Hidden Sand and Hidden Stone Ambush

Early the next morning, everyone gathered at the entrance to Konoha.

Tsunade explained the destination of this journey. "We're heading to the western front of the Land of Rain, near the Land of Rivers."

After a brief explanation, she pointed to the two ninja beside her.

"This is Kunugi Mokume, and this is Dan Katō. They're both elite jonin."

The ordinary-looking Kunugi Mokume and silver-haired Dan Katō both nodded amiably at Indra, Mikoto, and the others.

Indra and Mikoto respectfully returned the greeting, and everyone exchanged a few words.

The antidote, the core of this mission, had already been packed in crates and sealed inside storage scrolls.

Tsunade immediately led the team out of the village. Everyone used the Transformation Technique to disguise themselves as ordinary Hidden Leaf ninja and raced toward the Land of Rain.

At first, everyone traveled at full speed, reaching the forest near the Land of Rain in just three days.

But the closer they drew to the Land of Rain, the more they slowed down.

Even though they were traveling in disguise and had not drawn the attention of Sunagakure's spies,

Sunagakure had long been keeping an eye on Konoha's development of an antidote.

Besides dispatching spies to gather intelligence, they had also set countless traps and stationed elite ninja scouts along the border between the Land of Rain and the Land of Fire.

Unable to keep racing across the treetops forever, the group had no choice but to carefully investigate the path ahead as they advanced.

"Another poison trap."

Boom!!!

At Kunugi Mokume's warning, an explosion rang out, followed by a cloud of purple-black poisonous mist.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

Kunugi Mokume formed hand seals and swiftly exhaled a gale.

The dense toxic mist was blown away in an instant, thinning until it vanished completely into the forest.

Tsunade stopped walking and did not recklessly press onward.

Her gaze swept across the group before settling on Indra and Mikoto.

Before setting out, the two had told her about it, and Tsunade knew they had contracts with ninja cats.

"That explosion may have drawn some trouble.

Indra, Mikoto, summon your ninja cats and have them scout the area."

The moment Tsunade said that, Dan Katō, who had wanted to show off in front of her, immediately held himself back.

His Spirit Transformation Technique could also be used for reconnaissance, but wasting chakra on that would clearly be too extravagant.

Upon receiving Tsunade's orders, Indra and Mikoto immediately bit their fingers.

"Summoning Technique: Ninja Cat!"

Poof! Poof!

Two puffs of white smoke rose, and two clothed ninja cats appeared in the clearing.

They glanced at the people present and immediately spotted the Uchiha Clan attire worn by Indra and Mikoto.

The ninja cats spoke bluntly. "Descendants of the Uchiha Clan, why did you summon us?"

"Honored ninja cats, we hope you can scout the surrounding area for enemies."

Uchiha Mikoto crouched down and answered respectfully, taking out the matatabi drink she carried with her.

Grandpa Ryoji had specifically mentioned that ninja cats loved this stuff.

"Pssh, ninety-nine percent. Rare stuff." The two ninja cats sniffed it, their faces turning intoxicated. "You two know what you're doing. We'll take the job."

They tucked the matatabi drinks into their clothes and immediately leaped onto the branches to scout the surroundings.

As natural-born hunters, the two ninja cats quickly finished investigating the nearby area.

"A Hidden Sand squad is approaching from six hundred meters northwest. There are also five traps around you, located at..."

The returning ninja cats also marked out each trap's location one by one.

It could only be called a coincidence. The ninja who had set these explosive tag traps had taken into account the possibility of woodland animals running around.

To prevent wild cats, pheasants, and the like from triggering the traps, the weight threshold had been set at just enough that even ninja cats would not set them off.

Tsunade, who had gained an unexpected bonus, immediately directed everyone into action.

"Katō, use the Spirit Transformation Technique to support us. Mokume, you're with me. Indra, Mikoto, guard Katō's body."

As soon as Tsunade finished speaking, Dan Katō swiftly formed hand seals.

Dan Katō, an elite jonin, was fairly ordinary in overall strength, but he possessed the S-rank forbidden technique passed down through his family—the Spirit Transformation Technique.

It was a rare soul-based ninjutsu that separated the user's spiritual energy from their physical energy, materializing that spiritual energy into a "spirit body."

The spirit body could travel regardless of distance, possess and control others, and more. It was also difficult to detect through conventional means.

The instant Dan Katō's body went limp and he fell over with his eyes closed, Tsunade and Kunugi Mokume charged toward the enemy ninja.

