Tonight, He Must Die

The ninja ranking system in this world is slightly different from what Shinnō knew in his past life, or perhaps it would be more accurate to say it is the same, just divided with much greater detail.

For instance, according to what Shinnō understood from his past life, the world of Naruto should be divided into Shinin, Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin, and Kage-level.

Here, however, it is divided into Shinin, Chunin, Special Jonin, Jonin, Elite Jonin, Peak Jonin, and the strongest of all: the clan leader-level powerhouses.

In this era, the Jonin rank has been meticulously split into three distinct stages.

Shinnō was a bit unaccustomed to this when he first arrived, but upon reflection, he felt relieved; even in the original work, there were hints of this, they just weren't explicitly stated.

Take Kakashi as an example: in the original story, Kakashi became a Jonin at twelve, but was he at the same level then as he was later on?

After coming to this world, Shinnō realized that according to this classification, the twelve-year-old Kakashi was ranked as a Jonin, while the Kakashi at the start of the plot was an Elite Jonin, and later, after awakening his Mangekyo and mastering Kamui, he became a Peak Jonin.

The disparity in strength is clear at a glance; one could say that in a one-on-one fight, an Elite Jonin only needs ten moves to finish off a standard Jonin.

The Hyuga Jonin that Shinnō and Madara had risked their lives to kill last time was merely a standard Jonin, not even in the same league as the three before him now.

"Three Elite Jonin, you really do think highly of me!" Shinnō drew a sharp breath and said to Hyuga Tamamo.

Hyuga Tamamo looked at him with a smile: "Never underestimating any enemy is a universal rule for ninjas. When hunting down a genius enemy, you must bring out all the strength you possess. You should understand this, shouldn't you?"

Shinnō gave a dry laugh and remained silent. He wasn't too worried about his own situation; after all, before coming here, he had placed a Flying Thunder God Kunai at Uchiha Tadashi's location. If he wished, he could retreat at any time, and even an Elite Jonin couldn't stop him.

While speaking with Hyuga Tamamo, he unfolded the scroll he had just taken out and flicked it with chakra. Suddenly, a large number of Kunai flew everywhere, landing on the ground, embedding into walls, and one even landed right at Hyuga Tamamo's feet.

Everyone was startled by Shinnō's sudden movement. An Elite Jonin instantly appeared in front of Hyuga Tamamo, watching Shinnō with caution. Although he didn't believe Shinnō could pull off any tricks right under his nose, it was always better to be careful; if the princess were injured due to his negligence, his crime would be grave indeed.

Seeing them watching him nervously, Shinnō smiled innocently. He had learned this move from Minato Namikaze in the original work. Back when he watched Naruto, he saw Minato fighting the Fourth Raikage and his brother, scattering Kunai all over the ground before the fight began. At the time, he felt the move was incredibly cheap—downright shameless—but it suited Shinnō's tastes perfectly.

Don't be nervous, they're just some Kunai! While saying words to distract them, he was calculating rapidly in his mind: Three Elite Jonin, I definitely can't win head-on. However, Hyuga Tamamo's own strength is only around the Chunin level. If I can capture her, I might have a chance. And those seven Chunin, each is worth 1000 points. If I can't capture Hyuga Tamamo, I'll just take them out on the way and use the Flying Thunder God to run.

"Nonsense. Kill him. We've wasted enough time today. After all, we aren't far from the Uchiha clan grounds; there's no guarantee we won't be detected." Hyuga Tamamo's gaze turned cold, and she said chillingly.

Almost the moment she gave the order, the other two Elite Jonin moved. In an instant, two figures surrounded Uchiha Shin from front and back, their long blades poised to pierce into his body.

This speed is almost double that of the Jonin from last time. It's already pushing the limit of what my Three Tomoe can track. Is this the power of an Elite Jonin? Shinnō thought to himself, and the Flying Thunder God was activated in a split second.

Ninjas of the Warring States period mostly fought with Taijutsu as their primary focus and Ninjutsu as a supplement; very few specialized in only one. The Hyuga clan, in particular, were masters of Taijutsu. Therefore, the Taijutsu prowess of an Elite Jonin was second to none throughout the Warring States, far exceeding those of the same rank. They were exceptionally confident in their own speed, even believing that in terms of pure Taijutsu, even the Senju and Uchiha were inferior to them.

Because of this, they were very confident in their strikes. A five-year-old Uchiha brat, even if he were a once-in-a-millennium genius, hadn't even reached the Jonin rank yet—how could he possibly dodge their blades?

But their blades struck empty air. To their own disbelief, the brat before them vanished without warning. With their level of skill, they couldn't even track him.

"Rasengan!" Shinnō suddenly appeared behind one of the Elite Jonin, the Rasengan already condensed in his right hand, pressing toward the man's back.

"Naive!"

The Elite Jonin sneered. Under the vision of the Byakugan, Shinnō's appearance was exposed the moment it happened. He spun around, his long blade thrusting backward with lightning speed, aiming straight for the boy's throat. At this speed, before the Rasengan could hit his back, Shinnō would definitely be the one to have his throat slit first.

"Damn it!" Shinnō cursed inwardly and vanished again, appearing behind the other Elite Jonin, but he was met with the same cold, sharp blade.

Whoosh!

The blade missed again. Suddenly, the area around the two men was filled with the figures of Uchiha Shin—afterimages left behind by his constant use of the Flying Thunder God technique. The two Elite Jonin had encountered this kind of technique, which didn't belong to this era, for the first time. Their Byakugan didn't blink, staring fixedly at their surroundings. They had originally thought the clan leader was making a mountain out of a molehill by sending all three of them to kill one Uchiha brat, but now it seemed his foresight was profound. Such a monstrous talent truly had to die; they couldn't give him any chance to grow.

Shinnō kept using the Flying Thunder God to jump between the Kunai, constantly looking for an opportunity. But the experience of these two Elite Jonin was simply too rich; their focus was at its peak, and they didn't reveal a single opening. Coupled with the assistance of the Byakugan, Shinnō even suspected that the moment he materialized, he would be met with the enemy's ruthless attack.

Whoosh...

Shinnō appeared on top of a thatched hut in the distance, the Rasengan still spinning in his hand. He finally gave up on the idea of finding an opening; it was still too difficult to kill an Elite Jonin now, and one mistake could cost him his life.

Bang!

"Eight Trigrams Air-Shattering Slash!"

A powerful blade aura struck the thatched hut almost the instant Shinnō appeared. The entire structure was torn to pieces, and a massive cloud of dust rose, making it impossible to see the result of the strike.

"He dodged it!" said the Elite Jonin who had swung the blade, his tone struggling to remain calm. He truly couldn't understand how a mere Special Jonin could have managed such a feat.

"I've never seen such a bizarre technique. We must kill him tonight! We cannot give him the chance to grow," the other Elite Jonin said, gripping his long blade tighter, his killing intent chilling.