The ninja tool pouch every shinobi carried had become Shingetsu's most vital lifeline.
Huddled in a hidden corner, Shingetsu opened her schoolbag and stuffed everything useful into her ninja tool pouch, quickly taking stock of everything she had.
Besides the long sword she carried and common ninja tools such as kunai, explosive tags, soldier pills, and blood-enhancing pills, Shingetsu found a large spool of steel wire and several smoke bombs.
Ever since that duel at the Ninja Academy, Madara and Hōkaku had both seemed to develop persecution complexes, constantly stuffing things into her schoolbag and ninja tool pouch. At first, Shingetsu had complained that the bulging pouch weighed a ton, but now, all she wanted to say was:
"You really need a little paranoia to survive in this danger-ridden shinobi world!"
After checking her supplies, Shingetsu swiftly slipped into the darkness. Her black eyes turned blood-red, but this time, she was not invoking her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception. She was using the Sharingan's innate abilities.
The Sharingan possessed perception far beyond that of ordinary people. Though it could not rival the Byakugan in that regard, it could still observe the flow of chakra-perfect for rooting out the hidden spy watching the Orphanage.
Before the enemies get here, I have to flush out that despicable spy!
Shingetsu understood that a ninjutsu like the Dead Soul Technique, which required precise control over a corpse, meant its caster had to be lurking nearby. In an orphanage populated entirely by ordinary people, anyone capable of using chakra could only be an enemy.
Her scarlet eyes darted rapidly as she raced forward at top speed, almost trailing a winding red streak through the air. Meanwhile, silver steel wire spread throughout the Orphanage in her wake.
Shingetsu tore off pieces of white paper, hastily scrawled patterns resembling explosive tags on them, and hung them from the wire. Several real explosive tags were hidden among the countless fakes.
Whether the explosive tags could kill the enemies or not, Shingetsu hoped the noise would bring people from the village as quickly as possible.
"Found you!"
At last, Shingetsu stopped moving. Through her Sharingan, a fluctuation of chakra no larger than an eyeball stood out vividly in an inconspicuous corner.
As the Beast Fang Trio sped from deep within the forest toward the Orphanage, the Orange-Haired Shinobi, who had been using ninjutsu to monitor the situation inside, abruptly faltered.
Through the view his ninjutsu provided, he saw a small ball suddenly thrown out from a corner. Thick smoke then completely obscured his vision, and before he could even see his attacker, his connection to the scouting eye was severed.
I've been discovered!
"Tch!"
The Orange-Haired Shinobi's heart tightened. His expression turned utterly grim, and he immediately informed his two companions.
"Di, Kang, my ninjutsu's been destroyed!"
"How?"
Hearing this, Di, the trio's leader, kept moving, but his voice instantly darkened.
"That brat threw a smoke bomb. I couldn't see."
"Useless!"
Clad in black robes, Kang sneered, his distorted voice dripping with malicious mockery and contempt.
"...Heh. If I'm useless, what does that make you? A genius?"
At that taunt, a horribly twisted smile appeared on the Orange-Haired Shinobi's face. He abruptly raised his head to look at Kang, his words laced with scorn:
"A third-rate hack like you thinks he qualifies?"
The moment he finished speaking, several poisoned needles shot straight toward his face and vital points. The Orange-Haired Shinobi dodged aside and slapped the sand-filled pouch he carried, continuously feeding chakra into the sand to harden it and mold it into shuriken.
"Sand Shuriken!"
The shuriken formed from sand hurtled toward the black-robed shinobi in a furious storm. Though they were companions, the two were fighting to the death in the blink of an eye!
Ultimately, all three were outlaws who had joined forces solely for profit. There was not the slightest trust or camaraderie between them. To them, once a so-called companion ceased to be useful or worth cooperating with, he became trash to be disposed of immediately.
"I said, stop bickering."
Di, who had watched their fight with cold indifference, spoke icily. The last two words of that brief sentence were exceptionally clear and exceptionally low. In an instant, the two men who had seemed determined to fight to the death stopped and obediently dropped to the ground, submitting to their leader's command.
"Since we can't pinpoint those two now, split up and find them. Quickly!"
Rubbing his white hair, cropped so short it was little more than a thin layer, Di gazed at the bleak Konoha Orphanage reflected in his green eyes.
"Move fast. We don't have much time left."
While Shingetsu eliminated the spy, Chinatsu wiped away her tears, pulled herself together, and kept carrying the children into the shelter hidden beneath the Orphanage.
Thanks to several months of hellish shinobi training and the desperate potential she drew out of herself in this crisis, she managed to bring the children and the director into the deep, labyrinthine shelter Hashirama Senju had haphazardly dug out, all within a few short minutes.
"I have to hurry..."
Posted at the entrance, Chinatsu carefully prepared the herbs the director had gathered. Combined with the prepared medicinal pills she had taken from school for practice, they were just enough to make one dose of antidote.
This poison specifically designed for shinobi was not uncommon. While studying Medical Ninjutsu under Teacher Tōka, she had learned how to prepare its antidote. But at this critical moment, Chinatsu only had enough ingredients for a single dose.
And that sole antidote was not for everyone in the Orphanage. It was for Shingetsu.
At that moment, both Shingetsu and Chinatsu knew perfectly well that keeping themselves alive had to take priority over helping the unconscious victims. Only if they survived would everyone in the Orphanage have any chance of being saved!
Sweat streamed from Chinatsu's forehead down her cheeks. Her breathing was rapid, and her heart pounded urgently.
She was too nervous. Between the sweat stinging her eyes and her wildly pounding heart, she could barely hold the herbs in her hands.
