In the forest.
As the last Kumogakure shinobi before her was killed, the short blade in Mikoto's hand shattered completely. She could no longer hold on and sank to the ground.
She had overused her Pupil Power, and blood seeping from her eye sockets blurred her vision.
She forced herself to look up at the bodies nearby.
That was Yoshino. He had taken the enemy's fatal blow for her and died without even a chance to leave his last words.
So this was... the battlefield...
"What's going on?!"
A cry rang out. A tall, slender man wearing a Konoha jōnin vest appeared.
"Mikoto, are you all right? Yoshino... Ayaka... What happened? I was only gone for a little while! How could this happen?!"
His refined face was full of concern as he hurried toward her.
It was the jōnin leading their squad. Mikoto looked up at him, her bloodied eyes cold and impassive.
"We've come this far... Teacher Hiruko, you don't have to pretend anymore."
Hiruko stopped. The expression on his face slowly stiffened.
"So you know."
Mikoto's voice was quiet and slow. "I don't want to know why you did this. It's just... Ayaka always looked up to you more than anyone. Don't you think what you did to her was cruel?"
"Cruel..."
Hiruko shook his head slightly, the corner of his mouth curling into a twisted, sinister smile.
"This is nothing. The truly cruel one is fate..."
"How terrifying. You've only just graduated and become a Genin, yet even while poisoned, you managed to kill all these people... I doubt even I could do that."
"Your brother... Heh, I find myself afraid to even say his name... That's right... the great Kamizuki-sama!"
"Bloodline-limit shinobi, masters of secret techniques... Your very existence is the greatest cruelty of all!"
"Why were you born with everything? Why is it that no matter how hard we work, we can only accept our own mediocrity?!"
Hiruko's face grew more and more twisted.
He had been friends with the Sannin since childhood, but they were the ones who became the Hokage's disciples. They were the ones who made names for themselves on the battlefield. Perhaps one of them would even become Hokage someday.
Why...
Why was I the only one with nothing?!
Orochimaru...
You were already a genius so far beyond my reach, yet again and again, you said your talent was nothing compared to Uchiha Kamizuki's.
Then why? Why weren't you jealous? Why didn't you feel despair?!
It was... so disgusting!!
If I could obtain that power... just imagine how defeated you'd look!!!
"That's... hard to argue with."
Mikoto knelt on the ground. Though she was below him, her voice was calm, like the quiet words of someone in a position of power. "My brother once said..."
"We... are different."
"There are plenty... of people like you."
"Heh... Even the reason you gave for falling into depravity is mediocre..."
Hiruko's pupils contracted sharply. The veins on the hand gripping his Kunai bulged as he used the Body Flicker Technique to charge at Mikoto!
You're the one dying. You're the one about to be captured. Why can you still speak like that, with that expression?!
Why?!
Smack—
"Calm down. Don't forget our deal."
Two Kumogakure jōnin, one in front and one behind, stopped him.
The Kumogakure shinobi surveyed the corpses littering the ground, grief showing in his eyes. Then he turned to Mikoto, and greed overtook his sorrow.
"She's our prey. You can't kill her."
Hiruko took a deep breath to steady himself and lowered his hand. "She isn't just yours. She's mine too!"
The Kumogakure shinobi's eyes narrowed slightly. He spoke slowly. "We can settle this when we get back. Our whereabouts could be exposed at any moment. You don't want that monster hunting you down, do you?"
At the thought of that man, Hiruko couldn't help showing fear.
The plan hadn't started out this way.
He had coveted Kamizuki's body, that overwhelmingly powerful presence on the battlefield.
Using his position to send Mikoto to the battlefield had been a way to lay a trap for Kamizuki and claim that invincible body.
If he had only wanted Mikoto, he would never have agreed to Kumogakure's demands and betrayed Konoha.
But Mikoto had awakened the Three Tomoe in front of everyone, tipping the balance in Kumogakure's eyes.
Uchiha Kamizuki was too strong. Even with every preparation made, the chance of capturing someone of his caliber was slim.
By comparison, the living Uchiha Mikoto was a far better bargain.
The two of them had held back until now to make sure they could capture her alive. There had been similar incidents before. Whenever Uchiha shinobi realized they couldn't escape, they chose to die alongside their enemies.
The Uchiha couldn't all be fearless lunatics, but on the battlefield, every one of them acted that way.
Ropes bearing sealing Cursed Seals wrapped around her, and Mikoto's consciousness inevitably began to fade.
This is bad...
I should've killed myself sooner...
I'm sorry for causing you trouble again... Brother...
None of them noticed the wisp of Pupil Power slipping from Mikoto's body, invisible to the naked eye. After they had gone some distance, it took the shape of a snake and raced away.
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"Mahoraga..."
Hanzo narrowed his eyes as he studied the monster.
Its power was visible to the naked eye. Its unnatural presence, which seemed to transcend the limits of living beings, was deeply unsettling. It was as if one could faintly hear the rumble of a volcano before its eruption.
"What an... extraordinary monster!"
Flecks of firelight flickered between Mahoraga and Kamizuki.
"For now, it's only a prototype, with just one heart—a fairly weak Fire Release heart."
This was the weapon Kamizuki and Orochimaru had created together, using the Cursed Tool Earth Grudge Fear as its foundation and pouring their hearts into the work.
A proud smile tugged at Kamizuki's mouth, as though he were showing off a treasured possession. "Its complete form will need at least five hearts from powerful shinobi with different elemental affinities."
The body itself embodied Yang Style. Add the Sharingan, and this was another form of the Power of All Creation!
It would become an artificial being capable of adapting to anything, and immensely powerful!
"Heh... Are you trying to take my heart?"
Although Hanzo was famous for Water Body Flicker and poison, his primary affinity was actually Fire Style. He simply didn't use it often in the Land of Rain.
Besides, the small shinobi villages had few inherited techniques, so it was hard for him to learn high-level Fire Release Ninjutsu.
The Uchiha were the best in the shinobi world at Fire Style. The Sarutobi, who came next, were also from Konoha.
Kamizuki knew Hanzo's primary affinity, of course. He shook his head. "There's a heart I want far more. You're not under consideration."
"Hanzo, your role..."
A smile spread uncontrollably across Kamizuki's lips, growing wilder by the moment.
Blood threads shot from his fingertips. Mahoraga raced alongside them at a speed that defied its size, tearing through the air.
"You're nothing but a stepping stone on my path to becoming a legend!!!!"
Boom!!!
Dense purple mist surged from Ibuse's mouth, sizzling as it scorched the air. Fire and water rose together.
Hanzo gripped the two blades linked to his sickle-chain and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha!!"
"Then come on!!"
"I'll be deeply honored to defeat you, great enemy of the Uchiha!!"
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Boom!!!!!!!!
An unprecedented clash was etched beneath the sky over the Land of Rain.
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