Hidden Shadow Snake Hands

Two medical ninjas carried a stretcher, with Nawaki Senju about a meter away from the boarding plank that was about to explode.

If he didn't die from twenty centimeters last time, he shouldn't die from a meter this time... right?

The fireball from the explosion was over ten meters wide, fueled by at least ten Explosive Tags, instantly blasting Nawaki Senju and the two medical ninjas into the air.

Three figures flew out from different directions within the thick smoke.

One medical ninja flew toward the shore, while the other flew toward the Tower Ship, their fates unknown.

Seigetsu Senju leaped up anxiously, moving to catch Nawaki Senju.

Green medical chakra had already manifested in her hands.

However, the assassins did not wish to see Seigetsu Senju save Nawaki Senju.

Four figures leaped out from the Tower Ship and the river, all wearing identical black cloaks and carrying identical standard longswords, devoid of headbands or any other identifying features.

Kawadera Uchiha had been training his taijutsu diligently lately and could tell at a glance that these four possessed at least Special Jonin-level taijutsu skills.

The four moved with extreme speed.

Kawadera Uchiha noticed that their hoods were quite large; the one facing him kept his brim low, while those facing him from the side had their faces obscured by their hoods, making it impossible to see their eyes.

He realized instantly that he was being targeted, and that his Sharingan genjutsu would be ineffective.

The assassins knew that Seigetsu Senju's squad included an Uchiha skilled in genjutsu, so they had chosen their positions with extreme precision to avoid making eye contact with Kawadera Uchiha.

He had to do something, or Seigetsu Senju, his most important connection, would die.

"Third Gate! Gate of Life! Open!"

Kawadera Uchiha lunged upward, leaping into mid-air.

The black-clad figure closest to Kawadera Uchiha turned his head slightly, surprised to find Kawadera Uchiha already right in front of him.

He narrowed his eyes slightly, careful not to meet Kawadera Uchiha's gaze.

His longsword collided with Kawadera Uchiha's short blade.

What was going on?

The intel stated that Kawadera Uchiha was a genjutsu-type ninja; why was his taijutsu speed so fast?

Before the longsword could exert its full force, it was parried by the Uchiha's short blade just inches from the assassin's body.

Then, he realized the Uchiha ninja had used the force of his push to vanish.

By the time he relocated the Uchiha ninja, the opponent was already descending with a powerful leg strike, his hardened heel smashing toward him.

An aerial axe kick—a move only used by taijutsu masters.

Caught off guard, the black-clad figure took a heavy blow to the top of his head and was smashed back down into the water.

Kawadera Uchiha performed hand seals in mid-air, facing another black-clad figure to his side.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive fireball surged directly toward the other black-clad figure.

Given the assassin's momentum in mid-air, he was certain to collide with the Great Fireball.

Opportunities in mid-air were scarce, and taking out two of them was his limit.

He hoped that Ken Aburame, Kureya Inuzuka, and the other Konoha squad on the Tower Ship could handle the remaining two enemies.

A cloud of insects flew into the air, entangling the third black-clad figure.

The Konoha squad leader on the Tower Ship also leaped into the air.

However, this squad leader jumped slightly off-target, kicking toward Seigetsu Senju in mid-air!

"No!"

As Seigetsu Senju flew backward, she raised her hands in terror, the green medical chakra flickering uselessly in her palms.

Her almond eyes widened, her pupils reflecting the final scene of Nawaki Senju's death!

The black-clad figure's longsword swung down, slicing Nawaki Senju in half at the waist!

Blood splattered, staining the air red.

Entrails flew everywhere, thudding into the river.

The two halves of the corpse fell like sacks of grain, one slamming onto the pier and the other splashing into the river.

The two surviving black-clad figures from the Tower Ship squad landed on the shore, staring at the four members of Seigetsu Senju's squad.

The stance made it clear they intended to silence everyone.

Kawadera Uchiha was already prepared to open the Fourth Gate of the Eight Inner Gates to make a desperate escape.

