The Kidnapped Kushina Uzumaki

Bang!

A puff of white smoke rose, and a deep-blue sword hilt resembling a vajra pestle, embedded with a special crystal, appeared in Yin Jie's hand.

As Yin Jie poured chakra into it, a bright yellow blade of light condensed from high-intensity chakra instantly shot out from the center of the hilt.

At the same time, Yin Jie's eyes locked tightly onto those of the Hidden Cloud jonin drawing ever closer, and the ocular power he had built up for so long erupted all at once.

"Demonic Illusion: Seeing Hell Technique!!!"

Yin Jie's ocular power instantly invaded the Hidden Cloud jonin's mental world.

The reason he had chosen this genjutsu was simple. As long as someone was human, there was bound to be something they feared.

The effect of the Seeing Hell Technique was to make the opponent witness what they feared most, creating a mental shock. The deeper their fear, the more powerful the technique became.

Not to mention that although this was only a D-rank genjutsu, when cast through the Sharingan and combined with Yin Jie's immense spiritual power, the results were immediate.

Thus, despite already treating Yin Jie with a certain degree of caution and vigilance, the Hidden Cloud jonin still fell for it in an instant. His mind lapsed into a daze, and the Lightning Release chakra covering his body loosened.

And so—

"Uchiha Style: Lightning Flash!!!"

Seeing that his plan had worked, Yin Jie did not hesitate. Gripping the Sword of the Thunder God, now blazing with light after being infused with a massive amount of chakra, he stepped forward. As his body shifted slightly past the Hidden Cloud jonin, he viciously drove the blade into the man's heart.

Squelch...

The sound of flesh being pierced rang out. Without any surprise, the Sword of the Thunder God instantly broke through the defense of the Lightning Release chakra and plunged unobstructed into the Hidden Cloud jonin's chest, piercing straight through his heart with the precision of something guided by his blood vessels.

"Aaargh!!!"

After a moment of dead silence, the intense pain instantly brought the Hidden Cloud jonin back to his senses, followed by a huge mouthful of blood spraying from his lips.

But it was not over yet.

A ruthless gleam flashed through Yin Jie's eyes. Then he pulled out his sword and stabbed again, repeating the motion several times.

He had to ensure that the Hidden Cloud jonin died on the spot, without a doubt!

As Yin Jie made his final withdrawal, a scorching jet of blood burst forth with the lingering force of the man's convulsing chest. A broad swath of hot, bloody red splashed across Yin Jie's front, while droplets flew away with such force that they struck the ground and blossomed into dark crimson flowers.

Then even more blood poured from the hole in the Hidden Cloud jonin's heart like a breached flood, soaking and staining his white one-shouldered armored vest red. It continued streaming downward, winding beneath him into rivulets before pooling into a small puddle of blood.

"Uh..."

The Hidden Cloud jonin's eyes were filled with incredulous shock, the unwillingness of unfulfilled ambition, and the despair of being beyond saving.

He wanted to say something more, but with his heart pierced, he could no longer utter a word.

Every weak spasm of his heart sent another wave of blood surging out. That warm sensation rapidly turned cold, as though his life were being drawn from his body bit by bit along with the gushing blood. Even his breath carried a thick, sweet stench of blood, and the light before his eyes dimmed little by little as the blood continued to spill.

Having lost the strength supporting it, the Hidden Cloud jonin's tall, muscular body finally gave way. His knees buckled as if they had lost all support, and his entire body pitched forward uncontrollably, crashing heavily to the ground before Yin Jie.

The Hidden Cloud jonin was dead!

Huff!

Huff!

Huff!

Yin Jie breathed rapidly as a deep weariness washed over him.

It had looked like a series of many movements, but it had all happened in the span of a lightning flash. The process had been extraordinarily dangerous and had consumed a great deal of Yin Jie's mental energy.

Naturally, he had also used up quite a bit of ocular power and chakra.

But in the end, the result was good.

The risk had been worth it.

Everything had been under his control.

That said, if the Hidden Cloud jonin had not fallen into his genjutsu just now, Yin Jie had naturally possessed a backup plan and could have changed tactics in time.

It was just that, in that case, he might have had to endure an extremely long and grueling battle...

Soon, after recovering a little, Yin Jie hurriedly left the area, intending to find a secluded place to restore himself first.

As for the Hidden Cloud jonin's corpse, Yin Jie naturally sealed it away in a sealing scroll. After all, this was a Hidden Cloud ninja who had mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode. The Hidden Leaf Village would surely be able to investigate the body and extract crucial intelligence from it.

Before recovering, Yin Jie summoned Moonshade and used the Ninja Cat Clan to contact his teacher, Orochimaru.

Afterward, Orochimaru did not need to explain much. Familiar with the plot, Yin Jie finally understood why Hidden Cloud ninja had dared to take such an enormous risk by appearing within the Land of Fire—and why he had encountered them.

Half a day earlier.

On the outskirts of the Hidden Leaf Village, a tall Hidden Leaf ninja was carrying a red-haired girl wearing a Hidden Leaf forehead protector over his shoulder as he leaped continuously through the forest. Two other equally tall Hidden Leaf ninja were beside him.

Not long after leaving the Hidden Leaf Village's territory, white smoke suddenly burst from the three tall Hidden Leaf ninja, revealing their original appearances.

It was the Transformation Technique, one of the basic Three Body Techniques. Their true identities were none other than Hidden Cloud ninja who had secretly infiltrated the Hidden Leaf Village.

After traveling some distance farther, the three Hidden Cloud ninja erupted with chakra and suddenly accelerated, carrying the "unconscious" red-haired girl as they raced toward the northeastern region of the Land of Fire.

However, none of the three Hidden Cloud ninja, hurriedly making their way onward, noticed that the girl with the vibrant red hair had quietly awakened.

She was merely pretending to be unconscious.

The girl's identity was already obvious. She was Kushina Uzumaki, the Uzumaki clan's sole surviving member known to the ninja world, chosen by the Hidden Leaf Village to succeed the dying Mito Uzumaki as the next Nine-Tails jinchuriki!

Perhaps the three Hidden Cloud ninja assigned to the kidnapping did not know much about the Uzumaki clan's physique, and perhaps they had been overly confident in the effectiveness of the anesthetic they had brought.

It had never occurred to them that Kushina Uzumaki would awaken before they had even completely left the Hidden Leaf Village's territory.

Thus, during their journey, they did not avoid discussing matters in front of Kushina Uzumaki, who was supposed to be unconscious. As a result, Kushina Uzumaki quickly figured out her situation from their conversation.

Having encountered difficulties with their tailed beast jinchuriki, the Hidden Cloud Village had set its sights on her Uzumaki bloodline and intended to kidnap her back for research...