Night Raid

After shaking off the Sand Ninja pursuing him, Akashi took a long detour and returned to the ambush site. He hid carefully and watched for a while.😲🏆  ☝🐨

At last, he confirmed that there were no enemies nearby.

Who would have expected him to double back?

He had to see Aobou dead with his own eyes before he could relax.

The trees around them lay scattered at odd angles. There were marks where bodies had been dragged, and some had been left behind, clearly because the enemy had taken the more valuable ninja.

On a battlefield, even corpses could become tools in an enemy's hands.

Many ninjutsu could extract information and secrets from the dead. This was especially true of those with bloodline abilities. Even if they had to be destroyed, they couldn't be allowed to fall into enemy hands.

A retrieval team would probably come by soon.

He had to hurry.

After searching carefully, Akashi spotted Aobou.

The man lay between two Sand Ninja, both of whom had blades driven through their chests by his hands. A Kunai had pierced his own kidney, too. He was covered in blood, but somehow still breathing!

Aobou was alive!

Whether loyalty to Danzo had sparked his will to survive or the Sand Ninja had simply been careless and failed to finish him off, he was now on the verge of death.

Akashi used the Transformation Technique, and a Root mask appeared on his face. He walked over and looked down at Aobou coldly.

Before finishing him off, he wanted to test him one more time.

"Who... are you?" Aobou's eyes were unfocused, his voice weak.

"Yaksha."

The moment he heard the codename, Aobou's eyelids fluttered open as if life had returned to him.

Although Danzo didn't trust Akashi, he had still given him the basic credentials and code words. Everyone in Root recognized him under the codename Yaksha.💎😂  😡😝

Otherwise, their own people might end up fighting each other.

So Akashi knew Aobou was in Root, but didn't know his codename.

And Aobou knew Yaksha, but didn't know Yaksha was Akashi.

"Yaksha, you..."

"Lord Danzo was worried about you, so he sent me as backup. Now that I'm here, it looks like your mission really did fail," Akashi said in a slightly hoarse voice.

"Ugh..." Aobou breathed weakly, speaking in fits and starts. "I... I was set up. U-U-Uchiha..."

"Uchiha Akashi."

"Right. He... he..."

"What about him?"

"He... knows about me."

Good grief. He'd been talking for ages, and if this were a novel, he could've padded it out to two hundred words.

Akashi grumbled to himself. Could you hurry up?

Aobou seemed to catch his breath. A trace of color returned to his pale face. "I... I couldn't get... the Sharingan..."

The Sharingan?

Behind his mask, Akashi couldn't help chuckling.

So after all that, Aobou hadn't come to spy on Orochimaru and him. He'd come for the Sharingan.

Was he worried Akashi might die on the battlefield without anyone to collect his eyes?

Danzo, you really are thoughtful as hell.

How many more ninja like this were there in Sunagakure's border forces?

Who knew?

But this one was about to die.🎉💢  ♕🎅

Akashi dispelled the Transformation Technique, revealing his Sharingan. He smiled at Aobou. "These eyes, right?"

Aobou's pupils shook violently, and his whole body spasmed. "You... pfft!"

The mental blow was too much. At last, he couldn't hold on. His legs kicked out, and he breathed his last.

"Sleep in peace."

Akashi offered him a blessing, stabbed him through the heart, then set the body on fire before racing off.

By sunset, he finally reached the supply station.

It had medical supplies, and plenty of food and water. The wounded could be properly cared for.

Kudo Yukiyuki and the others had arrived long ago without encountering any trouble along the way. The exhausted group had gone to rest, but Captain Kudo was still waiting for his team members to show up.

Only when he saw Akashi did he let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness, you're finally back. Go get some rest first... Where's Aobou?"

"He stayed behind to let me retreat first, willingly getting trapped by the Sand Ninja. By now, he's probably..." Akashi put on a convincing show, forcing a pained look onto his face.

