Cunning Nara Plots to the End, Bold Hozuki Strikes the Enemy Camp

Hozuki Shingetsu's plan was simple as well: imitate Ban Chao, drive straight in, and seize the enemy chieftain!

Back then, Ban Chao had gone deep into the Western Regions with thirty-six men, slaughtered the Xiongnu envoys, and forced the King of Shanshan Kingdom to surrender. As a devoted Cao Cao fan and heir to the Jian'an spirit, why couldn't Hozuki Shingetsu lead three men in a blitz on Konoha's embassy today and intimidate the Uzumaki Clan?

After all, they all belonged to the Eastern Han. They were more or less the same.

As the saying went, nothing ventured, nothing gained. Things had already reached this point, and victory was already in sight. No matter what, Hozuki Shingetsu could not allow anything to go wrong.

After all, Hozuki Shingetsu couldn't exactly tell Uzumaki Takumi, "Old man, stop wasting your effort. I've already made arrangements. Even if your Uzumaki Clan screams yourselves hoarse, no one will come save you. So those Konoha envoys are definitely lying to you. You'd better obediently come with us to Kirigakure!"

Hozuki Shingetsu was certain that if he really said that, someone would probably immediately try to take him down with them.

If you couldn't solve the problem, then solve the person who raised it.

So the best thing to do was to directly kill those Konoha envoys, snatch away his future wife first, and then wait for news that Konoha had abandoned Uzushio Village. Once that happened, Uzumaki Takumi would naturally give up and return to Kirigakure with him.

He had secretly inquired already. The area where the Konoha envoys were staying was not far from them; both were within the embassy district. Once night fell and everything was quiet, it would be time to show his methods!

At two in the morning, the night was dark and the wind was fierce. Clouds covered the moon. It was the perfect time for murder and arson.

After Uzushio Village had rapidly gone through the emotional upheaval of war, defeat on the front lines and preparations to evacuate, then the imminent arrival of reinforcements, most people were exhausted and had fallen asleep.

"Zhengren, stay sharp. Konoha's reinforcements will arrive soon. Once they get here, we won't need to keep watching them."

"Damn it, Konoha's finally sending reinforcements. It's such a short distance, yet they took this many days? I think they deliberately stood by and watched us fight the Lightning-Earth Allied Forces, waiting until our strength was badly depleted and we had no choice but to rely on them!"

The two Whirlpool Ninja lurking outside the area where the Kirigakure envoys were staying spoke to each other.

"Shenyan! Those Konoha people are still in the village! Besides, they did send troops. There's nothing we can do about it."

That Whirlpool Ninja naturally understood this reasoning, but he was still indignant. Helpless, he could only vent his frustration on Hozuki Shingetsu and the others.

"Ugh, there isn't even any moonlight, and now it's foggy too. How are we supposed to monitor those Kirigakure people?"

"...Wait, fog?"

The two immediately realized something was wrong. Not caring about exposure, they quickly got up and began investigating.

Very soon, news that the Kirigakure envoys had vanished reached Uzumaki Takumi. Just as he was puzzled, thinking that Hozuki Shingetsu had realized there was no hope and had simply returned to Kirigakure, he suddenly received word that sounds of fighting had come from the Konoha embassy district...

No way?

Uzumaki Takumi suddenly thought of a possibility. Realizing something was wrong, he quickly got up and raced toward the Konoha embassy district.

Since Uzushio Village also served as the Capital of the Land of Whirlpools, it likewise had an embassy district for receiving foreign envoys. The residence where Hozuki Shingetsu and the others were staying was here, and so were the Konoha envoys.

The embassy district had originally been arranged together for ease of centralized management, but Uzushio Village had never imagined that this close distance would instead make things easier for Hozuki Shingetsu.

At this moment, in the Konoha embassy district, the Konoha team leader, Nara Shikacho, had not yet rested.

As the brains of the team, he needed an overall plan for this mission, so he was still constantly considering every possible situation that might arise along the way.

Just then, he suddenly felt his vision grow hazy. Fog had actually risen inside the room?

Pfft!

A drop of water shot through Nara Shikacho's body at high speed and plunged straight into the tatami mat before him, leaving behind a deep mark.

Yet Hozuki Shingetsu felt no joy at all. He knew it was merely a Shadow Clone.

Sure enough, the Nara Shikacho left in place turned into a puff of smoke and vanished, leaving behind only a burning Explosive Tag.

If someone had stepped forward just now, they might have been directly injured by that Explosive Tag.

"People from Kirigakure? Is Kirigakure trying to start a war with Konoha? Don't you know that Konoha's army is already on the way? Once the army arrives, all of you will be reduced to ashes!"

Nara Shikacho stepped out from the shadows. Though he spoke boldly, his eyes kept shifting, clearly searching for an escape route.

BOOM!

The explosion rang out, and the flames produced by the Explosive Tag instantly set the tatami ablaze.

Hozuki Shingetsu narrowed his eyes at Nara Shikacho and silently praised him. No wonder they say the Nara Clan is full of geniuses with high IQs. This feint, using an Explosive Tag to raise the alarm, really is different from those muscle-brained brutes in Kumogakure.

But he had not come to chat with Nara Shikacho. Although he had enveloped this place in "Mirage," the images remained unaffected, and sound could still carry outside. The Uzumaki Clan would surely soon discover that he was gone, and once they connected that with the sounds here, their experts would arrive within two minutes at most. Then things would become troublesome.

"Two minutes is enough."

Hozuki Shingetsu glanced at the secretly guarded Nara Shikacho, then at the raging flames. He laughed and charged straight at Nara Shikacho.

"Secret Technique: Shadow Imitation Technique!"

A black line rose from beneath Nara Shikacho's feet, targeting Hozuki Shingetsu's shadow cast by the flames!

That Explosive Tag had not merely been meant as an alarm! Igniting the tatami with it to illuminate the room and reveal the shadows had also been his goal!

At the same time, without waiting for the Shadow Imitation Technique to restrain Hozuki Shingetsu, Nara Shikacho shouted, "Muneto, go!"

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

From the shadows behind him, a middle-aged Hyuga ninja with pure white eyes and bulging veins around them activated his Byakugan and launched a sneak attack at Hozuki Shingetsu's back.

With Nara Shikacho's Shadow Imitation Technique ahead and the Hyuga's Gentle Fist Art behind, both paths were sealed. The outcome had already been decided!

"So I was underestimated after all!"

Seeing the situation before him, Nara Shikacho could not help revealing a faint smile. Just because they thought he was poor at close combat, they wanted to deal with him first? They were taking him far too lightly.

But that smile quickly disappeared from his face—his shadow was actually unable to touch Hozuki Shingetsu. It was as though it had passed through a phantom, sweeping straight past him!

"Uh..."

Nara Shikacho had just wanted to warn Hyuga Muneto to be careful when a sudden, agonizing pain struck his back. Looking down, he saw a Kunai piercing straight through his heart!

No... The situation was clearly going so well, so why...

Nara Shikacho could not understand it. He had clearly completed the Hokage's mission perfectly, successfully fooled Uzumaki Takumi, and only needed to leave Uzushio Village tomorrow morning with a few children to complete his mission and return to the village for promotion and a raise. Why had he fallen here instead?

How did Hozuki Shingetsu dare?

"Your brain is good, but it's useless."

As those words reached his ears, Nara Shikacho closed his eyes. Echoing beside him were Hyuga Muneto's screams.