Naruto: The counterattack of copying the test paper, Kakashi’s defense is broken

Uchiha Jin is reborn as a poor student in the Konoha Ninja School in the Naruto world. He changes his ranking by cheating on the test papers and unexpectedly wins the favor of Kakashi to become a member of Team 7. He uses modern knowledge and brain-opening strategies to set off a storm of change in the ninja world, crushing Orochimaru’s rebellion in advance, preventing the establishment of the Akatsuki organization, and rewriting the outcome of the Fourth War. He finally ascends to the position of Hokage in a non-combat way. When everyone reacted, the boy who always liked to touch the test papers was standing on the top of the Hokage Rock with a smile on his lips: “I calculated this game ten years ago.”

The male protagonist Uchiha Jin is a descendant of a branch of the Uchiha clan. He was forced to transfer to a ninja school due to the decline of his family. He appears to be nonchalant but is actually very calculating and good at taking advantage of information gaps.

The heroine Haruno Na: A commoner of the Nohara clan, a wandering ninja who makes a living by taming animals. She appears to be bold and rough on the outside, but in her heart she longs to be recognized and masters a unique puppet technique.

Naruto: The counterattack of copying the test paper, Kakashi’s defense is broken
Chapter 1: The Bad Student’s Cheating Plan
When the chirping of cicadas in Konoha, carrying the summer heat with it, crashed into the classroom window, Uchiha Jin was poking at a blank ninjutsu theory test paper with the tip of his pencil, listening to the scolding of Mr. Yamada exploding above his head.
“Uchiha Jin!” The chalk hit his forehead accurately. “You can even write the five basic attributes of chakra nature changes wrong? Fire, wind, earth, lightning, water, you arranged them as fire, lightning, water, earth, wind – did you forget your brain in the ruins of the old Uchiha house?”
The laughter was like an exploded beehive.
Suzuki Takuya, who was sitting in the front row, turned half of his face, his eyes curved into mocking crescents behind his gold-rimmed glasses: “Teacher, I heard that the children of the Uchiha branch family can’t even learn chakra sensing properly now. After all… their ancestors’ Sharingan is astigmatism, right?”
Uchiha Jin lowered his eyes, his knuckles clenched white under the desk.
He could feel the back of his neck being burned by dozens of gazes – this was his third month at Konoha Ninja School, and the word “Uchiha” had long since changed from a glorious surname to a laughing stock.
After the fire in the clan land three months ago, he moved into the civilian area with his uncle who had a broken leg. Every day he had to take a long detour to avoid the cordon of the Uchiha ruins and listen to passers-by muttering about “that genocide family”.
“This won’t happen again.” Teacher Yamada threw down the chalk and slammed the lesson plan on the table. “If you fail the graduation test next Friday, you will be sent to the logistics department to wash rags!”
When the school bell rang, Uchiha Jin squatted under the old locust tree beside the playground, watching ants carry rice grains.
He took out the wrinkled rice ball from his arms, took a bite and put it down again – his uncle had been coughing badly this morning, and this was made with the last half bag of rice, so he had to keep half of it to take back.
“Hey, poor student.”
A shadow loomed.
Suzuki Takuya stepped on his new leather boots, and deliberately opened the second button of his school uniform, revealing the silver chain of Konoha forehead protector around his neck: “If you fail the preliminaries, remember to help me clean the forehead protector. After all… a loser like you who can’t even perform the clone technique is not qualified to do this.”
Uchiha Jin looked up and the sunlight made him squint.
He saw the “Excellent Student” badge on Suzuki’s name tag glowing, and suddenly remembered that when he passed by the teacher’s office this morning, Teacher Yamada went in with a stack of sealed test papers, and the metal door of the safe made a slight “click” sound when it closed.
“You know what?” He pulled the corner of his mouth, “When you laugh, you look like a calico cat with its tail stepped on.”
Suzuki’s face turned purple and his raised fist stopped in mid-air when the school bell rang.
Uchiha Jin patted his trouser legs and stood up, and caught a glimpse of the window of the teacher’s office out of the corner of his eye – Teacher Yamada’s teacup was still on the windowsill, and the steam was dissipating.
For the next three days, Uchiha Jin’s life suddenly became terribly regular.
He no longer skipped taijutsu classes, but instead practiced climbing with his Genin instructor; he no longer slept on the desk during breaks, but always hung around the teachers’ office building, counting the number of times Mr. Yamada came into the office every day: once before and after morning classes, in the cafeteria during lunch break, and always to check test papers before school was over in the afternoon – that was the time when the safe was most likely to be opened.
“Have you changed recently?” The fat boy at the same table munched on a senbei. “I saw you climbing a tree yesterday, like a monkey.”
Uchiha Jin didn’t respond.
He stared out the window as Teacher Yamada walked out of the office holding a thermos cup. A trace of light blue chakra flashed on the door handle – it was a simple sealing technique used to prevent ordinary people from opening the door without permission.
But to a ninja who could sense chakra, that little fluctuation was like a firefly in the dark night.
On the eve of the preliminary exam, when the moon just climbed over the roof of the teaching building, Uchiha Jin crouched down and touched the back wall of the office building.
He looked up at the iron grille of the ventilation duct – three days ago he discovered that this duct led to the teacher’s office, and the mother-in-law who was in charge of cleaning only came to check every Wednesday, and tonight was her free time.
“Click.”
The wire caught on the lock of the fence and he held his breath.
Chakra flowed through his fingertips, and with a slight flick, the lock core popped open.
When he was grabbing the edge of the pipe and preparing to get in, footsteps were suddenly heard downstairs.
“who?”
The cold male voice sounded like ice.
Uchiha Jin’s heart almost jumped out of his throat – the footsteps were much lighter than those of Teacher Yamada, and had the neatness unique to a ninja.
He hurriedly retracted his head, but saw a white figure turning the corner in the moonlight, with a forehead protector stuck diagonally on his left eye. It was Kakashi Hatake who had just returned from a mission.
“Huh…” He slid down and sat down against the wall of the pipe, his back covered in cold sweat.
He waited until Kakashi’s footsteps completely disappeared before he got up again, but stopped when he touched the inner wall of the pipe – his fingertips were stained with some wet mucus with a faint fishy smell.
“Snake?” He frowned and suddenly heard a creaking sound from the direction of the office.
It’s over.
Uchiha Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank.
He saw a dim light coming through the office window and a figure swaying behind the curtains.
Teacher Yamada clearly said that he would attend the Jounin meeting tonight, so why did he come back early?
The air in the ventilation duct suddenly became thick.
He heard his own violent heartbeat, and his fingers unconsciously dug into the wall of the tube – there was a shallow scratch there, as if it was made by some sharp object.
“jingle.”
The rice ball wrapper in my trouser pocket made a crackling sound.
Uchiha Jin’s movements froze in place.
The footsteps in the office stopped, followed by the sound of metal turning – the safe was opened?
He gritted his teeth, suddenly turned over and crawled into the pipe.
Chakra condensed at the soles of his feet, and he moved along the wall of the tube like a gecko, with a faint smell of disinfectant lingering at the tip of his nose, which was the unique smell of the office.
When the metal mesh at the pipe outlet was within reach, the crisp sound of flipping papers was heard from below.
Uchiha Jin held his breath and looked down through the mesh – moonlight shone in from the window, illuminating a figure sitting in front of the desk.
Not Mr. Yamada.
He was a man wearing a black robe with red clouds, his long hair tied up with a silver ring, his right hand was holding the pre-examination paper, his nails were an unhealthy blue-gray color.
When he lowered his head, Uchiha Jin saw that his left eye was wrapped in a bandage, and the half of his face that was exposed was sickly pale.
“Interesting.” The man suddenly chuckled, “How dare the little brat from Konoha climb the ventilation duct to steal the test paper?”
Uchiha Jin’s blood solidified instantly.
He wanted to retreat, but found that a snake had appeared behind the pipe. Its triangular head was spitting out its tongue, and its scales were glowing in the dark.
The office clock struck ten.
The man put the test paper back into the safe, and when he turned around, the moonlight illuminated the scroll at his waist – the patterns on it looked very much like the forbidden technique marks on the Uchiha secret scroll.
“Next time, remember to confirm whether the target is worth the risk.” The man’s voice floated into the pipe, “After all… some secrets, the fewer people know the better.”
The sound of the safe door closing was particularly clear in the silence.
Uchiha Jin watched the man disappear at the door, only then he realized that his back was already soaked with cold sweat.
Trembling, he took out the small notebook from his arms, which was filled with the timeline of the three days of observation. At this moment, the last page was smudged with sweat, and the ink looked like a ghost with bared fangs and claws.
Outside the ventilation duct, Konoha’s night wind blew the leaves.
Uchiha Jin stared at the snake scales on his palm, and suddenly remembered the rumor he heard in the cafeteria this morning: “Recently, people outside the village have been saying that they saw a strange man in a black and red robe…” “Hush, is that someone from the Akatsuki organization?”
From a distance came the sound of the night watchman’s clapper.
When he climbed out of the pipe, a dead leaf fell at his feet, with very small words written on the back in chakra: “The answer to the third question of the pre-test is C.”
Under the moonlight, Uchiha Jin pinched the leaf and smiled.
He knew that starting tonight, something was going to change.
At this moment in the office, the black and red figure’s fingertips were against the wall, and chakra seeped into the ground along the cracks: “The target has been locked, the Uchiha orphan, with intelligence gathering capabilities.”
“Very good.” A hoarse response came from the communication scroll, “Bring him to see me.”
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ActivityRegister as a Filo member and get 200 points![Register Now]Chapter 2 Cleverly copying the test paper and shocking the examination room (old version)
When the musty smell from the ventilation duct penetrated his nostrils, Uchiha Jin’s fingertips were pressing against the iron bars of the vent.
He held his breath and listened to the movement in the office below – the footsteps just now had disappeared for ten minutes. According to the timeline recorded three days ago, the Chunin patrol on duty should be checking the barrier at the training ground behind the third teaching building at this moment, and Mr. Yamada’s chakra fluctuations also completely dissipated when he left the office to go to the cafeteria to get food.
He pushed gently, and the rusty iron bars creaked slightly.
Taking advantage of the moment when the moonlight swept through the window frame, Jin quickly flipped into the office, and landed on his toes, like a dead leaf blown in by the wind.
This was a room filled with scrolls. The oak cabinets against the wall were covered with a thin layer of dust, except for the black safe at the innermost part, which was polished to a shine.
Jin’s eyes swept across the top of the cabinet – sure enough, three diamond-shaped kunai were inserted in a triangle on the edge of the cabinet, with thin chakra threads wrapped around the tips of the kunai.
It was an anti-theft trigger mechanism. As long as someone touched the safe, the alarm would be triggered the moment the chakra line broke.
He took out the small notebook in his arms and circled the third page with a red pen: “The chakra attribute of Yamada teacher’s wind style, the technique prefers symmetrical structure.” His fingers drew in the air, and Jin remembered the method he had secretly watched teacher use kunai to set up the barrier this morning – the apex of the triangle array was at the lower left kunai, as long as the line was covered with chakra of the same attribute, the technique could be temporarily paralyzed.
Jin shook out a thin bamboo tube from his sleeve, put it to his lips and blew gently, and light green chakra smoke wrapped around his fingertips.
When his fingertips touched the chakra line of the kunai on the lower left, he could clearly feel the line vibrating like a taut string.
“Huh——” He transmitted wind-attribute chakra along the direction of the line. The vibration of the line gradually subsided, and the chakra lines of the other two kunai also relaxed.
The combination lock of the safe glowed coldly in the moonlight.
Jin pressed his thumb on the lock dial, and the thin calluses on his fingertips rubbed against the metal surface. The evening before yesterday, he saw Teacher Yamada open this cabinet with a key. Although he only caught a glimpse of it for half a second, he remembered clearly the arc of the teacher’s wrist when he turned the lock dial.
With a “click”, the lock disk popped out and Jhin’s breathing suddenly stopped.
There were five test papers wrapped in glossy paper neatly stacked in the cabinet, and on the cover of the top one was clearly written “Preliminary Exam for the Twelve Young Warriors of Konoha”.
Jin quickly pulled out the copy scroll from his arms, dipped the pen in the plant ink he carried with him (this ink will automatically fade after three days and will not leave any marks), and flew the pen tip across the test paper.
The answers to the multiple-choice questions, the key points of the ninjutsu theory questions, and even the last big question that required drawing a hand seal were all written down by him using the most concise symbols.
“bite–“
The sound of metal colliding exploded in the silence.
Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank—it was because he had just touched the copper partition inside the safe!
He looked up suddenly; the moonlight outside the window was mostly blocked by clouds, and the office fell into darkness.
His fingers were tightly clenched around the scroll, and he could hear his own heartbeat so violently that it seemed as if it was about to break his ribs.
Three seconds. Five seconds.
There were no alarm sounds, no unusual chakra fluctuations.
Only then did Jin realize that in order to prevent the test papers from getting damp, Teacher Yamada had laid a layer of sound-absorbing cotton inside the cabinet.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickened his copying speed.
When the last symbol was set, he put the test paper back as it was, locked the safe, and used the chakra thread to reconnect the kunai mechanism – the angle was exactly the same as the original one.
When he left, he used his chakra to gently press the iron bars at the entrance of the ventilation duct back to their original position, and even the distribution of the rust was exactly the same as before.
It was not until he returned to his leaky, shabby wooden house that Jin collapsed on the straw mat, looking at the scroll in his arms and laughing out loud.
On the day of the exam, the classroom was filled with the scent of ink.
Teacher Yamada walked in with a pile of test papers, his face stern as a frozen stone: “This preliminary exam is related to the qualification of Genin. If anyone dares to play tricks–” His eyes swept across Uchiha Jin in the back row of the classroom, “I will carve his name on the pillar of shame and hang it at the school gate.”
Jin slumped in the chair, his crossed legs shaking from time to time, as if he didn’t hear anything at all.
It was not until the test paper was slapped on his desk that he sat up lazily and glanced over the questions – they were exactly the same as what he had copied last night.
The moment the pen tip touched the paper, Jhin’s movements suddenly became smooth.
Multiple choice questions: A, C, B; theoretical questions: first answer the definition of the changes in chakra properties, then give examples of wind escape; the order of the hand seals is from Zi to Wei, and the angle of the fingertips of each hand seal is clearly marked.
He wrote so fast that the pages of paper made a rustling sound, like a small whirlwind blowing across the table.
Takahashi, who was sitting in the front seat, turned his head to look at him, then quickly turned back – this was Uchiha Jin, the poor student who usually couldn’t even write the word “chakra” correctly, why did he seem like a different person today?
“Tsk.” A snort came from the right.
Suzuki’s knuckles turned white as he gripped the pen. He stared at the half-finished test paper, then glanced at the almost-completed paper by Jin, and his Adam’s apple moved.
This guy who always sleeps in the playground must be guessing!
He gritted his teeth, wrote faster, and the tip of his pen poked a few small holes on the paper.
The atmosphere in the examination room gradually changed.
The sound of turning pages disappeared, replaced by the sound of gasps.
The girl in the third row rubbed her eyes to make sure she saw it right – Uchiha Jin was drawing hand seals, and the position of each hand seal was as precise as if it had been measured with a ruler; the boys in the fifth group counted and found that Jin had already finished the last question, while they had just finished the second question.
“Stop writing.” Teacher Yamada’s voice was like a knife cutting through the air.
The moment Jin put down his pen, Suzuki also snapped the pen cap shut, with veins throbbing in his neck.
When collecting the papers, the teacher’s gaze lingered on Jin’s paper for two more seconds. Jin could feel that gaze like a needle, but he just tilted his head and smiled, like a cat that had just stolen a fish.
“The results will be announced in three days.” When Teacher Yamada left the classroom with the test paper, the door was hit by the wind and made a clanging sound.
During these three days, Jhin still slept under the tree in the playground, fought for the last piece of grilled saury in the cafeteria, and just whistled when a shuriken hit his trouser leg in the training ground.
But only he himself knew that late at night, he would take out the scroll hidden in the beam and check it again and again under the moonlight – until he was sure that every answer was engraved in his mind.
In the intelligence room of Konoha’s Anbu, a secret report with the words “Uchiha Jin, abnormality in the pre-exam” was stuffed into a red envelope.
The leaves of the sycamore trees outside the window rustled. A communication scroll in a corner suddenly became foggy. A snake-like voice came out in the cold wind and rain: “Pay attention to that kid…”
Three days later, in the early morning, the sunlight slanted in through the classroom window.
Teacher Yamada walked in with a stack of report cards, the brown paper covers glowing warm yellow in the sunlight.
Jin lay on the table, looking at the pile of papers in the teacher’s arms, and suddenly remembered the scene he saw on the roof last night – there was a figure in a black and red robe, standing on the ruins of the old Uchiha clan’s land, looking up in his direction.
But at this moment, his attention was all attracted by the transcript on the podium.
The moment Teacher Yamada opened the cover, the air in the classroom seemed to freeze.
Jhin looked at the teacher’s raised head, saw those originally stern eyes suddenly widen, and saw his fingers trembling slightly on the report card.
In the back row of the classroom, Suzuki was pinching the corner of his clothes, his nails almost digging into his flesh.
Gao Qiao came over and whispered: “Jin, did you…?”
“Quiet.” Teacher Yamada’s voice trembled a little.
He cleared his throat, and his eyes swept across the classroom, finally stopping at Uchiha Jin: “This pre-exam…”
The wind blew in through the window, flipping up the first page of the transcript.
Chapter 3: Achievements reversed, status changed (old version)
Three days later in the morning, the windows of Class B, Grade 3 of Konoha Ninja Academy, were coated with a layer of warm gold by the autumn sun.
Uchiha Jin lay on the desk, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the scratches on the corner of the desk – those were the scratches he had deliberately made when he had an argument with Suzuki last week, and now they had become some kind of strange timer.
Squeak——
The moment the classroom door was pushed open, he raised his head.
Teacher Yamada was standing at the door holding a stack of report cards. The kraft paper cover shone with the velvety sheen of old books in the sunlight, but the old teacher, who always had a stern face, had his eyes twitching at this moment, and his knuckles pressed wrinkles on the edge of the cover.
Sit down. Mr. Yamada’s voice was half a pitch higher than usual, and his chalk box slammed down on the podium, startling Abe, who was dozing off in the back row, so much that he almost fell off his chair.
Suzuki stood up straight, his fingertips still pinching the edge of the paper he used to review last night; Takahashi huddled next to Jin, his throat moved, but he didn’t dare to ask the question “Did you really not peek last night?”
The moment the transcript was opened, the wind came in through the window and lifted up the top sheet of paper.
Jin glanced at his name on the first line, the ink still carrying a faint scent of pine smoke – it was exactly the same as the handwriting of Mr. Yamada that he had deliberately imitated when he was checking his answers on the rooftop with the stolen test paper last night.
In this preliminary exam, he got the highest total score in the class… Mr. Yamada’s glasses slipped down his nose. He adjusted the frame and lowered his head to confirm again: Uchiha Jin, 97 points.
The classroom exploded.
Abe’s chair fell to the ground with a clang. Xiaokui, who was wearing twin ponytails in the front row, dropped the red bean paste bun she had just taken a bite of on the desk. Even Misaki, the quietest class representative, stood up, clutching her notebook.
Suzuki stood up suddenly and the back of his chair hit the wall with a dull thud: Impossible!
The last time he tested the clone technique, he even made a mistake in the seal!
Suzuki, please pay attention to classroom discipline. Mr. Yamada pushed his glasses up, but his voice was not confident.
He pulled out Jin’s test paper and slapped it on the podium. The answers, with the ink still wet, looked like soldiers lined up in a row: the analysis of the changes in chakra properties used three different approaches, and even a jonin like him could not find any mistakes in the diagram of the physical movements. The most amazing one was the last essay question – how to break the Oboro Clone Technique with the lowest chakra consumption. Jin actually drew a diagram of a modified version of the kunai mechanism, and noted in the corner of the paper that it could be used in conjunction with the wind-style compressed chakra.
Suzuki rushed to the stage and almost pierced the test paper with his fingertips: This is not something he could write at all!
Last time he handed in his homework, he even got the two characters Lianyin wrong! He suddenly paused and turned to the last page of the test paper. The three characters Uchiha Jin in the name column were crooked, just like the scribbles on his homework books.
Takahashi squeezed next to Jin and nudged him with his elbow: You can!
Last time I secretly saw you memorizing formulas behind a tree, I thought you were reciting a love letter! The heads of the classmates around him popped up like mushrooms after rain. Xiao Kui stuffed the red bean paste bag into his hand: Jin Jun, can you teach me chakra control next time? Misaki blushed and handed over the notebook: Can you lend it to me to see your solution ideas?
Jin supported his chin and smiled, his eyes sweeping over the angry Suzuki on the podium.
The guy was clutching his test paper at the moment, the red number 92 made his eyes red – last week he was grabbing Jin’s collar and calling him a waste of Uchiha, but now he was the one being stepped on.
Silence! Mr. Yamada patted the table, but his voice lacked the usual majesty. Uchiha classmate, come to the office after class.
The noise in the classroom stopped abruptly.
Takahashi’s smile froze on his face, Xiaokui’s red bean paste bun fell to the ground, and Misaki’s notebook snapped shut.
Jhin was spinning his pencil nonchalantly: I understand, teacher.
The office was filled with the bitter aroma of stale tea.
Teacher Yamada spread out Jin’s test paper on the sandalwood table and ran his fingertips across the picture of the kunai mechanism: Where did you learn this?
I thought of it myself. Jin tilted his head and said, in the last practical class, you said that the Oboro Clone Technique is difficult to break because the chakra is dispersed and difficult to lock.
I was thinking, what if I use a kunai with a tracking talisman… He pointed to the small circle on the picture. If I install a micro detonating talisman here, I can accurately locate it with a push of the wind style.
Mr. Yamada’s eyebrows twitched.
He had been teaching for twenty years, and this was the first time he saw a student answer a theoretical question into a plan to improve ninja tools.
But what concerned him more was Jhin’s eyes – at this moment, they were curved into a cunning crescent, like a cat that had stolen a fish. How could he not have the slightest bit of confusion of a poor student?
jingle–
There were footsteps outside the window.
Kakashi Hatake was leaning against the door frame, holding “Intimate Paradise”. The wind lifted a corner of his mask, revealing a subtle arc of his mouth: “Teacher Yamada, the Sandaime asked me to come and get the registration form for the Chunin Exam.” He glanced at the test paper on the table and paused. This is…
The third-year class B ranked first in the preliminary exam. Mr. Yamada pushed the test paper over to Uchiha Jin, whose grades improved by leaps and bounds.
Kakashi flipped through two pages at random, his fingertips pausing on the diagram of the mechanism: Using wind escape to compress chakra and trigger the detonation tag…interesting. He looked up at Jin, his eyes behind the sunglasses as sharp as a scalpel, “I haven’t forgotten the practical class last week when you used your shadow clone to draw a turtle in the martial arts arena.
Jin’s heart tightened.
Last week, in order to anger Suzuki, he did let his shadow clone draw a turtle on the opponent’s forehead protector during the chaos – at that time, he thought Kakashi was on a mission, but he didn’t expect that this senior ninja’s intelligence network was more dense than he imagined.
Teacher, it was an accident. He scratched the back of his head and an innocent smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Kakashi chuckled and handed the test paper back: “I will take Class 7 to the training ground for the survival drill next week.” He turned to leave, but stopped at the door again. “Oh, Uchiha-san, meet me at the training ground after school.”
The office door closed behind him. Jhin stared at the half-open crack and his heart beat faster.
Teacher Yamada knocked his teacup on the table: You… know Hatake Jonin?
I don’t know him. Jhin put the test paper in his arms, the corners of his mouth raised, but he knows me now.
After school, the martial arts field was filled with the scent of wood leaves.
Jin stood in front of the practice wooden man, looking at the silver figure swaying on the tree branch in the distance – Kakashi was flipping through “Intimate Paradise”, and the fallen leaves under his feet were swirling due to the vibration of chakra.
Come here. Kakashi closed the book and attacked me with your best ninjutsu.
Jhin narrowed his eyes.
What he was best at was never ninjutsu – but calculation.
When he stole the pre-exam paper last week, he deliberately buried three flaws in the answers that only the jonin could see: the detonating tag on the kunai mechanism diagram was two centimeters to the left, the chakra property analysis missed the auxiliary effect of fire escape, and even the conclusion of the last essay question was deliberately left half-sentenced.
These loopholes are like hooks, waiting for someone who knows the value of them to pull them.
Shadow Clone Technique! He formed a seal, and three clones surrounded him from the left, right and back.
Kakashi stood there without moving until the fingertips of the leftmost clone brushed against his forehead and suddenly disappeared – it was the real person.
Not bad. Kakashi touched his crooked sunglasses and knew to use shadow clones to confuse chakra fluctuations. He took out a scroll from his arms and threw it over. Tomorrow morning at six o’clock, the martial arts arena.
Jhin took the scroll, and on the cover was printed the words “Team Entrance Test for Class 7”.
When he looked up, Kakashi had already leapt onto the treetops, the wind blowing up his blue and white cloak, drawing a streak of light in the sunset.
Teacher! He shouted.
Kakashi paused.
That… Jin scratched his head. The turtle on the forehead protector last week was actually Suzuki who first called me a useless Uchiha.
A low laugh came from the shadows of the trees: I know.
Jhin looked in the direction where he disappeared and stuffed the scroll into his arms.
The wind suddenly blew up a few fallen leaves, and he remembered the night three days ago – in the ruins of the old Uchiha clan’s land, when the figure in the black and red robe looked up at him, the moonlight just happened to shine on the snake-shaped ornament on the other’s waist.
At this moment, the faint sound of snakes hissing could be heard in the wind from the martial arts arena.
He touched the scroll and the corners of his mouth raised.
What is coming will come. But at least now——
He looked down at his palms, chakra pulsating beneath his skin like a newly lit fire.
Feilu novel, Fei will make you look good!
Chapter 4: Joining Team 7’s Doubts (Old Version)
In the early morning, a thin mist shrouded the Konoha Village, and the bluestone slabs on the training ground were still covered with dew.
Uchiha Jin squatted under the old locust tree beside the training ground, with the scroll of “Team 7 Admission Test” spread out on his knees.
Inside the scroll were three pages of a charcoal-drawn route map, with twenty-seven chakra nodes marked on it – this was left by Kakashi last night, saying it was to test his mastery of the terrain and chakra flow.
His fingertips gently ran over the cross marks on the drawing. Those were the three new trap locations he had circled with the chakra pen last night.
The wind blew up the strands of hair in front of his forehead, and the crooked turtle carved on the forehead guard was faintly visible in the mist – it was the “battle record” left over from the conflict with Suzuki last week, and it seemed to be winking at him at this moment.
“morning.”
A familiar hoarse voice came from behind.
Jin quickly rolled up the scroll and stood up, turning around to see Kakashi leaning against the wooden fence of the training ground, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a half bag of fried tofu.
His sunglasses were tilted half an inch, revealing a pair of Sharingan eyes that were flashing coldly in the mist.
“Teacher arrived ten minutes earlier than the time on the scroll.” Jhin raised his eyebrows deliberately.
“Observing the status of the examinees in advance is a basic quality of the teacher in charge.” Kakashi took a bite of fried tofu, and his Sharingan turned slightly, “For example, now—” He suddenly raised his hand, and the kunai brushed the tip of Jin’s ear and nailed into the tree trunk behind him, “Why did your chakra still fluctuate at your left waist when you knew I was behind you?”
Jin touched his burning earlobe, but the corner of his mouth rose: “Because the teacher’s chakra is too similar to the patrol team last Wednesday afternoon.” He pointed to the kunai bag swinging on Kakashi’s waist, “You are used to putting the detonating tag in the innermost layer. The chakra tail caused by taking out the kunai just now overlapped with the position where the third team jonin uncle placed the detonating tag.”
Kakashi’s sunglasses slid down half an inch, revealing the slightest smile lines at the corners of his eyes: “Interesting.” He raised his hand to recall the kunai, “Let’s start the test. The rules are that you use your shadow clone to interfere with my perception and touch the forehead protector behind me within thirty minutes.”
Jin’s pupils contracted slightly – this coincided with the “advice” given to him by the man in the snake robe in the Uchiha ruins last night.
At that time, the man was leaning against the broken pillar, and the snake-shaped pendant flickered coldly in the moonlight: “Want to join Team 7? Let the genius of the Hatake family see that you have something sharper than chakra.”
He took a deep breath, and his chakra condensed into a thin stream in his dantian.
When the first shadow clone rushed out from the left, he himself had already rolled to the right along the ground; the second clone suddenly turned and smashed into the wooden fence, and amid the flying wood chips, the third clone turned into Kakashi’s appearance, even the dark pattern on the forehead guard was exactly the same.
“The shadow clone’s chakra fluctuations were imitated well.” Kakashi’s voice came from above his head.
Jin looked up and saw him standing on the branches of acacia tree, with the fried tofu bag still hanging on his fingertips. “But you forgot–” He suddenly disappeared from the spot, and when he reappeared, he was standing behind Jin, and his index finger gently tapped the back of his neck. “Sharingan can see through all falsehoods.”
“So we need to mix the real and the fake.” Jin grabbed Kakashi’s wrist with his backhand, and his chakra penetrated into his meridians along his skin. This was a technique from the “Physical Chakra Interference Method” he found in the old clan’s land last night. “Teacher’s chakra flow is 0.3 seconds slower than rumored.”
Kakashi’s body stiffened slightly.
The next second, Jin’s shadow clones came from all directions, each with completely different chakra fluctuations: some were as steady and heavy as a Chunin, some were as immature and young as a Genin, and there was even one with a sharp wind attribute – that was the chakra characteristic of the third team’s Jonin that he had secretly memorized.
“Stop.” Kakashi took a half step back, his sunglasses completely sliding down to the tip of his nose, his Sharingan slowly moving, “Only seventeen minutes have passed in the thirty minutes, and you’ve already forced me to use the body-flash technique three times.” He put his sunglasses back on and threw the fried tofu bag to Jin, “I’ll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen for lunch to celebrate your joining the team in advance.”
Jin paused as he took the bag of fried tofu.
He looked at Kakashi’s back as he turned and walked towards the exit of the training ground, and suddenly heard hurried footsteps in the distance.
“Hatake Jonin!”
Captain Sato’s voice hit the morning mist like a piece of cold iron.
The jonin in charge of the ninja school assessment was wearing a washed-out ANBU uniform, his brows furrowed like two knives: “I want to talk to you about the selection of the seventh team.”
Kakashi paused for a moment.
Jin consciously retreated behind the cherry tree beside the training ground, pretending to study the marks on the bark, but in fact he pricked up his ears – he could feel Sato’s chakra like a taut bowstring, with obvious hostility.
“There’s something wrong with Uchiha Jin’s graduation exam results last week.” Sato said straight to the point, “I checked his test paper, and the answers to the theory questions are highly consistent with the Chunin exam question bank. Not to mention that he ranked last in the class for three consecutive monthly exams, and suddenly he got first place, which doesn’t make sense.”
“Common sense?” Kakashi’s voice was filled with a nonchalant smile, “I graduated at the age of six, became a Chunin at the age of eight, and entered the Anbu at the age of ten. According to common sense, should I be considered a monster?”
“That’s a genius special case!” Sato raised his voice, “Uchiha Jin is just a loser who can’t even complete the seal of the Great Fireball Jutsu–“
“He just used his shadow clone to simulate five types of chakra fluctuations at the same time.” Kakashi interrupted him, “Two of them are at the Chunin level.”
Sato’s breathing suddenly became heavy.
Jin saw his clenched fists trembling through the gaps between the cherry blossom branches: “You are breaking the rules! Class 7 is a place to train future elites, not a garbage dump for problem students!”
“Rules are made to be broken, Sato.” Kakashi’s voice became a little colder. “If you really think he is not qualified, why not set up a test yourself. But before that–” He turned and looked in the direction of the cherry tree, “I suggest you go to the classroom and listen to the students’ discussions first.”
Sato snorted coldly and left with a flick of his sleeves.
Jin watched his back disappear at the entrance of the martial arts training ground, only to find that the fried tofu in the bag had been crushed into crumbs by him.
The situation in the classroom was worse than he had expected.
During lunch break, he just pushed open the door and the originally noisy classroom suddenly became quiet.
Xiao Lin stood on the podium, holding a crumpled test paper in his hand. “Look, this is Jin’s theory test last week!” He pointed to the last question, “This question, ‘How to use the Three Body Technique to break the encirclement of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Hidden Mist’, is exactly the same as the example question on page 47 of the ‘Chunnin Actual Combat Case Collection’ in my father’s study!”
Several boys came over to watch and whispered: “No wonder he suddenly got first place in the exam…” “I heard that he went to the library a lot last week, maybe he stole the test bank…”
Sakura’s friend Mei suddenly stood up. She walked up to Xiaolin holding a notebook and said, “But I checked the library records. Jin borrowed “Basic Taijutsu Analysis” and “Introduction to Chakra Control” last week.” She opened the notebook and said, “And last Wednesday during evening study, I saw him practicing Shadow Clone in the playground until the lights went out.”
“So what?” Xiao Lin said with his neck stiff, “If he can steal the test papers in the middle of the night, why can’t he steal the books in the middle of the night?”
“Enough.” Jhin’s voice came from the back door of the classroom.
All eyes turned to him.
He pushed the forehead protector to the top of his head, revealing the bruises on his forehead that had not yet faded – they were left from the sparring with the Anbu patrol yesterday. “If I cheated, why did I get a B+ in the Taijutsu test last week?” He walked towards Xiaolin and stopped when the other party took half a step back. “Or do you think I can cheat even in Taijutsu?”
There was silence in the classroom.
Xiaomei suddenly raised her hand: “I can testify! During last Thursday’s morning exercise, Jin was practicing chakra recovery after forming shadow clones. I counted, he formed 17 shadow clones in a row, and the chakra error of each clone was no more than 5%!”
Several girls who were originally whispering to each other began to agree quietly.
Xiao Lin’s face flushed red, and he threw the test paper on the podium: “Just wait, Captain Sato will definitely re-test you! Then we’ll see how long you can keep pretending!”
After school, Jin found Xiaomei feeding stray cats in the corner of the playground.
She was squatting under the locust tree, with dried fish from the cafeteria piled on her knees. When she saw him coming, she patted the stone steps beside her and asked, “Is what they said true?”
Jin squatted down and teased the calico cat that was rubbing against his palm: “What do you think?”
“I don’t think so.” Xiaomei threw the last piece of dried fish to the cat. “Last Tuesday, I helped the teacher sort out the test papers. Your answer sheet was written with your left hand.” She took out a crumpled piece of paper from her schoolbag. “This is your draft paper for the monthly exam, and it was also written with your left hand. But you usually eat with your right hand and make seals with your right hand. No one would deliberately change hands to write except when writing answers.”
Jhin was stunned.
Xiaomei tilted her head and smiled: “So you deliberately wrote the answers with your left hand to make others think you copied the test bank? In fact, you already knew those questions, but you just didn’t want to expose it before?”
The wind blew up a few cherry blossoms, which fell on her notebook.
Jin looked at the light in her eyes and suddenly smiled: “Xiaomei, you should go to the Intelligence Department.”
“I originally wanted to take the exam for the Anbu Intelligence Department!” Xiaomei’s eyes lit up, “So…” She lowered her voice, “You really didn’t cheat?”
“I didn’t cheat, but I did use some tricks.” Jin stroked the kitten’s ear, “For example…” He suddenly leaned closer, “I knew the scope of the exam in advance.”
Xiaomei took a breath.
Before she could ask, the sound of the school bell came from afar.
Jin stood up and patted the grass on his trouser legs. “But none of this matters anymore.” He looked towards the training ground and could already see Captain Sato and a few jonin walking by. “What’s important is tomorrow’s test.”
That night, at the ruins of the old Uchiha clan’s territory, Jin saw the man in the black and red snake robe again.
The man leaned against the broken statue of the God of Fire, the snake-shaped pendant flickering in the moonlight: “I heard that Sato is going to hold a public test?”
“Yeah.” Jin squatted down and used his chakra to light a pile of dead branches. “He said he wanted to let all the teachers and students in the school witness whether I am qualified to enter Class 7.”
“Interesting.” The snake-robed man licked the corner of his mouth, “Do you want me to prepare a ‘surprise’ for you?”
“No need.” Jin looked at the dancing flames, the chakra in his palms like a little snake that came to life, “This time, I will use my own way to make all the doubting voices -” He clenched his fists, sparks bursting, “completely shut up.”
At the same time, in the office of the Konoha jonin, Captain Sato slapped a stack of documents on the table: “Tomorrow at noon, there will be a public test in the training ground. I want to expose that Uchiha brat in front of all the teachers and students in the school!” He turned to look at the moonlight outside the window, and a cold arc appeared at the corner of his mouth, “Even if Hatake Kakashi protects him, he has to be reasonable.”
The wind blew through the window lattice, lifting up the test plan on the table. The top page read: “Team Seven Qualification Review Test – Taijutsu, Ninjutsu, Tactical Analysis. Only those with perfect scores in all three items can pass.”
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Chapter 5: Prove your strength and fight back against doubts (old version)
The Konoha Ninja School was shrouded in mist in the early morning. Uchiha Jin squatted on the horizontal bar beside the playground, holding a dogtail grass in his mouth, his eyes fixed on the training ground thirty meters away.
Kobayashi was punching the sandbag, each punch creating a whistling sound. The sweat from his forehead hit the ground, forming small puddles on the bluestone slabs.
Jin bit the grass stems until they crackled, and his fingertips unconsciously rubbed his sleeves – there was a crumpled paper hidden there, which was Xiaolin’s training record that he had copied from the school archives last night.
From the entrance exam to last week’s mock battle, he had circled 17 flaws in this kid’s fighting style with a red pen: his left shoulder habitually sank when punching, his center of gravity shifted by 0.3 seconds after kicking, and most importantly, his chakra control was too rough. He watched as Xiaolin’s skin glowed with a faint blue chakra every time he threw a punch, like a faucet that was not tightened.
Jin! A clear voice called from behind.
Xiaomei ran over with a notebook, her hair stained with morning dew. Are you watching Xiaolin training again?
Jin turned over and jumped off the horizontal bar, tilting his head and smiling: What? The little detective came to check on me? Recently, this girl has been hanging around him. Yesterday, she ran into him flipping through “Analysis of Ninjutsu Structure” in the library, and today she followed him to the playground – but he didn’t get angry. Anyway, he had already prepared everything she should see.
Xiaomei blushed, raised the notebook and shook it: I just… record everyone’s training situation! Before she finished speaking, she caught a glimpse of the scroll spread out at Jin’s feet. The top page was densely filled with Xiaolin’s combat mode analysis, and even the angle of the punch was marked with a protractor scale.
You, you actually
Hush—Jin put his index finger against his lips and the school bell rang in the distance.
He bent down to roll up the scroll, and whispered to Xiaomei as he passed by her: Remember to come to the training ground tomorrow at noon.
The sunlight from the martial arts training ground was so bright that it was hard to open one’s eyes.
Captain Sato stood on the referee’s seat, a corner of his black jonin uniform lifted by the wind, his eyes like a poisoned kunai: The rules are simple, until one side loses the ability to fight. He glanced at Uchiha Jin in the audience, and started now.
Jin, I will let you know how ridiculous it is to get the qualification by cheating! Xiaolin shouted, and his chakra surged on his body like boiling water.
He stomped his left foot on the ground, causing the bluestone to crack into a spider web. He rushed forward like an arrow, his right fist wrapped in chakra, aiming directly at Jin’s face.
There were gasps from the stands – this move was a chakra-enhanced punch, and the fact that a Genin could deliver such power was indeed beyond average.
But Jin didn’t even blink. He slid back three steps on his toes. At the moment when Xiaolin’s fist brushed his nose, he suddenly bent down, grabbed a handful of gravel, and threw it into the other’s eyes.
What a trifle! Xiao Lin turned his head to avoid it, but at that moment of distraction, Jin’s figure had already flashed to his left.
He raised his hand and slapped the opponent’s lower back – not an attack, but a gentle push.
Do you think you can interfere with me? Xiaolin shouted angrily and turned around, throwing a left hook.
But this punch was clearly a beat too slow, and Jhin dodged it easily by ducking down, grabbing his wrist and using his force to pull him toward the east corridor.
That kid is on the run! A student in the stands shouted.
Captain Sato sneered, he knew that this kid was just a cunning guy – but the next second, his pupils suddenly contracted.
The corridor is only two meters wide, with red lacquered wooden walls on both sides.
After Kobayashi was dragged in here, the range of his punches was obviously limited, and he had to worry about kicking the wall every time he kicked.
What’s even more terrible is that his chakra turbulence has nowhere to dissipate in the narrow space, and the green light under his skin is becoming more and more dazzling, as if it is going to burn through the epidermis.
Haven’t you had enough fun yet? Jhin suddenly stopped and leaned against the wall.
There was a flash of ecstasy in Krillin’s eyes. He gathered his strength and jumped up, his legs spinning like windmills – it was the Konoha Tornado that he was best at!
The wind was howling.
However, Jin closed his eyes at this moment. When the strong wind brushed past his ears, he suddenly opened his eyes and quickly formed seals with his hands: Wind Style: Paper Shuriken!
Hundreds of pieces of paper with wind escape techniques written on them flew out from his sleeves and were nailed to the walls at both ends of the corridor, completely blocking the retreat route.
Kobayashi’s rotation momentum was interrupted and he stumbled and crashed into the right wall.
Just as he was frantically adjusting his center of gravity, Jhin’s second set of seals had been completed: Earth Escape·Rock Slab Press!
The ground suddenly rose up, and a rock slab half a person’s height rose from his feet and hit Xiaolin’s back squarely.
He groaned as he was pinned between the rock slab and the wall. He kicked his legs off the ground but couldn’t move even a finger.
The martial arts training ground fell into deathly silence.
Captain Sato’s teacup slammed to the ground, and the tea splashed on his trouser legs.
He stared at Kobayashi who was pressed into a big letter shape by the rock slab, and his Adam’s apple moved – the speed of the hand seals in that earth escape move was something that even a Chunin might not be able to do; not to mention the wind escape paper shuriken, which actually used ordinary paper instead of kunai, which saved chakra and was also unexpected.
This… This is impossible! Xiao Lin blushed, I usually train ten times harder than you!
Hard work is a good thing. Jhin walked to the rock slab, stretched out his hand and patted the rock surface, and the rock slab broke into pieces.
He bent down, picked up a piece of broken rock, and turned it between his fingertips, but before he could work hard, he had to learn to use his brain first.
There was a sudden burst of applause from the stands.
I don’t know who started clapping first, then Sakura, and then the whole class.
Xiaomei held up her notebook and took notes desperately, with the tip of her pen poking several holes in the paper – it turned out that what the protagonist had looked up in the library last night was “Application Cases of Ninjutsu in Narrow Terrain”; and each of the pieces of paper on his sleeves had wind escape techniques drawn on them in advance.
Captain Sato. Hatake Kakashi stood beside the referee’s seat at some point, his eyes curved into crescents under his mask, and it seemed that the test results were obvious.
Sato stared at Jin’s back, opened his mouth, and finally uttered: You…just barely passed.
The setting sun stretched their shadows very long.
Kakashi leaned against the cherry tree in the training ground, flipping through a copy of “Intimate Paradise”: Why choose the corridor?
Because the wooden wall there was newly painted last week. Jin kicked the stone at his feet away. The newly painted paint would absorb chakra. Xiaolin’s chakra turbulence would hit it, and it would take at least two more seconds to recover. He paused, and… When you were training Team 7 before, you always liked to walk in that corridor.
Kakashi’s page suddenly stopped.
He looked up at Jhin, his eyes under the mask a little more serious: Class 7 will gather at six o’clock tomorrow morning.
Jhin’s pupils contracted slightly.
He looked at Kakashi’s back as he turned and left. The wind blew his silver hair, revealing the familiar snake-shaped pendant behind his ear – exactly the same as the one he saw at the Uchiha ruins last night.
But he couldn’t care less about that at the moment.
The setting sun engraved the three words “Class 7” on his retina, like a burning fire.
He touched the piece of paper in his pocket, where there were even crazier plans hidden – but now, he had to prepare for his first mission tomorrow.
after all…
The real challenge has just begun.
Chapter 6: Successfully Joining the Class and Building Initial Bonds (Old Version)
As the morning light penetrated the window, Captain Sato was frowning at the list of Team 7.
There was a knock on the office door, and he didn’t even raise his head: I have said it many times, the assignment of Genin belongs to
It’s me.
Sato’s hand trembled, and the pen spread ink on the paper.
When I looked up, I saw Kakashi leaning against the door frame, his silver hair slightly messed up by the morning breeze, and the book “Intimate Paradise” in his hand.
Hatake Jonin. Sato sat up straight. Regarding Uchiha Jin, I still think…his record of cheating in the last exam…
That’s not cheating. Kakashi turned to a page in the book and pushed it in front of Sato.
The yellowed pages were densely written with a list of building materials for the Konoha corridor. Last Wednesday, the Logistics Department replaced the wooden walls of the corridor.
The newly applied varnish contains magnetic powder, which will interfere with the flow of chakra – he went to the logistics room three days in advance to look through the records.
Sato was stunned: How do you know?
I went to the logistics office this morning to check the paint collection records. Kakashi pointed to the signature at the end of the list. He asked the logistics uncle to sign an extra copy of the material collection form in the name of borrowing homework. A very faint arc rose under his mask. A child who can turn loopholes in the rules into weapons is more suitable to be a ninja than a genius who can only fight hard.
Sato stared at the crooked line of Uchiha Jin on the list, and suddenly remembered the calculation in the boy’s eyes when he kicked the stone during the test yesterday – it turned out that he had set up the game since choosing the battlefield.
Whatever you want. Sato grabbed a red pen and ticked the list, but if he dragged his feet…
No. As Kakashi turned around, the snake pendant gleamed in the morning light, I promise.
In the corridor of the Ninja School, Kobayashi stood in front of Jin’s desk, clutching the corner of his clothes.
His forehead guard, which was bent from being hit yesterday, was still crooked, and the tips of his ears were red: Um… I’m sorry about what happened yesterday.
Jin, who was packing his schoolbag, paused.
This kid always laughed at him before, saying that he was a useless Uchiha who made a living by plagiarizing, but now he was like a cat whose tail was stepped on: I… I thought you were just smart, but you even calculated that varnish would absorb chakra… I was too arrogant.
So now you come to ask me to teach you? Jin tilted his head, a mischievous smile on his face.
Xiaolin’s face turned even redder: No!
I just… just want to admit my mistake! He took a deep breath and said, “I will take every opponent seriously from now on, including you.”
Jhin looked at his tense back and suddenly laughed out loud.
He took out the “Basics of Physical Training” from his schoolbag and threw it over: The next class is physical training, the last page is about the side kick technique, you used the wrong center of gravity yesterday.
Xiaolin caught the book and when he looked up he met Jin’s smiling black eyes.
The look in his eyes was no longer as nonchalant as before, but rather like…he was looking at an opponent who deserved to be taken seriously.
Thank you, thank you! He ran away with the book in his arms, the morning light on his hair.
During lunch break, a crowd of people gathered in the martial arts arena.
Xiaomei stood on the stone pier, holding a crumpled notebook in her hand: Look!
This is the record of Jin’s chakra control practice last week. He practiced refining from three to five in the morning every day!
Are you kidding me? A boy squeezed in. He handed in a blank paper in the last exam!
Blank paper? Xiaomei opened her notebook and a test paper folded into a frog fell out from between the pages. He said that it was better to hand in a blank paper as a smokescreen than to expose his level by answering questions he knew. She pointed at the densely packed comments in the notebook. This was his analysis of the traps in the previous Chunin exams. This page was about the rules of action of the Anbu… He was not a bad student at all, he was just hiding his incompetence!
The crowd fell silent.
I don’t know who started clapping first, but then everyone started applauding, “So this is so cool.”
Sakura squeezed to the front, her eyes shining: So that’s why he calculated the position of the varnish accurately yesterday?
Not only that. Xiaomei smiled mysteriously, I also heard that… he is going to join the seventh class.
The martial arts arena exploded with exclamations.
Jin stood behind a tree holding his lunch box, listening to the discussion of the Uchiha Jins, his Adam’s apple moving.
The wind lifted his sleeves, revealing the faint blue marks on his wrists – they were scratched by the kunai when he was secretly practicing hand seals last night.
It turns out that the feeling of being recognized is sweeter than getting a perfect score on a paper.
Six o’clock in the morning, the seventh class assembly point.
Naruto kicked the stones and turned around: Hey, hey!
Is Kakashi-sensei late again?
It’s always like this! Sasuke leaned against the cherry tree, his eyes swept over the newcomer Jin, and said nothing.
He’s here. Jhin suddenly spoke.
Everyone looked up and saw Kakashi jumping down from the treetops, still holding the copy of “Intimate Paradise”. Today’s training content – He pulled out two kunai and threw them into the air, snatching the scroll from my hand. He pointed to the dark red scroll on his waist, “Rules?”
There are no rules.
Naruto’s eyes lit up immediately: I’ll do it! He just rushed over, but Jin suddenly grabbed him by the collar: Wait.
What? Naruto stamped his feet anxiously.
Jin stared at Kakashi’s position: he was facing the sun, with his shadow at his left foot – a ready position for jumping back at any time. He looked at the ground again, and saw three layers of fallen leaves. The bottom layer was wet and slippery when stepped on.
Sasuke narrowed his eyes: What do you want to say?
Spread out and surround. Jin quickly distributed, Naruto used the shadow clone to attract from the left, Sasuke went around to the right and rear and used the shuriken to force him to turn around, I… He touched the paper in his pocket, I’ll be the bait.
Kakashi’s mask moved, as if he was smiling.
The moment the battle began, Naruto threw out five shadow clones, and Sasuke’s shuriken flew past his ear.
Kakashi jumped sideways to avoid it, but stepped on the talcum powder that Jin had sprinkled on the fallen leaves in advance – the moment his foot slipped, Jin came out from his side, and his fingers accurately pressed on the acupuncture point on the back of his waist.
Scroll. Jin panted, his other hand already touching the scroll on Kakashi’s waist.
Naruto’s eyes widened: When did you…?
When he was reading “Intimate Paradise”, Jin shook the piece of paper in his hand. It was the “Human Body Acupuncture Points Map” he copied in the library last night. No matter how strong a jonin is, he still needs to blink.
Kakashi touched the acupuncture point that was pressed and suddenly laughed out loud.
He took off the scroll and handed it to Jhin: Congratulations, you are the first Team 7 to last ten minutes in my hands.
Naruto rushed over and hooked his arms around Jin’s neck: You can!
I won’t let you down in the next bell-grabbing competition! Although Sasuke didn’t say anything, the scrutiny in his eyes turned into recognition.
The wind blew up the cherry blossoms and they fell between the four people – this was the first bond of Team 7.
As dusk fell over the walls of Konoha, Jin walked alone on the old Uchiha Street.
He touched the scroll in his pocket, which contained the extra homework given by Kakashi – a briefing on the intelligence of the Hidden Rain Village.
clatter.
The sound of faint footsteps passed over the roof.
Jhin looked up suddenly, only to see a black feather blown away by the wind.
He reached for the kunai at his waist, but paused when his fingertips touched the hilt – a trace of light purple chakra was wrapped around the feather, curling like a snake’s tongue.
Who? He whispered.
The only response he got was the sound of the wind.
But Jhin knew that from today on, some eyes were on his back.
Just like the snake-shaped pendant he noticed during the test, and the word Akatsuki that suddenly appeared in the intelligence briefing…
The real storm has just begun.
Chapter 7: The mysterious force is beginning to pose a crisis (old version)
After the night when dusk fell on the old Uchiha Street, Uchiha Jin stuffed three more poisoned kunai under his pillow.
On the morning of the second day, the training ground of Class 7 was filled with the unique scent of green grass of Konoha.
Kakashi was half an hour late as usual, but he didn’t lean on the tree stump to watch the intimate paradise as usual.
His forehead protector was pulled down very low, and the half of his face that was exposed was stretched into a cold and hard line: Jhin, come with me.
The two of them walked around the back alley of the training ground, and Kakashi suddenly pressed his backhand on the back of his neck.
Chakra penetrated the skin like an ice needle, and traveled along the meridians twice before withdrawing. In the past three days, the Intelligence Department intercepted seven encrypted pigeons. He took off his forehead protector, and the three-magatama Sharingan slowly turned in the morning light. The direction of the message was within 300 meters of your home.
Jhin’s pupils shrank slightly.
The black feather from last night suddenly appeared in front of my eyes, and the touch of the purple chakra on the feather was still on my fingertips.
Someone is checking you out. Kakashi tied his forehead protector back on, and the sound was like the handle of a knife scraping against a whetstone. He recorded the fact that you handed in your paper early for the Chunin Exam mock exam last Friday, the poison frog jutsu you helped Sakura break last Wednesday, and even… the number of times you repaired roofs for people in the civilian area before transferring to this school. He suddenly pulled the corner of his mouth, and even the fact that you stole the red bean paste buns from the Third Hokage’s office was recorded.
A chill ran down the back of Jhin’s neck.
He thought of how he had tried to hide his edge over the past six months – he had deliberately answered the last hand seal question incorrectly at the Ninja School, and explained the tactics used in the bell-grabbing incident as a blind cat catching a dead mouse, but he was still targeted in the end.
Don’t act alone recently. Kakashi threw him a silver amulet with complicated sealing techniques engraved on the surface. If you encounter danger, crush it and I can arrive in three minutes.
Over the next three days, Jhin seemed like a different person.
He no longer slept on the desk during breaks, but instead strolled around the playground in circles; when he went to the cafeteria to get food, he would buy an extra portion and squat in the corner to feed stray cats while observing his surroundings; he even kicked open the cubicle door before going to the toilet to make sure there was no suspicious chakra residue.
Hey, hey! Naruto was hanging on the edge of his desk, you look like you were struck by Raikiri these past two days, have you lost your soul? Sasuke glanced at him and spun the kunai in his hand faster: It’s indeed abnormal.
Just as Jin was about to say something perfunctory, there was a light knock on the back door of the classroom.
Sakura’s friend Xiaomei stuck half of her face in, there were a few broken grass leaves on the ends of her hair, and her breathing was a little rapid: Jin…can you come out for a moment?
The wind in the alley blew up the coal slag.
Xiaomei’s hand, which was clutching the corner of her clothes, was shaking, and her other hand pointed to the wall: I was going to Nanmachi to buy sugar-coated dumplings just now, and when I passed by this alley… look!
On the blue brick wall, a light purple mark clings between the bricks like a living thing.
It was a snake-shaped totem drawn with special ink, with chakra still condensed in the snake’s center that had not completely dissipated – exactly the same as the lavender chakra on the black feather that night.
I remember you said before that you saw someone wearing a snake-shaped pendant during the test… Xiaomei’s voice trembled. In the past three days, I saw this mark on the back wall of the pickle shop in Xishi, the bridge pier of Beiqiao, and the wooden door of the abandoned school building outside the village!
Jhin’s fingers lightly stroked the wall.
The depth of ink penetration into the brick joints is consistent, obviously it was done by the same person.
He took out the chalk he carried with him and drew a triangle symbol next to the mark: Take me to the last place.
The abandoned school building was located on the edge of Konoha’s barrier, its red brick walls covered with kudzu and its broken glass windows like the eyes of a monster.
Xiaomei shrank her neck and pointed at the door lintel: It’s…right there.
The snake-shaped mark on the door lintel is larger than the one in the alley, and the snake’s body is coiled in three circles.
Just as Jin was about to step into the door, his shoe sole suddenly stepped on something – it was a piece of broken pottery with dark brown stains on it. When he smelled it up close, it had a sweet and fishy smell, like blood that had not been wiped clean.
careful!
He suddenly grabbed Xiaomei’s wrist and rushed to the side.
Almost at the same time, the sound of wood breaking was heard above their heads, and a rotten beam fell with dust on the place where the two had just stood.
Come out. Jhin stood up, holding the kunai in his hand.
He turned his back to Xiaomei and glanced at the window on the left – there were ripples of chakra flowing there; the spider web in the right corner was messed up, which was the position of the second person; and right in front… there was a very light sound of cloth rubbing against each other coming from behind the door, the third person.
Three figures wearing bamboo hats came from different directions.
Their forehead guards were all wrapped in black cloth, revealing an unnatural pale bluish skin. The index and middle fingers of their right hands were put together – that was the standard starting position for making hand seals.
Who are you? Jhin’s voice dropped, his thumb running over the poisoned grooves on the tip of the kunai.
The leading man in the bamboo hat said nothing, but just made a gesture.
The person on the left was the first to form a seal: Fire Style: Great Fire Extinguishment!
A wave of scorching air hit me in the face.
Jin turned around and pushed Xiaomei under the desk behind him, while he himself crashed into the broken window on the right.
The moment the glass fragments pierced his back, he threw out three kunai with his backhand – two of them nailed to the feet of the Fire Ninja on the left, and the detonating talismans exploded, forcing the opponent to jump away; the third one flew past the neck of the Wind Ninja on the right, leaving a charred mark on the wall.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough! The ninja on the right took the opportunity to make up for it.
The strong wind blew broken bricks towards Jin’s face. He rolled on the ground and hit his elbow on the dusty podium, causing his chalk box to fall to the ground with a crash.
While the enemy was distracted, Jhin touched the thing hidden in the chalk box – he had deliberately knocked over the box when he squatted down just now, and picked up half a piece of chalk.
He flicked his fingers, and the chalk head accurately hit the hand seal of the Fire Style Ninja on the left.
The man felt pain, and the power of his fire escape suddenly weakened by three points.
Form a formation! The leading man in the bamboo hat finally spoke, his voice like rusty gears.
The three of them stood in a triangle shape, and their chakras began to resonate.
Jin’s temples were throbbing – this method of coordinated combat was 70% similar to the Three Elements Formation of Konoha Anbu, but more sinister, like…
Like they were trained specifically for killing.
His eyes flicked toward the stove at the back of the classroom.
It was used to keep students warm in winter, and there is still some unburned charcoal inside.
Jhin took out the last three detonating talismans and stuck them on the window frames on both sides. Then he bent down, grabbed a handful of broken bricks and threw them towards the stove.
With a clang, the broken bricks hit the furnace wall.
The three ninjas’ attention was drawn over at the same time.
Jin took the opportunity to rush to the podium, picked up the half-burned charcoal, and drew a curved mark on the floor – that was the trajectory of the wind-style ninjutsu that he had memorized in advance.
Wind Style: Vacuum Jade! He shouted.
Chakra flowed along the charcoal marks on the floor and condensed into a bluish-white cyclone in the palm of his hand.
This move originally required three seals, but with the guidance of Tan Hen, he compressed the time for making the seals.
The vacuum ball flew past the leading ninja’s bamboo hat and hit the detonating talisman on the right window frame. With a loud bang, wood chips poured down like a rainstorm.
The wind-style ninja on the right had his arm scratched by debris, and there were strange purple spots under the exposed skin.
Retreat! The leading ninja finally panicked.
The three of them no longer wanted to fight, so they threw out smoke bombs and prepared to retreat.
Jin chased to the door, but stepped on something on the steps – it was half a piece of forehead protector with twisted cloud patterns engraved on the edge and the word “Xiao” written in blood in the middle.
When the smoke cleared, the three men were nowhere to be seen.
Xiaomei crawled out from under the desk, her face pale: They…are they coming for you?
Jhin said nothing.
He squatted down, wrapped his fingers with chakra, and gently touched the blood on the forehead protector fragment.
The chakra remaining in the blood completely matched the pale purple snake spirit on the black feather, and even… there was a faint stench, as if it had been soaked in some kind of poison for a long time.
The sound of Konoha’s clock came from afar.
Jhin put the forehead protector fragment into his arms. When he turned around and saw Xiaomei still trembling, he curled the corner of his mouth: Was it the Wind Escape just now?
I’ll treat you to three skewers of meatballs when I get back.
Xiaomei was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed out loud: Jin, you just… really acted like a hero.
Hero?
Jin touched the fragments in his arms and looked at the setting sun.
He remembered what Kakashi said about someone checking on him, remembered the word Akatsuki that suddenly appeared in the scroll, remembered those ninjas with purple skin – the real trouble had just begun to open a small hole.
That night, in the old wooden house on Uchiha Old Street, Jin lit the oil lamp.
The fragment of the forehead protector glowed coldly under the light. The bloodstains of the word “Xiao” had dried up, but strange patterns were left on the paper.
He took out a half kunai he picked up from the enemy’s feet. The blade had fine serrations, which was completely different from Konoha’s standard weapons.
The cry of a night owl was heard outside the window.
Jin suddenly stopped – on the windowsill, a black feather was swaying gently in the wind, and the light purple chakra wrapped around the base of the feather was thicker than it was three days ago.
Chapter 8: Using Wisdom to Solve Mysteries (Old Version)
Uchiha Jin pushed the oil lamp to the middle of the wooden table, and the warm yellow light immediately enveloped the three objects on the table: half a serrated kunai, a blood-stained forehead protector fragment, and the black feather with light purple chakra.
He flicked the edge of the kunai with his fingers, and the fine serrations made a slight sound. It was completely different from the straight-blade kunai sold in Konoha’s Ninja Tool Shop – was this the standard model of Kumogakure?
No, the teeth of Kumogakure are wider; and those of Iwagakure?
Iwagakure’s weapons always smell like stone powder, but this one has a faint smell of rust.
He leaned close to Hei Yu, his nose almost touching the feathers.
During the battle three days ago, the chakra on the feather was like purple ink diluted by water, but now it was so thick that it seemed to be dripping down, condensing into small translucent dots at the base of the feather, looking like some kind of insect eggs.
Jin suddenly remembered what Kakashi said when he used a kunai to pick open his forehead protector in the training ground today: Someone has been checking you very carefully recently.
Knock knock knock.
There were three knocks on the wooden door, and Jhin quickly put the things in his arms.
Pushing open the door, Xiao Lin was standing in the moonlight holding a stack of scrolls, his hair on his forehead was blown by the night wind: I found the old files in the library, and the old administrator said that these were the banned books sealed by the Sandaime. He squeezed in and spread the scrolls on the table. The purple chakra, the sawtooth kunai, and the forehead protector with the word Akatsuki… all matched!
The top scroll was unfolded, and a ferocious totem was drawn on the yellowed paper: a snake entwined around a skull, with a purple tongue.
Next to it were written three big characters “Dark Erosion School” in cinnabar, the handwriting was already mottled: This school was born in the late Warring States Period, advocates washing blood with blood, breaking light with darkness, is good at using poison and manipulating curses, and was jointly besieged by the five major countries because of frequent massacres of civilians. The last leader was killed by Hashirama Senju in the Valley of the End.
But Hashirama-sama killed the leader of the sect, not the school. Jin’s fingers passed over the four words “control seal”, and he suddenly remembered those ninjas with purple skin. The blue spots on their necks were exactly the same as the bone-eroding seal recorded in the scroll. They were reviving the dark erosion style.
The night owl outside the window cried again.
Jhin looked up suddenly – he didn’t know when another black feather appeared on the windowsill, lying side by side with the previous one, like two small swords pointing at him.
Go tell Kakashi-sensei. Jin rolled up the scroll and stuffed it into Xiaolin’s arms. Now.
Under the old locust tree outside the Team 7 training ground, Kakashi was leaning against the tree trunk reading “Intimate Paradise”, his eyes half covered by his forehead protector.
When he heard the three words “Dark Erosion Flow”, the pages of the book suddenly made a crisp sound – he finally closed the book.
How did you know?
The old files that Xiaolin found in the library, and…Jin took out the black feather, they are passing me a message.
Kakashi took the feather and gently rubbed the chakra condensation point with his fingertips: “The curse seal of the Dark Corrosion Flow requires a living creature to cultivate. They chose you… maybe because you are an Uchiha?” He suddenly smiled, and a light flashed in his Sharingan under his forehead protector. But it doesn’t matter. Since they want to play, we will play bigger with them.
Three days later is Konoha’s Autumn Festival.
Jin squatted on the roof of Ichiraku Ramen Restaurant and looked at the lanterns hanging on the street.
Kobayashi was hiding behind a stall selling takoyaki, holding a totem copied from the Dark Erosion text in his arms; Xiaomei was wearing a dancer’s furisode and a hairpin made of a black feather in her hair – it was made of crow feathers dipped in purple paint, mixed with some residual fluid from the curse scraped from the enemy’s corpse.
The target appeared. Kobayashi’s voice came from the megaphone of the ninja tool shop. He was wearing a black cloak, had a scar on his left cheek, and had three gourds hanging around his waist.
Jin lay on the tile and looked down.
The man was standing at the entrance to the festival. His eyes swept over the feathers in Xiaomei’s hair, he paused, and then walked straight towards her.
Xiaomei retreated as planned and knocked over the sugar painting stall next to her.
The man reached out to help her, and just as his fingertips touched her wrist, Xiaomei suddenly grabbed his pulse with her backhand, and reached for the gourd on his waist with her other hand – that was the poison sac of the Dark Corrosion Flow, as mentioned in the literature.
Get started!
Jhin jumped down from the roof, and the cyclone of Wind Style: Great Breakthrough wrapped him and smashed into the man’s back.
The man reacted very quickly, rolling sideways to avoid the attack, but the gourd on his waist was pulled off by Xiaomei.
He roared and drew out his kunai, the serrated edge of the blade gleaming coldly under the lantern: You little brats…
Wind Style: Vacuum Ball!
Xiao Lin rushed out from behind the stall, and his hand seals were three times faster than when he took the exam at school – it turned out that this kid had a hidden skill called wind escape.
The vacuum jade exploded as it brushed against the man’s ear, overturning half the lanterns on the street.
The man panicked and turned to run, but his ankle was entangled by the rope dart thrown by Xiaomei.
She tugged at the rope, and the man fell heavily to the ground, with Jhin’s kunai pressed against his throat.
Tell me, what are you going to do in Konoha?
The man suddenly grinned, with purple blood oozing from the corners of his mouth: “The bone-eroding curse… will bloom in your blood.” His pupils began to dilate, and his skin turned purple at a speed visible to the naked eye. A giggle came from his throat, and the master of the sect will take off your heads with his own hands…
Don’t let him die! Kakashi’s voice came from the corner of the street.
But it was too late. The man’s body began to rot and a roll of blood-stained cloth fell from his arms.
Jin picked up the cloth and unfolded it. On it was a map of the distribution of Konoha’s barrier, and the place with the most dense markings was written as “Festival Night – Midnight”.
This is……
The Dark Flow will destroy the barrier on the night of the festival. Kakashi squatted down and picked up the roll of cloth with his kunai. They needed a lot of curse seal carriers, and the crowd on the night of the festival… He suddenly looked up at Jin, his Sharingan blazing in the night. You did a good job, but from now on, they will pay more attention to you.
Jin looked at the man’s gradually rotting body, then looked down at the word “Zi Shi” written on the cloth.
The noise of a festival came from afar, the laughter of children and the roar of drums mixed together, but it made him feel a chill on the back of his neck.
He touched the fragment of forehead protector in his arms, and suddenly remembered a sentence in the scroll: The revenge of the Dark Corrosion Flow is never a fire, but a poison that flows into the blood vessels.
The wind blew a black feather past his feet. This time, the purple chakra at the base of the feather was so thick that it seemed to be dripping with blood.
Chapter 9: Facing the Threat and Protecting Konoha (Old Version)
The lights of the festival flickered on the streets of Konoha, and the ema and colorful balloons rustled in the wind, but Uchiha Jin’s hand clutching the blood-stained cloth was colder than the night.
Footsteps were heard at the corner of the street. Kakashi’s Anbu uniform was faintly visible in the shadows, and his Sharingan was glowing dark red under his forehead protector: Come with me to see Captain Sato.
In the secret room of the Hokage’s office building, the candlelight stretched the shadows of the three people very long.
Captain Sato’s fingers pounded heavily on the cloth, and the scar on his forehead trembled with the tense muscles: Dark Corrosion Flow… Three years ago, they kidnapped the Chunin of the barrier class, and it turned out that they were holding back this. He raised his eyes to look at Jin, and his eyes were no longer the scrutiny of the past. Are you sure the information is credible?
The speed at which his body decayed was consistent with the characteristics of the curse backlash. Kakashi took off his forehead protector, and the three magatama slowly rotated in his eye sockets. More importantly, I found purple spots in his chakra circuits – exactly the same as the marks on the bodies of the members of the barrier class who disappeared three years ago.
Jhin took out half a piece of forehead protector from his arms. He picked it up in the ruins of the martial arts field last week: I found this in the west training ground three days ago. The gap overlaps with the mark on the cloth.
The dark erosion flow has already penetrated in.
Captain Sato stood up suddenly, and the wooden chair made a harsh sound on the ground: notify the barrier team to activate the backup circuit, and the medical team to prepare anti-curse potion.
The crowd on festival night must be evacuated, but panic must not be caused… He suddenly stopped and looked at Jhin with burning eyes, “What do you think?”
Jin’s fingers slid across the dense marks on the cloth, and the emergency plan he had seen in his previous life flashed through his mind: the most vulnerable part of the barrier is not the marking points, but the chakra conduits connecting them.
If we inject wind chakra into the catheter… His eyes flashed when he raised his eyes. If the Dark Erosion Flow is to destroy the barrier, the catheter must be cut off; but wind chakra will cause the cut to explode – the faster they tear it apart, the harder it will explode.
Kakashi raised the corner of his mouth slightly: What a calculation.
Captain Sato patted Jin’s shoulder with such force that it almost pressed him into the wall: That’s it.
You take Xiaolin to set up the catheter, and Xiaomei is responsible for notifying the mayors of each town by messenger pigeons, and evacuating the crowd in the name of a festival fire drill. He turned and walked towards the door, with a rare warmth in his voice, “Boy, I’ll treat you to Ichiraku Ramen when we’re done.”
As the night deepened, Jin squatted on the roof and adjusted the angle of the last catheter.
Kobayashi squatted beside him, his hands shaking a little as he stuffed the detonating talisman into the catheter: I say…if this goes off target, will the barrier be destroyed as well?
That’s why we need wind chakra as a trigger. Jin pressed the last talisman tightly. The detonating talisman would only blow up the conduit, but wind chakra would direct the explosion to the people of the dark erosion flow – if they dare to touch the conduit, they will have to taste their own bombs first. He glanced at the forehead protector fragments in his arms, and his voice became lower. Moreover… I always feel that their target is not just the barrier.
When the bells rang on festival night, the streets of Konoha were already decorated with a sea of ​​lights.
Jin stood on the top floor of the castle tower, overlooking the crowd moving like stars below.
Xiaomei jumped down from the eaves, and the messenger pigeon in her hair flapped its wings: Most of the towns have been evacuated, only drunkards and children are left – but as you requested, the old ladies stayed in the teahouse to tell stories.
At three quarters past midnight, the wind suddenly changed direction.
When the first black feather fell from the southeast sky, the back of Jhin’s neck instantly stretched like a bowstring.
He grabbed the kunai at his waist and swung it towards the street corner. Amid the sound of metal collision, three figures wrapped in black cloaks emerged from the shadows, their masks having twisted snake patterns – the symbol of the Dark Corrosion Flow.
As planned! Jhin’s voice spread out along with the wind blades, and the lights on the street below went out.
Kobayashi detonated the first smoke bomb on the roof of the west building, while Xiaomei drove the communication pigeon to crash into the barrier duct. The talisman on the pigeon’s leg flashed blue light – wind escape was activated.
The Dark Erosion Ninjas obviously did not expect the crowd to suddenly disappear, and their formation was in chaos for a moment.
Jin jumped down the railing, and his kunai slashed across the leader’s mask: Did he choose the wrong target? He formed a seal with his backhand, and the Fire Style: Great Fire Dragon Technique gushed out with a heat wave, but turned around the moment it touched the enemy – the oil barrels pre-placed at the corner of the street were ignited, forcing the ninja who tried to go around back to the center of the street.
Form a snake formation! The leader’s voice was like a rusty blade, and the Dark Corrosion ninjas instantly formed a triangle formation, with chakra condensing into a purple ball of light in their palms.
Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank – that was a technique to forcibly absorb the barrier’s chakra!
Xiaolin! He shouted, and the detonator on the roof of the west building exploded.
The blast knocked over two ninjas, but it also caused a flaw in the leader’s technique.
Jin seized the opportunity to form hand seals, and Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet rose into the air from the fountain next to him. The water stream wrapped in ice crystals accurately entangled the leader’s arm.
Now is the main course. Jin pressed his finger on the catheter, and his wind chakra rushed into the dark erosion technique like a living thing.
The purple ball of light suddenly expanded, and then exploded into pieces with a bang – that was the backlash of the chakra that the Dark Erosion Flow tried to absorb.
The leader’s mask finally cracked, revealing a face covered with curse marks underneath: How… did you know?
Because your revenge is never fire, but poison. Jin pulled out a kunai and pressed it against his throat, but I have already prepared the antidote.
When the first ray of morning light spread over the Hokage Rock, the remnants of the Dark Flow had already been taken away by the Anbu.
Captain Sato patted Jin’s back, his mouth almost grinning to his ears: Boy, if you get a job as a tactical advisor with your brain, old man Danzo will tear down his office and try to get you back!
Crowds began to return to the streets one after another. An old lady stuffed a red bean cake into Jin’s arms, and children ran after him holding fireworks.
Kakashi leaned against a pillar and ate a candy cookie. His Sharingan was not hidden under his forehead protector. Not bad, he even thought of the reverse use of the chakra conduit. He suddenly stopped and looked at the forest in the distance, but…the leader of the Dark Flow did not appear.
Jhin touched the broken forehead protector in his arms and suddenly noticed a black feather at his feet.
Unlike last night, half of a snake-shaped curse seal could be vaguely seen in the purple spot at the base of the feather – more complete and more… vivid than before.
The wind blew the morning mist through his hair and the cry of crows could be heard in the distance.
Jin looked at the black feather, and the chill on the back of his neck rose again.
He knew that the real opponent was still in a darker place, staring at this failure and sharpening a sharper knife.
Chapter 10: Orochimaru’s conspiracy begins to take shape (old version)
As the morning light spread over the outline of the Hokage Rock, Uchiha Jin was squatting on the windowsill of Class 7’s classroom, twirling a kunai with his fingertips.
The sunlight filtered through the glass and cast golden fragments in his eyes, but it could not hide the sharpness in his eyes – when the remnants of the Dark Erosion were taken away last night, he clearly saw that the leading ninja had half a purple curse seal on his neck, and snake-like patterns crawling across his collarbone, like a dormant venomous snake.
Cinders! Xiaolin kicked open the classroom door, holding a rolled-up intelligence scroll in his arms. Xiaomei heard from the tea stall at the entrance of the village that recently someone wearing a black cloak has been running to the abandoned warehouse outside the village.
She overheard them saying that what Lord Snake wanted was almost ready.
Jin flipped over and jumped down, his kunai piercing the table: Lord Snake? He took out the black feather with purple spots from his arms, the seal at the base of the feather glowed strangely in the sunlight, and walked.
As the three of them walked through the bustling streets of Konoha, Kakashi was standing in front of the Hokage’s office building.
His forehead protector slid to the bridge of his nose, his Sharingan reflected Jin’s receding figure, and he knocked on the door with his knuckles: “Teacher Sarutobi, I’ve had someone send the samples of the Dark Corrosion Style’s curse seal and the black feather to the Root.”
That kid… The Sandaime put down his pipe and glanced out the window, sharper than I thought.
The abandoned warehouse is located next to the swamp at the east end of the village. Moss covers the rotten wooden walls, which creak and groan when the wind blows.
Xiaomei tiptoed in through the broken air vent, raising a cloud of dust when she landed, choking her so much that she covered her mouth: Cough… No one has cleaned here for at least half a year.
Jin took out a tinder and lit the kerosene lamp in the corner. In the dim light, boxes of scrolls were piled on the moldy wooden shelves.
Kobayashi tore off a volume, and the fire pattern on the cover was cut by a sharp blade, revealing the densely packed notes inside: Is this… an improved plan for the Chakra Scalpel?
Wait. Jin took out another volume. On the inside of the cover was a map of Konoha’s defenses drawn in snake-shaped ink. The key point was the barrier array behind the Hyuga clan’s territory. Here. His fingertips ran over the half-torn page of paper. The three words “bird in a cage” were particularly eye-catching in the remaining handwriting.
Click.
The sound of metal rubbing came from above my head.
Jin violently dragged Xiaolin and Xiaomei to the corner. The beam above their heads came crashing down with a bang. Amidst the flying wood chips, a black shadow jumped down from the beam – it was a man in a dark green short robe, his left eye covered with snake-like scales, and the kunai in his right hand was glowing with a faint blue light.
Black snake. Jin wiped the sawdust off his face, but his voice was deeper than usual. You are not among the remnants of the Dark Eclipse. It turns out that you are a direct subordinate of Orochimaru.
The black snake licked the corner of its mouth, its snake-like tongue forked: “You are quite clever, little fellow.” He flicked his wrist, and three poisoned kunai flew out of the air, but clever people often die earlier.
Xiaomei dragged Xiaolin to the back of the wooden rack, and the kunai rubbed Jin’s earlobe and nailed it into the wall. The venom corroded the wood and produced green smoke.
Jhin bent down, picked up a broken brick, and smashed it at the kerosene lamp on the left with his backhand – bang!
The moment the fire exploded, he used the shadow to flash to the side of the black snake, and pressed the kunai against the back of its neck: Do you think I will fight you head-on?
Naive. The black snake suddenly smiled, the curse seal on his neck glowed dimly, and his chakra surged like boiling water.
He grabbed Jin’s wrist with his backhand, and his nails instantly grew into snake fangs. Lord Orochimaru’s curse seal can be used for more than just marking.
A sharp pain came from his wrist and beads of sweat appeared on Jin’s forehead.
He saw Xiaomei taking off the ninja tool bag from her waist, while Xiaolin was moving a wooden box with scrolls piled on it. That was the signal they had agreed on before. Xiaomei! He shouted and threw the black snake towards the wooden frame.
The moment the black snake smashed the wooden frame, Xiaolin kicked the wooden box down fiercely.
Bundles of scrolls fell like heavy rain, and Xiaomei took the opportunity to throw out two detonating talismans and stick them on the black snake’s legs. Boom! The blast overturned half of the wall, and the black snake was crushed under the broken wood, with blood oozing from its left eye covered with snake scales.
Jin walked over on the broken wood, with a kunai against the black snake’s throat: What does Orochimaru want from Hinata?
The black snake coughed up blood foam, but laughed even more crazily: The caged bird in the Hyuga family… is the key to opening the Konoha barrier.
Those useless people with white eyes thought that the curse could trap their clansmen, but they didn’t know… He suddenly coughed violently, cough… Lord Orochimaru had already planted… seeds in their curse.
What seed? Jin’s kunai pressed into his skin, and beads of blood slid down the blade.
You think I’ll tell you? The left eye covered with black snake scales suddenly popped up, and a snake-shaped chakra wrapped around Jin’s wrist. When Lord Orochimaru gets… the coordinates of all the caged birds, Konoha’s barrier will become… a sieve!
Bang!
There was a crisp sound like a gunshot, and the black snake’s neck suddenly twisted into a strange angle.
Jin looked up and saw Kakashi standing on the broken wall with a senbon in his hand: The Anbu found the Root’s tracking talisman outside the village. It seems that someone doesn’t want us to know too much.
Jhin pulled off the metal plate from the black snake’s neck, with Subject-07 engraved on the back.
He turned his head and looked towards the direction of the Hyuga clan. The white walls there shone coldly in the sun, and the birds in the cages…
Back to the Hokage’s office building. Kakashi jumped down, his Sharingan moving slightly under his forehead protector. Sarutobi-sensei needed to know this.
Xiao Lin was squatting and searching in the pile of wood chips, when he suddenly held up a half-burnt piece of paper: Ashes!
Here are the seals of the Hyuga family, and also…August 15th, the night of Tsukuyomi.
The wind blew up the black feathers on the ground, and the snake-shaped seal flickered in the wind.
Jin clenched the metal plate, the chill on the back of his neck was even stronger than last night – he finally understood that Orochimaru never wanted to destroy Konoha, but to let it tear its own wounds in the place it was most proud of.
The crow outside the village cried again, and this time, there was a hint of urgency in its cry.
Chapter 11: Exploring the Secrets of the Hyuga Family (Old Version)
The chirping of cicadas in Konoha was blown by the wind and crashed into the white walls of the Hyuga clan’s territory, making people feel panic-stricken.
Uchiha Jin looked up at the word “Main Family” on the lintel, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the metal plate in his pocket – the marks on Subject 07 made his palm hurt.
The Hyuga family has 30% more guards than usual. Kakashi’s voice came from the side, and the Sharingan under the forehead protection turned slightly. When I passed the side door just now, I saw three people dressed as ANBU heading towards the training ground.
Captain Sato pressed the kunai bag at his waist, and his calmness, which was unique to a jounin, revealed a tense look: Orochimaru’s actions are faster than we thought. He looked at Jin, and the content of the half piece of paper was definitely August 15, the night of Tsukuyomi?
Jhin nodded.
Last night he used a secret fire in the Hokage’s office to burn the scorched paper, revealing more words – Use the Byakugan as a guide to break the barrier when the moon is full.
At this moment, he stared at the Bagua pattern curtain hanging inside the door, and his Adam’s apple moved: Tsukuyomi Night is the Hyuga family’s festival held every ten years, and only the elders and the current clan leader can enter the secret room.
What Orochimaru wants… must be something hidden there.
Suddenly, footsteps were heard inside the door.
Two Hyuga clan members in plain white kimonos opened the curtain. The old man in the lead had bandages around his eyes, but they couldn’t hide the unique lavender sheen of his Byakuyan: Hatake Jonin, Uchiha Genin, Captain Sato. His voice was like old pine bark rubbing against a millstone. The main family didn’t welcome outsiders to pry into their internal affairs.
Hyuga elder. Kakashi took off his forehead protector, his Sharingan glowed dark red in the sunlight. A root tracking symbol was found outside the village, and the Anbu found a metal plate engraved with caged bird seeds on the experimental subject. He tapped the ninja sword on his waist with his knuckles. Do you really think this is just a family affair of the Hyuga?
The old man’s eyes narrowed slightly.
Jin noticed that the veins on the back of his hand holding the rosary were bulging – that string of sandalwood beads was the one he had seen under the Hokage Rock the day before.
At that time, the Third Hokage said that the Hyuga elders had tried their best to prevent the Root from establishing a base in the clan’s land.
Elder. Jin took a half step forward, his voice was soft but clear, Orochimaru didn’t want to wash Konoha with blood, he wanted it to tear open its proudest wound. He took out a metal plate and handed it over. There was a caged bird curse mark on the neck of the experimental subject-07. You should know better than me how similar the chakra fluctuations of this curse mark are to the seal of the Hyuga clan’s secret room.
The old man’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He suddenly grabbed Jin’s wrist, and the chakra from his Byakugan pierced into his skin like an ice cone.
Jin gritted his teeth and didn’t move – he had already asked Hatake Hiru to use the Sharingan to record the frequency of the Hyuga chakra, and at this moment he was using the chakra to simulate the resonance of the main family’s branch in his blood vessels.
You… have been to the secret room? The old man’s voice trembled.
I haven’t been there, but I’ve seen it. Jin pulled open his collar, and a light blue mark appeared on the back of his neck – it was drawn with special ink last night, imitating the skin reaction of the side branch tribe members when they were planted as caged birds. Three years ago, I was an apprentice in the Ninja Tool Shop and helped the uncle of the Hyuga branch family to repair the forehead protector.
When he was drunk, he said that the door knocker of the clan’s secret room was carved with a snake in the Gen position of the Bagua formation.
The old man loosened his grip. He turned around and opened the curtain: Follow me.
Passing through the three courtyards and around the screen wall engraved with the Bagua diagram, the door of the secret room was indeed embedded with a copper ring of two snakes entwined around a Gen.
The old man bit his fingertip and pressed it on the center of the ring, and a slight sound of the mechanism turning came from inside the door.
This is the forbidden technique that the Hyuga family has guarded for generations – breaking the boundary. The old man lit the candle on the wall and spread the yellowed scroll on the stone table. Legend has it that when the first Hokage established Konoha, he used the chakra of the tailed beast to set up a barrier.
The World Breaking Technique can use the power of the Byakugan to tear a crack in the barrier that only allows chakra to pass through.
So Orochimaru will take action on the night of Tsukuyomi. Captain Sato frowned, because the barrier was at its weakest at that time due to the festival, and the Byakugan’s amplification
The old man pointed to the bloody words on the scroll. The world-breaking technique required a living sacrifice – a branch family ninja controlled by the caged bird seal. Their pain would be transformed into energy for the technique.
The seal on Subject-07’s neck was used to test the compatibility of the seal with the technique.
The back of Jhin’s neck felt cold.
He recalled the young men from the branch family he had seen at the martial arts arena the day before. When they were practicing soft boxing, the caged bird mark on the back of their necks always glowed an unnatural red.
boom!
The ceiling beam of the secret room suddenly exploded.
In the rain of gravel, three men in black-patterned robes leaped down. Their left eyes were wrapped in bloody bandages, and the half of their faces that were exposed were covered with snake scales.
Lord Orochimaru said that it’s time for the old Hyuga turtle to change its shell. The man on the left licked the corner of his mouth, his snake-like tongue forked, and said, “Hand over the scroll of the world-breaking technique, and I will leave you with a whole body.”
Protect the scroll! The old man rushed to the stone table, but was knocked over by a wind blade.
Captain Sato turned around and stood in front of him, shooting kunai like a rainstorm – but as soon as those kunai touched the enemy’s body, they were bounced off by a layer of transparent chakra shield.
It was Orochimaru’s cursed seal-strengthened human. Kakashi’s Sharingan rotated at high speed, and their chakra flow was the same as that of Subject-07.
Jhin’s mind was spinning.
He glanced at the Bagua diagram on the wall and suddenly grabbed the old man’s arm: You said that the Bagua lanterns in the secret room on Tsukuyomi Night will form the center of the formation!
The old man reacted instantly: the lampstand in the southeast corner!
Jhin threw out three kunai, accurately hitting the mechanisms of the three lampstands in the southeast, southwest, and north.
The Bagua lanterns lit up, and golden patterns appeared on the bluestone slabs on the ground – it was the protective Bagua formation passed down from the Hyuga family.
“Form a formation!” He shouted, and Captain Sato immediately moved to the southwest corner, while Kakashi leaped to the north.
The chakra of the three people flowed along the formation patterns, trapping the three enemies in the center of the formation.
A trifle! The man in the middle roared and rushed over, his fist covered with snake scales carrying a fishy smell.
Jhin did not retreat but advanced, his shadow clones flanking him from both sides, while his main body bent over and grabbed the opponent’s ankles – this was a locking technique he modified based on the soft fist, specifically designed to break the center of gravity.
The moment the man staggered, Kakashi’s Raikiri had already grazed the back of his neck and chopped him off.
The bluish-purple electric current tore open the snake’s scales, revealing the stitched wound underneath—it turned out to be a modified human made from living human limbs!
Shit! The man on the right threw out seven poisoned kunai, but they were all shattered by Captain Sato’s Wind Style: Vacuum Ball.
The old man took the opportunity to rush over to the stone table and stuffed the scroll into the secret pocket on his chest.
The battle lasted less than ten minutes.
When the last cyborg fell in the center of the Bagua formation, a gash had been opened on Jin’s forehead, and blood dripped down his cheek onto the snake scales, spreading out a strange red.
They have this. Captain Sato kicked the enemy’s body away and took out half a bronze plate from his arms. The pattern was similar to the metal plate of the previous experimental subject, and the back was engraved with Experiment-12.
Kakashi squatted down and used a kunai to poke the enemy’s bandaged left eye – under the bandage, there was a three-magatama Sharingan that glowed with a strange red light!
This is impossible… The old man’s voice trembled, the Sharingan requires Uchiha blood…
Jhin’s breathing suddenly hitched.
He remembered what Hatake Hiru said last night: the Root has been purchasing Uchiha relics recently, and even sifted the scorched earth of the ruins of the clan’s land three times.
Let’s go. Kakashi tore off a piece of cloth to wrap his Sharingan and returned to the Hokage’s office.
Sarutobi-sensei needs to see this.
The old man’s hand holding the scroll loosened and then clenched again: Uchiha boy…can you really stop him?
Jin wiped the blood off his face and smiled: Orochimaru wants Konoha to tear open its own wounds?
Then I will sew up all the wounds before he operates the knife.
He turned and walked towards the door of the secret room. The sunlight poured in through the broken ceiling beams, refracting tiny spots of light on the snake scales on the ground.
In one of the spots of light, half of a black curse seal could be vaguely seen – exactly the same as the one on the previous experimental subject, but with an extra forked line.
The wind blew in from outside the door, rolling up a piece of bloody snake scales.
There seemed to be something wriggling on the scales.
Chapter 12: The mysterious information dealer helps (old version)
The kerosene lamp in the Hokage’s office cast a warm yellow glow in the middle of the night. Sarutobi Hiruzen was pinching the cloth bag containing his Sharingan, his knuckles turning white from the force.
According to the Root’s report, a batch of experimental samples were indeed lost three months ago. The Sandaime twirled his pipe, the smoke curling in his wrinkles, but the Sharingan… On the night of the Uchiha clan’s extermination, all the survivors were registered.
Uchiha Jin stood by the window, the moonlight shining through his hair casting tiny shadows on the floor.
He stroked the unshaved stubble on his chin – this sloppy look was his protective color, but at this moment it was hiding a sharp edge: Teacher, Orochimaru doesn’t want the Sharingan itself. He thought of the wriggling snake scales in the secret room, and his Adam’s apple moved, which was to merge the Sharingan and the curse seal.
Kakashi leaned against the door frame, a cold smile appearing at the corners of his mouth under his mask: So we need to know how to crack this forbidden fusion technique.
Before he finished speaking, there was a gentle knock on the office door.
Sakura’s friend Mei leaned in half with her face, the ends of her hair still stained with chalk dust from the ninja school: Senior Jin, I… I found out about an information dealer. She clutched the corner of her clothes, his name is Amu, he always sells information in the second-hand bookstore in the dilapidated alley of the West Market.
Last time I helped him pick up flyers that were blown away by the wind, and he said I could find him if there was anything urgent.
A used bookstore? Captain Sato wiped the kunai in his hand. I have seen that place before when I was on patrol. There is a tattered wooden sign hanging at the door saying that you can exchange used books for information.
Jhin’s fingers tapped lightly on the table.
He remembered the paper ball that Xiaolin secretly slipped to him at the martial arts arena three days ago – that was the tip-off that Xiaomei had sent him via a carrier pigeon.
Some things don’t need to be pointed out. He smiled at Xiaomei with his fangs showing: Thank you, I’ll treat you to Ichiraku ramen and double servings of barbecued pork later.
The moonlight in the dilapidated alleys of West Market was much dimmer than that in the Hokage Building.
As Jin and Xiaolin crouched as they walked through the alley filled with wine jars, their heels made a crisp sound as they rolled over pieces of broken porcelain.
Hush—Kobayashi tugged at his sleeve and pointed to the second-hand bookstore at the end of the alley with its sign entangled by vines.
There was a copper bell hanging on the wooden door, which made a tinkling sound when the wind blew, but at this moment it was abnormally quiet.
He noticed that the copper bell under the eaves of the door was fixed with thin wire – this was the information dealer’s warning method.
He took out the short knife from his arms, and a thin layer of sweat formed on his palm from the handle of the knife.
The door creaked open.
Facing me were a pair of hawk-like eyes.
The man was as thin as a bamboo pole, wearing a washed-out kimono with dark patterns. He was holding a piece of paper covered with secret codes with tweezers and roasting it over a candle flame.
Seeing them coming in, he blew on the tweezers nonchalantly: Uchiha Jin from Team 7, and Xiaolin, the last one? He smiled, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were full of calculations. Want information?
First of all, what shall we exchange for?
Jhin didn’t respond, but walked around the bookshelf.
What was placed on the shelves were not books, but all kinds of strange things: fragments of the Water Mirror from the Hidden Mist Village, black charcoal remaining from the Chakra of the Hidden Cloud Village’s Thunder Shield, and even half of the Earth Escape Talisman from the Hidden Rock Village.
He stopped in front of a puppet that was missing a leg. The gear pattern at the puppet’s joints was exactly the same as the animal-taming puppet that Haruno Na had improved.
Mr. Amu. Jin turned around and tapped the puppet with his fingertips. You have more stuff here than the warehouse of Konoha Anbu. He took out a roll of bamboo slips wrapped in oil paper from his arms. Last month, the Blood Mist Village of Kirigakure changed to a new executor. I have his chakra signature and ninjutsu here. He took out a map. Kumogakure added three outposts on the border of the Land of Lightning, and the locations were clearly marked.
The tall and thin man’s eyes lit up.
He snatched the bamboo slips and the map, and applied a special potion on the back of the paper – a moment later, the photo of Kirigakure’s new executor appeared, and even the scar on his brow was clearly visible.
He put down his things and rubbed his hands: Not bad, three days earlier than the intelligence from the Root. He took out a lacquer box from under the counter, and a faint fishy smell wafted out when he opened it. The key to cracking the forbidden technique of curse seal fusion is to use the chakra of Uchiha Fire Release combined with Senju Wood Release. He pointed to the yellow talisman at the bottom of the box. This is the sealing spell I got from the informant in the Sound Village. It can temporarily suppress the snake venom in the Sharingan.
Jin’s pupils shrank slightly: The Hidden Sound Village?
That old man Orochimaru has built a new base in the Land of Rivers. Amu lowered his voice, but… he suddenly looked out the window and said, “You’d better leave now.”
Why? Xiaolin nervously reached for his ninja tool bag.
Because——Amu’s words were interrupted by the sound of breaking glass.
Three poisoned kunai broke through the window and nailed to the floor near Jhin’s feet, the venom corroding the wooden boards with a sizzling sound.
Then, six ninjas wearing snake-patterned masks broke through the wall. The leader showed half of his face, and his left cheek was covered with snake scales. He was the companion of the old man in the secret room before!
Hand over the sealing spell! The voice of the snake-scaled man was like a snake’s tongue sweeping across a stone slab. Lord Orochimaru wanted to see the Uchiha’s blood and the snake’s venom burn in the fire with his own eyes!
Jhin’s temple throbbed twice.
He had expected an ambush, but he didn’t expect it to come so soon.
He quickly scanned the layout of the room: there was a small window behind the bookshelf on the left, and Amu Zang’s detonating talisman was under the counter on the right – this was what he noticed when he was walking around the bookshelf just now.
“Xiaolin, distract the two on the left!” he shouted, throwing the lacquer box at Kakashi.
The copy ninja who appeared out of nowhere was already standing at the door, with Raikiri leaping in his palm like a living thing, protecting the sealing spell!
The snakes of the snake-scaled man poured out from his sleeves, and their blue-gray tongues hissed.
