Things Had Settled

The moment Shinnosuke arrived, he spotted the tiger being stabbed in the back with a kunai by Fūen from far away,

In an instant, his eyes blazed with fury. His speed surged once more, and the shuriken in his hand flew out.

"Shuriken Shadow Clone!"

Thousands of shuriken shot toward Fūen. This technique had been developed by Hiruzen Sarutobi using Shadow Clones. Though they were called Shadow Clones, every shuriken was actually capable of inflicting damage,

As Hiruzen Sarutobi's son, Shinnosuke had naturally learned the technique as well.

Feeling the killing intent rushing toward him, Fūen's expression shifted. He hurriedly dodged to the side, but he was still a step too slow. Several shuriken cut into his leg, and he let out a muffled groan.

There was no denying that Shinnosuke was powerful. Even with so many shuriken flying at once, he could control each one with precision, and not a single one hit the tiger.

Taking advantage of the opening, several Anbu members landed beside the tiger.

"Captain, you're finally here." The tiger gave a bitter smile and sighed in relief. He could hold on no longer and toppled straight backward.

Eagle caught him in time, opened his clothes, and examined the wound. As he treated it with the Mystical Palm Technique, he said, "His injuries are severe. He needs treatment as soon as possible."

"Let me." Tsunade suddenly spoke. Then, in front of everyone, she placed Katsuyu on Eagle's back, and Katsuyu quickly got to work.

"Thank you," Shinnosuke said.

"You were injured saving me. It's nothing," Tsunade replied. "The question now is, what do we do with him?" She pointed at Fūen.

With the Anbu's arrival, the tables had turned. Fūen was now the one at a disadvantage.

Seeing everyone's attention fixed on him, Fūen cursed his bad luck. How had these people arrived so quickly? At this rate, the enemy must have been watching their every move.

Besides, where are the reinforcements? he wondered, his expression darkening.

"If you're thinking about the Chunin who went out to call for help earlier, I'm afraid I have bad news. He's already dead." The tiger was sharp-witted. One look at Fūen's expression told him what the man was thinking.

Fūen's heart sank. He discreetly took a few steps back.

At this point, he understood that killing Tsunade in front of these people was impossible. Shinnosuke alone was already a formidable opponent, let alone the other elite Chunin.

He sighed inwardly.

This had been a perfect opportunity to deal a serious blow to Konoha, but Takigakure had failed to seize it. They hadn't expected Konoha's reinforcements to arrive so quickly.

After they sent the others back, Takigakure would likely have to suffer a heavy loss before the Land of Fire's anger could be appeased.

He gave Tsunade a long look without saying a word, then quietly withdrew...

One of the Anbu members started to pursue him, but Shinnosuke stopped him.

"This is Takigakure. We're not strong enough to take on an entire village," Shinnosuke said evenly. "Our mission was to rescue Jonin Tsunade. We've achieved our objective, so there's no need to cause more trouble."

"Leave the rest to the daimyo to decide."

Hearing this, the eager Anbu members finally calmed down.

Shinnosuke turned to Tsunade. "Jonin Tsunade, are you all right?"

Tsunade waved her hand. "I'm not dead yet."

Given her hot temper, leaving just like this felt far too humiliating. After all, she had spent nearly two days in hiding. But she also knew that the few of them were still too green to take on all of Takigakure.

"Jonin Tsunade, did you see someone..." Kazuki Utsuki finally couldn't help asking. As soon as he arrived, he had searched the area, but he hadn't seen the familiar figure.

And after seeing the devastation left by the battle between Sora Uchiha and Kakuzu not long ago, unease had risen in his heart.

Shinnosuke glanced at him but said nothing. His gaze was strangely deep.

After hearing Kazuki Utsuki's description, Tsunade smiled. "Don't worry. That kid isn't dead. I hid him."

As she spoke, she led everyone to the place where Sora Uchiha was hiding.

Seeing the boy lying unconscious and covered in wounds, Kazuki Utsuki's eyes filled with concern. He hurriedly checked his injuries, and only after confirming that Sora was still breathing did he let out a sigh of relief and pick him up.

Shinnosuke took in Kazuki Utsuki's expression. His lips moved, but he said nothing. He knew a little about Kazuki Utsuki's personal circumstances, so he understood why Kazuki cared so much about Sora Uchiha.

But when he saw how badly Sora Uchiha was injured, he suddenly thought of the cave he had seen earlier, which hadn't had a single intact spot. At first, he had assumed Tsunade was responsible. But seeing Sora Uchiha like this, an absurd guess suddenly occurred to him.

Could that kind of destructive power have come from Sora Uchiha? But he's so young...

He remembered the mission his father had assigned him:

To train Sora Uchiha while also recruiting him, and make him someone they could trust.

And now, he suddenly realized that even though Sora Uchiha had been in the Anbu for over a month, he didn't seem to know the boy at all.

He felt an odd sensation, but this wasn't the time to think about it. He could only put it aside for now and discuss it after they returned to Konoha.

"Jonin Tsunade, can you move freely?" Shinnosuke asked.

After Tsunade confirmed that she could, Shinnosuke gave a slight nod. "Eagle, carry the tiger. Monkey, you're responsible for Qi. We're returning to Konoha. If we encounter enemies, don't engage."

"Yes!"

There were a few minor mishaps on the way back to Konoha. As they left the rear mountain, they ran into the Takigakure ninja surrounding it. Fortunately, most of them were Genin and Chunin.

Working together seamlessly, they quickly killed several Genin and opened a gap in the encirclement. They left Takigakure before the enemy Jonin could arrive.

The people of Takigakure watched the Anbu members disappear into the distance and fell silent.

They had gone to so much trouble, yet the other side had escaped—and their own side had lost quite a few people.

"Jonin Fūen." Someone noticed Fūen approaching. After taking a look at him, the person asked with concern, "Jonin Fūen, your leg..."

Fūen looked down. The wounds Shinnosuke had inflicted earlier were still unbandaged, making him limp as he walked. He waved a hand.

"The mission failed. Tell everyone to withdraw."

The others exchanged glances. Someone hesitated. "The Hero Water..."

"It's gone. They took it," Fūen said calmly.

"But—"

"I said the mission failed. Do you not understand?" Fūen said again, his gaze utterly devoid of emotion.

The man's hair stood on end, and he shuddered. He didn't dare speak again. Jonin Fūen seemed terrifying at that moment, a raging sea hidden behind those calm eyes.

Fūen was getting irritated. He pulled out a cigarette and put it between his lips.

Tsunade had made it back safely. That meant their offering to the Land of Earth was gone, and now they would have to bear the Land of Fire's wrath.

But that had nothing to do with him. Let the daimyo worry about it.

"Jonin Fūen," a Chunin hurried over at that moment, his face pale.

"Speak."

"We just found four bodies with their hearts ripped out."

At that, Fūen paused. He pressed the cigarette butt in his mouth against his palm to put it out. As far as he knew, there was only one person who killed by ripping out hearts.

"Four hearts... Could Kakuzu have died four times?"