Dad's Here

"Wow! I finally got it!"

Xuanhui wore a gas mask specially made by Hidden Rain Village, which he had just found in the camp.

He crept up behind someone and used the Mind Body Switch Technique to briefly possess him, then removed his mask.

The unlucky man's expression changed instantly. By the time he regained consciousness, his mouth was full of white foam, and he could no longer speak.

Xuanhui swiftly grabbed a plastic bag he had bought in advance and wrapped the man's corpse inside, sealing it up.

To prevent any poison gas from leaking out, he put three or four plastic bags over it in one go and tied five or six tight knots.

Hoisting it onto his shoulder, Xuanhui turned and left.

"Who's there? Don't run!"

Hanzo heard the rustling in the forest. Grabbing his sickle and chain, he charged toward Xuanhui.

"Damn! This old bastard really has some skill! He's catching up already!"

Xuanhui could feel Hanzo's chakra biting down right behind him, drawing closer and closer! He was about to catch him!

"Lightning Release: Divine Thunder Movement!"

Lightning Release chakra enveloped his legs, and his speed instantly tripled.

With every light push off the ground, the power in his thighs erupted. Within a few breaths, he had widened the distance again.

"That technique? Isn't that what those Hidden Cloud bastards specialize in?

Why would Hidden Cloud ninja come here?"

Xuanhui had already left Hanzo far behind.

Hanzo was powerful, but speed was not his strength. As someone who fought with poisonous mist, he was not skilled at pursuing enemies.

"Summoning Technique!"

After summoning out the wooden door, Xuanhui quickly slipped through it.

Far away at Konoha's encampment, Orochimaru stood before an experimental table, lightly holding a test tube.

Suddenly, a small white snake emerged from his sleeve and nodded at him.

He immediately understood what had happened. He set down the test tube at once and bit his finger.

"Summoning Technique!"

The wooden door shifted directly from Xuanhui's battlefield to Orochimaru's tent.

Orochimaru opened the door and saw Xuanhui sitting inside, panting heavily.

He threw out the large sealed bag, which hit the ground with a heavy thud.

"Tell Sister Tsunade... you can start developing the antidote now..."

On Hanzo's side, by the time he reached the spot where Xuanhui had vanished, he found that he could no longer track the man.

He looked ahead as every clue flashed through his mind, carefully analyzing everything.

"Could it be Hidden Cloud? With Lightning Release like that, he looked like one of theirs!

But isn't this the north? Why would they head toward Hidden Stone Village?

His scent and chakra disappeared here... It must be a frame-up!"

Hanzo recalled some things he had seen and heard, becoming even more convinced of this conclusion.

"Hidden Stone and Hidden Cloud have never gotten along. Diverting trouble toward Hidden Stone Village is exactly the sort of thing they would do.

Besides, I've long heard that Hidden Cloud likes collecting other villages' special ninjutsu, bloodlines, and kekkei genkai.

They've set their sights on my poison!"

Hanzo was almost certain that Hidden Cloud ninja had come to collect his poison.

Of course, it was also possible that they were Konoha ninja trying to gather intelligence on him in advance.

But that did not mean much to him. Aside from the salamander's poison, the toxins from the poison sac inside his own body were even stronger!

"Damn Hidden Cloud... among the great nations, you're the most ambitious..."

Hanzo put away his sickle, cursed Hidden Cloud under his breath a few times, then rushed toward the camp, which had descended into complete chaos.

"Great job, Xuanhui!"

Jiraiya and Xuanhui stood outside the experimental tent.

Jiraiya patted Xuanhui's shoulder approvingly, praising him without pause.

"Enough, Lord Jiraiya. This isn't the time to joke around."

Xuanhui removed the large hand from his shoulder.

"Request reinforcements immediately. Hanzo the Salamander has arrived on Konoha's battlefield. Sister Tsunade and Teacher Orochimaru need to develop an antidote, so we're short on manpower for now. The two of us need to hold out for a while!"

Only then did Jiraiya realize the severity of the situation. He had been too busy getting excited and praising Xuanhui to think of that at all.

He returned to his tent and began writing a letter.

Xuanhui returned to his own tent as well.

After all that, he could at least rest for one night.

The camp he had been guarding was in utter turmoil. Hanzo would have to spend some effort just stabilizing things and making a plan.

At the very least, he could get some rest tonight.

He closed his eyes, trying to drift into sleep.

He turned over... then turned over again...

He couldn't sleep...

Well, there was nothing to be done about it. He couldn't let such precious time go to waste, could he?

Xuanhui chose to immerse himself in the library, looking up academic materials for the development of his Light Release.

Maybe reading for a while would make him sleepy!

"Hmm... let's see...

Optics, Modern Optics, The Electromagnetic Wave Theory of Optics...

I've almost finished these two. Let's take a look at this one..."

Time passed quietly. By the time Xuanhui yawned again, he had forgotten how long it had been.

He stretched, placed the book on the table, and pushed open the door.

"Why is it so bright?"

He pulled open the tent flap and glanced at the sun.

Oh, right! Hidden Rain Village barely got any sunlight most of the time!

It should be morning or noon now...

Forget it. As long as no one came looking for him, he should sleep first!

His eyelids closed, his body lay down, and his consciousness sank into the depths of the sea as dreams replaced thought.

"Xuanhui! You're awake!"

Xuanhui used all his strength just to lift his heavy eyelids.

Someone sat before him with his side profile facing Xuanhui, cutting an apple on the table.

Xuanhui shook his head, clearing his mind considerably. The person's features gradually came into focus.

It wasn't Jiraiya. It wasn't Orochimaru. It was his dad!

"Dad? Why are you here? Isn't this—"

"The Third Lord transferred us here."

Uchiha Uzumaki peeled a piece of apple and stuffed it straight into Xuanhui's mouth.

"The Hokage said there weren't enough troops here, so he transferred part of the forces from elsewhere to reinforce this place."

"Oh! Then I get it!"

Teacher Sarutobi moved pretty fast! The letter had been written last night, and the reinforcements had arrived today!

Jiraiya's messenger frogs were incredible after all. As expected of an intelligence expert!

"Dad, what time is it?"

"Not sure, but it'll be dark soon."

"Then stay here and get some rest. I need to go out on patrol."

Xuanhui got up and began getting dressed.

"I heard from your mother that you're already a chunin, right?"

"Yeah. If I earn a little more merit, jonin won't be far off."

"Good! That's my son! Hahahaha!"

Uchiha Uzumaki laughed from the bottom of his heart. After so long, he had not laughed with his family like this in a very long time.

"My son, Uchiha Uzumaki's son, is definitely one among a million! Hahahaha!"

Ignoring his father's wild laughter, Xuanhui finished dressing and left the tent.