Jin took out the kunai from his arms and threw it at the chandelier on the ceiling with his backhand – with a bang, the kerosene lamp fell into the middle of the snakes, and the lamp oil splashed everywhere.
He took out a fire starter and threw it into the oil pool accurately: Fire Style: Great Fire Extinguishment!
The orange fire wave instantly engulfed most of the snakes.
While the snake-scaled man was distracted, Jhin rushed to the counter, grabbed a handful of detonating talismans and stuffed them into the bookshelf. Captain Sato! He shouted, the one on the right is yours!
The Jonin who had gotten behind the enemy at some point swung his fists as fast as the wind and smashed the two ninjas directly into the wall.
Kakashi’s Raikiri had already pierced the throat of the third enemy, blood splattered on his white forehead protector, making his Sharingan look even more scarlet.
Want to leave? The snake-scaled man suddenly bit his finger and drew a bloody spell on the ground.
The ground cracked open and countless snake heads emerged from the ground, surrounding everyone.
Jhin leaned his back against the bookshelf, and his fingertips touched the ring of the detonating charm in the interlayer.
He winked at Kobayashi, who immediately threw out five shurikens, accurately cutting off the snake-scaled man’s chakra lines.
Taking advantage of the pause in the snakes’ attack, Jhin pulled the ring hard: detonate!
Boom! The bookshelf collapsed with a loud bang, and the flying wooden boards, covered in flames, smashed towards the snakes.
The snake-scaled man was knocked over by the air wave, hit the wall and spit out blood.
Kakashi’s kunai was already at his throat: information, or life.
Lord Orochimaru…has already started…The pupils of the snake-scaled man gradually became dilated, and the ultimate experiment…
Jin squatted down and took out half a map from his arms – the edges were burnt black, but the words “Ruins of Whelzebub Village” could be clearly seen.
His heart skipped a beat: that was the birthplace of the first Hokage’s wife, Uzumaki Mito, and also…
Let’s go! Kakashi pulled him up by the collar, back to Konoha!
Outside the second-hand bookstore, the night wind carried gunpowder smoke.
Jin looked back at the still burning ruins. Amu had disappeared at some point, leaving only a note under the counter: The secret of Uzushio Village is hidden under the third floor tile of the temple.
He stuffed the note into his arms and ran wildly in the moonlight with the crowd.
A long snake cry came from the distance, like a thin needle, piercing every inch of the night.
(Preview of the next chapter: Inside the sacrificial hall of the Uzushio Village ruins, beneath a floor tile engraved with the Uzumaki family crest, lies the taboo that drives Orochimaru crazy—and what awaits Uchiha Jin, in addition to the key to cracking the forbidden technique, is a pair of snake eyes that have been watching him in the shadows for a long time.
）
Chapter 13: The tense confrontation on the eve of the decisive battle (old version)
The air in the second-hand bookstore was filled with the peculiar fishy smell of snakes. Uchiha Jin leaned against a cracked wooden cabinet, with blood oozing from his forehead and dripping down his chin onto the straw mat.
He looked at the figure wearing a snake-scale wristband five steps away – the other party was driving three green-scaled snakes to detour from the left and right sides, while the other two men wearing black-bottomed red cloud robes blocked the front and back doors, forming an ever-tightening triangular encirclement.
The chakra flow of these guys is very regular. Kakashi’s voice came from the left. He knelt on one knee, and the kunai in his hand brushed the neck of a snake that pounced on him. Before each attack, he would shrink the snake group first, as if he was signaling each other.
Captain Sato wiped the blood off his face. His left arm was cut by snake fangs, leaving a deep wound that could be seen to the bone, but he still stood in the front holding a kunai: The poisonous mist just now came from the mouth of the guy on the right. The one on the left is controlling the snakes, and the one in the middle should be the commander. He kicked away a twitching white snake at his feet. This encirclement will block our movement space. Wait until the chakra is exhausted before taking action.
Jin’s fingers were rubbing the ninja tool bag on his waist, and his fingertips touched the half-roll of fire talismans that he had taken out from the secret compartment of the bookshelf.
The layout of the second-hand bookstore went around in his mind three times – to the east were old scrolls piled to the ceiling, to the west were wooden shelves filled with kerosene lamps, and the charcoal stove that had just been knocked over was still emitting sparks in the corner.
His eyes swept over the tea bowls that were scattered by the snakes, and he suddenly remembered that Kobayashi said three days ago that the boss always hid the unsold low-quality fireworks under the counter.
Xiaolin! He suddenly shouted in a low voice.
The brown-haired boy who was hiding behind the counter suddenly looked up, with sawdust on his face: I’m here!
On the third floor of the counter, is there a paper package tied with a red string? Jin’s pupils shrank slightly, and he looked at the snake-scaled man in the middle who was raising his hands to form a seal. The hissing of the snakes suddenly rose, and he said, “Hurry and bring it over!”
Xiao Lin immediately lay on the ground, rubbing his elbow against the broken porcelain pieces and reaching inside.
Three seconds later he pulled out a dusty paper bag with mildew stains on the red rope: Found it!
It’s…it’s saltpeter!
Jhin’s eyes lit up.
He tore off the bandage around his waist and quickly wrapped the saltpeter and fire talisman into a fist-sized paper ball: Lord Ka, wait a minute, when I count to three, use wind escape to blow this to the feet of the guy on the left.
Senior Sato, please keep your eyes on the source of the poisonous fog on the right. As soon as he opens his mouth, throw a kunai to seal his throat.
Are you planning to put on a fireworks display? Kakashi laughed from under his mask, but he quickly formed the seal of Wind Style: Great Breakthrough.
Their snakes are afraid of fire. Jin pointed to the curtains that were set on fire by the previous explosion. The black mamba that attacked him just now screamed and retracted when it touched the flames. Moreover, he took out the kunai he had taken from the snake-scaled man, and cut a small hole in the paper ball with the tip of the blade. The saltpeter mixed with the fuse of the fire charm was enough to burn them.
one–
The snake master on the left had completed the seal. Seven snakes jumped out from his sleeves at the same time, spitting out their tongues and crawling on the ground.
two–
The poisonous fog user on the right opened his mouth, purple-blue chakra appeared in his throat, and a pungent sweet smell began to fill the air.
three!
Jhin threw the ball of paper into the air.
Kakashi’s wind jutsu suddenly exploded with a gust of wind, and the paper ball hit the left side of the snake’s feet accurately.
The next second, saltpeter mixed with sparks from the fire talisman shot up a half-man-high wall of fire. The scorching air wave blew away the snake sac in the snake master’s arms, and hundreds of small snakes were burned and twisted and bounced in all directions.
Now! Captain Sato’s kunai shot like an arrow, piercing the throat of the right poison mist user.
The guy didn’t even have time to spray out the poison mist, and fell in a pool of blood with his eyes wide open.
Kakashi’s Raikiri, already wrapped in blue-purple electric current, pierced towards the snake-scaled man in the middle.
The man with snake scales hurriedly formed seals to summon a snake shield, but saw that Jhin had somehow gotten behind him and the kunai in his hand cut his chakra line – that was the key to controlling the snakes.
The snakes lost control and suddenly became chaotic. Some bit their owners’ ankles, and some crashed into the burning bookshelves.
Information, or life. Kakashi’s Raikiri stopped half an inch in front of the snake-scaled man’s throat. The lines were exactly the same as in the previous chapter, but with a bit more coldness.
The snake-scaled man’s face was twisted in pain. He looked at the bloody hole bitten by the snake at his feet and suddenly let out a shrill laugh: Do you think… you can stop Lord Orochimaru by killing me?
The ultimate experiment has begun——
Before he finished speaking, his pupils suddenly dilated.
When Jin squatted down and touched his arms, he only felt half a charred map with snake venom on the edge.
And at the moment he fell, a note floated out from under the counter. It was written in Amu’s handwriting: The secret of Uzushio Village is hidden under the third floor tile of the temple.
Kakashi pulled up Jin’s collar and looked at the gradually spreading fire. This place would soon be surrounded by the snake’s reinforcements.
When everyone rushed out of the second-hand bookstore, the night wind blew smoke in their faces.
Krillin was holding the half-rolled ancient map that he had snatched from the fire scene, while Xiaomei was waiting at the alley entrance with the summoning beast crow: Konoha had sent a message that Orochimaru’s advance team had appeared at the border of the Land of Fire, and the secret report intercepted by the Anbu said… he might act three days in advance.
Jhin’s fingers unconsciously clenched the note.
The secret of Uzushio Village, Orochimaru’s ultimate experiment, the impending crisis of Konoha – these clues were intertwined into a web in his mind.
He looked at the lights of Konoha in the distance, and suddenly remembered the records he had found in the library three days ago: the ruins of Uzushio Village not only contained Uzumaki Mito’s sealing technique, but also
Let’s go. Kakashi’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “Go back to the village to find the Sandaime, we need more people.”
Everyone ran wildly in the moonlight, and the sound of snakes came closer and closer behind them.
The sound was like a thin needle, piercing into every inch of the night.
On a hill thirty miles outside Konoha Village, a figure in a white coat was standing on the edge of a cliff.
His fingertips stroked the snake flute in his hand, and the direction of Konoha was reflected in his dark red vertical pupils.
Under his feet, hundreds of giant snakes were spitting out their tongues, and their scales were shining coldly in the moonlight.
It seems… my little mice are really good at playing. Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth, and the snake flute sounded softly, but it doesn’t matter. He looked at the Hokage Rock approaching in the distance, and his smile was full of twisted expectations. When you return to the village… it’s time to enjoy the real show.
Chapter 14: The Fierce Battle with Orochimaru (Old Version)
The moonlight was torn into pieces by the clouds. When Uchiha Jin’s running shoes rolled over the gravel road outside Konoha Village, his throat still had a fishy sweet taste after running wildly.
He could hear Kakashi’s breathing behind him – steady as a precision instrument, Captain Sato’s chakra fluctuations to the left, and Krillin’s kunai bag clinking as he ran.
Here we are. Kakashi suddenly stopped, and the Mangekyō Sharingan under his forehead suddenly shrank.
The barrier protecting Konoha’s village glowed with a faint blue light, but a snake-shaped gap appeared in the southeast.
On the gentle slope thirty meters away, the white coat was rustling in the night wind, the snake flute on Orochimaru’s fingertips was oozing with dark green chakra, and hundreds of giant snakes crawled out from the cracks in the ground at his feet. The friction sound of their scales scraping against the ground was like a rusty saw.
Two hours earlier than expected. Jin touched the ninja tool bag on his waist, which contained twelve talismans neatly stacked inside. Three days ago, when he found the “Fragments of Ninjutsu of Uzushio Village” in the library, he specially carved the runes on his palm with the tip of a kunai. At this moment, they were slightly warmed with his heartbeat.
Everyone. Kakashi took off his forehead protector, his silver hair glowed coldly in the moonlight, Sato led Xiaolin to go around the back to cut off the snakes’ retreat, and Jin and I were frontally restraining them.
Xiaomei – he blew a short whistle into the air, and a palm-sized communication bug jumped out of Jin’s collar, went to the top of the Hokage Rock, and used the shadow clone to monitor the overall situation.
Got it! In the wind created by the flapping wings of the communicator, Xiaomei’s slightly nasal voice echoed – this girl had used the shrinking technique to hide on Jin’s body, and her eyes must have been red from squeezing so hard.
Orochimaru’s snake flute suddenly raised a pitch.
The first thing to move was not the snakes, but the ground under Captain Sato’s feet.
A black snake emerged from the ground and bit his ankle with its sharp teeth!
Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall! Sato reacted very quickly, forming seals with both hands, and using earth-yellow chakra to build a barrier at his feet.
But the snake seemed to have intelligence and instantly split into two, one rammed into the earth wall to attract attention, and the other went around to the left.
Watch out! Kobayashi’s kunai flew past Sato’s ear and pierced the snake’s head precisely.
The black snake curled up in pain, and Sato took the opportunity to cast a seal: Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!
The scarlet fire dragon wrapped in heat waves pounced towards the snake group, but when it reached within three feet of Orochimaru, it suddenly twisted, as if it was rolled into a fireball by an invisible hand.
Illusion. Jhin’s pupils shrank slightly.
Three days ago, he was trapped for half an hour in the illusion trap of the Chunin examination in the woods outside the village. The faint sweet fragrance in the air at this moment was the residual chakra before the illusion was activated.
He calmly took out a talisman and lightly pressed his fingertips on the vortex pattern on the back of the talisman paper.
It seems my little mice have learned to read maps. Orochimaru’s voice is like a thread soaked in venom, but – he trembles his snake flute. Guess, is this illusion used to confuse vision… or to cover up the real attack?
Before he could finish his words, the ground at Jhin’s feet suddenly cracked.
The green-scaled snake jumped out with its bloody mouth wide open, and its letter almost swept his chin.
He did not dodge or evade, but instead slapped the talisman on the snake’s head with his backhand.
The talisman paper instantly burned into a dark blue flame, the giant snake let out a piercing hiss, and exploded into a sky full of black feathers in mid-air.
It’s a clone! Kakashi’s Raikiri has been unsheathed, and purple electricity is pulsating in his palm. Jin, his illusion is to let the snake clone blend into the main body and disrupt our attack target!
Jhin suddenly laughed.
On his way here, he had used the chakra residue marking method he learned from Amu to sprinkle fluorescent powder on every rock that might be used by the snakes.
At this moment under the moonlight, the real group of snakes were moving along the southeast stream. Their scales were covered with a faint light green fluorescence – that was the tracking powder specially made by Xiaomei using animal training techniques.
Xiaolin! He yelled at the top of his lungs, throwing explosive talismans toward the stream!
Captain Sato, Wind Style: Big Breakthrough!
Krillin’s kunai with three detonating tags on it fell accurately into the stream, and the blast caused the snakes to fall all over the place; Sato’s wind jutsu followed closely behind, blowing the shattered snake corpses towards Orochimaru.
The latter’s expression finally changed. The snake flute spun in his palm, and twenty giant white phosphorus snakes suddenly emerged from behind him – they were actually psychic beasts summoned by forbidden techniques!
Forbidden Technique: Ten Thousand Snakes Devouring the Sky!
Jhin’s heart suddenly shrank.
Three days ago in the library, he found not only the sealing technique of Uzushio Village, but also the battle records of the Sandaime when he was young: Orochimaru once used this technique to destroy a small border town. When the technique is activated, a snake-shaped seal formation needs to be formed above the target.
He looked up and saw lavender snake-like patterns floating in the clouds.
The weak point of the chakra barrier is right there!
Teacher Kakashi! He rushed to the kunai stand next to him and formed the Hai-Mi-Shin Seal!
Kakashi’s Sharingan instantly captured his lip movements, and the electric current of Raikiri suddenly changed direction, turning into a purple light blade that shot straight into the sky.
At the same time, Jin took out the last three talismans, bit his fingertips and made a blood seal in the center of the talisman paper: Whirlpool·Reverse Seal!
The talisman turned into three blue lights and rushed into the clouds. The snake-shaped seal formation made a shrill sound and was torn into pieces.
Orochimaru’s pupils shrank into vertical lines, and the snake flute cracked and broke into two pieces.
Interesting. He licked the corner of his mouth, and the skin under his white coat suddenly turned blue-gray. It seems that I underestimated you, Uchiha’s little mouse.
Before he finished speaking, his figure suddenly became blurred.
Jin only felt a flash before his eyes, and when he opened his eyes again, the gentle slope was gone, replaced by a blood-red space.
The ground cracked into countless snake-shaped lines, and each line was absorbing chakra; three blood-red moons hung in the sky, and the moonlight pierced the skin like needles.
Is this…another dimension? Xiaolin’s voice was trembling, his kunai fell to the ground, and his chakra was fading at a speed visible to the naked eye.
That’s right. Orochimaru’s voice came from all directions. This is the domain I created using the forbidden technique Snake Nest Space.
Here, your chakra will be swallowed by my snake until you become a dried corpse – his laughter swept across everyone’s eardrums like a snake’s tongue, but don’t worry, I will leave you with your last breath and watch Konoha being destroyed before your eyes.
Jhin’s fingers dug into his palms.
He could feel chakra being drained from the snake patterns on the soles of his feet, and his temples were throbbing.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Kakashi’s Sharingan glowing a strange red in the blood-colored space. Captain Sato was using medical ninjutsu to transfer chakra to Krillin, but as soon as that chakra entered Krillin’s body, it was completely swallowed up by the space.
Teacher, the chakra flow in this space… He suddenly stopped.
With the perspective of the Sharingan, he saw a very faint blue light band in the blood-colored clouds, entwined around the edge of space like a crumpled ball of thread.
Is that… the remnant of the Uzushio Village’s sealing technique?
Jin? Kakashi’s voice was a little tired. What did you think of?
Jhin didn’t answer.
He took out the note from his arms – the last half page of the record he had found in the library three days ago, which was now being warmed by his body temperature.
Written on it in faded ink: The sealing technique of the Uzushio Village ruins can break the trap of the alien space, but it requires blood as a guide.
He looked up at the bloody moon.
The distortion of the Snake’s Nest space suddenly intensified, and deeper cracks appeared on the ground. Kobayashi’s chakra was almost exhausted.
Orochimaru’s low laughter came from a distance, like the beat of a death drum.
Hold on. Jhin’s voice was very soft, but it pierced everyone’s eardrums like a nail.
He bit his index finger and drew a swirl pattern on his palm. I need three minutes.
No one asked him what he was going to do.
Kakashi’s Raikiri condensed in his palm again, although the current was three points weaker than before; Captain Sato passed the last bit of chakra to Krillin, and gritted his teeth to form a defensive seal; Krillin clenched the kunai, his eyes fixed on the nearest snake pattern.
In the bloody space, Jhin’s blood dripped onto the ground.
The snake pattern suddenly twisted violently, as if resisting something.
The vortex pattern on his palm was emitting brighter and brighter blue light…
Chapter 15: Desperate Counterattack to Protect Konoha (Old Version)
Under the blood-red moonlight of the Snake’s Nest, Uchiha Jin could clearly hear his own heartbeat.
Krillin’s chakra had become as thin as a candle in the wind, Captain Sato’s defensive barrier was covered with spider-web-like cracks, and even Kakashi’s Raikiri began to flicker – the familiar purple lightning was now as weak as a firefly on a summer night.
Cough… Xiaolin suddenly staggered half a step, and his kunai fell to the ground with a clang.
The sweat from his forehead dripped onto the serpentine ground and was immediately swallowed up by the twisted space, leaving no trace of water.
This is the third companion who is exhausted. Jin remembered that when they were first sucked into the alien space three hours ago, there were seven of them.
Orochimaru’s laughter came from all directions, mixed with the unique hissing of snakes: Little devils of Konoha, the feeling of exhausting chakra in an alien space… is not bad?
Jhin gritted his teeth.
The fragment of the Uzushio Village scroll that I found in the library three days ago suddenly exploded in my mind – it can break the trap of the alien space, but it requires blood as a guide.
He touched the note in his arms. The edges of the paper were wrinkled by sweat. It was the information he had exchanged from the librarian for three bowls of miso soup.
But at this moment, the snake patterns on the ground suddenly began to stir, like black scales coming to life, climbing up along the soles of Captain Sato’s boots.
Captain! Kobayashi rushed over and knocked Sato away with his body.
The snake pattern brushed against Xiaolin’s waist and abdomen, leaving a charred mark on his forehead.
Jin saw strange chakra surging in the pattern, which was exactly the same as the curse seal in Orochimaru’s laboratory.
Calm down. Kakashi suddenly spoke.
A corner of his mask was stained with blood, and he didn’t know whether it was his own or the enemy’s, but the Sharingan still accurately locked onto the spatial fluctuations. Maintaining the alien space requires core nodes, and Orochimaru couldn’t suppress it the entire time.
Before he could finish his words, the ninja tool bag in his arms suddenly vibrated.
Jin took out a palm-sized communication bug, its body glowing with a light pink fluorescence – it was Sakura’s good friend Mei.
Before the last Chunin Exam, this girl helped him steal Kankuro’s puppet design drawings. Unexpectedly, she has now become an intelligence source.
Jin! Xiaomei’s voice was filled with electric noise. I analyzed the frequency of Orochimaru’s seals. This alien space has an unstable period of 0.7 seconds every 33 minutes!
Just like…just like using a broken bowl to hold water, a drop will always leak out!
Jin’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He looked at Kakashi, and the three magatama of the Sharingan moved slightly – that was a movement to confirm the information.
Captain Sato tore off the corner of his clothes and wrapped Kobayashi’s wound. When he looked up, there was light in his eyes again: Is 0.7 seconds enough?
Not enough. Jin licked his cracked lips, but we can make it enough. He pulled off the forehead protector, revealing the pale blue veins on his forehead, Xiaolin, give me your chakra.
Captain Sato, prepare for Wind Style: Big Breakthrough.
Teacher Kakashi… He looked at the son of White Fang, and said, “For the last Raikiri, please aim at the vortex in my palm.”
Kobayashi didn’t hesitate, he bit his fingertips and pressed them on the chakra point on the back of Jin’s neck.
When the warm chakra rushed in, Jin almost lost his balance – in order to save his teammates, the kid even gave up his life-saving chakra.
Captain Sato’s hand seals were formed at an astonishing speed, and the unique sharp whistling sound of wind escape condensed in his palm, like an invisible knife.
Kakashi took off his forehead protector, and the red light of his Sharingan penetrated the bloody space: Are you sure?
The sealing technique of the Uzushio Village requires the resonance of space. Jin bit his index finger and drew a light blue vortex on his palm. The blood flowed along the lines. When the time came, the wind escape tore a gap, and the Raikiri injected destruction. I used the sealing technique… He paused, showing his usual nonchalant smile, and tore the gap into a door.
The space suddenly shook.
Jhin looked up and saw that the halo of the blood-red moon was shrinking – the time point Xiaomei mentioned had arrived!
Seal! He shouted.
Captain Sato’s Wind Style was the first to blast out, and the blue-gray air blade tore open the serpentine ground, revealing the dark space fault underneath; Kakashi’s Raikiri followed closely behind, and the purple lightning wrapped around the wind blade, like a poisoned sword; Krillin’s chakra surged in his body, and Jin could clearly feel the lines of the sealing technique getting hot, and the blue light spread from the palm of his hand to his fingertips, and finally turned into a beam of light, accurately hitting the crack of the space fault.
Give it to me—broken!
The roar resounded throughout the heaven and earth.
Everything in front of Jin’s eyes turned white, and warm liquid flowed out of his seven orifices – it was the backlash of chakra overload.
But he heard it, that crisp click, like a bronze bell in an ancient temple being struck and shattered, or like the first crack appearing in the ice in spring.
When their vision returned, they were standing in Konoha’s training grounds.
The Hokage Rock in the distance is still there, the cherry trees on the training ground are still there, and even the familiar aroma of grilled meatballs is wafting in the air.
Orochimaru stood twenty meters away, his white coat torn to tatters, snake scales crawling out of his neck, but he froze the moment he saw them.
Interesting. Orochimaru licked the corner of his mouth, and his tongue swept across his chin, but…
But you have no chance. Kakashi’s Raikiri lights up again, this time the purple lightning is brighter than ever before, the Crescent Moon Dance.
Jhin performed seals at the same time.
He remembered the other half page of records he had found in the library three days ago – those who broke the boundary could also be sealed.
The vortex in the palm reversed, and the blue light turned into a chain, wrapping around Orochimaru’s wrist.
Captain Sato’s wind blade attacked from the side, and Krillin’s kunai flew past Orochimaru’s earlobe and nailed to the cherry tree behind him.
The final blow came from Kakashi.
When Raikiri pierced Orochimaru’s chest, Jin saw a flash of surprise in that guy’s eyes.
Perhaps he did not expect that a group of Genin and a seriously injured Jonin could break the different space he had carefully arranged; perhaps he did not expect that the Uchiha branch who always slept in class would use the forbidden technique of Uzushio Village to completely block his retreat.
Teacher! Krillin rushed over and supported Kakashi.
The latter knelt on one knee, the light of his Sharingan dimmed a little, but the corners of his mouth still raised the familiar arc: Good job, kid.
The door of the martial arts arena was suddenly kicked open.
The villagers poured in holding torches, there were women holding children, old men with crutches, and even the Third Hokage.
I don’t know who shouted “hero” first, but then there was thunderous cheers.
Jin saw Sakura jumping up and down in the crowd, Mei giving him a thumbs up with her communication bug, and even teacher Iruka, who usually had a stern face, was secretly wiping his eyes.
But the sounds suddenly faded away.
Jin touched his chest, where he still felt the stinging pain from the chakra being torn apart in the other dimension.
He looked at the moon in the night sky – this time it was its normal silvery white color, but for some reason, he always felt that there was something hidden in the moonlight.
It’s like… another kind of fluctuation, more obscure than Orochimaru’s curse, and more dangerous than the distortion of the alien space.
What’s wrong? Haruno Na’s voice came from behind.
She was carrying a puppet staff, the ends of her hair were still stained with burn marks from the battle, but her eyes were as bright as stars.
Jhin shook his head and smiled again: It’s okay.
I just suddenly felt… He looked at the statue on the Hokage Rock. The smile of the first generation seemed to encourage him. I should practice chakra control.
In the distance, a crow flapped its wings and flew over the Hokage Rock.
Its eyes were an eerie red, flashing in the moonlight.
Chapter 16 The Difficult Beginning of Chakra Research (Old Version)
The moonlight cast a silver edge on the Hokage Rock. Uchiha Jin stood outside the training ground of Team 7, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the place on his chest that was torn by chakra.
The cheers of the villagers last night are still buzzing in my ears, but what is clearer than that is the pain that pierces my bone marrow when the chakra runs wild in the alien space – that is not an ordinary chakra out of control, but more like the aftermath of some rules being forcibly pried open.
What are you daydreaming about? Haruno Na came up from behind him carrying a puppet staff, the burn marks on the ends of her hair trembling in the morning breeze. Teacher Iruka said you didn’t go to receive the hero medal this morning. Could it be that you were overwhelmed by the praise?
Jhin turned around and saw the communication bug hanging on her waist blinking its blue eyes at him – it was put there by Xiaomei, who said it was a hero-exclusive signal device.
He curled his lips: Can the medal block Orochimaru’s curse?
Can it prevent the distortion of the different space? He looked at Kakashi who was instructing the Genin to make hand seals in the distance. I need a harder fist, or… a smarter head.
Haruno Na raised her eyebrows and knocked her puppet stick on the ground with a crisp sound: So you plan to stay in the library and study “Introduction to Chakra Basics”?
No, Jin stared at the forehead protector where Kakashi’s hair was shaking, I want to find an expert.
The scent of ink wafted through the Konoha Research Institute in the afternoon.
Teacher Inoue’s white coat was stained with star-point chakra test fluid, and the eyes behind the lenses moved around Jin’s face three times like a scanner: Hatake Jonin said that you have withstood the chakra storm in an alien space?
To be more precise, I was torn half of my life apart by the storm. Jin rolled up his sleeves to his elbows, revealing a new light pink scar. At that time, the chakra was drilling into my body like a living thing, and I could feel them… negotiating?
On the one hand, he wanted to tear me apart, and on the other hand, he wanted to find a host. He recalled the abnormal fluctuations in the moonlight last night, and his Adam’s apple moved. Later, I used the shadow clone as a trigger to lead the turbulent flow underground.
Inoue’s pen moved quickly on the notebook, and the pupils behind the lenses suddenly shrank: Shadow clone?
Are you using a normal shadow clone, or…
Ordinary. Jin spread his hands, but maybe because I am an Uchiha, my chakra volume is 30% more than my peers? He thought of the days when he copied papers in ninja school, and the corners of his mouth curled up, but the teacher should know more about the relationship between chakra volume and quality, right?
Inoue suddenly threw his pen onto the table, causing the ink in the inkstone to splash out small drops: “Follow me!” He rushed into the inner laboratory with Jin. Various chakra crystals were placed in the glass cabinets, and a star map drawn with chakra trajectories was hung on the wall. Be more specific!
What is the frequency of that chakra?
In which hand gesture do you make the peak of fluctuation?
Jin was stunned – he thought he would be sent away as a brat, but he didn’t expect Inoue’s questions to be as precise as a scalpel.
He recalled the burning feeling in the different space: the frequency… probably two scales higher than the Wind Style Rasengan?
The peak was when I completed the Pig Seal, and my chakra suddenly became cold, like a snake dipped in ice water.
Inoue’s hands suddenly shook.
He turned around and pulled out a stack of yellowed scrolls from the safe. On the cover was written “Records of the Forbidden Technique Chakra Resonance Experiment” by Hashirama Senju. Hashirama once recorded that the chakra fragments of the ancient battlefield would produce intelligent fluctuations. His voice trembled, but later researchers regarded it as crazy talk… You kid, he patted Jin’s shoulder heavily, starting tomorrow, report to the research institute at 1:00 a.m. every day.
I will show you the chakra monitoring data of the past ten years, and you describe to me how you felt that day, pore by pore!
For the next half month, the windows of the Konoha Research Institute were always lit until late at night.
Jin’s cuffs were always stained with blue stains from the chakra test fluid, and his notebook was filled with crooked waveforms – the fluctuations of ordinary chakra were like stream water, the cursed chakra was like the tongue of a poisonous snake, and the one in the alien space… was more like some kind of deliberately suppressed heartbeat.
Look here! Late that night, Jin pushed the microscope in front of Inoue’s eyes. The chakra sample on the slide was showing lavender lines as his chakra was input. When I use Yin attribute chakra to guide, the frequency of the fluctuation will resonate with the fire attribute by 1.3 times, but if I add… He quickly formed an unseal with his fingertips, and the sample suddenly burst into a dazzling white light, the vitality of Yang attribute!
At this time, the resonant frequency will stabilize at 72 Hz, which is completely synchronized with the human heartbeat!
Inoue’s glasses slid down to the tip of his nose.
He took out his pocket watch with trembling hands and put the cover on the slide. The sound of the second hand and the frequency of the chakra fluctuations were exactly the same. This meant…
This means that chakra may have a more direct connection with the origin of life! Jin’s eyes were so bright that they seemed to be burning. Perhaps we can use this resonance to increase the efficiency of chakra in repairing injuries by three times, or even… He lowered his voice and suppressed the curse seal!
The crow outside the window suddenly flapped its wings and flew away.
It was a moonless night.
Jin was lying on the experimental table sorting out data, the candlelight casting a swaying shadow on the “Records of Chakra Research Throughout the Ages”.
He had just put an exclamation mark next to the newly discovered wave pattern when he suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck – like a frog being stared at by a poisonous snake.
Who? He turned over suddenly, holding the kunai in his palm.
A masked man walked out of the shadows, with a white snake totem embroidered on his black robe. Uchiha Jin, the voice behind the mask is like a rusty blade, it’s time to stop your research.
Before he finished speaking, a cold light was already in his face.
Jhin rolled on the ground, and the kunai scraped across his mask, leaving charred marks on the wall – that was not an ordinary kunai, it was coated with corrosive chakra.
He knocked over the chakra tester behind him, the instrument gave off a shrill alarm, and the blue test fluid spilled all over the floor.
Orochimaru’s men? Jin retreated to the experimental table and glanced at the chakra amplifier on the table. Are you Shirokage?
The masked man didn’t answer, but made a strange seal with his left hand.
The ground suddenly cracked, and countless snake-shaped chakras pierced towards Jin’s ankles.
He jumped onto the experimental table, grabbed a bottle of lightning chakra concentrate and threw it over – purple lightning exploded, and the snake-shaped chakra was shattered.
Interesting. Bai Ying’s voice finally fluctuated, but do you think that these bottles and jars can…
Try this! Jin ripped open the amulet bag on his collar, which contained the resonance chakra samples he had collected in the past half month.
He bit his finger and quickly drew a talisman on the amulet, go!
The lavender chakra ball rushed towards the white shadow like a living thing.
The white shadow swung his sword to break it apart, but was stunned – the chakra ball actually reorganized in mid-air and began to vibrate at a frequency of 72 Hz.
The flow of his chakra suddenly became sluggish, and the hand holding the knife began to tremble uncontrollably.
Human body resonance frequency. Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth – when you dodged just now, you hit the corner of the table, your chakra and heart rate are synchronized, and now every time you swing your sword, your own capillaries will be shattered. He grabbed the scroll on the table and stuffed it into his arms, but you shouldn’t care about this, after all, Orochimaru’s experimental subjects have been deprived of pain, right?
A crack appeared on Shiro’s mask.
He suddenly disappeared from where he was, and when he reappeared he was behind Jhin, with the dagger against his throat: But you care.
bite–
The chirping of the communication bug suddenly exploded.
The voice of Xiaomei came out from the insect body: Brother Jin!
Sister Haruno said you didn’t go to the barbecue tonight, so she asked me to ask you…
Bai Ying’s dagger paused.
At that moment, Jin elbowed him in the stomach and at the same time poured the entire bottle of wind-attribute test liquid onto the ceiling – the chakra exploded when it met the air, and the raised powder obscured Bai Ying’s vision.
He took the opportunity to break open the window and leap into the night.
Next time, I won’t be so lucky. Bai Ying’s voice floated from behind.
Jhin ran wildly on the roof, and only slid down to the ground against the wall after making sure there were no pursuers behind him.
He took out the scroll from his arms. The cover was cut by a dagger – but the fluctuation data inside was intact.
The moonlight had climbed up into the sky at some point, and this time he could see clearly that the obscure fluctuation was still there, like some dormant giant beast.
Jin tore off the corner of his clothes to wrap around his wound and looked towards the direction of the research institute – there was a light still on there, and it was Teacher Inoue who was completing today’s experimental records.
He smiled and hugged the scroll tighter.
Some things cannot be cut off with a knife.
When he stood up, in the shadow at his feet, a crow’s red eyes flashed, and it flapped its wings and flew away into the distance.
Chapter 17: The Key Breakthrough of Inspiration (Old Version)
When Uchiha Jin returned to the research institute, the cold sweat on the back of his neck had soaked through his collar.
He locked the wooden door with his backhand and tore open his blood-stained sleeve in the moonlight. The wound ran diagonally from the collarbone to the ribs. Fortunately, Bai Ying’s poisoned dagger only scratched the skin – this was thanks to the wind-attribute test liquid he splashed on the ceiling. The chakra powder raised by the explosion not only blinded the assassin’s eyes, but also caused the dagger to deviate half an inch.
There was a slight sound from the windowsill.
Jhin turned around quickly, only to see a sleek black crow fluttering down onto the lab table, holding a piece of paper in its beak.
He tore off the note and unfolded it. It was written in Kakashi’s unique cursive style: 8pm, third floor of training tower, bring your fluctuation data.
Moonlight leaked through the blinds, casting spider-web-like streaks of light on the scroll.
Jhin touched the scar on the scroll cover and suddenly smiled.
The abnormal fluctuations he captured in the chakra attribute fusion experiment three days ago became a thorn in Orochimaru’s eyes.
The assassin Bai Ying launched seven consecutive sneak attacks, but his target was never his life – it was this manuscript that recorded the frequency, amplitude, and phase of the waves.
It seems that my research is more threatening to some people than I thought. Jhin stuffed the scroll into the hidden pocket on his chest and turned to walk towards the bathroom.
He gasped when the hot water rushed over the wound, but caught a glimpse of his own shining eyes in the mirror – they were exactly like the light that day in the laboratory when Teacher Inoue patted him on the shoulder and told him to take another step forward.
At eight o’clock in the evening, the training tower was shrouded in the orange-red sunset.
Kakashi leaned on the railing, his mask pulled down only to the tip of his nose, flipping through Jin’s fluctuation data in his hand: I asked Feiliu to check the chakra characteristics of Shirokage, and it matches the missing Jonin from the Otogakure Village three years ago.
Each time it appears two hours after you complete the wave experiment, the route is fixed and it enters from the dark alley in the southwest.
Jin stroked his chin: He always attacks when I am most tired, because that is when I have the least chakra.
So next time, let’s give him the illusion of being tired. Kakashi flicked a detonating talisman from his fingertips and said, “You go to the laboratory to practice extra tonight.” He deliberately left the newly written lab notes on the table.
I’ll set up chakra tracking charms in the ventilation ducts and wait for him to take the bait.
When Moonlight climbed up the lab building, Jin was frowning at the chakra tester.
In the notebook spread out on the table was half a page of failure data, with the ink not yet dry – he had deliberately written it with his left hand, and the strokes were crooked as if he was drunk.
The chirping of cicadas outside the window suddenly became louder. His heart skipped a beat. He rubbed the back of his neck as if he didn’t notice anything and slowly moved towards the laboratory table filled with test solution bottles.
Swish!
A cold wind blew from behind.
Jin didn’t look back, but stepped accurately on the chakra sensing array at his feet – that was the one he and Kakashi had buried this morning using earth escape.
Three kunai fell from the ceiling vents at the same time, brushing against Shirayaki’s mask and getting nailed into the wall.
The assassin’s dagger stopped half an inch away from the back of Jhin’s neck, and his eyes narrowed under the mask: A trap?
It’s a gift for smart people. Jin suddenly turned around and smashed the bottle of wind-attribute test solution in his palm to the ground.
The moment the blue chakra smoke rose, he bit his fingertips and drew a spiral array on the wall – that was the wave resonance technique that Mr. Inoue had just taught him this morning.
Wind Style: Storm Wave!
The air suddenly buzzed.
Bai Ying wanted to retreat, but found that the chakra flow around him seemed to be grasped by an invisible hand. As soon as he raised his dagger, the test solution bottles beside him exploded one after another, and wind blades wrapped in glass shards spiraled towards him.
What’s even more terrifying is that the trajectories of those wind blades are completely synchronized with the frequency of his chakra flow, making them unavoidable!
puff!
The first wind blade cut his sleeve, the second one brushed past the tip of his ear, and the third one directly knocked the dagger out of his hand.
Bai Ying’s pupils suddenly shrank as he finally realized that this was not an ordinary wind escape technique – the fluctuation frequency of those wind blades was exactly the same as the abnormal data in Jin’s experimental records three days ago!
Retreat! He shouted, threw out three poisoned kunai with his backhand, and retreated violently in the smoke of the explosion.
But as soon as he jumped out of the window, he ran into the range of Kakashi’s Raikiri.
Too slow. The copy ninja’s forehead guard slid down, and the Sharingan shone in the night. Mr. Shiro, before the next sneak attack, remember to check if the target has reinforcements.
The blue light of Raikiri brushed past the assassin’s arm, leaving a charred mark on the wall.
The white shadow covered his bleeding arm and disappeared into the night, leaving behind only the words “You’re so cruel” with gritted teeth.
Huh—Jin collapsed on the ground and realized that the clothes on the back were soaked with cold sweat.
He took out the scroll in his arms. The scar on the cover glowed light gold in the moonlight, and the fluctuation data inside was intact.
What made his heart beat even more was that when he cast the spell just now, he clearly felt the flow of chakra, as if he saw a light net woven by wind-attribute chakra in the air.
Nice new jutsu. Inoue-sensei’s voice came from the door.
The old professor was holding a pile of ancient books, his eyes behind the lenses were surprisingly bright, the wave resonance wind blade combined with chakra frequency analysis and attribute control… boy, you put all the theories I taught you into practice!
Jin touched his aching temple: When I was casting the spell just now, I seemed to be able to see the flow of chakra…
That is the advanced level of chakra perception! Mr. Inoue slapped his thigh and stuffed the ancient book into his arms. This is the “Five Releases Wave Origin” I borrowed from the Hokage’s secret room. Starting tomorrow, we will study how to fix this perception – you may have to create a new school of chakra research!
There were footsteps in the distance, and Koizumi ran in with a medical box on his back. When he saw Jin’s wound, he scolded him: You’re injured again!
Let’s take care of the wound first! She pressed her fingers on the wound, and gentle medical chakra flowed in, immediately reducing the pain by half.
That night, the moonlight in Konoha was particularly bright.
When Jin was organizing new notes in the laboratory, a crow fluttered past the window again, its red eyes reflecting the new formula he wrote: Frequency of fluctuation = Chakra nature × Mental strength ÷ …
In a dilapidated temple thirty miles away from Konoha, Bai Ying knelt in front of a snake-patterned futon, half of his face still oozing blood: My lord, that kid’s new ninjutsu…
Enough. A snake’s hissing sound came from the shadows, and a scaly hand was placed on the white shadow’s shoulder. You let me down.
Bai Ying’s whole body trembled violently, and when he looked up, he saw a tall figure walking out of the dark corner – the man was wearing a black cloud-patterned robe, with bandages wrapped around his face, revealing only a pair of eyes glowing with cold light.
Heijian, it’s your turn to meet this Uchiha genius. Sheying’s laughter seeped into the cracks of the bricks like venom. Remember, this time… don’t let me receive the news of failure again.
Chapter 18: Demonstration of Strength Under New Challenges (Old Version)
The kerosene lamp in the laboratory cast a dim glow in the middle of the night. Uchiha Jin’s pen tip paused, and a small blob of ink spread on the paper.
The crow outside the window flew over the eaves again, but this time it did not flap its wings and fly away as usual. Instead, it landed on the window frame, its red eyes fixed on the chakra formula notes on his desk.
Something is wrong. Jin stroked the unshaved stubble on his chin with his index finger, and his fingertip touched the wound that Koizumi had treated last night – the scar that was cut by Shiro’s kunai, which was now slightly hot.
He suddenly thought of Orochimaru’s experimental subjects in the original work. The wounds of those modified ninjas would become sensitive points for sensing chakra fluctuations.
The sound of metal colliding came from the back wall of the laboratory. It was barely audible, but it was like a silver needle piercing Jin’s eardrum.
He stood up suddenly, and the wooden chair made a harsh sound as it dragged on the ground.
The chakra tester on the desk suddenly started spinning wildly, and the blue pointer hit the edge of the dial, making a cracking sound.
It’s the black sickle. Jin cursed, put his right hand on the kunai bag at his waist, and quickly formed the Hai-Wei-Shen communication seal with his left hand.
This was the emergency communication technique that he and Kakashi had agreed upon privately, using chakra fluctuations to transmit location information.
Three seconds later, the door of the laboratory was cut open by the wind blade, and the white scarf was swept in first, followed by Kakashi’s signature crooked smile: It seems that my student has finally learned not to hold on alone?
Teacher, take a look at this first. Jin slapped a scroll on the lab table, and when it was unfolded, it contained dense information – the information about the black sickle that Hatake Hiru obtained through his connections with the Root.
The man in the photo was wrapped in a pitch-black robe with cloud patterns and a bloody bandage on his face, revealing only a pair of cold eyes. The sickle in his left hand was as tall as a person, and the blade was covered with spiral chakra patterns.
Wind Style: Kamaitachi Enhanced Technique, the attack speed is three times that of an ordinary jonin. Kakashi tapped the sickle in the photo with his knuckles, a chakra-consuming ninja tool, and every swing would leave a wind blade residual wave in the air.
And… he suddenly narrowed his eyes. The blade of this sickle was coated with snake venom, and the chakra of anyone hit by it would be corroded.
Jin’s finger slid across the record at the end of the data: six months ago, he sneaked into the Sand Village laboratory and killed five jonin by himself; two months ago, he destroyed the Fire Country border outpost and even split the earth-reinforced wall in half. He looked up at the structure of the laboratory – there were glass showcases on all four sides, displaying experimental materials for chakra property changes, suspended chakra balls hanging from the ceiling, and rune arrays that conducted chakra embedded in the ground.
Teacher, the terrain here can limit his range of attack. Jin’s eyes flashed with brilliance. Those floating balls are high-concentration wind attribute chakra. If his wind style sickle touches them…
It will trigger a chain explosion. Kakashi continued, the curve of his mouth becoming more obvious, you are responsible for using chakra fluctuations to interfere with his perception, and I will use Raikiri to lock his movement route.
Teacher Inoue is in the monitoring room next door, and she will analyze the flow of Kurokama’s chakra in real time.
Before he could finish his words, the glass on the back wall of the laboratory suddenly exploded into pieces!
A black shadow swooped in like a night owl, and the wind blades it brought up cut off a few strands of Jhin’s hair.
Black Sickle’s sickle brushed past the tip of his nose, leaving a half-foot-deep gash on the lab bench; the sound of metal friction hurt his eardrums.
So fast! Jin did three somersaults backwards, and his back hit the display window filled with water-attribute chakra crystals.
He could clearly see the skin beneath the Kurokama bandage – it was bluish-gray in color, with blood vessels wriggling under the skin like snakes, a sign that it had been transformed by Orochimaru.
Uchiha brat, you’ve kept the adults waiting for too long. The sound of the black sickle was like a rusty gear. He flicked his wrist, and the sickle drew a semicircle, and five wind blades attacked in a fan shape.
Kakashi’s Raikiri was already leaping in his palm, and the white electric arc split the wind blade. At the same time, he formed a seal with his other hand, and used Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!
The khaki wall rose up in front of Jin, but was easily split open by Black Scythe’s sickle.
Jin took the opportunity to form seals, and light blue chakra waves condensed in his palms – this was a new ninjutsu he created by combining modern physical wave theory, which could interfere with the flow of chakra within a radius of five meters.
Black Scythe’s sickle suddenly paused, and the originally smooth slashing action paused for half a second.
Opportunity! Kakashi’s Raikiri turned into lightning and pierced the back of Kurokama’s neck.
Black Scythe seemed to have eyes on his back, and he used his sickle to block the opponent’s attack. Sparks flew when metal collided with each other. With a bang, the two men retreated at the same time. Black Scythe’s bandage was torn open by Raikiri, revealing the skin with snake scales sewn on it.
The frequency of chakra flow is abnormal! The voice of Mr. Inoue came from the monitoring room next door. There are three chakra sources at his heart position, which are man-made!
Jin’s pupils shrank slightly – in the original work, Orochimaru’s experimental subjects were often implanted with multiple hearts, no wonder the Black Scythe could withstand Raikiri’s attack.
He quickly formed a seal and used Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet! The water-attribute crystals on the laboratory ceiling were activated by chakra and transformed into two water dragons that wrapped around Heijian’s legs.
Heijian grunted and swung his sickle, chopping the water dragon into pieces, but a puddle formed at his feet.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough! Kakashi’s wind blade attacked from the side. Kurokama turned around to block it, and the puddle under his feet suddenly rippled.
Jin’s chakra wave technique spread in the water, interfering with Heikale’s chakra conduction, and the power of his wind-style ninjutsu was instantly weakened by half.
Now! Jin shouted, and formed a complex seal with his hands, chakra resonance explosion! The wind attribute chakra balls suspended in the laboratory exploded at the same time, and the air wave blew the black sickle away and hit the wall.
Kakashi’s Raikiri followed closely, accurately piercing his left shoulder – that was the location of the artificial heart marked by Sensei Inoue.
Black sickle roared like a wild beast, and the snake scales on his left shoulder fell off, revealing the beating purple chakra core underneath.
His sickle suddenly hummed, and a snake-shaped spell appeared on the blade. Do you think you can win like this? He suddenly pulled out the sickle stuck in the ground, with the tip of the blade pointing to the ground. Shadow Snake Hand·Gai!
The ground of the laboratory cracked instantly, and countless snake-like tentacles made of chakra broke out of the ground and entangled Kakashi’s legs.
Black Scythe took the opportunity to pounce on Jhin, and the wind blade brought by the scythe cut his sleeve.
Jhin rolled backwards, but a snake’s tendril wrapped around his ankle and he was dragged towards Black Scythe’s sickle.
Fire Style: Great Fireball! At the critical moment, Kakashi broke free from the snake whiskers and spit out a fireball from his mouth towards the black sickle.
Black Scythe dodged to the side, but the sickle grazed Jhin’s chest, leaving a bloody mark on his uniform.
Koizumi’s voice suddenly came from outside the door: Medical Ninjutsu: Healing Touch! Gentle chakra flowed into Jin’s wound, and the pain was immediately relieved.
But Heikale’s eyes changed, his pupils shrank into snake-like vertical lines, and his chakra fluctuations became strangely distorted.
The lights in the laboratory suddenly began to flicker, and the originally clear chakra formula notes became blurry in Jin’s eyes, and the experimental equipment on the wall seemed to be melting.
He reached out to touch the tester on the desk, but his fingertips passed through the metal casing – it was an illusion!
This is… Jin’s voice trembled, and he could feel his chakra draining out of control.
The light of Kakashi’s Raikiri also began to flicker, as if it would go out at any time.
Heijian’s laughter seeped into every inch of the air like venom: This is an illusion improved by the adults. All your five senses are controlled by me.
Next…
The floor of the laboratory suddenly collapsed, forming a black hole. From the bottomless darkness came the hissing sound of snakes.
Jin felt himself falling, and all he could hear was Kakashi’s anxious shouts: Jin!
Take my hand! He stretched out his hand, but only touched nothingness.
In the darkness, Heikama’s voice became clearer and clearer: Uchiha kid, do you think you can stop the adults?
When you wake up from this illusion…
——The results of your research have long belonged to Lord Orochimaru.
Chapter 19: Desperate Situation: Breaking the Mysterious Ninjutsu (Old Version)
The incandescent light in the laboratory exploded into dazzling spots of light above his head, and Uchiha Jin’s fingertips still retained the feeling of emptiness when he penetrated the metal tester.
He could clearly hear the sound of his own chakra flowing – it should have been an even stream, but now it was like being stuffed with countless broken glass, and every strand of chakra was cutting his meridians.
Calm down. He bit his back teeth and tasted rust on his tongue.
Three days ago in the laboratory, what Mr. Inoue said to him while pointing at the chakra wave diagram suddenly exploded in his mind: The essence of all ninjutsu is the orderly vibration of chakra, just like a guitar string, no matter how tight it is, there is a resonance point.
Heijian’s laughter, wrapped in the hissing of a snake’s tongue, drilled into his eardrums: Kid, even the sound of your own heartbeat is fake now.
He forced himself not to look at the collapsing ground, not to listen to Kakashi’s cries as he fell – those were the products of the tampering of his five senses.
He stared at Kurosaki’s throat – there was no Adam’s apple that rose and fell with laughter, only an unnatural layer of chakra film beating.
Teacher Kakashi! He suddenly spoke, his voice much more stable than he thought. Is the chakra flow you see with your Sharingan disturbed every seven seconds?
Kakashi Hatake, who was forming hand seals, paused and his Sharingan under his forehead suddenly turned.
The three magatama left afterimages in the scarlet pupils: Yes, the base frequency of this guy’s illusion is 13.7 Hz, and there will be a frequency deviation of 0.3 seconds every seven seconds.
Teacher Inoue adjusted his glasses, the hem of his white coat was melting into a pool of ink, but the old man’s fingers were still calculating quickly in the void: the fluctuation shifted because he needed to maintain the interference of the five senses and the extraction of chakra at the same time.
Just like a juggler throwing three balls at the same time, there has to be a moment when his hands are free.
Jhin’s nails dug into his palms, and the real pain made him confirm that this part of his senses was still under control.
He took out a half-broken piece of chakra test paper from his ninja tool bag – he had secretly hidden it during the experiment three days ago, and the wave formula he had used with the kunai was still on the edge.
Teacher, disrupt his base frequency! Jin pressed the test paper between his brows, and chakra flowed into the test paper along the meridians.
He remembered that Mr. Inoue had said that chakra test paper can not only test properties, but also act as a resonator – just adjust your own chakra frequency to resonate with the target.
The black sickle’s vertical pupils suddenly shrank.
He felt that the chakra fluctuations of the little kid who was struggling in the illusion were rising in a strange way.
13.7 Hz…13.8…13.6…actually accurately covers its own base frequency!
Stupid! Black Scythe swung the snake-shaped kunai, but the phantom disappeared the moment it touched Jin – this was another illusion.
He finally panicked, cold sweat oozing from his forehead: How could you…
Because I copied your test paper. Jin laughed softly, and the chakra test paper glowed a light blue between his brows.
The chakra interference technique that he stayed up all night to study three days ago finally came in handy.
When his chakra frequency completely overlapped with the base of the black sickle’s illusion, the twisted laboratories and melted equipment suddenly became like pieces of paper blown away by the wind, revealing the real scene –
They were still standing in the center of the laboratory, Heijian’s right hand was making complicated seals, and seven kunai engraved with spells were suspended behind him.
Kakashi’s Raikiri had already been condensed, purple arcs of electricity danced at his fingertips, and his Sharingan was firmly locked on the changes in the Black Scythe’s seal.
Now! Jhin shouted.
Kakashi’s figure turned into a Raikage, and amid the sharp sound of Raikiri tearing through the air, Kurokama finally reacted and formed a defensive seal.
But it was too late – Jin’s chakra interference had caused a 0.5-second vacuum period in his illusion.
Raikiri accurately pierced Heikah’s left shoulder, and blood splattered on the cursed kunai, making a crackling and burning sound.
Cough…you guys…Heijian staggered back, and the madness in the snake’s pupils became even stronger.
He bit the poison sac in his mouth, and dark green blood dripped from the corner of his mouth: Lord Orochimaru said… to be on guard against you clever little brats…
Before he could finish his words, the ventilation duct in the laboratory suddenly exploded.
Twelve black shadows rushed out like night owls, each wearing a snake-scale mask. Although their chakra fluctuations were not as strong as the black sickle, they won in numbers.
The leader threw out three poisoned kunai, targeting Jin who was still maintaining the chakra interference technique.
Jin! Kakashi spun around and swung his sword, and the Raikiri smashed the kunai into pieces.
But more shadows were coming from all directions, and the metal door of the laboratory was banging loudly.
Teacher Inoue quickly retreated to the corner and took out a modified version of the chakra bomb from the experimental box: These are Orochimaru’s Sound Ninja reserve troops, and their chakra circuits have obvious curse characteristics!
The healing light of medical ninja Koizumi flickered among the crowd. She grabbed Jin’s sleeve and pulled him behind the shelter: Your chakra consumption exceeds 60%. If you use interference techniques again, you will go into shock!
Jhin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at the snake-scale mask that was gradually approaching.
He could feel that although Heijian was injured, he revealed a more sinister smile in the shadows.
The chakra fluctuations of those men were resonating with the remaining illusions of Black Scythe – this time, the enemy had learned their lesson and no longer relied solely on illusions, but instead used numbers and coordination to strangle them.
Teacher. Jin pulled off the bloody forehead protector, revealing the chakra test paper that was still burning on his forehead, and helped me delay for three seconds.
Kakashi’s Raikiri lit up again, and he blinked his left eye at Jin: I’ll give you five seconds.
When the snake-scale ninja’s kunai rain came again, Jin quickly formed seals with his fingers on the ground.
He could hear his own chakra screaming, could see Koizumi’s anxious lips opening and closing – but none of that mattered anymore.
What Inoue teacher said three days ago kept repeating in my ears: The essence of chakra is resonance, and the highest level of resonance… is to make the enemy’s skills work for me.
For the first time, fear showed in Heijian’s pupils.
He saw that the brat’s chakra fluctuations were resonating with the chakras of all the surrounding enemies in a way he had never seen before.
The lights in the laboratory suddenly became dazzling, and the movements of the snake-scaled ninjas paused at the same time – their chakra circuits were forcibly synchronized.
Form a formation! The leading snake-scale ninja shouted. But it was too late.
Kakashi’s Raikiri pierced through the chests of three ninjas, Inoue Sensei’s chakra bomb exploded with blue flames in the crowd, and Koizumi’s medical technique turned into a blade of light and cut the enemy’s throat.
And Jin stood in the center, the blue light of the chakra test paper almost drowning his figure.
His gaze crossed the battlefield and accurately locked onto the retreating Black Scythe.
The guy’s right hand was pressing on the scroll at his waist.
There is a back-up plan? Jhin licked the blood from the corner of his mouth, and raised his mouth slightly. It’s just right, I haven’t had enough fun yet.
As soon as Heijian’s fingers touched the knot of the scroll, he saw the little devil, whom he regarded as an ant, walking towards him on the corpse of his companion.
There was no fear in the boy’s eyes, only the excitement of a hunter seeing his prey.
Outside the laboratory, the moonlight was mostly blocked by dark clouds.
The wind blew in the bloody smell through the window, making Black Scythe’s snake-scale mask rustle.
He suddenly remembered Lord Orochimaru’s warning: that Uchiha brat… he wasn’t fighting, he was rewriting the rules.
At this moment he finally understood why the adults said that.
Just as Jhin’s fingertips were about to touch his throat, Black Scythe used up his last bit of strength to tear open the scroll.
In the thick smoke of snake venom, Jin’s low laugh was heard: Teacher, are you ready to close the net?
Kakashi’s voice came from the other side of the smoke, with his usual laziness: I’ve been waiting for this.
When the snake venom dissipated, there was only blankness left in Heijian’s pupils.
He saw twelve snake-scaled corpses forming a circle, with Jin standing in the center, his scroll under his feet – what was contained inside was not reinforcements at all, but a secret letter recording Orochimaru’s recent movements.
How…how do you know…
Because the way you looked at the scroll just now is exactly the same as the guy who peeked at my answers during the last exam. Jhin put the secret letter in his arms and turned to walk towards the people who were treating their wounds.
The moonlight poured into the laboratory again, making the blood beads on the ends of his hair sparkle. “Now, it’s time to settle the score for you destroying my three chakra wave maps.”
Kurokama’s consciousness gradually became blurred, and the last voice he heard was Teacher Inoue’s exclamation: This chakra interference technique… can even reversely analyze the enemy’s technique!
Xiao Jin, this is not an improvement at all, you have actually created a new ninjutsu system!
Jin rubbed his aching temple and reached out to Xiaoquan: Help me stop the bleeding first, then… prepare a pen and paper. His eyes were surprisingly bright. The resonance data just now was too precious. He had to write it down quickly – next time, he had to make sure that this technique couldn’t even be broken by the Sharingan.
Outside the laboratory, the reflection of a pair of snake pupils flashed in the darkness and then disappeared into the night.
In the center of the laboratory, Kakashi stroked his chin and stared at Jin’s back, his Sharingan under the forehead protector glowing slightly.
He suddenly remembered the yellow flash that changed the rules of the battlefield with Flying Thunder God during the Third Ninja World War – it turned out that history always repeats itself in different ways.
Although Heijian’s men were temporarily dealt with, there was a sudden sound of dense footsteps in the corridor outside the laboratory.
Just as Koizumi finished bandaging Jin’s wound, he heard a harsh sound of metal rubbing against each other outside the door – was that… a chain made of kunai?
Jin looked up and exchanged glances with Kakashi.
The two men stood up at the same time, one clenched a kunai, and the other had Raikiri dancing on his fingertips.
Looks like I’ll have to stay up late tonight. Kakashi pulled at his mask, his voice filled with a smile that seemed eager to try.
Jin moved his wrist, and chakra began to flow orderly again in his body.
He looked at the half-open laboratory door, a determined smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: It just so happens that I haven’t tried the actual combat effect of my newly researched Chakra Interference Technique 2.0.
The footsteps at the end of the corridor were getting closer and closer, mixed with the low howl of some wild animal.
The moonlight shines through the window, casting countless swaying shadows on the ground—that is… a forehead protector with snake patterns.
A new battle is about to begin.
Chapter 20: Teamwork Defeats a Strong Enemy (Old Version)
The smell of disinfectant in the laboratory had not yet dissipated. Koizumi had just finished bandaging the scratch on Uchiha Jin’s arm when the sound of the metal chain rubbing against the wall came like a rusty knife, scraping through the crack in the door into everyone’s ears.
Jin pinched the chakra at his fingertips and could clearly feel at least seven chakra fluctuations outside the door – three of them were obviously more condensed than the others, and should be at the Chunin level.
Snake-patterned forehead protector. Kakashi stood by the window without knowing when. The moonlight cast a shadow under his forehead protector, Orochimaru’s personal mark. It seems that Kurosaki has mobilized all the assassins in the Anbu. When he turned around, the kunai bag on his waist shook slightly. Teacher Inoue, can you see their hand seal pattern?
The white-haired old man called Inoue pushed up his glasses and placed his right hand on the chakra sensor disk on the edge of the experimental table.
The blue light patterns on the surface of the sensor disk suddenly lit up, projecting a three-dimensional chakra flow diagram in the air – seven blue-gray light bands were like twisted snakes, approaching the laboratory along the corridor, and three of the light bands were interspersed with dark red poisonous chakra.
They used a modified version of the Snake Nest Technique. Inoue’s fingertips touched the intersection of the light bands, and the four people on the periphery were responsible for forming a formation to block the retreat route, while the three people in the middle would release poisonous fog to provide cover.
But… He suddenly narrowed his eyes. Look here, there is a 0.3 second delay between the third and fourth chakras. The light pattern condensed into thinner lines at his fingertips. It should be a temporary team that does not cooperate well.
Kakashi’s thumb stroked the kunai handle, and his Sharingan turned slightly under the mask: Jin, use the chakra interference technique to disrupt their hand seal rhythm.
Koizumi prepared the medical barrier, and Inoue-sensei was in charge of breaking the poisonous fog.
I… He suddenly pulled off his mask, revealing half of his face, and the blue light of Raikiri danced in his palm, acting as an arrow.
The footsteps in the corridor stopped in front of the door.
Jhin could hear the sound of the lock being cut, and the next second, six barbed kunai were nailed to the door frame, nailing the wooden door into a cross.
A low roar came from behind the door, like some suppressed beast.
Here it comes. Kakashi’s voice was like a taut bowstring.
The moment the door was violently pushed open, Jhin’s hands had already formed seals.
He took a deep breath and put the tip of his tongue against the roof of his mouth – this was the Chakra Interference Technique 2.0 that he had improved based on the principles of modern electronic interference. It required converting one’s own chakra into high-frequency shock waves, specifically targeting the flow of chakra when the enemy was forming hand seals.
Chakra turbulence!
Invisible waves spread like ripples.
The first two ninjas who rushed in just raised their hands to make the Si seal, but the chakra suddenly started to swirl in their meridians, and the kunai of one of them deviated thirty degrees and hit the wall, brushing against Koizumi’s hair.
The other one was even worse. The half-tied Wei Yin turned into Hai, and the group of snakes that was supposed to be summoned turned into three frogs that could spit bubbles and fell to the ground with a plop.
Good opportunity! Kakashi’s Raikiri cut through the air, and a blue light left a trail of afterimages in the corridor.
His target was exactly the connection gap that Inoue Sensei pointed out – the gap between the third and fourth ninjas.
Raikiri accurately pierced the forehead guards of the two men, bringing up two strings of blood, but he retracted his force before touching the vital points – after all, Konoha needed survivors.
A gap was torn in the outer blockade.
Jin took the opportunity to throw out three detonating tags, which stuck accurately at the feet of the remaining four ninjas. Amid the loud explosions, their formation was completely messed up.
Koizumi’s medical barrier was deployed at the right time, isolating the diffuse poisonous fog outside. Inoue teacher quickly formed a seal and shot out three chakra threads from his fingertips, accurately wrapping around the wrist of the Chunin who was trying to release the poisonous fog.
Catch them! Kakashi’s shadow clone jumped down from the ceiling and cooperated with the main body to pin the remaining enemies to the ground.
The whole process took only twenty seconds and went more smoothly than expected.
But Jhin’s pupils suddenly contracted – in the chaos he caught a glimpse of a dark shadow rushing out from the laboratory ventilation duct.
It’s the black sickle!
The guy was lying in the corner pretending to be dead just now, and now he was hooking the vent with a wire, preparing to escape.
Want to run? Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, tapped his toes on the lab table, and chased after him like an arrow.
The ventilation duct was filled with a pungent musty smell. He could hear Heijian’s heavy breathing in front of him and the sound of steel wire rubbing against the metal pipe wall.
Stop! Jin shouted, and chakra condensed into a spiral in his palm.
This is the spiral disruption bomb he recently improved based on the Rasengan. It can not only destroy the enemy’s chakra, but also interfere with the mechanical structure.
When Kurokama turned around, his left eye had turned into a vertical pupil like a snake – that was Orochimaru’s curse seal going out of control.
He threw out five poisoned kunai, but they were twisted crookedly by Jin’s chakra turbulence.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Jhin leaped to the top of the pipe and the spiral disruption bomb in his right hand hit Black Scythe hard on the back of his neck.
Ah! Black Scythe let out an inhuman scream, and the dark blue lines of the curse mark disappeared from under his skin like the tide receding.
He bumped into the wall of the pipe and fell to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Jin jumped down from the edge of the pipe, pressing the kunai against Heijian’s throat: Where is the experimental data that Orochimaru sent you to steal hidden?
Heijian coughed up a mouthful of blood foam, but suddenly laughed: Do you think… you win if you catch me?
The teacher…his pupils gradually became dilated, and he had already prepared a more ruthless move…
Black sickle! Kakashi’s voice came from the direction of the laboratory.
Jin turned around and saw Kakashi walking in with two prisoners, while Sensei Inoue was checking Kurokama’s body.
He took a deadly poison and couldn’t last more than three minutes. Inoue shook his head, but what he just said… Jin, did you hear it?
Jin stared at Heijian’s gradually cooling body, and his Adam’s apple moved.
He remembered the records he saw in the Anbu files three days ago – Orochimaru had recently frequently mobilized the resources of the Hidden Rain Village, and the number of missing ninjas at the border of the Wind Country had increased sharply.
Combined with what Heijian said before his death, a bad guess formed in his mind.
Koizumi suddenly took out a communication bug from the medical kit. The emerald green bug vibrated its wings in her palm, conveying an urgent secret report from the Anbu.
Hokage’s order. Koizumi’s face became solemn. All of Orochimaru’s thirty-seven secret bases on the border of the Land of Fire had abnormal chakra fluctuations tonight.
Lord Danzo’s Root troops have already been dispatched, but… She looked up at Jin, and the Anbu speculated that this might just be a prelude.
Kakashi put on his mask again, his Sharingan glowing coldly in the shadows.
He patted Jhin’s shoulder: Looks like our day off is ruined again.
Jin looked down at the chakra light pattern on his palm, and a smile brighter than the moonlight appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He remembered the plan he had written in his notebook early this morning – about how to use Konoha’s intelligence network to counter Orochimaru, and about how to upgrade the chakra interference technique to version 3.0.
The wind outside the corridor suddenly picked up, blowing up a few dead leaves and hitting the windows.
There was the sound of dogs barking in the distance, like some distant warning.
But at this moment in the laboratory, the members of Team 7 were checking their equipment, and chakra was flowing in their bodies in an orderly manner.
A bigger storm is quietly brewing under the dark clouds of the ninja world.
Chapter 21: New Chakra Techniques Turn the Tide (Old Version)
Before the curfew bell of Konoha rang, the dark blue night was torn apart by the shrill sound of an alarm.
Uchiha Jin was squatting on the top floor of the laboratory debugging the chakra resonance device when he suddenly heard the crisp sound of glass breaking coming from the east.
When he looked up, he saw three black shadows passing over the brow of Hokage Rock like night owls. The snake-shaped forehead guard swung by one of them glowed coldly in the moonlight – that was the symbol of Orochimaru.
Here it comes. The chakra light patterns on Jin’s fingertips suddenly lit up, and the orange-gold lines climbed up his arms and neck, like a living flame.
He grabbed the forehead protector on the table and threw it on his head. When he turned around, he bumped into Kakashi who was rushing in with a kunai. The Sharingan under the other person’s mask was scanning outside the window at a speed of thousands of frames per second.
The anomaly of the thirty-seven bases was to lure the tiger away from the mountain. Kakashi’s voice came through the mask, and the Root troops chased out the shadow clones.
Orochimaru’s real body and the vessels he trained are all in Konoha.
There was a loud noise of something heavy falling to the ground below the laboratory.
Jin leaned over to look, and saw seven or eight ninjas wearing snake-scale armor using kunai to pry open the barrier of the civilian area. One of the tall and thin men opened his mouth and spit out hundreds of triangular-headed venomous snakes. The snakes hissed and spit out their way into the shelter – they were Orochimaru’s Snakebiters, cyborgs specifically designed to create panic.
The target was the chakra compression device on the second floor. Inoue adjusted his glasses. The holographic projection behind him was flashing a red alert. They had avoided the main defense line of the Anbu and were using the loophole in the barrier that Danzo had demolished three years ago.
The improved plan for Jin’s chakra interference technique is stored in that device.
The counter-plan he had drawn in his notebook three days ago suddenly came to life in his mind – at the time he had thought it would take at least a week to prepare, but he hadn’t expected Orochimaru to not even wait a day.
Teacher, synchronize the parameters of the Interference Technique 3.0 to the seal on my forehead protector. Jin pulled off the forehead protector and threw it over. Teacher Kakashi, please lead them to the training ground area B.
I modified the ley lines there with chakra lines, making it suitable for…
It is suitable for beating the dog behind closed doors. Kakashi took it naturally. When he tied the forehead guard again, his Sharingan suddenly caught the movement at the five o’clock position. Be careful!
Before he could finish his words, a poisoned kunai brushed past Jhin’s ear and was nailed into the wall.
The two turned around at the same time and saw Orochimaru standing on the roof opposite the laboratory, his pale fingertips stroking the stitches at the corners of his mouth, followed by six prototypes of the Sound Five wearing fox, raccoon cat, and snake head masks – a full three years earlier than the original.
Uchiha’s little mouse. Orochimaru’s voice was like a snake’s tongue sweeping across the glass. Do you think you can change your fate by stealing the test paper?
The essence of chakra is not the light pattern game you draw on your notebook.
The moment he raised his hand, six masked men formed seals at the same time.
Black flames rose from the palms of the fox-masked man, corrosive acid mist gushed out from under the feet of the raccoon-masked woman, and the snake-head-masked man opened his arms, and countless translucent chakra snakes emerged from his body and rushed straight towards the glass curtain wall of the laboratory.
Teacher Inoue, take Koizumi to the underground shelter! Jin pulled out the kunai from behind, and the chakra condensed into tiny arrows of light at his fingertips. Teacher Kakashi, leave the three on the left to me!
Before he finished speaking, his figure shot into the air like an arrow.
Those chakra snakes were originally indestructible, but when they touched the light patterns around him, they melted with a sizzling sound like ice spikes touching flames.
This is the chakra field he improved by combining modern electromagnetism – it converts one’s own chakra into a controllable energy field, which can not only defend, but also actively interfere with the enemy’s chakra flow.
Interesting. Orochimaru licked his lips, but with just this little trick…
Enough. Kakashi’s voice sounded from his right.
The blue-purple lightning of Raikiri tore through the night sky and accurately pierced Orochimaru’s heart.
But at the moment of contact, Orochimaru’s body suddenly twisted like liquid and turned into a swarm of snakes filling the air, while his real body appeared on the windowsill on the second floor of the laboratory, his fingertips pressing on the outer shell of the chakra compression device.
Oh no! Teacher Inoue’s sweat dripped onto the operating table. The shell of the device was made of magnetite from the Wind Country, which could absorb chakra…
So what he wanted to destroy was not the device, but the data inside! Jin suddenly raised his body and formed a complex seal with his hands in front of his chest – that was the new ninjutsu he had spent half the night deriving from the Human Chakra Cycle Diagram and Modern Field Theory of Physics.
Chakra Resonance Storm!
As he shouted, the light patterns around him suddenly spread into a golden light shield with a diameter of twenty meters.
All the chakra energies near the light shield began to vibrate violently, the black fire of the fox-masked man exploded into sparks, the acid mist of the raccoon cat woman condensed into crystals and fell, and the chakra snakes of the snake-headed man entangled with each other and exploded into green smoke.
What was even more shocking was that the magnet stone shell on the second floor of the laboratory suddenly made a buzzing sound, and the chakra that was originally absorbed was actually extracted in reverse, flowing back into Jin’s body along the light patterns.
This is impossible… Orochimaru’s pupils fluctuated for the first time.
He could clearly feel that the destructive chakra he injected into the device was being forcibly reversed by some kind of rule, just like pushing a wall with your hand but being numbed by the force that bounced back.
You said that chakra is the product of mental strength plus physical strength. Jin slowly descended on the air, and light patterns formed stairs under his feet, but you ignored that they are essentially energy.
And energy… a ray of light shot out from his fingertips, accurately wrapping around Orochimaru’s wrist, able to resonate, guide, and even…
Kakashi’s Raikiri slashed down again, this time aiming at the ground at Orochimaru’s feet.
The soil covered with light patterns suddenly burst out with extremely strong repulsive force, blowing Orochimaru ten meters away and hitting the bridge of the nose of the Hokage Rock, creating a spider-web-like crack.
Retreat! The snake-headed masked man was the first to react. He threw out a snake-shaped kunai as a cover, and the other masked men immediately formed seals to summon psychic snakes.
But their spiritualism was only halfway through when they saw Jhin’s light pattern drill into the spiritual contract scroll like a living thing, and the thousands of snake clones that were supposed to appear turned into a group of goldfish blowing bubbles.
Is this…interfering with the chakra circuit of the summoning technique? Orochimaru wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes were full of excitement. You are more interesting than I thought, Uchiha Jin. He suddenly opened his arms, and countless translucent chakra snakes emerged from the shadows behind him. Each snake’s eyes had the same vertical pupils as his, but the game had just begun.
The giant chakra snakes let out a deafening hissing sound, and the one in the front opened its bloody mouth and spit out not venom, but a black chakra ball that was concentrated to a material level – that was the snake cannon that Orochimaru had improved by integrating the principles of the Tailed Beast Ball, and it was enough to flatten half of Konoha.
Teacher Kakashi! Jin’s voice was tense for the first time. Take the villagers away!
This attack range…
No need. Kakashi suddenly took off his forehead protector, and his Sharingan glowed scarlet in the moonlight. Jin, you said before that chakra can transform its form…
Yes! Jin’s pupils shrank suddenly, and he finally remembered the scribbled note on the last page of his notebook in the early morning – when two chakras of opposite properties reach an absolute balance, an energy mirror will be formed.
He bit his fingertip fiercely and drew a huge Bagua formation in the air. Light patterns flowed along the center of the formation and madly absorbed the surrounding natural energy, the wind attribute!
Thunder attribute!
Water attribute!
Gather for me!
Chakras of three attributes poured into the Bagua Formation like a tide, forming a wall of light with a colorful halo one thousandth of a second before the Snake Shed Cannon arrived.
The moment the black chakra ball hit it, it bounced back like a ball hitting a spring, brushing against the corner of Orochimaru’s clothes and blasting into the forest next to it, creating a mushroom cloud of fire.
How could this be… Orochimaru looked at his long hair that was messed up by the air wave, and finally showed real shock.
The masked people behind him had already been frightened out of their wits and crawled into the snake group, preparing to retreat.
Because the essence of chakra is possibility. Jin stood on the wall of light, sweat dripping down his chin, but his smile was brighter than the moonlight. You have studied forbidden techniques for a lifetime, but you have forgotten the most basic principle – energy will not disappear, it will only be transformed.
And I…his light patterns suddenly turned into countless tiny fireflies, floating towards the evacuating villagers, and I could use them for my own purposes.
Orochimaru looked at him in silence for three seconds, then suddenly chuckled.
The laughter sounded like a group of snakes tumbling in a dry well, with an indescribable weirdness: Very good, Jhin.
After I solve that troublesome Tsunade problem, I will come back to study you carefully. Before he finished speaking, his body turned into thousands of white snakes, which slipped away through the cracks in the ground, leaving only a few scales glowing coldly in the moonlight.
Chase? Kakashi walked to Jin’s side, and the light of his Sharingan gradually dimmed.
Jin bent down and picked up a piece of snake scale. As soon as the light pattern on his fingertips touched the scale, he saw a residual chakra memory – Orochimaru was standing in an underground base, and in the incubator in front of him was floating a boy who looked exactly like him, and the forehead protector on his forehead was the red cloud pattern of the Akatsuki organization.
No need to chase. Jhin put the scales into his arms, and when he looked up, his eyes were burning. His troubles were bigger than we thought.
But… he turned to look at Koizumi who was comforting the villagers, and looked at the laboratory lights that were restarted, with a confident smile on his face. Next time, I will be better prepared.
The night wind lifted the corners of his clothes, and in the distance he could hear the footsteps of Anbu clearing the battlefield.
And in an underground base somewhere in Konoha, a young man suddenly opened his eyes in the incubator, and in his pupils, a trace of chakra light flashed, the same as King’s.
A bigger storm has just begun to show its tip.
Chapter 22 White Shadow Attack, Chakra Awakening (Old Version)
Before the moonlight completely faded, Uchiha Jin was already squatting in front of the chakra resonance device in the laboratory.
His fingertips were resting on his chin, and the parchment in front of him was densely covered with formulas. One line, which was circled in red pen, contained the chakra particle vibration frequency and mental force coupling coefficient, and had been repeatedly altered, with the ink almost seeping through the paper.
Stayed up all night again? Inoue-sensei came in with a cup of tea, his gray hair stained with morning dew. After Orochimaru left yesterday, the Sandaime specially approved three days of vacation for you to adjust your state.
Without even raising his head, Jhin paused his pen heavily on the number 3.14: It is better to adjust the formula than to adjust the status.
Teacher, look – he grabbed the chakra test paper on the table and gently injected a trace of blue chakra with his fingertips. The test paper instantly rippled with golden light. Last night, he used the snake scales left by Orochimaru to do an experiment and found that his chakra vibration frequency was 17% higher than that of ordinary ninjas, but his mental power fluctuations showed…
Disordered chaos. Inoue teacher took over the conversation, and his eyes behind the glasses suddenly lit up, like two energies that were forcibly blended!
Jin, the theory you proposed before that chakra should be an orderly resonance of mental and physical strength may really be able to explain this anomaly.
The door of the laboratory was blown open by the wind, causing the papers on the table to rustle.
Just as Jin was about to press it, a gloved hand pressed down the pile of papers first.
Hatake Kakashi leaned against the door frame, his Sharingan half-closed under his forehead protector: Anbu found three chunin bodies outside the village, their throats pierced by ice spikes. He threw a bloody forehead protector, with the words “Takigakure” engraved on the metal plate, the same method used by Orochimaru when he attacked the Hidden Rain Village three years ago.
Jhin’s fingers pinched wrinkles on the test paper.
He recalled the scene in the snake scales last night – the boy in the incubator who looked exactly like him, with the red cloud forehead protector on his forehead. Teacher, back up the experimental data to the encrypted warehouse on the third floor underground. He suddenly stood up, slipped a short pen from his sleeve, and quickly sketched on the chakra energy array on the wall. Teacher Kakashi is right, we need…
“Be on guard.” Kakashi finished for him, his Sharingan swiveled slightly, and I had Feiliu place three circles of shadow clones around the laboratory.
But…his eyes swept across the pile of experimental equipment on the table. There was a kind of threat in it that even the shadow clone could not capture.
As dusk drifted into the laboratory, Jin finally wrote down the conclusion on the last page of the formula book: the essence of chakra is the quantum resonance of mental and physical strength, and the frequency difference must be controlled within 0.03Hz.
He rubbed the back of his sore neck and looked up to see Mr. Inoue locking the last data scroll into the password box.
The cherry blossoms outside the window were blown up by the evening breeze, looking like floating snow in the moonlight.
Let’s stop here today. Mr. Inoue patted his shoulder and said, “Your chakra is over-consumed and your pupils are trembling.”
Just as Jin was about to retort, goose bumps suddenly appeared on the back of his neck.
It was a feeling like being stared at by a poisonous snake, a more primitive danger warning than chakra perception.
He turned around suddenly and saw a pale shadow climbing along the wall outside the glass curtain wall of the laboratory, at a speed so fast that it almost turned into an afterimage!
Teacher Kakashi! Jin grabbed the chakra amplifier on the table and smashed it against the window. The moment the glass exploded, his fingertips were already pressed on his forehead – this was the frequency perception technique he had just perfected last night, which could capture all abnormal chakra fluctuations within 10 meters.
The pale shadow paused.
He was a man wrapped in a white haori, with a snake-shaped mask on his left eye and a cold ice blade in his right hand. He reacted quickly. His voice was like broken ice, but do you think you can stop me?
The moment the ice blade was swung down, lightning snakes suddenly rose from the ground of the laboratory.
Kakashi’s figure flashed out from the shadows, and amid the roar of Raikiri, his Sharingan accurately captured every move of Shirokki: Jin, use the barrier technique you newly researched!
Jin took a deep breath and injected chakra into the wall along the energy guide array.
Blue light patterns flowed on the wall, interweaving with Raikiri’s electric current to form a mesh barrier.
The white shadow’s ice blade slashed on the barrier, igniting a dazzling blue light, but leaving only a shallow mark.
Interesting. A crack appeared on Shirokage’s snake mask, revealing his white teeth. Lord Orochimaru said you were a little smart kid, but it seems he was wrong. He flipped his wrist, and the ice blade suddenly expanded into a three-meter-long ice spear, but smart tricks can’t break real kung fu!
As the ice spear struck with a biting cold wind, Jin felt his chakra boiling.
Those particles that originally needed to be deliberately controlled suddenly began to flow on their own, like a group of awakened fireflies, rushing along his meridians to his fingertips.
He threw a punch subconsciously, and a light golden light overflowed from the tip of his fist and hit the middle of the ice spear accurately.
Crack—the ice spear broke.
Bai Ying’s pupils contracted violently, and he finally showed a trace of panic: What… chakra form is this?
I don’t know either. Jhin stared at his palms that were shining with golden light, his heart beating so fast that it almost jumped out of his throat.
He could clearly see the chakra particles in the air, they were swirling around him like stardust, even the chakra fluctuations leaked by Shirokage when he breathed were clearly visible, but I know – he looked at Kakashi, who was using Raikiri to block Shirokage’s retreat. Now was the chance to counterattack!
The flowing chakra surged wildly along the energy guiding array, and all the lights in the laboratory suddenly lit up, stretching the white shadow very long.
Jin tapped his fingertips lightly, and golden light condensed into a chain-like chakra bundle that accurately wrapped around Baiying’s ankle.
Bai Ying screamed and fell to the ground. The ice blade flew out of his hand and nailed into the experimental log on the wall, carving the four words “Liuguang Chakra” into pieces.
Mission failed. Bai Ying suddenly smiled, and he took out a dark green smoke bomb from his arms, but what Lord Orochimaru wanted was never just one success. The moment the smoke rose, his figure disappeared without a trace, leaving only the bloody words on the ice blade: Next time, you can’t protect your precious research.
Kakashi took off his forehead guard and wiped the sweat off his face: Chase me?
Jin bent down to pick up the ice blade. As soon as the flowing chakra on his fingertips touched the blade, he saw a residual memory – Orochimaru stood in front of the incubator and said to his other self: His chakra form will soon be yours.
No need to chase. Jin handed the ice blade to Kakashi, and then he realized that his hands were shaking.
His temple was throbbing, his throat felt like it was clogged with fire, and the exhaustion from chakra depletion was surging from every part of his body.
The laboratory clock struck twelve midnight. He looked at the torn experimental log on the wall and suddenly laughed: The more anxious he is, the closer we are to the truth.
Teacher Inoue came out of the secret door, holding an intact data box in his hand: That move just now…is that the quantum resonance you mentioned?
Maybe. Jhin leaned on the lab table, feeling his legs go weak.
He looked at the moonlight outside the window and suddenly remembered the eyes of the young man in the incubator – they had exactly the same golden patterns as his current flowing chakra.
The night is getting deeper.
The lights in the lab gradually dimmed, leaving only the sound of Jhin’s breathing echoing in the empty room.
He touched the snake scales in his arms, looked at his own glowing palms, and finally slid to the ground, unable to hold on.
The last thought before he lost consciousness was: So the price of awakening chakra is that you can’t even stand steadily…
Chapter 23 The Secret of Flowing Chakra (Old Version)
When the moonlight in the laboratory was obscured by clouds, the footsteps of medical ninja Koizumi were the first to pierce the darkness.
The medicine box she was carrying hit the door frame with a slight sound, which startled Jhin’s eyelashes and trembled – he thought he would not be able to see the savior before he completely fainted.
The degree of chakra overdraft was more serious than expected. Koizumi squatted down, pressed his fingertips on the throbbing blood vessels on the side of his neck, and made a medical seal with his other hand, and the light green chakra crawled into his skin like a vine.
Jin gasped in pain, but heard a gentle reproach in her voice: Last time in the Chunin Exam, you used a wind blade to cut yourself to divert the pursuers, and this time you insisted on competing with Shirokage in chakra… Is the Uchiha bloodline limit used as a medal of recklessness?
Jhin wanted to laugh, but ended up pulling at the corners of his cracked mouth.
He looked at the cherry blossom hairband swaying in Koizumi’s hair – that was what she wore every time she worked the night shift, and suddenly remembered that three days ago in the martial arts field, in order to test the duration of the streamer chakra, he stabbed the kunai into his palm, and it was this girl who sewed him up with stitches with red eyes: If you keep going on like this, you won’t become Hokage before I have to prepare the bill for your Rebirth Hall.
This time is different. Jin’s voice was hoarse, and he let the medical chakra flush the exhausted meridians. I saw Orochimaru’s experimental subject.
Same golden pattern as mine…
Hush. Koizumi’s fingers pressed against his lips, and there was a sound of a door being pushed open behind him.
Teacher Inoue walked in with a data box in his arms. His gray hair was as messy as a bird’s nest, and his glasses were stained with scorch marks from the explosion of the lab bench: Koizumi, stabilize his spiritual sea first.
The characteristic of the streamer chakra is to extract mental energy and transform it. His current situation…
I know. Koizumi’s hand moved to Jin’s temple, and there was a hint of coolness in the medical chakra. His mental power was overdrawn by 30%. If he could hold on for another half an hour, he would have visions. She looked up at Inoue, “Teacher, didn’t you say that we should observe his chakra feedback?”
Now this state…
Because it is now. Inoue bent down to pick up the snake scales on the ground, and looked at them against the moonlight. The fluctuation of his mental power in the overdrawn state was closest to the critical point of awakening.
Jhin, listen – he suddenly grabbed Jhin’s wrist, pressed the snake scales between their palms, concentrated his mind, and tried to recall the experimental subject he had just seen.
You said his chakra patterns are the same as yours?
The surface of the snake scales glowed with lavender chakra, and fragments of images flashed before his eyes: the boy in the incubator had his eyes closed, and the golden lines flowing under his skin perfectly overlapped with the light flow in his palm; Orochimaru’s fingertips were stained with green potion, and he drew the same symbols on the glass as in the experimental log…
Resonance frequency! Inoue suddenly let go, and the snake scales fell to the ground with a clang.
He grabbed the experimental log on the table and quickly turned to the torn page. The quantum resonance you mentioned before was not a conjecture, it is true!
The essence of Flowing Chakra is the frequency resonance of mental power and chakra – just like two bells with the same tone, when you strike one, the other will ring as well!
Jhin’s breathing suddenly became rapid.
Koizumi’s medical chakra suddenly became hot, and he realized that golden light mist was oozing out of his palms. Even Koizumi’s healing chakra was dyed light gold: So when I used the streamer chakra before, I always felt that my thoughts became clearer… Was it because the mental power and chakra resonated and increased the speed of information processing?
Not only that. Inoue’s fingers quickly recorded in the log, when you touched the snake scales just now, the frequency of your mental power fluctuations was 112.7 Hz, which is exactly the same as the vibration frequency of your streamer chakra.
This means – he looked up suddenly, his eyes behind the lenses brightened surprisingly, you can actively adjust this resonant frequency!
At three o’clock in the morning, when Hinata Liuyun’s dormitory door was knocked, his hair was still sticky with curls from sleeping.
He stood at the door holding a wooden box full of chakra detection equipment, looked at Jin’s eyes that were glowing blue (a typical symptom of mental overdraft), and nodded silently – this was the first sentence he said after joining the research team.
When the lights in the lab came back on, the three people’s shadows cast overlapping outlines on the wall.
Liuyun’s eyes turned lavender, and his fingertips hovered three inches above Jin’s wrist: the chakra flow speed was 17% faster than normal, but… his pupils suddenly shrank into needle tips, and two energies collided.
One is regular chakra, the other is…
It’s spiritual power. Jin closed his eyes and felt the heat flow in his body, like two parallel rivers. I always wanted to make them merge, but now I realize…
To make them resonate. Inoue suddenly stuffed a cup of strong tea into Jin’s hand, just like adjusting the tightness of the strings of a guitar.
Come, try to adjust the frequency of mental power from 112.7 to 108——
Wait. Liuyun put his hand on the experimental table, and the needle of the detector suddenly swung wildly, and the color of his chakra changed!
It was light gold just now, and now… it’s a little silver?
Jhin opened his eyes.
He saw star-like light particles floating in the palm of his hand. Those light particles did not dissipate like ordinary chakra, but instead drew tiny spirals in the air.
When Koizumi’s healing chakra touched the light particles, it suddenly and automatically split into a stream, following the trajectory of the light particles and drilling into his arm – that was the flow path of the medical chakra that he had never actively guided.
Success! Inoue’s pen poked a hole in the diary, and when the mental frequency was adjusted to 108, the chakra automatically matched this frequency!
This means…
This means that I can use the streamer chakra to assist other attributes of ninjutsu. Jin suddenly stood up.
Koizumi wanted to help him, but he smiled and pushed him away – this time he was not forcing himself, he could clearly feel the strength of every muscle, even the nerve endings at his fingertips were trembling slightly, like…
He picked up the kunai from the table.
When wrapped in ordinary chakra, the kunai only emitted a faint blue wind-attribute glow; the moment he switched to streaming chakra, the light flow on the surface of the kunai suddenly turned into a flowing star map, and even the air was cut into tiny ripples.
With a flick of Jin’s wrist, the kunai flew out of the air and accurately pierced the bull’s eye twenty meters away – but what really made Liuyun’s eyes widen was that the kunai automatically deflected five degrees during flight, avoiding the air disturbance caused by Inoue teacher’s inadvertent swing of his arm.
This is…Koizumi covered his mouth.
Chakra was autonomously calculating the optimal path. When Jin turned around, the ends of his hair were stained with tiny pieces of light, because after the resonance of mental power and chakra, it was equivalent to using the brain and chakra network to process information at the same time.
It’s like… he thought about it, it’s like the dynamic vision of the Sharingan, but there is no need to open the eyes, it is the chakra itself that sees.
Inoue suddenly grabbed his shoulders with such force that it almost broke his bones: Do you know what this means?
This is the greatest breakthrough in chakra application since Hashirama Senju developed the fairy technique!
But…his voice suddenly sank. The resonance of mental power and chakra is a double-edged sword.
If the frequency deviation exceeds 5%, your spiritual sea will shatter like a gong being beaten by a drum – at the least, you will go crazy, at the worst,…
I understand. Jhin looked down at his hands.
Golden light streamed under the skin, like living star tracks, but now Orochimaru’s test subjects had the same patterns, and his troops…
Report!
The laboratory door was slammed open.
The Genin of the communications squad was panting so hard that he couldn’t utter complete sentences. The messenger bird in his arms was flapping its wings, and the bamboo tube on his leg was still oozing blood: Thirty miles outside the village, Orochimaru’s Sound Ninja Corps… seven troops are moving at the same time!
The barrier class said…their chakra fluctuations…
Jhin’s fingertips suddenly felt a sharp pain.
He didn’t need to hear the entire sentence – the flowing chakra in his palm was heating up, as if responding to a familiar frequency in the distance.
That was the chakra of the experimental subject, it was Orochimaru’s potion, it was the boy who looked exactly like him that he saw on the glass of the incubator three days ago.
Teacher. When Jin turned around, his eyes swept across the experimental log on the table, across the detector that was still running on Liuyun, and across Koizumi’s eyes that were hesitant to speak, and he sorted out the frequency adjustment formula of Liuguang Chakra. He grabbed the forehead protector hanging on the back of the chair, and the metal buckle hit the table with a crisp sound. Before dawn, I want everyone in Class 7 to learn the basic resonance technique.
Inoue opened his mouth, but finally just nodded vigorously.
Koizumi stuffed the medicine bottle into his arms. The blue pill inside was her new mental power supplement. There was still some wet ink on the label: Take one pill every two hours. If you take more than three, I will tie you to the bed with medical ropes.
Liuyun silently handed over the portable version of the chakra detector and stuffed it into the ninja tool bag on his waist.
There was a note on the surface of the instrument with his crooked handwriting: The resonance frequency of 108.3 is the most stable.
Jhin pushed the door open.
The morning mist was drifting over the rooftops of Konoha, and in the distance the sound of alarm bells could be heard.
He looked at the sky in the east, which was turning pale as a fish belly. The flowing chakra in the palm of his hand automatically lit up, drawing a golden line in the morning mist – that was pointing in the direction of outside the village, where Orochimaru’s troops were gathering, and the real test that was about to come.
He touched the snake scales in his arms and suddenly smiled.
This time, he would not let anyone copy his chakra.
Chapter 24: Flowing Light Formation, First Revealed (Old Version)
The alarm bell in the morning mist was like a rusty knife, cutting a sharp crack in the sky of Konoha.
As Uchiha Jin ran wildly on the bluestone road, he could clearly hear his own heartbeat – the sound was consistent with the frequency of the flowing chakra in his palms, 108.3 Hz, which was the stable value that Liuyun determined after measuring it seventeen times with a detector last night.
The gathering point of Team 7 was at the corner of the west wall. Kakashi leaned against the arrow slit, his forehead protector half-hanging to cover his Sharingan. He straightened up when he saw Jin running over: “The medical team said you only slept for two hours last night.” He shook the lunch box in his hand, which contained miso soup, and drank it before talking.
Jhin paused as he took the box.
This was a rare time that Kakashi took the initiative to show concern. Last time he had a high fever and was bedridden for three days, this teacher who was always late just stood outside the window and threw a pack of fever-reducing pills to him.
He lowered his head and took a sip of the soup, the warmth flowing down his throat, and suddenly smiled: Teacher, I need Haruno Na’s puppet.
She was waiting at the foot of the tower. Kakashi pointed down and brought twelve mechanical puppets, saying that the formation framework could be set up within half an hour.
Following his gaze, Haruno Na was standing with her hands on her hips, kicking away the gravel on the ground.
She was wearing a modified ninja uniform, revealing her strong wheat-colored arms, with thick hemp ropes wrapped around each knuckle – those were the chakra ropes used to control the puppet.
Seeing Jin sticking his head out, she looked up and yelled: Uchiha brat!
If that streamer formation you mentioned doesn’t work, I’ll use a puppet to tie you up and take you to the zoo to feed the wolves!
Don’t worry. Jin jumped onto the wall and raised his lips when he landed. “You build the framework, I’ll focus on the core, and wait for Orochimaru’s soldiers to rush in…” He flicked the portable detector on his waist with his fingers, and they didn’t even have the strength to cast seals.
The location for the formation was chosen to be the rocky forest outside Konoha.
This is the only way for Orochimaru’s troops to pass, and the rugged rocks can naturally amplify chakra fluctuations.
Haruno Na’s puppets moved like a group of mechanical spiders. Amid the sound of metal joints rubbing against each other, she bit her fingertips and drew dark patterns on the rock – that was the secret puppetry formation of the Nohara clan, which could fix the flow of chakra.
The core node is the turtleback rock in the middle. Jin squatted in front of the rock, pressed his palm on the rough stone surface, and the flowing chakra drilled into it like a living thing.