The squad leader who had descended from the Tower Ship was powerful, with taijutsu skills surpassing those of Seigetsu Senju.

Seigetsu Senju was already a taijutsu-specialized Special Jonin, so this leader had to be a Jonin.

As chakra surged toward the Fourth Gate, the Gate of Pain, Kawadera Uchiha's eyebrows twitched, and he forcibly aborted the opening sequence.

The green steam was too conspicuous; it was better to protect one's intelligence as much as possible, because...

Mucus flowed from the severed half of Nawaki Senju's corpse, which had fallen onto the pier.

That blade had sliced through Nawaki Senju's abdomen, leaving behind the lower torso and legs.

A black-haired figure emerged silently from the remains, moving like a serpent.

It was somewhat chilling...

Orochimaru stood up without a sound, his entire body slick with mucus that washed away the bloodstains and fragments of viscera.

Even as Orochimaru stared at the Tower Ship Squad and the back of the black-clad man's head, these people remained completely oblivious.

Nawaki Senju was assassinated once before, Kawadera Uchiha thought, Tsunade and Orochimaru were both on guard; naturally, he wouldn't die so easily.

Dozens of venomous snakes lashed out.

Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!

Only the squad leader, a man of jonin-level strength, reacted in time, turning his head to dodge.

However, his movements were a fraction too slow.

Kawadera Uchiha's Sharingan genjutsu seized the moment, disrupting him.

The others were bitten on the back of their necks by the snakes before they could even turn around, while the captain was bitten in the throat just as he turned.

In an instant, everyone's faces turned blue and purple as the snake venom took hold.

The vipers slithered from Orochimaru's sleeves and coiled around the assassins.

Thud, thud, thud—the men collapsed one after another, hitting the ground.

Orochimaru spoke to Seigetsu Senju's squad:

"Nawaki has already returned to Konoha via another route. Your squad is to take these men back to the Land of Grass base and find me; I intend to interrogate them personally.

I want to know exactly who it is that keeps attempting to assassinate my disciple time and time again."

With that, Orochimaru slowly dissolved into a puddle of mud.

Seigetsu Senju and Kawadera Uchiha looked at each other in dismay.

"No wonder Young Clan Leader Nawaki didn't speak a word the entire way," Kawadera Uchiha said. "That wasn't Young Clan Leader Nawaki at all."

Seigetsu Senju breathed a sigh of relief and said, "The adults are truly thoughtful. We were just a decoy, though it was all too realistic."

Kawadera Uchiha approached the severed body of the fake Nawaki and used a wire-attached shuriken to pull the other half out of the water. After examining it closely, he said:

"It isn't just realistic; this was a living person. I don't know what methods Orochimaru-sama used to transform him into the likeness of Young Clan Leader Nawaki.

The height, the facial structure, the build—they are identical.

If you look closely, you can still see slight differences; the expression is rather dull, lacking the... heroic spirit of Young Clan Leader Nawaki."

He had struggled to find the right word, but "heroic spirit" fit.

As the child of this plane, Nawaki Senju possessed an aura vastly different from others.

Ken Aburame was also surveying the battlefield. After finishing his inspection, he said, "It's a pity about the two medical ninjas..."

Seigetsu Senju looked at the corpses of the two medical ninjas and said, "They... they were also members of my Senju Clan."

Orochimaru is truly unscrupulous, Kawadera Uchiha thought. To flush out the culprit, he didn't hesitate to use Senju Clan ninjas as sacrifices.

"We must be extremely careful on the way back to the base," Seigetsu Senju said. "Perhaps someone will come to snatch these assassins, unwilling to let them fall into Orochimaru-sama's hands."

"Perhaps Orochimaru-sama intended for this," Kawadera Uchiha replied. "Letting us carry these six people back to the base to continue drawing the snakes out of their holes..."

The others looked at Kawadera Uchiha, and then, they had no choice but to acknowledge that the truth was always this cruel.