Some Things Are Better Left Unknown

Raito had no desire to fight Hayama Shirakumo, who had launched a sudden assault. His thoughts remained fixed on the battle unfolding across the plains.

"Can someone tell me what exactly is going on with that Uchiha?"

"Uehara Rinan! That bastard is right on your left! What are you looking around for?!"

"Sada Tsukasa! Ahead, straight ahead!!"

Those Raito called by name were likely chunin scattered throughout the army, or promising rookie genin. Yet whoever they were, they seemed trapped in an inescapable terror and confusion, brandishing their blades wildly through empty air in hopes of stopping that demon-like boy.

"Raito, what the hell are you doing?!"

His companions' cries for help rang in his ears. Facing Hayama Shirakumo, an elite jonin fighting with all his strength, two special jonin and one jonin were simply unable to hold him back. Casualties had already begun to appear.

"We've lost."

Raito muttered as he came back to his senses.

He was the commander responsible for directing the army with Earth Release, but how was he supposed to lead them amid such a bizarre situation below? Fear had long stripped those men of their original resolve and combat ability.

"Retreat!"

The man who had mocked Arata's absurdity earlier no longer carried himself with the same arrogance. The grief-stricken roar had barely left his mouth before a thunderous explosion drowned it out.

Then such explosions connected in an instant, erupting one after another.

"It's over."

Watching the billowing smoke, Raito clearly understood that this battle—no, this ambush—had completely failed!

Even if the shinobi below could return alive, they might never regain any fighting power. They had been utterly broken, their will as unyielding as stone crushed by a single person.

"Raito!"

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Moshi, covered in blood, roared madly. The two special jonin who had stood alongside him earlier were already dead, and even he was about to fail to hold on. Yet the teammate behind him seemed possessed and refused to come help!

Earth Release: Earth Return!

Heavy stone slabs rose before him. He wanted to turn around and see what had happened to his companion.

And retreat?

Was that a joke?

Four hundred clansmen couldn't defeat three enemies?

Could it have been those earlier explosions? Had Konoha's reinforcements arrived?

Countless unwilling thoughts drove him to desperately want to see the battlefield for himself.

But Moshi was facing Hayama Shirakumo!

An elite jonin with vast experience and formidable strength.

He would never miss such an opportunity. In a clash between experts, all that mattered was seizing a single instant.

And the word retreat reaching his ears sent his spirits soaring as well.

No matter the reason, no matter what methods had been used.

It directly proved one thing:

Arata had succeeded!

He had truly succeeded!

Alone, he had stopped Iwagakure's army of four hundred!!

The longsword wrapped in Wind-nature chakra shattered the stone wall as easily as cutting paper. Its remaining force did not lessen, and the Wind-nature chakra carved a long, narrow bloody gash across Moshi's chest. Dark red blood slowly seeped out, the same color as his shinobi uniform.

And at last, Moshi, still filled with unwillingness, saw the despairing sight before him.

The plains were covered in severed limbs and broken bodies. The spreading smoke and dust obscured the terrified expressions of the dead.

Standing alone among them was a boy drenched in blood. The little brat who should have been their hunting target was holding a battle-weary Iwagakure chunin and seemed to be saying something to him.

In that instant, Moshi felt as if the sky had fallen.

One person had wiped out an entire legion of their shinobi?

If he had been in Raito's place, could he have easily escaped such a bloody nightmare and regained his senses?

He did not know.

"Blood Asura... Arata."

At the end of his life, Moshi suddenly recalled the title Kirigakure had given him.

The title they had laughed at.

Thud.

Raito was casually thrown by Hayama Shirakumo onto the blood-soaked ground.

Though he was an Iwagakure jonin, though he had inherited the fearless Will of Stone, he now looked as if all his will had been shattered. His expression was crazed as he growled the words "demon" and "demon" toward Arata.

Because across the entire battlefield, only he—and he alone—had stood at a high vantage point and seen everything clearly!

In the distance, Kimura Kai lay on the ground, vomiting violently, without the slightest hint of relief at having survived. He had seen death before, but never a scene of blood flowing into rivers and corpses strewn everywhere!

Even Tekuno, also a jonin, had lost his earlier ferocity. With his pale face and pudgy body, he looked like a newborn little white lamb.

The only one who could remain calm amid his shock was Hayama Shirakumo.

Still, when he looked at the bloodstained boy, his eyes held a trace of fear and inexplicable heartache.

Were there people born with a thirst for killing?

Perhaps.

But could someone who thirsted for slaughter take the initiative to protect his teammates and help his companions hold back enemies covering the mountains and fields?

Absolutely not!

Arata slowly approached, carrying the broken Horizontal Blade.

There was neither sorrow nor joy on his face.

"Devil!"

"Devil!"

"You're Konoha's devil!"

Watching the boy draw nearer and nearer, Raito raged madly. Bloodshot veins spread through his eyes, and his chest rose and fell violently from his excessive agitation.

Arata ignored him and silently raised the broken blade in his hand.

Hayama Shirakumo saw this as well. He frowned and wanted to stop him. There was no need to torment someone who had already gone half-mad; it would be better to leave the man with his last shred of dignity.

After all, this man was a ranked Iwagakure jonin.

But what Hayama had not expected was that the broken blade directly tore through Raito's shinobi uniform, ripped apart his flesh, and slowly advanced toward his heart.

"You're too noisy."

At last, he heard the demon's voice.

"Arata, stop!"

Hayama Shirakumo had truly not expected that the boy before him had not intended to torture the Iwagakure shinobi who had ambushed them. He had simply killed him outright!

This was a genuine jonin!!

For Konoha, he would have been an extremely valuable bargaining chip!

And that was not all. Who had planned this ambush? Who was the spy hidden within Konoha? What other goals did Iwagakure have this time?

They had not extracted any of this crucial information yet. How could he let the man die so easily?

Heh.

Perhaps he had been wrong about something.

How could someone capable of calmly slaughtering four hundred Iwagakure shinobi, someone surrounded by such a sea of blood, possibly not thirst for killing?

If he could help it.

He truly did not want to carry out missions with someone like this again.

Just as the politicians and Councilors in the village had said, the Uchiha were an evil clan!

Facing the rebuke, Arata slowly raised his eyes, his expression as cold as ever.

"Some things are better left unknown."

There was not the slightest trace of childishness in that icy voice.

His indifferent expression seemed to have seen through all the falsehoods in the world.

But the child before him was clearly only ten years old!

For a moment, Hayama Shirakumo was left speechless. Yet Arata's words continued to echo in his mind.

"Better left unknown."

That meant Arata had known all along that they would be ambushed!

No!

That was not right!

No one would deliberately place himself in such a dangerous situation, then have to go to such lengths to save his companions.

It should have been that he had long prepared himself for the possibility of being ambushed and assassinated.

And the deeper meaning behind those words was—

Arata knew who the traitor was, the one who had leaked their whereabouts and sought to wipe out their squad!

And that person was inside the village!

They might even hold a high position!

Watching the boy pull out his blade and walk away, Hayama Shirakumo remained silent for a long time.