The blue glow spread along the dark lines like countless glowing streams, stringing together starlight on each rock.
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly made a buzzing sound. She pulled the chakra string, raised her eyebrows and said: This broken stone is sucking my chakra?
That was resonance. Jin didn’t even raise his head, sweat dripping from his forehead.
He could feel that the entire formation was syncing with his chakra frequency – 108.3, 108.3, like countless small bells swaying on the same string. Soon, the chakra of everyone who entered the range would be disrupted by this frequency, their fingers would tremble when they formed seals, their illusions would backfire, and even their physical skills would be inaccurate.
It sounds like mental interference. Kakashi stood on a high place and observed. His Sharingan suddenly lit up. There were chakra fluctuations approaching. There were about three hundred people. The vanguard had arrived.
Jhin stood up and brushed the stone chips off his hands.
He looked at the dust rising in the distance and his throat tightened – this was the first time he turned a theory from the laboratory into a killing move on the battlefield.
If he fails, Konoha’s defense line will be torn open; if he succeeds… He touched the snake scales in his arms, which were torn off during the last fight with Orochimaru. Teacher, please keep an eye on Naruto and Sasuke, and don’t let them rush too far forward.
I know. Kakashi’s voice was filled with laughter. After all, the genius in our class needs to be output quietly.
When the first wave of enemies rushed into the rocky forest, the light in the formation suddenly surged.
It was a halo between blue and purple, like the sky was crushed and scattered on the stones.
Jin stared at the detector, the values ​​were jumping wildly – 30% of the enemies had disordered chakra frequencies, 50% had slower hand seal formation speeds, and three Chunins simply knelt down with their heads in their hands, blood dripping from their nostrils onto the ground.
It worked! Haruno Na’s puppet threw out chains and tied up the two stunned Genin.
She jumped onto the rock by stepping on the puppet’s shoulders, and threw out a kunai while laughing: The little brat’s method of breaking the formation is more useful than my animal taming technique!
Class 7’s counterattack was like a poisoned knife.
Naruto rushed to the front with a Rasengan that was emitting sparks, Sasuke’s Chidori tore through the enemy’s formation in the lightning, and Kakashi’s Raikiri accurately cut off the senior ninja who tried to break through.
Jin stood beside the core node and continuously injected chakra into the formation. He could clearly sense the status of each enemy – the Genin holding a kunai was shaking his wrist, the Chunin in the water formation changed the Ugly Seal into a Hai, and the Jonin in command was trying to use an illusion, but he was shaken by the halo and fell into the pile of dirt first.
This is impossible! The enemy leader’s voice trembled. He swung his knife at the rock, but the rebounding stream of chakra caused his palm to crack. The chakra was… disturbed by something!
The vanguard of 300 people was defeated in less than 20 minutes.
Jhin leaned against the turtleback rock and panted, his forehead soaked with sweat.
Haruno Na kicked the last prisoner away and came over with a chakra line swinging: Not bad, kid, better than I expected…
Her words caught in her throat.
Dust and smoke rose again outside the rocky forest, this time thicker and darker, like a dark cloud that was about to swallow the sky.
A thin figure walked out of the smoke, his pale skin tinged green in the morning light, and his snake-like tongue licked the corner of his mouth: What an interesting chakra fluctuation. Orochimaru tilted his head, and his Sharingan slowly moved in his eye sockets. Uchiha bloodline?
No, it’s more like…an artificially tuned frequency resonance.
Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank.
He could feel that Orochimaru’s chakra was like a rotten quagmire, seeping into the formation at a strange frequency.
The detector suddenly made a shrill sound, and the value jumped from 108.3 to 120, and then plummeted to 90 – that was the core node being cracked!
Seal! Kakashi’s Sharingan rotates faster, Jin, adjust the frequency!
It’s too late! Jhin bit his tongue, and the taste of blood exploded in his mouth.
He ripped open his shirt, revealing the blue curse seal on his chest – it was a temporary array carved with flowing chakra. Teacher, use Raikiri to protect Nai! He pounced on the turtleback rock, pressed his palm on the core node, and chakra rushed out desperately, “Hold on!”
The stream of light suddenly turned into a blinding white light.
The entire rocky forest was shaking, sparks flew from the dark patterns on the rocks, and Orochimaru’s chakra penetration was pushed back.
He narrowed his eyes, but a smile rose on his lips: So that’s how it is, the core is the caster’s chakra. A green light condensed on his fingertips, which was the precursor of the forbidden technique, Shadow Snake Hand. If this source is cut off…
Get out of the way! Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly rushed over, and twelve mechanisms unfolded at the same time, forming a huge metal barrier.
She stood on the top of the barrier, her fingertips bleeding from the chakra lines: The little brat hasn’t lost yet!
Jhin could hear his own heartbeat, it seemed like it was going to jump out of his throat.
He could feel his chakra drying up, and his mental strength felt like someone was scraping his brain with a knife. He had already taken the three blue pills Koizumi had given him while running.
But he couldn’t stop – Konoha below was still sleeping, Naruto was still chasing the escaped enemies and shouting “I am the protagonist”, Sasuke’s Chidori was still crackling, and Kakashi’s Sharingan was still observing the battle.
When Orochimaru’s snake hand penetrated the metal barrier, Jin’s chakra just reached a new critical point.
108.3, 108.3, he kept repeating to himself, and suddenly remembered Liuyun’s detector, Koizumi’s pills, and the formula that Inoue had stayed up late to sort out.
These things lit up in his mind like stars, merging with the flowing chakra.
The moment the white light exploded, Orochimaru’s snake hand was shattered into pieces.
He took two steps back, wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth with his fingertips, the excitement in his eyes almost overflowing: Great… He turned and blended into the smoke, his voice floating over with a smile, but I already know your weakness, next time, I will eat your chakra too.
Jhin slumped to the ground, his back pressed against the hot rock.
Haruno Na rushed over and supported him, her cursing voice sounding like it was covered by a layer of felt: Idiot!
Who told you to put all your chakra into it?
Koizumi said that if you take more than three pills, you will be tied to the bed!
Kakashi squatted down and used a kunai to cut open Jin’s sleeve, revealing his pale arm – covered with tiny bloodstains, a sign of chakra overload. Send him back to the medical team first. He looked up in the direction where Orochimaru disappeared, and a dark light flashed in his Sharingan, but Orochimaru was right…
Jin looked at the gradually darkening light array and his throat tightened.
He took out the snake scale from his arms, and this time there was a crack on the scale, like a hideous wound.
The morning mist had dissipated at some point, and the sun shone on the battlefield. The dark patterns on the rocks glowed, as if reminding him –
This is just the beginning.
And Orochimaru has found the fulcrum to pry the entire formation.
Chapter 25 Extreme Counterattack, Chakra Resonance (Old Version)
As the morning light penetrated the smoke, Uchiha Jin’s eyelashes trembled slightly in the sweat.
He could hear Haruno Na’s curses like knocking on a copper basin, but every word had a double image – that was the disorder of the five senses caused by chakra overload.
Hold on for a little longer! Kakashi pressed his palm on the back of his neck, and warm chakra seeped in along his spine, like a fine needle picking through his chaotic consciousness.
The Sharingan slowly rotated under the forehead protector, accurately capturing the bloodstains on Jin’s arms. The weakness that Orochimaru just mentioned was that the streamer formation required continuous output from a single chakra source.
Jin’s nails dug into his palms, and the pain made his vision clearer.
He looked at the shattered remains of the snake hand in the distance. The snake scale fragments were still oozing out strange purple-black chakra – that was the alien energy that Orochimaru had fused with a forbidden technique. So I can’t bear it alone anymore. He pulled the corner of his mouth and tasted blood. Teacher, are you talking about… resonance?
Kakashi nodded and tapped the kunai bag at his waist with his knuckles: Distribute the remaining stream chakra to the three people, and use the chakra frequency synchronization to form a resonance field.
Your technique can amplify, and our chakra can also feed back.
Haruno Na suddenly grabbed Jin’s wrist, and the calloused skin on her palm rubbed against his pale skin: “I have a way!” The eyes of this wandering ninja who always pinned animal hair in his hair lit up, and he threw out the puppet box on his waist with his backhand.
The wooden box painted with vermilion lacquer snapped open, and twelve puppets half a person’s height came out one after another, with cold light flashing at their joints. My puppetry can transform chakra into a physical barrier. If your flowing light is added…
Jin stared at the fine metal lines on the joints of the puppets – that was Haruno Na’s original vein lock, which could guide chakra to a designated location like a stream.
He suddenly laughed, and his laughter was filled with the joy of surviving a disaster: Miss Nohara, you have a trick up your sleeve.
Stop talking nonsense! Haruno Na kicked the puppet’s knee, and the puppet immediately knelt on one knee, with its metal arms spread out into a shield shape. “Now I need you to adjust the frequency of the streamer’s chakra to match my puppet’s core.” She squatted down, pressing her fingertips on the back of Jin’s hand, the rough touch mixed with body temperature came over, “I’ll count to three, and you follow my chakra fluctuations…”
Wait. Kakashi suddenly pressed down their folded hands.
His Sharingan glowed scarlet, Orochimaru’s troops were reorganizing, and would launch a second wave of attack in three minutes.
Jhin took a deep breath and could hear his heart beating against his eardrums.
He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness into the sea of ​​chakra – only a few remnants of the originally surging light flow remained there, like a candle flame that was about to burn out.
He bit the tip of his tongue, shaking with pain, but he managed to pull out the last bit of light and sent it into the puppet’s core along Haruno Na’s chakra line.
The frequency is wrong! Cold sweat oozed from Haruno Na’s forehead. Her chakra was like a taut string. You are too impatient. The light should flow like… like the wind blowing through a bell, one by one…
I’ll try. Kakashi’s chakra suddenly intervened.
The power of the Sharingan is like a gentle scalpel, reorganizing Jin’s disordered chakra flow.
Jin felt two warm currents flowing in – one was the teacher’s precise guidance, and the other was Haruno Na’s chakra with the beastly savagery, rough but tough.
The three forces converged at the core of the puppet, and suddenly a buzzing sound was made.
It’s done! Haruno Na shouted.
The twelve puppets raised their shields at the same time, and dark patterns of a flowing light array appeared on the metal surface.
Those lines were like living silver snakes, connecting along the shield and forming a translucent light film in front of the trio.
Tiny spots of light flowed on the surface of the light film, and each of them resonated at the same frequency as the remaining light in Jin’s body.
The moment the first poison arrow was shot, ripples suddenly appeared in the light film.
The moment the tip of the arrow touched the light film, it bounced back and accurately pierced the throat of the archery ninja.
It’s chakra reflex! Haruno Na’s puppet made a mechanical sound – she had installed a loudspeaker on the leading puppet at some point.
The second wave of attacks followed, and kunai, fire escape, and even snakes were all bounced to pieces by the light film.
A giant snake rushed over, and a dazzling white light immediately burst out from the light film. The giant snake was repelled and smashed three rocks, and its scales were charred black.
Well done! Jin supported himself on Haruno Na’s shoulders and stood up, even though his legs were still shaking.
He looked at the chaotic formation of Orochimaru’s troops, with a calculating gleam in his eyes. What? Expand the shield range to the hill on the left!
Teacher Kakashi, Raikiri is ready to raid the enemy’s command point!
Class 7 works like a precision-operated machine.
Haruno Na’s puppet roamed around the edge of the shield, using its tail to sweep down the Anbu who tried to get around it; Kakashi’s Raikiri cut through the air, and each strike accurately cut off the enemy’s communication symbols; Jin half-knelt in the center of the shield, using the last bit of his mental strength to adjust the frequency of the light flow, allowing the reflected chakra waves to specifically interfere with the enemy’s hand seals – the cooperation of the three Chunins managed to exert the suppression power of the Jonin team.
interesting.
A sinister voice mixed with the hissing of a snake’s tongue exploded.
Orochimaru stood in the center of the battlefield without knowing when. His snake robe was soaked in blood, but he was smiling like a poisonous snake seeing its prey in a cage.
He formed seals with his hands, black and purple chakra oozing out of his fingertips, condensing into a twisted seal in his palms: But you think, this is all I am?
The ground suddenly cracked.
Countless snake scales emerged from the cracks in the ground and gathered together to form a giant snake that covered the sky and the sun.
The snake was at least twenty feet long, with a head larger than Haruno Na’s puppet. Its scales were a strange blue-black color, and each scale was engraved with forbidden patterns.
It opened its mouth, and the fishy wind caused the shield’s light film to shake violently, revealing the densely packed fangs inside – each fang was dripping with venom that could corrode chakra.
It’s the snake demon Yaki’s remains! Kakashi’s Sharingan suddenly shrank.
He pulled Jin and leaped backwards, with Raikiri leaping in his palm but he didn’t dare to release it easily – the amount of chakra of this monster far exceeded that of ordinary summoned beasts, and fighting hard would only consume it faster.
Teacher, Nai! Jin’s voice suddenly rose.
His pupils turned light gray due to chakra overdraft, but they flashed an almost crazy light, concentrating all the flowing chakra on me!
Are you crazy?! Haruno Na’s puppet slammed to the ground. She rushed over to grab Jin’s arm, but was bounced away by a stream of light.
Jin’s body floated in the air, and the remaining flowing chakra flowed out from his fingertips, hair ends, and even pores, condensing into a rotating ball of light above his head.
The ball of light became brighter and brighter, causing Orochimaru’s snake demon to squint his eyes.
This is… Orochimaru’s smile finally showed a crack.
He recognized that it was the ultimate form of the Streamer Array – a spear of light that compressed chakra into a single particle, but in Jin’s current state, releasing this move was equivalent to burning his soul.
go!
Jhin’s roar mixed with the roar of the light spear exploding.
The silver-white blade of light pierced through the snake demon’s left eye, exploding a brilliant rain of light in its head.
The snake demon let out an earth-shattering scream before its huge body smashed down, crushing half of the position.
Amid the smoke and dust, the ashes fell lightly into the pile of rocks like a piece of paper blown away by the wind.
Jhin! Haruno Na’s sobbing voice mixed with the puppet’s mechanical sound. She pushed aside the rubble and rushed over, pressing her fingers on the side of his neck – there was still a pulse, very weak, like a gossamer.
Kakashi crouched down and probed his body with chakra.
When he touched Jin’s Dantian, his pupils shrank suddenly: the chakra sea there had dried up, and even the most basic essence was almost exhausted. He had to send him to the medical team immediately. He pulled off his forehead protector and wrapped it around Jin’s head. When he looked up, he saw a corner of Orochimaru’s snake robe disappearing into the dense forest. The guy’s laughter was still floating in the wind: Don’t be in a hurry to die, my experiment… has just begun.
Haruno Na hugged Jin into her arms, her tears falling on his bloody collar: Idiot, didn’t we agree to eat Sanle Ramen together?
Jhin’s eyelashes twitched.
He heard vague noises, like someone knocking on a copper basin in the distance, or like Haruno Na’s puppet was talking.
The smell of disinfectant entered my nose, followed by the voice of Mr. Koizumi, with a little surprise: the chakra disorder is less severe than expected…
Before his consciousness sank into darkness again, he vaguely saw Orochimaru’s face.
There was a strange light in that guy’s snake pupils, his lips opened and closed, and the words he said were torn apart by the wind – but Jhin knew that this was definitely not the end.
Chapter 26: Inoue-sensei’s Secret Assistance (Old Version)
The smell of disinfectant made his nose sore. Uchiha Jin struggled in the fog of consciousness for a while, and finally saw the shaking oil lamp above his head when his eyelashes fluttered.
Awake? Just as Koizumi’s fingertips were about to take away the chakra that was reaching for his forehead, he was suddenly grabbed by the wrist.
The boy’s palms were as cold as ice, his knuckles were white, my chakra…
Don’t worry. The medical ninja pulled back her hand, scooped a spoonful of warm honey water from the medicine jar and fed it to his lips. The chakra sea in your dantian has indeed dried up, but the essence has not been damaged. She lifted his sleeves, revealing the purple chakra bruises in his arms. Previously, he had forced the flowing chakra to resist Orochimaru’s curse seal, causing the veins to be full of disordered chakra residues – but they were all cleaned up.
Jhin leaned back against the pillow and took a breath.
He could feel as if his body had been drained and then refilled with cotton, and he felt extremely weak with every movement.
But when he tried to mobilize the chakra, the faint heat deep in his dantian made his pupils shrink suddenly: Flowing Chakra… can’t be used?
The flowing light chakra is a special form with high load. Koizumi put the medicine bowl on the low table and lowered his voice. Your body is like a newly fired pottery, which needs to be dried slowly before it can be filled with water.
If you use it rashly… She didn’t finish her words and pointed to the remains of the puppet that was burned by chakra in the corner of the tent – it was Haruno Na’s Wood Release puppet, which was now charred and lying on the straw mat.
Jhin’s Adam’s apple moved.
Suddenly, hurried footsteps were heard outside the tent, and the canvas curtain was pulled open by someone. The hem of Mr. Inoue’s white coat was still stained with mud, and there was a thin layer of dust on the lenses of his glasses. Koizumi, can he speak?
Teacher? Jin tried to sit up, but Xiaoquan held his shoulders.
Listen to me. Inoue teacher dragged a stool and sat beside the bed, pressing his calloused hands on Jin’s wrist. Orochimaru had just attacked the seal squad on the western defense line and corroded three barrier pillars with curse seals. He pushed his glasses, and his eyes behind the lenses seemed to be quenched by fire. What’s more troublesome is that he lowered his voice. I found snake scales in the destroyed experimental log, which are exactly the same as those at the site of the chakra resonance experiment I terminated three years ago.
Jin’s breathing suddenly stopped.
He remembered that Mr. Inoue had mentioned that it was a crazy plan that tried to enhance stability by adjusting the chakra frequency, but it was later stopped by the top management because of the sudden death of the experimental subject.
Orochimaru is looking for the experimental data from that year. Inoue teacher took out a brown paper bag from his arms, unfolded it to reveal the yellowed notes, he needs a container that can carry highly compressed chakra – and you are currently the only one who has both Uchiha spiritual power and stable stream chakra. His fingers heavily tapped the blood words on a page of the notes, the medical team just detected the cursed chakra remaining in your body… and it matches the characteristics of the experimental subject when he died that year.
The oil lamp in the tent suddenly flickered.
Jhin stared at the distorted experimental data in his notes, his back teeth aching from clenching them: Are you saying that he has never given up on that experiment?
So you must recover the streamer chakra as soon as possible. Inoue teacher grabbed his hand and pressed it on his chest, I have improved the resonance frequency adjustment technique, and I need Hinata Liuyun to use the Byakugan to assist in observation.
Start now –
Teacher! Xiaoquan was so anxious that he almost knocked over the medicine bowl. His body couldn’t bear it at all!
If it drags on, when Orochimaru gets the forbidden scroll of the Sealing Class, the protective barrier of Konoha’s core area won’t last even half an hour. Mr. Inoue took off his glasses and wiped them. His eyes behind the lenses were frighteningly red. The failure of the experiment was not due to technical problems… He suddenly stopped. Someone had mixed snake venom into the chakra of the experimental subject.
Jhin looked up suddenly.
Some figures gathered outside the tent at some point. Hinata Ryuun’s white forehead guard flashed in the shadows. He walked in holding a copper plate engraved with spells. “Teacher Inoue, the resonance device has been debugged.”
Koizumi bit his lip, finally stepped aside, and took out three bottles of chakra supplements from the medicine box: two hours at most, otherwise his veins would collapse again.
The next moment seemed to be accelerated.
Hinata Ryuun’s white eyes glowed with a lilac light, and the spells on the copper plate lit up one by one as he made hand seals; Inoue Sensei wrapped the chakra thread around Jin’s fingertips, guiding the faint stream of chakra; Jin could clearly feel that the chakra that had been stuck in his veins like broken glass was gradually becoming rounder as the resonance frequency adjusted.
Try to compress it. Inoue teacher’s voice was like a fine needle, piercing his gradually blurring consciousness.
Jin gritted his teeth and pressed the ball of light blue chakra towards his dantian.
This time there was no burning pain, but instead it felt like a pair of warm hands supporting him – when the chakra ball condensed into the size of a pigeon egg in his dantian, he heard a slight clicking sound.
Success! Hyuga Ryuun’s Byakugan suddenly shrank, and the chakra resonance frequency completely matched his mental fluctuations!
Teacher Inoue’s hands were shaking.
He touched the faded bruises on Jin’s arm, his voice trembling: The experimental subject back then… If he could have held on to this point… He suddenly stopped, took out a bronze wristband from his white coat and put it on Jin’s wrist. This was the core of the resonator, which could continuously stabilize the chakra frequency.
Teacher, what happened back then…
Orochimaru’s snake venom can corrode the chakra circuit, but your streamer chakra contains the Uchiha’s spiritual power. Inoue teacher interrupted him, his eyes suddenly became as sharp as a knife, he was afraid of you, afraid of anyone who could surpass him – that’s why he wanted to destroy the experiment and all possibilities.
Before he finished speaking, a thunderous explosion was heard in the distance.
The guard outside the tent rushed in with blood oozing from his forehead: Report!
Orochimaru led the Sound Ninja to bypass the southern defense line and moved towards the Hokage Building!
Kakashi, the senior ninja, asked Uchiha Jin to provide support immediately!
Jin turned over and got out of bed, and Koizumi stuffed a bag of emergency pills into his hand.
He moved his wrist and could clearly feel the blue chakra flowing in his dantian, more gentle and powerful than ever before.
Be careful. Inoue teacher held his shoulder. The guy’s snake scales contained the chakra sample of the experimental subject.
There was another explosion, louder than the previous one.
Jhin fastened his wrist guard tightly and turned back while running, shouting: Wait for me to come back and hear the full story!
The wind outside the medical tent blew in smoke.
He saw Haruno Na’s puppet crashing open the burning wooden door, blood dripping from the metal joints; Hatake Hiru jumped down from the treetop, the flames rising in the distance reflected in his Sharingan.
And further away, at the top of the Hokage Building, a snake-like shadow was slowly crawling over the destroyed city wall.
Jin’s fingertips brushed against the spell on the wristband, and blue chakra flowed through his veins throughout his body.
This time, what he heard was no longer the roar of chakra bursting, but something more powerful and steadier – a rhythm that belonged to him.
Chapter 27: Final Showdown, Flowing Light Awakens (Old Version)
The smoke of gunpowder enveloped Konoha like a thick gray curtain. As Uchiha Jin ran wildly on the broken tiles, his heel crushed a charred crescent pattern – it was the fragment of a certain Genin’s forehead protector.
He could hear the sharp whine of metal rubbing against each other in front of him, mixed with the unique hissing sound of snakes, and every step made his chest ache.
ember!
This way! Haruno Na’s roar pierced through the smoke. Her puppet Tieshan was using his arms to support the collapsed door beam. Behind the door was Kakashi who was entangled by a group of snakes.
The Jonin’s forehead guard was crooked, and the Raikiri leaped in his palm but failed to chop it down – the white snake scales wrapped around him were covered with strange blue spots, which were exactly the chakra samples of the experimental subject that Teacher Inoue had mentioned.
These snakes swallow chakra! Kakashi gritted his teeth, and the moment his lightning escape touched the snake’s body, it was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, causing ripples on the snake’s scales.
A snake suddenly emerged from his shadow, its fangs scraping across his neck and drawing sparks on his forehead guard.
A dagger popped out from Haruno Na’s puppet arm armor, and while she chopped off three snakes, black smoke began to come out of her joints: snake venom corroded metal!
This bastard has even studied puppetry! She swung her corroded wrist, sweat and ash dripping down her forehead.
He saw Orochimaru standing on top of the ruins of the Hokage Building, his white coat rustling in the wind, and his hands forming seals so fast that they looked like a string of afterimages.
Under his feet, the chakra barrier that originally enveloped Konoha was distorting like melted glass – that was the protection that the ninjas in the entire village had spent twenty years maintaining, and now it was being eaten away inch by inch by the forbidden technique.
“Liu Guang, move.” Jin shouted and pressed his right hand on the ground.
Blue chakra flowed out from his fingertips, condensed into tiny particles of light under his feet, and spread around like a living thing.
When the wind blew the light particles past Kakashi, he was visibly startled – the entangled white snake suddenly curled up as if in pain, and the blue light of Raikiri suddenly surged three inches and pierced through the snake’s head.
The joints of Haruno Na’s puppet clicked, and the corroded dents began to heal.
She pulled the control line violently, and Tieshan’s arms suddenly swelled up. Blue lines appeared on the metal surface, and the door beam that was pressing down on him was directly blown away: This feeling… is better than taking ten chakra pills!
Orochimaru finally stopped making hand seals, his scarlet snake pupils narrowed: interesting chakra, like flowing water but with the sharpness of a knife. He raised his hand and summoned dozens of giant pythons from underground. Wherever their tongues swept, the newly formed blue light particles dissipated with a sizzle.
There were cracks in the energy field.
Beads of sweat appeared on Jin’s forehead – he could clearly sense that Orochimaru was targeting the core nodes of the energy field with his attacks.
The attack trajectories of those giant pythons happened to be the veins where the light particles flowed most densely.
Teacher! Nai! Jhin yelled, focusing his firepower on his left hand!
Kakashi understood instantly, and Raikiri turned into purple lightning and leaped towards Orochimaru.
Haruno Na’s puppet threw out three poisoned steel needles, accurately piercing Orochimaru’s ankles.
While Orochimaru dodged sideways, Jin bit his tongue and a fishy sweet taste rushed into his throat – he injected his mental power mixed with chakra into the energy field.
The blue light particles suddenly expanded into a solid light net, causing ripples in the air.
Jin’s vision began to blur, but a clearer resonance rang in his ears: that was the rhythm of chakra flow, the rhythm he had memorized when adjusting the chakra proportions in countless late nights.
At this moment, all the light particles are vibrating according to this rhythm, forming a large breathing net.
Puff—Orochimaru’s left shoulder was cut by Raikiri, revealing blue-gray snake scales under his white coat.
He swung his tail violently towards Kakashi, but was grabbed by the tail by the Iron Mountain Puppet who suddenly jumped out.
Haruno Na’s voice mixed with the hum of the control line: Jin!
Now!
Jin’s eyes glowed with a faint blue light, and his whole body turned into a stream of light.
He could see that Orochimaru’s hand seals were slowing down, and could see the chakra surging beneath the snake scales like a turbid stream.
When he pressed his palm on Orochimaru’s chest, he could even feel the beating of his heart – it was a human heartbeat mixed with the slowness of a snake.
seal up!
As Jin shouted, blue chakra drilled into Orochimaru’s chakra channel like a living thing.
Orochimaru’s pupils suddenly shrank. He could feel that his most core experimental subject’s chakra was being stripped away, as if an invisible hand was grasping his life point.
Who…are you…? There was a crack in Orochimaru’s voice for the first time.
He shook off Jin violently, turned around and leaped out of the city wall, dragging a snake shadow made of chakra behind him – that was the last bit of core energy he had retained in a hurry.
Want to run? Haruno Na’s puppet popped out its hook, but was entangled by the snake slough thrown by Orochimaru.
Kakashi’s Chidori spear grazed the corner of Orochimaru’s clothes, tearing off only a bloody white coat.
Jhin knelt on one knee, supporting himself with his hands.
He could feel his mental strength draining away like sand, and the scenery before his eyes began to double.
At the last moment, he saw Orochimaru’s back disappear in the thick smoke, and the gap in the barrier on the top of the Hokage Building finally stopped collapsing.
Jhin! Haruno Na rushed over to catch him, the warmth of her palm coming through the wrist guard.
Her voice trembled: You…you said you would come back to listen to the story.
Kakashi squatted down and pressed his fingertips on Jin’s carotid artery.
The corners of the jonin’s mouth rarely raised a little arc: He is still alive, but his mental strength is overdrawn. He looked up at the gradually dissipating smoke, his eyes swept across the civilians protected by the light net in front of the Hokage Building, and fell on Haruno Na’s blood-stained puppet. This battle… we won.
As the night deepened, Jhin was carried into the medical department.
Haruno Na stood by the bed, wiping the dust off his face with a wet cloth. The Tieshan puppet huddled quietly in the corner, its joints still stained with green spots of snake venom.
Kakashi leaned against the door frame, holding a piece of cloth torn from the corner of Orochimaru’s clothes in his hand. There were still faint blue light particles on the edge of the cloth – those were traces of flowing chakra.
He wakes up, remember to call me. Kakashi said softly, turned around and disappeared at the end of the corridor.
The moonlight shone through the window onto Jhin’s face. His eyelashes moved, but he never opened his eyes.
And in the forest outside Konoha, in a hidden tree hole, a Sharingan slowly closed.
Interesting. The hoarse male voice mixed with the rustling of leaves could suppress Orochimaru’s chakra… Maybe he could really tear open this stagnant water.
The wind swept through the treetops, carrying away the last trace of words.
All that was left was the devastated battlefield and the young man sleeping on the hospital bed, waiting for the next dawn.
Chapter 28 Undercurrents, the Secret of the Intelligence Network (Old Version)
When the smell of disinfectant entered his nose, Uchiha Jin’s eyelashes trembled.
He moved his fingers and found that the back of his hand was numb from being pressed – Haruno Na’s palm was covering the back of his hand, and the knuckles were stained with black stains of puppet oil.
The young man tilted his head and saw that the side of the girl’s face, which was lying on the edge of the bed, was still stained with dust. Her hair was hanging down and covering half of her face. The Tieshan puppet was huddled in the corner. The green spots on the joints had been carefully wiped off, but faint traces were still left.
woke up?
A low, hoarse voice came from the door.
Kakashi leaned against the door frame, with his forehead guard pulled down to his nose bridge, and in his hand was still holding the scrap of cloth that he had torn from the corner of Orochimaru’s clothes that day. The faint blue light particles on the edge of the cloth glowed coldly in the morning light.
Haruno Na’s head suddenly raised, and her forehead hit the edge of the bed with a loud thud.
She jumped up, covering her red forehead, her eyes still bloodshot from just waking up: Jhin!
You finally woke up!
The old ladies in the medical class said that you were mentally exhausted and needed to sleep for three days. I thought
The voice stopped abruptly.
The girl grabbed the wet cloth on the table and wiped her face vigorously, hiding her red eyes in her action: I’m glad you’re awake, so I don’t have to carry you to eat Ichiraku Ramen – you haven’t settled the bill for the last time you said three bowls of char siu noodles were not enough.
Jin smiled, his throat felt like it was filled with sand: During the three days I was unconscious…what about Orochimaru?
Kakashi pushed his forehead protector and threw the rags into the incinerator of the medical department. The blue light particles crackled in the flames: he retreated to Yuyin Village with the remaining men. The jonin walked to the bed and tapped the report on the bedside table with his knuckles, but the Root people found seven intelligence trading points outside the village, and the secret letter intercepted by the Anbu mentioned the loopholes in the defense system and chakra samples.
Haruno Na took out a small cloth bag from her arms and shook it open to reveal half a snake-shaped jade pendant with a twisted spell engraved on the surface: I chased the snake venom puppet to the edge of the barrier, and the puppet spit it out before it self-destructed.
Senior Yamamoto said that this was the mark of Orochimaru’s intelligence network. In the past half month, thirteen confidential documents in Konoha were retrieved and the records were abnormal.
When there was a knock on the ward door, the three of them turned their heads at the same time.
The person who came in was a gray-haired old man, his left eye covered with gauze, and the chakra in his right eye shone sharply in the morning light – it was Senior Yamamoto from the Intelligence Department.
He was holding a wooden box sealed with sealing wax in his hand. When he saw Jin wake up, he smiled gently: You woke up at the right time, my friend.
The moment the wooden box was opened, Jin smelled the familiar smell of moldy paper.
It was a list of intelligence written in code. The top one was dated three days ago, and the ink was still a little damp: coordinates of the weakness of the outer barrier… Chakra fluctuation record of the seventh training tower… This was…
Orochimaru didn’t want a map of Konoha. Yamamoto’s fingers ran over the numbers on the list. The weakness of the barrier allowed his men to sneak in silently. The chakra fluctuation record… was to imitate the chakra frequency of a specific ninja. The old man lifted the gauze on his left eye, revealing the hideous scar underneath. Twenty years ago, I saw a similar method in the Hidden Rain Village – there was an intelligence officer who was good at disguise and could transform into the target’s appearance, even the chakra was exactly the same.
Jhin’s pupils contracted slightly: Red Scorpion.
Smart. Yamamoto covered himself with gauze again. Hatake Hiru sent back news from the border that the Red Scorpion was trying to win over the wandering mercenaries from the Wind Country, and those people were in urgent need of money to buy medical supplies.
And the thing Orochimaru has the most is money.
Haruno Na slammed the table, and the joints of Tieshan Puppet made a clicking sound: If that old guy dares to come to Konoha, I will tie him up like a dumpling with puppet strings!
It’s not that simple. Jin turned to the last page of the list and found half a snake-shaped indentation – it was exactly the same as the pattern of the jade pendant found by Haruno Na. The Red Scorpion’s camouflage technique required three days to prepare the target’s chakra sample. Orochimaru deliberately left this information before retreating to pave the way for the Red Scorpion.
He threw back the quilt and got out of bed. Haruno Na immediately reached out for help, but he pushed her away with a smile.
The boy stood by the window, the sunlight shining through the glass onto his shoulders: We need false information.
Use my puppet. Haruno Na’s eyes lit up. Tieshan can simulate chakra fluctuations. I can hide fake coordinates of the barrier’s weakness in the puppet, and forge a record of the chakras of the jonin. We will send the sample of whoever the Red Scorpion wants to imitate.
Kakashi took out a kunai and turned it around twice, his eyes curved under his forehead protector: I will be responsible for diverting his guards.
The Red Scorpion is always accompanied by three subordinates who use poison, and I am familiar with their chakra.
But Red Scorpion is not a fool. Jin’s fingertips touched his chin. He would send spies to confirm the authenticity of the information…Can Feiliu monitor the movements of mercenaries on the border?
Already doing it. Suddenly a clear voice came from the door.
Hatake Hiru squeezed in holding the scroll, and the Sharingan in his left eye slowly rotated. I used the Memory Sharingan to copy the faces of all the mercenaries on the border. If they come into contact with the Red Scorpion, I can locate them within three seconds.
Jhin took the scroll handed to him by Feiliu and unfolded it to reveal a map of the Fire Country marked with red dots: Very good.
Haruno, the false information must be ready in three days; Teacher Kakashi, you are responsible for setting up the chakra interference array outside the barrier; Feilu, keep an eye on all transactions related to the snake mark.
The moment everyone agreed, the window of the ward was blown open by the wind.
An unsigned letter landed in Jin’s palm.
The paper had an eerie bluish-gray color, and the words looked like they were written in blood. Each word was twisted, as if it was about to crawl out of the paper: Red Scorpion said that he was looking forward to playing this game with you.
Haruno Na’s puppet string popped out and cut the thin steel wire that was trying to retract out of the window.
The Iron Mountain Puppet’s joints growled, but it only grabbed a handful of steel wire that had shattered into ash.
It seems that our guests are more anxious than expected. Kakashi’s fingers pressed on the kunai, and chakra jumped at his fingertips. Do we need to act in advance?
Jin stared at the bloody words on the letter and suddenly smiled: No, that’s just right.
Haruno, your false information… should be prepared a day in advance.
As the moonlight climbed up to the treetops, Haruno Na squatted in the puppet workshop and used a silver cone to carve the last talisman into Tieshan’s chest.
The puppet’s eyes glowed with a faint green light, reflecting her taut jawline.
If I fail this time…she whispered to the puppet, I will take apart the parts of the Red Scorpion and use them as new joints for you.
The girl rolled the forged information into a thin strip and stuffed it into the secret compartment at Tieshan’s throat.
Amid the gentle sound of metal colliding, she could hear her own heart beating like a drum – but that was not fear, it was anticipation.
Tomorrow morning, she will take this puppet that hides the secret and walk towards the trap set by the Red Scorpion.
And the prey in the trap…was never her.
Chapter 29: The True Face of the Red Scorpion (Old Version)
Before the morning mist dissipated, Haruno Na had already walked seven miles along the stream outside Konoha.
The metal paws of the Iron Mountain Puppet rolled over the gravel, leaving dark grey scratches on the bluestone slabs – this was the weight she had deliberately adjusted so that trackers could easily capture its movements.
Old logging site. She looked at the moss-covered wooden sign ahead, her Adam’s apple rolling.
The words “No Entry” engraved on the sign had long been blurred by wind and rain, which was exactly what she wanted.
The trading location chosen by the Red Scorpion always has a rotten smell, like a poisonous snake hiding in the mud.
There was a slight clicking sound from Tieshan’s joints, and Haruno Na pulled at the puppet string around her waist.
The false information in the secret compartment was rolled up very thinly and wrapped in a layer of paper soaked in slug slime – this was a trick taught by Tsunade, which could make chakra sensers mistakenly believe that there was a living thing sealed in the scroll.
She touched Tieshan’s throat, where there was still the warmth of the silver cone from carving the talisman last night.
Here it comes.
The wind suddenly changed direction.
Haruno Na’s pupils shrank slightly, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up.
There was no one in sight, but she could feel something peeling away from behind a dead tree thirty steps away.
It wasn’t a chakra fluctuation, it was more like… a kind of stillness that blended perfectly with the environment.
Tieshan’s metal fingers suddenly stretched forward, drawing a semicircle in the air.
An almost transparent silk thread brushed past the puppet’s fingertips and cut off three fallen leaves.
When the morning dew condensed on the leaves shattered, a figure wrapped in a dark green cloak finally appeared.
Half of his face was covered with a bronze mask, and the skin on the other half was a strange grayish-white, with a few earthworm-like sutures crawling at the corners of his eyes.
Miss Haruno. The Red Scorpion’s voice was like sandpaper rubbing against metal. Lord Orochimaru said, you have brought important information. His eyes swept across the secret compartment at Tieshan’s throat, and the scales on the back of his right hand suddenly turned blue – that was the sign of activating the puppet technique.
Haruno Na took a deep breath and deliberately shook the puppet string at her fingertips: the information is in the puppet.
But…but you have to prove your sincerity first. She staggered back half a step, and Tieshan’s left foot hit the tree stump unnaturally, and the metal joints made a harsh friction sound.
The red scorpion’s pupils shrank into needle points.
He did not respond, but raised his hand and ejected three hair-thin chakra threads, which accurately pierced into the secret compartment in Tieshan’s throat.
The moment the roll of false information was pulled out, he suddenly laughed, with the corners of his mouth under the mask stretched to his ears: Slug slime?
The sleight of hand of Konoha Medical Team. A green flame rose from his fingertips, and the information turned into black ash in the fire. What a good trap, but it was too naive.
The smoke bomb exploded with a bang.
Haruno Na was choked and stepped back, but in the blink of an eye she bit the inside of her mouth with the tip of her tongue – when the smell of blood came up, her pupils became clear again.
This is not ordinary smoke. It is mixed with psychedelic grass powder, which will make people have the hallucination of being chased.
But she had asked Tsunade to prescribe the antidote long ago, and at this moment, she was using her staggering movements to wrap Tieshan’s puppet string around the old pine tree on the left.
Run! She yelled at the top of her lungs, deliberately making her voice tremble, I, I’ll go inform Kakashi-sensei—
Before he finished his words, a dark shadow emerged from the smoke.
The Red Scorpion was incredibly fast, and its bronze mask flashed coldly in the morning mist.
Haruno Na could feel his chakra brushing against the back of her neck like a red-hot needle.
She pulled the puppet string hard, and Tieshan’s right arm suddenly swept across, smashing a mess of broken branches between the two of them.
They were chasing too fast. Uchiha Jin, hiding in the tree canopy, narrowed his eyes.
There was light golden chakra condensed in his palm, which was a streamer form modified from Chidori, and could form a short-term energy barrier in the air.
Red Scorpion’s previous charge exposed a flaw – when disguising his chakra, he had to restrain most of his perception. The reason he was so eager to chase at this moment was because he wanted to confirm how many backup Konoha had sent out.
Right now.
Jhin pressed his fingers on the tree trunk and jumped down like a civet cat.
Streaming chakra burst out from the fingertips and condensed into a light golden light curtain half a meter in front of the red scorpion.
The Red Scorpion’s body paused, as if it had hit an invisible wall, and the trajectory of the chakra flow finally became clear – it was a twisted purple-black ball, like a ball of thread wrapped with a poisonous stinger.
Puppetry? The moment Haruno Na saw the ball of chakra clearly, she bit her left index finger hard, and blood splashed on the handle of Tieshan.
The puppet’s eyes suddenly lit up red, and ten puppet strings shot towards the red scorpion’s ankles like steel needles.
But the Red Scorpion was prepared.
His left hand suddenly split open, and six barbed steel cables popped out, accurately wrapping around Tieshan’s joints. You think this is an intelligence war? His voice was filled with morbid excitement, let me show you the real gift of Lord Orochimaru——
An earth-shaking roar sounded.
Three puppets, each as tall as a person, broke out from the ground, black blood oozing from their joints and ghostly green fire burning in their eye sockets.
The arm of the one in front turned out to be a giant kunai, with corrosive liquid dripping from the blade.
Rachel.
The cold voice was like a thunder that split the morning mist.
The figure of Hatake Kakashi flashed out from the crevice on the right, and the blue lightning wrapped around his right hand was so blinding that people could not open their eyes.
His target was not the Red Scorpion, but the back of the neck of the puppet in the center—half of a core device engraved with snake patterns was exposed there.
Sizzle——
The sound of lightning penetrating metal is louder than thunder.
The core device instantly melted into molten iron. The three puppets froze at the same time, dark brown liquid oozing from their joints, emitting a stench like rotten meat.
The Red Scorpion’s pupils contracted violently, the steel cable snapped, and he retreated ten steps, with spider-web-like cracks appearing on his bronze mask.
Konoha’s elite jonin… is indeed not easy to deal with. He stared at Kakashi’s right hand dripping with lightning, and suddenly laughed softly, but remember – what you destroyed is just Orochimaru’s toy.
The real danger is never out in the open.
Before he finished speaking, he threw out a flash bomb.
When everyone opened their eyes again, there were only three melting puppet remains and a few pieces of cloth stained with purple blood.
Haruno Na wiped the sweat from her forehead and kicked the puppet fragments at her feet: This old thing runs faster than a rabbit.
Jhin didn’t respond.
He squatted down and picked up a piece of textured metal debris with a kunai.
On the inside of the fragment, he found a very fine scratch – it was not damage from battle, but more like a deliberate mark.
When he gently probed with his chakra, the fragments suddenly cracked, and a blood-stained map fell out.
The markings on the map were very strange, with the contours of the mountains and rivers outlined with some kind of snake-like curve, and three twisted magatama drawn at key locations.
Jin’s breathing suddenly became heavier – how could the secret pattern of the Uchiha clan appear in Orochimaru’s puppet?
This is… Kakashi leaned over to take a look, his eyebrows slightly raised, a map encrypted with snake venom mixed with the Sharingan bloodline limit.
Without a specific chakra key, it cannot be unlocked at all.
Haruno Na came over and gently ran her fingertips across the edge of the map: The place above…I seem to have heard of it when I was wandering.
The dry well outside the Hidden Rain Village, the underground caves in the River Country…these are all places that sorcerers like.
Jhin folded the map carefully and put it in his arms.
He looked at the morning mist gradually dissipating in the distance, and his Adam’s apple moved: Orochimaru’s experimental base is deeper than we thought.
As the setting sun dyed the walls of Konoha red, Jhin stood at the door of the Intelligence Department.
He touched the map in his arms and looked up at the remnant of the word “Root” on the door lintel – that was left when Danzo fell three years ago.
There was a rustling sound of flipping papers from inside the door, followed by a clear male voice: Brother Jin?
Why are you so late today?
Hatake Hiru came out holding a file, with developing powder still on the ends of his hair.
The Sharingan in his left eye slowly turned, reflecting the bulging outline in Jin’s arms: Did you bring something that needs to be deciphered again?
Jhin didn’t say anything, just handed over the map.
Feiliu’s Sharingan suddenly accelerated its rotation, and fine chakra lines appeared in his pupils.
The moment his fingertips touched the map, they both heard a very light click – as if some mechanism had been triggered.
Don’t sleep tonight. Jin patted Feiliu’s shoulder and glanced at the first mark on the map. We may be about to uncover a big secret.
The night wind blew up a few fallen leaves, which swept past their feet.
In the window of the Intelligence Department, the red light of the Sharingan and the snake patterns on the map complemented each other, casting a distorted shadow on the ground, like a giant python about to wake up.
Chapter 30 The Mastermind, Canglang’s Warning (Old Version)
The oil lamp in the Intelligence Department swayed in the draft, casting the shadows of the three people on the mottled wallpaper.
Uchiha Jin pushed the door shut with his backhand, and the door frame creaked – this was the old house left over from the Root after Danzo’s downfall, and even the door hinges had a sinister smell of rust.
Turn on the light first. Haruno Na piled the scrolls in her arms on the table. Her sleeves were stained with sawdust from when she was chopping wood outside the door.
This girl from the Nohara clan always liked to express her presence in the roughest way, but at this moment she was standing on tiptoe to reach the light switch on the wall, her waist stretched into a neat line under her coarse cloth shorts.
Don’t touch it! Hatake Hiru suddenly shouted.
The red light of his left Sharingan suddenly increased, reflecting the thin steel wire faintly visible in the gap of the switch. There was chakra residue, which might be a trap.
Jhin’s fingertips were already on the hilt of the knife.
His short sword was forged from scrapped kunai, and the blade was engraved with the Uchiha family emblem – although it was only a side branch, there was always a sense of vigilance engraved in the bones and blood.
But the next second, he let go and smiled: Feiliu, you have been obsessed with the anti-reconnaissance training of the Anbu recently. As he said that, he flicked his finger, and the chakra accurately cut the wire. The root was cleared three years ago, and now this place is under the management of the intelligence department directly under the Hokage.
The light flickered on.
Haruno Na whistled, illuminating the mess on the table: developer powder was scattered everywhere, the chakra scanner dedicated to the Sharingan was still hissing, and spread out in the center was the map she got from the black market in the Hidden Rain Village – the edges were charred and sewn with snake scale thread, which was obviously the work of Red Scorpion.
This broken map is so hard to figure out. Haruno Na sat down on the chair, grabbed the tea bowl next to her and took a sip of cold tea. She had spent half the night chewing with the puppet worm yesterday, but only found three marking points. She rubbed the dark red spots on the map with her fingertips and suddenly stopped. Wait, this shape…
Fei Liu came over.
His Sharingan can analyze the residual chakra, and now he is staring at the faint patterns in the spots: It looks like some kind of secret code, maybe related to the coordinates of the base?
It’s not a code. Haruno Na’s voice suddenly became deep.
She pulled out a faded leather bag from her bosom and poured out a handful of rusty kunai. I had seen this mark in the Kusagakure Village when I was wandering.
These kunai belong to the Gray Crows, a wandering ninja organization that specializes in taking in war orphans.
They would carve this red scale pattern on the walls of safe houses to prevent their own people from accidentally entering.
Jhin tapped his fingers on the table.
This was his habitual action when thinking – Haruno Na said that it was very much like her raccoon cat scratching the food bowl. He had heard of the Gray Crows, who were wiped out three years ago at the border of the Land of Fire. At that time, the report from the Konoha Anbu stated that it was suspected to be the work of robbers, but now it seems…
It was Feiliu’s Sharingan that suddenly sped up.
The boy’s hair was lifted by the chakra, and the three magatama in his left eye slowly turned: the map is repelling my chakra.
The Red Scorpion used double encryption. The surface layer was marked with the Gray Crow’s mark, and the inner layer… He suddenly gasped, the inner layer was alive!
Before he finished his words, the red scales on the map suddenly began to wriggle, like countless small snakes crawling on the paper.
Haruno Na picked up the puppet string and was about to start, but Jin held her wrist: Don’t move, this is chakra resonance. He stared at the gradually twisted lines and suddenly remembered the method he used to cheat in the ninja school – using the wrong answer collection to cover the correct answer, and then using correction fluid to create a double illusion. Feiliu, use your Sharingan to reversely inject chakra, like… like untying a nesting doll.
Beads of sweat broke out on Feiliu’s forehead.
Excessive use of the Sharingan can cause headaches, which is a common problem in the Hatake family.
But he still gritted his teeth and pressed his fingertips on the map: Brother Jin, hold my lower back.
Jhin understood immediately.
The attribute of his chakra is fire, while that of the Feiliu is lightning. The collision of the two chakras will cause chaos, but this kind of chaos is exactly what is needed at this moment – just like using the wrong key to forcefully turn the keyhole, which may open the hidden mechanism.
The moment the two chakras collided on the map, the oil lamps in the entire room suddenly went out.
Shit! Haruno Na’s puppet insect buzzed and flew up, leaving a dark green light in the darkness.
But before she could move, there was a sudden sound of breaking wind outside the window, and a black shadow smashed the window paper like a sharp arrow, and the wind brought by the wolfskin cloak almost overturned the table.
Don’t move.
The sound was like ice chips scraping across a millstone.
Jin squinted in the darkness and saw that the man had a scar on his left eye, which ran diagonally from his brow to his jaw. A short knife with a bandaged handle hung on his right shoulder – the dents on the scabbard were made by the ninja sword, which meant he had been through at least thirty actual battles.
I am Canglang. The visitor lit the tinder he carried with him, and the orange light reflected the forehead protector on his waist – there was no village emblem, only a wolf head tattoo, belonging to the Anti-Snake Alliance, specifically against Orochimaru.
Haruno Na’s puppet string has already wrapped around the opponent’s ankle.
Her puppetry can control any object within five meters. At this moment, the steel needle at the end of the thread is pressing against Canglang’s artery: Who knows if you were sent by Orochimaru?
Last month we captured three spies disguised as rebels in the Kingdom of Wind.
If it was a spy, I wouldn’t have come in through the window. Canglang’s eyes swept across the map on the table. You are trying to crack the Red Scorpion’s encrypted map, right?
I can help, but share the information.
He was observing Canglang’s breathing rate – as steady as a well-trained Anbu, his right hand was always half an inch away from the hilt, which was a posture ready to fight at any time, but more importantly… you have the chakra residue of the Three-Tails in your body. He suddenly spoke, three days ago, the rebellious ninjas of the Mist Village attacked a fishing village on the border of the Land of Fire, which happened to be the range of the Three-Tails.
Canglang’s pupils shrank.
But Orochimaru’s experimental base is also there. Jin continued, “So you are not from Kirigakure, you are going to destroy the base.” He snapped his fingers, and Haruno Na’s puppet strings loosened immediately. “You can cooperate, but you have to prove yourself first.”
Canglang took off his wolfskin cloak and draped it over the back of the chair.
His left arm was wrapped in a bloody bandage, and the exposed skin was covered with pinholes – the marks that Orochimaru often used in his experiments. Three days ago, I seized their branch base in the River Country and saved seventeen children. He lifted the bandage, and inside lay a blood-stained Konoha forehead protector. This was from one of the children. He said his father was a Konoha Chunin and died in the Second Ninja World War.
Haruno Na’s Adam’s apple moved.
She hated to see children suffer the most. If she had not met an old animal trainer who adopted her when she was wandering, she might have been lying on a laboratory table now.
She silently put away the puppet strings and took out a piece of burnt rice cake from her arms – this was her habit, she always prepared dry food for the little beggars she met on the road.
But Canglang didn’t answer.
His attention was all on the map: The Red Scorpion’s encryption is divided into three layers. You have cracked the first layer, the Gray Crow Mark. The second layer is the living chakra circuit, and the third layer… He suddenly pulled out a dagger and lightly touched the map with the tip of the knife. It was a cipher written in the blood of a living person.
Feiliu’s Sharingan turned again.
This time he saw it clearly—there were really tiny blood beads embedded in the map pattern, glowing a strange purple under the perspective of the Sharingan. Is this… Cursed Blood?
Orochimaru’s new experiment. Canglang’s voice was as cold as ice. He used the blood of the ninja who was planted with the curse seal as ink. Only those who possessed both the curse seal chakra and the Sharingan could break it. He looked at Feiliu, “Can your Sharingan simulate the fluctuations of the curse seal?”
Fei Liu’s face turned pale.
It’s already very exhausting for the Sharingan to simulate other types of chakra, let alone simulate the forbidden power of the curse seal… Try it. Jin held his shoulder and said, “I’ll use Uchiha’s fire escape to assist you.”
The chakra of the three people was injected into the map at the same time.
Haruno Na was holding a puppet bug nearby, ready to deal with any emergency at any time.
The moment the three chakras converged in the blood bead, the map suddenly emitted a dazzling red light, and all the marking points exploded at the same time, casting a huge holographic projection on the wall – that was the mountain range at the junction of the Fire Kingdom, the Wind Kingdom, and the Water Kingdom, and under each peak was marked with a scarlet experimental base.
Here. The tip of Canglang’s knife pointed to the deepest mark, Ghost Crying Mountain.
Orochimaru hid something there, more dangerous than the tailed beasts. His voice fluctuated for the first time. It was a weapon made by fusing the Ten-Tails cells with human genes.
The temperature in the Intelligence Department seemed to have dropped ten degrees.
Haruno Na’s puppet insect hit the wall, making a dull thud; Feiliu’s Sharingan almost went out of control, and the three magatama turned into a blurred mass; Jin’s fingers dug deeply into his palm – he remembered Orochimaru’s ambition in the original work, but he didn’t expect it to happen so quickly, so quickly that the Akatsuki organization hadn’t even been formed yet.
How do you prove it? Jhin asked, his voice as steady as if he was asking about today’s weather.
Canglang smiled, with a hint of self-mockery in his smile: Do you want to test me?
OK. He pointed to the last undeciphered mark in the corner of the map. This layer of encryption uses the internal code of my organization. I will decipher it.
His fingers moved quickly across the map, like he was playing a pipa.
As the last gesture was completed, the mark suddenly exploded, revealing a line of small words: Devil’s Crying Mountain, Sanmin Peak, Seventeenth Floor Underground.
But at the same time, Canglang’s left eye suddenly glowed red – that was the light of the Sharingan.
He had seen the Uchiha clan’s Sharingan and Kakashi’s Sharingan, but he had never seen this kind of Sharingan… with cracks, as if it had been forcibly transplanted.
You are also Uchiha? Feiliu blurted out.
Canglang didn’t answer.
He has stood up and wrapped his wolfskin cloak around his body again: the information has been shared.
What you do next is none of my business, but remember – he looked at Jin, Orochimaru has more eyes and ears than you think.
That’s when the alarm sounded.
A shrill buzzing sound tore through the air, and the electronic screen of the Intelligence Department flashed wildly, indicating a database intrusion.
Haruno Na immediately rushed to the control console, her fingers flying on the keyboard: It’s coming from the direction of the Wind Kingdom!
They are deleting the logs…
Canglang’s expression changed.
He suddenly grabbed Jin’s wrist, and his chakra pierced into him like a needle: Sorry, I have a mission that I must complete. Before Jin could react, he had already jumped onto the windowsill. When he turned around, his scar twisted in the red light. The weapon of Devil’s Cry Mountain would be completed in three months.
Gray Wolf! Jhin drew his dagger and threw it, but the other party had already disappeared into the night.
The dagger was nailed to the window frame, and the handle was trembling slightly, as if it was growling unwillingly on behalf of its owner.
Haruno Na turned off the alarm, and the red light of the console made her face turn blue: the intruder deleted the records of the last ten minutes, but… She called up the backup log and saw that the IP address was from the Hidden Mist Village.
He stared at the wolfskin cloak left by Canglang – there was a small pocket sewn on the inside, which contained half a Konoha forehead protector, exactly the same as the one he had given him before.
Brother, look. Feiliu’s voice trembled.
His Sharingan was still moving. The chakra consumption just now made his forehead sweat. The mark on the map…
Jhin turned his head.
In the mountains of the holographic projection, the red dot that originally marked the experimental base had a silver mark added at some point – it was the wolf head tattoo of the Canglang Organization.
The alarm suddenly stopped.
Jhin walked over to the console, his fingertips hovering over the keyboard, the blue light of the screen reflecting his clenched jaw.
In the last line of the database log, there is a string of partially deleted characters, which vaguely show the Romanization of the root.
The moonlight outside the window was blocked by clouds.
Jin took out the short knife from his arms, the blade gleaming coldly in the moonlight – he had used this knife for three years, and today was the first time he felt that perhaps it should be sharpened.
(Preview of the next chapter: When Jin opened the deleted log backup, he found that a mysterious account had logged into the Intelligence Department system three days ago, and the account name was… Hatake Sakumo.
Chapter 31 Data Tracking, Traces of the Canglang (Old Version)
The moment the alarm stopped, Uchiha Jin’s fingertips almost hung down on the edge of the console.
He could hear the dull thump of his own heartbeat against his ribs—the romanization of “gen” in the partially deleted string of characters pierced his retina like a needle, causing the hair on the back of his neck to stand up.
Brother, there are fluctuations in the code remnant area. Hatake Hiru’s voice was hoarse from overusing the Sharingan, and the three magatama turned slowly in his eyes. When Canglang deleted the log just now, he must have used chakra to interfere with the system cache. The boy put his knuckles against his temple and pressed his other hand on the keyboard of the holographic projection. The light golden chakra penetrated into the data stream along his fingertips. I will try to use the Sharingan to track it in reverse…
Wait. Jin suddenly pressed Feiliu’s wrist.
On the console screen, the deleted log fragments were being reassembled at an extremely slow speed, like pieces of paper blown away by the wind being picked up one by one by invisible hands.
He stared at the flashing characters, his Adam’s apple moved, and he said, “Don’t use chakra to force the solution.”
If Canglang really wanted to destroy the data, he would have dismantled Konoha’s firewall into parts long ago – he only left clues.
Intelligence department senior Yamamoto stood behind them at some point.
The old ninja with wrinkles at the corners of his eyes crossed his arms and scanned the codes jumping on the screen: Xiao Jin is right.
A similar situation occurred in the Hidden Mist Village three years ago. The intruders deliberately left a half-broken encryption program and finally took us to the black prison in the Blood Mist. He reached out and patted Feiliu’s shoulder, using your Sharingan to scan frame by frame, paying attention to the frequency of chakra fluctuations in the code.
The three magatama suddenly accelerated their rotation.
The cold sweat on Feiliu’s forehead flowed down his chin and hit the console, splashing small water droplets.
In the holographic projection, the originally messy characters suddenly began to arrange and combine, and finally condensed into a line of numbers with a faint blue light: 03-21-07:00.
It was a timestamp from three days ago. Jin’s fingertips tapped in the air, corresponding to the database access record…
Wait! Haruno Na suddenly interrupted.
The girl who always had the taming whip wrapped around her waist was squatting in front of the wolfskin cloak, her fingertips hooked into the small pocket inside. The material of this half forehead protector was wrong. She pulled off her Konoha forehead protector for comparison. The ordinary forehead protector was made of iron sand from the Fire Country mixed with chakra paper, but this one… She pinched the edge and gently broke it, and she could hear the sound of metal friction, like it was mixed with magnetic sand from the Wind Country.
He suddenly remembered that three months ago at the training ground, he casually gave Canglang a defective forehead protector he had picked up from the Anbu garbage station as a token of trust – he thought it was just a joke at the time, but he didn’t expect the other party to use it as a mark.
Code parsing completed. Fei Liu’s voice trembled with exhaustion.
In the holographic projection, the map of the Fire Nation suddenly unfolded, and a red dot popped up in the mountain area at the border. The coordinates pointed to the abandoned mine in the Wind and Fire Mountains, the place that the Red Scorpion used when conducting puppet experiments.
Is Canglang showing us the way? Haruno Na cracked the whip, but if he really wanted to help, wouldn’t he just throw a map at us?
You’ve gone through so much trouble, do you think we’re just ninjas playing hide-and-seek?
Jhin didn’t rush to answer.
He walked to the window, the moonlight just came out from behind the clouds, cutting a line of light and dark on his face: maybe he himself was not safe. When he turned around, the scabbard of the short knife brushed against the corner of the table, or… His eyes swept across the wolf head tattoo mark on the screen. He was testing our ability.
If you can’t even decipher this code, you’ll just die even if you find the mine.
Yamamoto suddenly coughed: “I have had people check the periphery of the mine. There were scattered remnants of wind chakra three days ago.” The old ninja took out a scroll from his arms and threw it to Jin. The Red Scorpion’s puppet trap likes to use poison mist and steel wire. This is the key to cracking it recorded by the Anbu back then. He paused and added, “Little Jin, your trick of flowing light chakra……”
It has been adjusted to low-frequency scanning mode. Jin stuffed the scroll into the ninja bag and pressed his knuckles against his temple. The poisonous fog would interfere with the five senses, but low-frequency chakra could penetrate the fog and sense the structure. He looked at Feiliu, you and Naru are here, staring at the real-time dynamics of the database – especially the log fragment marked with root.
Haruno Na suddenly grabbed his wrist.
Her palm was still stained with the fur of the wolfskin cloak, which felt rough but powerful: You want me to go with you.
No. Jin patted the back of her hand. Canglang’s target is the intelligence system. You stay here. If he breaks in again, your beast-taming puppet can immediately block the computer room. He raised an eyebrow at Feiliu. Besides, who is the best at dismantling traps in our class?
Fei Liu was amused and laughed out loud, but the fatigue in his Sharingan did not subside: Brother, be careful, the chakra reaction deep in the mine… He wanted to say something but stopped, and finally just held the edge of the console tightly, Sister Nai and I will wait for you to come back.
The nights in the Fenghuo Mountains are much colder than in Konoha.
As Jhin climbed down the mountain wall, he could hear the whistling of the mountain wind blowing into his collar.
The entrance to the mine was covered by vines, and the fishy smell of rotten leaves mixed with the smell of rust hit me in the face – this was the smell of metal oxidation caused by long-term water seepage, which was completely consistent with the records of the Red Scorpion Puppet Laboratory.
He pulled out his dagger and cut through the vines, but the tip of the knife stopped just as it touched the stone wall.
There are dense spiral patterns carved into the stone wall, which are the hand seal tracks of a major breakthrough in wind-style ninjutsu – the Red Scorpion’s traps have always liked to use techniques as switches.
Jin narrowed his eyes and gently pressed his fingertips on the center of the lines, and the flowing chakra spread out like a spider web.
bite.
A slight metallic collision sound came from the left.
He rolled sideways quickly, and a cold light flew past his ear – it was a steel wire as thin as a hair, glowing blue-black in the moonlight, obviously poisoned.
As expected. Jhin wiped the blood from the tip of his ear, tore off the corner of his clothes and wrapped it around his palm. The Red Scorpion’s wire trap would cross-cut from three directions after the mechanism was triggered… He bent down, picked up a piece of gravel and threw it to the left. The second wire popped out, and now only the right side was left…
When the third steel wire brushed against the tip of his boot, Jhin ducked and rushed into the mine.
The cave was pitch black, but his flowing chakra was like a firefly in the dark night, illuminating the densely packed marks on the cave wall – those were the marks left by the puppet strings, of varying depths, and one could even see stone powder in the deepest parts.
The further you go in, the more obvious the chakra fluctuations become.
Jin could sense a very faint stench floating in the air, which was the smell of decomposing corpses caused by long-term isolation, but what made him more alert was the mud stains on the ground – someone had just stepped on it, and the pattern of the shoe prints was the standard style of Konoha’s Anbu.
Footsteps suddenly sounded in front.
Jhin quickly pressed himself against the cave wall, with the dagger pressed between his lips.
The footsteps were very slow, as if they were deliberately made light for him to hear, and each step was placed on the joint between two bricks – this was a typical anti-tracking step, indicating that the person coming did not want to hide his whereabouts, but also did not want to be easily caught up.
When the figure turned the corner, Jhin’s breathing almost stopped.
The moonlight leaked through the cracks in the cave ceiling and shone on the wolfskin cloak that the other person was wearing.
Canglang’s face was hidden in the hood, with only half of his cold and hard jaw showing. He seemed to have expected that someone would be waiting here, and his voice was low but clear: You are here as expected.
He still held the dagger in his hand, but the tip of the knife was lowered to the ground – a gesture indicating no hostility.
Under Canglang’s cloak, half of the Konoha forehead guard swayed slightly with his breathing, fitting perfectly with the one he had given out before.
But remember. Canglang took a step forward, his eyes flashing in the shadow of his hood. This is not the end, but the beginning.
Before he finished speaking, he suddenly turned around and jumped towards the cave wall.
Jin saw his toes touch the stone wall, and he swooped into the darkness like an eagle, leaving only a drifting tail: Let’s go and see the stone tablet at the deepest part…
When Jhin chased to the end of the mine, he only saw a stone tablet half a person’s height.
The moonlight filtered through the cracks in the cave ceiling, casting mottled light on the surface of the stele. The runes on it were carved very deeply, as if they had been chiseled out stroke by stroke with the tip of a knife. Each symbol was tinged with dark red – it was unclear whether it was blood or some kind of mineral.
The bottom line reads in common language: The truth waits for light in the darkness.
Jhin reached out to touch the stone tablet, and as soon as his fingertips touched the runes, he felt a sharp pain.
He suddenly retracted his hand and saw a blood mark on his fingertips, and the runes on the stone tablet were glowing with a lavender glow as his blood seeped out.
The mountain wind outside the cave suddenly became stronger, blowing up a few dead leaves and hitting the stone tablet.
Jhin stared at the line of words, his Adam’s apple moved, and finally he put the dagger back into the sheath.
He took out the record scroll from the ninja tool bag and quickly copied the runes on the stone tablet. When he turned around, he paused again – there was half a footprint on the ground where Canglang had just stood, and the wear marks on the heel were exactly the same as the chakra stabilization shoes commonly used by the Hatake family ninjas.
The mountain road on the way back is steeper than the way here.
Jhin stood on the top of the mountain and looked back in the direction of the mine. The moonlight made his shadow very long.
He took out half of the forehead protector from his arms, and the metal edge poked his palm. He suddenly remembered the log fragment marked with root in the database, and the account of Hatake Sakumo mentioned in the preview of the next chapter.
As the lights of Konoha gradually became clearer in his sight, Jin’s fingertips unconsciously stroked the hilt of the dagger.
The blade is still cold
(After returning to Konoha, when Jin pushed open the door of the Intelligence Department, Haruno Na was circling in front of the control console with the puppet string in hand, while Hiru was staring at the new account name that suddenly appeared on the screen, his fingers frozen like a sculpture on the keyboard.
The scroll in Jhin’s arms still had the dampness of the mine, and the runes on it glowed strangely in the moonlight, as if waiting for a certain moment to come.
Chapter 32: Shadows interweave, the red scorpion strikes back (old version)
When he pushed open the door of the Intelligence Department, Uchiha Jin’s shoulders were still covered with grass debris from the mountain road.
Haruno Na was spinning the puppet spool with one hand in front of the control console. The metal wire drew a silver arc at her fingertips. When she saw him come in, she immediately threw the spool onto the table. “I told you that you could come back alive—” Before she could finish her words, she caught a glimpse of the scroll in his arms. Her pupils shrank slightly. “Is this from the stone tablet in the mine?”
“Look at this first.” Jhin spread the scroll on the workbench. The moonlight slanted in through the blinds, making the crooked runes glow bluish-gray.
He took out half of the forehead guard and slapped it on the table. The metal edge made a light sound. “There is half a shoe print outside the cave. The wear marks of the chakra stabilizing shoes are consistent with the standard ninja tools of the Hatake family.”
Hatake Hiru, who was typing on the keyboard, suddenly froze, with his fingertips hovering over the account name “Hatake Sakumo”.
This old account, which was marked as a “root” file, suddenly became active in the database three days ago.
He pushed up his glasses, his eyes behind the lenses darkening, “My brother’s chakra stabilizing shoes are specially made, but the older generation in the clan… such as Senior Sakumo’s old style, the heels are indeed worn into this arc.”
Haruno Na picked up the forehead protector and turned it over and over, rubbing her fingertips across the gap on the edge. “The cut on this forehead protector was caused by wind-attribute chakra, and it matches the wound on Orochimaru’s experimental subject we intercepted before.” She suddenly looked up. “Canglang led us to the mine not to find any ancient runes – he wanted us to find this half forehead protector and the shoe prints.”
Jhin’s fingertips traced over the scroll runes: “He’s giving us clues.” Before he finished speaking, the red alarm of the Intelligence Department suddenly exploded, and the emergency lights on the ceiling began to rotate. The harsh buzzing was mixed with mechanical sounds: “Outer barrier nodes 17, 19, and 21 were attacked, and chakra fluctuations above C level were detected!”
Fei Liu tapped the keyboard fiercely, and a holographic projection unfolded above everyone’s heads. In the surveillance footage of node No. 17, seven black shadows were moving along the edge of the barrier. The leader wore a bronze scorpion mask and had twelve puppets hanging around his waist. The joints of each puppet were oozing with dark blue venom.
“Red Scorpion.” Jhin’s voice sank.
According to the intelligence they intercepted three days ago, this newly promoted intelligence officer of Orochimaru was good at using puppets to disguise as civilians to infiltrate. The most brutal one was that he massacred an entire orphanage in the Hidden Rain Village just to divert the attention of the Anbu and steal medical ninjutsu.
“The target is the defense system data.” Fei Liu quickly called up the node structure diagram, “Seventeen, nineteen, and twenty-one happen to be the three external ports of the main server. By attacking these three points at the same time, they can hack into the core within five minutes.”
Haruno Na had already picked up the puppet box and hooked three silver threads with her fingertips: “Do you need me to be the bait?”
“You are the protagonist this time.” Jin suddenly smiled, took out two kunai from his ninja tool bag and threw them to her. “There is an abandoned canal at Node 21 that can get behind the enemy. I need you to use puppet lines to wrap around all the transmission lines when they set up the signal receiver – remember to leave a live line.”
“What about you?”
“Confront Kakashi-sensei head-on.” Jin drew out his short sword, the blade reflecting red light. “The Red Scorpion is good at guerrilla warfare. He won’t fight in the frontal battlefield himself, but as long as he wants to run -” He tapped his temple, “I will stop him from running.”
When the moonlight was mostly obscured by dark clouds, the battle at barrier node No. 17 had already reached a fever pitch.
Kakashi’s Raikiri tore through the air, and the blue-purple arc of electricity accurately shattered the puppet that pounced on him. Sparks splashed on the scorpion-shaped mask of Red Scorpion, reflecting his squinted eyes.
“The Hatake family’s Lightning Release is indeed beautiful.” Akascorpion’s voice came from behind the mask. He retreated to the top of the tree, and the twelve puppets spread out in a fan shape. “But do you think you can stop me with just a jonin like you?”
Before he finished speaking, the three puppets suddenly exploded, and three fire snakes rushed out from the black smoke – they were Haruno Na’s fire puppets!
She stood on a rock a hundred meters away, silver threads flying between her fingers. The joints of the other nine puppets jammed at the same time, and the transmission lines were accurately entangled by her chakra threads.
“The signal receiver failed to start!” The exclamation of his subordinates made the Red Scorpion’s pupils shrink suddenly.
He bit his fingertips fiercely and formed a seal in front of his chest. The ground suddenly cracked open and twenty earth-escaping puppets wrapped in poison sacs broke out of the ground. Poisonous fog instantly enveloped the battlefield.
“The poisonous fog contains neurotoxins, which will paralyze you in three seconds!” Haruno Na’s voice came from the fog, and the sound of silver threads breaking through the air was more urgent than usual.
Jin closed his eyes and let the flowing chakra spread along the ground – this was the “chakra positioning” he had recently developed, which could sense the position of living things through ground vibrations.
The Red Scorpion’s chakra fluctuations are thirty meters in front of the left, moving towards the gap in the barrier.
Jin swung his knife violently, and the short knife wrapped in flowing chakra broke through the air and accurately nailed the red scorpion’s ankle!
“You—” Red Scorpion staggered and turned around, only to see Jin walking out of the fog, forming a seal with his left hand and pressing his right hand on the ground: “Flowing Light·Net Binding!”
A golden light net rose from the ground, covering Red Scorpion and his puppets.
Haruno Na’s silver thread followed closely and wove a second layer of restraint on the light net.
The red scorpion’s mask finally cracked, revealing a distorted face underneath: “What a plan… but do you think you can trap me to death like this?”
He suddenly laughed, and all the detonating talismans on his body lit up!
“Retreat!” Kakashi’s Raikiri slashed out again, creating a gap in the light net.
Jin dragged Haruno Na and rolled on the ground. The blast blew away the three of them. When the smoke and dust cleared, only the charred ground and half of the puppet’s remains were left at the Red Scorpion’s location.
Haruno Na climbed up with a cough and used the puppet string to pick up the half puppet: “He has a backup plan.” There was a chip embedded in the puppet’s abdominal cavity, and the surface was stained with blood.
Fei Liu’s voice came from the communicator: “Don’t touch it! That’s an encrypted storage chip – I’m cracking it now.”
Three seconds later, a holographic projection unfolded above everyone’s heads.
The picture shows Orochimaru’s laboratory, with rows of culture chambers filled with Sharingan and Samsara eyes. When the camera swept across the last wall, Jin’s breathing suddenly stagnated – on the wall was a military deployment map of the five major countries, and each key point was marked with “Destroyed on X Day”.
“This is…” Haruno Na’s voice tightened.
“Orochimaru’s war plan.” Jin’s fingertips lightly touched the “Konoha” symbol in the projection. “He will use the tailed beast weapons and bloodline limit weapons to attack the core of the five major countries at the same time within three months.”
The wind suddenly blew a few dead leaves across the battlefield. Jin took out half of the forehead guard from his arms. The metal edge shone coldly in the moonlight.
He looked at Kakashi, “Sensei, we need to get back to the Intelligence Department.”
It was already late at night when all the lights in the Intelligence Department were on.
Haruno Na threw the remains of the puppet on the table, and the contents of the chip were still playing in a loop; Feiliu’s fingers flew on the keyboard, trying to track the escape route of Red Scorpion; Kakashi leaned against the door, his eyes fell on the scroll in Jin’s hand.
“Do we need to notify Lord Hokage?” Fei Liu suddenly looked up.
Jhin didn’t answer. He stared at the war plan in the holographic projection, and his Adam’s apple moved.
The moonlight outside the window was completely blocked by dark clouds, and the room fell into a brief darkness. When the emergency light came on, he had already grabbed the scroll and forehead protector on the table: “Call everyone.”
Haruno Na raised an eyebrow: “Now?”
“Now.” Jhin’s voice was very soft, but it carried a certain unquestionable power. “Some things can’t wait any longer.”
The door of the Intelligence Department was blown open by the wind, causing the documents on the table to rustle.
When the moonlight came in again, it happened to shine on the account name of “Hatake Sakumo”, and the gray avatar suddenly began to flicker.
Chapter 33 Before the Storm, Final Preparations (Old Version)
The emergency lights of the Intelligence Department cast a cold white halo on the ceiling. The wind blew half a page of the document open, revealing the words “Forbidden Experiment” circled in red.
Uchiha Jin tapped the edge of the holographic projection with his fingers, and blue light flickered in his eyes: Call up the coordinates in the Red Scorpion chip.
Haruno Na pushed the remains of the puppet to the center of the table, and the metal joints made a slight friction sound.
She opened the animal leather bag at her waist, took out a palm-sized copper bell and shook it. The chip in the puppet’s chest suddenly beeped. It was the signal activator she modified with animal training. This broken thing has three layers of encryption. If I hadn’t stuffed the tracking bug in the puppet’s joints,
It’s been cracked. Hatake Hiru’s fingertips left the keyboard, and the holographic projection suddenly twisted into a map covered with red dots.
He pushed up his glasses, and his hair hung down to cover half of his face. The movement route of the Red Scorpion completely overlapped with the trajectory of Orochimaru’s caravan that disappeared in River Country three years ago.
Kakashi took off his forehead protector and rubbed his brows, his Sharingan glowing scarlet in the dark room: What did the caravan transport three years ago?
Ninja Tool Forge. Yamamoto’s voice was like a rusty gear. The oldest jonin in the Intelligence Department flipped through the yellowed files, and a blurry photo fell out from between the pages. There was a snake-shaped totem engraved on the furnace spout. Orochimaru had applied to manufacture weapons for the Sand Village, but the caravan was hijacked at the border of the Rain Country, and not even the bodies were found.
The holographic projection suddenly flickered, and at the moment when the coordinates in the Red Scorpion chip overlapped with the map, an area covered by fog suddenly became clear.
That is the Duankong Mountains on the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Earth. The mountain is artificially carved out with honeycomb-like caves, and the deepest part is prominently marked with the “core area”.
This is… Haruno Na moved closer to the projection, her pupils contracting slightly.
She had seen similar structures while wandering – an underground laboratory that used a chakra barrier to isolate sound waves, with thermal energy reactions inside… There were at least seventeen experimental chambers in operation.
Not only that. Fei Liu called up another set of data. According to the satellite cloud map, there are three more layers below the core area. The chakra fluctuations at the bottom layer… seem to be cultivating something. His fingers paused. It was very similar to the fluctuations detected in the clan’s secret room on the night of the Uchiha clan’s extermination three years ago.
The temperature in the room seemed to drop three degrees.
Jin took out half of the forehead guard from his arms, and the metal edge rubbed against his palm – he had picked it up from the fire scene on the night of the genocide, and the edge was still stained with burnt blood. Progress of weapons development. His voice was very soft, but it hit everyone’s heart like a heavy hammer.
Yamamoto opened the last document, and the pages rustled: Orochimaru was researching a chakra concentration device. He raised his head, and frost formed in the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes. He used a living person as a container to compress the chakra of the tailed beast into crystals.
If these things fall into the hands of the enemy…the entire ninja world will become a battlefield.
The wind outside the window suddenly blew sand against the glass.
Jin pressed the forehead guard to the core area of ​​the projection. The blue light passed through the metal gap and cast a distorted shadow on the wall: Split into two groups. His eyes swept over everyone. Kakashi-sensei led the Anbu to the Rain Country and released false news that we were going to intercept his transport team.
What about you? Haruno Na put the puppet parts into the animal leather bag, her knuckles white from clenching.
I led the infiltration team into the core area. Jin drew out his short knife and drew a thin line on the map, and then went in through the underground river of the Broken Sky Mountains – Haruno, can your puppetry break the trap?
Yes. Haruno Na grinned, revealing her little canine teeth.
She untied the bandage on her left arm, revealing the puppet joint embedded inside. “Three years ago, I stole the treasure house of the Hidden Rock Village and used the puppet arm to dismantle twenty-seven explosive mechanisms.
Fei Liu suddenly raised his hand: According to the recent communication records of the Canglang Organization… He called up a string of garbled codes and quickly converted them into text. Their reconnaissance team entered the Duankong Mountains three days ago.
The target… overlaps with ours.
What does the wolf want? Jhin’s thumb stroked the hilt of the dagger.
Fei Liu shook his head: The encryption level is higher than Orochimaru.
But they killed three stray ninjas in the Land of Rain, and those people had… He paused, the same chakra residue as in the Uchiha’s secret room.
He thought of the stone tablet he found in the mine three months ago. In the ancient text soaked in blood, the word “Cang Lang” appeared repeatedly. Act in advance. He grabbed the scroll on the table and threw it to Kakashi, “Teacher, we must release the false news before dawn tomorrow morning.”
The clock in the Intelligence Department struck three in the morning.
Haruno Na pressed the puppet’s arm onto the lock of the simulation cabin, and the sound of metal gears turning echoed in the training room. The third lock, unlocked. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and turned to look at Jin. Is it 90% similar to the real thing?
Ninety-five percent. Fei Liu’s voice came from the monitoring room, and the chakra fluctuations triggered by the mechanism were completely consistent.
Jhin stood on top of the simulation chamber, the tip of his dagger hovering over the last detonating talisman.
He took a deep breath, and chakra flowed along the blade – that was his improved “Flowing Chakra”, which could accurately control the cutting force.
The moment the tip of the knife pierced the talisman paper, a red mark lit up on the monitoring screen: Success.
Haruno Na slumped on the ground and looked up at him: You have changed. Her voice was as light as a sigh. When you copied my paper in the first exam, you were chased all over the playground by Mr. Iruka.
Now…
Jhin jumped down and reached out to pull her, the warmth of his palm coming through the bandages: I just don’t want to lose again. He looked at the countdown on the wall of the training room – there were still seven hours before the action, and he didn’t want to see the important people… disappear again.
There was only a small light on in the Intelligence Department late at night.
Jhin stood in front of the window, the moonlight made his shadow very long.
He took out the note close to his body, on which was a rubbing of a stone tablet in the mine: The truth is waiting for light in the darkness. The wind lifted the curtains, and a low roar came from the distance, like a giant beast turning over underground.
Captain. Haruno Na’s voice came from behind.
She was holding a leather bag filled with puppet parts, her hair still covered with dust from training, it was time to set off.
Jhin stuffed the note back into his collar and turned around with sparks dancing in his eyes.
He took the goggles handed to him by Haruno Na, feeling the touch of metal against his skin: Let’s go.
The morning mist in the Duankong Mountains had not yet dissipated, and a dark shadow was slowly moving along the cracks in the mountain wall.
The young man in front stopped and scratched a shallow mark on the rock with his dagger – it was a mark that completely matched the one on the map.
In the distance, Orochimaru’s core base was hidden in the fog, like a dormant giant snake.
In the darkness, another group of people wrapped in black cloaks were staring at the boy’s back. The leader took off his hood, and the scar on his left eye looked like a twisted centipede.
The target appears. He whispered, pressing his finger on the communicator to activate the Canglang Project.
Chapter 34: Infiltrating the Crisis, the Ambush of the Red Scorpion (Old Version)
The morning mist in the Duankong Mountains was filled with the smell of rust, which clung to Uchiha Jin’s goggles and condensed into tiny water droplets.
He moved forward half an inch along the crack in the mountain wall. The shallow marks made by the dagger on the rock were completely consistent with the crumpled map in his arms – that was the map of the outer perimeter of Orochimaru’s base that Hatake Hiru copied with the Sharingan, even every protruding rock was exactly the same.
“Twenty steps to the left, the third crevice.” Haruno Na’s voice came from the communicator in her throat, with a hint of roughness like the friction of sand.
She was hanging on the rock vines above Jin, the puppet parts in the animal hide bag rustling softly with her breathing. “I saw the patrol team, three people, with Kusanagi short swords, they should be the new wandering ninjas recruited by Orochimaru.”
Jhin’s fingertips tapped lightly on the metal plate on the side of the goggles, which was the signal agreed upon with Feiliu.
Three seconds later, the young man’s clear response came from the communicator: “Confirmed, the third patrol team, the shift changes every 40 minutes, and there are now 7 minutes and 13 seconds to reach the next sentry point.”
The mountain wind suddenly rolled up a mist, and Jin’s pupils shrank slightly – in the crevice of the rock where his eyes had just swept, three faint chakra lines were glowing with a faint blue light, like three transparent nets across the path that had to be taken.
That was the chakra sensing trap that Orochimaru was best at. As long as any line was touched, the alarm of the entire base would explode, making a piercing sound.
“Nai, start plan B.” Jhin lowered his voice and tapped two short notes on the rock wall with his fingertips.
Haruno Na’s animal hide bag opened with a “rustle” and three palm-sized wooden puppets popped out.
These puppets were made from animal bones left over from animal taming mixed with chakra metal, and the joints were wrapped with chakra threads as thin as hair.
She shook her wrist, and the puppet on the far left suddenly let out a sharp bird cry – it was the cry of the blood-tailed pheasant unique to the Duankong Mountains.
Footsteps were heard coming from the crevice of the rock twenty steps away.
Three ninjas wrapped in dark green cloaks emerged from the fog. The scarred man in the lead narrowed his eyes and said, “Blood-tailed Pheasant? You shouldn’t leave the nest at this time.”
“Boss, I’ll go take a look.” The tall and thin man on the right just raised his foot, and Haruno Na’s second puppet had already crashed into the rock at his feet and shattered into a pile of sawdust.
The tall and thin man was splashed with wood chips in the face, and he drew his sword while cursing: “Who the hell is playing a prank on me——”
“Left!” the scarred man suddenly shouted.
The third puppet was flying towards him with a stone in its mouth. He waved his knife to block it, but saw the stone explode in mid-air with a “pop” and a cloud of orange smoke rose up – this was the smell released by blood-tailed pheasants when they were courting.
The three ninjas’ attention was drawn to the other side of the crevice.
Jhin took the opportunity to slide down the mountain wall, pressing his palms against the rock.
The so-called “flowing chakra” seeps out from the fingertips, like countless fireflies drilling into the cracks in the rocks, and shuttling between the dark blue chakra lines.
He could clearly sense the frequency of each line: the one on the left was driven by fire chakra, the middle was wind, and the one on the right was lightning – as long as he used chakra of the same attribute to gently guide them, he could make them interfere with each other.
“Let’s go.” He pulled Haruno Na’s rock vine, and the two of them melted into the fog like two shadows.
By the time the three ninjas returned to the sentry post cursing, the chakra lines in the cracks in the rocks had already become a tangled mess, and even the alarm device was emitting smoke due to self-overload.
The entrance to the base is more hidden than expected.
It was a crack in the mountain that was only wide enough for one person to pass through, and the surface was covered with a chakra barrier disguised as rock.
As soon as Jin’s fingertips touched the barrier, Feiliu’s urgent reminder came from the communicator: “Wait! The barrier is mixed with snake scale powder, it will record the chakra of anyone who touches it!”
Haruno Na immediately took out a ceramic bottle from the animal skin bag and poured a handful of gray-white powder into Jin’s palm – it was made from the poisonous frog skins she collected during her wanderings, and it could temporarily cover up the chakra fluctuations.
Jin spread the powder evenly and pressed it on the barrier again. This time, the barrier only showed a circle of light purple ripples before cracking silently.
The interior of the base resembles an inverted beehive.
The metal corridor glowed with a cold light. There was a hemispherical monitor every five steps, and red scanning lines drew arcs in the air.
Jin’s goggles suddenly lit up green. It was Feiliu synchronizing the surveillance footage through the Sharingan: “Turn left, avoid the blind spot of the third surveillance camera. Their thermal induction is delayed by three seconds.”
Haruno Na’s puppet shrunk to the size of a fingernail, squatting on her shoulder, its round wooden eyes rolling around.
When the footsteps of the seventh patrol team came from the front, the puppet suddenly opened its mouth and let out a shrill scream like a baby crying – the ninjas on the patrol team looked at each other, one of them cursed “bad luck” and turned around and walked in the opposite direction.
“There are still thirty meters to the core control room.” Jin touched the kunai at his waist, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on his palms.
The road was so smooth, as if it was paved by someone on purpose.
At this moment, all the lights at the end of the corridor suddenly went out.
The sound of fabric rubbing against each other came from the darkness, and a hoarse laugh licked everyone’s eardrums like a snake’s tongue: “Do you think you can get into the core like this?”
The Red Scorpion stepped out from the shadows.
His left eye was covered with a cracked leather patch, and a scar ran from his brow into his collar, but the right side of his face was so white that it was almost transparent, as if it had been soaked in a medicine jar for a long time.
The five fingers of his right hand were shaped into claws, and the fingertips were a strange blue-black color. There were seven human-shaped puppets coiled at his feet, with short blades tipped with poison stuck in their joints.
“Poisonous fog.” The Red Scorpion whispered two words.
The vents on both sides of the corridor simultaneously spewed out purple-black mist with the sweet smell of rotten fruit.
Haruno Na’s puppet ejected chakra lines, which entangled the nearest vent in an attempt to block it, but the poisonous mist bypassed the lines as if it had life and rushed straight towards everyone’s faces.
His flowing chakra surged out like a tide, forming a translucent barrier around the three people.
The poisonous fog hit the barrier, making a “sizzling” corrosive sound, and instantly burned a thumb-sized hole on the surface of the barrier.
“Nai, entangle his puppet!” Jin shouted and threw out three kunai with his backhand.
The kunai brushed past Red Scorpion’s ear and was nailed to the wall, but exploded into smoke the moment it touched the wall – that was the puppet detonator specially made by Haruno Nai. Three sword-wielding puppets immediately emerged from the smoke and went straight for Red Scorpion’s throat.
The Red Scorpion did not dodge or evade, but pressed his right palm on the puppet mechanism in front of his chest.
Seven puppets suddenly jumped up at the same time, three of them swung their swords to block Haruno Na’s puppet, and the other four opened their arms, and densely packed poisoned silver needles shot out from the joints.
Haruno Na’s animal hide bag exploded with a “bang”. Dozens of defensive puppets flew around like butterflies, using their shells to block the silver needles. The sound of metal collisions exploded in the corridor.
“The chakra fluctuations are wrong.” Jin gritted his teeth to maintain the barrier, but half of his attention was on the Red Scorpion.
That guy’s chakra was like a crumpled rag, mixed with the three attributes of wind, fire, and poison, but with a certain incongruous sense of emptiness – as if something was extracted using a forbidden technique to maintain it.
“The Canglang Plan has more than just these means.” Red Scorpion suddenly smiled and quickly formed a seal with his left hand.
The ground suddenly cracked, and several giant snakes made of chakra broke out of the ground and entangled Haruno Na’s defensive puppet.
Cold sweat oozed from her forehead, and the chakra lines left red marks on her palms: “Jin! These snakes… are driven by my puppet chakra!”
Jhin understood instantly.
Akascorpion just deliberately let Haruno Na’s puppets get close to him, and took the opportunity to steal her chakra fluctuations. Now he is using forbidden techniques to reversely control those puppets.
His flowing chakra split the barrier like a sharp blade and rushed straight towards the nearest chakra snake.
The moment the snake’s body was cut by the chakra, Haruno Na immediately cut the control rope, and the puppet exploded into pieces with a “bang”, and the recoil made the Red Scorpion stagger two steps.
“Let’s go!” Jin grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and ran deep into the corridor. Red Scorpion sneered from behind: “Run? Your retreat has been blocked long ago.”
Before he could finish his words, a metal wall suddenly rose from the ground behind them. On the wall was a palm-sized detonating tag. The red lines on the wall were throbbing like blood vessels, and the “tick-tick” countdown sound was like a heavy hammer hitting people’s hearts.
“Thirty seconds left.” Jhin’s breath almost turned into white mist.
He pushed Haruno Na to the corner in front, swung out a kunai with his backhand to nail the edge of the detonating talisman, and the flowing chakra followed the kunai and penetrated into the talisman paper.
The pattern of the detonating talisman appeared in the chakra, like an intricate web, and the small black dot at the core was the source of detonation.
Haruno Na’s puppet came out from her sleeve and pressed the back of Jin’s hand with its little claws: “I’ll help you stabilize your chakra.”
The chakras of the two people intersected on the talisman paper.
Jhin’s fingertips trembled slightly – this was the first time he dismantled a forbidden-grade detonating talisman at such a close distance.
When the countdown jumped to “five”, his chakra accurately cut the three lines connecting the core.
The detonating talisman dimmed instantly, and the red lines stuck to the metal wall limply like blood vessels that had been drained of blood.
“Huh…” Haruno Na held onto the wall, sweat dripping onto the ground from her forehead, “Did that guy run away?”
Jin wiped the mist off his goggles and stared at the direction where the Red Scorpion disappeared: “He’s waiting for us to fall into his trap.”
The door to the core control room was ajar.
When the two pushed the door open, what they saw was a mess – the experimental table was overturned, and the green liquid in the culture tank was evaporating. Only the metal console in the center was still lit, with a string of encrypted codes jumping on the screen. The projector next to it started automatically, projecting the image of Orochimaru.
The man in the white coat had a cold look in his snake eyes: “Welcome to my game, the real battlefield has just begun.” In the background of the image, countless test tubes can be vaguely seen, with twisted human bodies inside – they are even crazier experimental subjects than in the original book.
Jhin’s fingers pressed hard on the console.
He was very familiar with the format of the encryption code, it was Orochimaru’s unique double-helix encryption method, but… the temperature of the console was wrong, the fingerprints on the keys were wiped too clean, and even a faint smell of deodorant remained in the air – this place had been empty for at least three days.
“We’ve been tricked.” Haruno Na’s puppet squatted on the console, using its claws to pick at the encrypted files. “Since entering the base, all the traps have been signposts leading us here.”
Fei Liu’s voice suddenly came from the communicator: “Captain, I detected abnormal chakra fluctuations in your chakra. There is…something mixed in it.”
Jhin yanked off his goggles.
Under the perspective of the Sharingan, there were faint purple spots under his skin – those were the traces left by the red scorpion’s poisonous mist. The barrier just now only blocked most of it, and a small amount still seeped in.
“Retreat.” Jin gritted his teeth and tore off a piece of his clothes, wrapping it around the purple spot on his arm. “Return to the temporary base. Feiliu will prepare the antidote.”
Night comes especially early in the Duankong Mountains.
When the two men returned to their temporary base halfway up the mountain in the dark, the moonlight was shining through the broken window onto Feiliu’s Sharingan.
The boy held the notebook, the blue light from the screen made his eyes blue. “I cracked part of the encrypted file, and it contains…wait, what is this?”
His fingers suddenly stopped.
The code on the screen suddenly began to refresh automatically, and a line of blood-red words appeared before everyone’s eyes: “Welcome home, Class 7.”
The wind outside the window suddenly became stronger, making the broken cloth on the window rustle.
At the moment the curtain swayed, he caught a glimpse of a figure wearing a leather eye mask holding a telescope on the distant hilltop, with a sinister smile on his face in the moonlight.
Chapter 35 True or False Intelligence, Canglang’s Choice (Old Version)
The night wind from the Duankong Mountains swept into the makeshift base with the sound of pine trees, making the kerosene lamp in the corner flicker.
Uchiha Jin tore off the bloody cloth wrapped around his arm. The purple spots had spread to his forearm and were crawling towards his elbow like a ferocious poisonous snake.
Haruno Na took out a kunai from her ninja tool bag and roasted it over the fire until it turned red. “I’ll help you cut out this poisonous meat—”
No need. Jin raised his hand and pressed her wrist, his Sharingan glowing scarlet in the darkness. The poisonous mist of the red scorpion was corrosive, but it penetrated slowly.
Waiting for the antidote for Hiru. He turned to Hatake Hiru, who was huddled in front of the table. The latter was staring at the bloody words that kept refreshing on the laptop screen. His Adam’s apple moved. This… This file seems to be recognizing our chakra.
Welcome home, the bloody words of Team 7 suddenly twisted, split into countless code fragments, and rearranged into a string of spiral characters.
Fei Liu’s fingers flew across the keyboard, and the magatama of the Sharingan slowly turned – this was a sign that he had activated his memory storage ability. It was double encryption!
The outer layer is the spiral code commonly used in Orochimaru’s laboratory, and the inner layer… He suddenly gasped, the inner layer used the shadow pattern encryption method of Konoha Anbu!
The Anbu’s Shadow Pattern encryption method requires the simultaneous input of the encryptor’s chakra sample and the decryptor’s blood drops. There are no more than ten people in the entire Konoha who have access to this technology.
