The first time I ever had to lie in wait, they buried me underground for five days. I ate, drank, and relieved myself in the same hole. When I came out, the smell... tsk, tsk. This is practically a vacation, so quit whining."
As soon as he finished speaking, Sarutobi Hiruzen, who was hiding at the other end, chimed in with a laugh. "Exactly, Hibari. It's only two days. If you can't even put up with that, how could we assign you an important mission in the future?
"Do you think being a ninja means having fun and excitement every day? Sometimes, the real skill is enduring loneliness! And as for moving closer, if we're spotted, these two days of waiting will have been for nothing.
"Observing the Seven-Tails? Don't be ridiculous. It's a Tailed Beast. We can't trust your abilities with something like that, so stay put!"
"I thought I'd get to witness something spectacular, but instead I'm just wasting time here. I should've waited and set out with Lord Hokage..." Hibari pouted and muttered a couple of words.
Sarutobi Sasuke gave a chuckle. "In my experience, missions like this usually wrap up after two or three days. Even if someone else gets involved, they won't show up too late, or they'll miss their chance.
"Besides, Lord Hokage set out two days later. By my calculations, he should be here soon. So we'll be wrapping this up any moment now. Don't let us down at the last minute, kid..."
"I was just saying. I know that a journey of a hundred miles is only half done at ninety." Hibari nodded, grinning. "If you say something's about to happen, then I can hold out a few more days. It's not like a little more time matters!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen was about to tease him a little more, but his expression suddenly changed.
Sarutobi Sasuke tensed beside him, instantly suppressing every trace of his presence. Hibari wasn't as alert as the two of them, but when he saw their reaction, he immediately held his breath and fell silent, staring anxiously toward the direction where they'd set the traps.
Sure enough, before long, four figures crept out of the woods at the other end. None of them wore Forehead Protectors. The one in the lead walked up to the pool, then stopped abruptly and frowned at the water. "Did it rain around here in the last couple of days?"
"I don't think so, Captain..." one of the men behind him replied.
"If it didn't rain, where'd this puddle come from? Something's off. Stay alert." At his words, the other three immediately spread out and searched the area carefully.
Before long, one of them crouched down and called out, "Captain, there's a trigger trap here!"
A flicker of chagrin crossed Hibari's face in the distance. He was still a bit green. He'd forgotten to account for the weather when setting the trap and given himself away. But he was annoyed for only a moment,
after all, a veteran like Sarutobi Sasuke was crouched beside him. The old hand wouldn't make the same mistake. Thinking of that, Hibari's lips curled into a smile instead.
The ninja who had found the trap looked up and asked, "Captain, should we dismantle it?"
The leader narrowed his eyes and scanned the area, finally looking toward the small earthen rise where Hibari and the others were hiding. He shook his head. "Don't touch it. A trap this obvious was either set by a rookie, or... it's a decoy, with a whole series of traps behind it.
"We heard that Konoha had gotten involved in this. It might be Sarutobi Sasuke's handiwork. Do you really think that old man's a rookie? For all we know... he's hiding nearby and watching us."
The leader really was sharp. It took him only a few words to guess almost exactly what was going on.
But what he never could've imagined was that the trap really had been set by a rookie—and in a particularly "distinctive" way, too. Even the Second, Tobirama, had once fallen for it.
The leader stroked his chin and pondered for a while before speaking. "Normally, if a puddle appears out of nowhere in a place like this and there's such an obvious trap, there are only two possibilities: either there's an ambush, or it's a warning telling us not to come any closer. It's not as if... this puddle can blow up on its own, right?"
He paused, then continued, "I think it's a warning. But we have a mission to carry out. We can't turn back just because someone tried to scare us."
Then he turned toward two of his subordinates. "You two, check out the water. Be thorough. Don't touch the trap, and see if anyone's hiding in the water."
