughly!"

Hanzo was furious. As someone so cautious that he arranged for a large number of trusted subordinates to guard him every time he slept,

he was not enraged because Konoha ninja had been killed, but because someone had managed to make such a huge move right under his nose.

"Also, immediately strengthen the defenses along Konoha's border. Even if we jumped into the River of Forgetfulness, we probably wouldn't be able to wash this clean."

At dawn the next day, Oda, covered in wounds once more, staggered into Konoha's border. Having lost too much blood, he was already on the verge of death.

When Yuji Senju, the Konoha commander stationed at the Land of Rain border, arrived, Oda said only one sentence:

"The delegation negotiations broke down. We were attacked on the way back. To cover our retreat, the captain voluntarily lured the enemy away. His whereabouts are unknown."

Then he breathed his last.

Yuji Senju slowly rose to his feet. Dark clouds seemed to gather across his somewhat aged face as he raised his right hand high, then slowly clenched it into a fist.

Behind him, more than a thousand Konoha ninja rapidly crossed the border into the Land of Rain like a swarm of locusts.

"I just received word. All of you, stay sharp and remain vigilant. A unit will arrive soon to relieve us," the Rain Ninja captain shouted at the Land of Rain border.

"Yes!" More than three hundred subordinates answered in perfect unison.

"Report, Captain! They're here! So fast!" Suddenly, a Rain Ninja pointed behind the captain.

The captain turned to look. Sure enough, a force of roughly a thousand people was rapidly approaching from Konoha's direction.

He then turned around and slapped that subordinate so hard that he spun around several times on the spot.

"Idiot! Does that look like our relief unit? Those are Konoha ninja! All units, prepare for battle!"