Haruno Na suddenly pulled out the puppet string behind her, and the metal wire was stretched into a bowstring in her palm. Is there a traitor?
More trouble. Jin bent over and approached the screen, his fingertips lightly touching the flowing characters, the nodes of the spiral code and the shadow code… there was chakra residue. He dipped his finger in the blood at the corner of his mouth and tapped on a specific position on the screen – this was left intentionally when he bit his lip just now.
As soon as the blood bead touched the screen, the code suddenly moved like a living thing, and a new line of text appeared in front of everyone: Cracking progress 37%: Orochimaru Chakra Resonance Project Experiment Log 013
Found it! Feiliu’s fingers almost poked through the keyboard. The 013 log recorded the chakra resonance experiment conducted on living people in the underground laboratory of Yinyin Village last winter.
The test subjects were all Chunin-level, implanted with… implanted with Hashirama’s cells? His voice trembled, but the records showed that 90% of the test subjects exploded and died during the resonance process, and only three survived –
Wait. Jin suddenly pressed Feiliu’s shoulder, and from the perspective of the Sharingan, a very faint purple light flashed at the edge of the screen, and the log was pulled to the end.
Fei Liu quickly turned the pages, and the last line of records made the three people change color at the same time: Experimental subject C-17 showed abnormal resonance, and the chakra amount exceeded the normal upper limit by 200%. It was preliminarily judged that it could be used as a resonance core.
The next plan: Build a chakra network in the ninja world, with C-17 as the hub, to achieve large-scale chakra control.
Large-scale manipulation of chakra… Haruno Na’s puppet strings left red marks on his palms. Does that mean he can extract the chakra of any ninja at will, or even stagnate the flow of chakra in the entire ninja world?
Worse. Jin’s voice was like ice. If the chakra network was manipulated, all ninjutsu that relied on chakra would become ineffective, the barrier would collapse, and medical ninjas would be unable to save people… The defenses of the five great nations would become a sieve overnight.
The screen suddenly flickered again, and the original code was replaced by a bunch of garbled code.
Fei Liu was so anxious that he kept typing on the keyboard, and the encryption layer was closed again!
The last paragraph is hidden code, formatted like… coordinates?
These are the coordinates of the border between the Kingdom of Wind and the Kingdom of Fire.
A cold voice came from the broken window.
The three of them turned their heads at the same time. In the moonlight, a figure wearing a leather eye mask was hooking one foot on the window sill. His black windbreaker was blown up by the wind, revealing three short blades inserted at his waist. The blades were engraved with spiral patterns that matched the numbers of the experimental subjects in Otogakure Village.
Canglang. Jin recognized this man who was labeled as an SS-level information dealer in the Anbu files.
Three days ago in the core control room, it was this man who deliberately knocked over the alarm, buying them time to copy the files.
Canglang jumped into the house, and his leather boots crushed the broken porcelain pieces on the ground.
He took off his eye mask, revealing his left eye – it was a three-magatama Sharingan, but it had an extra circle of silver lines than an ordinary Sharingan. The hidden code was the storage point of Orochimaru’s resonance core.
But if you go now, you will be torn to pieces by his snares.
Why should I trust you? Haruno Na’s puppet strings have already wrapped around his ankles.
Canglang looked down at the metal wire on his ankle and suddenly laughed, because I could have killed you three days ago, but I helped you lead the patrol away.
Because… He tapped the screen with his knuckles. The encryption method of this string of coordinates is exactly the same as what I learned in the Root Organization.
Root? Fei Liu’s Sharingan suddenly shrank.
The Root is Danzo’s secret force, and all members’ information has been destroyed. Do you know Danzo?
I realized that he dug out my Sharingan and fed it to the experimenter. Canglang put on his eye mask again, and his tone was as calm as if he was talking about the weather. Now, either believe me or watch Orochimaru use the chakra of the entire ninja world as a toy.
Choose.
Jin knocked his knuckles on the table twice, sparks flew from his fingers – this was his habit when thinking, using fire chakra to ignite the paper scraps on his fingertips. Crack the last layer of encryption. He pushed the notebook over and used your method.
Canglang sat down, and his fingers moved on the keyboard three times faster than Feiliu.
When he entered the seventh character, Jin noticed that his Sharingan flashed a silver light – completely different from the fluctuations when the Scarlet Flow stored memories, it was more like… reading some sealed information.
The crack is complete. Canglang took two steps back, and a map popped up on the screen. A red mark flashed on the Devil’s Crying Valley at the border of Fenghuo. That was the underground laboratory built by Orochimaru twenty years ago, and the entrance was in the cave behind the waterfall.
Inside there is a prototype of the resonance core, and… he paused. The twenty-seven imprisoned experimental subjects are all elites from various ninja villages.
Haruno Na stood up suddenly, the puppet strings stretched into sharp blades at her fingertips, and she went to save them now!
No. Jin held her shoulders and locked his eyes on Canglang’s Sharingan. The prototype required at least three jonin to cast seals at the same time to shut it down, and Orochimaru must have set up curse seal traps around it.
More importantly… he turned to Canglang and said, “Your Sharingan’s fluctuations are completely different from those of the Uchiha clan.”
Canglang’s body stiffened slightly.
The Hatake family’s Sharingan is transplanted, and its fluctuations are stable.
Uchiha’s Sharingan carries fire chakra. Jin’s Sharingan slowly rotates, your Sharingan… has the breath of Wood Release in its fluctuations. He suddenly grabs Canglang’s wrist, and his chakra penetrates along the meridians – at the other’s heart, he touches a cold wooden thorn, Hashirama’s cells?
Canglang pulled his hand back abruptly, and the muscles under the blindfold twitched. Is Orochimaru’s experimental subject satisfied?
Not yet. Jin took out a kunai from his ninja tool bag and placed the tip of the blade against his palm. If I cut my palm now, the blood will drip onto your Sharingan.
Enough! Haruno Na slapped his hand away. Now is not the time for internal strife!
Orochimaru’s plan has reached the final stage. If we delay any further——
He’s right. Canglang interrupted her and took out a communication scroll from his arms. I just received news that Orochimaru’s advance team has moved to Devil’s Cry Valley and will arrive in three hours. He slapped the scroll on the table. It was a detailed structural diagram of the laboratory, including the location of all the traps.
Jhin opened the scroll, his pupils suddenly shrank – the markings on it were accurate to the number of detonating talismans under each floor tile, how could you…
Because I was a guest there. Canglang turned and walked towards the window. The moonlight plated a layer of silver on his back. Remember, the core of the prototype is at the bottom layer, with triple curse seal protection.
You need…
Wait. Fei Liu suddenly pointed at the screen, and the cracking progress showed 100%!
The last paragraph is… Orochimaru’s target is not just the five major countries?
The three of them leaned over, and the last line of text made the air freeze instantly: When the chakra network is fully controllable, the lifelines of all ninja villages will be in my hands – including Konoha, Uchiha, and that little brat who always likes to glare at people with his Sharingan.
One of Haruno Na’s puppet strings snapped, this mad dog!
Do you believe me now? Canglang’s voice came from outside the window.
When Jin rushed to the window, he only saw his figure leaping over the cliff in the moonlight, the hem of his windbreaker fluttering like crow feathers. Remember, there is a hidden river under the waterfall in the Valley of the Weeping Ghosts, and entering the laboratory from there will not trigger the sonic trap.
Gray Wolf! Jhin shouted to the valley, what is your purpose?
The answer floated up on the wind: I want to see Orochimaru’s head trampled into the mud like he crushed my family.
Before he finished speaking, a sharp bird cry was heard in the distance – it was the cry of Konoha’s communication bird.
Haruno Na caught the carrier pigeon that landed on her shoulder and opened the note on her leg. It was a message from Kakashi: he was clearing out the remnants of Otogakure at the border of the Land of Fire and would be able to reach the Dankong Mountains in two hours.
Jhin looked in the direction where Canglang disappeared, his fingers unconsciously stroking the mark on the scroll.
In his Sharingan, purple spots had already crawled up to his elbows, but his eyes were colder than the moonlight.
Hiru, pass the laboratory diagram to the Anbu. He turned and walked to the medical box in the corner. Haruno, check all the ninja tools, especially the detonating tags and medical scrolls.
What are you going to do? Haruno Na raised an eyebrow.
The troops were divided into two groups. Jin took out the antidote and injected it into his veins. The purple spots faded at a speed visible to the naked eye. Kakashi led the Anbu to contain Orochimaru’s advance team head-on. We sneaked into the laboratory from the dark river. His Sharingan glowed red in the darkness. Orochimaru wanted the chakra network?
I want to turn his core of resonance into a bomb that will shatter his conspiracy.
Outside the window, the sound of pine waves suddenly rose, like some giant beast awakening at the foot of the mountain.
Jhin looked at the map on the table. The red mark of Haunted Valley was swaying slightly in the wind, as if foreshadowing a storm that was about to tear through the darkness.
Chapter 36: Desperate Counterattack, Liuguang’s Limit (Old Version)
The sound of pine waves wrapped in mountain mist crashed against the steep cliffs of the Duankong Mountains, shaking the wild vines in the cracks of the rocks.
When Uchiha Jin stuffed the last detonating tag into the ninja tool bag, he caught a glimpse of Haruno Na wiping the rust on the puppet’s arm armor with a rough cloth.
Her fingers moved flexibly between the metal joints, as if caressing her closest friend – that was the Red Flame Puppet that she had spent three years to piece together from the scraps of iron she had picked up while wandering. It was now glowing dark red in the moonlight.
Don’t let me be the bait this time. Haruno Na suddenly straightened up, and the leather armor rubbed against the puppet and made a slight sound.
Her ponytail was blown messily by the mountain breeze, but her eyes were burning with eagerness. The last time I was a target in the Hidden Rain Village, I was hit by three kunai in the back.
Jin lowered his head and fastened his forehead guard, the purple spot in his Sharingan had retreated to his wrist.
When he looked up, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips: Don’t worry, you are the protagonist this time.
Before he finished speaking, the sound of fabric rubbing against each other was heard not far away.
Hatake Hiru came out from behind the tree holding the scroll, with pine needles still on the ends of his hair: The Anbu confirmed that they had received the structural diagram.
There is a resonance core on the third underground floor of the laboratory, and the entrance is in the dark river on the southwest side – he pushed his goggles, but according to the latest intelligence, Orochimaru sent Red Scorpion to guard it.
That guy is good at disguise and can even imitate chakra fluctuations.
Red Scorpion? Sparks burst from the fingertips of Haruno Na’s puppet. Orochimaru’s intelligence officer?
I’ve heard rumors of him in the Land of Grass, that he can turn himself into stone and blend into the city walls.
Jhin tapped the dagger at his waist with his knuckles.
That was a kunai that he had improved with modern knowledge, with spiral chakra lines engraved on the blade. Even better. He looked at the rolling clouds in the distance. The better a mouse hides, the more painful it will be when it is crushed.
Three hours later, the cold mist from the dark river reached my ankles.
Haruno Na’s puppet Chiyan carried the three people upstream, and its bronze joints created dark blue ripples underwater.
Jin’s Sharingan penetrated the darkness and clearly captured the rock crevice twenty meters away – that was the entrance marked in the structural map, but now there were seven more chakra fluctuations.
Stop. He held Haruno Na’s shoulders.
The puppet’s movements froze instantly, leaving only tiny ripples on the water. The Red Scorpion was on the second floor. His voice was extremely low, and the chakra fluctuations were like crumpled cloth, a sign of camouflage.
Haruno Na pulled at her wrist guard and her fingertips brushed across the detonating tag on the inside of her arm armor: Should I go first?
Jhin nodded and used his fingertips to press three shallow pits on the rock wall – this was their original tactical code.
Haruno Na grinned and patted Chiyan’s neck.
The puppet suddenly raised its head and spewed out scorching flames, creating a meter-high column of water on the water surface!
Enemy attack! The ninja guarding the entrance just raised his kunai when he saw Chiyan’s bronze arm armor wrapped in wind blades sweeping over.
Haruno Na’s figure leaped to the top of the rock with the help of the blast wave, and twelve poisoned kunai popped out from the puppet’s joints, accurately pinning down the three ninjas who were trying to sound the alarm.
Good job. Jhin laughed quietly underwater.
The Sharingan took everything in: Red Scorpion was indeed on the second floor, and was now peeling off a human form from the stone wall with a sinister smile on his face.
His chakra fluctuations began to distort, and he was obviously trying to disguise himself as one of his own ninjas to counterattack – but under the perception of Jin’s flowing chakra, all disguises melted away like snow in the sun.
Feiliu, disrupting communications. Jin threw out three kunai, blasting smoke on the rock wall.
He used the smoke as cover to climb to the top of the rock and spun the dagger in his palm, Haruno, lead them to the east!
The red flame suddenly turned, burning the protective barrier on the east side with a crackling sound.
The guards fell into the trap and rushed towards the fire.
Jhin took the opportunity to slip into the secret door, and the dagger drew a blue light on the door lock – that was the result of the injection of flowing chakra, and the lock core instantly melted into a pool of scrap metal.
Smart little devil.
A sinister voice came from above.
Jhin looked up and saw the Red Scorpion hanging upside down on the ventilation duct, its eyes filled with the vertical pupils unique to snakes.
His right hand has turned into a mechanical arm, ending in three spikes oozing green fluid: But do you think you can live to see the resonance core?
Try? Jin’s Sharingan suddenly shrank.
He could sense that the Red Scorpion’s chakra was mixed with a deadly poison – that was the unique scent of Orochimaru’s experimental subject.
At the same time, the alarm in the laboratory sounded shrilly, purple mist began to spray down from the ceiling, and thorny vines stretched out from the cracks in the ground.
The defense system is activated. Fei Liu’s voice came from the communication symbol, the toxin will paralyze the chakra circuit, the vine is alive, the roots need to be cut off!
Jhin threw out five explosive talismans with his backhand, causing blood to splash among the vines.
The soles of his feet glowed with light, and chakra seeped into the ground like a living thing, forming a light blue energy field.
Haruno Na’s eyes suddenly lit up when she was covered by the energy field – she could clearly feel that the control of Chiyan became lighter, and even the chakra consumption was reduced by 30%!
The ninjas’ kunai went off course as soon as they were thrown, and it was obvious that their chakra was disturbed and could not be controlled accurately.
Is this… the realm of Flowing Light Chakra? Haruno Na whispered in the communication symbol.
She controlled the red flame and grabbed a vine. The bronze arm armor instantly burst into flames, burning the entire wall of vines to ashes. Jin, when will you be able to achieve this level?
Cold sweat was already oozing out of his forehead.
The field of Streaming Chakra requires simultaneous perception, interference, and amplification, and the consumption of chakra is five times the usual amount.
But when he saw Red Scorpion banging on the console frantically, his pupils shrank suddenly – that was activating the self-destruction program of the resonance core!
Haruno, destroy the defense tower on the east side!
Feiliu, locate the main line of the resonance core! His short knife cut through his fingertips, and blood dripped onto the energy field on the ground, and the field suddenly expanded to the entire laboratory!
The moment the Red Scorpion’s mechanical arm stabbed, the chakra weakened by the domain slowed his movements down a beat, and Jhin’s dagger was already against his throat.
You lose. Jhin’s voice was as cold as an icicle.
The red scorpion suddenly laughed.
His robotic arm popped out a button with a click, and the moment it was pressed, a roar came from deep in the laboratory: it would take three minutes to activate the resonance core and two minutes to activate the self-destruct program.
Little ghost, do you choose to save your companions or destroy the core?
The alarm sounded suddenly louder.
Jin’s Sharingan swept across the surveillance screen – Haruno Na was being crushed in the corridor on the third floor by the collapsed rubble in order to destroy the defense tower!
The energy of the resonance core has begun to gather, and blue light mist is pouring out of the pipe, about to form a chakra storm that is powerful enough to destroy half of the Fire Nation.
Feiliu, take the core blueprint and go first! Jin’s voice was more tense than ever before.
He turned and rushed to the third floor, the flowing chakra pouring into his legs desperately, and the wall became a blurry shadow in his vision.
When he saw Haruno Na was crushed under a half-human-high stone, with Chi Yan’s puppet arm still tightly protecting her head, his heart almost stopped.
Idiot… Who told you to resist… He knelt down and put his hands on the stone.
Streaming chakra gushed out like boiling magma, the blood vessels under the skin bulged, and the purple spots in the Sharingan crawled towards the neck at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The stone groaned as it was overwhelmed, and Haruno Na coughed up blood and grabbed his wrist: Go!
The core is about to explode!
Shut up. Jhin’s voice cracked.
He could feel his chakra being overdrawn, and his five senses were beginning to blur, but the stone finally loosened a crack. Hold on for another three seconds.
boom–!
The violent vibration threw the two people away.
Jin instinctively held Haruno Na in his arms. The moment his back hit the wall, he saw the blue light of the resonance core turn into a meteor-like flame, shooting into the sky from the vent at the top of the laboratory.
The Red Scorpion’s figure was disappearing in the thick smoke, leaving behind only a sneer that was torn apart by the explosion.
In the smoke and dust, Haruno Na pushed Jin away tremblingly.
There was blood on his chest, the purple spots from the Sharingan had covered half of his face, and his eyes were closed like a sleeping sculpture.
She touched his neck pulse with trembling hands, and when her fingertips touched the warm pulse, tears suddenly fell on his dusty forehead guard.
Jhin…you idiot…
Kakashi’s shouts could be heard in the distance, mixed with the footsteps of the Anbu support.
Haruno Na held Jin in her arms, and suddenly heard the sound of gravel rolling down above her head.
She looked up and saw the dome of the laboratory cracked with spider-web-like patterns, and a stone as big as a millstone was about to fall.
And Jhin’s fingers were weakly hooked on the corner of her clothes.
Chapter 37: Calling in the Dust (Old Version)
Haruno Na was awakened by the dust that choked her nose.
She coughed so hard that her lungs almost turned out. She supported herself on the ground with both hands and tried to get up, but she gasped the moment her fingertips touched the edges of the gravel – several bloody cuts appeared on the palms of her hands, and dark red blood oozed out, forming tiny spots on the scorched ground.
Ember? She shouted hoarsely, her voice hitting the collapsed wall and bouncing back like a crumpled rag.
When her vision gradually became clear, she almost went crazy.
The laboratory, which was originally relatively intact, now looked like a pottery jar crushed by a giant. Steel bars mixed with stones piled up into a small hill, and the ventilation ducts hung crookedly, still emitting sparks.
When she was blown away by the air wave just now, she crashed into the edge of the laboratory table in the corner, and the area where Jhin was protecting her was now buried under rubble that was half a person’s height.
Uchiha Jin! She rushed over, blood seeping from her nails as she tried to move the cement block on top. Get up!
Don’t play dead!
The stone did not move at all.
Sweat mixed with dust flowed down Haruno Na’s forehead. She suddenly remembered something and tremblingly took off the puppet box behind her.
That was the iron-claw puppet she had specially made with mountain cat bones and ebony wood. At this moment, she had bitten her fingertips and blood was dripping on the curse marks on the puppet’s joints: Come out!
Lift these broken stones for me!
Just as the puppet’s iron claws gripped the crack in the stone, steady footsteps suddenly sounded behind it.
Miss Haruno.
Kakashi stood at the edge of the ruins without knowing when, his mask was covered with dust, and the Sharingan under the forehead guard was slowly moving.
His Raikiri dagger was still emitting tiny arcs of electricity at his fingertips, and it was obvious that he had just dealt with the guards outside.
Calm down first. He bent down and picked up half of the burnt forehead protector – it was Jhin’s. The structure of the laboratory was completely destroyed, and blind digging would cause a secondary collapse.
Haruno Na’s puppet claw got stuck with a click, and when she turned her head, her eyes were red as if blood was about to drip out: What should I do?
Wait till he’s buried?
The search and rescue team of the Anbu will arrive in ten minutes. Kakashi squatted down and scanned the structure of the ruins with his Sharingan, but… I can feel that there are residual chakra fluctuations here. He gently pressed his fingertips on a piece of rubble that was still warm. It was flowing chakra, very faint, but it was indeed there.
Haruno Na’s breathing suddenly became rapid.
She remembered Jin saying that Flowing Chakra was a special attribute that he accidentally awakened in front of the stone tablet in the mine, and it could penetrate into tiny gaps like water.
If even Kakashi’s Sharingan can capture
He’s still alive, Kakashi confirmed, but he needs to be pinpointed.
Haruno Na suddenly pulled off her forehead protector.
That was the unique wolf head emblem of the Nohara clan. At this moment, she pressed it against her chest and closed her eyes to concentrate. Her instinct of living with wild beasts since childhood suddenly awakened, like an invisible thread pulling her nerves and extending into the depths of the ruins.
Over there! She suddenly opened her eyes and pointed to the tilted ventilation duct on the left. Three meters below, there was a heartbeat!
Kakashi’s Sharingan suddenly shrank.
He pulled out a kunai and drew three marks on the ground, then turned to Haruno Na and said: You use the puppet to clean up the surface rubble, and I will use thunder to cut through the main structure.
Note that you should only clean half a cubic meter at a time, otherwise…
Stop talking nonsense! Haruno Na’s puppet’s iron claws have already been inserted into the pile of stones. If he loses a hair, I will tear up your copy of the book!
Amid the sound of flying gravel, Haruno Na’s nails had been worn to the bone, but she didn’t feel any pain at all.
She could hear, somewhere beneath the rocks, a faint panting sound, like wind through the cracks of a cave.
I’m Haruno!
You hold on to it! She yelled, and her puppet claws suddenly hit metal with a thud—it was Jin’s kunai.
Found it!
Kakashi’s Raikiri instantly covered his palm, and the blue arc wrapped in chakra could split the thickest concrete slab like a sharp blade.
Haruno Na pounced forward, and removed the last layer of rubble with her bare hands, finally seeing the familiar black hair and red clothes.
Jhin was stuck between two twisted steel bars, his left calf was bent at a strange angle, and the breastplate on his chest was shattered into pieces, revealing a deep wound underneath that was so deep that the bone could be seen.
But his right hand still maintained the posture of making seals, and the lavender flowing chakra wrapped around him like gauze, supporting a small space above his head that was just big enough for his body.
Idiot… Haruno Na held his face tremblingly and found that his Sharingan was still moving slowly. How…how can you hold on so long?
He slowly opened his eyes, and his lips, which had turned white due to excessive blood loss, forced a faint smile: I promised… to take you to eat Ichiraku Ramen.
Haruno Na’s tears hit his face.
She suddenly remembered that three months ago, when the two of them were on a mission and passed by Ichiraku, Jin touched his empty wallet and said, “Wait until I get the Chunin bonus.” But then he turned around and used a trick to win three bowls of char siu noodles from the gambling house.
Stop talking nonsense! Kakashi has already torn open the first aid kit and used medical ninjutsu to temporarily stop the bleeding on Jin’s leg. The rescue stretcher from the Anbu will be here soon. Haruno, feed him chakra candy first.
But Jin suddenly grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist with amazing strength: Red Scorpion… ran away.
Haruno Na was stunned: What did you say?
Before the explosion… Jin started coughing, blood foam splashed on the back of her hand, and his chakra fluctuations… went towards the underground secret passage.
The lab’s self-destruct procedure… might do more than just blow up the prototype.
Kakashi’s Sharingan suddenly contracted.
He took out the communication symbol and slapped it on the ground. An eagle-shaped mark of the dark department emerged in the purple smoke: immediately block all underground passages within a radius of 20 miles, and focus on checking for suspicious people carrying poisonous puppets.
In addition, let the medical team prepare the anti-venom serum – Orochimaru’s laboratory never only has things that are visible.
The truth is worse than they imagined.
When everyone retreated to the temporary base with Jin, the Genin in charge of outer security ran in in a panic: Report!
In Qingshui Village outside the village…the villagers suddenly started coughing up blood!
The symptoms are very similar to the poisonous fog incident in Sand Village three years ago!
Haruno Na had just changed the medicine for Jin and stood up suddenly when she heard this: Chakra virus?
It should be the energy core fragment of the prototype. Jhin was leaning on the stretcher, with a fever patch on his forehead, but the sound was unusually clear. Before the collapse, I saw that the blue light of the resonance core was scattered into the ventilation system.
Those fragments carry unstable chakra and will… replicate themselves when they come into contact with living things.
He lifted the blanket covering his body and tried to sit up, but Haruno Na pushed him back down: Do you want to live?
Orochimaru’s goal was never to destroy the laboratory. Jin grabbed her wrist, the fingertips still felt the bandage, he wanted to make Konoha bear the crime of releasing biological weapons.
If the virus spreads to the border of the Fire Country… other ninja villages will use this as an excuse to jointly exert pressure.
Kakashi’s fingers unconsciously rubbed his forehead protector, which was his habit when thinking: the Anbu were already collecting samples, and Lady Tsunade sent Shizune with the medical team to rush over.
But the spread is faster than expected… Jhin, do you have any solution?
Jhin suddenly smiled, and a bit of his usual cunning appeared on his pale face: Remember the “Desert Ecology of the Kingdom of Wind” that I asked you to borrow for me last week?
It is mentioned that the venom glands of the sand scorpion can neutralize unstable chakra.
There should be something like this in the Red Scorpion’s puppet.
Haruno Na’s eyes lit up: You mean, chase the Red Scorpion!
The Red Scorpion brought the core fragments of the prototype. Jin tapped his temple with his fingers. He was going to take it back to Orochimaru, so he would definitely take the nearest secret passage – and the nearest secret passage exit was at…
The border of the Hidden Rain Village. Kakashi said, with a cold light flashing in his Sharingan, “I asked Feiliu to check and found that Orochimaru has a secret base in Hidden Rain Village.”
Just then, a strange wind suddenly blew outside the stronghold.
The wind smelled of rust and blew a few pieces of charred paper against the wooden door.
Haruno Na was about to close the window when she heard a strange male voice coming from above her head. It seemed to float from far away, but also seemed to ring directly in her head:
You guys did a great job.
The three people froze at the same time.
But the real challenge has just begun.
The moment the sound disappeared, a low roar came from the distance, like thunder muffled underground.
Haruno Na ran to the door and saw a strange purple mist rising in the western sky, spreading towards this side at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Jhin sat up on the stretcher, the moonlight shining on his forehead guard which was still stained with blood.
He looked at the purple mist, a sharp smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and he said softly:
Then let them see… who is the banker of this game.
Chapter 38: Shadows Emerge, Trial in the Forest of Death (Old Version)
When the moonlight climbed over the eaves of Konoha to a distance of three fingers’ width, the three members of Team 7 were already standing at the entrance of the Forest of Death.
Haruno Na put the animal taming flute at her waist, and her fingers unconsciously stroked the wooden handle of the puppet behind her – it was carved by her own hands using ironwood she picked up while wandering, and the surface still had marks from being scratched by wild beasts.
The second stage of the Death Forest was not as simple as the first stage written test. Kakashi’s forehead protector slid down to his nose, revealing his calm Sharingan. There was no examiner watching here, and only those who survived could get the scroll.
Remember, strength is the blade, and wisdom is the scabbard. He threw three kunai, and the sound of metal collision rang crisply in the morning mist. Jin, how is your streamer chakra being controlled recently?
When Uchiha Jin caught the kunai, his knuckles were slightly bent, and chakra flowed through his fingertips, leaving traces of light golden light.
He had used up all his chakra the night before in order to track down the Red Scorpion’s secret passage, and at this moment, his temples were still aching dully, but his eyes were brighter than usual: they could accurately cover the chakra fluctuations within a twenty-meter range.
Teacher, I tried the chakra resonance interference you mentioned last time.
Very good. Kakashi patted his forehead protector, and when he turned around, the corner of his clothes brought up a gust of wind. I will wait for you at the withered cherry tree outside the forest in three hours.
If you encounter a problem that cannot be solved… He suddenly stopped, his eyes sweeping across the gradually thickening purple mist in the distance – that was the fog that appeared to the west of the stronghold the night before, and now it was drifting to the entrance of the forest with the wind. In short, don’t force it.
Haruno Na watched her teacher’s back disappear in the morning mist, and suddenly nudged Jin’s shoulder with her elbow: Hey, you said last night that you wanted to be the game dealer, don’t you want to use the entire Death Forest as a chessboard? Her puppet Tieya poked his head out from behind, and his bronze beast eyes glowed coldly in the mist.
Jhin didn’t answer, but just squinted his eyes and looked into the depths of the forest.
The smell of rotting leaves mixed with damp earth hit my face, and from deeper inside came the low howl of some wild animal, but the ending was strangely distorted into a whistle – that was not a natural sound.
He quietly circulated the Flowing Chakra, and light golden ripples spread around his body like an invisible net.
There is a problem. He suddenly grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist. The chakra fluctuations in the air were too chaotic, as if someone had deliberately stirred it.
Before he finished his words, a fishy and sweet mist emerged from the bushes on the left.
Haruno Na’s Iron Fang Puppet immediately opened its mouth and blew out two gusts of wind – this was a wind escape technique she modified based on the way she observed the breathing patterns of wild animals while training them. Although it was not as sharp as the authentic wind escape technique, it was more precise and controllable.
A gap was torn in the mist, revealing a man in a dark purple kimono with a snake skin with venom glands wrapped around his face. He was the figure that was looming in the purple mist the night before.
Poison sting. Jin’s flowing chakra has locked onto the opponent’s chakra source, a member of the Shadow Society?
Stinger licked his lips, and the snake skin on his face cracked into tiny cracks, revealing the purple skin underneath: You are quite capable to recognize me. He raised his hand and threw out three poisoned kunai, but the trajectory was not to go straight to the vital points, but to nail them at the feet of the three people in a triangular shape – the moment the kunai landed, dark green liquid oozed out of the ground, corroding the soil with a hiss.
Haruno Na’s iron teeth suddenly pricked up his ears, and his bronze claws popped out sharp blades in his palms.
She let out a low roar, and the puppet’s tail swept towards the left side of the tree trunk. The bark there suddenly cracked, revealing a mechanism hidden in the tree hole – a chakra thread as thin as a hair, which was connected to the scroll on Stinger’s waist.
What a good plan. Jin’s chakra net captured the trajectory of the stinger’s movement. He deliberately staggered to the right, and at the moment when the stinger’s pupils shrank slightly, he touched the ground with his toes and bounced back.
The flowing chakra condensed into a spiral at the soles of his feet, like stepping on invisible stairs, and in the blink of an eye it circled behind the stinger.
Earth escape: mud swamp technique! When Haruno Na’s voice sounded, the ground under Stinger’s feet suddenly became soft. He made hand seals in panic and tried to escape, but was grabbed by Jin by the back of his neck.
What is the goal of the Shadow Society? Jin’s fingers pressed on the mute point of the stinger, and the chakra pierced into the opponent’s nerves like a fine needle. Is it the Chunin Exam, or
You think I would say that? The stinger suddenly laughed, and the skin under the snake skin began to swell. The people of the Shadow Society never need to be alive to pass on messages –
Haruno Na’s Iron Fang Puppet slammed over and threw Jin into the bushes nearby.
The next second, Stinger’s body exploded into a poisonous mist, mixed with a kunai shining with a faint blue glow, which stabbed the ground where the two had just stood.
Such a cruel self-destruction. Haruno Na shook off the fallen leaves on her body. There were already several erosion marks on the bronze shell of Tieya. This poisonous mist corroded even puppets. If it touched the skin…
Jhin picked up the kunai.
The handle of the knife was engraved with twisted flame patterns, and a black crystal was embedded in the tail end. When using the Flowing Chakra to probe, it was found that there was a vague image sealed inside: a giant tree deep in the Death Forest, and at the bottom of the tree there was a hole covered by vines, with a dark red light shining through the hole.
Guide us to a specific area. Jin handed the kunai to Haruno Na. They wanted the candidates to follow their script so that they could control the results of the exam. He squatted down and used the kunai to draw the general outline of the forest on the ground. If I were Kurogane, I would set up multiple traps on the road to weaken the candidates first, and then…
Then we can take the rest as prey. Haruno Nai said, and Tieya’s animal eyes suddenly lit up, “Then we will follow their marks and turn the trap into their grave.”
Jhin looked up at her, the morning light shining through the mist onto her muddy forehead guard.
This girl who always said that she was a wandering wild girl, now had a gleam in her eyes that was brighter than the puppet’s blade.
He smiled and tapped the map with his fingertips: I will use the Flowing Chakra to create fake chakra fluctuations later, so that they will think we are taking a detour to the east.
You take Tieya and place some clothes corroded by poisonous fog in the west. The more realistic they are, the better.
I understand. Haruno Na put the animal taming flute in her mouth and blew two short whistles – that was the signal for Tieya to get ready.
By the time the two of them had packed up and set off again, the fog had dissipated a little.
Following the image in the kunai, they moved along the path where the dead leaves were the thickest. The dead branches under their feet made crisp sounds in the quiet forest.
When they reached the seventh giant tree that required three people to hug, Jin’s flowing chakra suddenly vibrated violently – that was a precursor to a violent fluctuation of chakra.
Stop. He held Haruno Na’s shoulders and looked up at the treetops.
The originally lush branches and leaves are withering at a speed visible to the naked eye, and black slime is oozing out from the cracks in the bark. It’s coming.
Interesting little guy. Familiar male voices came from all directions, as if they were ringing above my head, under my feet, and in my ears at the same time. It seems that you know how to play this game better than those idiots who can only force their way in.
Before he finished speaking, a rumble like thunder came from the ground.
The two took two steps back and saw the surrounding trees falling down one after another. In the raised dust, an underground arena with a diameter of one hundred meters was revealed.
There were countless torches embedded in the stone wall, and the firelight reflected a thin figure high up – the black cloak was blown up by the wind, revealing seven short blades of different shapes hanging around his waist, and beads of undried blood were condensed on each blade.
Black Scythe. Jhin stared into the man’s eyes.
Those were a pair of eyes that looked like poisoned snakes, with the pupils contracted into vertical lines. It seemed that this was the real test.
Heijian’s fingers tapped lightly on the stone wall beside him, and the ground below suddenly cracked, revealing twelve stone doors engraved with talismans.
His voice mixed with the crackling of torches was like a needle piercing people’s hearts: Welcome to the examination room of the Shadow Society.
rule?
Don’t be impatient… He licked the corner of his mouth and glanced at Jin and Haruno Na. I will tell you slowly when you meet the other candidates.
Jhin looked at the slowly opening stone doors, listened to the sound of footsteps coming from behind the doors, and suddenly laughed.
He touched the kunai bag at his waist, which contained the Shadow Society token he picked up from Stinger – the game had just begun.
Chapter 39 Hunters and Prey, Rules of the Forest (Old Edition)
The torches in the underground arena crackled on the stone walls, and the firelight made the blood beads on the seven short blades on Black Scythe’s waist glow an eerie red.
The moment the twelve stone doors were completely opened, twelve figures filed out one after another – there were Genins holding kunai with gritting their teeth, wandering ninjas with sinister eyes, and even a tall man wrapped in animal skins with a crow perched on his shoulder.
The rules are simple. Black sickle’s snake pupils swept over everyone, and his fingertips gently scratched the blood groove of the shortest blade. Whoever can leave the exit with the scroll of heaven or earth within three hours will become the VIP of the Shadow Society. He suddenly grinned, revealing his white teeth. Of course, the exit
Before he finished speaking, a sharp sound of breaking wind was heard from the east side of the arena.
A blue-gray wind blade cut through the air like a razor and accurately struck the stone door with the word “Exit” engraved on it.
Amid flying rubble, the stone gate collapsed with a loud bang. A woman in dark purple tights walked out of the rising dust. The silver bells on her earrings jingled as she moved – it was Feng Ren.
Lord Kurokama, she tilted her head and smiled, and the wind chakra condensed into a tiny tornado in her palm. I took the initiative to seal the exit for you.
The candidates became agitated instantly.
A reckless Genin rushed forward wielding a kunai, but was knocked to the ground by a wind wall created by the wind blade, and his back hit the stone wall with a dull sound.
Haruno Na’s fingers unconsciously clasped the puppet strings around her waist. She glanced at the candidates huddled in the corner and whispered: Are you going to force us to kill each other?
Jhin’s thumb rubbed the Shadow Society’s mark on the kunai bag – the one he had picked up three days ago while chasing the Stinger.
At that time, Dustbin was attacked by the Iwagakure Genin, and when the mark fell out of his arms, Jin’s toes accidentally pressed on it.
At this moment, he looked at the corners of the clothes fluttering in the wind blade, and suddenly pulled Haruno Na’s sleeve: Disperse.
What?
All the candidates were crowded in the center, and the wind blade could kill them all at once. Jin’s eyes swept across the broken branches at the edge of the arena. You go to the left, I go to the right, to attract fire. He took out three detonating talismans from his kunai bag and met at the northwest corner in three minutes. There was a dead tree struck by lightning, and the tree hole could hide people.
Haruno Na’s pupils contracted slightly.
She had followed Jin on five missions and knew best how venomous these seemingly careless eyes were – in the last Chunin Exam mock battle, it was he who used a kunai to cut the opponent’s chakra lines and turned the opponent’s water jutsu into a small fountain for watering the flowers.
Without asking any more questions, she threw him a kunai with her unique animal taming charm wrapped around the handle: If you get into trouble, crush this and my rock rats will be able to dig holes underground.
As soon as the two separated, the wind blade’s wind escape poured down like a rainstorm.
Jhin crouched and hid behind a broken tree, listening to Feng Ren’s laughter mixed with the screams of the examinees. Suddenly, he noticed the man wrapped in animal skins in the corner – he was squatting on the ground, drawing something in the mud with a dagger. The crow on his shoulder tilted its head and stared at Feng Ren, without a trace of panic in its black eyes.
Hey! Jin took out a kunai and threw it at the man’s feet. The Shadow Society’s traps were more than just the wind blade.
The man raised his head, his knife-like face expressionless, except for a hideous scar on his left eyebrow that extended from the corner of his forehead to his jaw.
He picked up the kunai, and his fingertips brushed the beast-taming charm on the blade. He suddenly smiled: “A kid from the Uchiha family?” He stood up, two meters tall, with thick hemp rope wrapped around his muscular arms. “I am Iron Arm, a forest hunter.”
Hunter? Jin took a half step back, his hand on the kunai bag, to join in the fun of the Chunin Exam?
Chunin Exam? Tiebi sneered, took out a piece of roasted meat from his arms and took a bite, I’m here to catch the Shadow Society.
They burned my hunting lodge and killed my bear last month. He chewed the meat and glanced in the direction of the wind blade. That woman was proficient in wind escape and was good at using terrain to set ambushes.
I saw her by the stream three days ago. She used her wind blade to grind the rocks of an entire riverbed into powder.
Jhin tapped his fingers twice on his palms – this was his habitual action when he was thinking.
Tiebi’s intelligence was consistent with the information he obtained from Stinger: the Shadow Society had been active frequently on the border of the Fire Country recently, and seemed to be looking for something that could change the situation in the ninja world.
He released his hand that was holding the kunai, took out half a compressed biscuit from his pocket and threw it over: Cooperation.
You give us the information and we’ll help you burn down the Shadow Society’s lair.
Tiebi caught the biscuit, took a bite, and his eyes lit up: Your biscuit tastes better than my beast meat.
Deal. He pointed to the blue-gray chakra fluctuations under the wind blade’s feet. Her wind escape technique relied on the wind veins on the ground. If she could be led to a rocky area, her chakra would be weakened by 30%.
The corners of Jin’s mouth curved up.
He took out the chakra test paper he carried with him and drew a stream of light blue light with his fingertips – this was his original stream of chakra, which imitated the changes in the nature of the Uchiha family’s chakra, but was more difficult to detect than the Sharingan.
He crumpled the test paper into a ball and threw it toward the pile of rocks on the east side of the arena. The chakra fluctuations instantly spread, as dazzling as a small sun.
There! Feng Ren’s silver bell earrings shook violently, and she rushed away with the wind escape. The wind ball condensed in her palm was half a person’s height. Dare to play tricks on me——
Now! Jhin whispered.
Haruno Na, who was hiding behind a rock, shook her wrist and ten puppet strings shot out like spider silk.
Her puppet Red Fang popped out from behind, its bronze claws holding a poisoned kunai, and collided directly with the wind ball of the wind blade.
The wind ball was knocked three inches off balance, rubbing against the rock pile and creating a large hole. Meanwhile, Haruno Na’s second puppet line had already wrapped around Feng Ren’s ankle.
Dirty trick! Feng Ren realized something was wrong and was about to make a seal, but he saw Chiya’s mouth suddenly open and spewed out a cloud of dark green smoke – that was the poisonous grass that Haruno Na collected during her wanderings, which could even temporarily paralyze the chakra of the Three-Tails.
She groaned and staggered back, the scroll around her waist falling to the ground with a thud.
Scroll! Jhin rushed over to grab the scroll, but out of the corner of his eye he saw a flash of black light at the tip of Feng Ren’s finger.
His pupils suddenly shrank and he shouted: Be careful of the trap!
The ground suddenly cracked open, and hundreds of triangular-headed venomous snakes came out with their tongues spitting out. Their scales glowed an eerie purple in the firelight.
Haruno Na’s red fangs immediately blocked in front of her, and her bronze claws smashed three poisonous snakes, but were bitten by the fangs of the fourth poisonous snake, leaving a dent.
Iron Arm’s dagger drew a silver arc, cutting off the necks of the two snakes. Suddenly, he kicked up a stone and smashed it against the rock wall: Follow me!
He led the two men back to the foot of the rock wall, carved a deep groove in the ground with a dagger, and then took out the tinder he carried with him to light the hay in the groove.
The fire spread along the ditch, forming a wall of fire around the three people.
The poisonous snakes hissed and screamed due to the fire, and turned around, but were blocked by the light shield condensed by Jin’s flowing chakra.
There were light blue lines flowing on the surface of the light shield, and the poisonous snake’s fangs only left faint white marks when biting it.
This chakra… Tiebi’s pupils shrank slightly. You are really good at hiding it.
Let’s deal with the one in front of us first! Haruno Na’s puppet string suddenly straightened, and Chiya’s tail popped out an iron hook, hooking the torch on the rock wall and throwing it towards the snakes.
The moment the torch fell to the ground, the haystack was ignited, and the fire spread along the snakes, instantly burning out a charred open space.
Feng Ren took advantage of the chaos to jump onto the rock wall. When she turned back, her eyes flashed fiercely: You will regret this! Before she finished her words, her figure disappeared into the darkness.
Jhin squatted down and picked up the scroll dropped by Wind Blade.
The sealing spell on the surface of the scroll still carried the residual warmth of her chakra. He used a kunai to untie the knot. The moment it unfolded, his pupils suddenly shrank – it was an encrypted map, drawn with special ink, and words such as “Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind” could be vaguely seen. At the bottom was a mark of seven crossed blades, exactly the same as the short blade on the black sickle’s waist.
The secret base of the Shadow Society… Haruno Na came over to take a look, and gently ran her finger over the bloodstains on the edge of the map. The blood hasn’t dried yet, so they should have taken action recently.
The iron-armed crow suddenly let out a shrill cry and flapped its wings to fly towards the entrance of the arena.
Jin looked up and saw that in the darkness in the distance, the ground was shaking slightly with some heavy footsteps.
The tremor became clearer and clearer, like a hill slowly approaching, and even the torches on the rock wall were shaken.
Haruno Na tightened her grip on the puppet strings, and Chiya’s bronze claws made a slight sound.
Tiebi’s dagger returned to his palm and his thumb ran across the bloody groove of the blade.
Jin carefully put the map into his arms, his eyes sweeping over the gradually clearer shadow – it was a figure half a head taller than Tiebi, wrapped in thick black armor, and the chakra fluctuations seeping from the gaps in the armor caused ripples in the air.
It seems…Jin touched the kunai bag at his waist, and a familiar arc appeared at the corner of his mouth. This game of chess has just reached the middle stage.
The shaking footsteps were getting closer and closer, echoing like thunder between the stone walls of the arena.
The three of them looked at each other and tightened their weapons at the same time – being a VIP of the Shadow Society is not that easy.
Chapter 40: The Fangs of the Viper, Battle for the Scroll (Old Version)
The torches on the rock wall crackled as they trembled, distorting the shadows of the three people into ghostly shapes.
Uchiha Jin’s fingertips felt slightly hot, which was a sign that the flowing chakra was flowing under his skin. This special chakra with a silver-blue halo allowed him to sense chakra fluctuations within a radius of thirty meters.
At this moment, his pupils shrank slightly. When he sensed that familiar wind-attribute chakra was approaching at an extremely fast speed, he lowered his voice and said, “The Wind Blade team is coming from the southeast. There are at least five people.”
Haruno Na’s puppet strings formed neat arcs around her fingertips, and the bronze claws of the Red Fang puppet glowed coldly under the torches.
She glanced at the fake target that Iron Arm had used vines to disguise as the outlines of three people, and her rough palm rubbed the mechanism on the back of the puppet’s neck: “Old rules, I’ll be the bait.”
Tiebi’s dagger had been inserted back into his waist. He bent down and grabbed two handfuls of rotten leaves. Dark green juice oozed from between his fingers – it was the paralyzing agent he made from poison ivy in the forest.
“Three minutes is enough for you to get there.” He scattered rotten leaves on the ground around the fake target and broke off a few thorny vines, disguising the trap as a natural pile of fallen leaves using the hunter’s unique technique.
The footsteps and chakra fluctuations arrived almost at the same time.
Jin pulled Haruno Na into the shadow of the rock wall on the left, and saw five figures entering the arena one after another.
The leading Feng Ren was wearing dark purple tights, with blood staining the ends of her hair. When her eyes swept over the fake target, a sneer appeared on the corner of her mouth: “Do you really think we are blind?” She raised her hand and formed a seal, and the Wind Style: Fierce Wind Blade chopped towards the fake target like a blade – but the next second, the shattered “Uchiha Jin” turned into rags falling all over the sky, and what was stuffed inside were the dead branches that Tiebi had prepared in advance.
“We’ve fallen into a trap!” Feng Ren’s pupils suddenly shrank, but before she could finish her words, a silver-blue light shot out from the shadow beside her.
Jin’s kunai brushed past her earlobe, leaving a bloody mark on her shoulder, and his left hand pressed on the back of a Chunin’s neck – the flowing chakra penetrated into the opponent’s meridians like a thin snake, accurately disrupting the chakra circulation.
Just as the Chunin was about to form a seal, his chakra collapsed like a leaky water bag, and he staggered and fell to the ground.
“What a good move!” Feng Ren drew out a kunai and threw it at Jin’s throat, then he turned around and formed a seal, “Wind Style: Vacuum Jade!” Several green gas bombs came with a sharp whistle.
Jin rolled sideways to avoid the kunai, but couldn’t avoid the gas bomb, so he had to raise his hand and make a seal: “Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!” As soon as the ochre-colored wall was erected, the gas bomb blasted a honeycomb-shaped gap in it.
He took advantage of the smoke and dust to get behind a rock pillar, only to find that the other four Shadow Society members had surrounded him in a fan shape.
“Want to surround me?” Jin pressed his fingertips lightly on the rock pillar, and silver-blue chakra spread to the ground like a spider web.
Haruno Na was controlling the Red Fang Puppet to climb up the rock wall, and suddenly she felt a warmth in her chakra circuit – it was Jin’s Flowing Chakra that was enhancing her chakra control.
She shook her wrist violently, and Chiya’s bronze claws ejected three poisoned silver needles with a “click”, accurately piercing the wrists of two enemies; at the same time, the iron-armed crow flew over her head, its cry carrying a sharp warning, and vines suddenly rose from the ground and tightly wrapped around the ankle of the third enemy – that was the strangler vine he had planted in advance at the edge of the arena.
“Red Fang!” Haruno Na shouted softly, and two pairs of bronze wings suddenly spread out from the puppet’s back, swooping down from the sky like a falcon.
The moment Feng Ren raised her head, she saw Chiya’s sharp claws grabbing the scroll bag on her waist – that was the key to the Shadow Society’s assessment, the “Scroll of Earth” that recorded the exit coordinates.
She hurriedly formed seals to release the wind blades, but as soon as the chakra reached her dantian, it was shattered by Jin’s flowing chakra.
“Get down!” Tiebi’s voice came from the right. The fourth enemy was trying to cut the strangling vine with a kunai, but was caught by him from behind, and the two rolled into a hidden cave entrance.
Muffled groans and the sound of collapsing rocks came from deep within the cave. It was obvious that Iron Arm had trapped the enemy inside with the falling rocks array he had arranged in advance.
Feng Ren finally realized that the situation was not good.
She bit the detonating talisman in her mouth, and the blast blew away the surrounding rock debris. She took two steps back in the chaos, took out the last scroll from her arms and threw it into the air: “Do you think you win if you grab the scroll? The assessment of the Shadow Society has never been so easy!” Her voice was mixed with the roar of the explosion, “The real trial begins now–” Before she finished speaking, she had disappeared into the secret passage of the arena.
When the smoke cleared, Haruno Na’s puppet claws were holding two scrolls: one was the “Sky” that they were originally going to grab, and the other was the “Earth” that Feng Ren had just protected around his waist.
Tiebi brushed the dirt off his body and crawled out of the cave. The crow squatted on his shoulder, preening its feathers and making a triumphant low cry from its throat.
“This rune…” Jhin spread out the two scrolls on the rock wall. The light of the torch reflected on the yellowed paper pages. Dark red lines appeared in the originally blank places, like some ancient sealing ritual.
He lightly ran his fingertips over the pattern, and as soon as the chakra seeped in, he felt a sharp pain – the pattern was actually repelling foreign chakra.
Haruno Na leaned over to take a look, and poked the edge of the scroll with her rough fingers: “It’s a bit like the bloodstain pattern on the map I saw in the secret base before.”
Tiebi took out a dagger and picked up a scroll. As soon as the tip of the knife touched the rune, a wisp of green smoke rose up: “Poisonous?”
“It’s not poison.” Jin frowned, “It’s some kind of defense mechanism. The Shadow deliberately let us get the scroll, but set a lock.” He looked up at the exit of the arena, where the chakra fluctuations of the wind blades were still lingering. “The ‘real trial’ she mentioned… may be related to these runes.”
Haruno Na put the puppet into the scroll and patted Jin’s shoulder: “Let’s go back to the temporary base to study it. I want to see what tricks this Shadow Society can come up with.”
Tiebi carefully rolled up the scroll, tied it tightly with vines and stuffed it into his arms: “Let’s take care of the wounds first. Those guys whose meridians were disrupted by the flowing light chakra may cause trouble for us when they wake up.”
The three of them cleaned up the battlefield and walked along the secret passage towards the temporary stronghold.
Jhin walked at the end, his eyes always fixed on the scroll in his arms.
The sound of water dripping from the rock wall falling into the cracks in the stone was so crisp and piercing – he always felt that those dark red runes were like a pair of eyes, watching their every step in the dark.
Chapter 41 Rune Puzzle, The Price of Exit (Old Version)
The bonfire in the makeshift base crackled. Water seeping from the damp cracks in the rocks formed a small pool on the ground, reflecting three swaying shadows.
Uchiha Jin spread the scroll flat on a piece of polished animal hide, his fingertips hovering half an inch above the dark red rune, and gently poked the chakra like a fine needle – this time he learned his lesson and did not dare to inject it directly, only letting the chakra thread flow along the surface of the rune.
Hiss—Haruno Na squatted beside and used a dagger to pick open a piece of charred animal meat. You said this rune is a lock, then what is the key?
We can’t let the Shadow Society open it in person, right? The silver bell on her wrist rang slightly as she moved. It was something she had just picked up in the secret passage, and it was said to be a trophy.
Tiebi leaned against the rock wall and wiped the short knife. The blade reflected his tense jawline: I chased a group of smugglers in the forest. They also carved similar patterns on the outside of the cave where they hid their goods. He suddenly stopped and tapped his temple with the tip of the knife. By the way, the old hunters said that the hidden tribe in the south used this kind of living text – the runes would change according to the chakra attributes of the person who touched it, like… like a living thing recognizing its master.
Jhin’s fingers suddenly stopped.
He saw a dark pattern on the edge of the rune twisting slightly with the flow of his chakra, as if responding to a certain rhythm. Living words… he murmured and repeated, suddenly pulling Haruno Na’s hand and pressing it on the rune.
Hey! Haruno Na was so shocked that she almost pulled her hand back, but the rune only glowed light green. My chakra is of wood attribute, which is different from your fire attribute?
Look here. Jin used his chakra to form a fine brush and traced the rune on the animal skin. When you press it, the line becomes wider. He then put his own hand on it, and the dark red rune immediately turned orange-red. Different properties activated different parts.
The shadow would deliberately let us get the scroll so that we can use our own chakra as the key – but one person alone cannot unlock it.
Before he finished speaking, there was a sudden roar of trees breaking in the forest.
The three of them looked up at the same time.
The moonlight outside the rock wall was completely blocked, followed by the sound of a black sickle, like a rusty bellows shuttling through the woods: time was up, the game was over.
Haruno Na grabbed Jin by the collar and rushed towards the cave entrance, while Tiebi picked up the dagger to cover them.
When the three rushed out of the stronghold, the scene before them made them gasp – the giant tree that originally blocked out the sky seemed to be broken by an invisible hand, revealing a circular open space with a diameter of one hundred meters. The ground was covered with blue-black rocks, and in the center stood a translucent rune barrier, swaying like water wrinkled by the wind.
The exit was behind the barrier. Jhin stared at the dark red lines on the barrier, which were exactly the same as the runes on the scroll. This was the final trial.
Haruno Na threw the puppet box on her waist to the ground, and six wooden puppets popped out with a click, guarding four directions respectively: I will use the puppets to guard, if the scum of the Shadow Society dares to come, I will send them to hell. She winked at Jin, you two can work on your runes, I am very stable here.
Tiebi was already crouching at the edge of the clearing, scraping away the moss-covered rocks with his short knife: Look at this! The tip of his knife lifted up a half-buried stone tablet, which was densely engraved with the same runes as the barrier. It was the altar tablet of the Hidden Clan. When I was a child, I followed my grandfather to find something similar. They used natural elements to arrange the runes. Wood gave birth to fire, fire gave birth to thunder, and thunder gave birth to
Cycles of life. Jin’s fingers drew chakra traces in the air. The runes on the scroll were fragments, while the runes on the barrier were complete.
We need to put the runes on the scroll in the order of mutual generation. He turned to look at Haruno Nai, Nai, use your wood attribute chakra to activate the wood rune.
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly screamed.
She flicked her wrist, and two puppets threw out vines to entangle the two dead trees. The other four raised their short swords and pointed them in different directions, but no enemy appeared. It’s just a distraction. Keep going! She pulled off her headscarf to tie up her long hair, and pressed her palm on the wooden rune on the barrier.
The dark red rune instantly lit up with emerald light, like a drop of ink dripping into clear water, spreading around along the lines.
Jhin immediately followed, pressing his fingertips on the fire position: Iron Arm, Thunder Position!
The iron arm’s chakra was wild and rough, and the unique stinging sensation of the lightning attribute made the barrier buzz.
The chakras of the three people flowed into the rune array like three streams. The originally chaotic patterns gradually became clear, forming a vortex that rotated counterclockwise.
There is only one left. Cold sweat seeped out of Jin’s forehead. He could feel the rune greedily absorbing chakra, water… water attribute!
Haruno Na suddenly grabbed his wrist: I have it! She bit her fingertips and a drop of blood dripped onto the water level rune – the tamer of the Nohara clan, there is always a hint of water attribute in the chakra, try it!
The barrier trembled violently.
All the runes lit up at the same time, dark red, emerald green, orange-red, and dark blue intertwined into a light net. The vortex in the center exploded, revealing a doorway that was only wide enough for one person to pass through.
It worked! Tiebi punched his palm and the short knife almost fell to the ground.
But the next second, Heijian’s figure walked out from behind the doorway.
He was wearing a black robe with dark patterns, and the shadow on his face covered half of his face. Only the smile at the corner of his mouth was like a poisoned knife: Congratulations on passing the trial. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers, but at what cost?
Suddenly, black mist emerged from the ground and climbed up along the ankles of the three people as if it had life.
Haruno Na’s puppet swung its sword, but only created a few ripples – that was not an ordinary poisonous fog at all, but a murderous fog mixed with corrosive chakra!
Retreat to the barrier! Jhin shouted, forming seals with his hands.
His chakra condensed into a light purple light shield above everyone’s heads. The unique purification property of the flowing chakra made the poisonous fog emit a sizzling sound when it approached. This barrier could temporarily block the poisonous fog, but it could only last for ten minutes at most!
Tiebi suddenly squatted down and used a short knife to pry open the rock at his feet: Look! Densely packed thin wires were exposed under the rock, each wire was wrapped with a chakra mark, and the exit passage was full of traps. Triggering any one of them would detonate the entire trial field.
A hole suddenly appeared in Haruno Na’s puppet corroded by the poisonous mist. She cursed and grabbed Jin’s arm: Are you crazy?
Want to explore the way yourself?
Nai, you and Tiebi cover me. Jin pulled off the forehead protector and tied it on her wrist. This forehead protector was won by me in the ninja school. If I can’t come back…
Stop talking nonsense! Haruno Na punched him in the back and said, “Go explore the way quickly. The old hunter and I will support you!”
Jhin took a deep breath and stepped onto the first rock.
His chakra spread across the ground like a spider web, and with every step he could clearly sense the chakra wires at his feet – some triggered explosions, some summoned puppets, and the most troublesome one was the one hidden in the cracks of the rocks, which would explode as long as the chakra fluctuations exceeded a certain intensity…
Buzz——
Just as his toes touched the third rock, he felt a slight tremor under his feet.
Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank – the most hidden wire was climbing up along his chakra thread like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.
Black sickle’s laughter floated from the poisonous fog: Do you think you can escape like this? This is just the beginning.
Cold sweat broke out on Jin’s forehead.
He could feel that with every step forward, the chakra traps at his feet seemed to come alive, forming an increasingly dense net in his chakra perception.
Under the next rock, there seemed to be something more dangerous hidden – the fluctuations looked very much like…
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly exploded into sawdust, blocking the kunai that attacked from the side for him.
Jin took the opportunity to leap forward two steps. In his chakra perception, the wires at his feet suddenly became active, as if waiting for a critical point…
His toes dangled over the last rock.
The moonlight shone through the gaps in the poisonous fog, casting a shadow on the surface of the rock – in the shadow, more dark red runes could be vaguely seen, slowly rotating in the rhythm of his breathing.
Chapter 42: The Last Leap, the Decision between Life and Death (Old Version)
The moonlight was immersed in the poisonous fog and turned into blurred silver spots. Uchiha Jin’s toes were hanging above the last rock. The dark red runes in the shadow rose and fell with his breathing, inhaling and exhaling chakra like a living thing.
He could clearly sense that there were seven extremely thin chakra wires wrapped around the bottom of the rune – that was the “death lock array” set up by Black Scythe. If any one of them was triggered, the entire valley would be reduced to dust in the explosion.
Good eyesight.
A hoarse laugh came wrapped in poisonous mist, and Black Scythe’s figure emerged from the mist.
He was wearing a black robe with dark patterns, an emerald eye patch on his left eye, and a short knife with a snakeskin handle in his right hand. The blade was still dripping with sawdust from Haruno Na’s puppet. I have only seen three prey that could walk here in the past ten years. He licked his lips, but unfortunately, they are all in my collection room now.
Jhin’s temple was throbbing.
He could feel that Black Scythe’s chakra was vibrating at a strange frequency, which was a precursor to activating the backup mechanism.
Sure enough, the next second, a dense hissing sound came from the depths of the rock valley – hundreds of triangular-headed venomous snakes broke out of the rocks, their scales glowing with a faint blue fluorescence, and when their tongues swept across the ground, the grass leaves immediately turned black and curled up.
Taste the fangs of the Shadow Society. Black Scythe flicked his finger, and the swarm of snakes swept over like a black torrent.
Nai! Jhin shouted, tapping the edge of the rock with his toes.
He had long expected that Black Scythe would not just set traps, and the seven safe spots previously marked with flowing chakra now glowed with golden light in his mind.
Haruno Na’s reaction was faster. She pulled out the wooden box behind her back with her backhand. As she formed a seal with her fingertips, a silver bell rang on her wrist: “Puppets: Thousand Hands!” Twelve wooden puppets shot out from the box and instantly formed a shield wall in front of the three people.
The puppets in the front row suddenly exploded, and the flying wood chips wrapped in detonating talismans blew out a wall of fire; the puppets in the back row opened their arms, which turned into dense spikes, tearing the first gap in the snakes’ charge.
Tiebi’s dagger had cut off the necks of three poisonous snakes.
The forest hunter who always liked to hold wild fruits in his mouth had a cold look in his eyes. He pulled off the wicker bag on his waist and threw a handful of dark red berries into the crevice on the left. Snake-attracting fruit! He shouted, and the poisonous snake splashed by the juice suddenly turned around and gnawed the rock frantically – that was the habit he had observed in the forest for three years: the smell of this berry would make the poisonous snake go crazy in search of food.
But the number of snakes far exceeded expectations.
According to Jin’s chakra perception, there were at least three hundred poisonous snakes approaching, twenty of which bypassed the puppet shield wall and were swimming towards Haruno Na’s lower body, close to the ground.
He bit the tip of his tongue, the taste of blood rushed into his mouth, and the flowing chakra rose on his body like a silver-blue flame.
This was the “Chakra Apparition” that he had just mastered, which could materialize his perception. At this moment, in his eyes, the movement trajectory of each venomous snake became a glowing red thread, and the safe area was a flowing golden river.
Three from the left! He threw three kunai with his backhand, accurately nailing them on the rock three steps to the left of Haruno Na.
A light green liquid oozed from the tip of the kunai, which was soaked in the juice of the poisonous grass that he had given it with his iron arm. When the snakes came into contact with the liquid, they immediately curled up into a ball and rolled down the rocky valley.
Well done! Haruno Na’s puppet shield wall exploded two more bodies, but she smiled even more happily. Hold on for another ten seconds!
I have a big one here-
It’s too late! Iron Arm suddenly grabbed Jhin’s shoulder.
The hunter’s intuition made his back cold, and he pointed above the rock valley: thirty venomous snakes as thick as thumbs were hanging down the vines, their tongues almost licking the tips of Haruno Na’s hair.
Jhin’s pupils shrank into thin lines.
He could feel the Black Scythe’s chakra surging, which was a signal for a complete strangulation.
At this moment, the three of them were only five meters away from the exit, but the encirclement of the snakes was shrinking at a speed visible to the naked eye.
If he continued to charge forward, Haruno Na’s puppet could only last three seconds at most. Tiebi’s snake-attracting fruit had been used up, and his flowing chakra was causing a burning pain in his dantian due to continuous use.
Go. He suddenly pressed Haruno Na’s shoulders and pushed her towards the exit.
What did you say? Haruno Na’s puppet shield wall collapsed again, and the hissing of the snakes almost pierced the eardrums.
I can decipher the runes at the exit, but it will take time. Jhin’s voice was as steady as a rock. You guys go out first, I’ll cover you.
Bullshit! Haruno Na grabbed his wrist with her backhand, and the calluses on her fingertips hurt him. Who said that we should die together in the Hidden Rain Village last time?
You want to be a hero now?
Tiebi’s short knife sent seven more poisonous snakes flying. He suddenly groaned, “Boy, your chakra is almost exhausted, right?” The hunter’s eyes were as sharp as a night owl. When you used the Apparition skill just now, your right hand shook three times.
Jhin didn’t deny it.
He could feel that the silver-blue flame of the streamer’s chakra was weakening, like a candle in the wind.
The sound of Kurokama’s laughter was getting closer, and he could even see the snake’s shadow wriggling under the blindfold. Listening, he stared into Haruno Na’s eyes, which reflected the flickering firelight. The shadow will want me, not you.
If I stay, their goal won’t shift.
Haruno Na’s puppet shield wall completely collapsed.
When the last puppet exploded into sawdust in the snake swarm, she suddenly opened her collar, revealing the bronze amulet hanging around her neck. It was given to her by an old woman when she was wandering, saying that it could ward off three disasters. This was the second time. She gritted her teeth and stuffed the amulet into Jhin’s hand. If you dare to die, I will go to hell and pull you back.
Go! Jin suddenly pushed the two away, and silver-blue chakra surged out like a wave, forming a translucent barrier in front of him.
The poisonous snake hit the barrier and was burned by the rebounding chakra; the black sickle’s short sword chopped over and was also buzzed by the barrier.
He could hear Haruno Na’s footsteps getting farther and farther away, and Tiebi’s low growl urging her to run faster, until the last word of caution was torn apart by the wind.
Cracks began to appear in the barrier.
Blood was oozing from the corners of Jin’s mouth, and he could feel his chakra draining away at an alarming rate.
Black sickle’s dagger slashed again, and this time the barrier failed to block it completely. The blade cut a deep wound on his left shoulder that was visible to the bone.
But he laughed instead, because he heard movement coming from the direction of the exit – not Haruno Na’s footsteps, but Tiebi’s unique heavy breathing.
You bastard! Tiebi rushed out of the poisonous fog, holding a bundle of thorny vines in his arms. I said that hunters never abandon their companions! He smashed the vines at the black sickle and threw out a handful of dark green powder with his backhand.
It was the “snake-rotting grass” he had just found in the crevice of the rock, which he had ground into powder after drying. It was this thing that saved his life when he was besieged by a group of snakes three years ago.
The poisonous fog changed color instantly.
Heijian’s dagger suddenly stopped halfway through, he covered his mouth and nose and took two steps back: You dare to use…!
Shut up! Haruno Na’s voice came from behind Tiebi.
She had circled to the right side of Black Scythe at some point, holding a poisoned kunai that she had just pulled out of the crevice in the rock.
The consumption of puppetry made her face pale, but her eyes were brighter than ever. Jhin said, we are a team.
Three chakra threads suddenly wrapped around Heikah’s ankles.
That was Jin’s flowing chakra. At the last moment before the barrier collapsed, he divided the chakra into three strands: one to maintain the barrier, one to wrap around the black sickle, and one to
Jump! He roared and grabbed the two men’s wrists.
Silver-blue chakra shot up like a rocket, carrying the three people through the poisonous fog and leaping towards the exit.
Black Scythe’s dagger flew past the tip of Jhin’s ear, leaving a deep scratch on the rock, but it was too late – their toes had already touched the grass outside the exit.
The moonlight suddenly became brighter.
As the three rolled into the bushes, Jin heard Black Scythe’s roar piercing through the poisonous fog: Uchiha Jin!
I’ll let you watch everyone die in front of you –
Next time we meet, I will break your neck first. Jhin pulled off the corner of his clothes to wrap around the wound on his left shoulder and looked up at the night sky.
Haruno Na was helping Tiebi deal with the snake bite on his leg. Although the hunter cursed, he did not push her hand away.
The lights of Konoha in the distance twinkled like stars, and the familiar scent of Konoha wafted in the wind.
Is this… a success? Haruno Na wiped the blood off her face and suddenly laughed out loud. You jumped so high just now that I almost thought you were going to fly.
Next time, you’ll be the one to cover the rear. Jhin pulled the corner of his mouth, but gasped in pain.
He looked at the forest in the distance, where the poisonous fog had not yet dissipated, like an indelible shadow.
The conspiracy of the Shadow Society, the threat of the Black Scythe, and the secrets that had not yet been asked… He knew that this was just the beginning.
Let’s go back to the village. Tiebi patted the grass debris on his body, picked up the short knife on the ground, and said, “I will treat you to barbecue – the wild boar I hunted today.”
Haruno Na was about to respond when a sound of breaking air suddenly came from the distance.
The three of them all changed color, and saw a black shadow passing through the treetops and stopping in front of them.
It was a ninja wearing an Anbu uniform with a crane feather emblem painted on his visor.
Uchiha Jin, Haruno Na, Tiebi. The voice of the Anbu had a metallic texture, “The Hokage has urgently summoned you, come back to the village with me now.”
Jin and Haruno Na looked at each other.
Tiebi scratched his head and put the dagger back into his waist: Okay, the barbecue will have to be a midnight snack.
As the three of them followed the ANBU to their feet, Jhin looked back at the forest behind them.
The poisonous fog had almost dissipated, but he always felt that there were still eyes staring at them in the dark.
Let’s go. Haruno Na bumped his shoulder and said, “Whatever it is, we will face it together.”
Jhin smiled and his steps quickened.
Under the moonlight, the shadows of the three people gradually merged into the path leading to Konoha, leaving only a half-whisper floating in the wind: This time, I will not let anyone sacrifice again.
Chapter 43: Hokage’s Secret Order, Undercurrent (Old Version)
The moonlight dyed the stone walls of Konoha into silver frost. When Uchiha Jin followed the Anbu through the village entrance, the patrolling Chunins were changing shifts with lanterns in their hands.
Haruno Na’s leather boots made a light sound as they stepped on the bluestone slabs. She casually touched the puppet box at her waist – it was a wooden box wrapped in mountain cat skin, and inside it lay her most proud “Gas” puppet, which was trembling slightly with her steps, as if it sensed the impending trouble.
“We’re here.” The Anbu stopped in front of the Hokage’s office building, the crane feather emblem on the visor glowing coldly under the corridor lights.
There was a sound of flipping papers coming from inside the door. He Yu lifted the door curtain and walked out. The hem of his moon-white hunting robe was stained with ink spots, and it was obvious that he had just come out of the pile of documents.
“Thank you for your hard work.” He nodded to the Anbu, and when his eyes fell on Jin, there was a little more scrutiny, “Hokage-sama is waiting for you.”
The office was filled with the aroma of stale tea. The Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was standing in front of a map, his fingertips pointing at the mark of the border between the Land of Fire and the Land of Wind.
Hearing the noise, he turned around, his wrinkles still showing fatigue: “Jin, Nai, sit down.”
Haruno Na sat carefree on the straw mat, while Jin stood with his hands hanging down – this was the “subordinate etiquette” he learned from the original history. Although it seemed old-fashioned, it could make the older generation of ninjas let down their guard.
Sure enough, the Sandaime’s eyes softened a little: “In the past half month, there have been abnormal chakra fluctuations at the edge of the barrier in the north of the village. The Anbu checked three times and couldn’t find any traces.”
He pulled out a scroll and pushed it towards him, unfolding it to reveal a densely packed chakra fluctuation map. The ink was of varying depths, like a spider web blown by the wind.
Jin frowned after taking a glance – the wave was a mixture of the sharpness of wind and the dullness of earth, and was very similar to the ninjutsu used by the Shadow Society killer he encountered before.
“Do you suspect infiltration by external forces?” He deliberately lowered his tone when he spoke, like an ordinary Genin trying to guess his superior’s intentions.
The Sandaime smiled, his old eyes flashing with brilliance: “There are not many ‘external forces’ that can make the Anbu suffer.” He paused, “I want you to investigate in the name of Team 7. Continue to do your mission openly, and keep an eye on these fluctuations in secret.”
He Yu handed over a sealed bamboo tube at the right time: “This is the inspection record of the barrier department in the past three months, with marks of abnormal time points.”
When Jin took it, his fingertips touched the remaining chakra on the bamboo tube – it was from the Sandaime, with the warmth of wood attribute.
He suddenly realized that this was not only a mission, but also a test.
The Hokage is watching to see whether this kid who always likes to “take the unconventional path” has the ability to shoulder heavy responsibilities.
“I promise to complete the mission.” He nodded his head and responded. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Haruno Na sitting upright on the straw mat, her knuckles clenched until they turned white – she must have guessed the importance of the mission.
When I left the office building, it was already late at night.
Haruno Na tugged at his sleeve: “Do you want to start investigating now?”
Jin shook his head and glanced at the old woman selling grilled dumplings on the street corner – the old woman’s apron was so clean, abnormally clean in this stall that was always covered in charcoal ash.
He calmly dragged the two of them into the alley, and only lowered his voice after confirming that there was no tail, “Let’s go back to the Seventh Squad’s base first. I need to check the records that Tsuruha gave me.”
But the plan was disrupted at three in the morning.
At that time, Jin was flipping through the patrol records in the moonlight, when Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly made a buzzing sound – that was her special warning technique.
When he looked up, he saw a black shadow flash outside the window, and the chakra fluctuations were intermittent, like ink wiped by a wet cloth.
“Chase!” He grabbed a kunai and rushed out the door. Haruno Na’s puppet “Gas” had already rushed onto the roof, and its bronze joints were glowing coldly in the night.
The shadow ran towards the north of the village, which was the area where the barrier fluctuated most frequently.
Jin’s chakra gathered at the soles of his feet, and he could feel the “flowing chakra” flowing in his blood vessels – this was his unique way of perception, like turning chakra into silk threads, which could capture abnormalities by lightly sweeping through the air.
When turning the seventh corner, the black shadow suddenly stopped.
She was a female ninja in a gray robe with her hair tied with a red rope. She was squatting by the well – but this well had been sealed by the Barrier Department three days ago because of the chakra resonance phenomenon at the bottom of the well.
“Are you fetching water so late?” Haruno Na’s voice came from the right, and she had already gone around behind the other person.
The female ninja looked up, the moonlight illuminated her face – it was a stranger’s face, with a small mole at the end of her eye, and she smiled sweetly: “I… my cat fell in.”
But Jin’s flowing chakra was screaming.
He could clearly sense that the chakra in the other person’s body was like a tangled mess. On the surface it was ordinary fire attribute, but underneath it was hiding a sharp edge like a wind blade – exactly the same chakra structure as the previous Shadow Society killer.
“Yueying.” He suddenly said, “Yueying of the Shadow Society.”
The female ninja’s pupils suddenly shrank, and she threw out three kunai in the next second!
But Jin was faster. His kunai brushed past her earlobe and was nailed into the wall, accurately nailing the detonating talisman hidden in her sleeve.
“Run?” Haruno Na’s puppet “Hayate” jumped down from the beam, and its bronze claws grabbed the female ninja’s shoulder. “A scumbag from the Shadow Society, are you qualified to run wild in Konoha?”
The female ninja suddenly laughed, she laughed so hard that she fell backwards, and even laughed until tears came out: “As expected, you are a genius who can intercept the high school entrance examination papers. Your perception is much stronger than that of the Anbu.” Her fingers quickly formed seals on her palms, “But do you think… this is the end?”
The ground suddenly cracked, and countless chains sprang out from under the ground!
Jin dragged Haruno Na and rolled over to avoid the attack. When he looked up, there was no trace of the female ninja.
Only from the direction of the abandoned warehouse in the distance, there were faint chakra fluctuations.
“A trap.” Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, “She led us here.”
The wooden door of the warehouse creaked open, and the smell of mold mixed with gunpowder poured out.
Haruno Na’s puppet “Hayate” rushed in first, and its bronze joints knocked over the broken wooden boxes piled at the door – they were full of smoke bombs, which exploded with a “boom” and instantly engulfed the entire warehouse.
“Hold your breath!” Jin’s flowing chakra formed a light blue light shield around his body, isolating the smoke outside.
He could clearly sense that there was a detonating talisman in each of the four corners of the warehouse, and there was a noose trap hanging on the beam.
And Yueying’s chakra… is underground!
“Nai, the left wall!” he shouted, and leaned over and pressed on the ground.
The flowing chakra spread like a spider web and drilled into the gaps between the bricks – three feet underground, there was a curled up figure, using earth escape to speed up its escape.
“Want to run?” Jin’s chakra suddenly tightened, covering the wave like an invisible net.
The ground cracked with a “crack”, and the moon shadow was flipped out. The hair rope was loosened, and the red rope wrapped around the wrist looked like a blood mark.
“What kind of monster are you?” She gritted her teeth and pulled out the dagger, but before she could stab it, Haruno Na’s puppet had already clamped her wrist.
The bronze mouth of “Swift Wind” opened and spit out steel wire as thin as an ox hair, which instantly entangled her limbs.
“Tell me, how many nails has the Shadow Society planted in Konoha?” Haruno Na’s voice was like a poisoned knife.
Yueying laughed, even crazier than before: “You think you can stop it if you catch me? You are too naive.” Black blood suddenly flowed from the corners of her mouth, and her pupils began to dilate. “The real drama… just now–“
Jhin touched her carotid artery and found that it had no pulse.
He pulled off her forehead guard and saw “Shadow-Seven” engraved in secret code on the inside, which matched the number in the Shadow Society intelligence that he had intercepted before.
“The poison is released from the capsule in the teeth. There’s no antidote.” Haruno Na squatted down and searched her pockets, only to find half a gold coin from the Fire Nation with a snake pattern engraved on the edge – that was the mark of the Shadow Society.
Jhin stared at the snake pattern on the gold coin and suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck.
He looked up at the broken window of the warehouse. Moonlight was leaking in through there, shining on the dusty ground and reflecting a blurry trail of footprints – not theirs, nor Moon’s.
“Let’s go.” He suddenly grabbed Haruno Na and ran out, “Go back to the village and notify Tsuruha immediately.”
Haruno Na didn’t ask any more questions and followed him into the night.
There was a soft “click” sound behind them, and the beams of the warehouse collapsed – someone had activated the last trap after they left.
Jhin ran faster.
He knew that Yueying’s death was not the end, but the beginning.
Since the Shadow Society dared to place nails in Konoha that could touch the barrier, it meant that their goal was far more cruel and vicious than imagined.
And at this moment, in some corner of Konoha, there might be a pair of eyes staring at their running backs, revealing the same determined smile as Yueying’s.
Chapter 44: Illusion Duel, Mental Power Contest (Old Version)
The morning mist in Konoha Village has not yet dissipated, and the outline of Hokage Rock is faintly visible in the mist.
Uchiha Jin squatted against the wooden wall of the training ground, his fingers unconsciously stroking the edge of his forehead guard – the fine mark carved by his kunai was left when he escaped from the warehouse last night.
“Jin!” Haruno Na’s voice came from below. She was carrying a puppet wooden box half a person’s height, and the ends of her hair were still stained with morning dew. Senior Cangsong asked us to go to the south gate, saying that there was an emergency.
Jin turned over and jumped down, noticing that there was a string of copper bells around her waist. They were made from puppet joints. Was they improved?
I couldn’t sleep last night, so I dismantled Yueying’s poison sac. Haruno Na patted the wooden box, and the sound of metal collision was cold. The woman’s tooth mechanism gave me inspiration. Now this puppet can spray thirteen kinds of smoke.
As the two walked through the busy streets, Jhin smelled blood.
It was not the fishy and sweet smell of an ordinary wounded person, but the smell of the anesthetic used by the Anbu mixed with the stench.
In front of the guard booth at the south gate, three Chunins collapsed on the ground, holding their necks, their skin a strange bluish-purple color – exactly the same as the poison on the Moon Shadow corpse.
Over there!
Following Haruno Na’s gaze, they saw a dark figure sitting on the dead tree outside the city gate.
The man was wearing a blood-stained kimono with dark patterns, his long hair was tied up with a silver ring, and there was a snake totem tattooed on the left corner of his eye. He was slowly wiping the short knife in his hand.
Starry night? Jin reached for the kunai at his waist, and the image in the Anbu intelligence flashed through his memory—the Shadow Society’s S-class illusionist, who was good at using mental power to create a double space.
The little brat from Konoha came fast. Xingye rolled over and landed on the ground, his short knife leaving sparks on the ground. Yueying, that idiot, ruined the situation, I’ll clean up the mess. His voice was like a rusty gear, and every word he spoke was stinging. If he knelt down now and destroyed his chakra, maybe he could keep his body intact.
Haruno Na’s puppet box snapped open, and three mechanical weasels jumped out of the box, their sharp claws grazing Xingye’s earlobes. Dreaming. She grinned, revealing her canine teeth, and said, “My Haruno Na’s knife only cuts the neck that should be cut.”
Xingye didn’t even try to dodge, allowing the mechanical weasel to leave three bloody marks on his shoulder.
His pupils suddenly contracted into vertical lines, and chakra rose from the soles of his feet like a black vortex: Then I will show you what a real illusion is –
Jhin’s temple throbbed.
He had seen too many signs of illusion being activated, but this time was different. There were no ripples of chakra fluctuations, no momentary freeze of eye contact, as if darkness had poured directly into the brain.
When he opened his eyes again, Haruno Na and Mechanical Itachi were gone, leaving him standing alone in a bloody wasteland, with countless distorted faces floating in the distance – the same faces he had seen when he was hiding in the closet on the night of the Uchiha clan extermination, the faces of his classmates when he was mocked for being the last in the ninja school, and the sneer of Yueying before she died in the warehouse the day before yesterday.
Is this… a manifestation of the spirit? Jhin bit his tongue, but there was no pain.
He remembered the ancient stone tablet he found in the mine outside the village three days ago, on which was engraved the words “Illusion Cocoon, Born in the Heart Gap”.
Light blue chakra condensed at his fingertips – this was his original way of perception, which could scan the real chakra within five meters around him like a radar.
Sure enough, in the crack of the blood-red sky, a faint wisp of silver-gray chakra was entangled in his sea of ​​consciousness.
That is the illusion anchor point of Xingye.
Interesting. The voice of Xingye exploded in the void, the wasteland began to collapse, and the ground cracked into bottomless ravines, but do you think you can break my heart prison with this little trick?
He could feel his mental strength being drained away, as if someone was sucking his soul through a straw.
Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a small figure in the distance – it was my seven-year-old self, huddled in the ruins of the old Uchiha residence, clutching half a cold rice ball in my hand.
You are afraid of being forgotten. The voice of the starry night becomes bewitching, afraid that you will disappear into history like your family.
Admit it, you have no right to be here, you are just a loser who even cheated in the Genin exams—
Enough! Jin shouted, and his chakra suddenly surged.
He remembered what Kakashi said when he put the forehead protector on his head, that Team 7 didn’t need a perfect ninja, he remembered Haruno Na used her body to block the knife for him when he was surrounded by poisonous fog, he remembered the red corners of Hatake Hiru’s eyes when she stayed up late to help him decipher the secret code of the Shadow Society.
The warmth hidden deep in his heart suddenly turned into tangible light, tearing a hole in the bloody wasteland.
The core of illusion is the stability of the caster’s mental power. Jin panted, watching the silver-gray chakra lines in the void begin to tremble, and you… are too impatient.
In the real world, Xingye’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He clearly saw the yellow-haired boy standing there with his eyes closed, but blood was oozing from his forehead – this meant that the other party not only broke free from the illusion, but was also eroding his spiritual space.
Haruno! Jin’s eyes suddenly opened, and the flowing chakra wrapped around his body like a blue flame, interfering with his hand seals!
Haruno Na was well prepared.
She bit her finger, drew a beast-taming symbol on her palm, and blew a sharp whistle.
The three mechanical weasels suddenly split into twelve, and their metal claws beat out dense drumbeats on the ground, while she herself jumped onto the stone wall next to her and aimed the modified poison sac at Xingye’s face – it was made of Yueying’s tooth mechanism, and it was filled with bee venom that could paralyze the five senses.
Xingye’s expression finally changed.
Just as he was about to form a seal, twelve mechanical weasels pounced on him from all directions. The sound of metal colliding made his ears ring; bee venom mist exploded in front of his eyes. Although he protected his mouth and nose with chakra, his vision was still blurry.
What’s even more terrible is that the kid named Uchiha Jin is approaching with strange steps, and every step is precisely avoiding his chakra perception blind spot.
An old voice came from behind.
Cangsong’s figure flashed like a ghost, he made complicated seals with his hands, and the dark patterns on his kimono moved without wind.
A golden sealing formation rose from the ground, covering Xingye entirely, and the sound of chakra flowing stopped abruptly.
Old thing! Xingye gnashed his teeth, and the dagger fell to the ground with a clang. You thought you could stop me by arresting me…ah!
Jin’s kunai was already against his throat. I want to know what you are planning. His voice was very soft, but it was unquestionably cold and hard. Yueying’s poison, the guards at the south gate, and you deliberately chose to start in the early morning –
In vain. Xingye suddenly smiled, black blood seeping from the corners of his mouth. The real storm… was just about to begin. His pupils gradually became blurred, but at the last moment he stared at Jhin’s eyes, remember… the wrath of the Shadow Society is redder than all the blood moons you have ever seen…
Cangsong quickly stepped forward and pressed the back of his neck, and chakra flowed into his meridians like a tide. He was poisoned and couldn’t survive for more than three minutes. The old ninja looked up at Jin with a scrutinizing look in his eyes. The flowing chakra you just used… is very similar to the record on the stone tablet in the mine.
Haruno Na’s mechanical weasel had retreated back to her side and was licking the palm of her hand with its tongue (actually a metal brush).
She squatted down and picked up Xingye’s dagger. A line of small words was engraved on the inside of the scabbard: Snake Kiss, directly under the Shadow Society.
It seems that our previous guess was correct. Jin stared at Xingye’s gradually cold face, and the familiar chill rose on the back of his neck again – just like last night in the warehouse, as if a pair of eyes were hiding in a shadow, watching all this.
Cangsong put Xingye’s body into a special sealing bag, and when he turned around, the corner of his clothes swept across the blood on the ground. This organization is deeper than I thought. He whispered, I saw a similar snake mark in the Water Country ten years ago. At that time… it was to revive a forbidden existence.
Jhin’s fingers unconsciously stroked the fine lines on his forehead.
He thought of the footprints outside the warehouse last night, the storm in Xingye’s last words, and the nails that the Shadow Society had planted in Konoha – perhaps the answer they had been looking for was hidden in an even darker place.
Let’s go. He patted Haruno Na’s shoulder and went to report to the Anbu.
The morning mist had dissipated at some point, and the stone statue of the Shodaime on the Hokage Rock glowed warm gold in the sunlight.
But Jhin knew that beneath this calm surface, something was stirring.
Just like the serpentine gold coins left behind by Xing Ye, they look like ordinary metals, but they contain a poison that is enough to overturn an entire village.
And he will never let history repeat itself.
Chapter 45: Clues to the Silver Fox, the Secret of the Economic Lifeline (Old Version)
As the morning light penetrated the treetops of Konoha, Uchiha Jin was squatting in the corridor outside the Hokage’s office.
He held half a roasted dumpling between his fingers, his eyes fixed on the mottled shadows of the trees beneath his feet – that was what Haruno Na had stuffed into his pocket last night, saying that he needed to eat enough before going on a long journey.
ember.
Tsuruha’s voice came from behind.
The Sandaime Hokage’s trusted adviser was holding a scroll of documents, and the cuffs of his moon-white kimono were stained with the snake-patterned gold powder from Xingye’s corpse.
Jhin stood up, patted his trouser legs, and stuffed the remaining roasted dumplings into his mouth: You said that Silver Fox will trade in Qingshi Town on the border of the Fire Country tonight?
The Intelligence Department intercepted the pigeon message of the Shadow Society. He Yu handed over a yellowed letter paper with dark red ink on the edges. They used snake venom as a developer, and it took us three hours to decipher it.
The person Silver Fox was going to meet this time was the ore merchant from the Hidden Rain Village. He paused, his eyes sweeping over the fine marks on Jin’s forehead protector. That guy had killed an entire caravan in the Hidden Sand Village with poisonous mist ten years ago. He was as cunning as a slippery fox.
The fingertips of Jin felt slightly hot as he held the letter.
He remembered the snake-patterned gold coins next to Xingye’s body last night, and the taboo of resurrection that Cangsong mentioned. His Adam’s apple moved: Do you need support from the Anbu?
Hokage said that it is better to lure the snake out of its hole than to alert it. Tsuruha took out a thumb-sized copper bell from his sleeve. This is made of a tracking talisman. If you are in danger, just crush it. He tapped the copper bell with his fingers. In addition… Miss Haruno’s puppetry may come in handy.
Dusk comes early in Qingshi Town.
Jin stood under the old locust tree at the entrance of the town, watching Haruno Na running towards him in the clatter of wooden clogs.
She was wearing a washed-out blue shirt today, and had a wine jug on her waist – she had found it among her old belongings when she was wandering around. She must have smelled a little drunk to look like a waitress.
Did you see that Songyue Building? Jin pointed to the two-story wooden building with red lanterns in the center of town. I used the flowing chakra to scan it. There were five chakra fluctuations in the private room on the second floor. One of them had a sinister and rotten smell. It should be the silver fox.
Haruno Na pulled at her collar, revealing the puppet string faintly visible at her collarbone: Then I’ll be a waiter, and you’ll keep an eye on me outside?
No. Jin took out a small cloth bag from his bosom, poured out the silver coins and stuffed them into her palm, “Go buy two jars of the strongest wine,” he said, deliberately stumbling at the stairs – he lowered his voice, “I want to hear clearly what they say.”
The wooden stairs in Songyue Building creaked.
Haruno Na had just stepped onto the second floor with the jar of wine when she heard hoarse laughter coming from the private room: Three carts of mithril ore, each with 20% blood gold.
Lord Ying said that this was a gesture of sincerity to the Shadow Society.
Blood gold? Another voice sounded sinister, like a rusty knife scraping across a slate. The stone of Yuyin was soaked in blood. What we want is cold iron that can temper poison.
Haruno Na’s fingers tapped lightly on the edge of the wine jar.
The fine needle hidden in the fingernail popped out, pierced the fingertip, and blood dripped along the edge of the altar into the gap of the stairs – that was a secret signal to Jhin.
She gritted her teeth and staggered two steps, and the wine jar slammed against the door frame: I’m sorry, guest!
Small hand slip
Get out! There was a sound of teacups breaking in the private room.
As Haruno Na bent down to pick up the fragments, she caught a glimpse of several oil paper packages piled under the table, the top one still stained with black slag.
Her heart skipped a beat – the color of the slag was exactly the same as the bone-corroding iron she had seen in the Kusagakure Village three years ago, a forbidden mine that could corrode chakra.
Bone-corroding iron… What do they need so much for? Haruno Na retreated to the stairs, took out the wine flask from her waist and took a big gulp.
The spicy wine made her eyes red, but it also made her mind clearer.
She shouted at the top of her voice: Boss!
The private room on the second floor needs more wine——
Before he could finish his words, there was a sudden sound of porcelain breaking from downstairs.
Jin stood behind the pile of firewood in the backyard of Songyue Building, watching the clay pot he had thrown explode on the ground.
He used wind escape to roll up the smell of alcohol, mixed with wood smoke, and floated to the second floor – this was a signal to Haruno Na.
Sure enough, the window of the private room creaked open a crack, and he climbed onto the roof through the smoke, pressing his fingertips on the window paper.
The flowing chakra seeped in through the fingers.
It was a faint golden light that allowed him to see the trajectory of chakra flow.
In the private room, Silver Fox was facing away from the window, the chakra on his neck was like a twisted poisonous snake, and in the wooden box beside him lay half a piece of blue ore – it was bone-corroding iron.
These ores will be transported to the abandoned ninja tool workshop in the Kawa-no-Kuni. Silver Fox’s voice suddenly became clear. Three days later, Master Ying will come to pick them up in person…
Haruno Na’s shout echoed throughout the building.
She swung the wine jar and smashed it against the stair railing. Amidst the flying wood chips, the puppet string around her waist suddenly straightened – the miniature puppet hidden in the wine jar popped out with a click and bit the latch of the private room.
Silver Fox finally realized something was wrong.
He slammed the table, and there was a roar of a mechanism being activated under the floor.
Twelve puppets crawled out from the cracks in the ground, their red pupils glowing coldly, and the kunai in their hands were tempered with blue-black poison.
Want to run? Jin jumped down from the eaves, and the flowing chakra condensed into a translucent barrier in his palm.
The puppet’s kunai pierced the barrier, making a sharp sound of metal friction, but did not even leave a white mark.
He grabbed the back of the silver fox’s collar, but saw that guy suddenly grinned and a cloud of black mist came out of his mouth.
Bone-eating poisonous mist! Haruno Na’s puppet string wrapped around Jin’s waist and yanked him to the window.
The black fog corroded the wooden beams, making a sizzling sound.
The silver fox took the opportunity to crawl through the broken window and ran towards the mountains and forests outside the town, still holding the wooden box containing the ore in his arms.
Chase! Just as Jin was about to jump out of the window, he caught a glimpse of a small black notebook flashing on the ground where Silver Fox ran.
He bent down to pick it up. The snake pattern on the cover was still oozing blood – it was the encrypted account book of the Shadow Society.
The moonlight from Konoha shines through the window paper, casting tiny shadows on the account book.
Jhin sat at the desk with the code book he got from the merchant from the Water Kingdom in front of him.
Haruno Na laid on his shoulder, poking at the symbols on the account book with her fingertips: This string of numbers… looks like the mineral vein number I saw in Yuyin?
Mineral vein No. 17, forge No. 23… Jin’s pen moved quickly on the paper. The Shadow Society used ore trading as a cover to actually purchase materials that could make chakra jammers. He suddenly stopped, and the tip of his pen pierced the paper heavily. And this – the banks in the Fire Kingdom, the Wind Kingdom, and the Lightning Kingdom all have their secret agents.
Haruno Na gasped: Do they want to control the purse strings of the entire ninja world?
More than that. Jin turned to the last page of the account book, on which was a drawing of a coiled snake, with Konoha’s forehead protector in its mouth. Combined with Xingye’s snake kiss mark and Cangsong’s resurrection taboo… The goal of the Shadow Society might be crazier than we thought.
There were hurried footsteps outside the window.
Tsuruha’s figure appeared at the door, the moonlight shining on his tense jawline: Jin, Lord Hokage has a new mission.
Jhin closed the account book, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.
He looked out the window at the outline of the Hokage Rock. The eyes of the first-generation stone statue glowed faintly in the night.
Haruno Na’s hand quietly covered the back of his hand, with the unique rough touch of puppet strings.
No matter how many dangers lie ahead, he said softly, his voice soaked in the coolness of moonlight, “I will not retreat.”
Tsuruha tapped the door frame twice with his fingers, a secret signal that only the Anbu could understand.
Jhin stood up and stuffed the account book into his arms.
The moonlight filtered through the window lattice, refracting a faint light on the fine mark on his forehead – that was the mark made by teacher Iruka with a piece of chalk when he cheated in the ninja school three years ago.
Now, within this tiny scar, there is a spark that is powerful enough to overturn the entire Shadow Society.
Chapter 46: The Trial of the Hokage, the Trap of the Shadow Society (Old Version)
The night spread over the outline of the Hokage Rock, and the pupils of the first-generation stone statue glowed a cold and hard blue-gray in the moonlight.
As Uchiha Jin followed Tsuruha through the corridor of the Hokage’s office building, the sound of his boots hitting the stone bricks was particularly clear – this was the third time he was summoned alone by the Sandaime, but this time was different. Behind the wooden door with fire patterns carved on it at the end of the corridor, there was a weight that was more scorching than the secret report from the Anbu.
Hokage said that in the past half month, three batches of goods were lost by the caravan in the southern part of Konoha. Tsuruha lowered his voice, and his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the Anbu emblem on his cuffs. What was lost was not gold or silver, but the rough embryos for refining chakra ore. He stopped in front of the door, and when he turned around, the kunai bag on his waist made a slight sound. What’s more, three days ago, a Genin found an unconscious stray ninja outside the west city wall, with half a bloody Konoha forehead protector in his arms.