The two ninjas dashed over to the pool without a word. The water-filled pit Hibari had made wasn't deep to begin with; they could see straight to the bottom.
And that wasn't all. They pulled out a few Shuriken and fired them into the water with a series of whooshes, churning it up for a while before turning back to report. "Captain, the water's clear. Looks like it really was just a warning."
At that moment, the ninja who'd found the trap grinned. "Maybe some rookie just messed around and set it up?"
Before he'd even finished speaking, the leader's face changed. He stared at the trap and growled, "Idiot! It's remote-controlled!"
Up on the slope, Sarutobi Sasuke's lips curled as he murmured, "The captain's sharp, but what a drag having incompetent subordinates... One sentence and they've sent him down the wrong track."
That's right. He'd secretly changed Hibari's trigger trap into a remote-controlled one a while ago. It just looked like a trigger trap. His technique was quite sophisticated. If the captain had discovered it himself, he might've noticed something was off.
But as luck would have it, one of his subordinates had shouted, "I found a trigger trap!" That had put the idea in the captain's head, so he hadn't looked any deeper.
By the time he realized, it was too late—Sarutobi Sasuke released his hand seal, instantly activating the Thunderstorm Seal Hibari had buried.
A sharp crackle rang out as electricity exploded beside the four ninjas, then vanished in a flash without anything happening. The leader couldn't help but freeze. They'd gone to all that trouble just to scare them?
Though baffled, his body instinctively leaped backward. His jump alerted the subordinate beside him, who hurriedly leaped away too. But the other two, crouching by the water, weren't so lucky.
They'd just started to get up and run when an Explosive Tag detonated nearby with a thunderous boom.
Before they could figure out why the Explosive Tag had gone off so far away, the sight before them left them dumbstruck—the entire surface of the water was on fire!
They didn't even have time to cry out before a violent explosion swallowed everything around them.
In the last moments of their lives, the two of them recalled the captain's words from earlier at the same time: "It's not as if this puddle can suddenly blow up, right?"
Well, would you look at that... the water really could blow up!
With a deafening boom, the pool exploded into a deep crater, and even the other traps Sarutobi Sasuke had set up as backup were launched into the air.
A small mushroom cloud slowly drifted up from the crater. The two ninjas who'd been lucky enough to escape stood there covered in dust, dumbfounded. Even Sarutobi Sasuke and Sarutobi Hiruzen, hiding on the slope, stared in disbelief.
They'd heard Hibari boast about how powerful the trap was, but seeing it for real still left them speechless.
Sarutobi Sasuke swallowed. "Kid... you really know how to set off an explosion."
Sarutobi Hiruzen smacked his lips. "I've learned something today... Don't go spreading this method around. It could cause a disaster."
Then he suddenly froze and whipped around to look at Hibari. "No wonder you said your technique could be rated S-rank... With an explosion like that, if you actually pull it off, I'd believe it was an S-rank composite ninjutsu!"
In fact, neither of them was more stunned than Hibari himself. He'd expected a powerful explosion, but he hadn't expected it to turn out this perfectly. Then again, the area was surrounded by forest, so there was plenty of oxygen. Naturally, the fire burned hotter...
But Hibari recovered quickly and immediately struck a smug pose, laughing with his hands on his hips. "You should've seen who set that trap! That kind of power... pfft, it's nothing special. Hahahaha!"
Before Hibari could enjoy his moment for much longer, Sarutobi Sasuke spoke up. "Hiruzen, Hibari, go take care of the two survivors. There could be more reinforcements coming, so I'll stay here and cover you."
Sarutobi Hiruzen nodded briskly. He got up, planning to use the smoke as cover and strike first.
But just as he moved, Hibari cut in. "Hiruzen, you cover me. Let me get some practice in!"
Sarutobi Hiruzen reconsidered. The mission was simply to hold out until the Hokage arrived; they didn't necessarily have to kill everyone. Since Hibari wanted to try his hand, he could go first. Hiruzen would keep an eye on him from the sidelines and step in if anything went wrong.