Watching Tsunade's group depart, Indra and Mikoto sat beside Dan Katō's body and grasped the Sheep Talisman from their ninja tool pouches.

In an instant, Indra's soul left his body, and he saw Dan Katō's "spirit body" flying through the air.

The perspective of a soul is really strange. I can even see the outlines of other people's souls... Wait, there are people underground!?

Indra curiously looked around and spotted several soul outlines approaching beneath the earth.

He immediately returned to his body and sprang to his feet. "Mikoto, enemies are approaching!"

"Enemies? Where?"

Uchiha Mikoto was startled as well. She drew her chakra short sword and nervously scanned her surroundings.

When she saw that the area was silent and apparently empty, confusion appeared on her face.

Indra silently pointed at the ground and gave her a meaningful look.

Their years of mutual understanding let Uchiha Mikoto instantly grasp what he meant.

The enemies are underground!

If that was the case, then the enemy ninja were likely skilled in Earth Release.

The two immediately stopped moving and stared fixedly at the ground.

The three-man Hidden Stone squad traveling underground immediately lost their sense of the surface.

They were chunin sent by Iwagakure to assist Sunagakure in battle. Their mission was to intercept any Hidden Leaf ninja traveling from the Land of Fire to the Land of Rain.

They had no vision while moving underground and could only locate others through vibrations on the surface.

Once Indra and Mikoto stopped moving, the three Hidden Stone ninja quickly came to a conclusion.

One of them burst out of the ground and looked toward Indra's position.

"Two Uchiha brats and one corpse lying down. They're still standing there!"

The Hidden Stone ninja excitedly relayed the information to his companions. The other two immediately accelerated, tunneling beneath Indra's feet.

"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu!"

The ground beneath Indra and Mikoto split open like the jaws of death, ready to swallow them both.

Before Mikoto could react, Indra, already holding the Ox Talisman in his palm, lightly raised his right foot and stomped down hard.

Boom!!!

Brutal force shattered the earth, stamping out a crater half a meter deep and crushing the fissure flat along with it.

Splat~

A muffled sound like fruit being crushed came from underground, and blood faintly seeped through the soil.

The smile on the distant Hidden Stone ninja's face froze instantly as he met Indra's blood-red single-tomoe Sharingan.

The Hidden Stone ninja's hair stood on end. He remembered that one must not make eye contact with an Uchiha whose eyes had awakened.

He hurriedly shut his eyes, rapidly formed hand seals, and slammed his palms onto the ground.

"It's an Uchiha monster!"

"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"

Rumble, rumble, rumble!!

Sharp stone spears burst from the ground, instantly covering the place where Indra and Mikoto stood.

Taking the opportunity, the Hidden Stone ninja opened his eyes to observe their movements.

But in that brief instant, he discovered that Indra and Mikoto had vanished.

"Where did they go!?"

The Hidden Stone ninja's scalp tingled as he quickly looked around.

The next moment, he caught sight of Indra standing not far to his side.

Indra's figure continued multiplying—one became two, two became four...

Staring at the dense mass of afterimages, the terrified Hidden Stone ninja had completely lost his ability to judge.

"Die, all of you, Uchiha monsters!!!"

"Rock Iron Cannon Technique!"

The Hidden Stone ninja formed seals with trembling hands and spat out tiny stones.

The stones rapidly expanded in the air, becoming solid cannonballs as they smashed toward Indra's afterimages.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The stone cannonballs crashed into the ground, kicking up clouds of dust.

The Hidden Stone ninja gasped for breath, but before he could relax, a sharp pain pierced his chest.

Squelch!

A gleaming blade burst through his torso, piercing his heart in a single strike.

As the Hidden Stone ninja instinctively reached for the sword tip, the short sword was violently pulled from his chest.

Ssssh!

Scarlet blood sprayed from his front and back in arcs, draining all strength from him in mere moments.

The Hidden Stone ninja struggled to turn around and caught sight of Indra standing behind him.

"Behind me? When..."

Clutching his chest, the Hidden Stone ninja died in agony, his face filled with unwilling confusion.

The divine power of the Rabbit Talisman, kid!

Indra could not be bothered to explain. He merely took a deep breath.

The scent of blood hanging in the air would not fade, making him frown.

Perhaps it was because of his Uchiha bloodline, but even after personally killing three people, he only felt sickened and had no particularly strong emotions beyond that.