Jhin’s knuckles pressed against the door knocker and he paused.
He recalled the Shadow Society account book he had opened in the dark room three hours ago. Under the coiled snake-shaped mark on the last page, there were densely written words about the ore transportation barrier experiment.
Haruno Na’s hands were shaking as she held the edge of the account book, and she said that this amount was enough to buy ten black market buildings of the Hidden Rain Village.
Come in. An old but deep voice came from inside the door.
The Sandaime was sitting behind his desk, the sparks from his pipe flickering, dyeing the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes a warm red.
Jin noticed the scroll spread out beside the old man. The top one showed a map of the examination halls for the Chunin Exams. The location of the Konoha Training Grounds was circled three times in red.
There are two tasks this time. The Sandaime put down his pipe and tapped the scroll with his knuckles. First, to find out the sudden increase in suspicious people in the village; second, to ensure that there will be no trouble in the Chunin Exam next month. His eyes swept over the fine scratch on Jin’s forehead protector. Iruka always said that you, a bastard, had a plan when you cheated in the past. Now it’s time to put those plans to use.
When he left the Hokage’s office, Haruno Na was waiting for him under the cherry tree in the corridor.
Her puppet strings gleamed silver in the moonlight, entangled in her arms like a snake ready to strike: What new hard task has that old man given you?
Find the traitor and ensure the exam. Jin stuffed the scroll into his arms, turned and walked towards the night market. Let’s go to South Town first.
If the Shadow Society wants to cause trouble, they won’t hide it under the Hokage’s nose.
The night market in Konoha was bustling, and the aroma of fried tofu mixed with the noise of drunkards drifted through the streets.
Jin’s footsteps suddenly stopped – in front of the rice shop twenty steps away, a merchant in indigo cloth was bending over to move bags of rice, but his shadow was three inches longer than that of an ordinary person.
That is a flaw that only occurs in camouflage techniques formed by condensing chakra.
Haruno, the third booth on the left. Jin whispered, rubbing his fingers on his sleeves to create chakra fluctuations.
The so-called Flowing Chakra is a perception technique he created, which can filter the surrounding chakra traces like a sieve. At this moment, the ground at the merchant’s feet is glowing with a lavender glow, which is the unique fluctuation of wind attribute chakra.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings popped out and entangled the merchant’s ankles.
The businessman did not struggle. Instead, he smiled at Jin and turned his wrist to throw a piece of paper accurately into Jin’s arms.
The next second he had jumped onto the roof, and his voice came with the night wind: Chunin Exam, blood flowing like a river.
The handwriting on the note still smelled of ink.
Haruno Na came closer to look, and the tip of her hair brushed across the tip of Jin’s ear: Is this a provocation or a preview?
Jhin didn’t say anything. He squatted down and scratched the ground where the merchant had just stood with his fingernails.
A bit of dark grey powder stained his fingertips, which shone with a metallic luster under the moonlight – it was exactly the same as the chakra ore that was a specialty of Mist Hidden Village as recorded in the Silver Fox account book.
Chase. He tugged at Haruno Na’s sleeve. They chose to fight at the night market, so their escape route must be to the abandoned factory – that place is closest to the martial arts field, and the barrier coverage area can cover half of the village.
The iron gate of the abandoned factory was rusty and foul smell seeped out from the gaps.
Haruno Na’s puppet Iron Fang drilled in first, and the sound of metal joints rubbing against each other was particularly harsh in the empty factory.
Jin’s flowing chakra spread out, and he suddenly realized something was wrong – the chakra fluctuations in the air were like crumpled cloth, and although no one was casting hand seals, his vision began to glow a strange purple.
Illusion! Haruno Na’s voice came from the left, but Jin clearly saw that she was standing on the right at the moment.
He bit the tip of his tongue to force out the pain, and his chakra condensed into a light blue shield in his palm, enveloping the two of them.
This is his improved light barrier, which can weaken the interference of illusions on the five senses.
Find the core of the barrier! Jin pulled out a kunai and cut his palm, blood dripping onto the ground, which turned into ice crystals the moment it touched the ground – this was not an ordinary illusion, but a barrier driven by chakra ore.
He recalled the records in the account book: the mineral rune array can seal space and disrupt the five senses.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings suddenly tightened.
Tieya’s mechanical claws grabbed the cement block in the corner and pulled it hard – where the wall peeled off, a piece of ore engraved with snake-shaped runes was embedded in the wall, and a faint green light was flowing on the surface.
That’s it! Jin’s kunai wrapped in chakra stabbed forward, but it bounced back the moment it touched the ore.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings were entangled with the ore at the same time, and flames spurted out of Tieya’s mouth – that was the fire escape technique she improved using animal taming techniques, which was specifically designed to restrain water-attribute barriers.
Bang! The moment the ore exploded, the entire factory began to shake violently.
Jin dragged Haruno Na towards the door, and the sound of breaking steel bars was heard behind them.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings wrapped around his waist, and at the last moment, they were thrown to safety.
Look! Haruno Na pointed at the flash of light in the ruins.
Jin pushed aside the rubble, revealing a bronze map with a dozen points marked on it in red paint. The most eye-catching one was right in front of the location of the Konoha training ground.
This is the Shadow Society’s route map. Jhin’s thumb rubbed over the markings on the martial arts field. The touch was rough, as if it had been traced over and over again. They would take action during the exam, but how exactly… His voice suddenly dropped, and his eyes fell on the small words on the edge of the map: May 15, during the lunar eclipse.
The moonlight was suddenly blocked by clouds. Haruno Na shuddered and put her coat on Jin’s shoulders: May 15th, which happened to be the second day of the Chunin Exam.
Jhin didn’t respond, his fingers stroked the fine line on his forehead protector.
In the mark left by the chalk that Iruka threw at him three years ago, there was now half a piece of paper torn from the Silver Fox account book – that was the flow chart of the Shadow Society’s funds, and the largest amount of money was remitted to a secret base in the Hidden Rain Village.
Back to the Hokage’s office. He put the map in his arms, and when he turned around, the corner of his clothes brought a gust of wind, to let the Sandaime know that the Shadow Society’s knife was already on the neck of the test.
Three days later, notices for the Chunin Exams were posted all over the streets of Konoha.
Jin stood at the entrance of the martial arts arena, watching the candidates come in one after another. The fine lines on his forehead protector gleamed in the sunlight.
Haruno Na walked past him carrying Tieya and suddenly nudged him with her elbow: I heard that you were chosen by the Hokage to be the examiner?
Jhin’s eyes swept over several suspicious figures in the crowd, and a hint of coldness appeared on the corner of his mouth: Would the Shadow want to stir up trouble in my territory? He touched the map in his arms, and then let them see who is the protagonist of this play.
In the distance, the Sandaime’s summoning beast, the crow, flew across the sky. On the secret letter held between its claws was written the Lunar Eclipse Plan, which had been confirmed to be launched.
Chapter 47 Examination Crisis, Shadow Raid (Old Version)
On the second day of the Chunin Exam, as the sun had just climbed over the roof of the martial arts arena, Uchiha Jin was already standing at the front of the examiner’s seat.
His forehead guard was slightly tilted, revealing the fine scratch underneath – half a piece of paper torn from the Silver Fox account book three days ago, now pressing against his heart and causing a burning sensation.
Attention all candidates, the second practical test of the Chunin Exam begins now –
The words haven’t finished yet.
A deafening explosion tore through the air, and the east wall of the training ground collapsed.
Dozens of black shadows wrapped in smoke and dust rushed in. The leader had a dark purple totem painted on his face and held a short stick with a faint blue sheen in his hand.
The examination room suddenly became chaotic.
Some Genins were hurriedly forming hand seals, and the turbulent chakra flow knocked over the wooden table of the judges’ bench; some candidates hugged their heads and huddled in the corner, and were hit by the fallen flagpole and screamed in pain.
He clearly saw the chakra patterns flowing on the surface of the short stick – exactly the same as the picture of Yuyin’s experimental subject in the Silver Fox account book.
Haruno Na! He pulled out a kunai with his backhand, and pressed his fingertips on the fine marks on the forehead protector. Half of the map fragments turned into paper ash and dissipated. He took Tieya to evacuate the candidates and focus on protecting the medical team!
“Okay!” Haruno Na opened her throat and responded. The iron teeth on her shoulders instantly stood up, and a deep animal roar rolled out of her throat.
She pulled out two pieces of black iron from her back and put them together to form a puppet spool with a click. “Little guys, follow me closely!”
If I am caught up by the Anbu, I lose!
Jin stepped on the eaves and jumped into the air, his eyes sweeping over the chaotic crowd.
Seven figures wearing totems spread out in a fan shape, and the tips of their short sticks were oozing with lavender chakra – that was a wave that could interfere with the five senses. The three candidates closest to them had already knelt down with their heads in their hands, and blood from their noses dripped down their chins to the ground.
Streamer barrier!
He bit his fingertips and pressed them on his palms, and chakra flowed out like a stream.
A pale golden light film spread above the examination room, covering all the candidates like a net.
The Genin who were protected by the barrier suddenly straightened up and touched their swollen temples in confusion: I…what happened to me just now?
Good move. The leading totem man suddenly laughed and slammed his short stick heavily on the ground.
The ground cracked into spider-web-like patterns, and fragments of dark blue ore were flying up, but do you think this can stop us?
He saw that within those mineral fragments, there was actually half a rotten Sharingan – it was exactly the same as the description of the chakra fusion in the experimental records found in the Silver Fox’s lair three years ago.
All examiners, form a formation! He threw three kunai with his backhand, accurately nailing them on the lantern pillars in the east, south and west directions. Guard the four corners and don’t let the ore touch the examinees’ skin!
In the chaos, Haruno Na’s puppet string suddenly entangled his wrist.
Blood was oozing from her forehead, and Tieya was using his claws to scrape at the ore fragments on the ground: Ashes!
Those bastards ran to the center of the examination room!
I just caught a glimpse of their leader staring at the altar!
Altar?
Jhin’s breathing hitched.
He suddenly remembered what the Sandaime had told him when he summoned him alone three days ago: During this year’s Chunin Exam, an important item was sealed under the altar.
Everyone listen up!
Give up the perimeter and guard the altar with me! He kicked the totem man who rushed over and the short stick hit the wall by his ear, splashing a string of sparks. Haruno Na, use the puppet line to lock the area around the altar!
Before he finished speaking, a slight clicking sound came from under the altar.
A man in black came out from underground, his left face covered with hideous scars, and in his right hand he held a strangely shaped short knife – the blade was made of dark blue ore, and the blade was wrapped with half of a rotten chakra thread.
The personal guard of the Shadow Society’s chief butler, Silver Fox, is Bone Erosion. Jhin’s voice was as cold as ice. No wonder your name is not in the account book. It turns out that you are hidden so deeply.
Erosion Bone licked the corner of his mouth and said: You are better than those useless examiners because you can recognize me.
But – he pointed the tip of his knife at the altar and said, “When I get the things inside, you won’t even be qualified to carry my shoes.”
The bluestone slabs of the altar suddenly began to vibrate.
Jhin saw black chakra seeping out from the cracks in the stone slabs, which was the sealed power stirring.
He bit the detonating talisman in his mouth and crushed it, and chakra gushed out like a volcanic eruption: Streamer Lock!
The light golden light band wrapped around Bone-Eroding’s wrist like a spirit snake, but was easily cut off by the ore dagger.
The speed of the bone-eroding sword suddenly increased, and the dagger pierced towards Jhin’s throat with a sound of breaking through the air – the angle of this attack was so tricky that it blocked all escape routes.
Ding!
Haruno Na’s puppet string wrapped around the short sword, and Iron Fang pounced from the side, biting the bone-eroding wrist guard with its fangs.
Jhin took the opportunity to flip his wrist and used his kunai to cut open his bone-eroding left shoulder.
Blood splattered on the ore dagger, making a sizzling sound.
Do you think this little injury can stop me? Oxidation suddenly shouted, and chakra surged wildly.
The scars on his body began to emit a faint blue light, and the rotten chakra threads on the mineral dagger suddenly came alive and wrapped around Jin’s neck like a snake.
He remembered the annotation on the last page of the Silver Fox account book: the experimental subject can briefly control the fused chakra, which lasts for three quarters of an hour.
Now, it is exactly the third moment.
He suddenly let go of the kunai and let the chakra thread wrap around his neck.
At the moment when Shi Gu showed a smug smile, Jin’s right hand suddenly pressed on the other’s chest – that was the vital point where all chakra flowed.
Flowing light breaks!
The light golden chakra penetrated into Erosion’s body like a sharp arrow, instantly disrupting his chakra circulation.
A grim expression froze on his face, and the dagger fell to the ground with a clang.
He staggered back two steps and knocked over the bronze lamp beside the altar.
Go! He roared at his men, detonating the backup talisman!
Watch out! Haruno Na’s puppet string suddenly wrapped around Jin’s waist and pulled him to the side.
Several detonating tags exploded where they had just stood, and rubble fell like a rainstorm.
Half of the roof of the martial arts arena collapsed, and the dust made it impossible to open your eyes.
When the smoke and dust cleared, Shi Gu and his men had long disappeared.
The altar was intact, and the seal patterns on the bluestone slabs still glowed with golden light.
The scroll is still there. Haruno Na wiped the dust off her face. Tieya was using his claws to scrape at the ore fragments on the ground. These broken stones were quite hard and he couldn’t bite them.
Jhin squatted down and picked up a piece of ore.
As soon as the fingertips touched the surface, they felt a violent fluctuation of chakra – this was not an ordinary ore, it was clearly a crystal condensed from the chakra of a living person.
He thought of the huge sum of money remitted to the Hidden Rain Village in the account book, and his throat suddenly tightened.
Uchiha Jin.
A deep voice came from behind.
Jin turned around and saw Heyu standing in front of the broken wall, with a corner of his black cloak lifted by the wind.
In his hand he held half a crow feather, which was the mark of the Sandaime summoning beast.
Lord Hokage needs you to go to the secret meeting room immediately. Tsuruha lowered his voice and said, “There is something that must be given to you now.”
Jhin stood up and brushed off the dust on his body.
He glanced at the messy examination room, then at the unconscious candidate in Haruno Na’s arms, and finally put the ore fragments into his arms.
Let’s go. He said, with a tension in his voice that he didn’t even notice. Let’s go now.
The sunlight from the training ground shone through the collapsed roof, casting a shadow on the fine line on his forehead guard.
In that shadow, half of a map fragment that had not completely disappeared was faintly visible, and a few blurred words “Hidden Rain Village·Underground Laboratory” could be vaguely seen.
When Tsuruha turned and walked towards the Hokage Building, Jin noticed that his heels were rolling over the ground – there, half a fragment of the blue ore was flashing a strange light.
Chapter 48: Hokage’s Secret Room, the Truth Emerges (Old Version)
As Uchiha Jin followed Tsuruha through the corridor of the Hokage Building, the sound of the soles of his boots hitting the bluestone slabs was particularly clear.
The afternoon sun slanted in through the carved window lattices, casting mottled shadows on the two people.
He noticed that Tsuruha’s right hand was always on the hilt of the short sword at his waist, and his knuckles turned white due to the force – this was a habitual action of the Intelligence Department ninjas when encountering an emergency.
We’ve arrived. Tsuruha stopped in front of the vermilion lacquered door at the end of the corridor.
The fire pattern relief on the door lintel glowed dark red, and faint chakra fluctuations seeped out from the crack in the door, like the low groan of a suppressed wild beast.
Just as Jhin was about to raise his hand to push the door, there was a sudden click of the lock from inside.
The heavy wooden door slowly opened inward, revealing stone steps extending downward.
The stone steps were inlaid with dark blue fluorite on both sides, and the cold light illuminated the talismans on the stone wall clearly – it was a fire-sealing seal to prevent the leakage of chakra, and each corner of the talisman was glowing with a faint golden light.
The air in the underground secret room had a damp earthy smell.
As soon as Jin stepped in, he saw the Sandaime Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen sitting at the head of the long table, his old fingers stroking a bronze compass.
On the left and right sides sat the Anbu chief Danzo Shimura, advisors Koharu Utane and En Mito Kado. Even the Root leader Hanzo, who rarely appeared in public, was hidden in the shadows, with only a pair of hawk-like eyes revealed through his mask.
“Uchiha boy, take a seat.” Hiruzen raised his chin and pointed to the empty seat to his right.
As soon as Jhin sat down, he felt his left leg being gently pushed by the mechanism under the table.
He glanced down and found a row of micro-detonating symbols embedded on the inside of the long table – this was the last resort to prevent internal betrayal.
Just say it straight. Hiruzen pushed the compass to the center of the table, and twisted spells appeared on the bronze surface. The chakra crystals you found in the martial arts field are not ordinary ninja tool materials. He opened the brown paper file at hand. On the yellowed paper page was a picture of an ore that was almost identical to the fragment in Jin’s arms. Three years ago, something similar was unearthed in the underground laboratory of the Hidden Rain Village.
The intelligence agent we sent out at that time reported back that it was the remnant of the soul core.
Soul core? Jin’s pupils shrank slightly.
He thought of the 50 million taels in the account book that were to be remitted to the Hidden Rain Village, and the disordered chakra in the body of the unconscious candidate, and all the fragments suddenly became one.
The forbidden technique of the ancient ninja clan. Danzo’s voice is like the friction of sandpaper, which can extract the chakra essence of living people and condense the core to control life and death.
When the Otsutsuki clan invaded, they used similar technology to create chakra weapons. He slammed his wrinkled hands on the table. The Shadow Society was replicating this technology!
What they want is not the ranking in the Chunin Exam, but the core information hidden in the scroll!
Jhin stood up suddenly, the ore fragments in his arms hurting his chest: Those scrolls –
Someone has sent it over. Hiruzen snapped his fingers, and the Anbu filed in from the side door of the secret room, each holding a sealed scroll box in their arms.
The frontmost Anbu opened the lid of the box, and Jin immediately smelled the familiar scent of ink – it was the survival scroll for the second test of the Chunin Exam.
He closed his eyes and slowly let the chakra penetrate into the nearest scroll through his fingertips.
Unlike the cool and warm feeling of ordinary scrolls, this roll of paper actually has a sticky touch, as if there are living things crawling in the paper fibers.
When the chakra touched the inner layer of the scroll, he suddenly saw countless points of light exploding in his consciousness – those were the sealed words, secret codes written with reverse chakra.
It was a fragment of the Book of the Void! Jin suddenly opened his eyes. It recorded the activation ceremony of the Soul Core, and… the method of using the chakra of a living person to feed the core! His voice trembled. No wonder there were candidates who fainted in the martial arts field. Their chakra was secretly extracted to nourish the forbidden techniques in these scrolls!
The air in the secret room froze instantly.
Utane Koharu slammed her cane on the ground: Hiruzen, did you know that?
Three days ago, the Root intercepted a secret letter from the Shadow Society in the Hidden Rain Village. Hanzo’s voice came from behind the mask, saying that they planned to use the chakra of the candidates to activate the Soul Core during the Chunin Exam, and then… use this thing to flatten Konoha.
Cold sweat broke out on Jin’s back.
He finally understood why the Shadow Society caused the collapse of the examination room – not to cause chaos, but to cover up the abnormal fluctuations of chakra extraction!
Those unconscious candidates are nothing more than nutrients for the forbidden techniques.
That’s why I need you. Hiruzen suddenly grabbed Jin’s wrist. The old man’s palm was burning hot. You could sense the secret code in the scroll and track the flow of chakra.
From now on, you are the leader of the special mission squad, and you have the right to mobilize the Anbu, the Root, and even the Intelligence Department. He pointed to the communication scroll in the corner. Haruno Na has sent back the message. If you need it –
No need. Jin interrupted him, I trust her to do the job. As soon as the voice fell, the communication scroll suddenly glowed white, and Haruno Na’s voice came out with heavy breathing: Jin!
I intercepted the encrypted communications of the Shadow Society. They…they plan to launch a general attack at midnight three days later!
The coordinates are at the weak point of the barrier in the north of the village, and it also mentions that the core has been fully charged!
The atmosphere in the secret room suddenly became tense.
Danzo suddenly pulled off his mask, and the scars on his face twisted into hideous lines: Notify all the jonin to return to defense!
Activate the Eightfold Rashomon!
Wait. Jhin pressed his temple. Three days later?
But the soul core needs at least seven days to charge. He suddenly remembered the half of the blue ore in the martial arts arena, unless they used a more efficient way to supply energy – such as human sacrifice.
That’s enough! Hiruzen slammed the table and immediately arranged defenses, moved all the candidates to the safe house, and asked the medical team to prepare chakra recovery potions –
Your every move is under our control.
A sinister voice suddenly exploded from the communication scroll.
Haruno Na’s exclamation was cut off, replaced by the noise of electricity.
The fluorite lamp in the secret room went out instantly, and darkness surged in like a substance.
Jin’s Sharingan opened automatically, and in the red vision, he saw that the wooden frame of the communication scroll was covered with black spells – that was the demon-sealing seal that could block chakra signals.
Silver Fox! He growled.
As expected of a kid that Kakashi values. The voice told Hokage with a chuckle that the first roar of the soul core would play the music for your funeral.
In the darkness, there was a sound of paper tearing.
Jhin reached for the lighter on the corner of the table and lit it with a click. In the flickering flames, he saw the spell on the bronze compass melting, as if being swallowed by something.
The chakra barrier was broken! The Anbu exclaimed from the door.
Jin stuffed the scroll into his arms, turned around and said to Hiruzen, whose eyes were red with anger: Let Haruno Na take the candidates to the underground shelter in Minami-machi, where there is the Nohara clan’s beast taming barrier.
I’m going to the northern boundary point of the village.
No! Hiruzen grabbed his arm. This is a trap!
But it is also an opportunity. Jin pulled his hand away, and the magatama in his Sharingan slowly turned. They thought we were stunned, but we know the weakness of the soul core. He pointed to his chest. Those chakra crystals need living people to provide energy. As long as all the sacrifices are cut off,
Are you crazy? Danzo’s short sword was against his throat. This was risking the entire Konoha!
No. Jin looked directly into Danzo’s eyes, “I’m exchanging my life for Konoha’s future.” He suddenly grabbed Danzo’s wrist with his backhand, and the short knife fell to the ground with a clang. “Three days ago, I picked up half a piece of ore in the martial arts field. The chakra fluctuations on it are in the same frequency as the secret code in the scroll.”
As long as I take it to the boundary point, I can locate the core of the soul core.
Hiruzen sighed in the darkness: Let him go.
Danzo’s hand slowly loosened.
Jhin bent down and picked up the dagger, the handle still had the warmth from Danzo’s palm.
As he turned and walked towards the stone steps, he heard Hiruzen say behind him: If you can’t come back
I’ll let Haruno Na erect a monument for me. Jin smiled without turning his head and wrote that there was a cheating Genin buried here.
The fluorite on the stone steps suddenly lit up again.
Jin looked up and saw Haruno Na standing at the door of the secret room, her hair stained with blood and the unconscious candidate in her arms.
She made an okay gesture to him, the wound at the corner of her mouth widened, revealing her white teeth: I intercepted three supply vehicles of the Shadow Society, and they were all filled with chakra recovery agents.
Jhin’s throat suddenly tightened.
He touched the ore fragments in his arms, and then touched the map fragments under his forehead protector. The handwriting on the underground laboratory of the Hidden Rain Village had become clearer, as if calling him to move towards a deeper truth.
He left. He said to Haruno Na, when I come back, I will treat you to Ichiraku Ramen.
Haruno Na’s laughter hit the stone wall, splashing tiny pieces of light: Remember to add double the barbecued pork!
When Jhin’s figure disappeared at the end of the stone steps, the communication scroll in the secret room suddenly lit up again.
Silver Fox’s voice was filled with anxiety: The core energy fluctuations are abnormal!
Quick check——
Snap. Hiruzen crushed the communication scroll.
He looked at the dancing flames on the stone wall and said to Danzo: This kid… reminds me of Minato back then.
Danzo snorted, but didn’t argue.
He looked at the dagger left by Jhin, and his distorted face was reflected on the blade – there seemed to be some kind of hope beating in it.
At this moment, Uchiha Jin was running on the streets of Konoha.
The setting sun stretched his shadow very long. In the fine lines on his forehead protector, the handwriting on the fragment of the map was completely clear: The core of the soul is hidden in the underground laboratory on the third floor of the Hidden Rain Village.
He touched the scroll in his arms, then the ore fragments.
The wind lifted up his shirt, revealing the detonating tag tied to his calf – it was secretly given to him by Haruno Na, and it still had some animal hair from her time taming animals on it.
The real battle has just begun, he whispered to the wind.
In the distance, Konoha’s alarm bell suddenly rang.
Chapter 49: Counterattack in the Dark (Old Version)
When the candle in the secret room went out in an instant, Uchiha Jin’s pupils shrank slightly.
Instinctively, he pulled Haruno Na behind him, his back against the damp stone wall. He could hear the sound of metal puppet joints turning – it was Haruno Na’s beast-taming puppet coming out of the leather bag around her waist, its silver-grey little claws making tiny scratching sounds on the ground.
The chakra fluctuations are not right. Jin lowered his voice very low, and gently pressed his fingertips on his forehead.
His chakra spread along the nerve endings, like countless glowing threads moving in the darkness.
This is the light flow perception he created himself – condensing chakra into extremely thin light bands, which can not only avoid being counter-detected by the enemy, but also accurately capture environmental changes.
At this moment, when those light bands touched the air, they trembled slightly as if they hit a spider web. It was a high-level space blocking technique.
Haruno Na’s breathing was close at hand, with a bit of rough warmth: I said that old fox Silver Fox would not just put out a few jars of old wine to entertain guests. She raised her hand and snapped her fingers, and the puppet’s eyes suddenly lit up with a faint green light.
This is a mechanical eye that she soaked in the secretions of the glowworms unique to the Hidden Rock Village, which can see in the dark.
The little puppet climbed up the wall quickly, and the sound of its metal claws hitting the bricks was like heavy rain: This way!
There is chakra flowing in the cracks in the wall, which is 30% weaker than other places!
Jhin reached for the dagger at his waist.
As the scabbard rubbed against his clothes, he remembered the animal hair that Haruno Na had quietly stuffed into his scabbard when he sneaked into the secret room three hours ago. The rock wolf she had trained had just changed its fur, and it smelled a bit of pine resin. Try the seal-breaking technique. He injected chakra into the short sword, and the blade glowed with a faint purple light. This was the secret Purple Lightning Slash of the Uchiha family, which was specifically used to cut through the barrier formed by chakra.
The moment the knife struck the crack in the wall, a dazzling blue light exploded in the secret room.
The two of them staggered at the same time, and Haruno Na’s puppet fell to the ground with a clang, with green smoke coming out of its joints.
A thin line of blood appeared on Jhin’s knuckles, and he could barely hold the dagger: the rebound force was twice as strong as the attack… This sealing technique was at least tripled.
Your efforts are meaningless. Silver Fox’s voice came from above his head, like a rusty gear turning.
Jhin looked up and saw dark red curse marks appearing on the stone wall. The lines were spreading along the dome. The power of the soul core is not something that ants like you can touch.
Haruno Na suddenly laughed out loud, and her laughter hit the stone wall and broke into several pieces: You old thing, you are so arrogant, if you have the ability, don’t hide behind the curse?
Is it possible that you have a flying monkey stuffed in your crotch, and you are afraid that it will be exposed and stepped on by us? She deliberately raised her voice, and the heel of her boots slammed heavily on the ground, shaking the stone wall to dust.
Jhin immediately followed the rhythm, spinning the dagger between his fingers: I thought the chief steward of the Shadow Society at least had some backbone of a ninja, but it turns out he is just a coward who dares not even show his face?
Did you also use a shadow clone to rob the grilled octopus balls seller on Nanmachi Street last time? He noticed that the curse pattern on his head paused slightly – this was a sign that the seal was being disturbed.
Silver Fox’s breathing suddenly became heavy.
The curse seal on the stone wall shrank, revealing a hunched figure: a middle-aged man in his fifties, with a gem-studded eye patch on his left eye, dark red blood vessels crawling all over his right face, and holding an abacus inlaid with mithril in his hand. The little brat is quite good at talking! He raised his hand to make a seal, and the gems on the abacus suddenly burst into dazzling golden light, let you see…
Now! Jhin growled.
He had already pinched a smoke bomb in his palm and smashed it hard to the ground.
White smoke filled the air instantly, and his chakra streams formed a net in the smoke, accurately capturing the position of the Silver Fox – the opponent’s right shoulder sank slightly, which was a sign of a seal.
Haruno!
Haruno Na’s response was a short whistle.
Her beast-taming puppet had crawled to the feet of the silver fox at some point, and its metal claws suddenly popped out with barbs that hooked the other’s trouser legs.
When Silver Fox was startled, Jhin’s dagger was already against the back of his neck.
The moment the blade broke through the skin, the silver fox’s body suddenly became like a piece of paper blown away by the wind – it was actually a shadow clone!
Hahahaha! The real Silver Fox’s voice came from the corner of the secret room, and the curse seal covered his figure again. I said it was just the beginning.
When the Soul Core awakens, all of Konoha will kneel before the Shadow Society! Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared along with the curse seal, leaving only broken gems on the ground.
The candle in the secret room flickered back on.
Haruno Na bent down to pick up the abacus beads left by the silver fox and shook them between her fingertips: Mithril is mixed with magnet powder from the Land of Thunder, no wonder it can interfere with chakra. She casually stuffed the beads into her waist bag and raised an eyebrow at Jin. The provocation just now was quite good, and it made the old fox angry like a pufferfish.
He Yu’s expression was even darker than the stone wall.
The strategist beside the Sandaime was squatting in front of the crack in the wall that had just been attacked, his fingertips gently running across the stone bricks: The chakra residue here… is a hidden pattern technique used exclusively by the Konoha Anbu. When he looked up, his eyes seemed to be filled with fire. The hand of the Shadow Society had already reached into our intelligence network.
Jhin touched the ore fragments in his arms.
Just now in the darkness, the fragment found in the secret compartment of the secret room had been heating up, and it still had a burning temperature. They had started the plan ahead of time. He thought of the fragment of the map hidden in the forehead protector, and the handwriting of the underground laboratory of the Hidden Rain Village seemed to be heating up. The soul core was the key, and they had to find it before they could get it…
A violent explosion came from the east of the village, causing the candlelight in the secret room to shake violently.
Haruno Na’s puppet jumped onto her shoulder and let out a low growl from its throat.
Tsuruha stood up suddenly, and the communication scroll on his waist lit up red – it was the signal for the Sandaime to urgently summon him.
Jhin looked at the remaining curse marks on the stone wall, and his hand unconsciously pressed towards the detonating talisman on his calf.
Haruno Na’s voice rang in his ears, with her usual roughness but inexplicably reassuring: Let’s go and meet these blind things. She patted the puppet bag on her waist, and the metal collision sounded as crisp as a war drum. My tamed rock wolf has been hungry for a long time and is worried about having no meat to chew.
As the two rushed towards the stone steps of the secret room, Jhin looked back at the stone wall.
The curse mark left by the silver fox was slowly fading away, but it left new marks on the stone bricks – dark red lines were like a poisonous snake, extending along the wall towards the village.
At this moment, in the east of Konoha Village, thick smoke was rising into the sky with the smell of scorched earth.
Several dark shadows shuttled through the firelight, and the eye mask of the leader glowed coldly in the moonlight.
He looked at the two figures running towards him from a distance and licked his lips: Uchiha’s little brat, and that wild girl who tames animals… just right, so I don’t have to go and invite them.
He raised his hand and gestured, and immediately more than twenty chakra waves lit up in the darkness.
The real storm has just arrived.
Chapter 50 The True Identity of the Infiltrator (Old Version)
As thick smoke with a burning smell rolled over Konoha, Uchiha Jin walked against the flow of people towards the west of the village.
Haruno Na’s rock wolf puppet clung to her shoulders, its iron claws glinting coldly in the moonlight, and she suppressed the low growl in her throat into a hoarse laugh: “Those bastards from the explosives house are nothing but fireflies, the real snakes are nesting in darker places.”
“Medical department.” Jhin answered straightforwardly.
His fingers brushed across his cuffs, where half a secret report from the Intelligence Department was hidden – three days ago, three boxes of anesthetics were missing from the Logistics Department; two days ago, the chakra test strips in the isolation ward were replaced; yesterday, Yueying’s name was on the medical class’s duty roster for seven consecutive night shifts.
“Medical ninjas are the best at hiding living people.” Haruno Na patted the puppet bag on her waist. The sound of metal collision mixed with the alarm in the distance. “When I trained the rock wolf, the one who was best at pretending to be dead could hide three poisoned short knives in its stomach.”
The two turned the corner and the white walls of the medical department were right in front of them.
The corridor that should have been brightly lit now only had two night lights on, and the smell of disinfectant was mixed with the faint scent of bitter almonds – Jin’s pupils shrank slightly, that was the smell of the burning love grass.
“Someone tampered with the vent.” He grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist, and chakra spread out from his fingertips like gossamer.
The so-called “Flowing Chakra” is a little trick he learned from Kakashi. It refines the chakra into spider silk, which can sweep through the energy fluctuations in every inch of the air.
Haruno Na’s rock wolf suddenly stood up, and its iron tail popped out spikes with a “click”.
Jin looked in the direction of the chakra fluctuations and saw a ray of light coming from under the crack of the door of the innermost ward. A figure in a white coat was tidying up the medicine cabinet with his back to them.
“The amount of chakra… is weaker than that of an ordinary Chunin.” Jin narrowed his eyes.
Medical ninjas need to control chakra precisely, but the chakra fluctuations of normal medical team members should be like a long stream of water, not… “like a piece of ember that has been stepped on.”
“Yueying.” Haruno Na suddenly whispered.
She fished out a crumpled duty roster from her bosom. “The day before yesterday, I sent an injured rock wolf here for treatment. She was the one who bandaged him. At that time, her hand strength was so strong that it looked like she was squeezing a frog to death. I thought the medical team had all practiced super strength.”
Jin paused at the door of the ward.
There was a crisp sound of glass medicine bottles tapping against each other from inside the door. When the medical ninja named Yueying turned around, the ends of his hair brushed across the side of his neck – there was a very faint scar there, shaped like a twisted maple leaf.
“Are you two here to see the patient?” Yueying’s voice was sickeningly sweet. She bent down to pick up the cotton wool on the ground, revealing the medical tool bag hanging around her waist.
Jhin’s eyes swept over the embroidery on the bag – three-petal cherry blossoms, which did not match the medical class’s uniform double-leaf butterfly logo.
“The embroidery method of Sanwei Village.” A hoarse male voice suddenly sounded behind him.
Jin turned around suddenly and saw an old man in a dark green kimono standing in the shadow of the corridor. His white hair was casually tied up with a wooden hairpin and his left eye was covered with a faded bandage. “Ten years ago, when Sanwei Village was massacred, I buried twelve medics who embroidered this kind of flower with my own hands.”
Haruno Na’s puppet ejected a poison needle, but it was caught by the old man’s two fingers before it touched him.
“Cangsong.” The old man announced his name, and his right eye suddenly lit up with a cold light. “Former squad leader of the third squad of the Intelligence Department, now…” He patted the medicine gourd on his waist, “selling bone-setting wine at the entrance of the village.”
“Are you following us?” Jhin loosened his hand on the detonating talisman.
The chakra of the pine tree is like a mountain sunk to the bottom of the sea. It looks calm, but in fact it can overturn an entire ship.
“I’ve been following that girl for three days.” Cangsong pointed at Yueying’s ward. “She puts something into the third layer of the medicine cabinet every night at midnight. Today is the seventh time.” He took out a yellowed paper from his arms, on which were densely written the date and time. “According to the rules of the Shadow Society, if she passes on information seven times, we should close the net.”
“So you’re waiting for us to be your knives?” Haruno Na raised her eyebrows. The rock wolf puppet had already crawled to her feet, its four claws firmly gripping the ground.
Cangsong smiled, his missing front tooth mouth leaking wind: “The little girl is quite smart. That woman can use the ‘Kameezaki Technique’ to hide her chakra, and the ordinary search team can’t catch her at all. But you…” He glanced at Jin’s Sharingan, “The eyes of Uchiha can see through illusions; the animal trainer of the Nohara family has the sense of smell of rock wolves hidden in his puppets–“
“I can smell the scent of the love grass on her.” Jin interjected.
Haruno Na’s rock wolf was sniffing in the direction of the moonlight, and wisps of green smoke came out of its iron nostrils – that was the reaction when it smelled a special smell.
The three of them looked at each other, and a plan took shape as their eyes met.
Haruno Na stumbled into the ward, holding her left shoulder. The “blood” oozing from her sleeves was a mixture of rock wolf saliva and cinnabar that she had mixed. “Doctor! There was an explosion in the east just now, and the rubble hit me!”
Yueying’s pupils shrank into needle points, but she immediately changed into a concerned expression: “Sit down quickly, I will treat your wound.” When she turned around to get the medicine box, Jin’s figure was already sticking to the window sill.
His Sharingan moved in the moonlight, and he saw clearly the third layer of the medicine cabinet – there lay half a piece of blood-stained cloth, with the words “At Bing hour, the barrier will loosen” written in secret code on it.
“Bear with it, it might hurt a little.” Yueying put his hand on Haruno Na’s shoulder, and the chakra at his fingertips suddenly burst out!
Haruno Na was prepared. The rock wolf puppet rammed into her wrist with a “wow”. Yueying screamed and stepped back, falling into Jin’s arms.
“Tsukuyomi Soul Lock.” Jin’s Sharingan glowed red.
Yueying’s pupils lost focus in an instant and her whole body went limp.
Haruno Na immediately tore off her medical gown, and sure enough, there was a scorpion totem of the Shadow Society tattooed on her lower back, which was moving slightly with her breathing.
“Even if you kill me… you can’t stop me…” Yueying’s voice came out of his throat, like a crow being strangled by the neck, “In three days… Konoha’s blood will flow like a river…”
“Three days?” Cangsong’s face changed suddenly.
He tore open Yueying’s collar, and a black curse mark appeared below her collarbone. “This is the ‘blood contract’. If she dies, all her accomplices will be warned.”
He originally thought that he had only caught a small fry, but unexpectedly, there was a big snake behind it.
Haruno Na tied Yueying up like a dumpling, and the iron claws of the rock wolf puppet were against her throat: “Tell me, how many people are there?”
“Enough for you to drink a pot of wine.” Yueying suddenly laughed, and black blood oozed from the corner of his mouth.
Cangsong quickly pinched her chin, but saw that she had bitten the poison sac under her tongue.
“Oh no!” He pulled Haruno Na’s puppet sac, “Wild girl, can your rock wolf stomach hold anything? Quick! Cut off her tongue–“
Before he could finish his words, Yueying’s body suddenly began to dissolve.
Black smoke filled the air with a foul smell, and when the smoke cleared, only a pile of charred bones remained.
Haruno Na kicked the pile of bones, and smoke came out from the soles of her boots: “What a cruel self-destruction technique.”
“There are more ruthless ones to come.” Cangsong squatted down and used a wooden hairpin to pick up a piece of broken bone that had not completely melted. There was a very small “Wu” engraved on it. “The Shadow Society’s lurkers are divided into A, B, C, D, and E. She is level E, and there are four levels above her.”
Jin took out the communication scroll, and a red light was flashing rapidly – it was an urgent summons from the Hokage.
Haruno Na patted him on the back and said, “Let’s go see the Sandaime first. Someone has to give an explanation for this mess.”
Cangsong held his wrist and placed a warm stone in his palm: “Tonight at midnight, under the old locust tree in the north of the village. I have something to show you.” His right eye shone in the shadows, “About the night when the Uchiha clan was exterminated, the shadow will leave behind… the tail.”
Jin pinched the stone tightly, and it felt like a piece of old jade that had been covered for decades.
Haruno Na’s rock wolf suddenly growled at the sky. He looked up and saw Konoha’s alarm bells tearing through the night. Red light shone through the window of the Hokage’s office like an endless fire.
The real chess game has just begun.
Chapter 51: The Illusionist’s Challenge (Old Version)
The candlelight in the Hokage’s office swayed in the night wind, and the shadow of the Third Hokage Sarutobi Hiruzen was stretched out, casting a hunched outline on the wall.
Uchiha Jin stood in front of the sandalwood table, the red light of the communication scroll making his eyes darken – the emergency summons from half an hour ago still left burn marks on his palms.
The Shadow Society sent a tricky illusionist this time. Tsuruha’s voice was like a silk thread soaked in ice water. He stood beside the Hokage, his fingers unconsciously stroking the scroll on his waist. The scroll’s name was Xingye, and it was specifically designed to target the mental attacks of the Uchiha clan.
Haruno Na’s iron boots left a shallow mark on the floor.
She leaned against the door frame with her arms folded. The rock wolf Ayan squatted at her feet, with its ears slightly erected – this was its habit when it sensed danger. Targeting Uchiha? She raised an eyebrow. Wouldn’t that make Xiao Jin a sitting duck?
Sarutobi Hiruzen sighed and tapped his fingertips on the table, making a rhythm of three short and one long beats.
This is the code for an emergency meeting of Konoha’s high-level officials. Jin remembered that his father had taught it in the clan school. Three days ago, Uchiha Takuma suddenly went mad in the martial arts arena and stabbed his eyes with a kunai. The old Hokage flipped through the files on the desk, and the smell of herbs wafted through the yellowed pages. He said he saw the flames on the night of the clan’s annihilation, and saw his mother calling his name in the fire.
The moonlight from outside the window came in and broke into two spots of light in his pupils – those were the lines of the Sharingan that were faintly hot.
He thought of the old jade that Cangsong had stuffed into his hand last night. It was now pressed against his heart like a piece of red-hot charcoal.
Xingye’s illusion can manifest the target’s most fearful memory. He Yu added, pointing his finger at the portrait in the file. It was a man wearing a dark green ghost mask. What’s more troublesome is that someone witnessed him appearing near the old locust tree in the north of the village.
The old locust tree. The appointment between Jin and Cangsong at midnight.
Haruno Na suddenly sneered and put her hand on the puppet box at her waist.
She learned puppetry from a wandering ninja, and the body of her puppet box is covered with traces of battle: What are you afraid of?
No matter how real the illusion is, can it really poke a hole in a person’s brain?
Even Kakashi praised Jin’s Sharingan.
Sarutobi Hiruzen did not respond.
He looked at the blue mark on Jin’s forehead that had not yet disappeared – it was left from the fight with Yueying three days ago, and suddenly said: Before your mother gave birth, she came to me to ask for a volume of “The Art of Stabilizing Mental Power”.
She said that the Uchiha bloodline was too hot and she was afraid that the child could not bear it. The old Hokage’s voice was as light as a falling leaf, and now it seems that she was right.
It was already late at night when we left the Hokage’s office.
Haruno Na’s rock wolf, Oiwa, walked in front, its claws making crisp sounds on the stone road.
Jin touched Lao Yu in his arms, and his body temperature seeped through the cloth, as if someone was gently tapping his heart.
Hello. Haruno Na suddenly stopped and turned around with her hair brushing his chin. If the starry night illusion comes later, she pulled his forehead protector and smiled heartlessly, just think about my burnt grilled fish.
It is guaranteed to be scarier than the fire on the night of genocide.
Jhin didn’t say anything, but he smiled.
The moonlight overlapped the two people’s shadows, stretching them long on the moss in the corner of the wall.
Jin slept very lightly that night.
He dreamed that he was standing in the Uchiha clan’s training grounds, the stumps of the cherry trees were still smoking, beads of blood stained the charred wood.
A woman’s scream was heard in the distance. It was Aunt Mikoto’s voice: Xiao Jin, run!
He tried to run, but found his feet sinking into the hot ashes.
His eyes swept over the familiar pillars. Where the wooden sign of the Will of Fire used to hang, there was now a ghost mask nailed to it – with a dark green background and dark red lines crawling around the eye sockets, exactly the same as the portrait in the Crane Feather File.
Is this your shackles?
The voice came from behind.
Jhin turned around and saw a man in a black-patterned robe standing on the scorched earth, his ghost mask half removed, revealing the lower half of his pale face.
Blue chakra floated at his fingertips, winding into the shape of some ancient rune.
Uchiha’s genius, Xingye chuckled, and the runes suddenly exploded into millions of light points. It turned out that they would also be trapped by the fire of the past.
He could smell the burning smell in the air and hear his own crying as a child – that was the sound when he was hiding in the secret room and saw his tribesmen lying in a pool of blood through the vent.
The Sharingan spun uncontrollably, the three magatama spinning wildly in the eyes, but he couldn’t make out the context of the illusion.
It’s useless. Xingye’s voice was like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue. This was an illusion combined with ancient spiritual runes. Even a shadow-level strongman would go crazy in his own memory.
Jhin’s nails dug into his palms.
He remembered what Haruno Na said about the burnt grilled fish, the off-tune ballad she hummed this afternoon while squatting by the river combing Oyan’s hair, and what Cangsong said about the tail of the Shadow Society – all these fragments suddenly exploded in his mind like a sharp knife.
Haruno Na! He yelled into the air.
In reality, in the dormitory of Class 7, Haruno Na suddenly opened her eyes.
A Yan was banging her head against the edge of her bed, her wolf howls filled with anxiety.
She turned over and got out of bed, and saw Jhin lying on the bed, his forehead covered in cold sweat, his hands clutching the sheets, his knuckles white.
Jin! She rushed over and pressed her palm on the Fengchi acupoint on the back of his neck – this was the awakening technique she learned from the wandering doctor.
Chakra flowed in through his fingertips, carrying with it the unique heaviness of rock, sinking into his chaotic spiritual sea like a ballast stone.
Jhin’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw cracks appear in Xingye’s illusion barrier, and the runes began to twist, revealing the lavender chakra threads underneath.
The three magatama of the Sharingan suddenly turned into a hexagram shape – this was a special state that he had recently awakened, which could see through the blind spots of chakra flow.
So that’s it. He forced out a bloody laugh, bit his tongue hard, and the smell of blood exploded in his mouth.
The pain made him instantly conscious, and he formed the Yin, Xu, and Chou seals to cut off the flow of chakra throughout his body – this was a tactic of mutual destruction, but the illusionist feared most was that the caster would suddenly lose control.
Xingye’s expression changed.
He saw that the spiritual realm he had constructed was collapsing, and those carefully designed fragments of memory were like pieces of paper blown away by the wind, revealing the cold light in Jin’s eyes.
You said I can’t escape the shackles of the past? Jin’s voice was like the sound of metal scraping. He raised his hand, and a ray of silver-blue light floated on his fingertips – that was the special chakra he had recently awakened, like a flowing star. But you forgot that what I am best at is calculation.
The flowing chakra suddenly surged.
It does not have clear properties like ordinary chakra. Instead, it is like a living thing. It drills into the cracks in the illusion and accurately entangles Xingye’s spiritual thread.
Xingye screamed, and the ghost mask fell to the ground, revealing a pair of bloodshot eyes.
The secret of the soul core… you will never find it! He staggered back, and black smoke rose around him, just like Yueying’s self-destruction technique before.
But this time Jin was prepared. His flowing chakra suddenly tightened, and he tore off a piece of cloth in the smoke – there was a golden T-embroidered on it.
When the smoke cleared, the starry night had disappeared.
Jin sat on the ground, his back covered in cold sweat.
Haruno Na handed him the kettle. He tilted his head back and drank half of it. Only then did the bloody smell in his throat fade a little.
The levels of the Shadow Society are A, B, C, D, and E. Moon Shadow is E, and Starry Night is D. He held the rag, and the three magatama slowly turned in his eyes, with C, B, and A on it.
Haruno Na squatted down and wiped his face with her sleeve: So that soul core is related to the Uchiha clan’s genocide?
He looked at the moon outside the window, remembered the appointment with the old locust tree that Cangsong had mentioned, remembered the hesitant look of the Sandaime in the Hokage’s office, remembered the distorted face of Xingye before he disappeared.
At this moment, the communication scroll in his arms suddenly vibrated, and He Yu’s voice came out from it, with an urgent and broken voice:
Uchiha Jin, Haruno Na.
The Hokage ordered you to go to the border of the Land of Fire immediately. A large number of ancient rune remains were found near the Kaze Festival Village. After a pause, Tsuruha’s voice became lower, and it was the same origin as the illusion used by Xingye.
Haruno Na patted Oiwa’s head, and the rock wolf immediately jumped up and nudged her puppet box with its head – this was a signal that it was preparing to go on a long journey.
Jin stood up, put the rags into his ninja tool bag, and touched the old jade on his chest.
The moonlight shone through the window, reflecting tiny pieces of light in his Sharingan, flashing like countless unsolved puzzles.
Let’s go. He said to Haruno Na, with something sharp in his voice, to the border.
Haruno Na grinned and threw the puppet box over her shoulder: It’s just right, I haven’t tried roasting a rabbit caught by rock wolves in the wild.
A Yan let out a low howl and rushed out the door first.
The shadows of the two people were stretched out by the moonlight and gradually merged into the night.
And on the old locust tree in the north of the village, which they could not see, a dark green ghost mask was sliding down from the tree hole, casting a long and thin shadow on the ground – that was another unfinished illusion left by Xingye.
Chapter 52: Border Mystery, Clues Emerge (Old Version)
The night was as dark as ink, and the rock wolf Ayan’s four paws splashed up fine gravel on the mountain road.
Haruno Na sat on its back, the puppet box making a slight sound as it bumped. She tilted her head to look at Uchiha Jin who was running on the treetops beside her: “Do you think Xingye said before he left, ‘You will never find the secret of the soul core’? Could it be that he was deliberately provoking me?”
Jin’s Sharingan glowed dark red in the night. He reached out to catch a maple leaf blown by the wind, and stroked the faint blue spots on the leaf with his fingertips – that was the residual illusion chakra.
“Threats mixed with hints are a common tactic in intelligence warfare.” He crushed the maple leaf, and the debris scattered into stars in the wind. “The more he emphasizes ‘can’t find’, the closer the secret is to us.”
Ayan suddenly let out a low growl and his front paws left deep marks on the ground.
Haruno Na followed its line of sight and saw a few broken stone houses in the valley under the moonlight, like gnawed skeletons. The mottled patterns on the stone walls glowed faint blue in the night. They were exactly the ancient runes that He Yu had mentioned.
“We’re here.” Jin landed beside Ayan, and light purple chakra condensed on his fingertips.
He touched the nearest stone slab, and his chakra penetrated into the stone veins like tentacles. His pupils shrank slightly. The entangled runes were flowing with fluctuations that were exactly the same as those in the fragments of the “Soul Core” in the secret room.
“This is a testing ground,” he whispered, “someone is using ancient technology to study soul manipulation.”
Haruno Na jumped off the rock wolf and pulled out an iron claw puppet from the puppet box.
The puppet’s joints made a slight clicking sound, and the tips of its metal claws scratched across another stone slab: “No wonder Fengjie Village was abandoned. The chakra of these runes is too violent. Ordinary people will go crazy if they live here for too long.” Before she finished her words, applause suddenly sounded behind her.
“What a keen insight.”
Xingye walked out from behind the broken wall, his face half covered by a dark green ghost mask, and a strange purple light flowed in the hole at his left eye.
His shadow twisted into a snake shape on the ground, and was even clearer than the entity under the moonlight.
“But your ‘keenness’ can help me complete the last step.”
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly turned, and chakra condensed into a kunai in his palm.
He could see the illusion chakra wrapped around Xingye—this was not the real person, but a projection!
But before he could finish his drink, the scene around him suddenly distorted.
Haruno Na’s figure turned into a black mist, Ayan’s low growl turned into a baby crying, and the stone slabs under his feet cracked, gushing out a liquid as thick as blood.
“Illusion?” Jhin’s breathing remained steady.
He remembered the characteristics of Xingye’s illusion: all senses would be tampered with, but the Sharingan could capture the “faults” in the flow of chakra.
He stared at the palm of his hand – the kunai chakra he had just condensed was still there and did not change with the illusion.
“Here it is.” He suddenly punched the air to the right.
“Bang!”
The starry night’s projection was shattered, and the ghost’s face cracked into spider-web-like patterns.
The real Xingye appeared from behind Jin, and stabbed him in the back of the neck with a kunai wrapped in illusion chakra in his hand: “Do you think that you can see through the illusion–“
“Not enough.” Jin turned around, and his Sharingan accurately captured Xingye’s hand seals.
His fingers formed the same seal like a butterfly flying through flowers, and purple chakra gushed out of his eyes, “Mirror Image·Obscure Clone Technique!”
This was the Sand Village genjutsu he copied with his Sharingan during the third Chunin Exam.
Xingye’s pupils suddenly shrank because he saw his kunai stabbing at another “self” – that was an illusion counter-attack copied by Jin, projecting his attack back to his original body intact.
“Cough!” Xingye staggered back, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
He glared at Jhin fiercely, then turned and jumped into the shadows: “It’s you…” Before he finished his words, his figure disappeared.
“Run away?” Haruno Na’s voice came from behind.
Jhin turned around and found that she was standing in front of the intact stone house, and her puppet claws were digging through the accumulated rubble.
Ayan was squatting at her feet, holding half a burnt piece of wood in his mouth – there was a faint trace of ink on it.
“Jin! Look at this!” Haruno Na pulled off her gloves and gently brushed the ash off the wood chips with her fingertips.
The faded ink gradually became clear, and it was ancient vertical text: “…The core of the soul, originated from the ancient ghost clan. Its technique is guided by the resonance of the seven chakras, and can control the soul…” When she looked up, her eyes lit up, “The back was burned, but the key information is here! The ghost clan is a bloodline family that was wiped out in the Warring States Period, and they are good at soul secrets!”
Jin took the wood chip and rubbed the burnt marks on the edge with his fingertips.
He remembered that the information mentioned that when the demon clan was exterminated by Hashirama Senju, all the documents were burned.
“The Shadow Society may have found the remaining scroll.” He put the wood chips into his ninja tool bag. “This is their Achilles’ heel.”
“It’s too early to be happy.” Haruno Na suddenly frowned and looked up at the entrance of the stone house.
At some point, the originally open stone door was covered by a layer of dark blue light film, with complex sealing patterns flowing on the light film, “The exit is sealed.”
Jhin took a step forward and touched the light film with his fingertips.
The familiar chakra fluctuations rushed into the brain along the fingertips – it was a sinister feeling with a cold iron smell, like a poisonous snake spitting out its tongue.
“Silver Fox,” he whispered.
The secret letter intercepted in the Hidden Rain Village last time was attached with this kind of chakra.
“Now that you’re here, don’t rush to leave.”
A sinister voice came from the other side of the light film.
Then, the entire ruins began to shake, the stone beams above heads groaned as if they could not bear the weight, and broken stones fell like raindrops.
Haruno Na grabbed Jin’s arm and pulled him to the side: “Be careful!” A stone as big as a millstone hit the place where they had just stood and broke into pieces.
“The ruins are about to collapse!” Haruno Na’s puppet claws quickly spread out to support the tilted stone wall.
A Yan grabbed her trouser leg and growled towards the secret passage behind the stone house.
Jin’s Sharingan scanned the surroundings and found several fresh scratches in the cracks of the wall – someone had recently cleaned this secret passage.
“Separately look for an exit.” He tore off the ninja tool bag and threw it to Haruno Na, “You take Ayan through the secret passage, and I’ll go to the other side of the ear chamber to look for the mechanism.”
“Are you crazy?” Haruno Na’s eyes widened, and her puppet claws dug deep marks on the stone wall. “Let’s go together!”
“The manuscript is with you. It’s more important than me.” Jhin grinned at her. It was a rare moment when he showed emotion. “Go quickly. I’ll come find you when I count to one hundred.”
Haruno Na bit her lip and finally dragged Ayan into the secret passage.
Jhin watched her back disappear into the darkness, then turned and ran towards the ear chamber.
The vibrations above his head became more and more intense, and he could hear the crisp sound of breaking stone beams approaching from behind.
The moment his hand touched the stone door of the attic, the entire ruins emitted a dying roar—
“boom!”
The stone dome on the top collapsed completely, and smoke and dust wrapped in rubble poured down.
Jhin’s pupils shrank in the dust, and he vaguely saw a ray of light coming through the crack in the stone door.
He shouted, and his chakra burst out, knocking the stone door open.
In the space behind the stone door, seven corpses sealed in crystals were slowly opening their eyes. Between their brows was embedded a “soul core” emitting a faint blue light.
Chapter 53: Escape, the Mastermind (Old Version)
The roar of the stone dome collapsing made his eardrums hurt, and the moment Uchiha Jin broke open the stone door, rubble hit the forehead guard on his back like a rainstorm.
He staggered into the space behind the stone door. In the choking dust and fog, seven crystal coffins glowed with cold light. The eyebrows of the corpses in the coffins were flowing with a faint blue light – that was the “core of the soul” he had seen in ancient books, a forbidden container that was said to be able to extract the essence of the living.
“Ahem…this damn place is going to collapse into pieces!” Haruno Na’s voice suddenly exploded from behind.
Jin turned around suddenly and saw her rushing out of the secret passage dragging A Yan, with half of the collapsed stone beam hanging on the puppet’s arm.
“The secret passage is blocked! I stuffed A Yan into the puppet’s stomach to avoid being buried – have you found the exit over there?”
Jin’s Sharingan was spinning at high speed in the dust, and bloodshot was spreading in his pupils.
He could clearly sense that the structure of the entire ruins was collapsing at a speed visible to the naked eye. The stone pillars supporting the dome were cracking in spider web patterns, and even the bluestone slabs under his feet were groaning as if they were about to die.
“Follow me!” He grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist, and his chakra penetrated into her body through her skin – this was his newly developed “light flow perception”, which could share part of the chakra vision.
Haruno Na’s pupils instantly reflected an outline in the darkness: there was a winding passage three meters underground, like a dormant giant python.
“That is…?”
“I just used my chakra to sweep it.” Jin wiped the blood off his face, not knowing whether it was scratched by gravel or the backlash of chakra overload. “But the entrance is blocked by a three-ton granite.” He pointed to the rock wall behind the crystal coffin, where there was a darker stone brick. “We need to get that thing out of the way.”
Haruno Na’s puppet claws popped out three steel spikes with a “click”, “I’ll chisel!”
“It’s useless.” Jin took off his forehead guard and tied it around his wrist. The ends of his hair stood up due to the stimulation of chakra. “The stone is embedded in the rock layer. Hitting it hard will cause a chain collapse. You use puppetry to disperse the power, and I will concentrate my chakra to hit the weak point.” He quickly formed a seal, and a light purple chakra ball rose from his palm. “Remember, when I count to three, your puppets will push in four directions at the same time-“
“I know, I know!” Haruno Na kicked away the gravel at her feet. Ayan’s puppet made a mechanical roar, and its four claws pressed against the four corners of the rock wall.
“One!” she roared.
Jin’s chakra light ball suddenly shrank into a thin needle and accurately pierced the gap between the granite and the rock wall.
“two!”
“Crack—” Stone chips flew everywhere and the granite cracked into spider-web-like patterns.
Haruno Na’s puppet claws exerted force suddenly, and four steel spikes drove into the cracks in the rock like wedges, “Three!”
“Break!” Jhin shouted softly, and the chakra needle suddenly expanded into a fist-sized light hammer, smashing heavily into the center of the crack.
The entire rock wall shook violently, and the granite fell to the ground with a “boom”, revealing a dark cave entrance below, and a faint cool breeze blew up.
“Let’s go!” Jin pushed Haruno Na to jump in, and Ayan’s puppet protected the two of them.
As soon as he landed, there was a loud sound of the earth collapsing from above – the entire ruins collapsed completely, and the raised dust and smoke poured in from the cave entrance like an angry yellow dragon.
Haruno Na coughed and pounded her chest, then she took out a lighter and lit it. The dim light reflected the marks on the walls of the passage.
It was a talisman carved with special chakra, and each talisman was wrapped with tiny lightning patterns. “Be careful!” Jin suddenly grabbed her collar and pulled her back. A flash of lightning brushed past her puppet arm and struck the ground, creating a charred pit.
“Chakra trap.” Jin squatted down and touched the talisman on the rock wall with his fingertips. “Lightning Release Trigger. The wind just now caused my chakra fluctuations.” His Sharingan slowly turned. “The patterns of these talismans… are very similar to the ‘Nine Palace Soul Locking Formation’ of the Konoha Sealing Class.”
“You mean?” Haruno Na’s puppet claws ejected a scalpel and cut off the drooping spider web-like lightning thread, “That old guy Silver Fox has stayed in Konoha?”
Before he finished speaking, sinister laughter echoed in the corridor, like nails scratching on glass.
“As expected of a kid who can crawl out of the ‘Death Maze’.” Silver Fox’s voice was metallic, and he obviously used a voice changer. “Yes, the ten years I worked as a handyman in the Konoha Intelligence Department were not in vain watching those old guys draw spells.”
Jin curled his lips into a sneer and raised his voice deliberately: “So you stole the position of chief financial officer? Just to launder money for the Shadow Society?”
“Hahaha!” Silver Fox’s laughter suddenly became sharp. “Even if you get out alive, you can’t stop us – we have people in every rice warehouse, medicine storehouse, and ninja tool shop in Konoha! By the time your Hokage finds out that the granary is infested with insects, the medicine store is moldy, and the kunai is rusted, the Shadow Society’s knife will already be on his neck!”
Jin winked at Haruno Na.
She immediately understood, and the puppet’s claws drew three shallow marks on the ground – this was the secret signal they had learned in actual combat: prepare to lure the enemy.
“You’re in such a hurry to expose yourself because you’re afraid that we’ll find out the secret of the Soul Core, right?” Jhin deliberately dragged out his words. “After all, if the five great nations knew about using the essence of living people to nourish the Soul Core…the Shadow Society’s reputation would be tarnished to hell.”
The darkness at the end of the passage suddenly glowed red.
The figure of Silver Fox walked out slowly. His black robe was embroidered with dark gold patterns. He wore a monocle on his left eye, but his right eye was wrapped in a bloody bandage – that was caused by Haruno Na’s puppet claw last night.
“Little guy, you think–“
“Do it!” Jhin shouted and threw out three kunai with his backhand.
The talisman paper on the tip of the kunai exploded instantly, and white smoke wrapped in a large amount of chakra simulated the shadow clones of the two people, running around in the passage.
The silver fox’s pupils contracted, and chakra chains shot out from his sleeves, but only caught a ball of smoke.
“On your right!” Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly jumped into the air, and six steel cables popped out from its abdomen, accurately wrapping around Silver Fox’s wrist.
Jin took the opportunity to form a seal, and the chakra ball in his palm turned into a sharp blade, stabbing fiercely into Silver Fox’s right shoulder – that was the wound that was exposed by the blood oozing from the bandage when he was speaking just now.
“Swish–” the dull sound of a sharp blade entering the flesh.
The silver fox screamed and retreated, waving its chakra chains wildly, causing the rock walls of the passage to fly into pieces.
“You are so cruel!” He tore off a piece of his clothes and pressed it on the wound, then turned and rushed into the darkness, “But the Shadow Society’s plan will not stop! When you return to the village——”
“Bang!” Haruno Na’s puppet claw threw out a flying needle, which accurately hit the talisman at the feet of the silver fox.
Thunder exploded, and the back of the Silver Fox was shrouded in blue light. When the smoke cleared, only a blood-stained robe remained.
“He ran away.” Haruno Na kicked the robe on the ground. Silver Fox’s blood was still dripping on the puppet’s arm. “But this old thing is seriously injured and can’t make any waves in a short time.”
Jin squatted down and picked up the half jade token that fell out of his robe.
The word “Dark” was engraved on the inside of the jade token, which was consistent with the pattern of the token they had found in the Shadow Society’s base before.
“I have to show this to Cangsong.” He took out the communication symbol, bit his fingertip and drew a blood mark – this was an emergency signal that only the top leaders of Konoha’s Intelligence Department could decipher.
As soon as the communication symbol floated into the sky, a rustling sound was heard from the cracks in the rocks.
Cangsong’s voice came out from the talisman paper with a little noise: “Jin, I have roughly read the manuscript. The refining of the soul core requires a living sacrifice, and the Shadow Society… They selected thirty-seven targets in the village.”
Jin’s pupils shrank suddenly: “Location?”
“Still locating.” Cangsong’s voice suddenly lowered, “But what’s more troublesome is… I checked Silver Fox’s movements. He has come into contact with at least five Konoha Chunins in the past six months. Three of them did not report to the mission department this morning.”
Haruno Na’s puppet claws “cracked” and crushed a piece of gravel: “In other words–“
“There are other lurkers in the village, and they have already begun to act.” Cangsong’s words were like a basin of cold water poured down.
Jin put the jade token into his ninja tool bag and looked up at the exit of the passage.
The morning light seeped in through the cracks in the rocks, shining on his blood-stained forehead protector, reflecting the outline of the Uchiha family crest.
“We’ll be right back.” He said into the communication symbol, his voice like a kunai with a tempered blade, “No matter how deep they hide, I will dig them out.”
Haruno Na patted his shoulder, and Oiwa’s sobs were heard in the puppet’s stomach.
She pulled off a piece of cloth and wiped his face. Her movements were rough but warm. “Let’s go, great detective. I’ll treat you to barbecue when we get back to the village – provided you can finish it alive.”
Jhin smiled and climbed up the passage first.
In the morning light, the two people’s shadows were very long, like two swords about to be unsheathed.
And in the direction of Konoha, which they could not see, a strange blue light suddenly lit up from the window of a house, and a soul core was being taken out from a secret compartment, dripping with fresh blood.
Chapter 54 Konoha Crisis, Undercurrent Surges (Old Version)
The morning light penetrated the morning mist, giving the green tiles and white walls of Konoha Village a layer of gold.
Uchiha Jin strode into the village on the frosty cobblestone road, Haruno Na’s puppet “Iron Wing” flapped its mechanical wings on his shoulders, and the metal joints scraped across his bleeding forehead guard – in that scratch, the pattern of the Uchiha family emblem was glowing coldly.
“Let’s go to the mission department first.” Jin touched the ninja tool bag, which contained the jade token he had searched from the Silver Fox’s lair. “Cangsong said that the three Chunins didn’t report this morning. There must be something fishy about the attendance records of the mission department.”
Haruno Na pulled the puppet string at her waist, and Ayan’s wolf head poked out from the puppet’s abdomen. The wet nose twitched twice: “I asked Ayan to go to the south of the village. There are many floating populations there. If there are unfamiliar faces, it can smell it.” She paused and tapped her temple lightly with the metal claws. “Do you think the encrypted files hidden by Yueying… are related to the villagers’ recent strange illness? Yesterday, I saw the old lady selling meatballs in Sanchome. She was squatting by the well and washing her feet with ice water in the cold weather. When I asked her, she said, ‘I heard the water singing.'”
Jin’s steps slowed down slightly.
He remembered that three days ago in the training ground, a Genin suddenly swung a kunai to attack a classmate of his, saying that “there was a bug in the opponent’s eye.”
He thought it was an accident at the time, but now it seems——
“Psychological manipulation.” They both spoke at the same time.
Haruno Na’s puppet claw snapped out a half blade, reflecting a cold light in the sunlight: “Then I’ll go to the south of the village first, and you go to the medical department. Yueying has been lurking there for two years, who knows what she has in store.”
Jin nodded, and when he turned around, he caught a glimpse of an old man selling grilled octopus balls on the corner, mechanically flipping the iron plate. He didn’t even flinch when oil splashed on his hands, and the veins on his forehead bulged like earthworms.
His pupils shrank slightly and he quickened his pace to the medical department.
The white walls of the medical department glowed coldly in the morning light, and the smell of disinfectant made people’s noses sore.
As soon as Jin pushed open the glass door, he heard a quarrel coming from the inner room.
“Doctor Kawakami! The child’s fever has reached 40 degrees. If you don’t give him medicine, he will die!”
“Register according to the process.” The female voice was as mechanical as a puppet. “Name, age, symptoms… everything must be included.”
Jin walked around the waiting area and saw a female doctor in a white coat, writing on a medical record with her head down. The tip of her pen made a rustling sound on the paper.
The woman opposite her held the unconscious child in her arms, tears dripping onto the child’s hot forehead: “I just registered the day before yesterday! Look, this is the last medical record -“
“Ineffective.” Doctor Kawakami raised his head suddenly, his pupils shimmering with an unnatural grayness. “All records, start over.”
He pretended to be an ordinary villager and moved closer, quietly gathering flowing chakra at his fingertips – this was his original perception technique, which could penetrate flesh and blood like an X-ray and see the flow of chakra clearly.
When the chakra swept across Dr. Kawakami’s temple, he gasped: there was a ball of dark purple chakra coiled there, drilling into his brain like a poisonous snake.
“Psychological suggestion potion.” He murmured in a low voice, and suddenly raised his voice, “Madam, I’m taking the child to the emergency room!” Then he snatched the child and ran to the second floor in the woman’s astonished gaze.
“Stop!” Doctor Kawakami’s voice suddenly became sharp, and several chakra lines extended from under his white coat. “Without registration–“
“Go to hell with your registration!” Jin threw out a kunai with his backhand, accurately cutting off the chakra line.
He kicked open the door of the emergency room and had just put the child on the bed when he heard the dull thud of something heavy falling downstairs.
Haruno Na’s voice exploded from the communication symbol: “Jin! I’m at West Third Street, and a villager suddenly stabbed someone with a kunai! Now he’s been restrained by my puppet, but the people in the medical department said ‘We can’t treat him without registration’, you over there——”
“The medical department has been infiltrated.” Jhin took off his tie and tied the child’s wrists (to prevent him from biting himself when he twitched). “They were given psychological control drugs. You bring the people here, I’ll wait on the second floor.”
Ten minutes later, Haruno Na’s puppet broke open the door of the medical department.
The restrained villagers struggled like dying fish, uttering inhuman sobs: “Kill… Kill them all… They are all dirty…”
“Hold him down.” Jin pulled out a kunai and cut open the villager’s sleeve. There was a purple pinhole on the inside of his arm. “The same dark purple chakra as Dr. Kawakami.” He turned to Haruno Na and said, “Go to the basement. For someone like Yueying, the control center must be hidden in the most hidden place.”
Haruno Na’s puppet claw suddenly dug into the ground, prying up a floor tile with the sound of metal friction, revealing a step leading downwards.
As soon as the two walked in, the damp and moldy smell mixed with the smell of blood came over.
There were dozens of surveillance screens hanging on the wall, all showing every corner of Konoha: the training ground, the school, the Hokage’s office building… On the screen in the middle, a line of blood-red text was jumping: “Countdown 12:00:00”.
“Found it.” Jin’s fingertips pressed against the core of the control device, which was a crystal with a faint blue light. “This is Yueying’s encrypted file carrier, driven by the soul core…”
“It’s more complicated than you think.”
A cold female voice sounded from the shadows.
Yueying walked out from behind the surveillance screen, the hem of her white coat stained with fresh blood, and her left cheek still had bruises from the beating Jin had given her three days ago.
Her fingers slid across the control device, and the crystal suddenly glowed with a dazzling blue light. “Do you think you can cut off the connection by arresting me? These drugs have long since seeped into the blood vessels of every villager along with the pills from the medical department and the tea from the village office.”
Haruno Na’s puppet launched an attack instantly, and the metal claws struck towards Yueying’s throat with a sound of breaking wind.
Yueying did not dodge or evade, but raised his hand to form a seal. Suddenly, several cracks appeared on the ground, and dozens of corpses wrapped in chakra threads crawled out. They were the three Chunins who did not report to the mission department this morning. Their eyes were as gray as Dr. Kawakami’s.
“Taste your own people’s knives.” Yueying chuckled, “The last memory they had before they died was the mission scroll you personally gave them, right?”
He kicked away the rushing Chunin, and his kunai rubbed Yueying’s earlobe and nailed it into the wall: “You have been planning to use them as live bait!”
“How else can I lead you to the medical department?” Yueying threw out a handful of poison needles, “The soul core here can turn your streamer chakra into a locator – now, all the ‘infected’ in Konoha know where you are.”
Haruno Na’s puppet issued a sharp alarm sound, and Oiwa’s wolf howl came from his abdomen.
The moment Jin turned his head, he saw on the surveillance screen that the villagers in the waiting area slowly stood up, their eyes all turned gray, and they rushed to the basement like puppets.
“Shit.” Haruno Na’s puppet claws tore apart a corpse that was rushing towards her. “I should have brought two more strings of explosive talismans!”
Jin’s chakra condensed into a Rasengan in his palm, but it stopped the moment it touched the control device. Yueying’s crazy face was reflected in the crystal: “Blow it up? If you blow it up, the brains of these villagers will be burned into paste by the backlash of the soul core.”
“Are you crazy?”
“You are the ones who are crazy.” Yueying’s nails suddenly grew longer and she cut her wrist, blood dripping onto the crystal. “The Shadow Society never wanted to destroy Konoha, but to let it tear itself apart. And you…” Her fingertips brushed across Jin’s forehead protector, “are the best catalyst.”
Suddenly all the lights went out.
The sound of shattering glass could be heard in the darkness, followed by Haruno Na’s low curse: “She ran away!”
Jhin’s breath condensed into white mist in the darkness.
He closed his eyes, and flowing chakra surged out like a tide, penetrating the walls and the crowd, sensing every movement in the entire medical department – then, in the ventilation duct of the storage room on the second floor, he caught a trace of chakra fluctuations that did not belong to human.
“The real battle has just begun.” He whispered, his fingers slowly reaching for the ninja tool bag, where lay the jade token taken from the Silver Fox’s lair, which was now slightly warming up with his heartbeat.
Chapter 55: The Secret War in the Medical Department (Old Version)
In the darkness, Uchiha Jin’s eyelashes cast tiny shadows under his eyes.
His chakra moved along the wall like a living thing, penetrating through layers of partitions, and finally captured that chilly chakra in front of the control console in the deepest part of the basement – it was Yueying.
Nai, he lowered his voice and tapped the back of Haruno Nai’s hand three times quickly. This was the code they agreed upon when they were carrying out the mission. She went to the basement, and her goal was to activate the experimental procedure of the soul core.
Haruno Na’s puppet arm made a slight mechanical friction sound in the dark. She grabbed Jin’s wrist with her backhand, her palm still stained with blood from tearing open the body just now: I will lead the villagers to retreat through the safe passage, and you chase her.
Remember, if that damn device blows up—
I’ll take it apart first. Jin interrupted her, rubbing his fingertips across the calluses on her palms, and when he turned around, his ninja bag hit the door frame, making a dull sound.
The medical department’s emergency lights flickered at the end of the corridor, and Jhin’s footsteps echoed in the stairwell.
He groped his way to the fire hydrant at the corner of the second floor, kicked open the glass and took out a flashlight. Under the cold white light, dark red chakra traces appeared on the wall – it was the mark left by Yueying using the bloodline limit technique, like a twisted snake, going straight to the basement.
The iron door of the basement was ajar, and a faint blue light seeped through the gap.
As Jin approached the door, he heard the hum of machinery, mixed with Yueying’s laughter: Three, two…
He slammed the door open, and a cold wind carrying the smell of disinfectant blew in his face.
Golden runes were jumping on the console screen. The curse marks he had seen in the Silver Fox’s lair were spreading along the metal lines, and Yueying was dripping her blood into the grooves of the core device. Her pupils were a strange purple and the ends of her hair were stained with broken glass.
Stop! Jin’s Rasengan condensed in his palm, but was bounced off by a transparent chakra barrier. This will kill everyone!
Killed? Yueying tilted her head, blood dripping down her chin onto the console. They had already died.
The soul core extracts the vitality of the dying, and now it is just making these zombies… She swiped her finger across the screen, and the runes suddenly surged, dying for the real living people.
A chakra chain shot out from the ground, with barbs on it, and went straight for Jin’s throat.
His pupils suddenly contracted and his Sharingan spun rapidly in his eye sockets – he had seen this move in the Anbu archives; it was the soul-locking chain of the Kekkei family of the Hidden Cloud Village.
The chain flew past his forehead and left charred marks on the wall.
Copy my ninjutsu? Yueying sneered, and another chain wrapped around Jin’s right leg. The Sharingan was indeed amazing, but you don’t know – she turned her wrist, and the chain suddenly burned with black flames. This was the chakra tempered by the curse seal.
The severe pain spread from his ankle to his waist. Jin gritted his teeth and formed a seal with his left hand.
The flowing chakra penetrated into the chain like a silver snake. He could clearly sense the veins of the curse, just like disassembling a sophisticated pocket watch.
When the last curse pattern was shattered by chakra, he grabbed the chain fiercely and pulled it in the opposite direction –
Click!
Yueying was pulled back and staggered, hitting his forehead on the console.
Jhin took the opportunity to pounce and pressed the switch of the core device with his right hand, but was repelled by an electric current.
Only then did he discover that there was a layer of light purple film floating on the surface of the device, which was the barrier that had blocked the Rasengan before.
Want to close it? Yueying wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and took out a black pill from his sleeve, unless you can break the triple seal I set.
The first level is the chakra barrier; the second level…she threw the pill into the device, and the soul resonated.
The console suddenly emitted a shrill beep, and the runes on the screen began to overlap and distort.
Jin’s Sharingan captured the patterns on the film – it was a seal similar to the Bagua formation, and each pattern corresponded to a different chakra frequency.
He took a deep breath, and the flowing chakra condensed into fine needles at his fingertips and pierced along the lines.
The third level… Yueying’s voice suddenly became lighter, and she took out a smoke bomb from her arms. It’s you who can’t bear to kill me.
The moment the smoke exploded, Jin’s chakra needle accurately pierced the weak point of the membrane.
As the barrier shattered, he grabbed Yueying’s wrist, but only touched nothingness – she had already formed a substitute seal in the smoke.
Shit. Jhin cursed and turned to rush to the control console.
He opened the ninja tool bag and took out the jade token from the Silver Fox’s lair. The jade token was incredibly hot at this moment, and runes similar to those on the console appeared on its surface.
He pressed the jade token into the groove of the device. With a ding sound, all the runes suddenly stopped and then began to reverse.
The alarm stopped abruptly.
“Jin!” Haruno Na’s voice came from the stairs. Her puppet arm was dragging an unconscious doctor. Everyone else had left, but the old man was still holding onto a piece of paper, and he wouldn’t let go no matter how hard he tried.
Jhin took the sweat-soaked paper and smelled bitter almonds when he unfolded it – it was a secret letter written in highly poisonous ink.
He took out the fire starter from his bosom and heated it on the letter. The dark pattern gradually appeared: 15:30 at midnight. According to the time, the key is at…
The Shadow Society’s next plan. Jin folded the letter and stuffed it into his forehead protector, and had to give it to the Sandaime as soon as possible.
No.
They both turned their heads at the same time.
He Yu stood at the stairs, the moonlight shining in from the window behind him, stretching his shadow very long.
He was holding a lacquer box in his hand, with the Hokage’s logo printed on the lid: Hokage-sama asked me to pick you up.
The matter of the medical department has not been sorted out yet. Haruno Na frowned, and the puppet claws subconsciously protected Jin. The enemy might have a backup plan.
Precisely because it was not clear, He Yu opened the lacquer box and found two forehead protectors engraved with the word “urgent” inside, indicating that the intelligence department headquarters had been infiltrated.
Half an hour ago, the Jonin Aomatsu who was in charge of tracking the Shadow Society sent a message saying that he had discovered…something extraordinary.
Jin’s fingers tapped lightly on the secret letter in the forehead protector, the jade token was still hot in his palm.
He looked at Haruno Na, who tilted her head at him and touched the back of his hand with her puppet claw – this was the signal to leave.
Lead the way, Jhin said.
When He Yu turned around, the moonlight illuminated a light pink scar behind his ear – it was caused by an explosive talisman during a mission three years ago.
Jin stared at the scar and suddenly remembered the intelligence from Jonin Cangsong: a spy of the Shadow Society, good at disguising himself as the most unlikely person.
The wind from the stairwell blew in, making Haruno Na’s hair fly everywhere.
She touched Jhin’s shoulder: What are you thinking about?
Nothing, Jin said, his eyes swept across Tsuruha’s back, he was just suddenly curious about what the incredible thing that Cangsong Jonin was talking about was.
(Preview of the next chapter: In the archives of the Intelligence Department headquarters, the notebook of the Jonin Aomatsu was spread out on the table. The last page had the words “Jade Plate” written in blood. He was standing in the shadows, his pupils glowing the same purple as the moon’s shadow.
Chapter 56 The Secret of the Intelligence Department (Old Version)
The moonlight flooded over the eaves of Konoha. Uchiha Jin followed Tsuruha and turned through three corridors. The bluestone gate of the Intelligence Department headquarters finally opened before their eyes.
The flickering candlelight inside the door illuminated the slightly hunched back of the senior ninja Aomatsu – this old ninja who had worked in the Anbu for twenty years was bending over his desk, with scattered traces of ink in his white hair. He straightened up only when he heard footsteps, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes still showed signs of fatigue.
Jin, Nai. Cangsong pushed the teacup in front of the two of them. Under the celadon cup was a half-rolled yellowed list. Let’s take a look at this first.
Haruno Na pulled a wooden stool and sat down, and her puppet arm clicked onto the edge of the table: Old Cangtou, the incredible things you are talking about are these pieces of paper?
Cangsong didn’t respond, but his skinny fingers ran across the dense ink marks on the list: Three days ago, the Nanmachi Rice Merchant placed an order for 20 koku of fine rice, and the consignee was stamped with the red seal directly under the Hokage.
But there was no such approval document in the Hokage’s handwritten order. He turned to the second page again. The order for black iron from the West Market Iron Shop yesterday, and the special brocade from the Cloud Hidden Village Silk Shop the day before yesterday… were all fake.
Jhin pressed his knuckles against his chin, his pupils shrinking slightly.
He had a good impression of most of the merchants on the list – the rice merchants in Nanmachi had supplied food to the Anbu, the iron shops in Xishi had helped Tsunade repair ninja tools, and each of them was related to the core affairs of Konoha. Forging orders could trick people into getting supplies, but these merchants had signed confidentiality agreements, so how could they easily deliver the goods?
That’s why it’s interesting. Cangsong took out a wax seal from his sleeve. The pattern was a coiled snake. Every fake order was stamped with this.
The merchant said that it was the Anbu who was beside the Hokage who came to pick up the goods in person and showed his ID. He paused, but the Anbu’s ID had just been changed with new patterns half a month ago.
Haruno Na’s puppet claw ejected half of a steel blade: Someone from the Shadow Society has infiltrated the Anbu?
It’s more troublesome than this. Cangsong pushed the list over, and I checked the flow of these materials – rice went into the abandoned house in Xishan, black iron was melted into arrowheads, and brocade was sewn into cloaks.
You said that the Shadow Society wanted so many things, was it planning to…
Jin said, tapping the words “Abandoned House in West Hill” with his fingertips. They were preparing military supplies.
Haruno Na’s pupils suddenly contracted, and the mechanism on the puppet’s arm began to make a slight sound – this was her habit before a battle.
However, Jhin leaned back in his chair with a cold smile on his face: But preparing military supplies requires money, and these supplies are all stolen. There must be a big hole in the Shadow Society’s account.
They have to make up for it. He flipped through the list quickly and suddenly stopped at the last page. This tea merchant named Matsumoto transports tea to Yuyin Village every few days?
But Yuyin is suffering from famine now, who can afford to drink tea?
Matsumoto? Cangsong came over to see that he had just donated fifty ryo to the village school last month, and the Hokage had praised him.
You’re praising the wrong person. Jhin pushed the list back, saying that the tea box should contain something else.
Haruno, come with me to Matsumoto Tea House.
Haruno Na’s puppet claws snapped back, she picked up the kunai on the table and stood up: I’ll cover your rear.
The back alley of Matsumoto Tea House was filled with a damp and moldy smell. Jin followed the wall and groped his way to the warehouse window. His Sharingan glowed scarlet in the dark – two guys in the window were stuffing something into the tea basket. It wasn’t tea leaves, but iron blocks wrapped in oil paper that glowed coldly.
It’s chakra metal. Haruno Na’s voice came from above her head. She was hanging upside down on the eaves, the lenses of her puppet eyes reflecting the moonlight. Ten yuan per basket, twenty baskets is two hundred yuan.
Enough to make a hundred kunai.
Jin put his knuckles against his lips, and suddenly took out a note from his bosom and handed it to Haruno Na: Go to the Crow House on the corner and give this to the boss.
Let’s just say the rice in Xishan is enough to feed three hundred people.
Haruno Na raised her eyebrows: Fake news?
Silver Fox is the God of Wealth of the Shadow Society, and hates having his plans interrupted. A calculation flashed in Jin’s black pupils. If he knew that we had found the granary, he would definitely not sit still.
Sure enough, quarter of an hour later, the door of the tea shop was kicked open.
Three masked ninjas rushed in, and the scarred man in the lead waved a kunai and pointed it at the guys: Where are the things?
In… in the tea basket…
The scarred man pulled out the iron block and suddenly turned to look at the window – Jhin was leaning there, twirling a kunai with his fingertips: Did Silver Fox send you to transport chakra metal?
Or are you here to silence us?
The scarred man’s pupils suddenly shrank, and with a gesture, his two men on the left and right threw out shurikens at the same time.
Jin’s Sharingan accurately captured the trajectory, and he dodged sideways while forming a seal with his left hand: Shadow Clone Technique!
Three clones rushed out from behind him, two of them deflected the attack, while the real body went behind the scarred man like a ghost and pressed its palms on the back of his neck: physical technique: throat lock.
The scarred man groaned and was about to fight back when Haruno Na’s puppet pounced down from the beam and grabbed his ankle with its steel claws.
The barbs on the puppet’s arms pierced into his flesh, causing him to break out in a cold sweat: Who… are you?
Konoha’s scavenger. Jin increased the strength of his hands. Where is the silver fox?
Scrap…scrap iron warehouse!
The one at the north end of the village that was half collapsed! The scarred man grimaced in pain, and he said he had to move the last batch of goods today…
The rusty iron door of the scrap metal warehouse creaked in the night wind.
Jin kicked away the broken iron sheets on the ground. Haruno Na’s puppet claw held up a fire starter. In the dim firelight, there was only a line of words written in blood on the wall: No matter how fast the little mouse runs, it can’t bite the elephant’s leg.
Haruno Na’s puppet claws crushed the fire stick: Are you kidding us?
Jin didn’t say anything. He squatted down and touched the ground – freshly turned soil still with a damp fishy smell.
He pulled out a kunai and stabbed it downward, hitting metal with a clang.
After digging up the soil, a blood-stained forehead guard was revealed, and the pattern on it was exactly the word “urgent” in the Intelligence Department’s logo.
Cangsong’s forehead protector. Haruno Na’s voice became deeper. Something might have happened to him.
Jin’s fingers clenched around his forehead protector, when suddenly a roar came from the distance – flames rose from the direction of Dongcheng, and shouts of killing mixed with alarm bells tore through the night sky.
Haruno Na was about to rush over, but Jin grabbed her wrist and said, “Don’t go.”
There’s an explosion over there!
That’s the bait. Jin stared at the blood on the forehead protector, his black pupils surging with cold light. The shadow would lead all the ninjas to East Town, the real target… He looked up in the direction of the Hokage Building, where the Hokage Rock cast a huge shadow in the moonlight, in the center of the village.
Haruno Na followed his gaze and suddenly understood: You mean…
Back to the Hokage Building. Jin stuffed the forehead protector into his arms and turned to leave. What they wanted to overturn was not Tocho, but the root of Konoha.
The fire in the distance was getting brighter and brighter, but the backs of the two people were walking against the flow of people towards the Hokage Building.
In the darkness of the night, the words on Cangsong’s list flashed across Jin’s sleeves – those forged orders, those missing supplies, were now strung together in his mind, pointing to a truth that made his neck shiver.
Behind them, the blast blew away the tiles on half the street, but it could not catch up with the two figures walking in the opposite direction.
Chapter 57 The Test of the Sandaime (Old Version)
The fire in Higashi-machi lit up half the sky, and the streets were filled with hurried footsteps.
Uchiha Jin dragged Haruno Na and ran wildly against the flow of people. The soles of his boots scraped sparks on the bluestone slabs. He caught a glimpse of several people who looked like Chunins running towards the direction of the explosion – the forehead protectors around their waists were still stained with morning dew, and it was obvious that they had just come off patrol.
Look over there. Haruno Na suddenly tugged at his sleeve.
Jhin followed her gaze and saw a gray-robed figure flash in the shadows of the street corner. Around the man’s neck hung a bronze pendant that glowed coldly in the firelight.
That was the unique mark of the Shadow Society, and Jhin had seen it three times in the intelligence left by Cangsong.
As expected. Jin’s knuckles turned white from pinching, and the blood on the pine forehead guard was still damp, burning against his heart.
The list that Cangsong had secretly slipped to him three days ago suddenly surged in his mind: thirty trucks of medical scrolls marked for destruction, but were actually transported to the South Town warehouse; seventeen boxes of detonating talismans were registered as training consumption, but disappeared from the basement of the martial arts training ground last night – the end points of all the abnormalities pointed to the confidential archives in the basement of the Hokage Building.
When the vermilion door of the Hokage Building burst open in front of the two of them, the Sandaime Sarutobi Hiruzen was standing in front of the window.
The old man’s pipe was placed on the table, surrounded by smoke. His gaze was like a poisoned knife, accurately fixed on the bulging forehead guard in Jin’s arms.
Cangsong’s. Jhin went straight to the point and placed the bloodstained forehead guard on the table.
Haruno Na stood beside him, her hand always on the puppet box at her waist, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the dark pattern on the box – that was the ninja dog totem she carved with the taming needle, and she would only do this action when she was nervous.
The Sandaime picked up the forehead guard and wiped the blood with his fingertips: He was supposed to report the tax inspection results of the shops in Toucho this morning. His eyes swept across the ink marks faintly visible on Jin’s cuffs, “You have been checking the inventory for half a month, have you come to a conclusion?”
The shadow will steal the concept. Jin took a half step forward. They used fake destruction to monotonously walk through the supplies on the surface. The real goal was… He raised his hand and pointed out the window. The serious face of the first generation of Hokage Rock was cut into two halves of light and dark by the moonlight. The root archives on the third floor underground.
There are the strategic notes of successive Hokage, and… he paused, the experimental records left by Danzo.
Haruno Na took a deep breath.
She had heard rumors while wandering that the Root’s archives contained secrets that could subvert the village – such as scrolls of forbidden techniques and bloodline limit experiment data.
If you are shadowed, you will get…
The Sandaime suddenly knocked his pipe heavily on the table: Your sharpness reminds me of the young Orochimaru. The old man’s eyes suddenly became sharp, but besides being sharp, I need to confirm your loyalty.
Crane feather.
The secret door opened, and Tsuruha walked out from the shadows. The special ninja tool bag hanging on his waist swayed slightly with his movements. It was a memory scroll box exclusive to the Intelligence Department. Hokage-sama.
Take them to the Nausicaa training ground. The Sandaime stood up, his Hokage robe fluttering like clouds behind him. There was a setup set by a Kage-level illusionist. I want to see if this kid who always likes to copy exam papers can copy the Kage’s layout.
The fog at the Nausicaa training grounds was thicker than I remembered.
As Jin walked forward on the slippery moss, the soles of his boots suddenly sank into the soft soil – that was a sign that the chakra trap was about to be triggered.
He grabbed Haruno Na with his backhand and threw her to the side. When the two of them rolled into the bushes, a dazzling blue light rose from where they had been standing. It was a sign that the lightning trap had been triggered.
What a cruel test. Haruno Na shook off the fallen leaves on her body, and the puppet box had already popped open. Three metal ninja dogs jumped out of the box, with their fangs shining with a cold light of poison.
Her pupils contracted slightly, which was her habit when she was training animals – detecting the environment through the animals’ senses.
It was not a test. Jin’s Sharingan quietly opened, and the three magatama slowly rotated. It was a real combat simulation. He stared at the fog wall in front of him, where the chakra fluctuations were distorted, just like the illusion structure he encountered in the underground dark room last time.
Before he finished speaking, Xingye’s voice came from all directions, like countless needles drilling into his eardrums: Uchiha’s little mouse, finally willing to enter my cage? The mist suddenly condensed into blood red, and a familiar scene emerged in Jin’s vision – the streets of the Uchiha clan, the burning firelight illuminated every charred wooden board, he heard his childhood crying, and saw his mother lying in a pool of blood.
Illusion! Haruno Na’s shout was torn apart by the wind.
Her metal ninja dogs suddenly barked wildly, and their front paws dug deep grooves in the ground – their perception was completely disrupted.
This illusion was more real than any other time: he could smell the burnt flesh, feel the burning pain of the flames licking the back of his hand, and hear his father’s roar before he died, asking him to take good care of his brother.
His right hand uncontrollably reached for the kunai at his waist – that was the weapon he had never drawn in the original work, but now it seemed to have a life and was trying to drill into his palm.
Calm down. He bit the tip of his tongue, the smell of blood exploding in his mouth.
The three magatama of the Sharingan suddenly accelerated their rotation, and he saw chakra threads floating in the air. Those lines with purple and black luster were drilling into his temple.
This is the characteristic of mental illusion. Xingye tried to use his most painful memories to undermine his will.
Flowing chakra, disperse! Jin shouted, and light golden chakra gathered in his palm.
This is a technique he improved based on the interference principle of modern physics – using high-frequency oscillating chakra waves to interfere with the spiritual frequency of the illusion.
Sure enough, cracks appeared on the silk thread wrapped around his temple. He took the opportunity to bite his fingertips and drew the Uchiha family crest on his palm. The moment the blood dripped onto the ground, spider-web-like cracks appeared in the illusion space.
Impossible! Xingye’s voice was filled with panic.
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly locked onto a certain point in the fog wall – the chakra fluctuations there were three times stronger than the surrounding ones, and that was where the caster of the illusion was.
He grabbed the metal ninja dog thrown by Haruno Na and threw it at that point.
Ding! The sound of metal collision pierced the blood mist.
Xingye’s figure emerged from the fog, his left face cut by the ninja dog’s sharp teeth, blood dripping on the black robe embroidered with dark patterns. You actually cracked my memory of genocide… His voice trembled, but he suddenly laughed, but so what?
Once the soul core is activated, all of your memories will become my playthings!
He remembered the scribbled words on the last page of Cangsong’s list: Soul Core, left by Danzo, can control the mind… There was no time to think about it, he had already stepped forward, with the kunai against Xingye’s throat: Tell me, what is the Shadow Society’s plan?
It doesn’t hurt to tell you. Xingye’s smile was twisted like a poisonous snake. When you find the ruins of the border, you will understand that the so-called loyalty is nothing but… He suddenly bit his tongue, and several kunai popped out in the blood mist, taking the opportunity to retreat violently.
Want to run? Haruno Na’s puppet box opened again, and this time a giant metal eagle jumped out, grabbing Xingye’s ankles with its claws.
She turned her wrist, and the giant eagle flapped its wings violently, smashing Xingye into the rock wall.
Xingye’s black robe was torn open, revealing a bronze bottle hanging around his waist – the same one as the one seen by the gray-robed man on the street corner.
