Supporting Their Comrades and Coming Under Attack

Several days later, Sen and his group successfully captured seven outlying islands.

They immediately set out for their ultimate target—Lookout Island.

After fighting side by side for all this time, Uchiha Chizuru had come to fully respect Sen.

He had privately calculated that without Sen's unified command, their group of rookies would have lost at least a third of their number against the ruthless Mist Ninja.

It seemed the clan's future might truly rest with the ten-year-old boy and Fugaku.

As Sen was thinking this over, he turned and called out, "Everyone, we're already a day behind schedule! Pick up the pace and head to the main island to support them!"

"Yes, sir!"

The people behind him responded quickly. They now trusted Sen completely.

They quickened their pace, and four or five hours later, they finally caught sight of Lookout Island—or, more precisely, the giant serpents above it.

Three enormous serpents coiled over Lookout Island. Every so often, they swooped down and lashed their tails at the Mist Ninja below, shaking the entire island.

"Those are Orochimaru's summoned beasts! The main battle has begun!" Jiraiya immediately assessed the situation. "Come on, let's go support them!"

With that, he rowed even faster.

However, the Uchiha behind them were already spent after their recent burst of speed.

They were nothing like Sen's three-person squad. Kushina had the vast chakra reserves of the Uzumaki Clan, while Minato was skilled at precise chakra control and still had some chakra left.

As for Sen, he had both.

Sen turned to the Uchiha and said, "Rest on the boat for half an hour! Then head up!"

A trace of helplessness crossed the Uchiha's faces, but they all nodded.

The nonstop fighting had already exhausted them, and forcing their way into the battle now would clearly be unwise. What weighed even more heavily on their minds was that Sen seemed to be leaving them behind for a while—

The boy who had protected them all this way was the last person they wanted to lose as their support right now.

Sen had no time to concern himself with their feelings. He and Jiraiya, Minato, and the others quickly made their way onto the island. The moment their feet touched the beach, Jiraiya began sensing the area.

When the chakra readings came back, even he frowned. "This island is only a few square kilometers, yet there are more than a dozen battle zones. Judging by the readings, there are at least forty Mist Ninja on the island!"

The island was shrouded in dense fog, so thick that visibility was only a few dozen meters.

As everyone frowned and considered which direction to support first, Minato suddenly raised his hand and pointed into the fog. His voice turned grave. "Look over there—"

A figure leaped onto the giant serpent's head, drew a slender blade, and plunged it into one of the serpent's eyes.

As the serpent thrashed wildly in pain, the figure pulled out the blade and hurled it at the other eye. Once the attack hit, the shadow retrieved the slender blade and leaped straight into the fog, leaving the serpent to writhe in agony.

Snakes weren't supposed to have vocal organs.

But as the four watched the serpent thrash about, smashing its head until it was bloody, and still not stop, they understood just how much pain it was in.

All of them seemed to feel the giant serpent's roar deep in their hearts.

A few minutes later, another figure climbed onto the serpent's head.

"That's Orochimaru. Come on, let's support him!" Jiraiya recognized the long-haired silhouette in the moonlight and gave the order at once.

As the four ran toward Orochimaru, they watched him draw a katana and grip it in both hands.

Perhaps it was because the serpent was swaying so violently, but Sen thought Orochimaru's hands were trembling.

After hesitating for a moment, Orochimaru plunged the katana down. The giant serpent opened its jaws wide, then collapsed.

BOOM!

As the serpent hit the ground, Sen and the others reached Orochimaru.

"Senior Orochimaru, we're here to support you!"

Hearing this, Orochimaru pulled his katana from the serpent's head and pointed its tip at them. His eyes were filled with such hatred that it seemed he might turn it on the four who had come to help. "Give me the password."

Only after they exchanged the password did Orochimaru's expression relax. He quickly said, "There are more enemies than we expected. There are at least twenty Mist Ninja still on Lookout Island. Your arrival will help ease the pressure."

As he spoke, he sealed the serpent's corpse in a Space Scroll and murmured to himself:

"This snake survived so many S-rank missions with me. I never thought... it would die on this wretched island..."

Kushina watched, feeling a little saddened too. "I never thought that even someone as cold as Senior Orochimaru would grieve for his summoned beast."

"Let's not dwell on that right now. We have a lot of people fighting the enemy. We should go support them first," Sen interjected. He had just surveyed the area with his Sharingan. "The ninja who killed the giant serpent earlier was probably Kushimaru Kuriarare. Be careful—he might ambush us."

Hearing this, Orochimaru pulled himself together and gave an order. "Your squad will support the Hyuga squad on the far left. They've been fighting for a long time and need help."

The four immediately set off. They soon found two surviving ninja behind a hill.

The Jonin leading the squad gasped as he reported, "Only two of our four teammates are left. The enemy seems to be very good at ambushing people in the fog. Yucang had the Byakugan, but he was still killed.

"The enemy's skills are strange. I have to avenge Yucang, too. I'll go with you... Ngh..."

He tried to stand, but a cry of pain escaped him.

"Captain, that leg wound needs treatment, or you could end up crippled!" His teammate hurried over to stop him.

"Go back and wait for good news. I'm a student of the Hokage, after all—Jiraiya!" Jiraiya said with a grin, placing a hand on each of their shoulders.

The two nodded and described the four enemies' appearances before beginning their retreat.

"Let's go." After taking in their report, Jiraiya gave the order at once. "The enemy has just been through a battle too. This is a good chance to catch them!"

Several dozen minutes later, the four reached the site of the earlier battle.

Halfway through the jungle, Sen peered through his Sharingan and said, "They seem to be heading this way. A four-person squad—that must be them."

Jiraiya lifted his fingertips from the ground and nodded. "There are indeed four of them. The earlier battle doesn't seem to have affected them much."

"This could be troublesome," Minato added. "They just finished a battle, yet they're already heading straight for our position. They must have something up their sleeves. From what we've heard, one of them is especially skilled at ambushes."

"Then why don't we do the opposite?" Kushina looked at Sen and Minato and suggested, "Aren't you two good at ambushing people too?"

Sen thought for a moment, then said:

"Minato and I will each take care of one of the men in the rear. Jiraiya, you deal with their leader and that Jonin. Kushina, you provide support..."

Sen hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly heard one of the Mist Ninja say, "There's a Konoha squad ahead. Take them out!"

Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique!

A thick fog immediately surged toward them from the other side.

"What's going on? A sensory ninja's range shouldn't be this long!" Jiraiya watched the fog draw nearer, gestured for everyone to gather, and hurriedly asked.