The Seventh Ninja

Suddenly, a rushing sound came from behind Uzumaki Hane. He flipped backward several times, dodging a handful of Kunai. The middle-aged ninja then appeared in front of him and shouted, "Earth Release, Rock Pillar Spear!" A pillar of rock shot up from beneath Hane.

Bang! A pool of lava was left where Hane had stood. The middle-aged ninja thought, Damn it, was that a clone? Sensing something amiss behind him, he spun around. Hane had somehow appeared there and was kicking at him.

The middle-aged ninja raised both hands to block the kick. The moment they made contact, he felt the tremendous force behind it. "How is that possible? Such tremendous strength!" he exclaimed in shock. Bang! His whole body slammed straight into the ground.

Hane's right hand swiftly turned to lava, and he reached for the ground where the middle-aged ninja lay.

"Hell Hound!"

Boom! His hand gouged a huge crater into the ground, melting it into lava. But Hane frowned slightly. When his attack hit the ground, he hadn't sensed the middle-aged ninja there. His opponent had apparently escaped underground.

Hane's feet swiftly turned to lava, melting the ground beneath them. Scalding magma spread in all directions.

Bang! A figure leaped out of the ground in the distance. It was the middle-aged ninja who had escaped underground. He was in a sorry state, with scorch marks on parts of his body. He looked at Hane with an exceedingly grave expression.

Hane looked back at him and asked, "Who are you people? What are you doing in the Land of Fire?"

The middle-aged ninja ignored Hane's question. "It seems I underestimated you. But if I want to run, you won't be able to catch me." He sank straight into the ground, apparently intending to flee.

Hane hadn't expected him to answer anyway, but now that his opponent was trying to escape, he naturally wouldn't allow it. He placed both hands on the lava and set it in motion. Boom! The magma on the ground formed a gigantic fist and hurtled toward the spot where the middle-aged ninja had been.

"Great Eruption!"

The scalding magma sent the temperature underground soaring. Unable to stay beneath the surface, the middle-aged ninja burst out of the ground, only to see the vast lava fist surging toward him. Looking at the scene, like a volcanic eruption, he shouted, "No... Don't you want to know why we're here? No... Aah..." The lava engulfed him, melting him away without leaving a trace.

Hane looked at the lava beneath his feet and murmured, "I was just a little curious about why you were here. It doesn't matter at all whether I know." With that, he turned and left. When he reached the stockade gates, he ran into Hyuga Tanaka and Yamano Koromo, with a group of villagers following behind them.

Hane went up to them and asked, "Tanaka, Koromo, are you two all right? Have all the villagers been rescued?"

Tanaka said, "We're fine. We rescued all the villagers without a hitch."

Koromo asked with concern, "Hane, are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Hane said gently. "The bandits have been dealt with. Let's head back." The three of them then returned to the ninja village with the villagers.

Only after returning to the village did the villagers come out of the daze of having been rescued. Their joy burst forth, and they all began to cheer. Hane left Tanaka and Koromo to deal with the enthusiastic villagers and went to the place where Yamamoto Satoshi and Yamamoto Naka were hidden, bringing them both back.

When they arrived in the village, the villagers were busily preparing a banquet. Koromo said, "The village chief just said he was holding a banquet tonight to thank us for saving them."

That evening, Hane and his two companions celebrated with the villagers. The village chief came over to thank Hane. Today, Hane could be said to have dealt with all the bandits on his own, and the chief hadn't had a chance to thank him earlier.

The village chief said to Hane, "We really must thank you for this. If you hadn't dealt with the bandits, we truly wouldn't have known what to do. But you certainly live up to being from Konoha Ninja Village. You dealt with seven ninja all by yourself. You're incredibly powerful."

Hane sensed something was wrong. He had only encountered six ninja today. "Village chief, did you say there were seven ninja in total?" he asked. If there was another ninja who hadn't shown up, they would have to be careful from now on.

The village chief didn't know why Hane was asking and said in confusion, "That's right, they had seven ninja. Didn't Tomoko tell you? Honestly, Tomoko is usually quite shrewd on her own, which is why we sent her to Konoha alone to ask for help. After all, one person was less likely to be discovered by the bandits. If I'd known she wouldn't explain things clearly, I would have sent someone else with her."

Tanaka and Koromo were standing nearby as well. Hearing the chief's words, Koromo exclaimed, "Village chief, did you send Yamamoto Satoshi to Konoha alone?"

The village chief found the question a little strange and didn't know why Koromo was asking. "I did send Tomoko alone to Konoha Ninja Village," he said.

Koromo pressed him. "Then who is Yamamoto Naka?"

The village chief looked utterly bewildered. "Who is Yamamoto Naka? There's nobody here by that name."

Tanaka said calmly, "She's the girl who was with Yamamoto Satoshi just now."

The village chief remembered the girl and said, "That girl isn't from our village. Isn't she one of yours?"

Hane said to Tanaka and Koromo, "It looks like that girl could be the last ninja. Never mind why Yamamoto Satoshi helped her lie, she didn't reveal herself while we were fighting just now. I wonder what she's plotting."

Koromo said, "This is bad. Yamamoto Satoshi just left with Yamamoto Naka. He's in danger."

Just then, a voice came from nearby. "I didn't expect you to find me out so quickly." Yamamoto Naka came walking over, holding Yamamoto Satoshi hostage. No, she should have been called Yamamoto Tomoko, because Satoshi was now dressed in women's clothing and was clearly a beautiful woman. Apparently, she had dressed as a man because she thought it would be inconvenient to travel to Konoha in women's clothes. But no one was surprised that Yamamoto Tomoko was a girl now; they were all looking at Yamamoto Naka.

Naka's face twisted fiercely. "I didn't expect you to see through my plan so quickly."

The worried village chief ran toward Tomoko, calling out as he ran, "Tomoko..."

"Don't come any closer, or I'll kill her," Naka said. She pressed a Kunai against Tomoko's neck, leaving a line of blood, and the village chief had no choice but to stop.

Naka looked at the village chief and continued, "Actually, we already knew before you sent Yamamoto Tomoko to Konoha. So we decided to strike first. I went to capture Yamamoto Tomoko, while the others were responsible for rounding up the rest of you. Then I threatened Yamamoto Tomoko, telling her to go to Konoha and trick its ninja into coming here, or I'd kill you all."

Yamamoto paused, a cruel smile appearing on her face. "Actually, she didn't know your fate was already sealed. As soon as Yamamoto Tomoko brought the Konoha ninja here, you would have been of no further use to us. We would have killed every last one of you. Hahaha..." Naka laughed bloodthirstily.