The secret of the soul core is far beyond your imagination! Starry Night’s voice disappeared into the dust as the rock wall collapsed.
When Jin rushed over, he only picked up half a bronze fragment. The strange patterns engraved on it looked very much like the ancient ninja totems he had seen in ancient books.
Well done. The Sandaime’s voice came from the fog.
The old man stood at the entrance of the training ground without knowing when, the sparks on his pipe flickered. Xingye was the top illusionist in the Shadow Society, and no more than three people in Konoha’s twenty years had been able to escape from his hands unscathed.
Jin wiped the blood off his face and his eyes fell on Tsuruha behind the Sandaime – the guy was taking out a secret letter from his ninja tool bag, with the fire emblem of the border guard printed on the sealing wax.
An ancient ruin was discovered in the borderland of the Stone Country. The Sandaime took the secret letter and handed it to Jin. The guards detected abnormal chakra fluctuations outside the ruins, which were consistent with the pattern of the bronze fragment in your hand. His eyes swept over the giant metal eagle in Haruno Na’s arms. The target of the Shadow Society was likely there.
Jhin unfolded the secret letter, the words on it still smelled of ink: The words “Soul Core” were engraved at the entrance to the ruins, which was suspected to be related to Danzo’s experiment… He clenched the letter until his knuckles turned white.
Haruno Na came closer, and the metal ninja dog circled around her feet, making a low growl in its throat – that was a signal that it sensed danger.
When do we leave? There was no hesitation in Haruno Na’s voice. Her fingers gently stroked the ninja dog totem on the puppet box. That was her definition of home.
Now. Jin put the secret letter into his arms, his Sharingan glowing in the night. Xingye was right, this was just the beginning.
But this time… he looked at Haruno Na, a rare smile on his lips, we won’t be led astray again.
In the night of Konoha, the two figures disappeared on the tree-lined avenue at the entrance of the village.
The cry of an owl could be heard in the distance, and on the treetops behind them, a dark shadow was staring at the direction they were leaving, with the bronze bottle on his fingertips glowing with a faint blue light – that was the call of the Soul Core, which was about to set off a storm in the ruins on the border that was more violent than the East Town explosion.
Chapter 58: Border Ruins, Dangers All Around (Old Version)
The Konoha Village under the night sky was like rice paper soaked in ink. Uchiha Jin walked on the mountain path covered with fallen leaves. The crisp sound of his boots crushing dead branches was particularly clear in the silence.
Haruno Na walked beside him, the metal ninja dog Silver Fang sticking out its tongue made of mechanical gears, and the sensor module on its neck glowed slightly – it was scanning the chakra fluctuations within a two-kilometer radius.
Before Xingye left last time, he carved a spiral mark on the bottom of my teacup. Jin suddenly spoke, the moonlight shining through the shadows of the trees onto his pale face. He said that it was the resonance mark of the Soul Core experiment subject, and that if one day I sensed the same kind of fluctuation somewhere… His fingers unconsciously stroked the secret letter in his arms, which meant that Danzo’s experiment that year did not end with his death.
Haruno Na’s hand was on the puppet box at her waist, and the ninja dog totem on the box glowed coldly in the moonlight: So that’s why you asked Feiliu to investigate the caravan that has disappeared at the border in the past three months?
Those people were not attacked by wild animals, but were captured as experimental materials. Her voice was like a kunai with a sharpened blade. If there is something hidden in this ruin…
The enemy is more anxious than we thought. Jin stopped, and his Sharingan suddenly turned in his eye sockets. The three magatama slowly connected into a vortex, and Yin Fang’s perception range narrowed.
The metal ninja dog made a sharp buzzing sound and slammed its front paws heavily on the ground.
Looking in its direction, at the cliff at the end of the mountain path, a stone arch wrapped in vines was emerging in the moonlight.
The four characters “Soul Core” on the door lintel have weathered, but the light blue chakra seeping out of the carvings is floating in the air like a living thing.
Sealing formation. Jhin squatted down and lightly touched the ground with his fingertips.
Streaming chakra flowed out from his palm, and the light golden stream spread along the cracks in the stone, projecting the structure of the entire ruins entrance into a 3D model on his retina – seven spirally nested chakra circuits, each layer engraved with the encrypted runes that Danzo used in the Root organization.
The innermost fluctuation…his pupils shrank slightly. That was clearly the frequency of the Soul Core experiment data that he overheard in Tsunade’s office in the Medical Department.
It was the same technique as Danzo’s, but more… He licked his dry lips. More frantic.
Back then, he only used Hashirama’s cells to fuse the Sharingan. The seal here absorbs the souls of living things as a source of energy.
So those missing caravans… Haruno Na’s knuckles turned white, and the puppet box snapped open a gap. Three mechanical ninja dogs jumped out of the box, guarding the east, south and west directions respectively. Their souls were drained and turned into fuel for the seal.
At this moment, the sound of stones rubbing against each other suddenly came from behind the stone arch.
A man in a dark purple robe walked out of the shadows, wearing a bronze goggles on his left eye and his right face was covered with stitches, as if it had been torn apart by some wild beast and then forcibly stitched together.
The chakra knife in his hand glowed with a faint blue light, and the patterns flowing on the blade were exactly the same as the runes of the sealing array.
Uchiha Jin. The man’s voice was like a rusty gear. I waited for you to come to me on your own initiative for three whole months. He took off his goggles, revealing a cloudy gray-white left eye – that was the vision loss caused by long-term use of forbidden techniques. The adults in the Shadow Society said that the awakening of the Sharingan requires extreme emotional stimulation, so we blew up East Town, burned the South Market, and even let your teammates in Team 7 get seriously injured during the mission… He raised the chakra knife, and the tip of the knife pointed at Jin’s eyes, but your eyes have only begun to loosen up now.
So you are here to be the catalyst? Jin’s Sharingan suddenly accelerated, and the three magatama turned into two circles, the ghost eye, the remnant of the Root organization, used living people to do Sharingan adaptation experiments in the Hidden Rain Village three years ago, and was offered a reward of 100,000 ryo by Hanzo. The corners of his mouth curled up in a sneer. According to the information of the Intelligence Department, you should have been dismembered by the ninjas of the Hidden Rain Village two years ago.
That’s the scapegoat I left for them. The blade of the ghost eye suddenly burst out with a dazzling blue light. Now, I want to dig out your eyes with my own hands to see if the Uchiha bloodline limit can bear the power of the soul core!
The chakra knife came slashing with a sound of breaking wind, Jin rolled sideways to avoid it, and his back hit the moss-covered stone wall heavily.
But his Sharingan had already captured the trajectory of Guiyan’s muscles when he swung the sword – that was the Sky Slash from the Sand Village of the Wind Country, and the speed of the sword was three times faster than ordinary ninjutsu.
The next second, Jin formed the same seal with his right hand, and the chakra condensed into a blade shape at his fingertips, and he actually swung out a Sky-Severing Slash!
The Sharingan’s copying ability? The pupil of the ghost eye contracted, and he barely turned his head to avoid the sudden attack. The blade grazed his earlobe and cut off a few strands of hair. Interesting, it seems that Danzo was right. Your eyes are indeed better than Shisui’s…
Silver Fang, block the road! Haruno Na’s order interrupted Guiyan’s words.
The three mechanical ninja dogs opened their mouths at the same time and shot out silver steel mesh, instantly blocking Guiyan’s retreat.
She herself swung out two kunai, with chakra strings as thin as hair tied to the tails of the kunai – those were her improved puppet control strings, which could directly interfere with the opponent’s chakra flow.
A circle of blue light suddenly burst out from the blade of the Ghost Eye, shattering the wire mesh.
But at the moment when he was distracted, Jin’s figure had flashed behind him. He formed a seal with his left hand, and the chakra blade condensed in his right hand pierced directly into the fatal point on the back of his neck with a stream of light.
Too slow. Ghost Eye’s voice came from above.
Jin looked up and saw Ghost Eyes hanging down the stone wall, and the Chakra Blade slashed towards his crown with a force that was enough to split the rock.
At this moment, the Sharingan suddenly had a brief double image – this was the first time he was unable to accurately predict his opponent’s movements.
Ember! Haruno Na’s puppet string precisely wrapped around Guiyan’s wrist, forcing the knife to deflect by three inches.
The blade scraped across Jhin’s forehead, leaving a bloody mark on his face.
Jin took advantage of the momentum to roll over, his back resting against the stone archway, but he suddenly felt a burning pain in the palm of his hand – he had just touched the edge of the seal, and the blue chakra was going through his skin and into his body!
Do you feel it? The expression of the ghost eye twisted into ecstasy. This is the resonance of the soul core. Your Sharingan is craving for this energy!
As long as I cut it off, I can unlock the ultimate secret of Uchiha’s bloodline limit…
Screw your secrets! Haruno Na’s puppet box opened completely, and twelve mechanical ninja dogs jumped out of the box, forming a circular formation to surround the ghost eye.
Flames spewed out of the mouths of each ninja dog, and tiny kunai were mixed in the flames – this was her original fire escape, Hundred Dog Bite, which could both restrict movement and interfere with chakra.
Guiyan was forced to retreat three steps by the flames, and his back hit the sealing formation heavily.
At this moment, Jin’s Sharingan suddenly became clear again.
He saw every muscle tremor of Guiyan when he swung the sword, saw the trajectory of chakra flowing on the blade, and even saw the opponent’s chakra veins that were riddled with holes due to long-term use of forbidden techniques.
Now, it’s my turn. Jhin’s voice was as deep as thunder.
He pushed off the ground with his feet and his body shot out like an arrow, the three magatama of the Sharingan spinning wildly in his eyes.
This time, he did not copy Guiyan’s moves, but seized the flaw in the opponent’s chakra disorder. The flowing chakra condensed at his fingertips turned into a sharp cone and stabbed directly at Guiyan’s wrist holding the knife.
The chakra cone accurately pierced the ulna of Guiyan, and the chakra knife in his hand fell to the ground with a clang.
Jin took advantage of the situation and hit Guiyan’s abdomen hard with his knee, knocking him into the encirclement of mechanical ninja dogs.
Haruno Na’s control lines instantly wrapped around Guiyan’s limbs, fixing him in place like a tied dumpling.
You lose. Jin stepped on Guiyan’s wrist and bent down to pick up the chakra knife.
The blue light of the blade dimmed in his hand. Tell me, where is the headquarters of the Shadow Society?
How many Soul Core test subjects are there?
Hahahaha…Ghost Eyes suddenly laughed, and black blood flowed from the corners of his mouth. Do you think I will tell you?
Don’t forget, the seal of this relic… His pupils suddenly dilated, it was driven by the souls of living people!
You just touched the seal, and those souls that were drained…
Watch out! Haruno Na’s scream mixed with the buzzing of the mechanical ninja dog.
Jhin turned around suddenly and saw countless translucent figures pouring out of the sealing formation in the darkness behind the stone archway.
Their faces were distorted, silent screams came from their mouths, and their hands grabbed at his back like claws.
In the center of these figures, a black stone tablet engraved with runes was slowly rising. The patterns on the tablet glowed with a strange red light, as if it had been soaked in blood for thousands of years.
That was… Jin’s Sharingan was spinning uncontrollably, and the three magatama began to merge into the shape of a kaleidoscope.
He could clearly sense that every rune on the stone tablet was releasing some kind of vibration, resonating with the Sharingan in his body, just like a baby responding to the call of its mother.
Don’t touch it! Haruno Na tried to rush over, but her legs were entangled by a group of soul shadows.
The flames of the mechanical ninja dogs had no effect on these intangible beings, and their gears were corroded by the shadows, emitting harsh wails.
Jhin didn’t hesitate.
He threw away the ghost eyes and ran towards the stone tablet.
Those soul shadows brushed past his body, causing bursts of stinging pain, but his attention was completely drawn to the stone tablet – the runes on it were not ordinary ninjutsu marks, but Uchiha secret texts that could only be deciphered with the Sharingan.
He saw keywords such as awakening, resonance, and ultimate pupil technique, and saw the symbiosis between soul and eyes mentioned in the notes of his ancestors…
The moment his fingertips touched the stone tablet, the entire ruins shook violently.
Black mist gushed out from the stone tablet, enveloping Jin completely.
Haruno Na’s cries suddenly became distant. He felt something being pulled out from the depths of his soul. His Sharingan seemed to be burning. Everything in front of him began to blur, leaving only the last line of words on the stone tablet flickering:
When the Sharingan resonates with the Soul Core, you will see…
The pain came like a tide.
Before Jin’s consciousness gradually faded away, the last thing he saw was Haruno Na’s anxious face and the blood-red light that continued to spread in his eyes – a color that was stronger and more dangerous than that of an ordinary Sharingan.
He fell heavily to the ground, his eyes closed and his breathing shallow.
Haruno Na knelt down and hugged him, touching his forehead with her fingertips and finding it incredibly hot.
Above their heads, the runes on the stone tablet were still beating, as if waiting for a certain moment to come…
Chapter 59: The Road to Awakening, Uncle Appears (Old Version)
When Uchiha Jin’s consciousness fell into a blood-red mist, the first smell he smelled was rust.
The smell came into my nose, just like what I saw through the cracks in the wooden boards when I was a child hiding in the Uchiha clan’s warehouse – the floor was covered with blood.
His temple was throbbing and the fog in front of him was torn apart by some force, revealing a familiar courtyard.
This is… He stumbled back, only to bump into a solid chest.
When he turned around, the man in the dark green cloud-patterned tribal uniform was looking down at him, the three-magatama Sharingan under his hair on his forehead glowing dark red. I am the Raikage, your great-grandfather’s younger brother.
He remembered that in the family tree narrated by the elders of the clan, there was indeed a senior who disappeared after the Third Ninja World War. You…didn’t you die in the battle?
It is the body that dies in battle. The Raikage raised his hand and pressed it between his brows. The blood-colored mist suddenly surged into memory fragments. The awakening of the Sharingan was never as simple as opening the eyes.
This is a testing ground for the soul. Every scene you see is a fear engraved in your blood.
Before he could finish his words, the cherry trees in the courtyard suddenly caught fire.
Jin took two steps back, watching the most unpalatable scene in his memory replay before his eyes: his mother holding him and hiding in the warehouse, with screams of clan members coming from outside the door; when his father rushed out holding a kunai, the Uchiha clan emblem on his back was soaked in blood; and finally, the moon on the night of the genocide was so red that it seemed to be dripping with blood.
No! He covered his ears, and felt a burning pain in the area where his Sharingan was. I have seen this countless times!
Then why are you still shaking? The Raikage’s voice pierced into your consciousness like an icicle. The power of the Sharingan comes from emotion, but you always avoid it.
Escape from the pain of losing your family, escape from the unwillingness of being abandoned, escape from your ambition to become stronger than anyone else——
A sharp pain suddenly exploded from the depths of my soul.
Jin knelt on the ground and saw himself in his memory huddled in the corner of the warehouse, his tears wetting the floor.
And behind that small figure, there was a ball of faint blue light wriggling, like some kind of suppressed chakra.
That is the core of your soul. The figure of the Raikage suddenly becomes transparent, and the moment the Sharingan resonates with it, you will see the sealed truth.
But first, you have to use these eyes to receive all the pain.
In the ruins of the real world, Haruno Na’s puppet strings left deep marks on her palms.
Her seven puppets were arranged in the shape of a Big Dipper. The iron arm in the front row had just had its joints severed by a kunai with steel claws, and metal parts were scattered all over the ground.
The man was wearing dark purple tights and had a scar on his face that ran from his brow to his jaw. Every step he took left a deep pit on the ground: Little girl, get out of here if you know what’s good for you.
What the Shadow Society wants is that boy’s eyes, and you, a broken puppet, can’t stop it.
You have to stop it even if you can’t. Haruno Na gritted her teeth and made a seal. Suddenly, three new puppets popped out from behind her. They were made from animal bones she picked up while wandering. The joints were wrapped with poisoned steel wires. The animal taming technique of the Nohara family can tame wild beasts, but also… die!
The bone puppet’s claws tore through the air, but were caught by the steel claws.
He grinned, and his arm bones made crackling sounds, crushing half of his skeleton: That’s it?
Your master has been squeezed dry in the stone tablet, why is he still holding on?
Shut up! Haruno Na threw out the kunai from her sleeve, but was hit in the chest by the remains of the bone puppet.
She bumped into the stone wall, blood foam oozing from the corners of her mouth. She watched the steel claws approach the stone tablet step by step, and the nails dug deeply into her palms.
The runes on the stone tablet suddenly jumped violently.
In Jhin’s consciousness, memory fragments began to distort.
He saw the moon on the night of the genocide change into the shape of the Sharingan, saw his father turning back and smiling at him before he fell, and saw his mother’s blood dripping onto the back of his hand, slowly condensing into a bead emitting blue light.
Soul Core! The Raikage’s voice suddenly became clear, grab it!
Jin stretched out his hand, and the blue light suddenly penetrated into his Sharingan.
The severe pain was like a volcanic eruption, and countless golden lines appeared on his retina, entwining the surging blood like chains.
When the last memory – the disgusted look in the eyes of the clan elders when he was driven out of the Uchiha clan territory – flashed through his mind, he heard his own heartbeat.
I never ran away. He stood up, and the magatama of the Sharingan began to spin. I was just waiting, waiting for the day when I was strong enough.
The real Jin suddenly opened his eyes.
Haruno Na’s pupils trembled.
She saw that the boy’s originally dark eyes were completely replaced by blood red, the three magatama were spinning at a terrifying speed, and even the flow of chakra in the air was clearly visible in his eyes.
Jhin! As she shouted, the steel claws’ kunai had already stabbed at the stone tablet.
Too slow. Jhin’s voice was unfamiliar and hoarse.
He raised his hand, and his Sharingan accurately captured every tremor of the steel claw’s muscles – the opponent’s slight turn of the wrist was a feint, and the real killing move came at the moment when the right leg accumulated power.
The next second, his figure disappeared from the spot.
Steel Claw only felt a pain on the back of his neck, and his whole body was pressed against the stone tablet.
Jin’s knee was against his lower back, his right hand was like a knife slashing at the numb tendons on the side of his neck, and his left hand was holding his wrist holding the kunai. Every step was as precise as if it was an instinct engraved in his bones: Would the Shadow send you to kill me?
Or grab the Sharingan?
You…how could you! Steel Claw struggled, but found that his chakra was suppressed by some force. The three-magatama Sharingan…can’t be so strong when it awakens!
Because I took on all the pain. Jin loosened his hand, watched the other person collapse to the ground, and then turned to look at Haruno Na.
His eyes swept over the scar on her chest, and the magatama in his Sharingan suddenly paused. Are you hurt?
Haruno Na wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and grinned: As long as I can live to watch you cheat, what does this injury matter?
Before he finished speaking, the stone tablet suddenly made a buzzing sound.
The figure of the Raikage emerged from the stone tablet. His Sharingan was deeper than Jin’s. After taking a look at the unconscious Steel Claw, his gaze returned to Jin: Not bad, he was able to awaken the Three Magatama during the trial.
But remember, the Sharingan is just a tool, the real power lies in——
Jin and Haruno Na stepped back at the same time, watching the thick black fog pouring out of the crack.
The mist carried a foul smell and made a sizzling corrosion sound when it touched the air. Even the runes on the stone tablet dimmed in an instant.
The Raikage’s expression suddenly changed: This is… a sealed thing?
Impossible, the barrier set up by Uchiha Madara himself
A low roar came from the black fog, as if some wild beast that had been sleeping for many years was awakened.
Jin’s Sharingan worked automatically, but he could only see countless distorted faces in the black fog – those eyes were somewhat similar to his own Sharingan.
Let’s go! The Raikage suddenly raised his hand and formed a seal. The rocks on the top of the ruins began to fall. Take him away from here, the faster the better!
Haruno Na grabbed Jin’s wrist, and as the two rushed out of the ruins gate, a loud bang of collapse was heard behind them.
They looked back and saw that the former Uchiha Secret Treasure had become a ruin. Under the ruins, black mist was still seeping out, like an invisible giant snake, slowly raising its head…
Chapter 60: Mysterious Fluctuations, New Enemies (Old Version)
The rubble of the ruins was still falling. Uchiha Jin half-knelt and supported his knees, with a fishy and sweet taste in his throat.
When he was forcibly dragged out by the Raikage just now, his lower back hit the stone door hard. At this moment, every breath he took felt like a blunt knife twisting between his ribs.
Haruno Na’s palms were pressed on his shoulders, her rough palms were still stained with blood from the battle, but they made people feel more at ease than any medical ninjutsu.
That fog… Haruno Na’s voice was heavy. The animal taming flute on her waist was corroded by the black fog, leaving several scorch marks. The speed of corroding chakra was three times faster than the poisonous fog in the Hidden Rock Village.
The communicator at Jhin’s waist suddenly vibrated, and Psylocke’s voice came over the noise of the wind: Jhin?
Can you hear me?
I am 300 meters outside the ruins. The Hokage asked me to bring some talismans to resist mental interference.
Jin pulled off the communicator and put it to his ear, his Sharingan still functioning unconsciously.
The three magatama slowly rotated in his pupils, and the distorted faces in the black fog suddenly became clear: there were the cloudy eyes of an old man, the wrinkled face of a baby, and even a girl with twin ponytails. The position of the teardrop mole at the end of her eye was exactly the same as that of a distant cousin who died young in his memory.
Psylocke, his voice was hoarse, this mist is not chakra. The insight of the Sharingan made goose bumps on the back of his neck, it is… the soul.
The sound of rustling papers came from the communicator, and Psylocke said hurriedly: I told you!
The pointer of the polygraph just exploded – the fluctuation is totally inconsistent with the known ninjutsu system!
You retreat to me now, I have brought
Nai, Jin suddenly interrupted Psylocke, turned around and grabbed Haruno Nai’s wrist, you stay outside, use the animal taming flute to set up a barrier. He rubbed the corroded wound on her palm with his fingertips, this mist hurts chakra, and even more hurts the soul, the place where you were splashed before…
Stop talking nonsense. Haruno Nai grabbed his wrist with her backhand, her knuckles turned white, but she still let go and stepped back half a step.
She pulled out the animal taming flute from her waist, and the beast patterns engraved on the flute suddenly glowed with golden light. “If there is no movement within three minutes, I will tear down this broken mountain.”
Jhin nodded, turned and rushed into the crack that was still emitting black mist.
The crack is deeper than expected.
He jumped down the slippery rock wall seven times before the soles of his boots finally touched solid ground.
What came into view was a circular altar with faded Uchiha family crests embedded in the walls. A faint blue crystal suspended in the center was humming, very much like the soul core recorded in the ancient book I saw in the Hokage’s secret room last time.
You don’t understand how dangerous it is.
The voice floated from the shadows, and Jin instantly spun around and formed a seal.
But when he saw who was coming, his Raikiri stopped in mid-air – it was a young man about his age, wearing a forehead protector on his left eye, while his right eye was covered with a black mist.
What made his pupils shrink the most was that in the boy’s exposed left eye, the three-magatama Sharingan was slowly rotating, and the patterns were exactly the same as his.
My name is Xinghen. The boy took a step forward, revealing half of his pale face in the shadows. He is the inheritor of the Sharingan, just like you.
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly felt a sharp pain.
He remembered the scroll that the old patriarch handed to him tremblingly in the clan’s secret room three days ago: This is the last bloodline record of the Uchiha branch… Your lineage had a branch three hundred years ago…
The Soul Core is not a secret treasure. Xinghen walked to the altar and raised his hand to press on the crystal.
The dark blue light suddenly surged, illuminating the pain surging in his eyes. It was a monster that devoured the soul.
Three hundred years ago, my family wanted to use it to create an undead army, but… the entire village was sucked dry and turned into mummies.
Jhin noticed the scar on the inside of his wrist, which looked like it had been bitten by countless tiny snakes. Are you a survivor?
The only one. Xinghen pulled the corner of his mouth, his smile was colder than the black fog. Before my father died, he stuffed me into the secret compartment of the altar and led away the runaway core.
Later, I wandered with the caravan, and looked up ancient books every time I arrived at a place – until I saw the record of Uchiha Madara sealing it in the documents of Konoha.
He suddenly grabbed Jhin’s wrist and pressed it on the soul core.
The faint blue light instantly rushed into Jhin’s blood vessels, and he heard countless screams exploding in his mind: Did you see that?
It is happy.
The Sharingan blood in your body is to it like… blood is to Garou.
Jhin pulled his hand back abruptly, his back pressed against the wall with the spell on it.
He finally understood what those faces in the black fog were—they were the residual souls of all Sharingan owners who were swallowed by the Soul Core.
So you want to destroy it? He stared at the crystal, his Adam’s apple rolling, but even Madara could only seal it, we…
It’s not a wish, it’s a necessity. Xinghen’s Sharingan suddenly turned into a kaleidoscope. The missing jonin from Iwagakure last week and the fishermen from Kirigakure shipwreck the day before yesterday, their souls are all here.
Wait three more days, when the moon phase changes, the seal will completely fail, and the entire Fire Nation will become…
roar–!
A deafening roar interrupted his words.
The black fog suddenly surged wildly and condensed into an eight-meter-tall monster above the altar: a human body with a snake tail, and rotten flesh on its scales. The most horrifying thing was that there was a dark blue crystal embedded in its chest, exactly the same as the soul core.
It is the embodiment of the core! Xinghen dragged Jin to roll to avoid the sweeping snake tail. It can control the devoured soul to fight. The amount of chakra is…
Before he could finish his words, the barb on the monster’s tail had pierced his left shoulder.
Drops of blood splashed on the soul core, and the crystal suddenly made a shrill buzzing sound. The monster’s snake tail instantly became three times thicker and smashed down towards Jhin’s crown!
Fire Style: Great Fire Extinguishment!
Jhin bit his finger and formed a seal, and an orange-red fire wave wrapped in a wind blade hit the snake’s tail.
But the monster’s scales just turned black, and the next second black mist seeped out and it was restored to its original state.
His Sharingan spun wildly, and he finally saw clearly in the gap between the monsters’ attacks – those devoured souls were emerging from the black fog and bearing the damage for the monsters.
Use illusion! Xinghen covered his wound and climbed up, his Mangekyō Sharingan glowing purple. They were soul bodies, so physical attacks were useless!
Jin’s three magatama suddenly turned into a kaleidoscope.
This was the first time he actively entered a new state. The severe headache made his vision go black, but the monsters in his vision suddenly slowed down – the struggling trajectory of each soul, the flow direction of each black mist, were like slowed down water ripples.
Don’t just stand there! Xinghen threw out a kunai, and the chain blade entangled the monster’s snake tongue. They are afraid of strong light!
My Sharingan…
Before he could finish his words, the monster swung its tail and smashed him against the wall.
Jhin saw the stone wall behind him cracking into spider-web-like patterns, and blood dripping down his chin to the ground, but he still gritted his teeth and shouted at him: Go!
Go get the altar…
Shut up. Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and the magatama in the kaleidoscope began to spin.
He remembered Haruno Na was waiting for him outside, remembered Psylocke was still calling his name on the communicator, remembered that the old clan leader said that this generation of Uchiha depends on him.
The devoured souls suddenly became clear before his eyes, and their mouths were all uttering the same words:
Destroy it.
Fire Style: Dragon Flame Song Technique!
He opened his arms, and flames gushed out from his palms, condensing into two fire dragons in mid-air.
The purple light of the Sharingan flickered in the fire dragon’s eyes, and it rushed straight towards the crystal on the monster’s chest.
Almost at the same time, Xinghen’s kaleidoscope also lit up with a dazzling white light – that was the last illusion he released at the cost of his soul.
The blast overturned the altar.
Jhin was knocked away by the impact and his back hit the rock wall hard.
He managed to stand up and saw that the monster’s snake tail was dissipating and spider-web cracks appeared on the crystal on its chest.
But the dark blue light of the soul core became brighter, and black mist gushed out from the cracks frantically, re-condensing on the remains of the monster.
Ahem…it’s absorbing the chakra just now. Xinghen crawled over and stuffed half a piece of blood-stained talisman paper to Jin. This is the sealing talisman I stole from the Hidden Cloud Village…
I’ll freeze it with my Sharingan, you…
No. Jhin wiped the blood from his face and stared at the re-formed monster.
Its tail was longer, with more dead flesh on its scales, and even its eyes were somewhat similar to his kaleidoscope.
He suddenly laughed.
You said that the Sharingan is just a tool. He turned his head to look at Xinghen, and the magatama in the kaleidoscope turned faster, but the real power…
The monster’s snake tail broke through the air.
Jin grabbed Xinghen’s wrist and pulled him to his side.
The two stood back to back, watching the monster open its huge mouth full of sharp teeth. Black mist seeped out from between its teeth and condensed into countless distorted human faces in mid-air – those devoured souls were now looking at them with expectant eyes.
In our own hands.
(The monster’s sharp teeth are about to bite down. Uchiha Jin and Xinghen stand back to back in the ruins. The light of the Sharingan and the dark blue of the soul core are intertwined in the darkness. The ultimate showdown between soul and blood has just begun…)
Chapter 61: Double pupils resonate, join forces to defeat the enemy (old version)
The moonlight was torn into pieces by the dark clouds, and smoke was still rising from the scorched earth in the ruins.
Uchiha Jin wiped the blood off his face, and when his fingertips wiped the corners of his mouth, his hands were covered with sticky stuff – it was from the bite when he was hit by the snake’s tail just now.
He could hear his own pounding heart, which gradually overlapped with the breathing rate of the Sharingan inheritor behind him.
Be careful! Xinghen’s low voice mixed with the wind poured into his ears.
Jhin needed no reminder.
The three magatama in the Sharingan turned into a dark red vortex, and he could even see the trembling trajectory of every rotten scale on the monster’s snake tail.
The thing’s newly condensed body was a circle larger than before. The originally lizard-like head had an elongated lower jaw, revealing two rows of hooked sharp teeth. Each tooth was dangling with faint blue mist droplets – that was the chakra corroded by the soul core.
The body is made of core energy, so ordinary attacks are ineffective. Xinghen’s voice was panting. He had just used illusion to resist the monster’s sonic attack. The wound on his forehead was still bleeding. I tried to chop its chest with Raikiri, but all the chakra was sucked away.
In the vision of the Mangekyō Sharingan, the monster’s body is no longer a physical entity, but an energy net composed of flowing black mist. The rotten flesh is just a camouflage to confuse the vision.
In the center of its chest, there was a ball of faint blue light that flickered with the swaying of the snake’s tail, like a heart wrapped in black fog.
That is a weakness. His voice was very light, but it was like a sharpened knife. It was absorbing chakra to strengthen itself, but the energy had to be transmitted through that ball of light.
If we can cut the chain of conduction…
Use Sharingan to synchronize interference? Xinghen suddenly turned his head, and on his bloodstained cheek, the three-magatama Sharingan shone amazingly.
The two people’s eyes collided in mid-air, and a familiar heat flowed into Jin’s blood vessels along the overlapping chakra lines – it was the resonance between the Sharingans, like a long-lost brother knocking on the door.
The monster’s tail had already swept over his head.
Jin grabbed Xinghen’s wrist with his backhand and could feel the beating of his pulse with his palm.
The two men turned around at the same time. Jin kicked his feet in the ruins and moved sideways three steps with Xinghen. The snake’s tail brushed past their backs and plowed a half-person-deep ditch on the ground. Foul black mist immediately poured in, corroding the scorched earth into a bubbling quagmire.
I use illusion to disrupt its perception! Xinghen bit his fingertips, blood splashed in the air and condensed into blood mist, and the Sharingan suddenly shrank into a thin line. You find a chance to stab!
A bluish-white stream of chakra rose from Jin’s palm.
This is a new form he recently developed, which compresses wind-attribute chakra into a blade shape that is three times faster than a normal kunai.
He stared at the monster’s gaping mouth as it opened again. Black mist surged out of its throat. The swallowed souls struggled in the black mist. A few even reached out to him – not to attack, but to ask for help.
Close your eyes! Xinghen said in a low voice.
Jin’s Sharingan automatically closed for a moment.
When he opened his eyes again, the monster’s huge mouth was already within reach, and droplets of blue mist were falling from its fangs.
He could clearly see the double image in the monster’s pupils – that was Xinghen’s illusion taking effect, and it misjudged the two people’s position to be three meters to the left.
Chance!
The muscles in Jhin’s right leg were as tight as a string, and his whole body shot towards the monster’s flank like an arrow from a bow.
The flowing chakra knife slashed through the air with a sharp sound, and he stabbed at the ball of dark blue light with all his strength –
bite!
The crisp sound of metal clashing made the palm of my hand numb.
The shining knife seemed to pierce diamond, and visible energy ripples appeared on the surface of the monster’s body. The recoil chakra rushed into Jin’s arm along the blade. He was flung away with a muffled groan, and his back hit the broken wall heavily, and rubble fell on his head.
How is it possible? Xinghen’s illusion was shattered, and he staggered over. I clearly interfered with his perception!
Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and stared at his trembling right hand.
At that moment, he saw the ball of light on the monster’s chest suddenly expand, forming a layer of transparent energy barrier on its surface.
The structure of that barrier…is 70% similar to the pattern of his Mangekyō Sharingan.
It is imitating the defense mechanism of the Sharingan. His voice is as cold as ice. It absorbed our chakra before, and now it can even copy the structure of ninjutsu.
There was a sound of bones rubbing against each other in the ruins.
The monster turned its tail around, and this time the trajectory of its attack was smoother than before, with none of the initial sluggishness at all.
In its eyes, the outline of three magatama was faintly visible – exactly the same as Xinghen’s Sharingan.
We will be exhausted to death if we continue like this. Xinghen tore off the bandage on his collar and bandaged the wound on his forehead casually. He had to use the resonance of the Sharingan.
resonance?
The essence of the Sharingan is the embodiment of the soul. Xinghen pressed his fingers on his eye sockets. If we can synchronize the chakra fluctuations, it will be like… He suddenly grabbed Jin’s wrist and pressed their palms together, just like two bells being struck at the same time. When the vibration frequencies overlap, even rocks can be shattered.
Jin could feel the two streams of chakra merging in his palm.
His chakra carried the unique heat of Uchiha, while Xinghen’s was colder, like moonlight in winter.
The two men’s Sharingan lit up at the same time, and the dark red light intertwined into spiral patterns in the palms, like two mandalas blooming side by side.
Adjust the frequency. Xinghen closed his eyes and followed my breathing.
Breathe in… Breathe out…
On the first attempt, the two chakras exploded into sparks the moment they came into contact, leaving red marks on both men’s palms.
The second time, Jin’s chakra was too impatient and directly dispersed the fluctuations of Xinghen. The monster took the opportunity to sweep over his snake tail, which brushed against his left shoulder and cut a bloody hole in his clothes.
The third time…
Slow down! Jin suddenly opened his eyes, and the speed of the magatama in the kaleidoscope slowed down. Does your chakra contain the lightning attribute of the Hidden Cloud Village?
I have been in Yunyin for three years. Xinghen’s forehead was covered with cold sweat, but now is not the time to talk about this…
No, this is very important. Jin’s thumb gently pressed on the pulse point of Xinghen’s wrist. The frequency of lightning chakra is 120 Hz, and the fire attribute of Uchiha is 80… We need to find the middle value. He closed his eyes, and the physics formula he learned in his previous life emerged in his mind. The lowest common multiple of 120 and 80 is 240…
When the chakra fluctuations of both people were adjusted to 240 Hz at the same time, the air suddenly made a buzzing sound.
Jin’s Sharingan and Xinghen’s Sharingan burst out with dazzling red light at the same time. Two beams of light shot out from the pupils and merged in mid-air to form a brighter beam of light, like a long sword forged from blood, pointing directly at the dark blue light ball on the monster’s chest.
The monster no longer roared like a wild beast, but screamed like a human.
When the beam of light penetrated its body, the black fog began to surge wildly, and those swallowed souls suddenly broke free from the fog and crashed into the beam of light like moths to a flame.
The ball of dark blue light vibrated violently, and spider-web-like fine lines appeared on its surface. Jin saw a curled up shadow inside – a young man wearing a forehead protector from the Hidden Cloud Village, with lingering tear marks on his face.
Is that… the previous host that was devoured by the Soul Core? Xinghen’s voice trembled.
The light beam is still being output.
The monster’s body began to disintegrate, its rotten scales fell off in pieces, and its snake tail broke into several pieces. In the end, only the ball of dark blue light was still struggling.
When the last ray of red light sank into the ball of light, it finally couldn’t bear it anymore and exploded into stardust with a bang.
The two men slumped in the ruins, leaning against each other to catch their breath.
Jin could hear his own pounding heart and the sound of footsteps in the distance—it was Haruno Na.
She was carrying a puppet sword that was half a person’s height, and there were grass debris on the ends of her hair. It was obvious that she had rushed back from outside the village.
Are you all right? Her voice was filled with rare anxiety. The scabbard slammed heavily to the ground. I felt the chakra fluctuations at the entrance of the village… This monster…
Before he finished speaking, the ground suddenly shook violently.
A dazzling blue light rose from the location of the altar, and the runes originally carved on the stone all lit up like a lit fuse.
The fragments of the soul core condensed into a complete dark blue sphere again, with snake-like dark patterns flowing on the surface. It was more than three times larger than before.
The core is out of control! Xinghen suddenly jumped up, grabbed Jin’s arm and ran out of the village. It was absorbing the chakra of the earth veins. If they didn’t leave, the whole village would be sucked into a mummy!
But Jin pulled him back.
His Sharingan opened again, and this time even the Mangekyo was trembling. He saw countless black hands scratching inside the soul core, like ghosts trapped in a glass jar.
And deeper inside, a pair of scarlet eyes were awakening, and the three magatama slowly rotated, resonating with his Sharingan.
That was… His throat tightened, that was Uchiha’s Sharingan!
Whoever it belongs to! Haruno Na’s puppet sword ejected three poisonous needles, accurately nailing them to the ground at the feet of the two people. If you hesitate any longer, I will tie you up with puppet strings and take you away!
But the suction force of the soul core has already started.
The bodies of the three were pulled uncontrollably towards the altar. Even Haruno Na’s puppet sword flew out of her hand, slamming onto the core and corroded into a pile of scrap metal in an instant.
Is this… a space ninjutsu? Haruno Na’s pupils contracted. Her beast-taming summoning technique required seals, but at this moment her hands could not move at all.
No, it was the pull of the soul. Xinghen’s Sharingan spun wildly, trying to resist with illusions. It was looking for… looking for a container that could hold it!
Jhin felt cold fingers digging into the back of his neck and drilling along his spine into his brain.
That was the will of the core of the soul, rummaging through his memories like a greedy eater selecting the most palatable food.
He saw his childhood, saw himself being caught cheating in ninja school, and saw Kakashi saying “Don’t embarrass me” when he threw the Team 7 forehead protector on his desk.
Want to devour me? He suddenly smiled, and the blood beads at the corners of his mouth were pulled into thin lines by the suction force. Ask my Sharingan first if it agrees!
His Mangekyō Sharingan suddenly turned into six magatama!
This is a form that has never appeared in the Naruto world. The dark red light illuminates the entire ruins.
The suction of the soul core suddenly stagnated, and those black hands began to emit green smoke like wax being roasted by fire.
Jin! Your Sharingan… Haruno Na’s voice was filled with shock.
Is this… Xinghen’s pupils shaking, the Sharingan that resonates with both souls?
The soul core let out a piercing scream.
The blue light on its surface began to fade, revealing the dark red lines underneath – exactly the same as Jin’s six magatama.
The roar from deep within the crack grew louder and louder. Jin even heard someone calling his name. The voice was very familiar, and it sounded very much like the portrait of the Uchiha ancestor that he had seen in the clan temple.
It seems…Jhin’s voice was very soft, but it covered all the noise. This core was originally prepared for me.
He let go of Xinghen’s hand and walked towards the soul core step by step.
The suction turned into a pulling force, but it no longer caused him pain. Instead, it felt like returning to his mother’s arms.
Haruno Na wanted to chase, but was stopped by Xinghen: Don’t go over there!
That was the resonance of the Sharingan and the soul core, and only he could withstand it.
The moment Jhin’s palm touched the core, the whole world became quiet.
He saw countless fragments of memory flashing before his eyes: Uchiha people wearing ancient battle uniforms offering sacrifices in front of the altar, a mysterious man wearing a bamboo hat inserting the Sharingan into the core, and…himself, dying in another time and space, with blood splattered on the test paper.
It turns out… the corners of his mouth raised, everything is reincarnation.
A crack appeared on the surface of the core, revealing a curled-up figure inside – a young man who looked exactly like him, with his eyes closed and a penetrating wound on his chest.
That was his other soul, the Uchiha ancestor that had been sealed in the core for thousands of years.
The moment their souls touched, the six-magatama Sharingan burst out with a devastating light.
Haruno Na and Xinghen closed their eyes instinctively, and when they opened them again, the soul core had disappeared. Jin stood in the center of the altar, with six magatama slowly turning in his eye sockets. In the shadow behind him, the outline of another person could be vaguely seen.
Is it over? Haruno Na asked cautiously.
Jhin turned to look at her. His smile was still as cynical as he remembered, but there was something that had accumulated for thousands of years in his eyes: No, this is just the beginning.
In the distance, the crowing of morning cocks could be heard.
The first ray of sunlight penetrated the dark clouds and shone on Jin’s forehead guard. The symbol of Konoha shone with golden light.
And underground, which they could not see, from the crack suppressed by the soul core, came the last unwilling roar – a certain being that had been sleeping for a thousand years finally noticed the awakened Sharingan.
(End of this chapter)
Chapter 62 Core Crisis, Double Eyes Resonance (Old Version)
The rune array on the altar dome suddenly burst out with a dazzling purple light, and Uchiha Jin’s back slammed heavily into the stone wall engraved with spells, and a fishy and sweet taste surged in his throat.
The soul core was suspended in the center of the altar, and the black mist flowing on its surface was three times thicker than a quarter of an hour ago. The suction force that was originally just pulling chakra now materialized into invisible giant hands, pressing his and Xinghen’s bodies tightly against the stone walls on both sides.
Ahem… this thing’s swallowing speed is accelerating. Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his Sharingan moved rapidly in his eye sockets.
He could clearly see his chakra seeping out from his fingertips, flowing towards his core like a cocoon being spun out of silk – at this rate, the two of them would be squeezed into mummies in less than half a minute.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw that Xinghen’s condition was even worse.
The young man’s already pale face was now almost transparent, with veins bulging on his forehead like a centipede, and the three magatama of his Sharingan were twisting at a strange frequency, obviously trying to suppress his chakra from getting out of control.
Jin’s heart tightened – they had just forcibly synchronized the chakra frequency of the Sharingan in order to break the core’s seal, but now this trick had become an anchor point for the core to lock on to them.
Youlan…he suddenly said in a low voice.
Xinghen’s pupils contracted slightly.
There was a ball of faint blue light on the core’s chest. Jin’s voice trembled due to the loss of chakra, but he spoke faster and faster. Before, when it absorbed chakra, the light would dim for half a beat.
This means that it is the node of energy circulation!
If we can synchronize once more and use the Sharingan’s illusion to strike that location –
I understand. Xinghen interrupted him, cold sweat oozing from his forehead.
The two people’s Sharingan lit up with red light almost at the same time, and the frequency of the magatama’s rotation began to overlap.
But before the red beam of light took shape, the soul core suddenly began to buzz.
The black mist sprang out like a living thing, weaving a dense web between the two of them.
Jin only felt the chakra in his body suddenly flow turbulently, as if someone was grabbing his heart and twisting it hard, and his vision instantly went black.
Tsk, this thing can counterattack… He gritted his teeth and held on, and saw out of the corner of his eye that spider web cracks had appeared on Xinghen’s Sharingan – that was a sign of extreme chakra disorder.
At the critical moment, Jin suddenly remembered the Streaming Chakra he had recently developed – it was a special form that could wrap other chakras like liquid, and was originally used for medical ninjutsu that was used for stable extraction.
Then! He shouted softly and turned his wrist to form the Yin Seal.
Light golden chakra flowed out from his palm and wrapped around Xinghen’s wrist like a living thing.
As soon as the streak of light touched the other person’s skin, Jin felt his chakra gushing out like a flood, but at the same time, Xinghen’s disordered chakra was actually combed smoothly by this protective film.
This is…Xinghen’s eyes widened.
He could clearly feel that the warm chakra was supporting the flow of his energy, like guiding a child to learn to walk, and recalibrating the frequency of the Sharingan.
Don’t just stand there! Veins popped out on Jin’s forehead. The consumption of the flowing chakra was greater than he expected. Now is the time!
Two red lights exploded almost at the same time.
The red beam produced by the resonance of the Sharingan accurately penetrated the black fog and hit the faint blue light on the chest of the Soul Core.
The core let out a piercing scream, spider-web-like cracks appeared on its surface, and the black mist shrank wildly like a punctured balloon.
Finished? Haruno Na’s voice came from the entrance of the altar.
She was carrying a huge puppet cannon, and the ends of her hair were still stained with fresh blood – she had obviously just dealt with the guards outside.
But the next second, everyone’s smile froze on their faces.
From the cracks in the core, black fog thicker than before gushed out.
The black fog actually condensed into a translucent human figure, whose outline was 70% similar to Uchiha Jin, but with three vertical pupils, and a destructive light flowed in each pupil.
You… dare to touch my territory. The sound is like rusty gears rubbing together, making the eardrums hurt.
Jin’s Sharingan instantly shrank into six magatama.
He could feel that the chakra fluctuations of that figure did not belong to this era at all – it was an aura so ancient that it made his soul tremble, as if it came from the abyss of thousands of years ago.
What on earth are you? He asked through gritted teeth, while calmly pulling Haruno Na half a step behind him.
The figure did not answer, but slowly raised his hand.
The space of the altar suddenly twisted, and Jin felt cold fingers piercing the back of his neck. Memories surged like a tide: the blood moon on the night of the Uchiha clan extermination, the early morning when he was mocked at the ninja school, the trembling hands when he held a kunai for the first time… These memories that should have belonged to him were now being taken away as if they were being cut out by a knife.
It’s soul devouring! Xinghen’s voice is filled with rare urgency. It’s stripping away our consciousness!
Jhin’s consciousness began to blur.
He saw Haruno Na’s mouth moving, but he couldn’t hear any sound; he felt his chakra dissipating, but he couldn’t exert any strength.
In a trance, he remembered the Reversal Technique he had read in ancient books – using the target’s own energy to guide its collapse.
If…if the energy of this core is essentially chakra, then maybe
Star! He suddenly shouted, shaking the surrounding stone walls to dust, using illusion to restrain it!
I need ten seconds!
Xinghen’s Sharingan instantly turned into a Mangekyō form.
In the scarlet space, countless kunai made of chakra appeared out of thin air and accurately pierced the vital points of the figure.
The figure roared in anger, temporarily releasing the hold it had on Jhin’s soul.
Jhin seized the opportunity, bit his fingertips and drew a reverse spell on his palm.
His chakra surged into the core like a flood, but instead of being swallowed up like before, it flowed upstream along the energy veins of the core.
“Explode!” The moment he roared, the talisman on his palm exploded into golden light.
The soul core emitted a deafening roar.
The dark blue light first expanded into a dazzling ball, and then collapsed at a speed visible to the naked eye.
The figure condensed in the black mist let out a shrill scream and was dragged into the collapse of the core.
When the last roar faded away, the entire altar was shaking and rubble fell like a rainstorm.
Haruno Na rushed over and protected Jin under her body.
When the dust settled, the three of them looked up – the soul core that originally occupied the entire altar was now only a palm-sized fragment, floating in Jhin’s palm, emitting a soft blue light.
Is it over? Haruno Na wiped the dust off her face, her voice still trembling.
Jin looked down at the fragments in his palm, and his six-magatama Sharingan slowly turned.
He could sense that within the fragments there was an ancient consciousness, sleeping quietly—it was truly sealed this time.
It’s over for now. When he looked up, his cynical smile returned, but his eyes were filled with a depth that had accumulated over thousands of years. But the trouble… had just begun.
The first ray of sunlight penetrated the vent of the altar and shone on Jin’s forehead, and the symbol of Konoha glowed golden.
Haruno Na noticed that in the shadow behind him, he could vaguely see the outline of another person – he looked exactly like him, but was wearing ancient Uchiha clan clothing.
It’s time to go back to Konoha. Xinghen suddenly spoke.
He looked at the sky outside the altar, and a strange color flashed in his Sharinga. The space fluctuation was too big just now, and the perception-type ninjas in the village should have discovered this place.
Jin put the core fragments into the ninja tool bag and pulled out the grass clippings from Haruno Na’s hair: Let’s go, we have to report to Lady Tsunade first when we go back.
By the way, Nai, did you increase the amount of gunpowder in your puppet cannon?
The bodies of the outer guards just now were burnt like charcoal.
Haruno Na swung her fist as if to hit him, but she gently retracted her force when it touched his shoulder.
The three of them walked through the stone door of the altar, and the morning breeze blew up the corners of Jin’s clothes.
He paused slightly, and caught a glimpse of a spiritual beast crow staring at them from the top of a tree in the distance – that was the mark of the roots.
It seems…someone can’t wait any longer. He murmured in a low voice and quickened his pace towards Konoha.
In the morning mist, the Hokage Rock of Konoha Village is looming.
And underground that they could not see, in the crack suppressed by the core of the soul, before the last unwilling roar dissipated, a being that had been sleeping for a thousand years finally recorded the scent of that gleaming chakra in the depths of its consciousness.
Chapter 63: Shadow of the Puppet Master (Old Version)
The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the soles of Uchiha Jin’s boots rolled over the dew-covered grass leaves. He could still hear Haruno Na’s suppressed breathing behind him.
The two returned from the altar three times faster than when they came there – not because of fatigue, but because of the oppressive feeling brought by the root crow just now, like a thin needle piercing the back of the neck.
Wait. Haruno Na suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
Jin followed her gaze and saw that the edge of the familiar Konoha barrier was now emitting a few faint blue lights.
The threads of light were entwined around the tree trunks, outlining complex runes in the morning mist, like a spider web embroidered with chakra thread.
From further away came the clattering sound of machinery, like countless gears meshing underground.
The puppetry activation array. Haruno Na’s thumb rubbed her knuckles, which were still stained with dust from the altar stone wall. I had seen something similar when I was wandering – using runes to lock the flow of chakra, and when activated, it could drain the chakra of living creatures within a radius of ten miles to supply the puppet army. She paused, her voice lowered, the joint pattern of the poisonous spider puppet last time, and the direction of these runes… are exactly the same.
Three days ago, when Team 7 was on a C-rank mission, they encountered a poisonous spider puppet at the border of the Fire Nation. The spider’s legs were laced with a deadly poison that could corrode chakra.
At that time, he used a kunai to cut the puppet string, but found a bronze bell tied to the end of the string – that was the mark of the puppeteer organization in the black market intelligence.
Let’s go. He pulled Haruno Nai and crouched into the bushes, went around the western cliff, and sneaked in through the gap in the barrier.
As the two men moved along the mountain wall, the mechanical sounds became clearer and clearer.
When they pulled aside the last bush, the scene before them made Haruno Na gasp – the training ground outside Konoha had been transformed into a puppet barracks!
Hundreds of puppets were arranged neatly. There were bear-shaped puppets holding giant axes, centipede-shaped puppets with six arms, and the giant puppet in the front row even had three snake heads, and the snake tongues were poisoned chakra blades.
There was a high platform in the center of the martial arts arena, and on the platform stood a man wearing a bronze ghost mask.
His right hand was a mechanical prosthesis, which was resting on the head of a humanoid puppet. A hoarse laugh came from under the ghost mask: Lord Night Owl, I, Demon Puppet, have taken over the plan to sabotage the Chunin Exam that you mentioned.
As long as these puppets sneak into Konoha, when the candidates gather in the martial arts arena,
Enough. A figure in a black cloak stepped out of the shadows, his voice like sandpaper rubbing against each other. The Shadow Society wanted chaos, not massacre.
Once the Konoha high-level officials are in chaos, we can infiltrate them and take over the medical department of the Sannin and the intelligence network of the Anbu… He suddenly stopped talking because the puppet eyes of the ghost-faced male demon puppet suddenly turned towards the bushes.
Cold sweat instantly broke out on Jin’s back.
In order to hear the conversation clearly, he accidentally let a little chakra fluctuation leak out – but he clearly used the flowing chakra to restrain his breath!
There is a living thing! The demon puppet’s mechanical arm suddenly raised up, and the three snake-headed puppet’s snake tongue shot towards the bushes.
Run! Jin dragged Haruno Nai and rolled on the ground. The snake’s tongue rubbed the corner of his clothes and nailed into the tree trunk. Amidst the flying wood chips, dozens of bear-shaped puppets surrounded the two of them.
The bear claws slammed on the ground, causing the ground to tremble. Haruno Na threw out three bird-shaped puppets with her backhand, and the gunpowder mist spewed from the puppets’ mouths instantly enveloped the battlefield.
Nai, use the explosive puppet to divert the left! Jin pulled out his kunai to cut the joint line of the puppet on the right, and his Sharingan slowly turned in his eye socket. I’ll cover them!
Wishful thinking! Haruno Na bit her finger and formed a seal on her palm. The ground suddenly cracked open and five stone puppets holding shields emerged from the ground, blocking the bear’s claws for the two.
She took advantage of the chaos to grab Jin’s wrist and ran to the abandoned house on the west side of the training ground: The Shadow Society wants the Chunin Exam. There are still three days before the exam. We have to notify Lady Tsunade first –
It’s too late. Jin stopped suddenly. At the door of the abandoned house, Night Owl was standing there. His eyes were shining coldly under his black cloak. Do you think you can leave alive?
Haruno Na’s puppet cannon was already aimed at Night Owl, but the other party raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
The eyes of all the puppets in the martial arts arena lit up red at the same time, and the sound of the machinery suddenly rose, drowning out the roar of Haruno Na’s puppet cannon.
Nai, use your tamed puppet! Jin suddenly shouted, let the ninja dog go to the Hokage office building to report the news, I will delay the time!
Haruno Na understood instantly.
She took out a copper bell from her ninja tool bag and shook it. Three summoned ninja dogs jumped out from her shadow and ran towards Konoha close to the ground.
At the same time, she swung out the puppet string around her waist, tied herself and Jhin together, and used the force to jump onto the roof: Jhin, hold on tight!
The two dodged left and right as they were chased by the group of puppets. Jin’s Sharingan accurately captured the attack trajectory of each puppet, and his kunai kept cutting off the key chakra lines.
When the head of the last bear-shaped puppet was blown off by Haruno Na’s explosive puppet, the two had retreated to the edge of Konoha’s barrier.
Run! Jin pushed Haruno Na away, but his left shoulder was cut by Night Owl’s wind blade.
Drops of blood splashed on the barrier, triggering Konoha’s warning runes, and the howling of the Anbu was heard in the distance.
Seeing that the situation was not good, Night Owl pulled the magic puppet and disappeared into the smoke, leaving only the damaged puppets on the ground.
Are you crazy? Haruno Na supported him, pressed her fingertips on the wound and used medical ninjutsu to stop the bleeding. If the wind blade just now was half an inch off…
The intelligence was in hand. Jin pulled off the corner of his clothes to bandage it, and took out the puppet string he had cut from his arms. There was a mark of the Shadow Society in the string. The puppets of the Demonic Puppet were made of black iron, a specialty of the Fire Country, which meant that they had a base in the country. He paused, and took out a crumpled piece of paper – in the melee just now, he touched something that fell out of the Night Owl’s cloak. More importantly, their goal was not only to disrupt the exam, but also…
The contents of the note made his pupils shrink: Control the chakra furnace under the Hokage Rock?
That is Konoha’s energy core. Once it is taken over by the puppets…
Haruno Na slammed her fist on the wall: I’ll go find the God of Craftsmanship right now!
He has the blueprints of the defensive puppets left by the previous Hokage, and maybe he can create something that can restrain these machines.
Wait. Jin pulled her back. Since the Shadow Society has set its sights on the Chunin Exam, it is very likely that they have also set their sights on the God of Craftsmanship.
His workshop is in Nishimachi 3-chome, go around the back alley and don’t use chakra fluctuations…
I know, I know. Haruno Na rolled her eyes, but turned around and added softly, “You should be careful too. The root crow just now… might not be a coincidence.”
After watching her back disappear at the alley, Jin was about to walk towards the Hokage’s office building when a piece of paper suddenly fell at his feet.
He bent down to pick it up, and the handwriting on it was so powerful that it could be seen through the paper: The real threat is not the puppeteer, but the person behind the Shadow Society.
The handwriting was unfamiliar, but the mark at the end made his breath pause – it was a variation of the Uchiha clan emblem, and it was 70% similar to the outline in the shadow of the altar three days ago.
Jin held the note tightly, turned around and walked towards Nishimachi.
The workshop of the craftsman god is located in the deepest part of Nishi-machi, and is usually filled with the smell of sawdust and pine resin.
When he walked to the door of the workshop, he heard a heated argument coming from inside.
Impossible! Those defensive puppets should have been destroyed long ago! It was the loud voice of the God of Craftsmanship.
But Konoha needs them now! Haruno Na’s voice was filled with rare urgency. The puppets of the demon puppets were made of black iron, and ordinary kunai could not cut them at all.
Jhin’s hand was hanging on the door and suddenly stopped.
He heard a third person’s voice coming from the workshop. It was very low, but it pierced his ears like an icicle: You two, perhaps I can help?
That voice… doesn’t belong to Takumi, nor does it belong to Haruno Na.
His fingertips pressed lightly on the door knocker, and his Sharingan slowly moved in his eye socket.
The chakra fluctuations inside the door suddenly became chaotic, as if something was awakening.
Chapter 64: The Secret of the God of Craftsmanship (Old Version)
Uchiha Jin’s fingertips paused on the door knocker for a moment, and the three magatama of the Sharingan slowly turned in his pupils.
The chakra fluctuations within the door were like a disturbed lake, and tiny blue light particles were seeping out through the cracks in the door – that was the unique chakra reaction when the puppet core was activated.
He suddenly pushed the door open, and the smell of rosin mixed with sawdust hit him in the face.
The wrought iron table in the center of the workshop was burning red. The God of Craftsman, wearing a leather apron covered in oil stains, was holding half-molten black iron with tongs, his gray eyebrows twisted into knots.
Haruno Na stood opposite him, her red hair was lifted up by the wind, and she was holding half a puppet arm guard in her hand, with an obvious knife-cut gap on the edge.
And in the shadow between the two of them stood a woman in a dark green brocade dress.
She lowered her eyes and played with the bronze bell at her waist. A wooden hairpin carved into the shape of a puppet’s joint was inserted in her hair. She raised her eyes and glanced over when she heard the door open. The upward curve at the corner of her eyes looked like it was frozen.
Oh, the little fox from Class 7 is here. The woman spoke, her voice like pearls falling on a plate, but with a sting in it, I thought you were going to eavesdrop at the door all day.
The pliers of the god of craftsmanship slammed down on the anvil: Cinders!
I came just in time. This girl insisted that I hand over the unfinished defense puppet.
The joint axes of those puppets are made of ordinary fine iron! Haruno Na interrupted him, squeezing the arm guard in her palm with a crackling sound. Yesterday, the patrol team was attacked in Nanxi Valley. The puppets of the demon puppets were made of black iron, and the kunai could not even leave a white mark when they were chopped!
If there is a defensive puppet of the God of Craftsman…
The chakra circuit of the defensive puppet has not been debugged yet! The veins on the neck of the craftsman jumped. During the last test, the shoulder armor joint got stuck and directly broke the tester’s arm!
Are you going to gamble with the lives of Konoha ninjas?
The temperature in the workshop suddenly dropped a few degrees.
Haruno Na’s fingers unconsciously stroked the gap in her arm guard, which was left when she took a blow from the magic puppet three days ago – if she hadn’t reacted quickly at that time, her arm would be lying there now.
Uchiha Jin walked to the forging table and gently ran his fingertips across the puppet parts scattered on the table.
Some parts were engraved with spiral chakra guides, while others were diamond-shaped structures never seen before, glowing with a faint blue light under the Sharingan. Senior Takumi, his voice was light but steady, you said these puppets are unfinished, but what if we only need some of the parts?
The God of Craftsman’s eyebrows moved: What do you mean?
Haruno’s puppetry requires flexible joints. Jin pointed to the animal taming flute hanging on Haruno’s waist. Her animal puppets need to move at high speeds. The shoulder armor of the defensive puppet is too heavy. But if the composite armor of the shoulder armor is removed and the chakra amplification spring inside is installed on the animal puppet’s legs…
Haruno Na’s eyes lit up: That way my ninja dog can burst out at three times the speed in a short period of time!
And this. Jhin picked up a thumb-sized gear with fine spells engraved on the edge of the gear. Is this the shock-absorbing gear you newly developed?
Installed on the claw blade of the beast puppet, it can buffer the impact of chakra – the last time I saw Haruno’s ninja dog pounce, the claw blade was always deflected due to the recoil force.
The God of Craftsman’s expression relaxed, and his gray eyebrows stretched into a question mark: When did you know so much about puppet structures?
I learned this secretly when I helped you repair the Three-Tails model last time. Jin smiled, his Sharingan glowed slightly, and… He looked at the woman in the shadows. The puppet parts brought by this senior should be able to fill the remaining gaps.
The bronze bell of the woman in the green dress suddenly rang softly.
She finally walked out of the shadows, her skirt sweeping over the wood chips on the ground, revealing seven palm-sized puppets hanging from her waist – each with a different animal head carved on it, and dark red crystals embedded in its eye sockets. The little fox’s eyes were sharp. She raised her hand, and one of the eagle-headed puppets spread its wings. I am Tianqin, as you know, a puppet collector.
The puppet joint structure used by the demon puppet in the attack on South Valley three days ago is exactly the same as the design of the Nine Lights Puppet that I lost ten years ago. Tianqin’s fingertips stroked the beak of the eagle-headed puppet, and a red light flashed in the crystal eye sockets. I exchanged half a mithril mine from the old craftsman in Sand Hidden for it, and later someone stole the blueprint and the puppet model together.
Haruno Na looked up suddenly: So you came to Konoha…
Find the blueprints, and also find the person who stole them. Tianqin’s voice turned cold. The puppeteer organization of the Demon Puppet has been moving too frequently recently. I smell the smell of the past – rotten, with the smell of pine resin. She suddenly looked at the God of Craftsmanship, “Old man, when you helped me repair the Nine Lights, did you keep a backup plan?”
The tips of the God of Craftsman’s ears turned red and he coughed twice: Just… just added an identification seal, only the original owner’s chakra can activate the core.
So no matter how similar the puppets of the Demonic Puppet are to Jiuyao, they will get stuck at critical moments. Jhin Interface, is this the real reason why you refused to provide the defensive puppets?
You know that the magic puppets are stealing technology, and you are afraid that the ready-made puppets will be reverse-engineered?
The God of Craftsman turned his head away: Who knows if that group of people have infiltrated Konoha as spies…
So what we need now is to counter with an improved puppet with our own mark. Jin’s fingers tapped the iron forge. The Nine Lights fragments of Tianqin Senior, plus the new structure of the God of Craftsmanship, and Haruno’s beast puppetry…
That’s enough. Tianqin suddenly interrupted him, and the eagle-headed puppet snapped its wings shut. I can help you, but there are three conditions.
First, after defeating the demon puppet, I want to take back what belongs to me; second, you have to help me find out the truth about the theft of the blueprints; third… She glanced at the God of Craftsmanship, the old man wanted to personally reforge the core of the Nine Lights for me.
The God of Craftsman’s beard twitched: Okay!
But you have to return the set of bronze carving knives you took last time!
Haruno Nai held back her laughter and put the arm guard on the table: “Deal! What do we do now?”
Over the next two hours, the brazier in the workshop burned even more vigorously.
The God of Craftsman swung his hammer to create sparks, Tianqin used silver thread to string together the broken parts of Jiuyao, and Haruno Na held her ninja dog puppet and watched Jin install the shock-absorbing gear on the claw blade.
When the last screw was tightened, the originally gray wolf-shaped puppet suddenly shook its ears, and the chakra lamp in its eye sockets suddenly lit up with a faint blue light.
Try it. Jhin took a half step back.
Haruno Na made hand seals and injected chakra into the puppet through the taming flute.
The wolf puppet’s hind legs suddenly straightened, and it rushed out three meters away, leaving five scratches on the wall of the workshop that were deep enough to see the bone – two inches deeper than the previous attack.
Good! Haruno Na clenched her fist, her red hair fluttering in the wind like a ball of fire. This speed could catch up with the black iron puppet of the demon puppet!
The God of Craftsman wiped his sweat, took out a metal piece the size of a fingernail from the toolbox, and threw it to Jin: This is a chakra amplifier, driven by your streamer chakra. The metal piece unfolded in Jin’s palm and turned into a wristband inlaid with crystals. Wear it, and your chakra consumption when making hand seals can be reduced by 30% – the last time I saw you use the Great Fire Extinguishing, your chakra consumption was almost at the bottom.
When Jin put on the wristband, he immediately felt a thin stream of chakra flowing through his skin and into his meridians, like soaking in warm water.
He tried to form a fire seal, and the flame that rose from his palm was 20% brighter than usual, but it only consumed half of the usual chakra.
Thank you, senior. He smiled sincerely.
Tianqin suddenly knocked on the corner of the table, and the seven small puppets she brought floated up at the same time, forming the shape of the Big Dipper in the air. Don’t be too happy too soon. Her voice sank. The ultimate puppet of the demon puppet was called the World-Destroying Beast, which was twenty feet tall, covered with cursed black iron, and its core was driven by the Tailed Beast Chakra Stone…
So what? Haruno Na carried the wolf puppet on her shoulders. We have the improved puppet of the God of Craftsmanship, the remnants of Tianqin’s Nine Lights, and Jin’s brain. She winked at Jin, saying that at worst she could just copy his test paper.
A light laugh rang out in the workshop.
The God of Craftsman threw the last piece of black iron into the furnace, and as sparks flew, he suddenly said: “The forging skills of the Uchiha back then were the best in the ninja world.” He looked at the crystal on Jin’s wristband, “The pattern on your wristband is somewhat similar to the Uchiha’s secret fire pattern.”
Jhin’s fingers paused slightly.
The variant of the family emblem on the note three days ago suddenly appeared before his eyes, but he quickly suppressed his thoughts and looked at the darkening sky outside the window.
Just then, a rumble like thunder came from the distance.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet suddenly pricked up its ears and let out a low roar from its throat.
Tianqin’s seven little puppets turned to the south at the same time, and the crystal eyes of the eagle-headed puppet lit up with a dazzling red light.
Coming, Tianqin said softly.
Jhin reached for the kunai at his waist, and the crystal on his wristband grew slightly hot with his heartbeat.
Haruno Na had already jumped onto the wooden beam of the workshop, with the wolf puppet ready to go at her feet.
The God of Craftsmanship stuffed the last carving knife into Jhin’s hand. The handle still retained the warmth of his palm: Go and catch those thieves who stole the technology, and take down the whole thing.
The roar was getting closer, mixed with the sharp sound of metal friction.
The windows of the workshop were buzzing and sawdust was falling from the beams.
Uchiha Jin stood at the door, looking at the rolling dust on the southern skyline, and the three magatama of the Sharingan slowly turned.
This time, he would not let any threat get close to what he wanted to protect.
Chapter 65: The Debut of Thunder Doll (Old Version)
The roar hit the eardrums like a sledgehammer. Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan glowed scarlet in the twilight, and the three magatama were spinning faster than the heartbeat.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet suddenly let out a sharp howl, and its front paws dug a half-inch deep groove in the ground – that was an instinctive reaction to sensing approaching danger.
Tianqin, how far can your puppet’s vision cover? Jin drew out his kunai with his backhand, and the crystal on his wristband glowed blue as the chakra surged.
The variant of the family emblem on the note three days ago flashed through his mind, but was suppressed by a more pressing crisis.
Three hundred meters to the southeast, there were three teams of armed puppeteers, each with twelve people. Tianqin’s eagle-headed puppet flapped its wings and flew up, its crystal eyes projecting a pale blue holographic image. The front row was the iron-armed puppets, the middle row was the poisonous fog throwers, and finally… her voice suddenly dropped, there were six magic puppets.
Demonic puppet!
This word made the God of Craftsman’s hand tremble violently.
The old man’s pupils suddenly contracted. That was the forbidden object that he had repaired too many times – a puppet driven by the organs of a living person. It would devour the chakra of the controller and eventually even the soul, leaving only residue.
Nai, the Thunderbolt Doll is yours. Jin’s fingertips tapped the crystal on the wristband, and the improved chakra circuit was instantly activated. Tianqin, two small puppets went to the east roof to interfere with the poisonous fog thrower.
Mr. Jiangshen, activate the magnetic storm array outside the workshop – if they want to steal the technology, they have to get past our defense first.
Before he could finish his words, a deafening sound of metal collision pierced the sky.
Haruno Na pointed her toes, and the wolf puppet shot out of the workshop like an arrow, while she jumped onto the shoulder armor of the Thunder War Doll.
This puppet, which is about four meters tall, is covered with dark purple mithril armor, and its arms are each wrapped with chains wrapped with lightning chakra. The diamond-shaped crystal at the throat lights up with dazzling lightning as she forms seals.
Go and smash their teeth. Haruno Na shouted, and the Thunder Doll’s leg joints suddenly burst into blue arcs.
It rushed forward so fast that it caused a sonic boom, and its mithril feet plowed two deep grooves on the ground. The Iron-Armed Puppet that hit it first didn’t even have time to raise its shield before the Thunder War Puppet’s lightning chain entangled its neck – with a click, the alloy-cast head exploded like a watermelon, and the flying metal fragments pierced into the chests of the three puppets behind it.
Good! The craftsman gripped the carving knife tightly, his calloused hands trembling.
This puppet, which he had improved seventeen times, finally demonstrated its strength in actual combat.
The lightning chain of the Thunder Doll suddenly split into eight thin blades, drawing a silver snake-like trajectory in the air and accurately piercing the chakra duct of the poisonous fog thrower. The green poisonous fog that was supposed to spread had not yet taken shape before it was evaporated into green smoke by the lightning blades.
But as Tianqin said, this is just the beginning.
When the last iron-arm puppet was turned into scrap metal by the lightning chain, a duller vibration suddenly came from the dust in the distance.
The hair on Haruno Na’s wolf puppet stood on end, and it let out a low growl that was almost a whimper; the crystal eyes of Tianqin’s eagle-headed puppet suddenly exploded, shattering into blue light all over the ground.
Back off! Tianqin’s voice was tense for the first time. The world-destroying beast…they really built that thing.
At the end of the horizon, a dark shadow is slowly rising.
It was a giant puppet taller than the platform of Konoha’s martial arts arena, covered in dark serrated armor. Every step it took caused spider-web-like cracks to appear on the ground.
A blood-red crystal was embedded in its chest, flickering regularly with its heartbeat – that was an energy source transformed from the chakra core of the three-tailed Isobu. Takumi had seen a description of it in Orochimaru’s experimental notes.
Lightning Style: Chidori Sharp Spear! Haruno Na gritted her teeth and formed a seal, and the right arm of the Thunder Doll instantly condensed into a spiral of lightning.
This attack once pierced through the defense of a jonin level, but now it only created a string of sparks on the shoulder armor of the world-destroying beast.
The giant beast’s tail suddenly swept across, and the Thunder Doll was knocked through three houses, and its mithril armor cracked into spider-web-like patterns.
Its joints! Tianqin threw out seven puppet control symbols, and the Shadow Hunter emerged from behind her. This all-black humanoid puppet had no weapons, but released a large amount of black smoke the moment it landed.
A sound of metal friction was heard in the smoke, and the legs of the world-destroying beast suddenly stopped, revealing a half-inch wide gap at the knee.
What!
Now! Jin’s Sharingan captured the gap, and the chakra amplifier throbbed in his temple.
Cold sweat oozed from Haruno Na’s forehead. The double burden of controlling the wolf puppet and the thunder puppet at the same time almost tore her chakra circuit apart, but she gritted her teeth and divided the chakra into two streams – the wolf puppet pounced on the giant beast’s tail from the left to contain it, while the thunder puppet jumped up on the ruins, and the lightning chain condensed into a drill shape in her palm.
Break it for me!
The roar resounded through the sky.
The lightning drill of the Thunder War Doll accurately pierced into the knee of the world-destroying beast, and the lightning spread wildly along the metal gaps.
The giant beast let out a roar like a wild beast, and its entire right leg suddenly broke. Its huge body smashed to the ground, shaking all the houses within a hundred meters radius.
But the crisis is far from over.
A blue light suddenly shot out from the ruins, so fast that even the Sharingan could only catch its afterimage.
He was a man dressed in black, with an eyepatch engraved with spells on his left eye, and the short blade in his right hand was emitting a dark blue poisonous mist – it was the Shadow Society’s ace that Tianqin had mentioned, the Spacetime Assassin Frostblade.
Be careful! Tianqin’s puppet talisman accurately shot towards Frost Blade’s back, but he used his short blade to cleave it away.
Frost Blade suddenly appeared in front of Jin, with the short blade going straight for the throat – if this attack succeeded, even if the Sharingan reacted, the cervical vertebrae would be corroded into slag by the poisonous blade.
Jhin rolled sideways and swung out a kunai, but the frost blade easily dodged it.
The short blade grazed his earlobe, leaving a charred mark on the wall.
The chakra amplifier cracked in the collision, his perception suddenly became blurred, and cold sweat oozed from his forehead.
The time and space scroll… you thought you got the key? The sound of the frost blade was like the friction of broken ice, it was the bolt to open the door of hell. His figure disappeared again, and the next second he appeared above Jhin’s head, with the short blade pointed at his back.
At the critical moment, a bolt of lightning struck from the side.
Haruno Na controlled the damaged Thunder Doll and used her remaining left arm to knock away the frost blade.
Taking this opportunity, Jhin took out the carving knife given by the God of Craftsmanship – the blade was engraved with the patterns of a magnetic storm array, and it was a weapon specifically designed to restrain metal puppets.
Lightning Release: Pseudo Darkness!
Purple lightning burst out from the tip of the carving knife and accurately hit the short blade of the Frost Blade.
The moment the metal came into contact with the lightning, dazzling sparks burst out, Frost Blade’s wrist was numbed by the shock, and the short blade fell to the ground with a clang.
Jin took the opportunity to pounce on him, locking onto his every movement with his Sharingan and pressing a kunai against his throat: Where is the scroll of time and space?
You will know soon… Frost Blade suddenly smiled, black blood oozing from the corner of his mouth. The revenge of the Shadow Society has just begun. His body quickly stiffened, and strange spells emerged under his skin – that was the self-destruction spell that only dead soldiers would use.
Retreat! Jin dragged Haruno Na away, and the blast blew away half of the ruins.
When the smoke and dust cleared, all that remained was a pile of charred bones and a piece of metal fragment engraved with the seal of time and space.
This is… Tianqin picked up the fragments, and her pupils shrank slightly. This is the core of the space-time technique developed by the second generation Hokage, but it was transformed into a container…
The God of Craftsman squatted down and picked up a piece of broken armor with a carving knife: the pattern on it… is exactly the same as the puppet design that was stolen three years ago.
The Shadow Society is not an ordinary group of thieves. They are collecting weapons that can subvert the ninja world.
Dusk completely enveloped the workshop.
Jin looked at the lights in the direction of Konoha in the distance, his fingers unconsciously stroking the crystal on his wristband.
The variant of the family emblem on the note three days ago, Frost Blade’s last words before his death, and the fragment of the time and space scroll… these clues were entangled in his mind like a tangled mess.
We have to go back to Konoha. He suddenly spoke, his voice deeper than the night, saying that there were some things that needed the help of Hatake Hiru’s intelligence network.
Haruno Na patted his shoulder, and the wolf puppet came over and rubbed its head against the back of his hand.
Tianqin put the Shadow Hunter into the scroll, a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth: I want to see how big a wave the so-called Shadow Society can make.
The God of Craftsman put the last piece of armor of the Thunder War Doll into the toolbox, and when he looked up, his eyes were burning: Next time, I will make you something more powerful.
The evening breeze blew up a few pieces of paper, on which the words “time and space” could be vaguely seen.
Uchiha Jin took a deep breath, and the three magatama of the Sharingan slowly rotated.
This time, he would not let any threat get close to what he wanted to protect – whether it was Konoha or those who were worth protecting with their lives.
Chapter 66 The Secret of the Scroll (Old Version)
As dusk permeated the protective walls of Konoha, Uchiha Jin’s boot heels were hitting the bluestone road behind the Hokage Building.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet trotted ahead, whimpering softly from its throat – this was its habit when it sensed danger, but the danger at this moment was not in the dark, but in the fragment of the time and space scroll wrapped in oil paper on Jin’s waist.
That guy Fei Liu, should he be in the dark room of the Intelligence Department by now? Haruno Na pulled at her hair rope that was messed up by the night wind, and the wolf puppet suddenly stopped, raised its head and barked at a window on the third floor that had no curtains.
Jin looked up and saw a young man wearing round-frame glasses lying on the windowsill, with ink stains on the ends of his hair, looking like a bird drenched by the rain.
Brother Jin!
Sister Nai! Hatake Hiru hurriedly held the ink bottle that was about to fall, his eyes curved into crescents behind the lenses, I said the crows kept calling on the beams tonight, it turns out you guys are back! Before he finished speaking, he suddenly noticed Jin’s tense jawline, and his smile froze instantly, what happened?
When the three of them squeezed into the dark room of the Intelligence Department, Fei Liu had already taken out a piece of black cloth from the deepest part of the drawer.
He lifted the cloth, revealing the Sharingan embedded in the wall – that was his mobile archive, which could store the information he had seen with pupil techniques. Frost Blade said that the Shadow would collect weapons to subvert the ninja world? Feiliu’s fingers pressed on the Sharingan, and the three magatama slowly turned. Last month, I sorted out the old files of the Sandaime grandfather and saw the words “Time and Space Scroll”…
A golden light suddenly burst out from the Sharingan and condensed into yellowed paper pages in the air.
The top picture showed a twisted vortex, with a note in cinnabar next to it: A forbidden object born in the cracks of parallel time and space, which can tamper with cause and effect and attract power from another dimension.
Let’s go. Jin tapped the table with his fingers, looking for Xingyao.
Xingyao’s laboratory is hidden under the old ginkgo tree in the back mountain of Konoha.
As the three of them walked through waist-high mugwort, Haruno Na’s wolf puppet suddenly arched its back and a warning roar rolled out of its throat.
Through the shadows of the trees, one can see a dim light coming from the windows on the second floor of the attic, and a hunched shadow reflected on the window paper – it was the time and space scholar who was known as the living history book.
Come in. The door is not locked, and the sound of the stars is like the creaking of an old rattan chair. I have waited for twenty years for the person who brought the fragments of the time and space scroll.
The attic was filled with scrolls, some in bronze boxes and some simply piled on moldy straw mats.
Xingyao sat in front of the brazier, his eyes under his white hair were surprisingly bright: Young man, I have seen too many ambitious people who want to benefit from time and space.
Why should I believe that you are not the next batch?
Jin took off his wristband and took out a stone with a faint purple luster.
It was dug out from the wreckage of the world-destroying beast on the battlefield three days ago. The beast’s scales were cracked at the time, and the stone was embedded in its heart. The surface was engraved with the same runes as the fragments of the time and space scroll.
This is… As soon as Xingyao’s dry fingers touched the stone, his whole body suddenly shook.
He moved closer to the brazier, his pupils shrank into needle shapes. It was the source of the Lord of Nothingness!
What on earth are you guys…
We have to stop the Shadow Society. Jin interrupted him, his Sharingan glowing faintly in the dark, Frost Blade said they want to subvert the ninja world, and you can tell us why.
Xingyao was silent for a moment, then suddenly took out a bronze key from his arms and opened the sandalwood cabinet in the corner.
There were twelve scrolls neatly placed inside. When the top scroll was unfolded, ripples like water waves appeared in the air – it was actually a map drawn with the power of time and space.
The Space-Time Scroll is not a ninja tool. Xingyao’s voice trembled. It is a bridge connecting countless parallel worlds.
Twenty years ago, I cracked half of the volume and found that it contained a record of the Lord of Nothingness… He was the public enemy of all time and space, sealed in the time rift by the original chakra.
The Shadow will want to summon it and use its power to devour all worldlines.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet stood up suddenly, pressing its front paws on the corner of Xingyao’s table, and the wooden table groaned under the heavy weight. How to stop them? Her voice was like a sharp blade.
Find the sealed core of the scroll, the Guardian of Space and Time. The star shines to the brightest star on the map, but the core location is hidden in this ancient map.
I have the first three fragments, and the rest… His eyes swept across the source stone in Jinn’s hand, the lair of the world-destroying beast, the underwater ruins of the Mist Hidden, and the top of the thunderstorm in the Cloud Hidden.
Before he finished speaking, a faint blue light suddenly flashed outside the window.
The candle in the attic went out with a puff. The wolf puppet’s hair stood up and it let out a heart-wrenching howl.
Haruno Na quickly pulled out the puppet strings behind her, and Tianqin’s Shadow Hunter had already condensed at her fingertips.
Jin’s sword was three inches out of its sheath, and the magatama of the Sharingan was spinning wildly – he sensed that something was squeezing in from the cracks in time and space, like a sponge soaked in ink, swallowing up the surrounding chakra.
It’s Huanyue… Feiliu’s voice was so low that it sounded like a sigh.
His Sharingan suddenly burst into a dazzling light, obviously retrieving his memories. The Shadow Society’s time and space expert can control the flow of time… He was the one who caused the disappearance of the caravan in the Hidden Cloud Village last month.
The wall on the east side collapsed with a loud bang, and a figure wrapped in a black robe slowly walked in amid the flying rubble.
His face was hidden in the hood, and the only thing exposed was his right hand – holding a dark blue crystal ball, with galaxy-like light bands surging in the ball. Each ray of light was like a thin needle, pricking people’s temples and causing pain.
Huanyue’s fingers gently stroked the surface of the crystal ball, and the crisp sound of broken glass rang out in the air.
Xingyao pounced towards the sandalwood cabinet, but was bounced back by an invisible barrier.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet was about to pounce, but suddenly stopped in place – its movements slowed down, as if the pause button was pressed.
Long time no see, Dr. Xingyao. Huanyue’s voice was like two stones rubbing against each other. Hand over the space-time map, and I can let you die with dignity. His eyes turned to Jin, and in the shadow under the hood, scarlet pupils were faintly revealed. And you, Uchiha’s little mouse… You run around with the source stone, do you really think you can stop us?
A cold light flashed on the blade of Jin.
He could feel Haruno Na’s puppet string quietly wrapping around his wrist – that was the back-to-back signal they agreed upon.
Feiliu’s Sharingan was still running at high speed, obviously looking for the opponent’s time and space loopholes.
Xingyao had already touched the detonating talisman hidden under the table, and his skinny fingers were slowly hooking the pull ring.
A sneer appeared on Huanyue’s lips.
He gently shook the crystal ball in his hand, and the faint blue light suddenly surged, covering the entire attic in a strange halo.
Some kind of sticky chakra that does not belong to this time and space is seeping out through the cracks in the crystal ball, wrapping around everyone’s ankles like a poisonous snake.
Now… there was a morbid pleasure in his voice, Let me see how long you can struggle.
Chapter 67: Huanyue’s Raid (Old Version)
The wooden beams of the attic oozed tiny drops of water in the dim blue light, and the surging chakra in the Fantasy Moon Crystal Ball wrapped around everyone’s ankles like a living thing.
Uchiha Jin could clearly hear his own heartbeat, one, two, as slow as a stretched string – this was not an ordinary space technique, the flow of time had been tampered with.
The vibrations of the source stone were disturbing him. When Haruno Na’s puppet string wrapped around his wrist, Jin heard her whisper through gritted teeth.
The wolf puppet’s metal joints made a harsh friction sound. The attack that should have been swift was now like an old tree root growing in the mud.
Xingyao’s fingers were still hooked on the detonating talisman pull ring, veins bulging on the back of his skinny hand, but he was still half an inch away from reaching it.
Huanyue’s scarlet pupils shrank under his hood, and spider-web-like fine lines appeared on the surface of the crystal ball: three breaths of time. His voice was mixed with the humming of time and space distortion. If you can’t hand over the map, the rest of your life… He licked the corner of his mouth and stayed in this slow motion.
Jin’s nails dug deep into his palms.
The speed at which chakra flowed through his meridians was three times slower than usual, but the cloud pattern totem on the scabbard felt unusually clear – this was what Haruno Na had re-tempered for him three days ago using lightning chakra. She said it could break bad luck at a critical moment.
Now, bad luck is like a millstone pressing down on my head.
Fei Liu! He suddenly shouted.
The intelligence department boy’s Sharingan was spinning rapidly in his eye sockets, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot.
Ever since he was trapped by Hanzo’s illusion in the Hidden Rain Village last time, this pair of eyes that can store memories has become a living database for the team. At this moment, his pupils are playing the scenes from ten minutes ago in reverse: the vibration frequency of the crystal ball when the phantom moon appeared, the peak value of chakra fluctuations, and even the trajectory of dust falling in the attic.
Found it! Fei Liu’s voice was cracked. His technique needed to maintain the resonance of three frequencies, and the main frequency was… He suddenly choked and coughed, and blood from his nose dripped down his chin onto the floor. It was the chakra that seeped out of the cracks in the crystal ball!
Interfere with that frequency, and the flow of time will slow down…
Jhin’s eyes swept across the scratched amplifier in the corner.
It was modified by Xingyao using a scrapped kunai forging machine. During the last test, it doubled the power of Naruto’s Rasengan – although it ended up blowing away half of the wall.
He bit the tip of his tongue, the taste of blood exploded in his mouth, and the pain made his chakra flow faster.
Nai, protect Xingyao! He pulled out a kunai and cut off the chakra tentacles wrapped around his legs, then staggered towards the amplifier.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet suddenly let out a sharp howl, and its metal tail swept out, accurately smashing Huan Yue’s kunai that was shot at Xing Yao. “Get away!” She yelled at the top of her voice, and her hair crackled because of the lightning chakra. My puppet string has never been trapped by the little devil’s breaking technique!
The gears of the amplifier whined under Jhin’s hands.
He injected chakra into the core along the wire, and kept repeating the frequency numbers that Feiliu said in his mind – 52, 13, 8.
When the last digit was pressed, the amplifier suddenly burst into a dazzling white light, and a crisp sound like shattering glass was heard in the air.
Huanyue’s crystal ball cracked open with a huge crack.
The dark blue light collapsed instantly, and the flow of time suddenly returned to normal.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet leaped out with a howl, and its sharp steel claws scratched a bloody mark on Huanyue’s shoulder; Xingyao’s detonating talisman was finally pulled open, and with a bang, half of the bookshelf was shattered, and wood chips fell on the enemy like a rainstorm.
Interesting. Huanyue wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, but his eyes became brighter, much better than those trash in the Anbu. He formed a seal with his backhand, and suddenly black runes appeared on the ground. Seven translucent shadows emerged from the runes and rushed towards the four people respectively.
The chakra fluctuations of the phantom are exactly the same as the real body, even the angle of the sword is exactly the same.
Is it a shadow clone?
No, it’s a space-time projection. Feiliu’s Sharingan was still spinning at high speed, and each clone carried one-tenth of the power of the original body, but… his eyes suddenly widened, their attacks would overlap!
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet was already entangled with two phantoms.
Amid the sparks of metal joints colliding, she bit her fingertips fiercely, and blood splattered on the puppet’s control line: Thunder Mode! Eight lightning chakra blades suddenly popped out from the wolf puppet’s back, each emitting arcs of electricity. Wherever they passed, the two phantoms dissipated like smoke blown away by the wind.
Look at his feet! Fei Liu suddenly pointed at Huan Yue.
The latter’s shoe tip was stepping on a bronze rune plate embedded in the floor. The plate was engraved with distorted time and space spells, and every line was flickering with his chakra.
Jhin understood instantly—that was the anchor point that maintained the space-time ritual.
He deliberately made a feint with his knife, and the back of the knife hit the chest of the phantom on the left side heavily. Taking advantage of the moment when Huanyue’s pupils shrank slightly, he staggered back to Xingyao’s laboratory table.
On the table stood an unfinished chakra furnace, with liquid chakra bubbling inside.
Where are you running, little mouse? Huan Yue’s true form turned into an afterimage and rushed over, the kunai in his hand glowing a poisonous green.
Jhin turned sideways at the last moment, and the kunai grazed the tip of his ear and nailed into the sandalwood cabinet behind him.
His foot had already hooked onto the table leg, and he kicked hard—
The laboratory table collapsed with a loud bang.
The liquid chakra in the furnace was splashed onto the rune board, and pungent purple smoke instantly rose up; the glass jar filled with fluorescent powder shattered, and the glitter mixed with thick smoke filled the entire attic.
Huan Yue’s figure swayed in the smoke, and the chakra fluctuations suddenly became chaotic.
Opportunity! Fei Liu said in a low voice.
His Sharingan suddenly glowed with golden red light – it was a copy of the trajectory of the seal that Huanyue had just made. Time and space: Reverse! The young man quickly formed seals with both hands, and a visible chakra wave surged towards Huanyue.
Huanyue’s pupils suddenly shrank.
He suddenly tore open his clothes, revealing a bronze fragment of the same type as the rune plate on his chest, and chakra poured into it like a tide.
The moment the smoke was forcibly blown away, he was already standing at the attic window, with the surging turbulence of time and space behind him: interesting little mice… He licked his lips and said, “Next time we meet, I will make your bones into time and space anchors.”
Before he could finish his words, his figure was swallowed up by the turbulence.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet pounced on the window, only to catch a handful of drifting black mist.
Map fragments…Xingyao suddenly trembled and pointed at the sandalwood cabinet.
The secret compartment that originally locked the map fragment opened, revealing nothing inside.
The old man dug his fingers deep into the wooden cabinet, his knuckles turning white: He… He stole it using the space-time magic…
The attic fell into deathly silence.
Jhin’s knife fell to the ground with a clang.
Haruno Na’s wolf puppet slowly lowered its steel claws, and the lightning-attribute chakra blade sizzled out.
The red light of Feiliu’s Sharingan faded, he wiped the blood off his face, and his voice trembled: Just now in the smoke… his clone didn’t attack the map cabinet at all… It turned out that from the beginning…
He never wanted to snatch it away on the spot. Jhin bent down to pick up the knife, and the blade reflected his tense jawline, making us think that we had secured it and let down our guard… He suddenly looked up and out the window. In the twilight, a crow was flapping its wings and flying by, and it seemed to be holding something with a bronze luster in its claws.
The wind rushed in through the broken windows, making the scrolls on the ground rustle.
Xingyao’s experimental data were scattered all over the floor, and the fragments of the space-time map with footprints on them were curled up in the corner.
Haruno Na squatted down, picked up a piece of fluorescent powder stained with blood, and rubbed it gently with her fingertips: Next time… There was a thunderstorm in her voice, and she would definitely smash that guy’s crystal ball into pieces.
He looked at the deep mark left by the kunai on the sandalwood cabinet, and suddenly remembered Huanyue’s eyes before he left – that was not the anger of failure, but the excitement of a hunter finding new prey.
Outside the window, the setting sun dyed the clouds blood red.
In the distance, the Hokage Rock of Konoha was looming in the twilight, and in the attic, the shadow of the Shadow Society was quietly spreading in the dark side of the ninja world along with the lost map fragment.
Chapter 68: Clues to the Map Fragments (Old Version)
The kerosene lamp in the attic flickered in the draft, casting a dim light. Xingyao squatted in the mess on the ground, his knuckles clenched white – he was picking up half a broken rune stone, the surface of which was still stained with charred residue from the puppet explosion. Fortunately. The scholar’s voice was hoarse, but his eyes behind the lenses were surprisingly bright. Last month, I made a mirror backup of all the space-time coordinate data and stored it in the dark crystal of the Rock Department.
Uchiha Jin was kneeling on one knee, using a short knife to pick away the blood stains stuck to the scroll.
Hearing this, he immediately looked up. The light reflected from the blade made Xingyao squint his eyes: Can you locate the fragments that Huanyue took away?
It cannot be directly located. Xingyao turned the rune stone twice in his palm, and his sleeves were stained with ink spilled when the laboratory table overturned, but the resonance frequency of the space-time fragments was fixed.
Just like a string of bells, if you ring one, the others will vibrate. He pushed his glasses that had slid to the tip of his nose. I need two hours to decipher the residual shock wave and find out his next target point.
Haruno Na was squatting by the window, crushing the bloody fluorescent powder with her fingertips.
Her Thunder Doll shrank into a palm-sized metal ball, spinning on her shoulder: Two hours?
Those rats from the Shadow Society can’t wait that long.
So we have to split up. Jin pulled back his short knife, and the scabbard made a crisp sound when it hit the floor. Feiliu stayed to help Xingyao, and you and I went to the Wind Canyon – that was the closest point where the debris fluctuations were detected last time. He knocked his knuckles on the map on the wall. The canyon circled in red was on the border of the Fire Country. Xingyao said that the debris would appear under certain winds.
Hatake Hiru was using his Sharingan to scan the experimental data on the ground, and looked up when he heard this.
There were still blood stains at the corners of his eyes from the previous battle, and he looked even dumber than usual: But… I just used three magatama of my Sharingan, and now I can only maintain the single magatama state.
That’s enough. Xingyao suddenly reached out and pressed Feiliu’s neck, and chakra flowed in through his fingertips.
The boy’s pupils suddenly contracted, and the lines of the Sharingan flickered in his eyes. My chakra can help you maintain it for two hours. When the scholar withdrew his hand, there was still a burning sensation on his fingertips – this is the price of forcibly delivering chakra. Remember, the key is not to see, but to remember.
Jhin had already grabbed the compass from the table.
It was a bronze disk with crooked ancient runes engraved on its surface, and it was slightly hot at the moment. Could this thing sense the fragments?
Yes, but only within ten kilometers. Xingyao took out a piece of cloth from the drawer and carefully wiped the rust off the edge of the compass. It was made by the first generation of Hokage using the time and space ninja tools. The disadvantage is… it will expose the user’s position. He stuffed the compass into Jin’s palm, so be careful of ambushes.
The wind in the Canyon of Wind was stronger than expected.
Haruno Na’s long hair was blown and tangled in the metal horns of the Thunder Doll. She cursed and threw the doll into the air with her backhand.
The bronze compass was shaking so hot in Jhin’s hand, and the needle was spinning wildly – they were already three kilometers deep in the canyon, surrounded by knife-like rock walls. The wind blew sand and gravel onto the forehead guard, causing so much pain that one could not open their eyes.
Something is happening. Haruno Na suddenly grabbed Jin’s arm.
Her war doll was suspended in the air twenty meters high. The lightning patterns on the metal shell suddenly lit up. There were chakra fluctuations on the southeast rock wall.
Before he finished speaking, a muffled sound came from under his feet.
The two men jumped up at the same time, the rocks under their feet cracked open, and three gray-black puppets broke out of the rocks.
