A Brief Clash

"Meow, I sensed Hiruko coming here a few times before. Each time, he came to this area, and then I couldn't sense him anymore, meow. He must have gone underground. The earth blocks my sensing, so I can't detect him, meow."

Ninja Cat Kozunmaru excelled at swordsmanship and Sensory Ninjutsu. He was a great help with missions such as scouting and tracking.

"Good. Split up and search! See if you can find the basement entrance!"

"Yes, sir!"

Naraku's men acknowledged the order. They vanished with Body Flicker Technique and began searching for the entrance.

"Clan Leader, over here!"

Uchiha Akabi called out loudly. Naraku's guards were all jōnin or chūnin, after all, and had solid skills in every area of ninja arts. Once they set their minds to searching, they found the entrance quickly.

Akabi pulled up a patch of grass, roots and all, revealing a hole beneath it. It was clearly an entrance leading underground.

Naraku waved his hand. Akabi nodded, then rushed inside, with Uchiha Saburo following close behind.

Naraku moved in the middle of the group, followed by the other three guards and the Ninja Cat.

There were countless paths in life, but safety came first. Although Naraku was highly skilled in ninjutsu, as the leader of a faction, he naturally let his men charge ahead.

"A barrier?" Akabi asked from the front.

As they made their way underground, it felt like they were descending into a well. Just as they neared the bottom, a yellow light flashed.

Uchiha Akabi and Saburo, at the front, exchanged a glance, confirming that it was a defensive barrier.

The earth-style barrier was like a transparent stone wall, blocking their way down.

Uchiha Akabi formed Hand Seals, gripping his right wrist with his left hand.

"Lightning Release: Chidori!"

Akabi struck the barrier with Chidori, breaking through it. The group continued deeper underground.

Ever since Naraku had demonstrated his self-created ninjutsu, Chidori, during the clan-leader election, he had placed its training method in the Ninjutsu Academy of the Clan Affairs Hall.

Any Uchiha ninja who had paid the mission fee at the Administration Institute in the Clan Affairs Hall could learn it.

Most Uchiha ninjas had a fire nature. The clan's Gunbai symbol also represented fanning flames.

Still, quite a few ninjas had a lightning nature. More than ten had diligently trained and mastered Chidori, greatly enhancing the strength of the Uchiha Clan's ninjas.

As for Chidori's advanced form, Chidori Current, Naraku had taught it only to his personal guards.

The two still learning were Uchiha Akabi, a nineteen-year-old jōnin with a lightning nature, and the fifteen-year-old chūnin genius Uchiha Ruofeng. Neither had mastered Chidori Current's shape transformation yet.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!"

The moment they landed, before they could even make out their surroundings, they heard an angry shout. The earth beneath their feet surged upward, forming rows of sharp stone spears.

"Dodge!"

Uchiha Akabi shouted. Everyone leaped up, sticking their feet to the surrounding walls.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball!"

"Whoosh!"

The Uchiha ninjas weren't about to be outdone. Akabi quickly formed Hand Seals and blasted a huge fireball toward the source of the voice.

The others reacted and hurled Kunai toward it as well.

By the light of the flames Akabi had breathed out, Naraku got a clear look at their surroundings.

The walls around them had been carved by hand. A corridor stretched straight ahead, where a white-haired ninja stood. It was Hiruko.

"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

Hiruko calmly followed up with two Earth Style techniques.

Naraku felt a ripple beneath his feet where he clung to the wall, and quickly leaped away. The Uchiha ninjas in midair jumped as well.

Hiruko's experiments had met with some success. He only needed to continue his research, and he would develop a ninjutsu the likes of which had never been seen.

He had barely had time to celebrate when he felt someone destroy the barrier he had set up.

By the time he reached the entrance, six ninjas wearing Konoha flak jackets had just landed inside.

In the darkness, Hiruko didn't hold back. He wanted to see if he could kill them and keep this place's secrets safe.

He hadn't expected their ninjutsu to be so refined. They dodged both Earth Flow Spears, and not one of them died.

"Zzzzz!"

A birdlike chirping rang out. One of Naraku's guards, the fifteen-year-old genius Uchiha Ruofeng, unleashed Chidori and charged forward like lightning, smashing through the Earth-Style Wall.

"Don't kill him! Hold—"

Naraku hadn't finished shouting when the stone wall broke apart, but there was no one behind it.

"Damn it, he's getting away!" Naraku thought.

"Kozunmaru, sense the area! Don't let him escape!"

"Meow!"

Naraku no longer hesitated in the face of danger. He led the charge down the corridor, and everyone followed.

If Hiruko gets away, he won't return to Konoha! We can't let him escape this time! Naraku's thoughts raced, and he grew anxious.

We absolutely can't let this dangerous ninja get away. We have to bring him in, but don't take his life. We need to capture him alive!

As they ran at full speed, Naraku reminded them, in case one of the ninjas beside him lost control and killed Hiruko. That would ruin everything.

The corridor was pitch-black. Hiruko had turned off all the lights as he fled.

"Meow, he's straight ahead. It seems like he went up through a pipe, meow."

"Lead the way!"

"Meow!"

After nearly ten minutes of sprinting, they reached another passage. A pitch-black pipe extended upward.

"Up!" Naraku waved his arm.

Uchiha Akabi charged in first.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

Akabi wasn't reckless. Though he led the way, he created a Shadow Clone to go ahead of him.

Naraku followed with his guards and the Ninja Cat. He left a Shadow Clone behind to search the underground base, in case Hiruko was trying to trick them.

"Meow, he's right above us. He's come out of the hole, meow. The earth is blocking my senses, so it's hard to track him, meow."

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The group used Body Flicker Technique several times and returned to the surface.

"This way, meow!"

Hiruko fled with a frown. After their brief clash, he had a rough idea of the ninjas' strength.

Most of them were elites. He couldn't take them on, so he had decisively used the terrain to escape.

He hadn't expected them to catch up so quickly. Hiruko used Body Flicker Technique as he ran.

"Damn it!"

Hiruko felt the ninjas behind him drawing closer and closer.

With Ninja Cat Kozunmaru guiding them, Naraku and the others followed his trail. They could already see the white-haired ninja fleeing ahead, darting with Body Flicker Technique before sprinting onward.

"Huh?"

"He's gone?"

They had been able to see Hiruko, but after he darted into a dense wood, they quickly followed and found no trace of him.

"Meow!"

Kozunmaru pressed his two chubby paws together, seemingly using Sensory Ninjutsu.

"Meow." Kozunmaru lowered his paws, leaped toward a tree ahead, and meowed incessantly at its trunk.

Hiruko now understood why the ninjas behind him had pursued him so relentlessly. They had a sensory ninja beast tracking him. No wonder.

A transparent figure appeared on the tree trunk. Its colors gradually filled in, and Hiruko dispelled his Invisibility Technique and stepped out.

"I'm Hiruko, a Konoha jōnin. Why are you pursuing me?"