A loud boom came from outside the stronghold!
It was followed by a second, then a third!
"Enemy attack!"
"It's the Explosion Release Unit, led by Explosion Release: Gari! They're six kilometers away!"
"One Elite Jonin, one Jonin, and six Chunin!"
Hyuga Shuichi, one of the three Chunin, had activated his Byakugan and was reporting what he saw.
Uchiha Jun sprang to his feet and rushed to the entrance.
Flames soared outside, and explosions rang out one after another.
"It's the Explosion Release Unit from Iwagakure! They've caught up with us!"
Akimichi Dodo shouted.
Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and turned to look at Uchiha Jun.
"Jun, I have a new mission for you."
A sudden sense of foreboding welled up in Uchiha Jun.
"You and Yamazaki Kengo's group will take Gekko Kazuichi and retreat from here."
"What about you?"
Uchiha Jun asked instinctively.
Orochimaru licked his lips. His golden, snake-like eyes glinted with an eerie light in the flames.
"I need to deliver the intelligence to the reinforcements. This intelligence is more important than your lives."
"All you have to do is hold out until the reinforcements arrive."
With that, Orochimaru picked up the intelligence scroll from the table and vanished in a flash.
Uchiha Jun stood frozen in place.
He stared in the direction Orochimaru had disappeared, then looked toward the ever-nearing explosions outside. Finally, his gaze fell on Yamazaki Kengo and the others in the stronghold, and on Gekko Kazuichi, lying helplessly in bed.
He's... treating us like expendable pawns? Fucking hell!
Akimichi Dodo clenched his fists, his face livid.
The other Chunin looked just as grim, but said nothing.
As the only Jonin present, Yamazaki Kengo also looked grave, but he didn't object. Clearly, he'd already made up his mind.
Everyone there obviously knew the rule: "A ninja puts the mission first."
Uchiha Jun took a deep breath, a cold glint flashing in his eyes.
Still, Uchiha Jun wasn't desperate.
Because he still had a trump card.
[Uchiha Sasuke (Shippuden)], a fighter with Elite Jonin-level strength and a Three-Tomoe Sharingan!
If things really came down to it, he could just go rogue and cosplay as a missing-nin.
The Shinobi World was vast. Was there anywhere Uchiha Jun couldn't go?
As for the [Mission] requirements of his Golden Finger...
They didn't say the missions had to be from Konoha, did they?
Worst case, he could head over to Kumogakure or Iwagakure and take missions there.
Considering how "hungry" the Raikage was for Kekkei Genkai, if he showed up there with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan, wouldn't they set him up with three wives and four concubines?
At that thought, the world suddenly seemed wide open.
Uchiha Jun turned to look at the flames outside, silently calculating the number of enemies.
"An Elite Jonin leading at least five Chunin... A head-on fight would be foolish. But if we retreat, the badly injured Kazuichi won't be able to move fast..."
"But at least we have a Special Jonin here."
"I'll watch how things develop. If it really comes to it, I'll make a run for it. A twelve-year-old with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan... If that gets exposed, I don't even want to imagine how crazy the old dog Danzo would go!"
Uchiha Jun made up his mind.
Unless he revealed his trump card, [Uchiha Sasuke (Shippuden)], a direct confrontation would be suicide.
But revealing his trump card would come at too great a cost.
That schemer Orochimaru might be lurking somewhere, watching him, and Shimura Danzō, who coveted the Sharingan, was no pushover either.
A twelve-year-old with a Three-Tomoe Sharingan—if that got exposed, he wouldn't be offered some "genius cultivation program." He'd be handed an S-Rank Mission, fail it, and end up with a cenotaph on the Memorial Monument.
"Uchiha Jun, get Gekko Kazuichi out of here first."
Yamazaki Kengo's voice came from behind, interrupting Uchiha Jun's thoughts.
The Special Jonin had pushed himself up against the wall and was now standing. His right leg was still trembling, but the hand gripping his sword was as steady as iron.
"Dodo, Shuichi, cover their retreat. I'll hold them off."
"Captain!" Akimichi Dodo's expression changed. "Your injuries—"
"That's an order."
Yamazaki Kengo cut him off, his tone as calm as if he were commenting on the weather.
Watching Yamazaki Kengo's back, Uchiha Jun suddenly understood: the man truly intended to die here.
"Senior Yamazaki."
Uchiha Jun spoke up.
Yamazaki Kengo turned around.
"I'll stay and hold them off with you."
Yamazaki Kengo frowned. "What are you talking about? You're just a—"
"I'm Lord Orochimaru's student."
Uchiha Jun cut him off, his expression carrying just the right amount of youthful stubbornness.
"Before we arrived, I set some Explosive Tag traps along the way. I know how to trigger them, and I've already scouted out a route for us to fight as we retreat."
That was half true.
He had indeed set some Explosive Tag traps on the way over, but they were only meant to buy time.
There was only one real reason: he couldn't just run away.
He'd more or less figured out that this mission was probably a "test" set by Sarutobi Hiruzen's faction. The outcome would determine how Uchiha Jun would be treated in Konoha from then on.
But first, he had to prove his worth!
Yamazaki Kengo studied Uchiha Jun for two seconds, then nodded.
"Don't die."
He waved to Akimichi Dodo and Hyuga Shuichi. "What are you waiting for? Follow orders and get Kazuichi out!"
The two gritted their teeth, hoisted Gekko Kazuichi between them, and retreated through the stronghold's back door.
Only Uchiha Jun and Yamazaki Kengo remained inside.
The explosions outside drew closer and closer.
Uchiha Jun took a deep breath and pushed the sensory abilities of [Senju Tobirama (Young)] to their limits.
The enemies' positions appeared in his mind like stars on a chart.
Six Chunin were advancing from the front, while two more Chunin on each flank moved to surround them.
And directly behind them, two powerful chakra signatures approached at an unhurried pace.
One chakra signature was violent and scorching, as though it might explode at any moment.
That was obviously Explosion Release: Gari.
The other was steady and heavy, with the solidity of rock—it was the other Iwa-nin Jonin.
"They're here," Uchiha Jun said quietly.
As soon as he spoke, the earthen wall at the front of the stronghold exploded!
Shards of rock carried on a wave of scorching air poured toward them like a downpour.
The shock wave from the blast sent the maps and packs flying off the table, and the entire stronghold shuddered.
Yamazaki Kengo formed Hand Seals and stamped one foot on the ground. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
A thick earthen wall surged up from the ground, barely stopping the flying stones and scorching air. Even so, the shock wave's remaining force drove the two of them back several steps.
Through a crack in the wall, Uchiha Jun caught sight of what was outside.
Six ninja wearing Iwagakure flak jackets had spread out in a fan formation. Holding Kunai and Explosive Tags, they were closing in on the stronghold.
Behind them came a gaunt man with sunken cheeks and spiky hair who looked practically kidney-deficient. He walked over the rubble with a cruel smile on his lips. As he clenched his fists, the air crackled.
Explosion Release: Gari.