Chains were wrapped around their joints, and their faces were covered with blank masks. They held short blades in their left hands and barbed chain hammers in their right hands. Unlike the puppets that had attacked them in the laboratory before, these guys were faster, and the wind created by the chain hammers was filled with poisonous mist.
Improved chakra drive. Jin drew out the short sword from his waist, and the blade drew a silver arc in the wind. Nohara, the war dolls will hold back the two on the left, and I will deal with the one in the middle.
Haruno Na whistled, and the Thunder Doll instantly expanded to the height of two people.
Purple lightning burst out from the palm of the war puppet, accurately chopping off the chain hammer of the left puppet.
The puppet on the right took the opportunity to rush over, and its short blade scraped past the corner of Jhin’s clothes, leaving a charred mark on the rock wall.
He grabbed the other’s wrist with his backhand, but felt something cold – that was not the wooden core of an ordinary puppet, but some kind of translucent crystal.
Look at the core! Jhin suddenly shouted.
He caught a glimpse of a thumb-sized blue crystal embedded in the puppet’s throat. It was made of exactly the same material as the crystal ball that Huanyue had used before. It was the mark of the Shadow Society!
Haruno Na’s war doll smashed the puppet on the left with one punch, and the same blue crystal fell to the ground amid the flying wood chips.
She bent down to pick it up and scratched the surface with her fingernails: it was the same fragment she found in the Hidden Rain Village last time, a shadow stone.
Shadow stones can store chakra and can also be used as locators. Jin’s short knife pried open the mask of the middle puppet, revealing the dense array of runes inside. Huanyue used these puppets as living maps – they are not here to stop us, but to mark the fragments!
The lightning pattern of the Thunder Doll suddenly expanded, and Haruno Na’s pupils shrank: Be careful!
Before he finished speaking, three puppets suddenly stood up at the same time.
The chain hammer on the left brushed past Jhin’s ear and hit the rock wall. Amidst the flying gravel, the short blade on the right pierced his heart.
He turned around to avoid it, but felt a chill on the back of his neck – the puppet in the middle had circled behind him at some point, and the poisonous mist on the short blade had already touched his collar.
Take that! Haruno Na’s puppet opened her arms, and purple lightning shot out like a snake, entwining the joints of the three puppets with precision.
The harsh sound of metal friction was heard, and the puppet’s movements suddenly slowed down.
Jin took the opportunity to take out the chakra amplifier in his arms – this was a small tool he improved with modern knowledge, which could convert chakra into high-frequency shock waves.
Now! He shouted, and pressed the amplifier against the throat of the middle puppet.
Cracks instantly appeared on the blue crystal, and shock waves spread along the shadow stone to the other puppets.
The three puppets froze at the same time, and the chains at their joints broke with a crackling sound, revealing something hidden in their chest cavity – a palm-sized bronze fragment with a faint star map floating on the surface.
Found it! Haruno Na rushed over, but was grabbed by Jin.
There was a slight sound of feathers fluttering in the air.
The wind suddenly stopped.
That familiar voice, wrapped in chill, floated down from above their heads: Uchiha Jin, you always surprise me.
Huanyue stood on the top of the rock wall, the moonlight outlining his pale silhouette.
The crystal ball in his hand glowed with a faint blue light, and the crow under his feet spread its wings, holding the fragments stolen from the laboratory in its claws.
In his other hand, he held a rune net with blue light flowing through it, and tiny lightning bolts were dancing between the meshes.
This net is woven with the Ten-Tails chakra. Huan Yue laughed, and the sound was like an ice cone scratching through glass. You broke my puppet formation, but you didn’t notice it. He flicked his fingertips, and the rune net unfolded like a living thing. The whole canyon was the core of my formation.
He could feel the rocks beneath his feet trembling, and the air was filled with the sting of time and space distortion.
Haruno Na’s battle doll suddenly issued a sharp alarm, and the lightning patterns on the metal shell began to flash chaotically.
“Buy time,” Jhin whispered, the compass in his palm so hot it almost burned through his skin.
He knew that by now, Hatake Hiru should have cracked Xingyao’s mirror data; he knew that Konoha’s Anbu might be on the way; he knew that as long as he could hold on for another ten minutes –
The moment the rune net fell, the entire Wind Canyon was shrouded in a dark blue energy field.
All sounds disappeared.
Jin looked at Haruno Na’s mouth shape, but couldn’t hear her shouting.
He saw Huanyue’s lips moving, but he couldn’t make out the words she was saying.
The compass vibrated wildly in the palm of his hand, and the needle suddenly pointed directly upwards – there was a thin crack in the sky, like a curtain cut by a sharp blade, revealing the unfathomable darkness behind the curtain.
And deep in that darkness, something is awakening.
Chapter 69: Huanyue’s Trick (Old Version)
The air in the Wind Canyon was like crumpled silk, and the dark blue energy field spread over every inch of the rock crevice when Uchiha Jin’s fingertips just touched the handle of the kunai.
Chakra flowed through his meridians like a stream filled with lead. The Zi-Chou-Yin hand seal that usually took only half a second to complete now took three breaths. He could even clearly feel the chakra molecules being torn apart by some rules and drilling into the tiny crack in the sky above his head.
This net is draining our chakra. He gritted his teeth, his voice two tones lower than usual.
Haruno Na’s Thunder Doll was raising its lightning chakra arm to smash into the energy wall, but the metal joints made a teeth-grinding friction sound, and the lightning that could originally split boulders only produced sporadic blue spots on the surface.
ha?
That old guy sucked our chakra as fuel? Haruno Na shouted at the top of her lungs, but her voice sounded like it was covered by a layer of felt.
Beads of sweat oozed from her forehead, and the chakra lines that controlled the puppet left red marks on her palms – the puppet’s movements were three times slower than usual, and even the most basic punches had a sluggish mechanical feel.
Huanyue’s laughter penetrated the distorted space. His figure appeared and disappeared in the energy field, like a reflection on the water: smart.
The rune network woven by the Ten-Tails’ chakra threads was originally intended to transform the chakra of living people into the power of time and space.
Once I have absorbed enough energy from three Jinchūriki – he raised his finger and pointed to the crack in the sky, he would be able to tear open the cocoon of this world and get the next piece of debris.
His compass felt incredibly hot in his palm. The needle spun wildly but suddenly stopped, pointing to the old crooked pine tree on the east side of the canyon.
The energy field there was a bit darker than elsewhere, and one could vaguely see dark golden runes flowing in the rocks – it was the eye of the formation!
Nai, can your war doll create a large-scale thunderstorm? He suddenly turned around and tapped the back of Haruno Nai’s hand three times with his fingers.
This was the code they had agreed upon during their special training in the Land of Waves: three short knocks meant creating chaos.
Haruno Na was stunned for a moment, then grinned with her white teeth showing.
Six lightning chakra tubes suddenly popped out from her doll’s neck, and the runes on the top began to spin rapidly. My Thunder Doll can do more than just fight! She bit her fingertips and pressed on the control panel, and the blood beads merged into the wood chip engraved with the beast totem – that was the secret of her identity as a beast trainer, and she could temporarily borrow the wild instincts of the contracted beast.
The war doll roared towards the sky, and the originally chaotic lightning patterns suddenly lit up with a dazzling white light.
Huanyue’s expression changed: Are you crazy?
Forcefully outputting lightning escape in the rune network will…
It will explode so hard that your mother won’t recognize you! Haruno Na’s roar mixed with the thunderstorm of the war dolls.
The purple electric arc rushed towards the energy field like a poisonous snake. Although it failed to penetrate it, it successfully tore several spider-web-like cracks on the surface of the net.
The stirred energy field began to vibrate violently, and Huanyue had to allocate part of his chakra to stabilize the net – this was exactly the opportunity that Jin wanted.
He bent down, grabbed two handfuls of gravel, and threw them toward the draught that was unique to the Wind Canyon.
The fine sand condensed into gray mist with the help of the wind, instantly covering an area of ​​ten square meters.
Jin lowered his body under the fog, tapped his toes lightly on the rocks, and moved towards the old pine on the east side like a slippery snake.
The heat from the compass had already burned his palms red, but the needle was always pointing steadily to the roots of the old pine tree—half of a black crystal core was buried there, and the faint blue light flowing on its surface was in sync with the rune network.
Found it. He chuckled and took out a palm-sized metal device from his arms.
This was modified using the chakra amplifier he had left over from the Chunin Exams. It can compress one’s own chakra into a thin stream with extremely strong penetrating power.
At this moment, he bit the tip of his tongue, and a fishy sweet taste rushed up his throat. He injected three parts of chakra into the device – under the suppression of the rune net, these three parts of chakra almost took half his life.
Go! The triangular crystal at the front of the device suddenly burst out with a dazzling blue light, and a stream of chakra thinner than a hair accurately shot towards the crystal core. With a click, spider web-like patterns appeared on the surface of the crystal core, and the originally stable rune web shook instantly, like a spider web blown by a strong wind.
You dare! Huan Yue’s roar penetrated the energy field.
Black mist suddenly rose around him, and three translucent shadows crawled out of the mist – they were actually his space-time clones!
Each clone has different pupils: one Sharingan, one Samsara eye, and a vertical pupil that has never been seen before.
Space-time Ninjutsu: Space-time Cutting! The Sharingan clone raised his hand and slashed, and the rock at Jin’s feet was suddenly cut into thin slices, almost cutting off his legs.
The Rinnegan clone opened his palms, and the black hole-like gravity pulled him into the air.
The strangest thing is the vertical pupil clone. Dark purple light condenses on its fingertips. The air is distorted wherever it passes, as if even time has been slowed down.
Ash! Haruno Na’s battle doll knocked away the Sharingan clone, and the lightning pattern on the metal arm began to crack due to overload operation.
She bit her lip and entered the last blood contract into the control panel: Use the spare chakra line I gave you!
quick!
A thin red thread suddenly slipped out from Jin’s sleeve – it was the symbiotic thread that Haruno Na had refined using her own blood and the core of the battle doll.
The moment he grabbed the red line, a stream of burning chakra poured into his body like a torrent, and the suppression of the rune network was actually broken through.
He threw out three kunai with his backhand, each kunai was wrapped with the Nohara family’s animal taming rope that he had stolen from Haruno Na, and accurately wrapped around the wrists of the three clones.
Now! he shouted into the air.
Almost at the same time, the clouds above the canyon were suddenly torn apart.
A golden flash pierced through the energy field like a sharp arrow. It was the projection of Hatake Hiru’s Sharingan. The crystal core is in the rock behind Huanyue! The boy’s voice was distorted with electronic sound. Use Rasengan!
A rotating chakra ball instantly condensed in Jin’s right hand.
The Rasengan that he had practiced for three months now glowed with an abnormal purple glow – that was Haruno Na’s lightning chakra flowing through it.
He jumped up on the head of the Sharingan clone and accurately hit the rock behind Huanyue with the Rasengan.
At the moment the rock exploded, a blue crystal core as big as a baby’s fist fell to the ground.
The rune web let out a dying scream, and the dark blue light quickly receded like the receding tide.
Huanyue’s clones dissipated at the same time, and he staggered back three steps, with black blood flowing from the corners of his mouth – it turned out that those clones were condensed using his life force.
It’s you… He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and suddenly grinned, but remember, when the Lord of Nothingness crosses the Sea of ​​Time and Space, your so-called victory will be nothing but a joke.
Before he could finish his words, his figure was swallowed by a black vortex.
Only half a fragment of the map engraved with ancient runes remained, lying quietly at Jhin’s feet.
Haruno Na’s battle doll fell to the ground with a clang, the metal shell cracked into several cracks, and even the lightning in its eyes dimmed.
She staggered over and hugged Jhin’s shoulders: Are you not dead?
The Rasengan just now almost shattered the lightning core of my war doll.
I can’t die. Jhin bent down to pick up the fragment of the map, rubbing the lines on it with his fingertips.
There was a line of tiny blood words on the edge of the fragment, glowing dark purple in the sunlight: The clue to Star Glory is at the abandoned altar in the Hidden Rain Village.
He looked up at the sky; the tiny crack had closed at some point, leaving only a few strands of faint blue light.
The projection of Hatake Hiru’s Sharingan appeared again, and the boy’s face turned pale: We just detected abnormal fluctuations in space-time, as if… someone is observing us in another dimension.
Jhin’s fingers unconsciously stroked the compass.
This thing has been following him since his rebirth. At this moment, the pointer suddenly trembled slightly and pointed to the northwest – the direction of the Hidden Rain Village.
Haruno Na followed his gaze and tugged at the corner of his clothes: Next stop, the Hidden Rain Village?
Next stop. Jhin put the fragment of the map into his arms, a faint smile on his face.
The wind from the Wind Canyon blew sand and gravel through his hair, and shouts from the Konoha Anbu came from afar.
He knew that the road ahead would only be more difficult, but at least—
He looked at the battle doll on his left that was still emitting sparks, and then at the boy with the Sharingan on his right whose projection was gradually becoming blurred.
At least he was no longer fighting alone.
Chapter 70 Xuanming’s Trial (Old Version)
The morning fog in the Misty Forest was thicker than expected.
Uchiha Jin walked in front, the soles of his boots rolling over the dewy moss, making a crackling sound.
Haruno Na was carrying a half-human-high box of Thunder Doll parts on her back. The metal buckles made a slight sound when they collided, overlapping with the projection of Hatake Hiru’s Sharingan – the boy was using chakra threads to pull the suspended scroll, quickly forming seals with his fingertips, recording all the fog concentration and ground vein fluctuations along the way.
The compass needle trembled even more violently. Haruno Na suddenly lowered her voice.
Her animal taming instinct was sharper than her chakra perception. At this moment, the hair on the back of her neck stood on end, as if an invisible hand was grasping her lifeline.
Jin reached for the compass in his arms, and the bronze surface felt warm.
The pointer was no longer just trembling, but spinning wildly into a blurry silver light, and finally clicked and stopped right in front of it – the fog there suddenly surged, as if a curtain was torn open by a giant hand, revealing an arch made of light particles.
Intruder, why are you here?
The old voice was wrapped in thunder and exploded, startling Haruno Na’s battle doll parts box so much that it almost fell to the ground.
Jin quickly stood in front of her, and saw out of the corner of his eye that Hatake Hiru’s Sharingan instantly rotated three magatama and located the source of the sound behind the arch.
When the gray-robed old man walked out of the light particles, even the wind stopped breathing.
His white hair was shining with stars, and there was an old scar on his brow bone that went all the way to his jaw. His left eye was a cloudy gray, but his right eye was incredibly bright, as if it contained an entire galaxy.
Xuanming, the guardian of space and time. The projection of Hatake Hiru suddenly spoke, his voice trembling with excitement. According to the ancient books of the Intelligence Department, the first Hokage had signed a space and time protection agreement with you…
Now is not the time to bring up the past. Xuanming’s eyes swept across the three people, and finally stopped at the location of the bulging map fragment in Jin’s arms. Do you know what the price is for touching the time and space scroll without permission?
Haruno Na was about to speak when Jin nudged her with his elbow to stop her.
He took a half step forward, neither humble nor arrogant: We know the risks.
But the Shadow Society has infiltrated the altar of the Hidden Rain Village. They are collecting clues about the Star Glory and trying to use the scroll to rewrite the outcome of the Third Ninja World War. He paused and took out half of a charred badge from his sleeve. It was found on the ninja who ambushed them in the Wind Canyon three days ago. This is their mark.
If they succeed…
Konoha will be wiped out. After Xuanming finished speaking, his gray left eye suddenly oozes out golden light, “Your chakra carries the afterglow of time and space turbulence, and the fragments of the Wind Canyon do come from Xingyao.” He raised his hand, and a translucent hourglass appeared in his palm, but I will not hand over the scroll information easily.
If you want to know the truth, pass my test first.
The moment the hourglass turned over, spider-web-like traces of light appeared in the sky above the misty forest.
Jin felt the ground beneath his feet melting, and Haruno Na’s battle doll parts box suddenly began to buzz, and blue arcs covered the metal surface – that was a sign that time and space turbulence was about to come.
Trial content: Travel through the time and space turbulence zone and bring back the key of time. Xuanming’s voice pierced through the roar, and this key was the token to open the scroll chamber.
Remember, the scenes in turbulence are all illusions, and those who indulge in them will be trapped in the cracks of time forever.
I’ll go. Jin and Haruno Na spoke at the same time.
Haruno Na grinned and patted the Thunder Doll Core on her waist: Your small body will fall apart if it is swept by the turbulence, I can use the doll as a shield. She turned her head and blinked at Hatake Hiru, “Little Hiru, leave this clue here, your Sharingan’s ability to store memories is much more useful than the two of us getting into trouble.”
The projection of Hatake Hiru nodded vigorously and formed seals with his fingertips even faster: Don’t worry, I will record every word Lord Xuanming says.
If you don’t come back in half an hour…
There won’t be any ifs. Jin interrupted him, his eyes swept over the battle doll core on Haruno Na’s waist, which was eager to try, and said, “Let’s go.”
The touch of space-time turbulence is like immersion in boiling water.
As soon as Jhin stepped out of the archway, the scene before his eyes began to spin.
He saw a burning battlefield, a broken blade stuck in the scorched earth, and Hatake Sakumo’s white cloak fluttering in the fire; the next second, it was a quiet village, a girl in wooden clogs carrying a bamboo basket, with cherry blossoms on the ends of her hair – that was the scene of his mother waiting for him after school at the modern alley before his rebirth; in the blink of an eye, it was the examination room of the Ninja School, he was holding the copied test paper, and was being held by the collar of teacher Iruka.
Jhin! Haruno Na’s cry penetrated the illusion.
He turned around suddenly and saw the girl standing in a blood mist, with war doll parts floating at her feet. She was staring in a certain direction with red eyes – there was a little girl huddled in the corner of the ruined temple, drawing animal taming patterns on the ground with a dead branch, and there were more patches on her body than cloth.
That was when I was seven years old. Haruno Na’s voice trembled. I was wandering in the Hidden Rain Village, being chased and beaten by Hanzo’s men, and hiding in a ruined temple… At that time, I thought, it would be great if there was someone who could protect me.
Jhin’s fingertips dug into his palm.
He knew that this was an illusion created by the turbulence, but he also understood that Haruno Na had never mentioned this to anyone.
He grabbed her wrist and injected chakra into her skin: What now?
Haruno Na was startled and looked up at him.
The turbulence created a whirlpool around the two, but it was unable to break through their touching hands.
She suddenly smiled, revealing her fangs: Now… I have become the person who protects others.
The illusion was shattered in an instant.
They fell into a gray-white space. The ground cracked into countless cracks of light, and translucent shadowy creatures crawled out from them. These things had no facial features, but they could be seen to have human outlines, and every step they moved would devour the surrounding light.
It’s the regret of the turbulence of time and space! The core of Haruno Na’s battle doll suddenly burst into a dazzling blue light, and the parts automatically assembled into a three-meter-high thunder battle doll. They can devour chakra, and direct attacks will be sucked back!
He took out the chakra amplifier he carried with him – this was a ninja tool he improved using modern physics knowledge, originally used to enhance the stability of the Rasengan.
At this moment, he quickly adjusted the frequency and threw the amplifier into the air: the interference wave could disrupt their resonance!
The blue light waves spread out with the amplifier as the center, and the phantom creature indeed stopped, with tentacle-like light bands beating the air crazily.
Haruno Na seized the opportunity, and the battle doll’s right hand condensed a spiral Raikiri: Lightning Release: Thunderbolt!
With a roar, Raikiri tore open the gray-white space, and the phantom creatures trapped by the interference wave were instantly torn into pieces.
Jhin took the opportunity to rush into the area with the densest light gaps, and before the turbulence was about to close, he grabbed a key with flowing starlight – the Key of Time.
When the two fell back into the misty forest, the projection of Hatake Hiru was so tired that he collapsed on the ground. His Sharingan lost three magatama and was flushed abnormally: I’ve remembered it all!
The time and space scroll secret room that Master Xuanming mentioned is in…
That’s enough. Xuan Ming reached out and took the Key of Time.
The moment the key touched his palm, the hourglass suddenly started to flow backwards, and a complex emotion flashed across his gray left eye: You have passed the test.
But remember, the goal of the Shadow Society is far more than just rewriting the outcome of the war –
His voice suddenly dropped, and the galaxy in his right eye suddenly turned blood red.
Jhin felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. This was the most dangerous warning he had received since his rebirth.
The real test is yet to come. Xuanming throws the Key of Time to Jin, and new marks appear on the surface of the key. Three days later, the clues of the Star Shine in the abandoned altar of the Hidden Rain Village will be fully revealed.
At that time…
His words were cut off by a sudden thunderstorm.
A black crack appeared in the sky above the misty forest, and scarlet chakra fluctuations came in like a poisonous snake.
Xuanming’s gray robe fluttered without wind, and he pushed Jin hard: Go!
The Shadow Society is chasing us!
Haruno Na’s battle doll started up instantly, carrying the three people and rushing out of the forest.
The moment Jin turned around, he saw Xuanming’s figure merging into the light particles, and his voice pierced through the wind and thunder: Protect the key!
The balance of time and space…
The words disappeared in the roar of the black crack closing.
Jhin held the Key of Time tightly, and the marks on the key were hot in his palm.
When Haruno Na’s battle doll broke through the last wall of fog, he saw a dark shadow standing on the top of a distant mountain, with a scarlet Sharingan glowing in the twilight – that was the symbol of the top leaders of the Shadow Society that he had only seen in intelligence.
Next stop, the Hidden Rain Village. He whispered, his eyes sweeping over the two people beside him.
Haruno Na tugged at the corner of his clothes, and the doll’s mechanical arm patted him on the back: What are you afraid of?
We are a team that can even survive the turbulence of time and space.
Hatake Hiru’s projection condensed again, and his Sharingan glowed slightly: I just analyzed the engraving on the key… It says that the real secret of the Star Glory clue is hidden in the geomagnetic node of the altar.
Jhin looked down at the compass in his arms.
This time, the pointer no longer trembled, but pointed steadily in the direction of the Hidden Rain Village, as if even fate was making way for them.
He smiled.
No matter what the shadows plot, no matter how many tests are to come –
At least this time, he wasn’t fighting alone.
Xuan Ming stood behind the arch constructed by light particles, watching the four people’s backs as they walked away.
A tear of blood suddenly fell from his gray left eye, and he pressed his right hand on his chest, where there was a mark exactly the same as the compass in Jhin’s arms.
The choice of time and space… finally came. He muttered to himself, turned around and walked into the light gate.
Behind the door, countless fragments of time and space were floating in the void. On one of the fragments, the reflection of the scarlet Sharingan was slowly opening.
Chapter 71 Xuan Ming’s True Test (Old Version)
The mist of the Misty Forest rolled in the morning breeze. Three figures walked forward on the wet rotten leaves. Their heels crushed a few dewy wild berries. The dark red juice spread on the bluestone slabs, like some kind of ancient blood covenant mark.
This is it. Uchiha Jin stopped and his Adam’s apple moved.
The fog ahead was suddenly torn apart by some force, revealing an altar made of black rocks.
Silver-like veins of light crawled out from the cracks in the rocks, winding up along the base of the altar, and at the top was a crystal ball with flowing stars – the light was so soft that it caused the chakras of the three people to tremble slightly.
Xuan Ming appeared beside the altar at some point, with a corner of his gray robe lifted by the wind, revealing the chest armor with intricate dark patterns underneath.
He held the Key of Time that he had just returned to Jhin in his palm. The marks on the metal surface were beating in sync with the altar’s light veins: You have performed well, but the real test has just begun. He raised his hand and pointed to the crystal ball. The core seal of the Scroll of Time and Space was here.
But only those with pure hearts and strong wills can approach – if you fail, the turbulence of time and space will tear your souls into pieces.
Haruno Na’s mechanical arm snapped shut, and the puppet strings on the wristband moved automatically without any wind: “My grandmother taught me that the harder the bone, the more delicious the meat.” She glanced at Jin, and the war puppet’s prosthetic limbs were tapping out a brisk rhythm at her side, right?
Jin touched the kunai at his waist and his fingertips rubbed the sword handle engraved with the Uchiha family emblem.
This was the first time since his rebirth that he didn’t use jokes to hide his nervousness: Let’s try it.
Hatake Hiru’s Sharingan suddenly turned, and the three magatama drew a silver arc in his eye socket: I sense… the crystal ball is scanning our chakra fluctuations. Before he finished speaking, the crystal ball suddenly burst into a dazzling white light, and the three people were dragged into different darkness at the same time.
The stinking scorched earth burned the soles of my feet.
He looked up suddenly and saw the familiar Hokage Rock shattered into pieces. Half of the face of the stone statue of Hashirama Senju was sunk into the sea of ​​fire. The once prosperous ninja school was left with only charred walls. The desks of Class 7 lay in a pool of blood. Naruto’s favorite Rasengan graffiti was burned to only half an arc.
Kakashi-sensei? He rushed towards the Hokage’s office, and the heel of his boot kicked a bloody forehead protector – it was Sakura’s.
Sasuke? He pulled away the collapsed beams, revealing a cut of an Uchiha clan uniform under the rubble. The blood-stained fan pattern stung his eyes.
Haruno?
Fei Liu? His shouts echoed into the void, and the only echo was his own rapid breathing.
You can’t change the past.
A cold voice sounded from behind.
Jin turned around and saw twenty bronze mirrors rising around him, and in each mirror was himself: some of them were caught for cheating in the exam, some of them were unable to save Sasuke in the Valley of the End, and some of them were watching Kakashi fall to Shinra Tensei in the Fourth War.
Do you think that stealing the test paper can change your fate? Jin in the mirror pulled out a sarcastic smile, you can’t save Uchiha, you can’t save Konoha, and you can’t even protect the people around you——
Enough! Jin pulled out his kunai and smashed the nearest mirror with his backhand.
The moment the mirror broke, he saw the eyes reflected in the mirror turned into himself late at night before his rebirth: curled up on the floor of the rental house, with the notification of the end of Naruto on his mobile phone screen, and the boy’s tears dripped on the four words “Uchiha clan extermination”.
It turns out that what he feared most was never failure.
It is to live a new life, but still become the powerless spectator in memory.
No matter what the future holds, I will do my best to protect the present! He thrust the kunai into the ground fiercely, and his chakra exploded like a raging tide, shattering all the mirrors.
The scorched earth faded in the light, and he returned to the altar of reality, with cold sweat on his forehead but his eyes were surprisingly bright.
The wind from the wilderness blew sand into my face.
Seven-year-old Haruno Na squatted in front of the abandoned animal pen, the wolf cub in her arms was already cold.
This was the third pet she had stolen. The first two were stoned to death by the villagers, who accused her of carrying an unknown bastard.
Wanderer!
The unwanted wild child!
The sound of ridicule came from all directions.
She looked up and saw twenty adult Harunonas standing on a high place, wearing different war puppet prosthetics, some stained with blood, some stained with puppet oil, and every face was full of fatigue: “Do you think you can be accepted just by learning puppetry?” One of them tore off his prosthetic and threw it at her feet. “Look at this piece of broken copper and iron, who would treat you as a companion?”
That’s enough! Haruno Na’s mechanical arm suddenly ejected three poisoned kunai, accurately nailing them between the eyebrows of each phantom.
She bent down and picked up the wolf cub’s body, her nails digging deep into her palms: I don’t need others to define my value!
The little wolf cub in her arms stirred and opened its amber eyes.
A familiar voice came from a distance: Haruno! It was Jin calling her, it was time to go on a mission!
The illusion was like a popped bubble. She staggered and held onto the edge of the altar. Her mechanical fingertips trembled slightly, but she raised a smile brighter than the sun: It turns out… I am no longer a human being.
In the Anbu’s torture room, the cold air ran down the back of his neck and penetrated into his bones.
The twelve-year-old Fei Liu was kneeling on the ground, his Sharingan covered with a black cloth.
He heard the voice of the elders exploding above his head: You should die for the glory of the Hatake family with these eyes! The whip hit his back, he gritted his teeth and said nothing, but his memories surged uncontrollably –
His father gave him the Sharingan scroll before he died, his mother cried and told him not to learn from his uncle, and his brother Kakashi ruffled his hair and told him to practice hard if he wanted to be an intelligence agent.
You don’t deserve these eyes! The elder in the shadow raised a kunai, you should be like Shisui –
Enough! Fei Liu’s Sharingan suddenly broke free from the black cloth, and the three magatama spun wildly, and the space in his eyes split into countless fragments.
He saw another self standing in front of the file shelf in the Intelligence Department, his fingertips stroking the encrypted files of the Shadow Society; he saw him fighting back to back with Jin and Haruno in the turbulence of time and space; he saw his brother Kakashi smiling and saying, “Firiu, I feel relieved to leave this mission to you.”
The Sharingan is not a shackle. He stood up, and the light of the Sharingan illuminated the entire space. It was the proof of the path I had chosen.
When the three of them opened their eyes again, the light from the crystal ball had already condensed into gentle starlight, dancing around them like countless fireflies.
Xuan Ming’s gray and white robe was illuminated by the starlight. The blood and tears in his left eye had dried up at some point, revealing the pale golden pupil underneath: Very good.
Not only did you face your fear, you found something more powerful than your fear.
He raised his hand, and the altar’s light vein suddenly turned into a silver river of light, unfolding a star map in front of the three people: the Shadow Society’s final plan was hidden in the ground vein node of the Hidden Rain Village.
They wanted to use the power of the time-space scroll to erase a key time point –
The earth veins suddenly trembled violently, and the star map shattered in an instant.
Haruno Na’s mechanical ears moved: Chakra fluctuations… It’s Huanyue!
Jin’s kunai was already unsheathed, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Feiliu’s Sharingan locking onto the depths of the mist.
Xuan Ming’s face changed suddenly: Go!
The space-time rift will not last long——
A dark blue figure stepped out of the fog, the face under the hood was half hidden in the shadows, but it couldn’t hide the sinister smile at the corner of his mouth.
He was spinning a rune needle between his fingertips, with blue light flowing at the end of the needle, like some sealed power of time and space.
Everyone, Huanyue’s voice is like silk soaked in poison. Did you have a pleasant journey?
The altar’s light pulses suddenly reversed, and the crystal ball issued a shrill alarm.
Xuan Ming pushed the three people away: Enter the crack!
A space-time rift opened up at the feet of the three people, and the suction force of a black hole made them stagger.
At the last moment before being sucked in, Jin looked back and saw Huanyue’s rune needle pressing against the compass mark on Xuanming’s heart, and a drop of blood and tears oozed from the other’s gray left eye.
Next stop… The Hidden Rain Village. He chuckled and let the darkness swallow his sight.
In the mist, Huanyue’s fingertips gently stroked the rune needle, and a line of blood words appeared on the needle: The key to time and space is about to be opened.
(The sound of crows crowing can be heard in the distance, and the light of the dark blue rune needle becomes increasingly dazzling in the shadows.)
Chapter 72 Huanyue’s Jedi Counterattack (Old Version)
The altar’s light pulses rolled back like a swimming dragon, and the alarm of the crystal ball pierced people’s eardrums.
Uchiha Jin’s kunai was just half unsheathed when he caught a glimpse of Feiliu’s Sharingan suddenly shrinking in his scarlet pupils. The three magatamas spun rapidly in his scarlet pupils and locked onto the blue figure in the mist.
Everyone, did you have a nice trip?
Huanyue’s voice was like poisoned silk, spreading over with a sinister smile.
He was spinning a rune needle on his fingertips, and the faint blue light at the end of the needle was flowing, which faintly resonated with the compass mark on Xuanming’s heart.
Xuan Ming’s face turned pale as paper in an instant, and he pushed the three people towards the space-time crack at his feet: Go in!
The cracks won’t last long.
The suction force made the person stagger. Before being swallowed, Jin turned back and saw Huanyue’s rune needle against Xuanming’s heart.
Another drop of blood and tear oozed out of the old man’s gray left eye, mixing with the lines on the compass, winding like a bloody centipede.
Next stop…The Hidden Rain Village.
Before darkness engulfed his vision, Jhin heard Huanyue chuckle.
When they opened their eyes again, the three of them had fallen onto the wet stone ground.
The smell of mold and rust rushed into my nostrils. I looked up and saw stalactites hanging from the mottled dome. The dripping water formed a small pool at my feet. This was a natural cave with several kerosene lamps embedded in the cave wall. In the dim light, Haruno Na was rubbing her sore shoulder, and Feiru’s Sharingan remained on alert.
Something is wrong. Fei Liu suddenly spoke, pressing his fingers on the cave wall, and the chakra residue was the same as before.
Before he finished speaking, the sound of dragging chains was heard from deep in the cave.
The blue light pierced the darkness, and Huanyue stepped out from the shadows, his face half hidden and half visible under the hood, and the smile on his lips was even stronger than before: I didn’t expect you to pass Xuanming’s test. He shook the rune needle, and the blue light cast a distorted shadow on the cave wall, but don’t think that this can stop us – the arrival of the Lord of Nothingness is a foregone conclusion.
He remembered that Xuanming had mentioned that the Shadow Society was looking for the ancient god who could tear apart time and space, and the key to time and space in their hands was the key.
The rune needle in Huanyue’s hand at this moment is clearly a part of the key.
“Na, prepare the Thunder Doll,” Jin whispered, while lightly kicking Feiliu’s heel with his toes – this was the secret signal they agreed upon during their special training in Wave Country, signaling to pay attention to the opponent’s space spell.
Haruno Na responded, and the puppet box on her waist snapped open, and a scarlet thunder puppet jumped out of the box, with lightning crackling between the metal joints; Feiliu’s Sharingan turned into two magatama, and his eyes were fixed on the rune needle on Huanyue’s fingertips.
But Huanyue didn’t give them more time to prepare.
He shook his wrist, the rune needle drew a dark blue arc of light, and several energy chains suddenly exploded in the cave!
The chains glowed cold white and wrapped around the ankles of the three people like a living thing, tightening instantly.
Jin could feel the chakra on the chain vibrating at high speed, actually cutting through his chakra protection layer.
Sharingan, copy! Fei Liu gritted his teeth and formed a seal, with three magatama flying in his scarlet pupils.
However, the energy frequency of the chain was constantly changing. It was sharp like the wind attribute one second ago, and turned into heavy like the earth attribute the next. As soon as the Sharingan caught the pattern, it turned into violent like the thunder attribute.
Cold sweat broke out on his forehead: This chain… is simulating the five-attribute chakra!
Use the amplifier! Jhin suddenly shouted.
He was well prepared – before the third Chunin Exam, he asked Konoha craftsmen to improve the chakra amplifier that could convert his own chakra into high-frequency shock waves.
At this moment, he took out a small silver device from his ninja tool bag and pressed it on the chain. The moment he injected chakra, the device made a buzzing sound and the shock wave flowed back along the chain!
The chain snapped.
Jin took the opportunity to roll to avoid the second wave of chains and shouted to Haruno Na: “Battle puppet, focus on the rune needle!” The Thunderbolt Battle Puppet received the order, and its metal arm condensed a blazing thunder ball and blasted it towards Huanyue’s face.
Huanyue did not dodge or evade. The rune needle at his fingertips turned into a vortex of blue light, and the thunder ball was actually sucked directly into the vortex and disappeared into thin air.
Is that all you can do? He sneered and stabbed the rune needle heavily into the ground.
The cave suddenly spun around!
Jhin felt like someone was grabbing his stomach and pulling it up. The kerosene lamps on the cave wall stretched into a faint blue light band, and Haruno Na’s screams seemed to come from a very far distance.
The storm of time and space enveloped them, the scenery was distorted into an absurd oil painting, and even the flow of chakra became sluggish.
Find the core! Jhin bit his tongue to stay awake.
He noticed that the ground beneath Huanyue’s feet was covered with complex runes. Each pattern was emitting a faint blue light, in sync with the fluctuations of the storm. That was the center of the formation! He shouted at the top of his lungs, and at the same time threw out three kunai, deliberately brushing past Huanyue’s ears.
Huanyue turned around and locked her eyes on Jhin.
Haruno Na took the opportunity to snap her fingers, and the metal toes of the Thunder Doll kicked the wall of the cave, and it went around behind Huanyue like a streak of red lightning.
A poisoned kunai popped out from the puppet’s right hand and stabbed accurately at the center of the formation!
Sparks flew.
Huanyue made a hand seal at some point, and a transparent barrier suddenly rose up in the center of the formation, leaving only white marks when the kunai hit it.
His laughter grew even louder: Do you think you won?
Too naive. Before he finished speaking, the rune needle suddenly burst into a dazzling blue light, a dull roar came from the depths of the cave, and the stalactites on the top of the cave began to fall.
The altar is going to collapse! Fei Liu shouted.
His Sharingan had already recorded the details of the twenty-three types of Fantasy Moon techniques, but he had no time to sort them out at the moment.
Jin looked at the gradually shrinking space-time crack – the crack that was interrupted by Huanyue just now appeared again, but it was smaller than before, like a black hole that would close at any time.
Run! Jin grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and grabbed Feiliu’s collar with his other hand.
The three of them were running wildly in the collapsed cave, with rubble constantly falling on their heads. The Thunder War Doll was at the rear, using its metal arms to provide protection.
Huanyue’s laughter mixed with roars came: The key to time and space will eventually be opened…You are nothing but the marks on the key!
When the crack was only half a person’s width, Jhin jumped up with all his strength.
Haruno Na’s war doll pushed his back at the last moment, and he threw himself into the crack and grabbed Feiru’s hand with his backhand.
Haruno Na rushed in with gritted teeth, and the end of her hair was scratched by the closed crack, leaving a bloody mark.
Darkness fell again.
When the three of them fell on the solid ground, raindrops were pouring down on their heads.
Jin wiped the water off his face and looked up to see the faded wooden sign stuck diagonally in the mud. The words washed out by the rain were clearly visible.
Hidden Rain Village: North
Haruno Na suddenly took a breath.
She pointed at the back of Jhin’s hand – a dark blue rune had appeared there at some point, glowing slightly with the rhythm of his heartbeat, like a sealed little snake.
Feiliu’s Sharingan suddenly shrank.
He looked at the tall tower looming in the rain in the distance, and his voice was deep: Chakra reaction… and Huan Yue’s rune needle, the same origin.
The rain is getting heavier.
The shadows of the three people were lengthened by the rain, overlapping with the faint blue lines on the ground.
The cry of crows could be heard in the distance, mixed with the faint sound of spells, drifting into the depths of the rain curtain.
Chapter 73 The Truth Behind the Cracks (Old Version)
The rain curtain was torn into pieces the moment the three people fell into the crack.
The surging air current in the darkness suddenly stagnated, and Jin’s back hit some warm and cool substance, as if he had stepped into clouds soaked in moonlight.
He instinctively curled up his body to protect his head, but heard the buzzing sound of Haruno Na’s war doll’s iron arms brushing against the void – this was not mud, not the wet soil of the Hidden Rain Village, not even the touch of any ninja world he was familiar with.
Breathe. Haruno Na’s palm pressed on the back of his neck, the rough calluses through the water marks soothing him.
When Jhin opened his eyes, the first thing that hit his pupils was the stardust in the sky.
Those points of light were denser and more vivid than the stars on the Hokage Rock, as if someone had crushed the entire Milky Way and scattered it over their heads. Each point was trembling slightly, like the pulse of some living thing.
Chakra concentration… is three times the normal value. Fei Liu half-squatted, pressing his fingertips on the ground.
His Sharingan glowed scarlet in the darkness, and the three magatama slowly turned. The material of the ground… was not rock, not metal, but more like some kind of solidified chakra energy. The boy suddenly looked up and looked at the edge of the island – where they were was a huge land floating in the void, with lavender mist rolling at the edge, and vaguely saw other similar islands floating in the mist, like dandelions blown by the wind.
The intersection of parallel worlds. Fei Liu’s voice tightened. I have seen ancient records in the Intelligence Department that such anchor points are occasionally formed in the turbulence of time and space, connecting fragmented worlds of different dimensions.
No wonder the Shadow Society is eyeing Huanyue’s Key to Time and Space – this is their real target.
Jhin followed his gaze.
In the center of the island, a black stone tablet three times as tall as the Hokage Rock rose from the ground. Its surface was covered with spiral runes, and each line glowed with a faint blue light, like a living creature awakened by some force.
Just as he was about to take a step closer, an old voice like sandpaper rubbing against each other suddenly sounded in his ears: Stop.
The three of them turned around at the same time.
An old man in a white robe stood behind them at some point, his long gray hair lifted by stardust, as if immersed in the flowing Milky Way.
His eyes were pure silver, without pupils, but reminded Jin of the ancient scrolls recording forbidden techniques in the Uchiha family’s ancestral hall – that was the look in the eyes of someone who had seen through the years.
I am Xinghen, a time traveler. The old man raised his hand, his fingertips cut through the air, and a streak of light cut through the mist like a knife, revealing the twisted totem engraved on the bottom of the stone tablet. What the Shadow Society wants is not the key, but this stone tablet.
They wanted to use it as a bolt to pry open the dimension where the Lord of Nothingness existed.
The Lord of Nothingness? Haruno Na tightly grasped the puppet string around her waist, and the iron claw puppet clicked beside her. What the hell was that?
An existence older than the Otsutsuki. Xinghen’s silver eyes reflected the runes on the stone tablet. The rune needle in Huanyue’s hand that you met before was essentially a fragment peeled off from this stone tablet.
By activating the stele with seven rune needles, the dimensional barrier can be torn open – and the Lord of Nothingness is waiting to be released.
There was a sudden burning pain on the back of Jhin’s hand.
He lowered his head and saw a dark blue rune crawling up his wrist without him noticing. Like a living snake, it was moving towards his elbow with his heartbeat. Was this… being marked by a rune needle?
It’s resonance. Xinghen glanced at him. When you passed through the cracks in time and space, your bodies were branded by the power of the stone tablet.
Now the Shadow Society can locate you with their eyes closed. He paused and took out a palm-sized bronze compass from his sleeve. The only thing that can stop them is the Space-Time Balancer.
That thing can offset the power of the rune needle and make the resonance of the stone tablet ineffective.
Where? Jhin asked directly.
In the space-time rift. Xinghen’s tone was flat, but the flow of time in the rift was chaotic, and the space overlapped into hundreds of mirror worlds.
Those who enter will either be swallowed up by their own reflection or be trapped in a loop forever.
I tried it once three hundred years ago and nearly lost my life.
Haruno Na’s puppet’s iron claws suddenly stabbed into the ground, splashing stardust-like light dust: We have to go there too.
We can’t just watch them release the monsters.
Jhin touched the dagger at his waist.
He used the money he earned from his first mission to hire a craftsman from the Iron Country to make this sword. The scabbard was engraved with the fire emblem of the Uchiha family. Although he was only a branch, this was the most secure thing he could find. Fei Liu stayed. He suddenly said, your Sharingan can analyze runes and help the senior crack the code of the stone tablet.
Nai and I went to get the balancer.
Feiliu’s three magatama suddenly shrank.
He wanted to say something, but was interrupted by Jin: “You staying here is the fastest support.” The boy opened his mouth, and finally nodded, pressing his fingertips on the stone tablet. The moment his Sharingan turned, the runes on the surface of the stone tablet suddenly came alive and rushed into the sky like a group of startled fireflies.
Take it. Xinghen put the compass into Jin’s hand. This thing can sense the position of the balancer, but it can only be used three times.
Remember, don’t touch any of your selves when you encounter a mirror world, they will absorb your chakra. He turned and walked towards the stone tablet, his white hair curling in the stardust, going and coming back quickly.
The Shadow Society members…should have arrived.
Before he finished speaking, the purple mist at the edge of the island suddenly boiled.
Dozens of dark shadows emerged from the fog.
The skin of those people was gray, their eyeballs were empty black holes, and rusty gears were exposed at their joints. They were clearly puppets driven by spells – but unlike Haruno Na’s war puppets, the chakra fluctuations of these puppets were mixed with distorted forces of time and space, and every step they took would leave charred cracks on the ground.
Space-time puppet. Fei Liu’s voice turned cold. This forbidden product of the Shadow Society could temporarily control space.
Nai, protect the compass! He pulled out his kunai with his backhand, and locked onto the nearest puppet with his Sharingan – but those monsters didn’t come towards him at all, but turned collectively towards the stone tablet. The spikes on the mechanical arms glowed with a faint blue light, which was the same chakra as the rune needle.
Let’s go! Jin dragged Haruno Na towards the entrance of the rift on the other side of the island.
There was a sound of metal collision from behind. It was Feiliu’s kunai brushing against the puppet’s joints. Xinghen’s white robe rolled like waves, and the light blades that popped out from his fingertips chopped the puppet that pounced on the stone tablet into pieces.
But more puppets emerged from the fog, like an hourglass that would never run out.
Hold on to me! Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly spread its wings, and the iron wings rolled up a gust of wind, carrying the two people into the entrance of the rift.
When Jin looked back for the last time, he saw that Feiliu’s Sharingan had turned into four magatama – that was a state he had never seen before. There was stardust-like light flowing in the boy’s pupils, and he actually broke the movement trajectory of the three puppets in an instant.
The darkness in the rift was thicker than expected.
As soon as the soles of Jhin’s boots touched the ground, the scene before his eyes began to distort.
On the left was the Konoha training ground where Team 7 was practicing shuriken, and on the right was the burning Uchiha clan land, the flames illuminating a childhood he had never seen – his mother holding him as she ran through the corridor, with Obito’s shouting behind her.
Haruno Na in front of him was laughing, her puppet strings were wrapped around his neck, and her iron claws were against his Adam’s apple: Do you think you can stop the Shadow Society?
You are just their dog.
Don’t touch it! Haruno Na’s puppet iron claw swept across, shattering the false self.
The fragments of the mirror world shattered like glass, revealing the gray space behind.
Jhin’s compass suddenly became hot, and the needle spun wildly, finally pointing to the darkness on the right: Over there!
As the two rushed into the darkness, the ground suddenly collapsed.
By the time they had steadied themselves, the mirror world around them had transformed into countless overlapping versions of themselves—some were fighting, some were laughing, and some were bleeding.
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly made a buzzing sound like an alarm, and its iron claws pointed to the blank area in the center: There is something there!
Jhin looked over there.
There stood a ten-story-tall mechanical guard, its shell made of dark purple chakra metal, and its eyes were two rotating black holes that were constantly devouring the surrounding mirror world.
On its chest was engraved the same spiral rune as the stone tablet, and at its feet, a diamond-shaped crystal with rainbow light was suspended – that should be the space-time balancer.
It seems that the Shadow Society has been waiting here for a long time. Jhin took out his short knife, and the blade reflected the red light in the guard’s eyes.
Haruno Na’s puppet growled, and when its iron wings spread out, it created a hurricane that tore the surrounding mirror world into pieces.
The mechanical guard’s joints made a roar of metallic friction.
It slowly lowered its head, and its black hole-like eyes locked onto the compass in Jhin’s hand – that red light looked very much like Huanyue’s last crazy laugh.
Watch out! Haruno Na’s puppet string wrapped around Jin’s waist and pulled him to the side.
Almost at the same time, a laser-like beam of chakra shot out from the guard’s right arm, burning a large charred hole where they had just stood.
Jin’s back hit the Hokage Rock in the mirror world. Amid the flying gravel, he saw a brighter light condensing on the guard’s fingertips – that was a killing move that would completely vaporize them.
The dagger felt hot in his hand.
Jhin gritted his teeth and rolled to his feet. The moment the blade cut through his palm, blood splattered on the fire pattern on the scabbard.
A familiar heat rose from his dantian – that was the intuition he had tempered through countless cheating, scheming, and escapes from death: this battle must be won.
The mechanical guard’s eyes glowed red.
The next second, its attack came down like thunder.
Chapter 74: Trial of the Mirror Guardian (Old Version)
The moment the mechanical guard’s eyes glowed red, the air seemed to be drained of all its temperature.
Uchiha Jin’s pupils shrank slightly, and the moment the short sword was placed across his chest, the chakra beam that was powerful enough to vaporize rocks had already fallen down.
The sound of metal clashing made his eardrums hurt and the blood vessels in his arms bulged – how could this be an ordinary puppet?
It is clearly a war weapon powered by the chakra of a Kage-level warrior!
Left! Haruno Na’s roar mixed with the whistling sound of the puppet’s iron wings cutting through the air.
Purple arcs of electricity leapt around the Thunder Doll’s body, and its bronze claws grabbed the guard’s neck like lightning.
Unexpectedly, the mechanical guard turned its head to dodge, and its right arm suddenly twisted 180 degrees. The laser beam passed through the abdomen of the war doll and melted a charred hole in the bronze armor.
It can predict movements! Jin gritted his teeth and rolled to avoid the guard’s sweeping leg blade, leaving bloody marks on his back from scratching on the mirror image of the Hokage Rock.
Out of the corner of his eye he caught a glimpse of a ball of faint blue light on the guard’s chest – it was the same kind of ore as the rune needle that Huanyue had used to pierce his shoulder blade!
That day in the Valley of the End, Huanyue used this thing to forcibly extract his chakra, and at this moment, the same fluctuations were clearly flowing in the blue light.
Nai, hold its right arm! Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and spun the dagger in his palm.
He deliberately staggered towards the Konoha gate at the edge of the mirror world, and the broken mirror wall reflected his crooked figure.
The guard’s mechanical eyeballs moved slightly, and indeed adjusted the angle, with the laser beam accurately locking onto his back.
Now! Jhin growled and kicked the mirror hard with his toes.
Haruno Na’s puppet string sprang out like a poisonous snake, wrapped around his waist and pulled violently, and the two figures drew an arc in mid-air.
At the same time, the iron tail of the Thunder Doll smashed hard into the guard’s right arm joint – this time the guard did not dodge, but swung his left arm to meet it. With the sound of metal collision, the doll’s tail vertebrae was actually broken!
Shit! Haruno Na gritted her teeth, blood from her fingertips seeping into the puppet strings.
The doll suddenly roared to the sky, and countless thin chakra chains exploded from its wings behind it, wrapping around the guards’ arms like spider webs. Cinder!
The core is in the chest! Her voice was accompanied by the humming of chakra resonance, and the lightning chakra on the chain burned the surface of the machine crazily, sparks flying everywhere.
The guard’s movements visibly slowed down.
Jin took the opportunity to bite his fingertips, and blood dripped onto the fire pattern on the scabbard of the short sword – this was a chakra amplifier that he had improved using the information he obtained from cheating in the three Chunin exams.
The boiling chakra surged through his body like magma, he jumped up on the shoulder of the war doll, and the chakra blade condensed by the short sword drew a red light track in the air and stabbed the blue light accurately!
Click——
The crisp sound was mixed with the explosion of electric current.
The blue crystal on the guard’s chest cracked into spider web patterns, and the mechanical joints let out a dying whine.
Jhin staggered two steps when he landed, with the dagger deeply embedded in the ground. He looked up and saw Haruno Na wiping the blood off her face and making a gesture to him that it was done.
But the next second, their smiles froze on their faces.
The sky in the mirror world is like glass being kneaded by invisible hands, with cracks spreading from all directions.
The Hokage Rock in the distance suddenly collapsed, and the rubble turned into light spots and dissipated in mid-air; black mist seeped out from the scorch marks of the previous battle, corroding the surrounding mirror images.
The space is about to collapse! Jin grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and pointed to the flickering light gate deep in the rift.
The remaining wings of the Thunder Doll barely spread out, and when it carried the two people and broke through the last mirror wall, a loud bang was heard behind it – the entire mirror space completely collapsed into a black vortex.
The wind blowing in my face smells like rust.
Jhin squinted his eyes and looked around: in the desolate valley, broken rune pillars were leaning here and there, and the spells engraved on the pillars were still glowing with a faint green light.
Haruno Na’s puppet pricked up its iron ears alertly and suddenly made a low mechanical sound: The residual chakra concentration is abnormal.
Look at the ground. Jin squatted down, his fingertips traced half a shoe print in the mud – it was the standard anti-slip boot pattern of the Anbu, but there was a crescent-shaped wear on the heel. At least three people from the Shadow Society passed by three hours ago. When he looked up, his eyes were slightly cold. They arrived earlier than us.
So what?
A sinister voice came from the end of the valley.
The Sand Scorpion stepped out of the shadows wearing a dark purple cloak, seven poison-tipped short blades hanging from his waist, and the centipede tattoo on his left cheek twisted with a sneer at the corner of his mouth.
The rune pillar behind him suddenly lit up red, and the ground shook slightly.
You’ve arrived just in time. The tip of the sand scorpion’s finger slashed across a short blade, and the tip of the blade picked up a piece of gravel and threw it into the air.
Just as the gravel rose to half a meter high, three chakra spikes suddenly emerged from the ground, pinning the gravel into a sieve. My newly improved ground spike array requires a living creature to test the trigger sensitivity.
Haruno Na’s puppet instantly stood in front of the two of them, with its iron wings spread out to protect the back.
Jhin unsheathed his dagger and caught a glimpse of the soil on the ground moving – countless tiny chakra threads extended from the rune pillars, crawling all over the valley like blood vessels.
“Hello, the war doll protects the left side,” Jin whispered, while his right hand quietly pressed towards the kunai bag at his waist.
The Sand Scorpion’s eyes swept over his movements and he laughed even more happily: Don’t rush to resist, these ground spikes… will chase after Chakra.
Before he finished speaking, a dense scream suddenly erupted from the ground.
Dozens of chakra spikes glowing purple shot up from the feet of the two men, forcing them towards the rune formation in the center of the valley.
Haruno Na controlled the war doll and swung her claws to chop two of them, but more spikes emerged from under the doll’s feet, instantly penetrating the bronze armor and sparks bursting at the mechanical joints.
Retreat! Jin dragged Haruno Na and rolled over on the ground, his back hitting a broken rune pillar.
He could clearly feel that the attack frequency of those spikes was changing with the chakra fluctuations of the two people – when the battle doll used Lightning Release just now, the density of the spikes increased by at least 30%.
The sand scorpion’s laughter mixed with the sound of sharp piercing through the air, echoing in the valley.
Jhin wiped the sweat from his forehead, and glanced at the approaching group of spikes. Suddenly, he noticed the chakra sheen flowing through the spike tips – they had the same frequency of fluctuation as the blue crystal guarding his chest and Huan Yue’s rune needle.
These traps…are powered by the same energy. He murmured, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the fire pattern on the scabbard of the dagger.
Haruno Na’s palm covered over, the warmth of her palm coming through the glove: What are you thinking about?
Just survive this first.
Jhin looked up and met her bloodstained but still clear eyes.
He suddenly smiled, and the dagger turned a silver arc at his fingertips: Don’t worry, I have an idea –
The voice was interrupted by a more violent tremor.
The ground beneath their feet suddenly cracked, and three chakra spikes that were three times thicker than before shot up into the sky, and the air waves they created overturned Haruno Na’s puppet.
Jhin gritted his teeth and pulled her to the left, only to see that the ground on the left also began to bulge, and the outlines of countless spikes were looming under the soil, like a group of poisonous snakes waiting for an opportunity to strike.
The sand scorpion’s fingers slowly clenched into a fist.
In the valley, the roar of chakra spikes and the rapid heartbeats of the two people reached their peak at the same time.
Chapter 75: The Battle of Rune Traps (Old Version)
The buzzing sound from the spikes in the valley piercing the air almost shattered Uchiha Jin’s eardrums.
He stared at the spikes that glowed with a faint blue luster, his Adam’s apple rolling – the blue crystal on the chest of the guard he saw in the Black Rock Stronghold three days ago, and the rune needle of Huanyue that pierced his shoulder socket, all found the same vibration frequency on these spikes.
Nai! He grabbed Haruno Nai’s bloody wrist with his backhand, and the fire pattern on the scabbard of the short sword was warmed by his palm. These traps are driven by the same chakra source, and the core is in the scroll in the hand of the sand scorpion!
Haruno Na’s lightning-patterned gloves lightly tapped the back of his hand as a response.
She looked up at the sky that was torn apart by sharp spikes, and suddenly blew a loud whistle.
With a roar, the Thunder Doll behind her suddenly spread its arms – it was a mechanical creation made of twenty pieces of lightning chakra paper. At this moment, it was crackling with purple arcs of electricity, and its metal joints were glowing coldly in the sun.
The old rules, I start the fire and you tear down the stove! She kicked away a piece of gravel at her feet, and the iron hoof of the war doll had already crushed the three approaching spikes.
The Sand Scorpion obviously did not expect that this seemingly clumsy puppet would have such a quick reaction. As his pupils shrank slightly, the rune scroll unfolded in his palm, and dark red spells crawled all over the edge of the scroll like a living thing.
The ground suddenly surged, and dozens of sharp spikes like steel needles emerged from under the feet of the war puppet.
Haruno Na let out a low shout, and six chains suddenly popped out from the war doll’s tail vertebrae, accurately hooking onto the rock walls on both sides.
With the help of this pulling force, the war doll actually leaped into the air with her entire body. Electric arcs burst out from the war doll’s fingertips, exploding a lightning net above the sand scorpion’s head.
Interesting. The sand scorpion’s mouth widened, and his skinny fingers quickly formed seals on the scroll.
The originally clear valley was suddenly filled with gray fog, as if the sky had been dyed with ink.
There was a rustling sound of stones rubbing against each other in the mist, and Jin’s eyelashes were instantly wet – this mist was not ordinary water vapor, each particle was wrapped in tiny chakra, and was drilling into his lungs through his nasal cavity, trying to interfere with his perception.
Shadow clones! He bit his fingertips and slashed the dagger. Three clones instantly sprang out from behind him, rushing towards the three directions where the fog was thickest.
His main body rolled into the fog along the ground, and his right hand quietly reached for the chakra amplifier at his waist – that was a small device he improved using modern physics knowledge, which could amplify his own chakra frequency tenfold.
Visibility in the fog was less than five steps.
Jin closed his eyes and let the vibration of the amplifier spread throughout his body through his palms.
He could clearly feel that the Sand Scorpion’s chakra was like a taut string, vibrating regularly at intervals of 0.3 seconds.
And the attack rhythm of those spikes is completely synchronized with the vibration!
I see. His fingers quickly adjusted the frequency on the amplifier, tuning his own chakra to the same frequency band as the Sand Scorpion.
When the first wave of spikes rose up from his feet again, he swung his sword fiercely at the ground – not to attack, but to inject his own chakra into the soil along the blade.
The tip of the spike suddenly stopped.
Those chakra creations that were originally unstoppable seemed to be immobilized at this moment, and they were shaking violently ten centimeters away from Jin’s chest, and the dark blue sheen on their surface became mottled.
This way! Haruno Na’s shout penetrated the mist.
Jhin opened his eyes and saw the war doll’s iron arm smashing through a thick fog, revealing the sand scorpion’s slightly panicked face.
It turned out that his interference not only disrupted the trap, but also caused a flaw in the control of the Sand Scorpion – Haruno Na took the opportunity to get close, and the iron hooves of the war doll had already crushed the three rune-carved stones at the feet of the Sand Scorpion.
Do you think you can win like this? Sand Scorpion suddenly laughed, his nails scratched bloody marks on the scroll. The real threat has just begun!
The earth-shaking roar was faster than his words.
Jhin felt as if the ground beneath his feet had been pulled out of his bones, and he fell half a foot down.
Looking up, I saw that the originally steep rock walls were peeling off in pieces, and rubble was falling like a rainstorm, and all the collapse directions were strangely converging towards the center of the valley – there was an ancient altar covered with vines, which was now cracking into spider-web-like patterns due to the vibration.
Altar! Jin instantly grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist. He wanted to trap us in the center of the collapse. There was a problem there!
Haruno Na’s battle doll immediately opened its arms to form a protective shield, blocking the falling debris for the two.
The figure of the Sand Scorpion was looming in the dust and smoke. His scroll was now glowing with a strange red light, and he was obviously overdrawing his chakra to drive a larger trap.
Jhin gritted his teeth and adjusted the amplifier to the highest level. The fire pattern on the dagger suddenly burned with red chakra – that was his improved high-frequency shock wave, which was specifically designed for rune-based techniques.
Go! He swung his hand and slashed out with a blade, and the shock wave pierced through the mist like a sharp arrow.
A string of sparks suddenly burst out from the Sand Scorpion’s scroll. He staggered back with a muffled groan, and the spells on the scroll began to go out in pieces.
Now is the time! Haruno Na’s doll knocked away the last piece of rubble, and the two of them stumbled onto the altar.
The vines broke under their feet, revealing the dark blue rock underneath. It was densely engraved with runes, each of which glowed the same dark blue as the spikes.
What made Jhin’s pupils shrink even more was that these runes actually formed a complete teleportation array, with half a piece of blue crystal, the same as the one in the Black Rock Chamber, embedded in the center.
What is Heiyan going to transmit through here? Haruno Na’s fingertips touched the rune, Iwagakure Village… Could this be the key to the coup?
You can’t get to that point. Sand Scorpion’s voice came from behind.
His scroll was already charred, but the madness in his eyes was even stronger. Even if he destroyed me, Lord Heiyan’s plan would not stop—
His words were interrupted by the hum of the altar.
The runes suddenly began to rotate, and the blue crystal burst out with a dazzling light, enveloping the two of them in blue light.
Jin felt a strong force pulling at his soul. Haruno Na’s hand was tightening in his palm, and the figures of the two gradually became transparent.
The portal is activated! Jhin yelled in the bright light, Hold on!
The screams of the sand scorpion were left behind.
When the light faded, the two were already standing on another piece of land.
The air here has a strong smell of sulfur, and the iconic ochre-colored city wall of Iwagakure Village can be seen in the distance.
But before they could see their surroundings clearly, a crack suddenly appeared in the ground, and countless runes identical to those in the valley crawled out of the crack and wrapped around their ankles like living things.
Haruno Na pulled out the kunai from her waist and was about to cut the rune, but Jhin held her wrist.
He stared at the flickering blue light on the runes, his eyes suddenly becoming solemn – the vibration frequency of these runes was ten times more complex than that of the Sand Scorpion’s scroll.
“Nah,” he whispered, “The trouble in Iwagakure Village is much bigger than we thought.”
Before he finished speaking, a low roar was heard in the distance.
The two looked up and saw a flag with a black scorpion painted on it on top of the tallest tower in the Hidden Rock Village, with its corner blown up by the wind.
Chapter 76: Undercurrents in the Hidden Rock Village (Old Version)
The smell of sulfur wrapped in hot wind filled his nostrils. As soon as Uchiha Jin’s boots touched the ground, he heard the crisp sound of porcelain breaking coming from the end of the alley.
He quickly pulled Haruno Na behind the bluestone wall and glanced at the crooked wooden houses on both sides – several villagers wrapped in coarse turbans were running fast with pottery jars in their arms. The baby in the arms of an old woman was frightened and cried. She patted the child’s back with shaking hands: “Master Heiyan’s Iron Horn Team is arresting people again, saying that they want to eliminate the ‘restless termites’…”
“What the hell is going on here?” Haruno Na loosened her hand that was holding the kunai, her knuckles turning white from the force.
Her voice was very low, but the ending tone was still a bit impatient – this girl who always said “I’m not afraid of anything” was now staring at the newly painted black scorpion pattern on the wall on the corner of the street. The pattern was exactly the same as the totem on the sand scorpion scroll.
As soon as he finished speaking, the sound of cloth rubbing against each other came from the shadows.
A man dressed in the standard gray-brown ninja uniform of the Iwagakure Village appeared from under the eaves of a house piled with torn straw mats. His forehead protector was tied diagonally above his left eye, revealing an old scar extending from his brow bone to his chin.
He pressed his finger on his lips, his eyes first swept over the Konoha forehead guard on Jin’s waist, then fell on the puppet thread spool pinned on Haruno Na’s back, and whispered: “I am Shifeng, the former captain of the Anbu of the Hidden Rock Village. Since the two of you can pass through the Sand Scorpion’s teleportation array and come here, you should not be from the Black Rock.”
Jin noticed that the opponent’s right hand was always on the kunai handle, but his knuckles were not tense – this was a posture that showed he was ready to fight at any time, but also left some room for maneuver.
He calmly released Haruno Na’s wrist and took a half step forward: “We came from the Kingdom of Wind to chase the sand scorpion, and were transported here by the teleportation array on the way.”
Shi Feng’s pupils shrank slightly, and the skin under the scar twitched: “Sand scorpion? That old thing is really in cahoots with Hei Yan… Come with me.” He turned and went into the rice warehouse at the end of the alley, lifted the haystack filled with brown rice, revealing a hole in the ground that was only wide enough for one person to pass through.
Three tung oil lamps were lit in the basement, and the light was as dim as aged honey.
Sitting against the wall was a woman in indigo coarse cloth with a faded carnation in her hair. When she saw them come in, she immediately stood up and said, “Shi Feng, who are these two?”
“Friends from Konoha.” Shifeng sealed the hole again, “Mokuhana, tell them what happened to Kuroiwa.”
Momoka rubbed her floury hands, her eyes bloodshot. “The elders’ meeting will be held in three days. Heiyan bribed Captain Tiejiao, saying that he wanted to ‘eliminate the diehards in the elders’ council who were obstructing reform.’ But his so-called reform was to turn Iwagakure into his own private army camp! Last night, the third elder’s grandson was dragged away by the Tiejiao team, saying that he was ‘collaborating with the enemy’ -” She suddenly choked and grabbed the ceramic cup on the table and took a sip of water. “This morning I went to the pharmacy to buy medicine for injuries, and saw bloody ninja tool bags piled up in the back alley… Those belonged to ordinary villagers.”
Jin’s fingertips tapped lightly on the wooden table. A half-grain of rice was stuck in the crack on the corner of the table. “The key to the coup is in the parliament hall. The defense system of Iwagakure has always relied on the earth escape barrier, but if Heiyan wants to control the parliament, he will definitely tamper with the system – such as setting up a mechanism in advance to block the exit.”
“How do you know?” Shi Feng raised his eyebrows.
“The Sand Scorpion’s teleportation array uses rune magic.” Jhin pointed to his ankle – there was still a red mark left by the runes when teleporting. “The Rock Village’s defense system was carved by the first generation of Tsuchikage using the earth veins. Sand Scorpions are masters of forbidden magic and are best at tampering with ancient runes. If I were Black Rock, I would have the Sand Scorpions plant traps in the barrier runes of the council hall, and when the elders arrive, I would directly lock all the exits.”
Muhua’s hands clenched the corners of his clothes tightly. “The leyline node of the parliament hall is below the altar! Last month, Heiyan sent a team of ninjas in under the pretext of ‘repairs’, saying that they wanted to reinforce the barrier…”
“So we need to confirm Black Rock’s layout.” Jhin stood up, “I’m going to go check out Black Rock’s base.”
“Too dangerous!” Haruno Na slapped the table, and the puppet spool left an afterimage in her palm. “That place must be heavily guarded. You alone——”
“I’ll go with him.” Shi Feng interrupted her, took out a faded map of Iwagakure from his arms, and drew a circle in the west of the city with the tip of his knife. “Hei Yan’s secret base is in the abandoned steel mill. He has been meeting some strange people there recently. I used to be the captain of his personal guards, and I know there is a ventilation duct at the back door that we can get in.”
Haruno Na gritted her teeth, grabbed the kunai on the table and put it back on her waist: “Okay, then I’ll stay here to guard Muhua. If anyone dares to come, I’ll let them taste the power of the Nohara family’s animal-taming puppets.” She winked at Muhua, who forced a smile.
The iron door of the steel plant was badly rusted. When Shi Feng used a kunai to open the lock, the creaking sound of the door hinge was particularly harsh in the empty factory.
Jin followed him and crouched into a corner where scrap metal was piled. The damp smell of rust mixed with a sweet and greasy smell hit his face – it was blood.
“Last month, three Chunins who opposed Kuroiwa were executed here.” Shifeng’s voice was like ice water, “Their blood was poured on the ground, and it was said that it could ‘calm the earth veins’.”
The two of them groped their way to the second floor along the wall. Through the window with half of the glass broken, they saw Heiyan standing in the shadow with his back to them.
This jonin captain from the Hidden Rock Village was more muscular than Jin had imagined. His broad shoulders almost burst through his ninja uniform, and on the back of his neck was tattooed a black scorpion, the same one as the one on the Sand Scorpion Scroll.
“The rune needle must be inserted into the ground vein node on the day of the meeting.” The voice of the sand scorpion was like sandpaper scraping against a stone slab. His skinny fingers pinched a three-inch long silver needle, and the needle body was covered with dark blue runes. “When the barrier is activated, those old guys won’t even have a chance to cast a seal–“
“That’s enough.” Heiyan turned around, with a fresh scratch on his left cheek. “Any news from the Lord of Nothingness? The forbidden scroll he promised…”
He clearly saw the pupils of the sand scorpion shrink into needle points in an instant, and the veins on the back of his withered hands bulged: “It is not your place to ask about the master’s affairs. Captain Black Rock, you just need to do your duty -“
The rotten wood of the floor groaned desperately under Jhin’s feet.
Heiyan’s head turned suddenly, with a fierce light like a beast in his eyes: “Who!”
Shifeng’s reaction was faster than Jin’s.
He pushed Jhin into the pile of debris next to him and threw the kunai in his hand towards Heiyan’s throat.
Heiyan dodged sideways and drew out the short knife from his waist with his backhand. The dark yellow sheen of earth-style chakra flowed on the blade.
The sand scorpion screamed and slapped the ground. The runes that had been seen in the valley of the Kingdom of Wind emerged from the cracks in the floor tiles and coiled around the ankles of the two men like living poisonous snakes.
“Go!” Shi Feng threw out three smoke bombs, and yellow smoke instantly covered the second floor.
Jhin was pushed by him to run towards the ventilation duct. Behind him, Heiyan roared: “Chase him! If you’re alive, you must be killed. If you’re dead–“
“It doesn’t matter if I die?” Jhin condensed Wind Style Chakra in his palm while running and slapped the iron net at the entrance of the pipe.
The moment the wind blade tore through the rust, he heard the sinister laughter of the Sand Scorpion piercing through the smoke: “Little mice of Konoha, let me tell you, Hokage-sama… The wrath of the Lord of Nothingness will soon burn through the entire ninja world.”
The wind in the ventilation duct was so strong that it was impossible to open my eyes.
By the time the two men stumbled out of the pipe, alarm bells were wailing from the direction of the steel mill.
Shi Feng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. He had been cut when he was dodging the runes. He tore off the corner of his clothes to bandage it. His voice was as steady as a rock. “They can’t catch up. This pipe leads to the underground sewer.”
Jhin didn’t say anything.
He touched the small notebook in his arms – just now in the chaos, he used his fingernails to carve the pattern of rune needles and the four words “Lord of Nothingness” on the palm of his hand.
Only after Shi Feng took him around three streets and confirmed that there were no pursuers did the two return to the basement.
Haruno Na and Konoha were guarding the stairs. The former had two bloody kunai hanging on her puppet’s spool, and it was obvious that she had just dealt with two blind spies.
Seeing them coming back, Haruno Na rushed over in two steps and checked Jin up and down to see if he was injured. Only when she was sure that he was just a little scratched did she breathe a sigh of relief: “How is it?”
Jin glanced at Muhua, then at Shifeng, and said slowly with his knuckles against his chin: “Black Rock and Sand Scorpion plan to use rune needles to block the parliament hall. What’s more troublesome is…” He paused, his eyes swept across the tense faces of the three people, “They mentioned a being called ‘Lord of Nothingness’.”
The oil lamp in the basement shook suddenly, and the wick burst into sparks.
Konoha put his hand on his chest, his voice trembling, “Lord of Nothingness… I heard from my grandfather that this name was recorded in the oldest forbidden technique book of the Hidden Rock Village. It is said that… it is a monster that can control the earth veins and turn the entire mountain into a living thing.”
Shi Feng’s scar glowed pale blue under the lamplight: “It seems that Hei Yan’s ambition is much greater than we thought.”
Jhin stared down at the marks on his palm, the rune patterns faintly visible under his skin.
He remembered the expression on Sand Scorpion’s face when he said “his anger will burn through the entire ninja world” – that was not madness, but a fanaticism that was close to piety.
“Three days later.” He raised his head, his eyes like a sharp blade, “We must destroy the rune needle and all arrangements of Black Rock before the elders’ meeting.”
Haruno Na’s puppet spool spun neatly between her fingers: “What do you need me to do?”
Shi Feng pressed the kunai handle: “I will contact the Anbu that has not been controlled by Hei Yan.”
Muhua tightly grasped the Dianthus in her arms and said, “I will go and mobilize the villagers so that they can block the way of the Iron Horn Team at the critical moment.”
Jhin looked at the three serious faces and suddenly smiled.
He remembered the excitement he felt when facing a blank test paper when he was cheating in ninja school – this time, what he was going to write was not the score, but the fate of the Iwagakure Village.
“Remember.” His voice was as light as the wind, but it was filled with unquestionable determination. “Our goal is not to stop the coup. Our goal is to eliminate all the ashes of Black Rock’s conspiracy.”
Chapter 77 The Secret of the Council Hall (Old Version)
The oil lamp in the basement cast a dim light in the draft. Uchiha Jin spread the rune rubbings he had taken from the cracks in the base’s wall on the stone table, and his fingertips traced the twisted snake-like marks: “The rune technique of the Sand Scorpion is more complicated than I imagined. These are not just seals, but more like some kind of energy conduction array.” When he looked up, his pupils reflected dancing flames. “Heiyan doesn’t want to control the parliament, but to make the entire power system of Iwagakure completely at his disposal – and the core mechanism is in the parliament hall.”
Shi Feng’s knuckles pressed against his chin, and his scar twisted into a deep frown. “The hall is the power center of Iwagakure. Tiejiao and twenty elite Chunins take turns guarding it. Every wall is embedded with chakra sensing stones. Even a fly flying in will trigger an alarm.” He pulled out the kunai from his waist and drew a crooked map on the ground. “There are three trap belts at the main entrance, and there is an earth formation set by the Rock Release ninja at the side door. There is also a mechanism on the roof that sprays poison mist. Hei Yan keeps this place like a tortoise shell.”
Haruno Na’s puppet string stretched straight, and the wooden puppet at the end of the string crushed a piece of gravel with a click. “If it were you, I would just let Konohana and the villagers block the door. I’ll use the puppets to lure away the guards, and you guys can take the opportunity to sneak in.” She shook her red hair, and her Adam’s apple rolled up and down as she swallowed. “When I stole the mineral vein map from the Kusagakure Village, I used the scent of the animal trainer to cover up the chakra. Maybe I could get away with it–“
“No.” Jin interrupted her, his fingertips touching the hexagram in the center of the rubbing. “Sand Scorpion’s rune technique is particularly sensitive to biological chakra, and ordinary concealment techniques will be rebounded.” He took out a palm-sized bronze disk from his arms, with a spiral chakra circuit engraved on the surface. “This is modified from the Sand Village Chakra Amplifier, which can simulate the energy fluctuations of dead objects.” The disk lit up with a faint blue light in his palm. “Tonight at midnight, the moon is waning and the stars are hidden, which is when chakra is weakest.”
The carnation that Muhua had been holding was wilted by sweat. She suddenly said, “I asked the old carpenter to leave a brick gap on the back wall of the hall. When he was repairing the wall ten years ago, he secretly chiseled an extra loose brick—” Her fingers twisted the hem of her skirt unconsciously, “After Heiyan came to power, he always said that he wanted to renovate it, but the old carpenter said, ‘The things left by our ancestors cannot be touched,’ so it was left like this.”
Jin’s eyes lit up, like a hunter smelling prey. “Shifeng, you go and distract Tiejiao’s patrol. Nai, you place three sky lanterns at the east end of the village to draw the guards’ attention there. Muhua, you stay outside the living bricks and knock three times with the carnation if there’s any movement.” He stood up, the bronze disc looming on his sleeve. “Shifeng and I will go into the hall and look for the mechanism.”
The night was as cold as a knife dipped in well water.
Uchiha Jin leaned against the back wall of the parliament hall, looking up at the sky that was cut into squares by the moonlight.
Shi Feng pressed his palm on the third bluestone slab, his knuckles trembling slightly – the position of the movable bricks was half an inch off from what Muhua said, and it was obvious that the foundation of the wall had settled over the years.
Jin’s thumb rubbed the edge of the disk, and chakra flowed into the wall along the loop. Suddenly, his pupils shrank suddenly: “Right, the third one.”
Moisture with a smell of rust seeped out from the cracks in the bricks. When the two men crouched down and crawled in, Jhin’s sleeve brushed against the edge of the brick and a thin bead of blood oozed out, but he quickly pressed it onto the disc.
The disc hummed as it absorbed the chakra in the blood bead, and the blue light on its surface became brighter.
The interior of the hall was darker than expected, with only the night-shining pearls in the corners emitting a faint light.
As soon as Jin’s toes touched the ground, the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly exploded – he suddenly grabbed Shifeng and threw him to the side. The stone pillar behind him cracked with a “bang”, and several poisoned kunai brushed against Shifeng’s scar and flew into the wall.
“Rune trap.” Jhin rolled along the ground, the disc spinning rapidly in his palm. “The Sand Scorpion buried a sensing rune in the pillar, and my chakra fluctuation just triggered it.” His fingers groped on the ground, and suddenly pressed a raised brick pattern. “Look here, there is a fault in the energy flow of the rune.” The blue light of the disc swept across the ground, casting a lavender shadow between two bluestone slabs. “This place is not activated, follow me.”
The two of them moved to the center of the hall along the safe zone on the ground like two fish swimming in a dark river.
Veins bulged on the back of Shi Feng’s hand, and he pointed at the dome: “Those carved wooden beams–” Before he could finish his words, the wooden carvings on the beams suddenly opened their eyes, and six puppet eyes glowing red were staring at them.
“It’s the mechanical beast from Iwagakure!” Shi Feng pulled out a kunai and was about to throw it, but Jin grabbed his wrist.
The tip of Jin’s tongue pressed against his back teeth, and the blue light of the disk suddenly surged, weaving a light net above their heads.
The red light of the mechanical beast swept across the light net, as if it had crashed into a pile of cotton, and its originally sharp cry suddenly became mute.
“They track by sight,” Jin said in a very low voice, “My chakra simulates the energy of the wall. They see us the same way as pillars now.” He pointed at the ground, “Hurry, the chakra fluctuations on the ground are moving downwards.”
The two men knelt on the ground and used kunai to pry up the cloud-patterned floor tile in the center.
Amid the flying stone chips, a dark hole was revealed, and a musty smell mixed with a metallic smell came up.
Shi Feng jumped down first and groaned when he landed – there was a narrow corridor below, the walls were inlaid with glowing fluorite, and at the end there was a bronze door with a hexagram engraved on it that was exactly the same as the one in the rubbing.
“This is the core.” Shi Feng pressed his palm on the door, and the pattern on the door suddenly lit up blood red, “Chakra lock! We need the blood of the top leaders of Iwagakure—”
“No need.” Jin took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, poured out half of the dark brown liquid and splashed it on the door pattern.
He mixed the dianthus juice Muhua gave him with the powder he found in the base. “Sand scorpion runes are afraid of acid. I tried a coin last time in the base and it corroded the lines.”
The door creaked open, and the moment the two men rushed into the secret room, their breathing paused.
In the center is a mechanical device that is one meter tall. Bronze gears engage crystal tubes, and dark blue energy flows in the tubes. A blue crystal stone the size of a baby’s fist is embedded in the core position, beating “boom boom” like a living heart.
On the stone table next to it was a roll of parchment, on which were densely drawn the process of starting the machine, and in the corners there were notes by Sand Scorpion: “It must be started thirty minutes before the elders’ meeting to ensure that the energy covers the entire venue.”
“This is used to block the chakra of the councillors.” Shi Feng’s voice was tense. “The crystal can absorb ninjutsu within a five-kilometer radius. By then, Hei Yan can just take a few jonin and massacre the council.”
Jin’s fingers swept across the drawing quickly, his brain running like a high-speed machine.
He tore off the corner of his clothes to wrap up the blueprint, and pressed the disc on the crystal with his backhand: “High-frequency shock waves can destroy the structure of the crystal. I need three minutes.”
The sound of metal colliding was like thunder.
Tiejiao’s giant axe chopped open the door of the secret room, and the wind it created overturned the drawings on the stone table.
The nearly two-meter-tall Iwagakure jonin’s eyes were red, and a ferocious grin appeared on his lips: “Master Kuroiwa said that someone would come to steal things.” His axe blade brushed against Jin’s hair and hit the wall, causing gravel to fly. “I will take your lives.”
Shi Feng’s kunai went forward, but was easily swept away by the giant axe.
Tiejiao’s muscles bulged like rocks, and every step he took caused the ground to crack: “Shifeng, you actually betrayed the village?” He turned his axe blade towards Shifeng’s throat, “Lord Heiyan will make you die an ugly death–“
“Look behind!” Jhin suddenly shouted.
Tiejiao turned around instinctively and saw the blue light of the crystal flashing wildly.
His pupils suddenly shrank, and he swung his axe to smash the disc, but his wrist was entangled by the kunai thrown by Jhin.
“Do you think I will fight back?” Jhin’s voice was filled with the cunning of a hunter. “The metal structure of this machine can transmit shock waves!”
Tiejiao’s giant axe smashed heavily on the mechanical table, causing the gears to spin.
Jhin took the opportunity to push the disc, and a high-frequency shock wave exploded along the metal structure. The shock wave bounced back and hit Tiejiao’s chest.
He groaned and slammed into the wall, blood oozing from the corner of his mouth.
“Now!” Jhin roared.
Shi Feng’s kunai accurately pierced the crack of the crystal, the blue light suddenly surged, and then “crack” shattered into thousands of stardust.
The mechanical device screamed shrilly, the gears meshed with each other and collapsed, and the rubble from the ceiling fell like a rainstorm.
“Retreat!” Jin dragged Shi Feng towards the tunnel. As soon as he emerged from the ground, he heard a sinister voice: “What a great show.”
Sand Scorpion walked out of the shadows of the hall, his left hand wrapped in a bloody bandage, his right fingernails glowing green, “But what you destroyed was just a backup mechanism.” He tapped the ground with his toes, and the ground suddenly shook violently, “The real killer move begins now.”
Jhin’s heart skipped a beat.
He saw spider-web-like cracks on the dome of the hall and a dull roar coming from under the floor, as if some huge monster was waking up.
Shi Feng’s scar was hurt by the shock, and he pulled Jin towards the living brick entrance: “Let’s go! It’s too late!”
The moment the two men crawled into the back wall, a loud “bang” was heard behind them.
Jhin looked back at the smoke-filled parliament hall, and the sand scorpion’s laughter mixed with the vibration pierced his eardrums.
He touched the blueprint in his arms, and the mark on his palm suddenly became hot – this time, they destroyed not only a mechanism, but also Black Rock’s confidence.
But what exactly is the “killer move” that the sand scorpion is talking about?
The ground was shaking more and more, and screams of villagers could be heard in the distance.
Jhin and Shifeng looked at each other and quickened their pace at the same time.
In the night, three Kongming lanterns are rising from the east end of the village, like three late stars.
And in the deeper darkness, something was opening its eyes.
Chapter 78 Blood Shadow Appears (Old Version)
The vibration of the ground was like a drum beating, making people’s eardrums hurt. Uchiha Jin followed Shi Feng and ran wildly in the alley. The sound of his boots stepping on broken bricks mixed with the roar of houses collapsing in the distance.
He could hear his own rapid breathing. The blueprint he had snatched from the Black Rock secret room in his arms was soaked with cold sweat, and the marks on the corners were rubbing against his chest – those were the marks he had made on the parchment with a kunai, and each mark corresponded to a weak point in the underground fortifications of the Iwagakure Village.
East! Shi Feng suddenly pulled him, and the two of them ran into a narrow alley full of debris.
When Jin looked up, he saw three Kongming lanterns swaying in the night sky. The red halo was like a drop of blood dripping into ink, slowly spreading out.
And below the halo, the ground was cracked into spider-web-like patterns, and some sticky dark red chakra was seeping out through the cracks, condensing into a faint blood mist in the air.
Chakra concentration was soaring. Jin’s fingertips trembled slightly, and he could clearly feel the pressure of that force – like a giant python wrapped around his neck, tightening every second.
Shi Feng’s scar twitched because of nervousness. He drew out the short knife from his waist and stuck it into the wall, using the force to climb up the half-man-high broken wall: It’s Blood Shadow. His voice was very low. He was a senior ninja who disappeared from the Hidden Rock Village 20 years ago. He was good at the forbidden blood escape technique. In order to study the blood magic secret technique, he slaughtered the entire Kaze Festival clan…
There were sporadic records in the “Secret History of the Five Kage” that he had secretly read in the Ninja School. The Blood Shadow’s real name was Akasaga. Due to the chakra mutation caused by practicing forbidden techniques, he was later expelled by the Third Tsuchikage. Unexpectedly, he became Kuroiwa’s trump card.
Avoid the front first. Jin pulled off the corner of his clothes to cover his mouth and nose – there was a smell of rust in the blood mist, and he had a hunch that if he got too much of it, it would corrode his chakra.
Shi Feng nodded, and the two of them crouched and ran out of the village, but they stopped when they passed an abandoned mine.
A half-rusted iron chain hung at the entrance of the mine, and the wind blowing in made a whimpering sound.
Just as Jin was about to go around it, he heard a slight sound of metal rubbing against each other from inside.
He put his backhand on Haruno Na’s shoulder – at some point, the girl had found the puppet string around her waist, and the joints of the bronze puppet glowed coldly in the moonlight.
Come out. Haruno Na’s voice was like stones knocking on a stone slab, sneaking around, even more cunning than the rats in the Hidden Rock Village.
There was a sound of heavy objects being dragged in the mine.
A figure wrapped in rags staggered out, with a scar on his left cheek so deep that the bone could be seen, and on his right wrist he wore the black iron wristband unique to the Iwagakure Village – but the Iwagakure pattern on the wristband was carved into a twisted cross, the mark of a traitorous ninja.
Sand ghost? Shi Feng’s short knife trembled slightly. You are not…
Was he thrown to the wild dogs after his legs were broken by Hei Yan? Sand Ghost coughed up blood foam, revealing his bloody teeth. “Thanks to you, I am alive today.” His eyes swept over the blueprint in Jin’s arms, and he suddenly jumped up!
The uninjured hand grabbed half a broken brick and smashed it into Jhin’s face.
Haruno Na’s puppet string is faster than his.
The bronze puppet snapped out half of the blade, accurately picking up the broken bricks, and then wrapped around the sand ghost’s ankle and flipped him to the ground.
The sand ghost fell into a mud pit, but suddenly laughed: Do you think you win by destroying the parliament hall?
What Heiyan wants is the blood of the entire Iwagakure!
The blood sacrifice ceremony will begin tonight, waiting for the ancient blood beast to wake up –
Shut up! Shi Feng rushed over and covered his mouth. When he turned back to look at Jin, his eyes were fierce. This is Black Rock’s assassin. He can’t trust him!
Death warrior? The sand ghost bit open Shi Feng’s palm, and blood dripped onto the mud. If I were a death warrior, would I hide in the mine for three days?
Heiyan has locked my wife Muhua in the northern stronghold and used her blood to feed the poisonous insects! He suddenly grabbed Jin’s trouser legs, his nails almost embedded in the fabric. I overheard them saying that the Blood Demon’s goal is to awaken the blood beast and turn the entire ninja world into a pool of blood… You want to go to the underground ruins to stop the ceremony, but Heiyan sent Blood Shadow to guard it!
Jhin knelt down to look him in the eye.
The sand ghost’s eyes were bloodshot, but there was a glimmer of light hidden in them – that was the light that a person on the verge of despair would use to grasp at the last straw.
He remembered the notes he found in the secret room. Hei Yan’s confidant had mentioned that the blood medium required a living sacrifice, and Sha Gui’s words just filled the key gap.
How to prove it? Haruno Na squatted down, took out a dry biscuit from her arms and threw it to the sand ghost.
This girl always said that food should be saved for those who could fight hard battles, but at this moment she handed over her own dry food.
The sand ghost was stunned for a moment, then began to eat voraciously.
Deep in the mines is the blood sacrifice route map I hid. He swallowed the last bite of the cake. Hei Yan was afraid that Blood Shadow would steal the credit, so he asked me to draw three fake routes. The real one… He suddenly coughed violently. The real one was on the third floor of the ruins, where there was a blood escape rune on the wall.
She nodded slightly – as a beast trainer, she was best at discerning lies, and the sand ghost’s breath was not disordered.
We will help you save Muhua, Jhin said, but you have to lead the way to the outskirts of the ruins.
The sand ghost’s body froze.
He stared into Jhin’s eyes for ten breaths, and suddenly laughed until tears came out: I knew someone would believe me…
Shi Feng led the Sand Ghost to the northern stronghold, and before leaving, he gave Jin a communication charm from the Hidden Rock Village: If anything goes wrong, crush it, and I’ll be there in half an hour. Haruno Na put the bronze puppet into silent mode, and the small holes in the puppet’s joints oozed light green liquid – it was her special paralysis venom, specifically designed to deal with blood escape techniques.
The entrance to the ruins is under a dry well in the back mountain of Iwagakure Village.
When Jin used a kunai to pry open the stone slab that sealed the well mouth, a foul smell of moisture hit him in the face.
There was a faint red light deep at the bottom of the well, which looked like the eyes of a wild beast.
Be careful. Haruno Na’s puppet strings wrapped around his wrists, and I always felt…
Before he finished speaking, Jhin’s fingertips touched the stone tablet on the wall of the well.
It was a bluestone slab half a person’s height, with twisted runes engraved all over its surface and dark red blood beads condensed in each line.
As soon as he touched it, the blood drop suddenly came alive and drilled into his skin, causing him to gasp in pain.
Stupid little devil.
A sinister laugh exploded from the bottom of the well.
Jin suddenly pulled Haruno Na back, only to see a blood-red figure rising from the red light – it was a man wearing blood-red scale armor, his left eye covered with a bloody cloth, and disgusting purple-black chakra flowing in his right eye.
He held two daggers in his hands, and the blood grooves on the blades were dripping with mucus, and every drop that fell on the ground corroded a charred pit.
Blood Shadow Red Sand. Haruno Na’s puppet made a low hum, and the bronze knife flashed a cold light under the moonlight, just in time.
Chisha licked the blade, and blood oozed from the wound under the cloth: You dare to disturb my blood sacrifice ritual… His chakra suddenly surged, and the red light at the bottom of the well instantly turned into a sea of ​​blood. I will use your blood as an appetizer for the blood beast.
Jhin placed his palm on the kunai bag.
He could feel the blueprint in his arms getting hot. It was Black Rock’s secret and also their bargaining chip.
Bloodshadow’s knife has been raised, and the moonlight has been dyed blood red – this battle is unavoidable.
Chapter 79 Blood Escape Showdown (Old Version)
The moonlight was dyed a blinding scarlet, and the blood mist at the bottom of the well surged like a living thing, each wisp of it wrapped in the stench of blood.
Uchiha Jin’s back hit the wall of the well heavily, his forehead hair was stuck into a few strands by cold sweat, and his left hand was tightly grasping the kunai bag at his waist – the blood-red chakra chain just now brushed past his right shoulder, plowing a bone-deep groove in the stone wall, and charred stone chips fell at his feet.
Ashes! Haruno Na’s roar mixed with the humming sound of the bronze puppet.
The half-human-tall puppet Tieshan had stood in front of him at some point, with his arms spread out like a shield, and dense spells appeared on the surface.
The second chain of Blood Shadow Red Sand was wrapping around Tieshan’s right arm. Strange purple spots instantly appeared on the surface of the bronze, and green smoke of corrosion was emitting from it.
This chain is corrosive! Haruno Na bit her fingertips and pressed on the puppet control lever, and chakra rushed into Tieshan’s body like an electric current.
Three poisoned kunai suddenly popped out from the puppet’s left hand and accurately pierced Akasaga’s wrist holding the blade – this was her improved animal taming puppetry, which incorporated the ferocity of hunting beasts into the mechanism.
Akaza didn’t even try to dodge, he just spun the short sword in his palm and the blade directly shattered the kunai.
The purple-black chakra in his right eye surged more violently, and a low beast-like laugh came from his throat: Use a puppet to block it?
When your scraps of copper and iron turn into slag, I will dig out your hearts and use them as lamp oil.
Before he finished his words, the third chain emerged from the ground and wrapped around Tieshan’s left leg like a snake.
Bronze groaned as he was overwhelmed, and cold sweat broke out on Haruno Na’s forehead – she could clearly feel that the line connecting the puppet and her chakra was getting thinner. If she could hold on for another three seconds, the Iron Mountain would fall apart.
Back off!
A thunder-like roar came from the wellhead.
A figure wrapped in lightning broke through the moon and descended. The blue arc of electricity leaping from its fist tore a path through the blood mist.
Lei Hu’s Lightning Release: Lightning Fist hit Chisha’s chain solidly. The electric current ran along the blood-red chakra, and the chain instantly broke into pieces, causing Chisha to stagger two steps.
Konoha’s jonin, Thunder Tiger, support is here! When Thunder Tiger landed, the rocks at the bottom of the well flew everywhere. He winked at Jin, “Little boy, didn’t your teacher teach you that?”
When fighting with Blood Release, you must focus on the chakra nodes and hit their weak points!
He thought of the hot blueprint in his arms – it was the information intercepted from the Black Rock Ninja three days ago, and it contained an incomplete analysis diagram of the Blood Release Ninjutsu.
At this moment, his fingertips unconsciously rubbed the palm-sized chakra amplifier in his sleeve. It was an intelligence department prop that Hatake Hiru reproduced using the Sharingan, which could amplify the target’s chakra fluctuations tenfold.
Let’s try it. Jhin took a deep breath and pressed the amplifier into his palm.
The trajectory of Akashi’s chakra flow suddenly appeared in his field of vision, like countless dark red threads wrapped around his body – and all the threads eventually converged on his chest, where there was a ball of purple-black light that flickered with Akashi’s breathing.
The core node is in the chest! Jin suddenly pulled Haruno Na towards the entrance of the ruins and led him to the stone tablet!
Chisha obviously had no intention of letting them have their way.
He swung his dagger, and several bloody cracks appeared on the ground. Countless blood beads sprang out from them, and in the blink of an eye condensed into new chains, blocking the three people’s retreat.
Lei Hu’s lightning chakra formed a shield around his body, crackling and shattering the chains close to him; Haruno Na’s Tieshan swung out the steel cable hidden behind him, hooked onto the protruding rocks on the wall of the well, and dragged the two of them half a meter away.
Where is the little brat going? Chisha licked the blade, and his figure suddenly disappeared. When he reappeared, he was blocking the entrance to the ruins.
The blood mist behind him condensed into a huge bloody hand, pressing down on the three people – this move was Blood Escape: Blood Demon Hand, which could crush the target’s bones and chakra together.
Now! Jhin slammed his fingers heavily on the runestone beside him.
Three days ago, when he touched the stone tablet, the blood that seeped into his skin suddenly became hot, rushed along the blood vessels to his fingertips, and stimulated faint blue light patterns on the surface of the stone tablet.
