Four Thousand Ninja Lay Hidden, a Shadow of Death Loomed

Shin Kudo was no fool.

Although he couldn't understand how Kazama Nara and Jin Uchiha had reached that conclusion, he had fought in a war before, and he knew one thing.

The great clans and ordinary people were worlds apart.

They had more tricks at their disposal and more channels of information.

If both of them insisted something was wrong, it was better to believe them than dismiss it.

As for Itsuki Ishikawa?

He could go die for all Shin cared. What the hell did his life or death have to do with him?

That was precisely why Shin hadn't thrown his weight around as captain and had instead taken a consultative tone.

Itsuki Ishikawa understood none of those subtleties. He shrugged.

"It's just some fog. What does that prove? I don't feel like going out in the middle of the night to suffer."

Shin Kudo nodded.

He had no interest in responding to Itsuki's sour remarks and turned to Kazama Nara and Jin Uchiha.

"Let's go," Jin Uchiha said.

Kazama Nara nodded as well.

With their minds made up, the three silently slipped into the thick fog.

In the woods.

They took every step with extreme care, without disturbing so much as a leaf.

"Stop. Something's wrong up ahead," Kazama Nara whispered.

Jin Uchiha and Shin Kudo stopped dead the moment they heard him.

They hadn't noticed anything themselves, but if Kazama Nara told them to stop, he had to have a reason.

He was from the Nara, after all. How could he not have a few secret techniques up his sleeve?

Kazama Nara clasped his hands together.

"Shadow Head Neck Binding Technique!"

With a whoosh.

A pitch-black shadow shot out from beneath his feet, moving so fast it left an afterimage as it lunged straight ahead.

A short while later.

Kazama Nara said gravely, "A standard Hidden Mist squad. I've pinned one of them down."

"Do it," Jin Uchiha said coldly. "Kill the other two. Keep the one I've restrained alive."

"We need to pry some information out of him."

Shin Kudo and Kazama Nara had no objections.

Immediately afterward.

Without another word, Jin Uchiha rushed forward, with Shin Kudo right on his heels.

Within five seconds, Jin Uchiha had located three figures.

He couldn't even be bothered to form hand seals for a ninjutsu and drew a kunai.

With a flick of his wrist, he hurled it straight through one Hidden Mist ninja's throat.

"Enemy attack!"

Another Hidden Mist ninja shouted at the top of his lungs.

But before he could locate the enemy, Jin Uchiha was already behind him, slitting his neck with another kunai.

Ten seconds later.

Shin Kudo finally caught up. A glance at the two Hidden Mist corpses on the ground sent chills down his spine.

He was filled with relief.

Thank goodness he'd listened to those two. Otherwise, he might still have been sound asleep when the enemy reached their post.

Just imagining what would have happened chilled him to the bone.

While Shin Kudo stood dazed, Kazama Nara arrived as well. He promptly broke all four of the restrained Hidden Mist ninja's limbs before releasing the Nara's secret technique.

"Talk."

"How many people has the Hidden Mist deployed this time, and what route did you take to get here?"

"What's your plan?"

"..."

Unfortunately.

The Hidden Mist ninja was stubborn as hell. He merely swept a hateful gaze over them, his voice dripping with contempt.

"I won't say a word. Kill me."

Kazama Nara's expression didn't change. Ignoring the prisoner, he looked at Jin Uchiha and Shin Kudo instead.

"I'm not from the Yamanaka clan. I can't extract his memories directly."

"But the Nara Household has other methods that can loosen his tongue just as well."

"It won't be pretty, though. Jin, Captain, please step away for a while."

Jin Uchiha understood as soon as he heard that and turned to walk away.

He knew Kazama was about to use a secret technique.

An outsider couldn't stand around watching something passed down through a lineage.

Saying it wouldn't be pretty was merely a polite excuse.

Bloodshed?

What ninja was afraid of that?

Shin Kudo wasn't stupid either.

Although he hadn't caught on at first, he immediately followed when he saw Jin Uchiha leave.

Only after they had walked some distance did Shin Kudo ask.

"Kazama meant something else by that, didn't he?"

Jin Uchiha nodded. "He's going to use a secret lineage technique. We shouldn't be there."

Shin Kudo finally understood.

No wonder!

Although he was a chunin and held the title of squad captain.

To be honest.

The more he thought about it now, the more inadequate his own abilities seemed.

Jin Uchiha and Kazama Nara, on the other hand, were both a clear cut above him.

They certainly lived up to their status as sons of great clans!

And these were merely talents who didn't even rank within their lineages, the so-called dead weight of Class B.

Of course.

He felt no jealousy.

Being born a commoner came with disadvantages. No one could change that, and he accepted it.

Instead, he would do his best to get along with the two of them. That would give him a better chance of surviving.

As for someone like Itsuki Ishikawa, he couldn't even be bothered to speak to him.

That sort wouldn't live long.

Time ticked by.

About ten minutes later, Kazama Nara returned.

His face, however, was grim beyond measure.

"The situation is bad."

"According to that Hidden Mist ninja, they slipped into the Land of Whirlpools half a month ago."

"There are a full four thousand ninja hiding in the Land of Whirlpools right now."

They sucked in sharp breaths!

The words sent a jolt of dread through them all.

Even Jin Uchiha's face drained of all color.

He had some confidence in his abilities, but he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could survive being surrounded by four thousand ninja.

"Then what do we do now?" Shin Kudo was in a complete panic.

Kazama Nara's face was thunderous as he said, suppressing his anger, "The worst part is that we haven't received orders from above. We can't even retreat on our own initiative. That would count as desertion!"

Indeed.

He was panicking too.

That was a full four thousand ninja!

His modest ability to conceal himself would be utterly useless against such terrifying numbers.

They could wear him down until he died!

The news weighed on him like a mountain, almost crushing the breath out of him.

With no room to worry about anything else, he looked straight at Jin Uchiha.

"Jin, the situation is terrible."

"There's no point holding anything back now. We have to put our lives on the line."

"Do you have any ideas?"

Shin Kudo also turned his gaze toward Jin Uchiha.

Faced with this deadly news, he had completely forgotten that he was the captain.

Staying alive mattered more than anything.

With that thought, he spoke.

"From now on, we'll follow your lead in everything, Jin."

"You won't hear any objections from me."

He knew his own limits.

Under normal circumstances, he could still put on airs as captain.

But faced with a death trap like this, he had already lost all composure.

He knew perfectly well that Jin Uchiha and Kazama Nara were far stronger than him.

And so.

He had the sense to know his place.