A Bizarre Assassination

Kirigakure, Silent Killing Technique

Suifeng's expression turned exceptionally grim. He moved his feet and once again led Rin and the other little girl out of the battle.

"Rin, you two go back first!"

"Suifeng, what's going on?!"

Only then did Rin react. Looking at the white mist that was gradually spreading, she asked in alarm.

"Mist Ninja assassins. I'm their target. Leave at once, before you get caught up in this!" Suifeng said gravely. The Kunai just now had been aimed at him.

As he spoke, Suifeng's figure shot into the white mist with a whoosh.

Clang, clang, clang...

Inside the mist, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face. Even the Sharingan couldn't do much to help.

His mind was now full of questions. Mist Ninja—how had they managed to appear in Konoha? The orphanage was in a remote part of the village, but it was still within Konoha's borders, inside its barrier. How had a Mist Ninja infiltrated the village without alerting anyone?

And how had they learned his patrol route?

That bastard Danzo had to be behind this!

Why waste time thinking about it? Just pin the blame on Danzo, the king of taking the fall.

Clang, clang, clang...

The sound of metal clashing rang in his ears, then fell silent.

Suifeng's expression darkened.

Once he entered the mist, he realized where his weakness lay: his sensory abilities weren't strong. In an environment like this, that left him at a huge disadvantage.

"Suifeng, take Hideki and the others out of here. I'll deal with him!"

Fukuyama's voice seemed to come from all around him.

"It's too late, Captain. I can't find them anymore!"

In almost no time at all, the dense fog had engulfed the entire area. It was impossible to tell east from west, let alone north from south.

Not good!!

Suddenly, alarm bells rang in his mind. He pushed off hard, and with a whoosh, shot several meters away.

A sharp gust sliced through the spot where he had just been standing—but it was only an afterimage.

The figure that suddenly appeared behind him seemed surprised. It flickered, then vanished again.

Once more, the sound of metal clashing rang out.

"Damn it, this isn't working!"

Under the blanket of white mist, he couldn't see the enemy at all. It was like fighting an invisible man. Suifeng's mind raced.

"Wind Release: Gale Wind Technique!"

A strong wind sprang up, churning the mist violently. Suifeng's gaze shifted, and the Two-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in his eyes. The wind swept through the area, thinning the mist a little. Through it, he made out two figures locked in combat about ten meters away.

Whoosh!!

Shave Body Flicker activated.

Thud!!

His foot struck something solid. A tall, dark figure was sent flying, disappearing into the mist.

"Captain, are you all right?!"

Fukuyama's face was pale, and several cuts marked his body, but none of the wounds were deep. They were only skin-deep.

"I'm all right!" Fukuyama said, privately counting himself lucky. If he hadn't recently started training in Iron Body and made considerable progress, he would probably have been seriously injured by now.

"This Mist Ninja's Silent Killing Technique is a real problem. We either need powerful Sensory Ninjutsu or have to use Wind Release to disperse the fog. Otherwise, it'll be hard to find them. What about Hideki and Haku?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen them either. But he's made such a commotion here that the Anbu should notice soon!"

Konoha's defenses weren't limited to the Military Police Force. There was also the Anbu. They were members of the Military Police Force, trapped in the mist, and now it seemed all they could do was hope the Anbu would come.

"Don't count on the Anbu!" Uchiha Fukuyama shook his head. "We won't be able to hold out until they get here. This guy is a real problem. I'll use everything I've got to disperse the mist, find him, and drive him off!"

"Understood!"

As he spoke, Uchiha Fukuyama formed Hand Seals, and chakra surged around him.

Seeing this, Suifeng activated Shave Body Flicker again. Afterimages flashed around Fukuyama.

Wind Release: Violent Tornado

Boom!!

A tornado more than ten meters tall burst from his hands, sweeping up clouds of white mist. In an instant, it cleared the fog from the surrounding area.

Uchiha Fukuyama kept his hands moving, forming Hand Seals one after another.

Wind Release: Fierce Wind Tornado

Wind Release: Fierce Wind Tornado

Wind Release: Gale Tornado

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

One tornado after another burst forth.

"This..." The Mist Ninja, who had been hiding in the fog, hadn't expected Uchiha Fukuyama to make such a choice.

Wind Release: Fierce Wind Tornado

This was a B-rank technique. It unleashed a massive tornado to blow away the fog. It was a high-level technique with considerable force, but it wasn't very damaging—in fact, it could hardly be called an offensive technique at all. In other words, Uchiha Fukuyama had sacrificed power just to disperse the mist.

"Could it be...!"

The next moment, an afterimage flashed past, and agony struck between his legs. He let out a piercing scream and clamped one hand over his crotch. With the other, he swung his greatsword in a horizontal slash, sweeping it around himself in a circle of flashing steel.

"Thud!!"

Another kick slammed into the hand covering his crotch.

"Damn it!"

He cursed. "Uchiha Suifeng, I'll remember you!"

"Remember this, then!"

Thud!!

The man flew into the air again. Using the momentum to propel himself, he sailed a long distance away and vanished into the dense mist once more.

Although Uchiha Fukuyama was recklessly unleashing Wind Release Ninjutsu, the fog covered such a vast area that he couldn't clear it completely.

"Captain, leave it to me!!"

Even though he still couldn't see the enemy, he was sure that after taking several heavy blows, the man had to be injured—if he was a man, that was. At the very least, he wouldn't be able to do much for a while.

So, time to go all out!

Lava Release: Lava Explosion Flow

Boom!!!

Golden-red lava surged out, rushing like a giant wave toward the spot where the Mist Ninja had disappeared.

The searing heat and golden-red glow lit up the sky, setting half of the horizon ablaze.

"Lava Release?!"

The Mist Ninja in the dense fog looked utterly defeated. Suifeng's kick had hurt him badly. He had used a secret technique to seal his wounds and numb the pain, and was just about to unleash his revenge when Suifeng suddenly pulled this move. Now he was caught between a rock and a hard place.

Silent Killing Technique combined with dense fog was a Mist Ninja's standard tactic, but the fog they created was made of water vapor. In these conditions, the water would evaporate, and the technique would never have the effect he'd hoped for.

"Damn Danzo! He gave me bad intel! This kid can use Lava Release, too!"

Bad intel!

The information Danzo had provided only warned him to watch out for Suifeng's Body Flicker Technique. He'd never mentioned that Suifeng could use Lava Release, let alone unleash it with such tremendous power.

What he didn't know was that Danzo himself had no idea Suifeng could use Lava Release, much less that the attack had already consumed over eighty percent of Suifeng's chakra.

In any case, Suifeng had caused such a commotion that he must have alerted all of Konoha. The assassination had failed, and he had no choice but to leave before the Anbu arrived.

A few minutes later, the dense fog gradually lifted, and several dark figures rushed over from every direction.

Only then did Suifeng, who had remained on guard the whole time, finally relax. Looking farther away, he saw that Hideki and Haku had both been seriously injured, though thankfully neither wound was life-threatening. The unluckiest of them was Obito. He was lying on the ground, barely breathing, with a deep wound in his right chest. Blood poured from it.

And so, a bizarre assassination came to an end. But its impact was far from over.