With that in mind, he nodded. "All right, let's see what you can do."
Hibari grinned confidently. "Don't worry. Leave it to me!"
Before his words had even faded, he pushed off with his foot and used the Body Flicker Technique. His figure vanished from the slope.
Meanwhile, the blast wave had just passed, and the leader had already gotten back to his feet. He didn't have time to wonder why the pool had exploded. He hurriedly shouted, "Stay alert! Watch out for a sneak attack!"
The man really was experienced. Even when faced with such a sudden turn of events, he didn't panic. No wonder he'd been chosen to lead the squad.
As soon as he finished shouting, several Shuriken and Kunai shot out of the smoke, heading straight for him and his sole surviving subordinate.
As for the other two? They were probably blown to ashes. They'd be lucky if their bodies were even intact.
Facing the incoming ninja tools, the leader calmly drew his Kunai and blocked them with a series of metallic clinks, knocking them all aside.
He didn't know who was attacking, but they were most likely Konoha ninjas. Maybe... even Sarutobi Sasuke, whose name alone was enough to make your scalp tingle!
As he was thinking this, two huge Fuma Shuriken suddenly came hurtling out of the smoke. One flew toward him, while the other went straight for his subordinate.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!" The leader reacted lightning-fast. He formed Hand Seals and spat out a stream of water, which slammed into the Fuma Shuriken and knocked it off course, sending it to stick diagonally into a nearby tree trunk.
His subordinate wasn't slow either. He drew his sword and blocked the incoming Shuriken, holding it firmly in place. But before he could breathe a sigh of relief, the Shuriken went "poof" and turned into Hibari.
It was the same move Hibari had used against Tobirama before—the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!
The moment he turned back into human form, Hibari had already blocked the man's sword with his Kunai. Then, under the man's astonished gaze, he swung his leg and kicked him in the stomach.
"Rock-Crushing Kick!"
The kick was infused with chakra. It was Strength of a Hundred, the Senju Clan's hereditary Nintaijutsu.
With a dull thud, the ninja spat out a mouthful of blood and flew backward, crashing hard into a tree. He twitched twice, then stopped moving. It was impossible to tell whether he was unconscious or dead.
As soon as Hibari landed, he heard the leader shout:
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
A sharp jet of water tore through the air, shooting straight at Hibari. Given the timing, the leader hadn't cared at all about his subordinate's life. If Hibari hadn't kicked the man out of the way, the jet would probably have pierced his own man too.
Real ruthless. And of course he's the kind of Water Release ninja I hate most... Hibari grumbled to himself, but his movements didn't slow at all.
There wasn't enough time to form Hand Seals and defend himself. Besides, his Second had used this technique too, so Hibari knew how powerful the Water Severing Wave was. Ordinary defensive techniques couldn't stop it, so there was no point wasting his time.
He lightly tapped the ground with his foot, keeping his eyes fixed on the jet's trajectory. His body sprang into the air and spun once, narrowly skimming past the blade of water before landing steadily on the ground.
The whole movement was smooth and fluid, and while he was still airborne, he'd already formed his Hand Seals.
The instant his feet touched the ground, Hibari took a deep breath, puffed out his chest, then opened his mouth and spat out a fierce blast of wind pressure.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
"Water Style: Water Gun Bullet!" His opponent attacked almost simultaneously, sending a bullet of water hurtling into the wind.
The Vacuum Sphere and the water bullet collided halfway between them, bursting into a shower of water.
Before the mist had even cleared, the leader finally had a chance to get a good look at Hibari. His brows knotted together, and his voice was full of exasperation. "I thought you were Sarutobi Sasuke... But you're just some kid?"
"Since when did being a ninja mean you were judged by your age?" Hibari laughed, but his hands never stopped moving as his fingers flew into another series of Hand Seals.
Before you continue