The Cunning Iwa Ninja

"A few days ago, we were fighting to the death. Who would have thought that a few days later, we'd be working together? The world is truly unpredictable."

Long Ye and Shisui Uchiha leaped from trunk to trunk as they traveled, chatting calmly. There was no sign that they were on their way to fight a Jonin to the death.

Long Ye sped forward, staring ahead as he said, "It took us a whole day to get here. That Iwa ninja had better not have left, or all our efforts will have been wasted."

Shisui Uchiha cast him a puzzled glance. "You've been rushing the entire way. With how impatient you seem, it feels less like you're here to risk your life and more like you're here to rob someone."

Long Ye hadn't expected Shisui to be so perceptive.

He wasn't there to rob anyone of money, but he was there to rob someone of their life.

That Iwa ninja had to die by his hand. Only then could he seize the other man's Kekkei Genkai.

"We're getting closer and closer to the location marked on the map. Do you have any good ideas for finding him—or, rather, luring him out?"

Shisui Uchiha asked tentatively.

Long Ye nodded.

Shisui's spirits lifted. "What? You really have a plan? Seriously? Tell me what it is!"

"There's no rush. I'll tell you once we get there."

"So mysterious!" Shisui said, half-convinced.

After hurrying onward for another ten-odd minutes, the two stopped in a dense forest.

It was a primeval forest, with unusually thick trees. Wherever they looked, there were trees so massive that two people could barely wrap their arms around them.

"Strange. What exactly is the Tsuchikage's Iwa ninja doing in a place like this?" Shisui muttered to himself.

"Are you sure the point marked on the map is this place?" Long Ye asked in a lowered voice as he surveyed their surroundings.

"It can't be wrong. Even if there's an error, it won't be more than fifty kilometers." Shisui was extremely confident.

"What, fifty kilometers?" Long Ye was speechless.

"That's the ideal range. That Iwa ninja isn't an inanimate object; he couldn't have stayed still. My guess is that he's somewhere within a fifty-kilometer radius."

Shisui Uchiha wore a cautious expression as he watched for the slightest movement in the surrounding grass and trees.

"What exactly did the intelligence report say?" Long Ye asked, unwilling to accept this.

"It only said that the mission destination pointed to this area. Right! Didn't you say you had a way to lure him out? What's your method?"

Shisui Uchiha looked curious. He was certain he hadn't been able to think of a good plan.

"My method is..."

Before Long Ye could finish, he suddenly attacked Shisui. He spread his hands, electricity raging between them, then hurled it at Shisui Uchiha like a stone.

The instant it left his hands, a blue ball of lightning transformed into a Tengu Form. A beam of lightning connected to the Tengu's tail, with the other end gripped in Long Ye's hand.

"Hey... what are you doing?!"

Shisui was horrified. He used the Body Flicker Technique and instantly retreated.

But the Tengu behind him clung to him like a parasite, pursuing him relentlessly.

"Fire Release: Dragon Flame Jutsu!"

As he fled, Shisui formed hand seals, and three fire dragons rose into the air.

Boom!!

The Tengu formed from the high-intensity current collided with the three fire dragons, triggering a chaotic explosion of crackling electricity. The scorching flames transformed into a mushroom cloud that billowed into the sky.

"What are you doing?"

Shisui Uchiha was both furious and alarmed.

"Weren't you trying to lure him out?" Long Ye said with a faint smile.

"What?" Shisui finally began to understand.

"You mean he'll see people fighting here and come to investigate? Will that really lure him over?" Shisui was skeptical.

"Never underestimate a person's curiosity. Besides, the Fire Release you just used is one of the more representative techniques of the Land of Fire. If you knew there were people from Konoha here, wouldn't you come to investigate?"

Shisui Uchiha smiled. "Normally, perhaps not. But the two countries are at war now, so maybe..."

Before he could finish, their expressions changed simultaneously.

A sound like something racing on the wind came from one direction.

"Huh? Two brats from Konoha."

The rushing sound abruptly stopped.

A voice came from within the forest.

Long Ye and Shisui stood ready for battle, staring fixedly toward the source of the voice.

Under their watchful gazes, a tall, thin man with sunken cheeks and spiked hair strode out openly.

"You two brats could have fought anywhere, but you had to come here to die. For the sake of the war between our two countries, I'll reluctantly send you on your way today."

The thin-faced man clenched his fists and charged toward Long Ye and Shisui.

If they hadn't known beforehand that he possessed Explosion Release, they would have rushed forward to fight him.

But now, they knew his abilities inside out. The moment they saw him charge, they immediately retreated, counterattacking with techniques as they fled.

Shisui used the Dragon Flame Jutsu again.

Long Ye showed no mercy, repeating the attack he had just used against Shisui.

The man seemed too lazy to use a technique, directly bracing himself against their killing moves with his bare hands.

"Boom!!"

First, he punched the three incoming fire dragons. The instant his fist touched the dragons, it triggered a violent explosion.

The blast was so powerful that every tree within ten meters was shattered.

As expected, the three fire dragons were blown apart by that single punch, scattering into flames across the sky.

Having landed one punch, he threw another.

This punch struck the lightning hurtling toward him.

Boom!

Another deafening explosion erupted.

Long Ye's Tengu, formed from high-intensity electricity, was blasted into an unrecognizable shape. But this time, the man paid a price: electric arcs crackled across his fist.

"What a strange technique. This is the first time I've encountered Lightning Release like this."

The man's Explosion Release was too powerful. His hand was briefly numbed, but it recovered in the blink of an eye. Clearly, ninety-nine percent of the current Long Ye had unleashed had been scattered by the explosive force.

"Shū of Iwagakure, your life ends today!"

Shisui Uchiha's eyes suddenly changed. Both eyes became Two-Tomoe Sharingan, and he instantly activated a genjutsu.

"The Sharingan!!"

The man's expression changed.

Breaking from his usual behavior, he stopped fighting and turned to flee.

When Shisui called out his name, the man instantly realized that the two of them had come to assassinate him.

Of course, he didn't consider Long Ye and Shisui a threat.

But his cautious nature told him that Konoha's higher-ups would never send two brats to deal with him. There had to be other experts nearby. It was even possible that Minato Namikaze was in the vicinity.

He frightened himself badly and didn't dare continue fighting, fleeing for his life at once.

"How is this possible? He wasn't caught by my genjutsu!"

Shisui was stunned.

Long Ye didn't remain idle. Seeing the man attempt to escape, he used Lightning Across the Void.

A beam of lightning struck the Iwa ninja in the back.

Before the two could celebrate, the Iwa ninja shattered on the spot into a pile of broken stones.

"Not good! It's the Substitution Technique."

Neither of them had noticed when he had used the Substitution Technique.