End of the Battle

Tsukimi stopped in the shadows. Through the Shadowkhan's shared vision, he fixed his gaze on the hidden Sand Ninja.

The Ninja had suppressed his Chakra presence to almost nothing, evading Kurenai's Sensory Ninjutsu. If not for the unusual nature of Tsukimi's Shadowkhan, no one in the valley would have noticed another observer concealed in the dense woods.

Tsukimi watched for a moment. Despite the six Sand Ninja falling one after another, the one in hiding had never tried to help. He merely knelt on one knee with a palm pressed to the ground, maintaining his Sensory Ninjutsu and silently recording the entire battle.

What was this? Someone posing as a Sand Ninja?

A thoughtful look crossed Tsukimi's eyes. The man seemed to have been lurking there all along, so there was little reason for him to be an impostor.

Could this be an internal factional struggle? If so, the squad sent to investigate the toxin had been set up. Whoever was behind it was likely from within Sand Hidden, and these six had become casualties of factional politics.

Tch. People who played politics really were black-hearted bastards.

Once Tsukimi had worked it out, he stopped hesitating. Further probing was pointless. What mattered now was ending the fight quickly and taking someone alive for interrogation.

Shadow energy gathered beneath his feet. In the next instant, the Mantis Squad's Flash Step erupted, and Tsukimi blurred toward the leading Sand Jonin.

The four remaining Sand Ninja had their full attention on Orochimaru. They threw everything they had at him, cycling through Wind Release, Puppet Technique, and Swordsmanship to keep him occupied. Their backs were left completely exposed.

Only when the chilling intent to kill closed in did the leading Jonin sense the mortal danger behind him, thanks to instincts honed over years of combat.

"Not good!"

A bone-deep chill raised every hair on his body. He forced himself to turn, desperately trying to gather all his Chakra for defense.

But Tsukimi's attack was too fast. The leading Jonin was still a step too slow. Cold light flashed, and a long blade formed entirely from shadow came slashing down.

Slash!

The crack of breaking bone rang out. With the last of his strength, the leading Jonin barely avoided a fatal blow through the chest, but the blade severed his entire right arm.

Blood sprayed and the severed arm flew. Agony swept through him as he staggered backward. His Chakra fell into chaos and dispersed, taking most of his fighting strength with it.

No wonder everyone loved a sneak attack. It worked like a charm!

The sudden strike from behind chilled the three remaining Sand Ninja to the bone. Orochimaru, who had been toying with them, lost his amused smile. Cold killing intent took its place.

There was no need to drag this out.

"It's over!"

His hoarse voice drifted on the wind. Orochimaru stopped holding back and rapidly formed hand seals. Dense swarms of snakes burst from the ground and wrapped around the Chunin puppeteer, who failed to dodge in time. Hidden Shadow Snake Hands shot forward, pierced the defenses of the Chunin swordsman, and killed him instantly. The remaining Jonin puppeteer fled in panic, but he could not escape the snakes filling the battlefield. With every route blocked, a giant snake slowly coiled tighter and crushed him to death.

In moments, all three elite Sand Ninja had fallen. Silence returned to the noisy battlefield, leaving only bloodstains and puppet fragments scattered across the ground.

The leading Jonin lay in the valley, his arm severed and his face twisted with pain and despair. He looked at his comrades' bodies, and the light faded from his eyes. He knew that if captured, he would be interrogated and forced to reveal his village's intelligence and secrets.

As a Sand Jonin, he refused to become a prisoner under interrogation. Resolve flashed in his eyes. He clenched his teeth, trying to bite through the poison capsule in his mouth and end his life.

But Tsukimi would not give him the chance this time. Shadows surged from the ground, and several chains of darkness shot out to bind his limbs. Thinner chains branched off, locking his neck and prying his jaws apart, cutting off any possibility of suicide.

"This again?"

Tsukimi stepped out of the shadows. That Death Soldier Chunin had caught him off guard last time, but this time he had come prepared.

You people of the Shinobi World really loved pulling this stunt.

Though gravely wounded, the leading Jonin still struggled fiercely, his eyes bloodshot with frustration. The chains did not budge. Tsukimi had added the Blade Squad's Shadow Shaping to the Nara's traditional Shadow Imitation Technique, raising its binding power to another level. The harder the Jonin struggled, the tighter the chains became.

With the fighting over, Asuma and Kurenai hurried over to Tsukimi's side. They eyed the bound Sand Hidden Jonin warily.

A smile rose on Orochimaru's face. He walked up to the prisoner and looked down at him with golden, slit-pupiled eyes. Curiosity flickered in his gaze as he licked his lips.

"Rather conspicuous clues planted to frame someone, followed by a Sand Hidden squad sent to carry out a mission."

Orochimaru's tone was playful. Even he had grown interested in the force behind it all.

"What exactly do you know? This trouble in the Land of Rivers is proving far more interesting than I expected."

Orochimaru then began forming hand seals, preparing to cast a Genjutsu.

"Let me see who's really behind this farce."

Many people thought Orochimaru was poor at Genjutsu, but that was a misconception. Orochimaru was a versatile genius. In the official guidebook Book of the Ninja, his Genjutsu score was a perfect ten. Even though he had yet to reach his peak, his skill with Genjutsu was hardly weak.

People had that impression because Weasel had defeated Orochimaru with a single Genjutsu. But that did not mean Orochimaru's Genjutsu was weak. Weasel's was simply too strong.

As the saying went, Orochimaru's Genjutsu score was ten because ten was as high as he could reach. Weasel's was ten because the scale went no higher.

The leading Sand Hidden Ninja was a Jonin, after all, with an iron will. Even badly wounded, he would not yield useful information to Kurenai's Genjutsu at her Genin level.

Orochimaru knew that too, so he wasted no more time and took matters into his own hands.

In the dense woods outside the valley, the hidden Sand Ninja remained silent, quietly watching everything unfold within.