Kudo Yukiyuki fell silent for a moment, then sighed. "That's war. Don't blame yourself too much. The search party has already gone out. They'll find him."

"I hope so."

"Come to think of it, you kept that well hidden. I only just learned you used to serve under Lord Orochimaru. No wonder you know the Hidden Shadow Snake Hands."

Akashi scratched his head and put on a bashful expression.

They chatted about this and that for a little while, then went into the tent.

Night fell heavily.

Dark clouds hung over the sky like an iron curtain, smothering the faint crescent moon with their oppressive weight.

Several tents stood in a row.

Konoha Ninja patrolled the surrounding area.

Usually, four people worked together on night watch, taking turns in shifts. But it was so easy to doze off late at night that those coming off duty gathered together to chat about amusing stories, passing the time and easing their fatigue.

Uncle Shinjo sat down after finishing his shift. A young ninja rose reluctantly to take his place, his face full of gloom.

It wasn't the hardship of the night watch that had him down. It was that he could no longer hear Uncle Shinjo's stories. The middle-aged Chunin had a face full of stubble and years of experience, with a bellyful of interesting tales. Who knew how he'd heard so much about places along the border?

From the Land of Waves to the Land of Iron, from the wives and concubines of a noble in the Capital of Fire to the secrets of trade between the nations—he had a story for everything.

Uncle Shinjo smiled as he watched the ninja leave.

The others had already gathered around him.

"Uncle, have you ever been to the Land of Wind?"

"Of course I have." Uncle Shinjo stroked his stubble and laughed heartily. "That godforsaken place is terribly poor. Apart from a few oases, it's nothing but yellow sand as far as the eye can see. I went there twice when I was younger and never wanted to go back. But the Land of Wind has plenty of beautiful women."

His words drew a chorus of surprised exclamations.

"Tell us about them!"

"I heard Elder Chiyo of Sunagakure was a great beauty when she was young. Someone even kept a photo of her in a swimsuit."

"Uh, I can't get behind that kind of taste."

Several ninja burst into laughter.

Only Akashi, standing to one side, gave a faint twitch of his lips and said nothing.

Someone noticed his expression and asked, "Akashi, what kind of girl do you like? The Uchiha Clan are all so handsome. You must be popular with girls, right?"

"Me?" Akashi smiled. "I'm not interested."

"That's only because you haven't met someone who makes your heart skip a beat yet. You'll be interested when you do!" one of them said with a laugh.

After a bit more aimless chatting, they moved on to the local customs and products of the Land of Wind.

Eventually, they started talking about the long, drawn-out war.

Suddenly, Uncle Shinjo sighed and slowly shook his head. "When you think about it, I've been a ninja for decades, and I'm still only a Chunin. All the money I've saved is just enough to cover one person's expenses." A lonely look crossed his face. "If I last another couple of years, then either I'll die on the battlefield or it'll be time to retire. I'll settle somewhere with a bit of land and enjoy my old age."

"Uncle Shinjo..."

It was the first time they'd heard him say anything so melancholy, and the ninja looked downcast.

"Haha, you're different. You're young and in your prime. I'll leave the beauties of the Land of Wind to you!"

Before he had even finished speaking, Akashi's eyes sharpened as he stared into the darkness, his heart pounding.

A bone-chilling killing intent struck through the night!

A black spike suddenly shot through the air. With a swish, it struck Shinjo in the head.

After a dull thud, Uncle Shinjo fell straight to the ground. His lifeless eyes bulged like spheres, and the lecherous smile at the corner of his mouth slowly froze, stained with bright red blood.

The reek of blood spread through the darkness. Everyone felt the presence of death.

The ninja who had been laughing moments ago collapsed to the ground, his pupils trembling and every hair on his body standing on end. His throat felt as if it were packed with stones. "Uncle Shinjo—!"

Their minds went blank. Blood rushed to their heads, and fear mingled with anger as they shouted:

"Damn it! We're under attack! We're under attack!"