Footsteps clattered closer, and thirteen or fourteen figures emerged from around the corner.
The man leading them had a gloomy look about him, an X-shaped scar on his chin, and bandages covering one eye. His face was ashen, and the veins in his forehead throbbed.
It was none other than Pot Kage Shimura Danzō.
After leading the Root Ninja to the scene, Danzō surveyed the wreckage and the blood dripping from Hinosan's left hand as he stood in the middle of it.
The floodwater had receded, leaving only a large stretch of ground scoured clean.
Jiraiya and Gamakichi stood on either side of Hinosan and Asuma, shielding them. Blood ran from Asuma's left shoulder and ribs.
Though Hinosan was disheveled, his eyes were bright, filled with a cold killing intent!
Tachibana Muneshige waved his hand, ordering his subordinates to retreat.
"My lord, let me cover your retreat," said the man who had been wielding a sword, stepping up beside Tachibana Muneshige.
Tachibana Muneshige waved him off. "There's no need. You can't stop him. When you get back, tell the Chiyo Siblings I did all I could. Go." With that, Tachibana Muneshige took two steps forward.
"Then let me stay and cover your retreat, my lord."
The swordsman pulled a scroll from behind his back and tossed it to the last surviving ninja. "Hurry and go. Fall back according to Plan B. Someone will meet you over there."
Danzō's eyes were bloodshot, and he roared through clenched teeth:
"Stop putting on this touching master-and-servant act, you old relic.
"None of you are getting away.
"Come on!
"Let this old man see how much fight you've got left."
With that, Danzō gritted his teeth and began forming Hand Seals.
Jiraiya and Hinosan pulled Asuma back in a hurry. This was still the height of the Third Hokage and Shimura Danzō's power. Jiraiya could only be considered at the bottom of the top tier, while Danzō was at least mid-tier.
Tachibana Muneshige wasn't ruffled. He swept his long spear up and said:
"Youngster, let this old man teach you what Wind Release really is."
Tachibana Muneshige held the spear level in his right hand, then slid his left hand along it from the hilt toward the blade. A faint blue glow coated the weapon. He gripped it with both hands, and in an instant, he vanished.
The man who had been wielding a sword untied his headband, revealing short-cropped golden hair, a hooked nose, and slightly uneven eyes. His eyebrows were thin, and his appearance was somewhat androgynous.
He drew a Kunai from behind his back and blocked the Root Ninja who tried to give chase.
Jiraiya hurriedly pulled Hinosan and Asuma back. After handing them over to a Root Ninja on guard, he returned to attack the man blocking their way.
In the ninja world, there was no rule against ganging up on someone.
The instant he vanished, Tachibana Muneshige thrust his spear toward Danzō's face. Danzō turned aside, and the Hand Seals he'd been forming were complete.
Wind Release: Wind Blade.
A nearly invisible blade of wind shot toward Tachibana Muneshige. He planted his feet and leveled his spear, blocking Danzō's jutsu with the weapon in his hands.
After spitting out a blast of Wind Release, Danzō smoothly drew a Kunai from behind his back and stabbed at Tachibana Muneshige's right chest.
Tachibana Muneshige bent backward to evade and formed a Hand Seal with one hand.
Danzō's strike missed. He spun around and kicked at Tachibana Muneshige's shin.
Tachibana Muneshige completed his Hand Seal and shouted, "Ninja Art: Great Whirlwind!"
In a deeply awkward stance, Tachibana Muneshige touched the ground with the side of his short blade and spun with the wind, like a top fallen on its side.
The Chakra around his foot emitted a sharp, buzzing sound.
Danzō narrowed his eyes and leaped backward the instant he raised his leg. He quickly formed Hand Seals and shouted, "Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"
Tachibana Muneshige jumped back with the motion, dodging the oncoming blade of wind.
With a boom, the wind blade sliced through a row of houses before vanishing.
Amid the rumbling collapse of buildings, the two quickly switched positions and came to a stop.
Danzō and Hinosan had flattened most of a residential district.
In the blink of an eye, the two had exchanged a single round of attacks, mixing ninjutsu, Taijutsu, spear techniques, and weapon strikes. It was a thrilling, perilous clash.
Strangely, despite exchanging a full round of attacks, neither had made contact with the other.
The man in the rear was surrounded and had suffered two more injuries, but two Root Ninja were also writhing on the ground. It seemed they had traded wounds.
Another Root Ninja brought over the people who had been guarding Hinosan and Asuma.
Both were dead. One seemed to have died from a slit throat; the other appeared to have been stabbed through the heart with a Kunai.
Their bodies were intact and showed no signs of a struggle. It looked like they'd been killed before they even had a chance to fight back.
Neither Hinosan recognized them. It was the first time Hinosan and Asuma had been so close to death—and the first time they had seen a corpse.
The two stared blankly as the Root Ninja examined the bodies. Suddenly, Asuma threw himself onto one of them and burst into tears.
"Big Brother Xinye, Big Brother Xinye, wake up! Big Brother Xinye, sob..." Asuma clung to the man who had been stabbed through with a Kunai, crying until his nose ran and tears covered his face.
Hinosan felt only fear—the fear of death. Power... Hinosan cried out inwardly again and again. Power. If I don't have power, I'll surely die.
The Root Ninja examining the bodies patted Hinosan on the head. His gaze was unusually complicated as he looked at Asuma and the corpses. It was Shimura Yujin.
"Oto Go, take them back," he said, then hurried toward the man holding them off. In Yujin's retreating figure, Hinosan saw determination, hatred, and sorrow.
Shimura Danzō and Tachibana Muneshige were still facing off, but Danzō's presence grew stronger and stronger, while the sharp aura around Tachibana Muneshige seemed to fade.
"You're old. You should be enjoying your retirement at home. Why are you still risking your life out here?" Danzō said, trying to draw Tachibana Muneshige into conversation.
Tachibana Muneshige smiled ruefully. "That's right. I'm old, so the youngsters can't wait for me to hurry up and die."
He shook his spear, then rolled it between his hands. It split into two blades, a long one in his left hand and a short one in his right.
"But for the Land of Wind, these old bones can still cut down a junior like you."
He sheathed the short blade and charged Danzō with the long one in one hand.
Danzō pulled out a shuriken, spun it in his hand, and blew on it lightly.
The shuriken transformed into a large, razor-sharp Chakra shuriken, which he hurled at Tachibana Muneshige.
As he charged, Tachibana Muneshige formed a Hand Seal with one hand and vanished in a flash. When he reappeared, he was already in front of Danzō.
Danzō's pupils constricted, and cold sweat instantly dripped from his forehead.
He tried to dodge, but it was too late. There was a sharp ripping sound as a gash opened across Danzō's forearm, and blood gushed out.
Only then did Tachibana Muneshige's voice ring out: "Ninja Art: Flash!"
Tachibana Muneshige stepped forward with the motion, placed his left hand on the sheathed short blade, and shouted, "Ninja Art: Forward Slash!"
With a solemn expression, Tachibana Muneshige drew the short blade with his left hand. A cold crescent of light flew from his chest, heading straight for Danzō's neck.
Danzō had no time to dodge. The blade's light reflected in his sweat-soaked eyes, cold and lonely.
"My lord!"
"Lord Danzō, look out!"
"Clan Head, look out!"
At the last possible moment, a long, slender staff flew in from a house to the side and ahead, striking the incoming short blade.
The Third Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen, had arrived in full battle armor.
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