At the same time, Chinatsu could not stop her thoughts from wandering. Teacher Tōka had told her about a Medical Ninjutsu that sent masses of water droplets into a person's body like mosquitoes, drawing out the toxins and curing the poisoning.
Damn it, why didn't I learn more Medical Ninjutsu?!
Indescribable regret battered Chinatsu's heart. She clenched her teeth desperately, and beads of blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Her anguish was so intense that she had bitten through her gums and lips.
Boom-
Several explosions suddenly sounded above the shelter. Chinatsu stared upward in alarm, her heart gripped by terror at the earthquake-like rumbling.
Explosive tags! The enemies are here!
Her hands shook even harder, barely able to hold the herbs. Having always lived in Konoha and even aspired to become a medical shinobi, this was her first encounter with the dark side of shinobi.
Are shinobi really this terrifying?
Her thoughts in turmoil, Chinatsu was so frightened that her vision nearly went black. In that state, she could hardly prepare the herbs properly. But the instant she thought of Shingetsu, her trembling hands suddenly steadied.
"I have to protect Shingetsu too!"
With her resolve set, Chinatsu seemed to forget her fear entirely. She devoted all her attention to the herbs before her, swiftly preparing a dose of antidote with flawless technique.
After splitting up with his companions, the Orange-Haired Shinobi named Ji chose to start searching from the Orphanage's front entrance.
"Ninja Art: Third Eye!"
Rather than recklessly charging into the Orphanage like his two impatient companions, he formed another eyeball from sand and sent it ahead to scout for him.
His caution proved entirely warranted.
Through the eye, he saw that almost the entire Orphanage hall was filled with barely visible steel wires. Like sticky, silvery-gray spider silk, they formed a cold, vicious web that seemed to sneer as it waited for some unwary prey to wander in.
Countless white paper charms bearing the character for "explosion" hung silently among the strands, like eggs laid by a spider.
Explosive tags!
Ji's expression instantly turned vicious. The thought that he might have been blown to pieces had he charged straight in sent his killing intent soaring.
"Crafty little brat!"
Just then, several explosions rang out across the Orphanage. The triggered explosive tags detonated with thunderous roars, sending broken bricks, shattered tiles, and splintered wood flying as clouds of white dust billowed up.
Damn it, what a racket! Those bastards from Konoha will be on our heels any moment!
Ji hurriedly sent the floating eyeball deeper inside at top speed, then followed it in through the safe, trap-free route it found. Only then did he remember that he ought to worry about his two companions.
Did those two get caught? They'd better not have been blown up just like that!
As he carefully avoided Shingetsu's traps, the floating eyeball suddenly caught sight of a slender, petite figure in black swiftly slipping around a corner.
"Found you!"
A cold, savage smile spread across Ji's face. He pursued the fleeing figure relentlessly, carefully avoiding one devious, troublesome trap after another. This nearly exhausted his patience, so when he finally saw Shingetsu cornered after the long chase, he shouted like a madman:
"Uchiha brat, stop running!"
Having lost all patience, Ji unleashed a powerful attack at once. All the sand in his pouch rose into the air and condensed into bullets. Like a machine gun firing at full throttle, countless round sand bullets tore toward Shingetsu in a raging storm, powerful enough to riddle a body with holes!
"Barrage: Sand Shower!"
Standing quietly in a corner with nowhere left to dodge, Shingetsu felt little fear. Things were still more or less going according to her plan.
Avoiding the explosions and deliberately darting through these quieter areas had paid off.
At that thought, she calmly closed her eyes.
I finally found their sensory shinobi!
When she opened her eyes again, her blood-red gaze, gleaming with a jewel-like iridescence, captured every sand bullet before her. In that instant, the world seemed to slow down. The flow of chakra, the trajectories of the sand bullets-everything was faithfully reflected in Shingetsu's eyes.
At this moment between life and death, her brain processed the information at an extraordinary speed, calculating a route to survival in the blink of an eye.
I can see them. I can see everything!
Shingetsu dodged with lightning speed. Speed and technique had always been her strengths rather than raw power. At the same time, she kept swinging her long sword, cutting along the death lines to shatter every sand bullet she could not evade.
Those blood-red eyes-the Sharingan?!
Watching this impossible scene and that extraordinary pair of Sharingan, Ji's face filled with indescribable horror. At last, he understood just how terrifying a person he had provoked.
Someone this young who's awakened the Sharingan-wouldn't that have to be Madara Uchiha's student, Uchiha Shingetsu?
It's over. Now I won't even have a grave...
During their month infiltrating Konoha, the Beast Fang Trio had learned just how much Madara Uchiha valued this student. Having rashly attacked her, they would inevitably face retaliation from Madara Uchiha and the entire Uchiha Clan.
And that would mean a fate even more horrific than hell!
Imagining that utterly miserable future, Ji stood rooted to the spot as though he had lost the will to live. As despair consumed him, Shingetsu, having evaded every sand bullet, hurled several shuriken at him. His pupils widened abruptly, and he instinctively turned his head aside to dodge.
Though every shuriken appeared to miss, a faint smile crossed Shingetsu's lips. Only then did the dazed Ji notice the steel wires held tightly in her mouth and both hands.
She tugged the wires attached to the shuriken, making them wheel back through the air. Seizing the opening now that Ji had used up all his sand, she bound him tightly with the wires.
This was the Uchiha Clan's secret technique combining the Sharingan with throwing skills-the Sharingan Windmill Triple Blade.
"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"
The instant she succeeded, Shingetsu seized her chance without hesitation. Roaring flames poured from her mouth and raced along the wire between her teeth, forming a long dragon of fire. In moments, the dragon opened its jaws and burned Ji, trapped in the wire, to ashes.
Less than seven minutes had passed.
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