"Kushina, Mikoto, they're getting away."
Shin pointed at the other five bandits. Their leader had been killed, and they were terrified, fleeing in panic.
Kushina was the first to snap out of it. Without using any jutsu, she threw two shuriken, killing two of the bandits with a single strike each.
Mikoto recovered as well. Her body stopped trembling, and her One-Tomoe Sharingan activated. She formed hand seals and used the Great Fireball Technique, killing one fleeing bandit, then killed another with a kunai.
Mikoto looked gentle, but she was strong inside.
The last bandit was killed by a kunai thrown by Shin.
"Congratulations, Master, on completing the mission. You've been rewarded with a Common Copy Card."
"It looks like you've dealt with the bandits." Dan Katō hurried here from the foot of the mountain. Seeing the last bandit get killed, he spoke up.
Tsunade frowned slightly as she looked at Dan Katō and asked coolly, "Didn't you say you'd wait at the foot of the mountain? Why did you come up?"
Dan Katō hadn't followed them up the mountain earlier. He'd said he would wait at the foot.
"I was a little worried, so I came up to check. It looks like all the bandits have been dealt with. Your students are quite impressive, Jonin Tsunade."
Dan Katō said with a smile.
"Jonin Katō, where are the three ninja you brought with you?"
Shin stared at Dan Katō, making him feel as though nothing could escape Shin's notice.
"They didn't come up with me. I told them to wait at the foot of the mountain." Dan Katō was still smiling, though his smile looked a little stiff.
"Jonin Katō, do you know that the Uzumaki have a secret technique called the Mind's Eye of the Kagura? It can sense chakra from dozens of kilometers away and pinpoint someone's location based on their chakra."
Shin's
words made the smile on Dan Katō's face grow increasingly stiff, until it vanished altogether.
"Everyone's chakra is different. I memorized the chakra of the three ninja you brought with you, but I can't sense it now. Dan Katō, care to explain?"
Tsunade watched Dan Katō, her gaze gradually turning cold.
Tsunade knew about the Mind's Eye of the Kagura. Her grandmother, Uzumaki Mito, had told her about it. It could indeed detect chakra within dozens of kilometers, making it comparable to the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan.
So Tsunade believed Shin. There were only two possibilities for why she couldn't sense the three ninja's chakra.
Either they had already left, or they were dead.
Leaving was impossible. Even she couldn't run dozens of kilometers in such a short time. That left only the second possibility: they were dead.
"Dan Katō, explain yourself." Tsunade was ready to take him down.
"Jonin Tsunade, you're really going to believe this kid?" Dan Katō asked, frowning.
"I believe him. At least Shin is more trustworthy than you."
Tsunade gathered chakra in her fist. A powerful gust of wind whipped up, and Dan Katō swallowed nervously.
Most of Konoha's ninja knew how strong Tsunade's Strength of a Hundred Technique was. With his frail build, she could kill him with a single punch.
"Also, I sensed five unfamiliar chakra signatures down below. Judging by the amount of chakra, they're probably at least Jonin, perhaps even Elite Jonin."
Shin stared intently at Dan Katō. Those five Jonin below were definitely connected to him.
"So I really was found out."
At that point, Dan Katō stopped pretending. There was no point now that they'd discovered him.
Dan Katō's usually refined face turned icy. He took out a signal flare and launched it.
"Don't attack yet, Tsunade." Shin grabbed Tsunade as she moved to strike.
"Hey, brat, why are you stopping me? It's obvious this guy's up to something. We should take him down right away—"
"Relax. Whatever scheme he has, I'll handle it. But I have some questions for him."
Shin cut Tsunade off and fixed his gaze on Dan Katō.
"Dan Katō, we have no grudge between us. Why do you harbor such deep hostility toward me?"
That was something Shin really wanted to understand. Damn it, he hadn't done anything to provoke him. Why was this guy so hostile toward him?
"There's no harm in telling you now. This was Lord Danzo's order. I was told to bring you back."
Dan Katō looked at Shin coldly.
"Danzo? You're one of Danzo's men?" Shin was a little surprised.
"So Danzo was behind this."
Tsunade clenched her fists in anger. Kushina and Mikoto didn't know who Danzo was, but they knew the man before them was an enemy and prepared to fight.
"I really didn't expect that. But why would Danzo target me?"
Shin couldn't understand why Danzo had singled him out when he'd been keeping such a low profile. Was his brilliance too dazzling to hide, even if he tried?
For a moment, Shin couldn't help feeling a little conceited.
"I don't know what Lord Danzo was thinking. My orders were to bring you back and, while I was at it, eliminate Tsunade."
Dan Katō looked toward Tsunade.
Dan Katō's mission wasn't just to bring Shin back. He was also supposed to eliminate Tsunade.
"Danzo wants to eliminate me?" Tsunade was furious. She wanted to pound Dan Katō into a meat patty, then rip Danzo apart when she got back to the village.
At that moment, Dan Katō's reinforcements arrived: five masked ninja dressed much like the Anbu. They were probably members of Root.
Shin looked at the only one among the five with red hair, his gaze narrowing slightly.
"Uzumaki Hikari, is that you?"
Among the surviving members of the Uzumaki Clan who had come to Konoha, besides Shin and Kushina, there were also Uzumaki Akiko, Uzumaki Kai, and Uzumaki Hikari. Hikari was the only adult.
Shin just hadn't expected him to join Root and become Danzo's lackey.
At that moment, Shin seemed to understand why Danzo had targeted him.
Shin's heritage included not only the blood of the Uzumaki Clan but also that of the Uchiha Clan. Even Kushina didn't know much about this, and Uzumaki Akiko and Uzumaki Kai probably didn't know either, since they were both young.
But Uzumaki Hikari definitely knew. If he'd told Danzo, then Danzo might really have set his sights on Shin.
He was probably trying to bring Shin back for research. After all, no one knew what might come of combining the Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki Clan and the Uchiha Clan. Danzo would surely be interested.
As for killing Tsunade, that didn't surprise Shin either. It would weaken the Senju Clan and indirectly weaken the Third Hokage's power. Why not?
"Shin, you're saying he's Uzumaki Hikari?" Kushina stepped beside Shin and asked.
Shin nodded. His senses couldn't be wrong. He could detect the Sage Body of the Uzumaki Clan.
Because the Uzumaki Clan had the Sage Body, their chakra differed somewhat from other people's. Someone with keen senses could detect the difference.
With the Mind's Eye of the Kagura, Shin was practically the strongest sensor-ninja. He hadn't been able to sense Hikari from far away, but now that he was close, there was no way he could be mistaken.
"Being betrayed by one of your own clan really doesn't feel good." Red light gleamed in Shin's eyes. His crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan fixed on Uzumaki Hikari, radiating murderous intent.
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