Those originally distorted runes began to rotate counterclockwise, emitting a high-frequency humming sound – this was the notes of the ancient character school jonin that he had secretly learned in the ninja school. The rune stele was originally the eye of the formation that sealed the blood escape, and was used by Akashi to amplify the blood sacrifice. At this moment, it was reversely activated by his chakra, and it became the source of vibration that interfered with the blood escape.
Chisha’s bloody hand suddenly stopped.
The purple-black chakra in his right eye surged wildly, and a painful roar came from his throat – the shock waves of the rune were flowing back along his connection with Blood Escape, like countless fine needles piercing into his chakra meridians.
Lei Hu took the opportunity to rush forward, his legs covered with lightning chakra, and a series of kicks fell on Chisha’s chest like a rainstorm: Take my three consecutive kicks from Lei Hu!
The first kick will destroy your chakra, the second kick will break your bones, the third kick –
Get out of here! Chisha shouted, and the blood mist exploded like a substance.
Lei Hu was knocked back and hit the wall of the well, spitting out blood, but his third kick finally hit the target – the purple-black light ball on Chisha’s chest was obviously dimmed.
“Nai, Tieshan!” Jin’s voice was filled with rare urgency.
Haruno Na immediately bit her tongue and poured chakra into the joystick.
Two sharp serrated blades suddenly popped out from Tieshan’s arms, and he rushed towards Akasaga with a roar; and Jin took advantage of the opportunity when Tieshan’s attention was distracted to take out the special kunai from his kunai bag – the blade was engraved with the magic-breaking pattern copied by Hatake Hime with the Sharingan, which was a killing move specifically targeting the Blood Style Chakra.
Akasaga’s short sword blocked Tetsuyama’s serrated blade, but he didn’t notice that Jin had already circled behind him.
The moment the kunai pierced through the blood-scale armor, Jhin clearly heard Akasaga’s gasp – the kunai accurately pierced into the core of the purple-black chakra light ball.
Impossible… Chisha’s body began to become transparent, and the python formed by the blood mist let out a dying hiss. Lord Blood Demon would…
Will you collect your body? Jin pulled out his kunai and wiped the blade with his backhand. He will do it himself next time.
The blood shadow’s body completely dissipated, leaving only a blood-stained scroll on the ground.
Lei Hu wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, picked up the scroll and glanced at it, his face instantly solemn: Nine kinds of special chakras…the blood beast needs this to wake up completely?
Jin took the scroll and quickly scanned it, his fingertips pausing on entries such as Wind Style: Breath of the Sky, Water Style: Tears of the Abyss, etc.: The intelligence intercepted by Hei Yan previously only mentioned five types, but it turned out that there were four more. He looked up at Haruno Na, who was checking the damage on Tieshan. The corrosion marks on the bronze surface made her smack her lips in pain.
We have to find the rest before the blood demon does. Lei Hu put the scroll in his arms and I will send a message back to the village now…
Wait. Haruno Na suddenly raised her head and moved her ears. Did you hear that?
There was a dull vibration sound coming from the ground, as if some huge monster was running towards them from a great distance.
Stone chips from the well wall fell down, and even the light patterns on the rune stele shook.
Jin pressed his palm on the ground, and chakra spread along the rock – the vibration carried a familiar sense of oppression, somewhat similar to the fluctuations of the blood beast’s residual soul they encountered in the forest three days ago, but stronger and more… vivid.
Let’s go. He tugged at Haruno Na’s sleeve, nodded to Lei Hu, and went to take a look.
When the three men jumped onto the edge of the well, the moonlight was being obscured by the rolling black clouds in the distance.
The vibration sound was getting closer and closer, as if some ancient existence that had been dormant for many years had finally broken free from its restraints.
Behind them, the blood beads on the rune stele suddenly cracked, and a drop of blood that was thicker and darker than before oozed out and slowly fell into the deep pool at the bottom of the well.
Chapter 80: Revenge of the Blood Slave (Old Version)
The moonlight was torn into pieces by the rolling dark clouds, and a deafening roar came from the southeast, as if thousands of troops were galloping on the veins of the earth.
Uchiha Jin’s pupils shrank slightly, and his chakra condensed into thin needles at his fingertips. Following the vibration trajectory detected on the ground, he grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and jumped onto the broken wall: There are blood beasts, more than one.
The ninja tool bag on Haruno Na’s waist rustled, and she pulled out two poisoned short blades with her backhand. The ends of her hair fluttered in the cold wind: Didn’t we burn that pile of rotten meat and bones long ago? Before she finished speaking, the weeds in front of the three people suddenly set off a huge wave – seven giant wolf-shaped blood beasts with blood oozing out of their bodies broke out of the ground, dark red chakra veins surging under their fur, and half-coagulated blood beads hanging on their fangs.
Sand ghost! Jin suddenly turned his head to look at the Iwagakure rebel ninja hiding in the shadows. Where is the blood demon’s storage container?
The sand ghost’s Adam’s apple moved, and his nails dug deeply into his palm.
The intelligence they intercepted in the Rock Hidden Ruins three days ago mentioned that the Blood Prison Plan required living sacrifices, but these blood beasts before them, reshaped by the power of the blood demon, were clearly weapons made from the souls of living people.
He looked at the bronze chain faintly visible around the blood beast’s neck, his voice trembling: Those…those boxes on the wolves’ backs!
The backs of the seven blood beasts each carried a bronze container as tall as a person. The surface was engraved with twisted spells. Scarlet liquid oozed out of each line, glowing a strange purple under the moonlight.
A strong smell of blood and decay came to her face. Haruno Na frowned and waved away the blood mist in front of her: This smell is stronger than the illusion of the three-magatama Sharingan!
We can’t let them take the container away. Jin quickly formed seals with his fingers, and three identical figures appeared behind him with the Shadow Clone Technique. Nai, you go around to the east and use the animal taming flute to interfere with the blood beast; Lei Hu, protect the sand ghost and go to the west to break the barrier. His shadow clones rushed to the broken pillars on the left and right sides, and his fingertips pressed chakra marks in the cracks of the stone – that was his improved detonation trap, using wind attribute chakra to accelerate the explosion range.
The blood beasts suddenly howled towards the sky, and the giant wolf in the front slammed the ground with its front paws, causing spider-web-like blood patterns to form on the ground.
The black-robed man hiding behind the wolf finally showed up. He had a bloody whip wrapped around his waist and blood mist in his eyes. He was the blood slave, a loyal follower of the blood demon mentioned in the intelligence.
Little mouse who doesn’t know his own limits. The blood slave’s voice was like the friction of rusty iron, and the long whip left an afterimage in his palm. If you dare to touch the things in the Blood Prison Project, I will extract your souls and make them into feed for the next batch of blood beasts!
Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank – the blood slave’s chakra fluctuations were three times stronger than three days ago, obviously absorbing the drop of black blood in the well.
He gestured to the shadow clone on the left, and the first trap exploded, with rubble raining down on the herd of blood beasts.
Haruno Na took the opportunity to jump onto the wolf’s back and cut the chains of the bronze container with her short blade: Ashes!
The sealing technique of this thing is the same as the blood sacrifice formation of the Hidden Rock Village!
Retreat! There was an unquestionable calmness in Jin’s voice. The second trap exploded under the blood beast’s feet. The sound of the ground cracking mixed with the blood beast’s wailing resounded throughout the wilderness.
But the blood slave’s whip suddenly grew three feet long, and the tip of the whip was wrapped in blood mist and lashed towards the back of Haruno Na’s neck – that was a killing move tempered with blood poison, and those who were hit would have their whole body fester within three breaths.
Watch out! Jin’s real body instantly flashed to Haruno Na’s side, and the moment the kunai blocked the whip, the Raikiri in his palm sizzled.
The blood slave’s pupils were filled with ecstasy: Thunder attribute?
Just right for charging the blood beast! He shook his wrist violently, and the blood whip suddenly split into countless blood lines, entangling the two of them.
Oh no, it’s Blood Style: Blood Cocoon Binding! Sand Ghost’s voice was filled with despair. He finally understood why he was chosen by the Blood Demon to participate in the plan – these blood lines can absorb chakra, and the more he struggles, the faster it absorbs.
Haruno Na’s short blade slashed on the blood line, but only a few drops of blood splashed, and the blood line wrapped around her wrist, and chakra was flowing wildly along the blood vessels.
Nai, bite your tongue to stay awake! Jin bit his fingertips and drew a fire escape talisman on the blood line. The orange flame was extinguished by the blood mist as soon as it rose.
Cold sweat oozed from his forehead, and out of the corner of his eye he saw Lei Hu trying to cut the blood line with a kunai, but was knocked to the ground by the blood beast.
The blood slave has already walked towards the nearest bronze container, and his blood-scab-covered hands are pressing on the spell: When the container is back in place, Lord Blood Demon can
Enough! Sand Ghost suddenly shouted, and a detonating talisman appeared in his left hand.
The eyes of this Iwagakure rebel ninja who always liked to hide in the shadows were red at this moment, as if he wanted to burn away all his lifelong cowardice: I helped the Blood Demon refine seventeen batches of blood beasts and killed three hundred and twenty-seven villagers… Today, I will pay for their life!
He pounced on the blood slave, and the detonating talisman exploded between the two of them.
The blood slave’s whip swept across instinctively, but it was still a little slow. The tip of the whip tore three deep wounds on the sand ghost’s back, but his right hand tightly grasped the blood slave’s ankle. Go! He spit out blood foam and looked up at Jin. Go to the altar of the Wind Kingdom. The blood demon wants… Before he finished speaking, the blood slave’s whip pierced his heart.
Sand ghost! Haruno Na’s tears mixed with blood mist fell to the ground. She gritted her teeth and crushed a taming flute. The sound of the flute was as sharp as a knife. The blood beast in the front suddenly bit its companions crazily.
Jin took the opportunity to bite his finger and pressed it on the blood line. The lightning chakra wrapped in the wind blade cut madly – this was the Lightning Cutting Splitting that he improved by combining modern physics knowledge, using high-frequency vibrations to destroy the molecular structure of the blood line.
Crack! The moment the last blood line broke, lightning condensed in Jin’s right hand.
He looked at the sand ghost lying in a pool of blood, his Adam’s apple moved, and when he turned around, the coldness in his eyes almost solidified: Blood slave, you chose the wrong opponent.
The blood slave wiped the blood from his face and suddenly laughed harshly: Just you? His long whip was raised again, and the hideous face of the blood demon emerged in the blood mist. When I finish absorbing the chakra of these seven containers, you won’t even be qualified to carry my shoes!
Then you may be disappointed. Jin’s left hand suddenly ignited with a blazing flame, and the lightning chakra rotated at high speed in the fireball, forming a sizzling purple-gold lightning ball. My teacher said that the change of chakra properties is not a multiple-choice question. He shook his wrist, and the lightning ball accurately hit the nearest bronze container.
No——! The blood slave’s scream was drowned out by the explosion.
The purple-gold lightning and fire instantly penetrated the container, the spell collapsed under the high temperature, and the scarlet liquid splashed on the blood beast. The monsters controlled by the blood demon suddenly scratched their heads frantically, and one of them even bit off its front paw.
The blood slave who lost his container trembled all over, his skin began to crack, and black blood beads oozed out. You will regret it! His long whip wrapped around the last intact blood beast, I will tear you into pieces and use your bones to pave the way for Lord Blood Demon——
Ember! Look up at the sky! Haruno Na’s voice suddenly rose.
Everyone looked up and saw a pitch-black crow swooping down from the clouds, holding half a piece of burnt paper in its claws.
The moment Jhin caught the piece of paper, his pupils contracted violently – that was an emergency signal from the Black Rock Intelligence Team, meaning that the Blood Demon Altar they were tracking in the Wind Kingdom had begun to operate.
We must do it before the blood demon completes the ritual…Jin’s words were interrupted by the blood slave’s roar.
Go to hell! The blood slave’s whip suddenly grew to twenty feet long, and the whip was wrapped in a dark blood mist, drawing an arc of death in the air.
Jhin’s body instinctively leaned back, and the long whip brushed his nose and hit the broken wall behind him. Amidst the flying rubble, the blood mist condensed into a blood-red barrier, trapping the four people inside.
This is Blood Escape: Blood Prison Barrier… Haruno Na’s short blade is against the gradually closing blood wall. Jhin, what should we do now?
Jin looked at the distorted face of the blood slave and gently pressed his fingers on the forehead protector on his chest – it was given to him by teacher Kakashi and was now slightly warming up with his heartbeat.
He curled the corners of his mouth, and lightning chakra condensed at the soles of his feet: As usual, you are responsible for demolishing the left side, and I will demolish the right side.
The blood slave swung his whip again, and this time, in the blood mist, the cries of countless wronged souls could be faintly heard.
Jhin leaped up towards the whip shadow, and a dazzling light burst out from the palm of his hand – this time, he would not give the blood demon any chance.
Outside the Blood Prison barrier, the black crow was flapping its wings and flying towards the east.
It didn’t know that the information it brought was about to cause a storm in the entire ninja world.
Chapter 81 The Blood Slave’s Final Blow (Old Version)
The blood slave’s long whip was wrapped in a sweet and fishy blood mist and lashed out. Uchiha Jin’s backward leap brought up a gust of wind, and one could even smell a burnt smell when the ends of his hair brushed across the whip – the blood mist was actually mixed with corrosive chakra.
His back hit the broken wall hard, and gravel fell on his shoulders. He caught a glimpse of Haruno Na’s puppet rushing forward.
That was her most proud iron wolf puppet. When the wolf head mechanism opened, three rows of poisoned serrations were revealed, and its mechanical front paws slapped the ground, splashing sparks.
The blood slave’s long whip wrapped around the wolf’s claws, and the black and red blood mist immediately corroded a crack with a sizzling sound. Haruno Na gritted her teeth and formed a seal, and the mechanism on the back of the puppet’s neck popped open, shooting out a row of kunai soaked in anesthetic.
Good opportunity! Jin pressed his finger lightly on the forehead protector, and the micro chakra amplifier embedded inside the forehead protector became slightly hot. This was a gadget that Hatake Hiru had improved for him when he used the Sharingan to copy information. It could amplify the five senses’ perception of chakra fluctuations.
At this moment he closed his eyes, and the blood chakra surging in the barrier appeared as red threads in his mind, among which one part of the threads was obviously sparser than the surrounding ones.
Under the third piece of rubble on the left! He shouted to Haruno Na, and at the same time pulled out the special kunai from his waist.
The kunai was made of magnetite from the Land of Lightning, and the blade was engraved with tiny lightning escape spells – during the last mission he discovered that the blood escape spell was particularly sensitive to lightning attributes, so he specially asked a blacksmith to improve it.
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly made a metallic roar, and the wolf tail swept towards the blood slave’s face.
The blood slave hurriedly whipped to block, and the moment the whip collided with the wolf’s tail, Jhin had already reached the edge of the barrier.
He knelt on one knee, pressing the tip of the kunai against the spot where chakra was sparse, and the lightning talisman lit up with a blue light.
Open it for me!
The moment the kunai penetrated, the blood-red barrier screamed like a punctured balloon.
A crack half a person’s height appeared beside the two of them, and the moonlight from outside leaked in, making Haruno Na’s pupils sparkle.
She threw two kunai with her backhand and nailed them into the puppet’s joints. Iron Wolf immediately launched a more fierce attack, and the chain wrapped around the blood slave’s whip and pulled it in the opposite direction.
Want to run?! The blood slave’s face was twisted with anger. He bit his tongue and spurted out a blood mist. The long whip suddenly increased three times in size and pierced directly through the iron wolf’s chest.
Mechanical parts crashed to the ground, and Haruno Na groaned. The pain of the chakra connection being severed spread from her fingertips to her heart.
She staggered two steps and saw that the blood slave’s long whip had wrapped around Jhin’s ankle.
Jhin’s body was suddenly pulled towards the blood slave. He thrust the kunai into the ground, and the lightning talisman instantly detonated the rubble underground.
Amid the roar, blood mist filled the air. He somersaulted over with the force of the explosion. The Raikiri on his palm had condensed into a thumb-sized thunder ball – this was the thunder spike he improved based on the Chidori. Although it had little power, it was accurate.
Nai! Retreat!
The lightning ball brushed the blood slave’s earlobe and hit his feet. The blast made the blood slave step back three steps, and the crack in the barrier that had just been torn widened a little more.
Haruno Na rushed over and grabbed his wrist, and just as the two were about to rush out, the blood slave suddenly took out a scroll covered with blood-colored runes from his arms.
He bit his index finger and drew a bloody circle on the scroll. The ground suddenly cracked open, and dozens of bloody tentacles sprang out like poisonous snakes, instantly wrapping around the waists, abdomens and limbs of the two men.
This is the Soul Binding Scroll bestowed by Lord Blood Demon himself! The blood slave wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, the madness in his eyes almost overflowing, your chakra will be drained, your soul will be made into a sacrifice, and wait for Lord Blood Demon to come –
Shut up! Jhin’s ribs were hurt by the tentacles, but he suddenly laughed.
His fingertips quietly pressed on the chakra amplifier, sending the lightning attribute chakra into the bloody tentacles along the amplifier’s circuit.
Those tentacles were originally maintained by blood-based chakra. Once the destructive chakra of lightning attribute invaded, they immediately made a sizzling sound like a hemp rope burned by fire.
You…what did you do?! The blood slave’s pupils shrank violently, and he saw that the chakra he had injected into the scroll was backfiring crazily.
The runes of the Soul Binding Scroll began to twist, and the bloody tentacles suddenly tightened and actually wrapped around his arms.
Lightning Release: Counterattack!
Jhin let out a low growl and pressed the lightning spike in his palm hard onto the tentacle.
Blue lightning flashed along the tentacles into the blood slave’s body, and he heard the other’s bones making a terrible bursting sound.
The blood slave’s mouth was wide open but no sound came out. His skin shriveled at a speed visible to the naked eye. Finally, he fell to the ground with a thud, his eyes still fixed on the twisted Soul Binding Scroll in mid-air.
Huh… Haruno Na collapsed on the ground and tore off the last piece of tentacle with force.
She looked up at Jhin. His forehead protector had tilted to his ears, and the ends of his hair were still stained with blood mist, but the light in his eyes was brighter than the moonlight.
Success?
Temporarily. Jin squatted down and used a kunai to pick up the remaining scroll in the blood slave’s arms.
There was still a half line of blurred bloody words on the corner of the scroll: When the blood moon is in the sky, the seven gates will open simultaneously… His fingers suddenly tightened, the blood demon’s ritual had not yet been completed, and the vibration just now…
Before he finished speaking, the ground shook violently again.
In the distance came a roar similar to that of boulders rolling down, mixed with the roar of some wild beast.
Haruno Na picked up the short blade and stood up. Her animal taming instinct told her that the voice carried a sense of oppression that did not belong to this world.
Let’s go. Jin stuffed the fragment into his arms, gathered lightning chakra under his feet, and went to see what was going on.
The two looked at each other and jumped onto the broken wall at the same time.
Under the moonlight, the eastern sky was a strange purple-black color, and the vibration sound was getting closer and closer, as if some huge monster was crawling out from the ground.
Jin touched the forehead protector on his chest, where the warmth of Kakashi’s chakra still remained – this time, he would not let any conspiracy succeed.
(Amid the distant vibrations, there was a faint sound of chains breaking.)
Chapter 82 Shadow of the Night Raven (Old Version)
The moonlight was torn into pieces by the dark clouds. Uchiha Jin jumped over the ruins on the broken beams, and the soles of his boots rubbed against the gravel, producing tiny sparks.
Haruno Na followed closely behind, the puppet strings around her waist stretched into silver strings in the night wind, and her fingertips trembled slightly – that was the tamer’s most primitive intuition about danger.
The vibration sound was getting closer and closer, like countless huge hammers thumping underground.
When the two jumped onto the last broken wall, the scene in front of them made Haruno Na gasp: the originally flat open space was torn into three deep trenches, and more than twenty ninjas wrapped in bloody bandages were dragging blue-black stone tablets out of the trenches. The surface of each stone tablet was engraved with twisted spells, glowing a strange purple under the moonlight.
Standing on the high platform was a man in a dark green robe. He wore a bronze crow mask, with only the lower half of his bluish face exposed.
The moment he turned his head, Jhin’s pupils shrank slightly – that was Night Crow, the liaison between Black Rock and Blood Demon.
It’s him. Jin lowered his voice, his fingers clasped around his kunai. If they caught him, they would be able to tear a hole in Black Rock’s intelligence network.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings quietly wrapped around the wooden box on her shoulders, and the joints of the seven puppets made slight clicking sounds inside the box.
The two men moved along the shadow of the broken wall, but just when they were thirty steps away from the platform, Night Raven suddenly turned around, and the crow’s beak on the bronze mask was facing their direction.
Just in time. Night Crow’s voice was like rusty gears. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The blood-bandaged ninja dragging the stone tablet raised his head at the same time. Black blood oozed from his empty eye sockets and an inhuman roar came from his throat.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings instantly straightened, and seven red copper puppets broke out of the box.
The leading Iron Bear swung his iron arm and smashed at the nearest blood slave. The sound of metal collision was mixed with the screams of the blood slaves – these zombies that were corrupted by the blood demon could actually withstand the full force of the puppet, and the black blood at the wounds instead condensed into spikes and pierced into the Iron Bear’s joints.
Watch out! Jin dragged Haruno Na into the ruins. Three poisoned darts brushed against his forehead guard and were nailed into the wall. The green poison corroded the brick wall and produced green smoke.
The Night Crow had gotten down from the platform at some point and was approaching the Blood Slave by stepping on his head. The bronze mask was glowing coldly in the moonlight: Is a little mouse from Konoha qualified to spy on Lord Blood Demon’s ceremony?
Jin’s fingers quickly formed seals at his waist, and weak fire chakra condensed in his palms.
He deliberately staggered, exposing his back to Night Crow – this was a flaw he had mastered in ninja school, specifically used to trick opponents who were overconfident about their agility.
The Night Crow was fooled.
He chuckled, tiptoed on the ground and approached like a ghost, his right hand turned into a claw and went straight for Jhin’s throat.
Just when his fingertips were about to touch the skin, Jin suddenly turned around and slammed the fire chakra in his palm towards the ground!
The red flames spread along the cracks in the ground, and in the blink of an eye, a wall of fire was built between the two people.
Night Crow leaned back in panic, but the flames burned the corner of his robe. As he rolled over in a panic, the rune scroll in his arms fell to the ground with a thud.
Nai! Jhin yelled.
Haruno Na’s puppet silver fox immediately jumped up, and its nine metal tails wrapped around the scroll like snakes.
But Night Crow was faster. He swung out the chain from his waist and hooked the scroll accurately, and with a tug of his wrist he was about to take it back.
A blue light suddenly exploded above the scroll.
That was the chakra amplifier that Jin had buried in the ruins in advance. The high-frequency shock wave instantly interfered with Night Crow’s chakra flow.
The chain fell to the ground with a clang, and the silver fox took the opportunity to roll the scroll into his abdomen.
Do you think you won? Night Crow’s mask cracked into spider web-like lines, and he tore open his robe, revealing the blood-red crow tattooed on his chest.
As he bit his fingertip to draw the rune on the tattoo, the rune tablets on the ground suddenly lit up with purple light at the same time, and a black crow shadow that covered the sky and the moon condensed above everyone’s heads.
Phew——!
The shrill cry pierced the eardrum like a steel needle, three of Haruno Na’s puppet strings broke on the spot, and spider-web cracks appeared on the metal shell of the silver fox.
Jhin gritted his teeth and held up the barrier, cold sweat under his forehead protector dripping down his chin – this was not an ordinary illusion, it was the power of the blood demon directly interfering with reality.
When the blood moon is in the sky, the seven gates open simultaneously… The sounds of night crows mix in with the crows’ cries. When Lord Blood Demon comes to the world, you ants won’t even be qualified to kneel down!
The phantom crow’s claws suddenly slapped down, and Jin dragged Haruno Na to roll on the ground, and gravel rained down on the place where they were just now.
When he looked up again, the Night Crow had disappeared, leaving only a charred bloodstain on the ground and the sound of vibration gradually subsiding in the distance.
Haruno Na wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and kicked away the blood slave’s remains at her feet: That guy ran away?
Not far away. Jhin wiped the blood off the scroll, and suddenly felt numb when his fingertips touched the spell – the material of this scroll was not ordinary paper, but made of living human skin, but we got something more important.
The moonlight once again shone on the ruins, and Haruno Na’s puppets were cleaning up the battlefield.
She looked at the scroll in Jhin’s arms, and suddenly reached out and pressed his shoulder: The crow shadow just now… None of the beasts I have tamed give me this kind of oppressive feeling.
It was the projection of the blood demon. Jhin stared down at the scroll, the purple light of the spell reflected in his pupils, but the projection needed a medium, and the backup rune that Night Crow had just activated was probably to delay time. He paused, stuffed the scroll into his arms, and walked back to the temporary camp.
Haruno Na summoned the puppet back and pulled out the black blood spikes from the Iron Bear’s joints and put them into the ninja tool bag.
As the two walked towards the camp in the moonlight, Jin touched the forehead protector on his chest – there was still chakra that Kakashi teacher had injected into it that morning, like a ball of warm fire.
Wait until this scroll is unfolded… He murmured softly, and his voice was blown away by the night wind into the night.
The campfire was almost gone out.
When the two figures appeared at the entrance of the village, the Genin in charge of vigilance immediately blew the horn.
Jin brushed off the dust on his body and watched Haruno Na put the puppet into the wooden box. He suddenly reached out and pressed her wrist: Stand behind me when I unfold the scroll.
Haruno Na raised her eyebrows: Are you afraid that I will steal your credit?
Fearing that the blood demon’s spell would backfire. Jhin pulled at the forehead protector that was crooked to his ears, and a cold smile appeared on the corner of his mouth. After all… He pointed to the scroll in his arms and said, “We just snatched a piece of poisoned meat from the Night Crow’s mouth.”
The bonfire was reignited.
Jhin sat on the straw mat, his fingertips gently stroking the cover of the scroll.
Haruno Na squatted beside him, the puppet string wound into a taut string between her fingers.
When the scroll slowly unfolded, the two of them held their breath at the same time—
On the yellowed human skin, the outlines of seven buildings were embroidered with gold thread, and under each building was a bloody letter: Konoha Martial Arts Field, Sand Village Festival Hall, Mist Village Water Prison… The last line of words was covered in blood, but it was barely recognizable: Seven gates opened at the same time, the blood demon descended…
The night wind suddenly blew up the ashes of the bonfire, swirling above the scroll into a black vortex.
Jhin’s fingers trembled slightly, and he looked up at Haruno Na, whose pupils were also filled with shock – they finally saw the full picture of the Blood Demon’s plan, and there were less than three days left before the blood moon reached the sky.
Chapter 83 Countdown to Blood Sacrifice (Old Version)
The campfire crackled and the last spark exploded, stretching Uchiha Jin’s shadow long on the tent cloth.
Haruno Na slammed the puppet box to the ground. The sound of the metal buckles startled the crows that were on night watch and made them fly up, shaking off a few dew-covered maple leaves.
The Thunder Tiger Jonin has arrived. A low shout from the Genin on guard came from outside.
The moment the door curtain was opened, the wind blew in the smell of rust.
Lei Hu’s chakra wristband glowed coldly in the moonlight, and the beheading sword on his waist was still dripping with blood – it was obvious that he had just dealt with the Anbu sent by Night Crow to track him.
This jonin, who was known for his physical skills, tore off the blood-soaked forehead protector and threw it on the straw mat: Where is the scroll?
Jhin pushed the unfolded human skin scroll toward the center.
The seven buildings embroidered with gold thread looked like living centipedes in the light of the bonfire. There were dark brown blood scabs on the seven blood-lettered doors. If you got close, you could smell the fishy odor of rotten meat mixed with talismans.
When Lei Hu leaned over, he created a gust of wind, causing the corners of the scroll to curl up: Konoha Martial Arts Field is our home ground, Sand Village Festival Hall and Mist Village Water Prison… Is the Blood Demon going to cause trouble in the five major countries at the same time? His rough fingers traced the last line of words covered in blood, Seven gates opened at the same time, and the Blood Demon descended… What kind of evil thing is this going to summon?
Haruno Na’s puppet strings suddenly tightened, and the chakra on her fingertips followed the threads and penetrated into the scroll patterns.
Her puppetry has a unique ability to sense living things. At this moment, her eyebrows were furrowed into knife-cut marks: these gold threads are not ordinary embroidery, each thread is entangled with the hair of a living person. She twisted a gold thread, and there were indeed a few strands of dark yellow hair stuck to the broken end. Using the soul of a living person as a guide, the level of blood sacrifice is more than one level higher than the forbidden technique of Orochimaru back then.
Jhin’s knuckles rested on his chin, and he didn’t bother to push the forehead protector down to the corner of his eyes.
He stared at the small map in the corner of the scroll. It was a simple route map drawn with ninja blood. The red circle marking the underground ruins and blood pool altar had been traced repeatedly, and the ink had blurred: What about the time?
Lei Hu took out a bronze bell with runes engraved on it from his arms. This was a time instrument unique to the Intelligence Department. After the chakra was injected, light blue lines appeared on the surface of the bell. The blood moon would appear in the sky three days later, but according to the fluctuations of the spell in the scroll… He shook his wrist, and the bell suddenly exploded with a sharp sound. The real ceremony would take place two hours before the blood moon appeared, which was at midnight tomorrow night.
Haruno Na stood up suddenly, and the puppet box made a harsh sound as it dragged on the ground: I’ve heard of the underground ruins!
Three years ago, the rebel ninjas of Kirigakure dug a mine on the border of the Land of Fire, but later the mine was closed when the mine was exhausted.
But two months ago, some villagers said they heard a baby crying underground. Now that I think about it…
It was the scream of a soul being pulled out. Jhin’s voice was like ice. He pointed at three crosses on the map: here, here, and here. These should be the defense points set up by the Blood Demon.
Anbu, puppet soldiers, and maybe even cursed ninja.
If we charge head-on, even if the Thunder Tiger Jonin can split the hundred-man team in half, we will still have to wait until dawn.
Lei Hu grinned, revealing a canine tooth that was half broken by a kunai: So we need someone to act as bait. He picked up the beheading sword and put it on his shoulder. The blade reflected the red end of his eyes. I led two Anbu teams to attack from the east, and we specifically chose places with many guards to kill.
You two… He raised his chin at Jin and Haruno Na and took the secret passage.
Haruno Na took out a walnut-sized chakra amplifier from the puppet box. This was modified from the sensory symbol she used when taming animals. It can capture energy fluctuations within five meters. After the mine was sealed, the nearby villagers dug wild vegetables. I remember there was an abandoned drainage outlet at the foot of the mountain. She pressed the amplifier to the ground, and the blue light dots formed a line in the soil. Following this chakra vein, she could bypass all traps.
At three quarters past midnight, the mountain wind carrying moisture poured into the drain outlet.
Jin’s forehead guard finally slid to the back of his neck. With the dim light of Haruno Na’s puppet eyes, he looked at the fresh scratches on the cave wall – blood scabs the size of fingernails, which should have been left by the villagers who were captured for sacrifice when they struggled.
Stop. Haruno Na suddenly grabbed his sleeve.
The blue light of the amplifier flickered wildly, as if it was about to catch fire.
With her other hand, she shot out three puppet strings, which accurately entangled the three silk threads on the top of the cave – they were transparent chakra traps, which would detonate the talisman once triggered.
Jin took out a kunai and cut the thread, and when he turned around, he met Haruno Na’s gaze.
There was mud on her face and water dripping from the ends of her hair, but she was smiling like a cat that had just stolen a fish: I told you this trick would work, right?
Last month in the Hidden Rain Village, I used puppet strings to dismantle half of a trap house…
Hush. Jhin suddenly covered her mouth.
There was the sound of dragging chains from the front, mixed with vague chanting.
He pulled Haruno Na against the cave wall and watched two figures wrapped in black cloaks walk past them – what hung on their waists were not kunai, but glass jars filled with hearts, with blood oozing from the mouth of the jar.
After the two men walked away, Haruno Na’s puppet string suddenly shot out and entangled the back of one of them’s neck.
The moment the puppetry was activated, the man’s cloak was torn off, revealing a face without eyes – the eye sockets were full of wriggling black insects, which was the insect vision spell that the Blood Demon was best at.
Intelligence said that Blood Demon was researching living weapons. Jhin lowered his voice very low, and his fingers brushed the Adam’s apple of the corpse. It seemed that he had succeeded. He kicked the corpse away and watched the black worms disappear into the soil. Speed ​​up, the altar should be in front.
At the end of the passage is a stone door engraved with blood patterns.
Haruno Na’s amplifier was attached to the door, and the blue light condensed into a swirling vortex: there was a strong energy reaction behind the door, at least jonin-level chakra. Her puppet line wrapped around the door knocker and gently pulled it – there was a click of the mechanism turning inside the door, but there was no expected explosion.
The Blood Demon left the door open on purpose. Jin touched the blood pattern on the edge of the door. It was a soul-guiding array drawn with the blood of a living person. He needed a sacrifice to walk in.
The space inside the door is wider than I imagined.
In the center is a blood pool with a diameter of ten meters. The surface of the dark red liquid is covered with an oily sheen, reflecting the stalactites hanging from the top of the cave. Upon closer inspection, it is discovered that those are not stones at all, but solidified blood columns, each of which is wrapped with a few wisps of translucent souls.
Nine crystals. Jhin crouched beside the pool of blood, using his kunai to pick up a piece of gravel floating on the surface of the liquid.
The moment the rubble fell to the ground, a blood mist rose from the blood pool, revealing nine crystal stones emitting different lights at the bottom of the pool: red like magma, blue with ice chips, purple with lightning patterns… Each piece corresponds to a chakra attribute, and should be used to balance the energy of the blood demon’s arrival.
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly jumped out of the box, and the bronze puppet’s eyes lit up red.
She pulled the puppet string and took two steps back: Something is approaching!
Before he finished speaking, ripples appeared on the surface of the blood pool.
The liquid surface that originally reflected the top of the cave suddenly seemed to be thrown into a huge rock, and the blood waves splashed on the two people, burning their skin red.
A translucent figure emerged from the blood mist. He was wearing a robe embroidered with blood lotuses. The right side of his face was normal human skin, but his left face was covered with wriggling black bugs. It was none other than the Blood Demon Jonin, Chiha Rasuo, who had been missing for half a year.
Uchiha Jin. The blood demon’s voice was like two stones rubbing against each other. The insects on his left face formed a mouth. I have seen your name in the clan’s classics, the most useless kid in the side branch. He pointed his right hand at Haruno Na and the stray child of the Nohara family. Your mother tamed wild beasts all her life, but in the end, wasn’t she also eaten by wild beasts?
Haruno Na’s puppet strings instantly stretched into steel cables, and kunai popped out from the bronze puppet’s arms.
But Jhin was faster. He grabbed her wrist and pulled it gently, and they both flashed to the edge of the blood pool at the same time.
You studied blood sacrifice for twenty years, just to listen to this kind of nonsense? Jin pulled off his forehead guard and wiped the blood stains on his face. The Sharingan under the forehead guard suddenly opened, and the three magatama slowly turned. I counted, from the martial arts field to the blood pool, you used a total of 327 living people as sacrifices. His Sharingan locked onto the crystal at the bottom of the blood pool, but you missed one thing –
What? The Blood Demon’s figure suddenly solidified, with a bone knife in his right hand.
Jhin smiled, the same smile he had when he got full marks on the paper in Ninja School: I never play by other people’s rules.
The blood pool suddenly emitted a thunderous roar.
The originally calm liquid began to boil violently. When the bubbles burst, the blood droplets splashed out and condensed into tiny blood blades in the air, brushing against the ends of Jin’s hair and piercing into the stone wall.
The nine crystals at the bottom of the pool lit up with strong light at the same time. Red, blue, purple… chakras of various colors entangled together like living things, forming a rotating energy vortex above the blood pool.
The blood demon’s expression finally cracked.
The look he gave towards the pool of blood was no longer that of the arrogance of a controller, but rather a panic that was close to fear: Impossible… the ritual isn’t complete yet!
Jin’s Sharingan moved faster, and he saw that the spell on the surface of the crystal was collapsing – that was the magic-breaking seal he had quietly carved when he used the kunai to pick up the rubble.
Haruno Na’s puppet line suddenly rushed into the blood pool, and the bronze puppet’s claws accurately grabbed a piece of lightning attribute crystal and squeezed it hard –
The moment the Thunder Pattern Crystal Stone shattered, the liquid in the blood pool suddenly rose three meters, forming a blood-colored pillar.
A deafening roar was heard from the blood mist that exploded from the top of the pillar. It sounded like that of a wild beast, but also like that of a human, carrying a thousand years of resentment and unwillingness.
The ground began to shake violently, and the blood pillars on the top of the cave broke off one after another and smashed into the blood pool, splashing blood rain all over the sky.
Jhin dragged Haruno Na to hide behind a stalagmite, watching the blood demon’s figure being knocked around by the blood waves.
His Sharingan captured the changes at the bottom of the blood pool – at the location of the nine crystals, nine bottomless black holes emerged, madly devouring the surrounding chakra.
Let’s go! Haruno Na’s puppet line wrapped around the rock spike on the top of the cave and pulled hard.
The two men used the power of the puppet to leap onto the wall of the cave. When they looked back, they saw that the liquid in the center of the blood pool was completely boiling. The blood-colored chakra shot up into the sky like a volcanic eruption, illuminating the entire underground ruins like purgatory.
The blood demon’s roar was drowned out by the roar.
Jin took one last look at the blood pool. The bloody fluctuations there were still intensifying, as if some giant creature was trying to break the last seal…
Chapter 84: Blood Pond Shock (Old Version)
The blood-colored liquid surging in the blood pool suddenly made a muffled sound similar to the gasping of a giant beast. The sticky blood waves hit the wall of the cave, and the splashing blood beads stained Uchiha Jin’s forehead protector, burning his skin.
His Sharingan slowly rotated in his eye sockets, and the three magatama locked onto the blood demon’s every subtle movement like a whirlpool – the man’s right hand was pressing on the blood-colored heart-protecting mirror on his chest, and dark red chakra from his fingertips drilled into the mirror like a snake’s tongue, obviously guiding the energy of the blood pool.
He is now channeling the energy of the blood pool. Jin lowered his voice, pressed his left hand on Haruno Na’s back, and pushed her half an inch behind the stalagmite.
Blood crystals kept falling from the cave ceiling, hitting the ground at their feet, splashing tiny blood flowers. We must find the weakness of the crystal while he is distracted.
Haruno Na’s pupils shrank into needle points in an instant.
She patted the back of Jin’s hand, and the rough calluses on her palm rubbed against the skin of his wrist – that was the mark left by years of controlling the puppet strings. Keep an eye on my puppet. Before she finished speaking, she whistled softly against the tiger’s fangs with the tip of her tongue, and the bronze puppet hanging from the top of the cave suddenly spread its arms, and the mechanical joints made a buzzing sound of metal friction.
Three poisoned kunai popped out from the puppet’s right arm, while its left palm cracked open, revealing the detonating talisman scroll hidden inside.
The blood demon finally turned his head.
His face was hidden in the blood-red mist, and only a pair of vertical pupils with dim light could be seen, like a skinned beast. He struggled like an ant. His voice was like two pieces of rusty iron scraping against each other, and a blood-red barrier suddenly rose up when he raised his hand.
The bronze puppet’s kunai hit the barrier, splashing only a few sparks before falling to the ground weakly; the detonating talisman just burst into flames when it was sucked into the blood-red vortex by the barrier, and even the explosion was muffled in it.
This barrier consumes chakra! Haruno Na gritted her teeth and pulled the puppet string. The bronze puppet’s knee suddenly ejected a steel spike, which stabbed into the cave wall to gain leverage. The whole puppet was hanging upside down from the top of the cave like a clever monkey, and the mechanical arm swung and smashed towards the top of the blood demon’s head.
This move was a rock-breaking move that she designed specifically for the Iwagakure’s fortifications. The earth-style defense of an ordinary jonin would be shattered to pieces by this attack.
But the blood demon didn’t even raise his head.
He flicked his finger, and the barrier suddenly shrank into a palm-sized disc, hitting the pivot of the puppet’s elbow accurately. With a crisp sound, the bronze puppet’s entire right arm broke at the root, and metal fragments mixed with blood fell down.
Haruno Na groaned, cold sweat oozing from her forehead – the puppet was in tune with her mind, and this was like someone hitting her arm with a hammer.
At this moment, Jhin’s figure disappeared in the blood mist.
He ran quickly along the shadow of the cave wall, and the soles of his boots scraped sparks on the rocks.
The Sharingan had already engraved the structure of the bottom of the blood pool into his mind: nine crystals were inlaid in a grid at the bottom of the pool, and each crystal was surrounded by dark red spells. The direction of those spells… looked like some kind of energy circuit!
Found it. Jhin’s fingertips were almost touching the water-attribute crystal closest to him.
But at this moment, countless blood-colored tentacles suddenly bloomed on the surface of the blood pool. Each tentacle was covered with barbs, and corrosive blood beads were dripping from the tip.
The front tentacle brushed his cheek, immediately leaving a charred mark on his skin.
Lightning Style: Chidori Sharp Spear! Jin shouted, and the lightning ball condensed in his palm suddenly stretched out and turned into a half-meter long lightning spear.
The purple-white electric current struck the tentacles, instantly blasting the three tentacles in the front row into a bloody mist.
But the tentacles were like weeds that could never be cut. When one was blown to pieces, three more popped out, blocking his retreat in the blink of an eye.
Ember! Haruno Na’s scream was mixed with the crisp sound of the puppet strings breaking.
She didn’t know when she took off the taming flute from her waist, put it in her mouth and blew out a sharp tone – that was her last connection with the bronze puppet.
The broken puppet string suddenly jumped up, wrapped around her wrist and spurted out blood, but it condensed into a net woven by chakra threads in mid-air, accurately catching Jin who was about to be pierced by the tentacles.
Catch it! Haruno Na pulled the thread back violently, and Jin took advantage of the situation to roll over, hitting his back heavily against the cave wall.
And right where he was just now, three bloody tentacles penetrated the rock, leaving three holes in the wall that were emitting black smoke.
The blood demon finally moved.
He crushed the blood waves under his feet, and a blood-red spear appeared in his hand. The blood dripping from the tip of the spear fell on the ground, corroding deep pits. Dare to ruin my blood prison plan… His voice was wrapped in ice, and with the sharp sound of the spear cutting through the air, the spear tip was already against Jhin’s throat.
Get out of here! Haruno Na’s pupils shrank in anger. She suddenly bit her index finger and drew a blood rune on the remains of the bronze puppet. Puppet: Explode!
The violent explosion shook the entire ruins.
Jhin was blown away by the air wave, his back hit a stalagmite, and stars appeared in front of his eyes.
When he looked up while coughing up blood foam, he saw Haruno Na half buried in the rubble, her hair messed up by the blast, but she was still grinning – her puppet body was blocking the blood demon, and the aftermath of the explosion blew spider-web-like cracks into the blood-colored barrier.
Good opportunity! Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, and his Sharingan’s three magatamas spun rapidly in the severe pain.
He saw that the spell at the bottom of the blood pool was disordered because of the explosion just now, and the connection node of the nine crystals was hidden at the intersection of the spell!
He took out the special kunai from his arms – it was made from fragments of Senbonzakura and was specifically designed to counter this kind of blood sacrifice spell – and stabbed it into the nearest node with his backhand.
With a dull sound like a kunai piercing flesh, the blood-colored chakra in the blood pool suddenly surged wildly.
The spell that originally connected the crystal was like a cut string, scattered on the bottom of the pool.
The Blood Demon’s expression finally changed. His blood-red spear fell to the ground with a clang, and spider-web cracks appeared on the breastplate on his chest. You…you destroyed the core of my formation!
But the blood sacrifice ceremony… He suddenly raised his head and laughed, with a bit of madness in his laughter. Even if you destroy the crystal, the blood sacrifice ceremony will be completed within three minutes!
What will greet you is the arrival of the blood beast!
Before he finished his words, the blood pool suddenly made a sharp roar.
The originally boiling blood waves strangely calmed down, and the nine black holes at the bottom of the pool began to rotate counterclockwise, forming a huge vortex in the center of the blood pool.
A sound similar to bones rubbing against each other came from the center of the vortex, as if some huge monster was trying to break free from its last restraints.
Jin pulled Haruno Na’s arm and ran out of the cave. Rubble kept falling from the top of the cave and hit their feet.
Haruno Na’s puppet line wrapped around the rock spike on the top of the cave, pulling the two of them up.
But the roar became louder and louder, causing pain in their eardrums.
How long will it take? Haruno Na asked, panting.
Jhin looked down at the chakra timer on his wristband—the red pointer was jumping wildly, indicating that there was only one and a half minutes left.
His Sharingan swept across the blood pool, and his pupils suddenly contracted: in the center of the vortex, he could vaguely see a giant claw covered with scales, slowly struggling to squeeze out the bloody liquid.
The daylight outside the cave was already within reach.
But the roar behind me was like the beat of a death drum, getting more and more urgent.
The moment Jin turned around, he saw the blood-red vortex in the blood pool suddenly explode, and a blood-red beam of light rushed straight to the top of the cave——
Hurry up! He dragged Haruno Na out of the cave, and there was a loud noise like a landslide behind him.
The two men rolled to the ground, looking at the collapsed cave entrance, listening to the increasingly violent roar inside the cave, and the cold sweat on their backs soaked their clothes.
Haruno Na wiped the dust off her face and said in a trembling voice: What on earth is that thing?
He looked at the smoke and dust that was gradually receding, the three magatama in his Sharingan still spinning.
The vibrations coming from the bottom of the cave told him that the so-called blood beast had just awakened…
Chapter 85: Battle for Crystal (Old Version)
The wind outside the cave blew the smoke into the collars of the two men, but Uchiha Jin suddenly straightened up in the smoke.
The three magatama in the Sharingan spun rapidly, reflecting the blood surging at the bottom of the cave – the roar just now was not the end, but rather the crisp sound of some shackles breaking.
But there is no time. He pulled off the chakra timer on his wristband. The red pointer on the dial was rushing towards zero at a speed visible to the naked eye. The nine soul crystals under the blood pool were the key. They were providing energy to the blood beast.
Haruno Na wiped the blood off her face, her muscles tensed like iron wire under her coarse coat.
She pulled out the puppet box behind her with her backhand, and the lid popped open with a click. Three half-human-high wooden puppets jumped out, and the steel blades at the joints glowed coldly in the blood: What do you say we should do?
You hold the blood demon back, I’ll break the crystal! Jin quickly formed seals with his fingers, and a ball of blue chakra rose from his palm – that was his improved chakra amplifier, which could scan energy fluctuations like a radar. Remember, don’t take its blood escape head-on, use the puppet line to hang on the top of the cave!
Before he could finish his words, a column of blood suddenly exploded from the bottom of the cave.
In the dark red mist, a monster made of solidified blood tore through the blood pool. Its eight tentacles were covered with barbs, and its head had a distorted human face. It was none other than the witch who presided over the blood sacrifice!
At this moment, his body was completely merged with the blood pool. Below his neck was surging plasma, and a sharp scream of scraping metal came from his throat: Ant!
Dare to ruin my plan——
Old man, look at grandpa’s puppet first! Haruno Na shouted, and his left hand shook violently.
The wooden puppet in the front instantly ejected ten steel cables, accurately wrapping around the two tentacles of the blood demon. The second puppet opened its mouth and spurted out a large amount of sticky gum – that was the adhesive she made using the secret method of animal taming of the Nohara clan, which was specifically designed to restrain the regeneration of chakra creatures.
Just as the Blood Demon’s tentacles were about to break through the steel cables, the gum had already wrapped around the wounds, and the regeneration rate slowed down visibly.
Haruno Na took the opportunity to pull the puppet string around her waist, and the whole person swung to the top of the cave with the recoil force, while the third puppet attacked the blood demon’s lower body from below.
Good job! Jin’s Sharingan locked onto the bottom of the blood pool.
The amplifier in his palm was burning hot, and seven faint energy fluctuations flickered in the blood – he had already located seven of the nine crystals.
He took a deep breath, stepped on the protrusion on the wall of the cave and jumped down, and the soles of his boots scraped out a trail of sparks.
The plasma on the surface of the blood pool suddenly boiled, and countless blood bubbles burst into spikes, shooting towards Jhin’s chest.
He turned to avoid it, but a bloody cut was still left on his back.
But his eyes were always fixed on the center of the blood pool – there was a more dazzling red light there, which was the soul-attracting crystal with the most unstable energy among the nine crystals. As long as it was broken first, the remaining crystals would collapse in a chain reaction.
Now! Jin bit his finger and drew a curse seal on the tip of the kunai.
This is the demon-breaking seal he improved using modern chemical knowledge, which can neutralize high concentrations of chakra.
He clenched the kunai tightly, and the moment the blood spikes attacked again, he plunged into the blood pool like an arrow!
The foul-smelling plasma instantly flooded over his head, corroding Jhin’s skin with burning pain.
But the Sharingan was still clear underwater, and he saw the fist-sized red crystal embedded in a piece of basalt, with strange patterns flowing on its surface.
He gritted his teeth and swung the kunai, which pierced into the crack of the crystal stone.
Snap!
The moment the first crystal shattered, the entire cave shook violently.
The blood demon’s roar suddenly rose, and its eight tentacles slapped towards Haruno Na’s puppet at the same time.
The right arm of a wooden puppet was torn off, and blood flowed from the corner of Haruno Na’s mouth – the puppet and the caster were injured together, this was the price of her puppetry.
Hold on! Jhin floated to the surface, the blood on his face mixed with the blood pool and flowed down.
He wiped his eyes, and the amplifier vibrated wildly in his palm – the energy fluctuations of the remaining eight crystals were three times stronger than before. These crystals were filling in for each other… We had to speed up!
The blood demon seemed to sense the danger, opened its bloody mouth and spewed out a cloud of blood mist.
Wherever the blood mist passed, the rocks melted instantly, and Haruno Na’s puppet lines were corroded and gaps appeared.
She gritted her teeth and cut the damaged line, then swung out three kunai with her backhand, each of which was tied with a new puppet line: Jhin!
It’s about to form a blood escape barrier, and it can only last for ten seconds at most.
Before he finished his words, the blood mist suddenly condensed into a dark red light shield, covering the entire altar.
Jin’s Sharingan swept across the light shield, and his pupils shrank slightly – this was the Blood Prison Barrier of Blood Style, which could isolate the chakra inside and outside, and even a Kage-level warrior would take time to break it.
But the corners of his mouth curled up.
“Nai, collect the puppets!” He shouted, picking up the gravel on the ground and smashing it at the red crystal residue that had just broken.
The Sharingan accurately calculated the frequency of the disintegration of the rubble. Listen to my command and use the puppet string three times!
Although Haruno Na was puzzled, years of cooperation made her choose to trust.
She pulled the puppet string, and the rock spike on the top of the cave fell down, hitting the crystal debris with three dull sounds.
The blood mist barrier suddenly began to ripple – it turned out that when the crystal disintegrated, it would release energy waves of a specific frequency. Jhin used the impact of the rock cone to make the energy waves overlap with the resonant frequency of the blood escape barrier!
Now! Jin’s figure passed through the fluctuating barrier like a ghost, and the kunai in his hand flashed continuously.
The second, the third…Every time a crystal was destroyed, his Sharingan became brighter.
When the seventh crystal shattered, cracks finally appeared in the blood mist barrier of the Blood Demon, and suddenly a loud shout came from outside the cave: Konoha Thunder Tiger is here!
The person who came was a sturdy jonin, with a forehead protector tied diagonally behind his head, revealing a hideous scar on his left cheek.
His fist was wrapped in blue lightning chakra and crashed into the barrier like a thunder ball: Hold on, little devils!
I’ll help you tear this blood demon apart!
Senior Lei Hu! Jin’s eyes lit up.
This senior ninja’s Lightning Release Technique is best at breaking defenses, making him the best candidate to restrain the Blood Demon.
He took advantage of the moment when the blood demon was distracted and rushed towards the last two crystals.
Bastard! The blood demon’s face was distorted beyond human form, and its eight tentacles attacked the thunder tiger at the same time.
Lei Hu did not dodge, he took the blood blade with his left fist and hit the blood demon in the chest with his right fist: I was never scared when I fought against Sanwei, what are you, a bloody thing?
In the violent lightning explosion, the Blood Demon was blown away and crashed into the wall of the cave.
Haruno Na took the opportunity to recall all the puppets, wrapped the last puppet string around Lei Hu’s waist, and dragged him to a safe area.
And Jin’s kunai has already hit the last crystal.
break!
The moment the ninth crystal shattered, the entire altar let out a dying wail.
The plasma in the blood pool swirled wildly, forming a vortex with a diameter of ten meters.
The blood demon’s body began to disintegrate, but before it dissipated, it let out a shrill laugh: Do you think… you can stop it by destroying the crystal?
The blood beast’s embryo has absorbed enough energy, and it is about to –
A dazzling red light suddenly exploded in the center of the blood pool, and a blood-colored beam of light penetrated the top of the cave and went straight into the sky.
The originally clear sky was instantly dyed blood red, as if a bleeding wound had been torn open.
Uchiha Jin looked up at the beam of light, and the three magatama in his Sharingan slowly rotated.
He could feel that some huge existence was awakening at the end of the light column. That aura… was a hundred times more powerful than the Wood Release of Hashirama Senju that he had sensed in the Valley of the End that year.
Haruno Na wiped the blood off her face and looked in the direction he was looking: Is that… a blood beast?
No. Jin’s voice was as low as thunder rolling over rocks, and this chakra… was more like… something sealed.
Under the blood-red sky, the shadows of the three people were stretched out very long.
An alarm bell was sounded from the direction of Konoha in the distance, and the blood-red beam of light was still extending upwards, as if it was about to pierce through the blood-stained sky.
Chapter 86 Roar of the Blood Beast (Old Version)
The moment the blood-red beam of light penetrated the top of the cave, rubble fell like a rainstorm.
Uchiha Jin raised his hand to cover his forehead, and the three magatama in his Sharingan suddenly accelerated their rotation, taking in the blood and stone chips flying all over the sky – something was surging in the clouds at the top of the light column.
The deafening roar tore through the air, as if millions of knives were scraping across the eardrums at the same time.
Haruno Na’s puppet strings left deep marks on her palms. When she looked up, her pupils suddenly shrank: in the gap where the clouds were torn by the blood-colored beam of light, the shadow of a blood beast that was thirty meters tall was condensing!
Its head is like a wolf but it has dragon horns, its back is covered with scales, its tail spits out blood mist like a snake’s tongue, and every hair is like a poisoned steel needle.
This is no ordinary blood sacrifice! Uchiha Jin gritted his teeth and took a half step back. The insight of the Sharingan allowed him to capture the surging energy veins in the blood beast. The blood demon used his body as a medium to completely awaken this thing!
Before he finished speaking, the shadow of the blood beast suddenly solidified.
Its scarlet vertical pupils swept across the altar and finally locked onto the three people.
The ground was shaking. The huge claws brought with them a fishy wind and slapped down. The air wave it created directly blew away the stone pillar ten steps away.
Get out of the way! Lei Hu’s lightning chakra crackled in his palms, his muscles stretched like iron chains, and his hands formed seals so fast that only afterimages remained. Lightning chakra: Lightning Armor! Light blue arcs wrapped around his whole body, and he actually rushed towards the blood beast’s claws, and his palms suddenly pushed out – Lightning chakra: Protective Barrier!
The dazzling blue light collided with the bloody claws.
Lei Hu’s knees slammed into the ground, gravel splashed under his feet, and the veins on his neck bulged like earthworms.
Haruno Na saw blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, and the blue light of the protective barrier was visibly weakening.
I can’t hold on any longer! Lei Hu roared, and the barrier cracked into spider-web-like patterns.
The blood beast’s claws pierced through the blue light and left three deep wounds on Lei Hu’s chest that were deep enough to see the bone.
He was knocked flying and hit the broken pillar of the altar, coughing up blood foam mixed with broken bones.
Thunder Tiger! Haruno Na’s pupils shrank into pinpoints.
She pulled out the puppet box behind her with her backhand, and quickly moved her fingertips on the mechanism. With a hiss, three bronze puppets ejected from the box.
The joints of these puppets were wrapped with animal tendons unique to animal trainers, and their eyes were embedded with chakra gems like night pearls. They were exactly the violent ape puppets that she had improved.
Go! Haruno Na bit her fingertips and pressed them on the puppet’s forehead, and blood flowed into the puppet’s body along the animal tendons.
The three violent apes roared to the sky at the same time, slammed the ground with their sharp iron claws, and rushed forward at a speed three times faster than that of ordinary Chunins.
Their target was not the blood beast’s head, but its front legs – Haruno Na remembered that Jin said that the lower body of a large creature was the most vulnerable part.
The blood beast’s tail suddenly swept over, knocking one of the violent apes against the rock wall, with its joint parts scattering all over the ground.
Haruno Na groaned, cold sweat oozing from her forehead – the puppets and her chakra were symbiotic, and every damage to a puppet would cause burning pain in her meridians.
But she gritted her teeth and continued to make seals, and two more puppets popped out of the box: Jin!
Now is not the time to be in a daze!
Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan was still spinning at high speed.
His eyes swept over every inch of the blood beast’s body, and finally caught a glimpse of something unusual in its chest – there was a beating blood light, like a heart but brighter than a heart, and the surrounding blood mist was frantically drilling into it. Core! He shouted in a low voice, and pointed his finger at the blood beast’s chest. That was the key to its existence!
Haruno Na’s puppet strings paused slightly, and then three new puppets swung out chains at the same time, accurately entangling the blood beast’s front paws. It’s contained! Her voice was hoarse like a broken bellows, and she said, “Hurry up and find a way!”
Jhin’s eyes swept over the ancient runes on the edge of the altar.
These blood-colored lines carved on the bluestone slabs were originally a formation used by the Blood Demon to gather energy.
He suddenly remembered the fragment of “Analysis of Forbidden Techniques” that he had secretly read in Ninja School – the ancient ninjas often used rune arrays to create high-frequency vibrations to disrupt the target’s chakra flow.
Seal! Jin grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and quickly made seals on her palm with his fingertips.
Haruno Na was stunned, but years of cooperation allowed her to keep up with the rhythm immediately. Both of them pressed their palms on the ground at the same time: Earth Escape·Earth Vein Resonance!
There was a rumble like thunder from under the altar.
Those blood-colored runes suddenly lit up with a dazzling red light, and the chakra in the patterns began to vibrate wildly, at a frequency so fast that it was almost invisible to the naked eye.
The blood beast’s movements obviously slowed down. It raised its head and roared in pain, and the core blood light in its chest began to flicker.
Good opportunity! Lei Hu staggered to his feet, holding his chest. His lightning chakra wrapped around the wound, temporarily stopping the bleeding.
The jonin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and formed a dragon seal with his hands: Lightning Style: Raikiri! A light blue chakra blade gathered in his palms, and he shot it towards the blood beast’s chest like an arrow from a bow.
But something unexpected happened!
A blood mist suddenly gushed out from the cracks in the altar, and the translucent figure of the blood demon emerged from it.
His face was more blurred than before, but he grinned, revealing his sharp white teeth: “Stupid kid, you think you can win by breaking my crystal?” He raised his hand and grabbed it, and the Thunder Tiger’s Thunder Cut suddenly deviated three inches, brushing against the blood beast’s core and leaving a shallow scratch.
Ashes! The third puppet of Haruno Na was crushed by the blood beast’s tail. She gritted her teeth and threw out the last puppet. It was her most precious Gale, with wind attribute chakra gems embedded in its joints.
The puppet opened its arms, and wind blades shot towards the blood beast’s eyes like a rainstorm – this was a feint to the east and attack in the west.
Jin’s Sharingan captured the blood demon’s chakra fluctuations.
He suddenly bent down, grabbed a piece of gravel with runes on it, and smashed it at the blood demon’s virtual body with his backhand.
The moment the blood mist was penetrated by the gravel, Jin’s figure flashed behind the blood demon like a ghost: Shadow Clone Technique! The three clones formed seals at the same time, completely blocking the blood demon’s retreat.
It’s useless! The blood demon’s laughter was filled with madness. The blood beast’s embryo had absorbed enough energy. It wanted to –
Shut up! Jin’s fist wrapped in wind chakra smashed into the blood demon’s chest.
The moment the virtual body was shattered, he saw the core in the blood beast’s chest suddenly swell, and the originally translucent body began to solidify into real flesh and blood.
What was even more terrifying was that spider-web-like cracks appeared on the ground of the altar, and a roar like boiling magma came from below.
The altar is about to collapse! Haruno Na’s wind puppet was smashed into scrap metal by the blood beast’s claws. She staggered towards the Thunder Tiger and carried the seriously injured jonin on her shoulders.
Lei Hu’s thunder armor had gone out, blood had soaked her clothes, but her eyes were still sharp: Ashes!
Walk!
Can’t leave! Jin’s Sharingan reflected the madness in the blood beast’s pupils. It hadn’t fully awakened yet. Now was the last chance! He pulled out the kunai from his waist and cut a wound on his palm. Blood dripped onto the rune on the ground – this was the reverse curse he had just reversed from the blood demon formation.
The blood beast suddenly roared even more violently than before, and its tail swept across, directly breaking the stone pillar on the edge of the altar in half.
The rubble hit Jhin’s feet. He rolled over to avoid it, but felt a cut on his back.
Haruno Na’s scream mixed with Lei Hu’s groan sounded particularly clear amid the roar.
Little ghost, give up! The voice of the blood demon came from all directions. When the blood beast is fully awakened, the entire Fire Country will become a pool of blood——
Shut up! Three magatama formed a spiral in Jin’s pupils. He finally grasped the energy fluctuation pattern of the blood beast’s core.
He bit his tongue and blood sprayed onto the kunai blade, and formed a snake-shaped seal with his hands: Wind Style: Blood Blade Rasengan!
The light blue Rasengan was spinning in the palm of his hand, with blood streaks wrapped around its surface.
Jin’s chakra was surging wildly and he could feel his meridians burning, but he couldn’t care less about that at the moment.
He aimed the Rasengan at the core of the blood beast’s chest and threw it with all his strength –
The Rasengan hit the core accurately, and blood exploded instantly.
The blood beast let out a heart-wrenching scream, and cracks began to appear on its body, like broken glass.
But at this moment, the core suddenly burst out with a brighter light than before, and the brightness of the blood-red light column almost blinded people.
The floor of the altar completely collapsed, and rubble fell like a rainstorm.
Jhin was blown away by the air wave, hit the rock wall and fell heavily.
He coughed up a mouthful of blood and barely held his body up. He saw that the core of the blood beast was absorbing the aftermath of the explosion, and the light was brighter than before.
This is impossible… His voice was drowned out by the roar.
Haruno Na stumbled over and protected him under her body.
Lei Hu’s lightning chakra lit up again, forming a temporary protection above the three people.
But even so, they could still feel the ground beneath their feet sinking, as if the entire mountain was about to be crushed by the power of the blood beast.
Amid the blood beast’s roar, Jhin gritted his teeth and looked up.
He saw that the light of the core had changed from blood red to dazzling white, and the surrounding blood mist was madly condensing into a solid body.
More blood plasma gushed out from the cracks in the altar, covering the ankles of the three men.
It’s not over yet… Jhin’s voice was low, but it carried a kind of burning determination.
His Sharingan flickered in the blood light, and his right hand quietly reached for the scroll at his waist – there was hidden the talisman array he had drawn overnight, which was a sealing technique specifically for blood-attribute chakra.
The blood beast’s core light became brighter and brighter, and the entire altar began to collapse.
Uchiha Jin clenched his teeth, and the three magatama in his Sharingan almost burst out of his eye sockets.
He could hear Haruno Na’s heartbeat, Lei Hu’s rapid breathing, and the crisp sound of the blood beast’s bones growing.
But what was even clearer was his own heartbeat – boom, boom, boom, like a war drum, like a bugle call.
I will never let you succeed. He whispered in the direction of the blood beast, his voice torn into pieces by the roar, but then condensed again in the wind.
Chapter 87 Crisis of the Bloody Core (Old Version)
The stone bricks of the altar made their last groan under his feet. Uchiha Jin’s boot sole rolled over a crack and he could clearly feel the burning heat coming from below – that was the core of the blood beast melting the entire mountain into magma.
His Sharingan was spinning at high speed in the bloody light, the three magatama patterns almost flew out of his pupils, and the chakra amplifier was pressed against his temple, converting the energy fluctuations in the core into tingling electric currents.
The core must be destroyed before it fully awakens! He shouted at Haruno Na, but his voice was torn to pieces by the blood beast’s roar.
Haruno Na responded with a sharp whistle, and the puppet slot behind her popped open with a click. Six wolf-shaped puppets shot out like arrows, and their bronze joints exuded dark blue chakra, leaving six afterimages in the blood mist.
The blood demon appeared at this time.
It was a figure wrapped in blood-red armor, and what seeped out of the gaps in the armor was not blood, but blood vessels wriggling like a living thing.
He came in the air with a spear in hand, and the blood dripping from the tip of the spear hit the ground, corroding it immediately and leaving a charred hole. The little ghosts really knew how to pick the right time. The blood demon’s voice was like a rusty blade scraping across bones. With a wave of the spear, the six wolf-shaped puppets were instantly shredded into pieces.
Haruno Na’s pupils shrank into pinpoints.
She pulled out the taming whip from behind her, but the tip of the whip stopped in mid-air – not because of fear, but because she saw the patterns on the blood demon’s spear clearly.
That was the forbidden technique mark she had seen when she was wandering. It was mentioned in the remaining chapters of the Blood Crystal Technique that this kind of pattern could devour chakra.
Nai, hold him back! Jhin’s voice came from the right.
He had reached the edge of the altar without knowing when, and the kunai at his waist spun in his palm and nailed it accurately into the crevice of the stone.
At the moment of leaping with the force, his Sharingan caught the red light flowing around the core – those were the runes of the Blood Escape Barrier, connected end to end like a group of snakes.
But just when he was three steps closer to the core, he was knocked away by a scorching force.
The moment his back hit the broken wall, Jhin tasted rust in his mouth; he had bitten his lip.
He stared at the burn marks on his palm, but his Sharingan was frantically analyzing the touch just now: the energy flow of the barrier was not flawless, and the intersection of those runes just above the core was stagnant for half a breath.
Lei Hu! He turned his head suddenly.
Lei Hu, who was being forced to retreat step by step by the blood demon, suddenly raised his head with blood still hanging from the corner of his mouth.
The lightning chakra of this senior ninja crackled all over his body. Although the protective gear on his left shoulder had been ripped off by the spear, revealing a wound deep enough to see the bone, his eyes were brighter than the lightning: Boy Jin, just speak straight!
Three seconds later, I used the Lightning Release: Thunder Blade to chop at the Blood Demon’s left foot! Jin’s fingers drew a short spell on the ground. I need his center of gravity to shift by half an inch!
Lei Hu didn’t ask any more questions.
He stomped his right leg hard, breaking a brick, and chakra condensed into a spiral ball of lightning under his feet.
The Blood Demon’s spear stabbed at him again, but he did not dodge. The speed at which his left hand formed a seal was almost invisible – Lightning Release: Thunder Blade!
Red lightning wrapped around Lei Hu’s right leg and blasted out, accurately striking the altar at the Blood Demon’s feet.
When the gravel flew, the Blood Demon’s armor shook slightly.
This half-inch deviation was enough for Haruno Na’s taming whip to wrap around his spear shaft.
His figure rushed out like a cheetah, and the speed at which his left hand formed seals was faster than his heartbeat.
The three magatama of the Sharingan suddenly began to rotate, and the originally clear runes turned into flowing light bands in his field of vision. He could even see the starting and end points of each rune – the stagnant intersection was the lifeblood of the entire barrier!
Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
A giant red flame dragon spewed out of his mouth, but suddenly turned when approaching the barrier and accurately hit the intersection of the runes.
The high heat of the fire dragon and the coldness of the blood escape collided, bursting out with a dazzling white light.
Jhin took the opportunity to throw out the scroll from his waist, and the demon-sealing talisman drilled into the light ball like a spirit snake, tearing a half-person-high gap in the barrier.
But the incident happened in an instant.
The blood beast suddenly let out a deafening roar, and the bright white light in its core pierced into Jhin’s eyes like a substance.
A sharp pain instantly shot through his mind. He staggered and held onto the stone wall, his nails leaving deep marks on the rock surface.
What’s even more strange is that his Sharingan is getting hot, and the originally stable three-magatama patterns are twisting, as if something is trying to break out of his pupil.
Is this… a sign of the Sharingan’s evolution? Jin’s teeth were clattering.
He remembered the records in the ancient books of his clan, which stated that the evolution of the Sharingan required extreme emotional stimulation – fear, anger, despair… At this moment, there was only one thought in his mind: he must break through!
The sound of the blood demon’s spear breaking through the air came from behind.
All of Haruno Na’s puppets had been destroyed. She was holding the dagger to take the blow. The moment the blade touched the tip of the spear, sparks flew and she was shocked and flew backwards, crashing into Lei Hu’s arms.
Let’s go! Lei Hu gritted his teeth and held her up. The wound on his back was bleeding again. I can’t hold on for too long!
But Jhin didn’t move.
He could feel the pain in his Sharingan getting worse, and dense bloodshot appeared on his retina, but he could also see more things clearly – there was a crack in the energy flow of the core, spreading from the center like a spider web; there was a darker blood crystal under the blood demon’s armor at the heart; there was even a gap in Haruno’s short sword, and the weakening of the Thunder Tiger’s chakra fluctuations…
The time is now!
He bit his fingertip fiercely and drew a thunder escape array on his palm.
Chakra poured in like a tide, and the lightning ball condensed in his right hand was no longer the ordinary blue, but a strange purple – it was a lightning escape combined with the insight of the Sharingan, a lightning escape that was so accurate that it could pierce through a hair!
Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!
The spear formed by purple lightning tore through the air and accurately stabbed at the intersection of the runes around the core.
The blood demon’s reaction was extremely fast. He swept out with his spear, and the blood-colored barrier was erected at the critical moment.
But this time, Jin’s Sharingan saw the weak spot in the barrier – that was the hidden injury left by the Blood Demon when he was struck by the Thunder Tiger just now!
The sharp spear easily pierced through the barrier, creating a purple firework on the rune array.
The light in the core suddenly stagnated, and the blood beast’s bones, which had been growing wildly, made a cracking sound.
How is it possible…The Blood Demon’s voice finally had a crack.
But Jhin wasn’t feeling well either.
The evolution of the Sharingan reached a critical point at this time. He could hear a slight clicking sound coming from his eyeball, and the patterns of the three magatama suddenly became clearer, and even a fourth magatama appeared faintly in the depths of his pupil – although it was only a flash.
The altar is about to collapse! Haruno Na’s scream brought him back to his senses.
He looked up and saw that the entire dome of the altar was falling in pieces. Lava was gushing out from the cracks, evaporating the blood mist and emitting a pungent smell.
Retreat! Jhin threw out the last magic seal to temporarily stabilize the core’s rampage and head northwest, where there is the hidden cave I marked three days ago!
Lei Hu carried Haruno Nai, and Jin was the rear guard.
The three of them ran wildly in the rain of gravel, and the blood demon roared behind them: You can’t escape! But before he finished speaking, a dull roar sounded – the center of the altar where the core was located completely collapsed, and magma gushed out like a volcanic eruption, temporarily engulfing the blood demon’s figure.
Only after they ran into the cave did the three of them collapse on the ground.
Haruno Na’s dagger fell at her feet, with the blood of the Blood Demon still on the blade; Lei Hu’s wound was bleeding, but he was still grinning: Boy, that grenade just now… was powerful!
He leaned against the cave wall, his Sharingan still burning.
At the moment of evolution just now, he seemed to see something – not an illusion, but a fragment of memory?
A bloody space, a man wearing a mask, and…
boom–
Suddenly, there was a deafening thunder outside the cave.
The three of them looked up at the same time, and Lei Hu’s eyes lit up: This is… the Raikage’s Lightning Chakra!
Jin’s fingers gently touched the Sharingan, and a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He knew that the battle with the blood demon had just begun.
Chapter 88: The Awakening of the Sharingan (Old Version)
The thunder outside the cave became louder and louder, causing the gravel on the top of the cave to fall down.
Haruno Na pulled off the cloth belt from around her waist and tied a knot around Lei Hu’s wound. When she looked up, she saw Jin leaning against the cave wall with his eyes closed. The sweat on his forehead had stuck his hair into a clump, and the scarlet lines of his Sharingan were faintly visible under his eyelids.
Is that kid okay? Lei Hu took a breath and pressed his bleeding shoulder.
Just now, he blocked the Blood Demon’s wind blade for Haruno Na, and his left shoulder was cut with a half-foot long gash. But at this moment, he was still grinning. The hand grenade escape he used just now even made me dumbfounded. When did our Konoha produce such a kid who can mix and match ninjutsu?
Haruno Na didn’t respond.
She squatted down, picked up her short knife, and wiped the black blood on the blade with the corner of her clothes – that was blood contaminated by the blood demon’s chakra, which would corrode and form blisters if it came into contact with the skin.
The blade reflected her tense jawline, and suddenly, a sharp whistle of air tearing came from outside the cave.
A blue-purple lightning split the fog outside the cave like a dragon, followed by the crisp sound of metal colliding.
Lei Hu stood up suddenly, and the blood from the wound immediately soaked through the cloth belt: It was the Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear!
This method…
Before he finished speaking, a figure wrapped in a dark purple cloak broke through the fog and entered.
His forehead protector was stuck diagonally on his brow bone, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes were still condensed with lightning. He was none other than the legendary Jonin of Konoha’s Anbu and Uchiha Jin’s uncle, the Raikage.
Are they all alive? The Raikage’s eyes swept over the three of them, finally stopping at Jin.
Without waiting for an answer, he strode up to Jhin, pinched his chin with his rough fingers, and forced him to look up.
Jin was forced to open his eyes by the force, and his three-magatama Sharingan suddenly turned, but it suddenly retracted the moment it touched the Raikage’s chakra.
The Raikage’s pupils shrank slightly – he saw a very faint flash of four magatama lines in the scarlet of the boy’s eyes.
You have awakened. The Raikage loosened his hand, his voice as deep as if a stone was pressing down on him, but he did not finish.
Haruno Nai interrupted: The Blood Demon’s men are still chasing us, we have to…
Can’t catch up. The Raikage interrupted her and knocked his knuckles on the cave wall. This cave was a refuge during the Third World War and was reinforced by the Iwagakure’s sealing technique.
But compared to the pursuers, he looked at Jhin again, the question in your eyes is more deadly.
Jin wiped the sweat off his face: Uncle is saying…
The evolution of the Sharingan is not about opening the floodgates, but about reshaping the meridians. The Raikage took out a kunai from his ninja tool bag and drew the pattern of the Sharingan on the ground. You just forced the chakra to enter the evolution state ahead of time.
Now there are two ways – either use special materials and environment to complete the evolution, or… He poked his eyes with the tip of the kunai. These eyes will backfire and you won’t be able to keep even the three magatama.
The cave was so quiet that you could hear the sound of magma boiling in the distance.
Haruno Na’s fingers unconsciously tightened the puppet strings, and Lei Hu’s laughter became silent.
Jhin stared at the patterns on the ground for a moment, and suddenly laughed: Uncle, I choose the first path.
The Raikage didn’t respond, but took out the communication scroll and bit his fingertips.
As soon as the blood drop fell on the scroll, a white light burst out from it and transformed into a spiritual beast, a snow ferret.
He whispered a few words into the ferret’s ear. The ferret nodded at him and then turned into white light and disappeared.
Shining Blade will come with the materials. The Raikage patted Jin’s shoulder, but before that, someone needed to guard the cave entrance.
Haruno Na stood up immediately and sheathed her dagger: I’ll go. When she reached the cave entrance, she turned back and raised her chin to Jin, saying, “You’d better hold on. If you dare to ruin your eyes, I can use my puppet strings to tie you up and send you to the medical department.”
Jhin looked at her back and smiled, then turned to the Raikage and said: What do you need me to do?
Meditate, don’t think about anything. The Raikage sat down behind him, pressed his hands on his back, and said, “Your chakra is too chaotic. I will help you stabilize your meridians.”
Outside the cave, Haruno Na spat out the grass stem in her mouth.
She untied the bronze puppet box from her waist, hooked the mechanism on the lid with her finger, and seven palm-sized wooden birds fluttered out – these were the animal-taming puppets she had improved, which could share vision through chakra lines.
There’s movement three kilometers to the east. She muttered to the air and tugged at the string with her fingers.
The wooden bird on the far left suddenly rose high, creating a cloud of smoke in mid-air, revealing a dark shadow gliding along the ground below.
He was a man wearing a bird-beak mask, wrapped in a black tights, with nails three inches long, emitting a poisonous blue glow.
He looked up in the direction of Haruno Na, and a hoarse laugh came from under the mask: You are worthy of being a tamer, but… His nails scratched sparks on the ground, do you think you can stop me?
Haruno Na said nothing.
She made a hand gesture with her other hand, and the ground at her feet suddenly bulged up. Three stone puppets emerged from the soil and guarded the three entrances of the cave respectively.
The flock of wooden birds gathered again, forming a fan-shaped warning net above her head.
Demon Eye. She said the other party’s name, a blood demon’s Sharingan expert, skilled in Shadow Snake Hand and poison.
The laughter under the mask became louder: Good information.
But it’s not me you should worry about – his silhouette suddenly blurred, and hundreds of chakra snakes sprang out from the ground. It was behind you.
Haruno Na turned around suddenly and saw another dark shadow hanging upside down from the crack in the cave ceiling.
The man’s weapon was a chakra blade that glowed coldly in the moonlight. It was the Dark Blade, another trusted aide of the Blood Demon.
“Alert!” She shouted towards the cave, pulling the puppet strings.
Spikes popped out from the stone puppet’s arms and stabbed at Dark Blade’s wrist; the flock of wooden birds swooped down and stabbed the snakes of Demon Eye with the steel needles in their beaks.
Inside the cave, Jin was being enveloped by the Raikage’s chakra.
Suddenly, he opened his eyes sharply—Haruno Na’s warning pierced into his consciousness like a needle.
Almost at the same time, the Raikage’s strength suddenly increased: Hold on!
The materials have arrived!
There was a muffled bang from the cave entrance, and a ball of white light exploded, revealing an old man in a gray robe carrying a wooden box.
It was the Raikage’s friend, Light Blade. He nodded to the Raikage and said: This is a lightning crystal obtained from the Ryuchi Cave, which can stabilize the chakra fluctuations when the Sharingan evolves.
Jin took the wooden box, and as soon as his fingertips touched the crystals, he felt a burning pain in his Sharingan.
He gritted his teeth and tore open the crystal seal, and lavender light immediately poured into his pupils.
The Raikage’s voice exploded in his ears: Guide the energy along the optic nerve!
Don’t let it get to your brain!
The severe pain made veins pop up on Jhin’s forehead. He could clearly feel something cracking behind his eyeballs, like an eggshell shattering into a spider web.
Sweat dripped down his chin and hit the ground. He heard the sound of metal colliding outside the cave, the sound of Haruno Na’s puppet strings breaking, and Mo Tong’s sneer: Little girl, you won’t hold on for long!
Jhin! The Raikage suddenly growled, and the Dark Blade broke through the guard!
Jhin looked up suddenly and saw the dark blade’s chakra blade piercing through the cave wall, only three inches away from his throat.
His Sharingan spun uncontrollably at high speed, and the three magatama left afterimages in the scarlet red – this was the first time he had full control over the Sharingan’s dynamic vision while awake.
The trajectory of the blade slowed down in his eyes.
He tilted his head, and the blade scraped past his earlobe, leaving a charred mark on the wall of the cave.
Dark Blade’s pupils contracted, and he was about to swing his sword again, but was forced back three steps by the Raikage’s Kaikiri.
Keep going! The Raikage shouted as he fought the Dark Blade, “The energy of this crystal won’t last for ten minutes!”
Jhin bit the tip of his tongue and the taste of blood exploded in his mouth.
He endured the severe pain and directed all the crystallized energy to his eyes.
The four-magatama patterns in the Sharingan became clearer and clearer, and he could even see the chakra circuits on his retina being reorganized – it was a structure he had never seen before, like a burning flame, like a flowing star map.
Haruno Na’s angry roar was heard from outside the cave, followed by the dull sound of a heavy object falling to the ground.
The mask of Mo Tong cracked, revealing half of his rotten face: Do you think you won?
Dark Blade has already…
I have destroyed the Dark Blade. The Raikage’s Lightning Chakra wrapped around the Dark Blade’s blade. Now it’s your turn.
Jhin couldn’t hear any of this.
His consciousness was sinking and sinking until it touched the bloody space.
The masked man had his back to him, and this time he could see the other man’s forehead protector clearly – it was the Uchiha family emblem.
You are here. The man’s voice seemed to come from the bottom of a well. It’s time to wake up.
Jhin’s eyes snapped open.
His Sharingan was no longer hot, instead a cool energy spread through his eye sockets to his entire body.
He saw the Raikage stepping on Dark Blade’s wrist, Haruno Na’s puppet strings wrapped around Mo Tong’s neck, and Light Blade bandaging Thunder Tiger’s wound.
Done? The Raikage raised an eyebrow.
Jin touched his eyes, but what his fingertips touched was not hot skin, but steady chakra fluctuations.
He concentrated, and the three magatama in his Sharingan suddenly began to rotate slowly – no, more than three magatama.
Against the scarlet background, the outline of the fourth magatama is faintly visible, like a butterfly about to break out of its cocoon.
The sound of magma outside the cave suddenly became clear, and he could even hear the roar of the blood demon ten kilometers away.
Haruno Na walked in, her hair disheveled and her face stained with blood, but she smiled like a child: I tied up those two guys like dumplings, and will hand them over to the Anbu later… She suddenly stopped talking and stared into Jin’s eyes, your eyes…
Jhin looked at the blade of the dagger.
In the mirror, at the center of the three-magatama Sharingan, the fourth magatama was taking shape at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the flowing red light was purer than ever.
The Raikage placed his hand on his shoulder, this time with much less force: It seems that the Light Blade Crystal was not taken in vain.
But brat, he pointed outside the cave and said, the blood demon’s troubles have just begun.
Jhin smiled.
He could feel the chakra boiling in his body, and the evolution of the Sharingan had just begun.
And deep in his consciousness, the masked man in the bloody space was turning his head——
(Preview of the next chapter: The fourth magatama of the Sharingan is completely formed, and Jin sees a face in the mirror that shocks him.
At the same time, in the Blood Demon’s laboratory, a coffin covered with spells slowly opened…)
Chapter 89: The New Eye Power’s Debut (Old Version)
Magma was surging outside the cave, and the smell of sulfur seeped in through the cracks in the rock wall, choking Haruno Na and making her wrinkle her nose.
She wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, but her gaze was always fixed on Uchiha Jin’s eyes – the Sharingan that once had three magatama, now had a fourth scarlet magatama condensed in the center, like a gem soaked in blood, and even the flowing red light was three times brighter than that of ordinary Sharingan.
Is this considered… evolution? She reached out to touch it, but stopped in mid-air. I heard you say before that the Sharingan has a maximum of three magatama. This fourth one
Chakra was boiling. Jin closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, the rock patterns on the cave wall suddenly became extremely clear, and he could even count the tracks of bubbles suspended in the magma.
He could even see the blood drops on the ends of Haruno Na’s hair sliding down her hair, and the speed of each falling drop was infinitely slowed down.
The Raikage’s hand was on his shoulder, and veins of chakra flowed like thin golden snakes, winding under his skin.
Good boy. The rough laughter of the Raikage shook the rocks from the top of the cave. The crystal of the old man Guangren was not wasted. These eyes… I’m afraid they can see the direction of the wind.
There was a crisp sound of gravel breaking outside the cave.
Dark Blade’s figure emerged from the lava mist like a ghost, his black suit stained dark red, the dagger in his left hand still dripping with blood – he had obviously dealt with the dumplings left behind by Haruno Na.
His gaze swept across Jhin’s eyes, and a sneer appeared at the corner of his mouth: Three magatama evolved into four magatama?
Lord Blood Demon once said that the Sharingan is just a bird trapped in a cage.
The sharp sound of the dagger cutting through the air suddenly exploded!
Jhin instinctively turned his head, and the blade brushed past his earlobe, plowing a half-inch deep mark on the rock wall.
His pupils shrank slightly – the speed of this knife was at least 30% faster than the previous one, but in his eyes, the angle of Dark Blade’s wrist turning, the order of muscle tension, and even the frequency of the blade’s vibration, all seemed to be disassembled into slow motion.
Too slow. When Jhin opened his mouth, the second blow from the dark blade had already stabbed at his lower abdomen.
He did not dodge. Instead, he took half a step towards the blade and put his right hand on the hilt.
Dark Blade’s pupils suddenly shrank, and he wanted to retract his attack but found that his body could no longer keep up with his thoughts – he had clearly calculated Jhin’s evasive trajectory, but these eyes seemed to have watched his assassination drill three days in advance!
Now is the time. Jhin growled and stomped his left foot hard on the ground.
An Ren felt a numbness in his waist and his whole body staggered.
He was about to adjust his center of gravity when he saw that Jin’s right hand suddenly flashed with a faint blue lightning – that was not an ordinary lightning strike, but a ball of light formed by countless tiny electric snakes. The high-frequency vibrating buzzing sound pierced his eardrums and hurt them.
Lightning escape: high-frequency thunder ball!
The lightning hit Dark Blade’s ribs accurately.
The assassin’s dagger fell to the ground with a clang. He stepped back, covering the wound, with black blood oozing out from between his fingers – the vibration of the thunder ball directly shattered the chakra circuit in his body.
No… Impossible… Dark Blade’s knees softened and he knelt on the ground. I was trained by Lord Blood Demon himself… You are obviously just a Genin…
Because you are fighting me after the evolution of Sharingan. Jin bent down to pick up the short knife, and put the tip of the knife against the throat of Dark Blade. More importantly, he curled his lips and said, “You underestimate the ninjas of Konoha.”
Dark Blade’s pupils gradually blurred, and suddenly, a fishy wind blew outside the cave.
Give me your eyes.
The hoarse sound was like sandpaper rubbing against stone.
Jin looked up and saw a figure wrapped in a black robe standing at the entrance of the cave, his face hidden in the shadows, the only thing exposed was a pair of Sharingan – but those eyes were as turbid as water splashed with ink, and blood vessels crawled like spider webs on the whites of the eyes.
Demon pupil? The Raikage’s voice sank. When did the Blood Demon release this old monster?
Mo Tong’s hand was pressed on his chest, and there was a clicking sound of bones dislocated under his black robe: Sharingan…pure Sharingan…I can smell the power in your eyes. He suddenly jumped up, more than ten times faster than Dark Blade, and his skinny fingers pierced Jin’s eyeball!
Watch out! Haruno Na threw out a kunai, but it was shattered by Demon Eye’s backhand.
Just as Jin was about to turn sideways, he found that his movements seemed in slow motion in the eyes of the Demonic Eyes – this pair of cloudy Sharingan could actually predict his evasive trajectory!
At the critical moment, a silver figure fell from the top of the cave.
It’s Silver Moon!
The short knife at his waist glowed with a cold light, and his left hand formed seals so fast that it was impossible to see clearly, and a silver chakra blade met Mo Tong’s hand.
With the crisp sound of metal clashing, three of Mo Tong’s nails were cut off.
He took two steps back in shock, and finally revealed half of his face: his skin was festering, revealing the grayish-blue muscles underneath. You…you are…
The guardian of the Sharingan, it’s not your turn to get involved. Yin Yue turned around and stood in front of Jin, her long silver hair rustling in the magma wind, “Back off, or I don’t mind making you disappear completely.”
Mo Tong let out a low growl from his throat and suddenly formed seals with his hands: Earth Escape·Yellow Spring Swamp!
The ground collapsed instantly, and sticky black mud filled with a foul stench surged up.
Yin Yue just raised his chin and swung his short knife to create a crescent-shaped light – the black mud was split in half, revealing the rock underneath.
His Sharingan suddenly lit up, and the three magatama spun into a whirlpool: Don’t make me repeat it a second time.
Mo Tong’s body began to tremble.
He looked at Silver Moon, then at Cinders, and suddenly screamed, turned around and jumped into the lava, his black robe crackling in the flames.
Ran away? Haruno Na wiped her sweat, why is this old guy so scared?
He has seen the true power of the Sharingan. Yin Yue turned around and glanced at Jin’s eyes. Four magatama…faster than I expected. He took out a roll of parchment from his arms, with golden runes floating on the surface. This was the clue to the next step in the evolution of the Sharingan.
But remember, the stronger the power of the eyes, the easier it is to erode the heart.
Jin took the scroll, and when his fingertips touched the rune, a vague memory flashed through his mind: a bloody space, the back of a masked man… He suddenly came back to his senses, this is…
You will understand. Yin Yue took two steps back, his figure blending into the night. The Blood Demon’s plan is more terrible than you can imagine. What he is looking for…maybe even the Hokage doesn’t know. His voice faded away. Be careful with every step you take, Uchiha Jin.
The sound of magma outside the cave became clear again.
Haruno Na came over and stared at the scroll: This rune… is a bit like the fragment of an ancient ninjutsu scroll I saw in the black market. The Raikage patted Jin’s shoulder: Remember what the old guy said, the Blood Demon has been acting very abnormally recently, and the Anbu is already investigating.
Jhin gripped the scroll tightly and could feel the runes warming in his palms.
He looked at the direction where the silver moon disappeared, and doubts arose in his mind – the next step in the evolution of the Sharingan?
What is the blood demon looking for?
And the masked man in the bloody space…
The red light of the magma reflected on his eyes, and the fourth magatama slowly rotated, as if telling a forgotten secret.
Chapter 90 The Secret of the Scroll (Old Version)
As the roar of magma gradually faded away, Uchiha Jin’s boots finally stepped on the soft soil of the temporary camp.
Haruno Na’s animal skin cloak swept across his back, bringing up a gust of wind, and rolled the rock ash into the bonfire. Sparks crackled and illuminated the taut jawline of the Raikage.
Let’s dry the clothes first. The Raikage pulled off the ninja tool bag from his waist and threw it on the stone table. The crisp sound of the metal buckles colliding startled the calico kitten dozing by the fire and pricked up its ears – it was the scout beast raised by Haruno Na, and at this moment it was slapping the hot scroll in Jin’s palm with the tip of its tail.
Jin didn’t take the hot barley tea that the Raikage handed to him.
He stared at the dark patterns flowing on the scroll. The runes glowed blue in the firelight, like living snakes.
Haruno Na squatted beside him and used a dagger to pick up a strand of burnt hair: “Don’t be tense, your chakra is all messed up.” She touched the pulse point of his wrist with her fingertips, and the gentle chakra unique to the tamer seeped in. Jin was shocked to realize that he had clenched his fist without knowing when, and his nails almost pinched into his palm.
The Raikage has already spread out the scroll.
The Uchiha uncle’s knuckles pressed against the stone table, his pupils shrinking into thin lines in the firelight: “This pattern… is the forbidden inscription engraved on the dome of the Uchiha ancestral temple.” His thumb touched a certain depression. I saw it when I followed the clan leader to clean the ancestral temple. Later, due to changes in the clan, those domes were sealed.
So this scroll…Jin’s voice was hoarse.
The key to the evolution of the Sharingan is recorded here. The Raikage suddenly raised his eyes, his gaze was as sharp as a knife, but you have to think clearly – every evolution of the Sharingan uses pain and obsession as fuel.
When Shisui opened the kaleidoscope, he cried for three days and three nights.
Haruno Na pressed her hand on Jin’s back.
There were calluses on her palms from years of holding the whip to tame animals, rough but warm: We will accompany him on the path he chooses.
Jin took a deep breath and transferred chakra into the scroll through his fingertips.
As soon as the lavender chakra flow touched the rune, the entire parchment suddenly vibrated violently!
Those dark blue lines suddenly burst into flames, outlining a complex battle formation in mid-air, which made the three people sweat on their foreheads.
The chakra attribute is wrong! The Raikage suddenly grabbed Jin’s wrist, only to see the boy’s Sharingan suddenly turn – among the three magatama, the fourth light red magatama was slowly taking shape!
It was the resonance of the bloodline limit! Haruno Na’s pupils shrank into the vertical lines of an animal. She had seen too many strange phenomena when taming animals awakened their bloodlines. Jin’s chakra was resonating with the power in the scroll!
The scroll’s ghostly fire suddenly exploded, casting a glowing map on the stone table.
The outline of the mountain range is as sharp as a fang, with the scarlet Blood Moon Valley marked in the middle. Below it floats a line of ancient Uchiha words: Seek the Fountain of Pupils, undergo the test of blood, break the shackles of obsession, and then you will see the true appearance of the Kaleidoscope.
Blood Moon Valley? The Raikage’s Adam’s apple moved. That was the deadly place where Konoha and Kusagakure met.
Twenty years ago, I passed by here while on a mission, and the valley was full of ninjas who had been killed by the backlash of their own chakra. Their bodies were still in the position of making hand seals, and their eyes had all been gouged out.
So the Sharingan evolution that Yin Yue mentioned… Jin stared at the red dot on the map, must he go there?
It must be. The Raikage’s voice was as heavy as if a stone was pressing down on him, but now there was something more troublesome –
There was a crisp sound of dead branches breaking in the distance.
Haruno Na’s calico kitten suddenly arched its back, growled from its throat, and pointed its front paws to the northwest.
Jin’s Sharingan opened instantly, and two balls of dark chakra were approaching in his field of vision. One of them had a pungent fishy smell. It was the Demon Eye that had ambushed them in the Hidden Rain Village three days ago!
The Dark Blade is here too. The Raikage pulled out his kunai and stuck it into the ground, his earth escape chakra spreading along the blade. They chased you for seven hundred miles, and it seems they are determined to steal the scroll.
Haruno Na had already untied the puppet bag around her waist, and six fine iron puppets slid out of the bag, forming a defensive formation around the three people.
She pulled off the animal-patterned scarf from her face and tied it around her wrist, revealing the old scar at the corner of her mouth: I will entangle the dark blade, and you two take the scroll and go first.
No. Jhin holds down her puppet line. Uncle Raikage’s earth escape is more suitable for covering the rear. You come with me to Blood Moon Valley—
Boy, listen to your elders. The Raikage suddenly slapped Jin on the back of his neck and pushed him towards Haruno Na. I will use the earth flow wall to delay you for half an hour, which is enough time for you to run to the valley entrance.
Remember, after entering the valley, walk along the east side of the mountain wall. There is a mark I carved there ten years ago.
Before he finished speaking, there was a sound of breaking wind from the northwest.
Demon Eye’s sneer mixed with the smell of blood floated over: Uchiha’s little bastard, hand over the scroll and you can keep your body intact –
The Raikage slammed his palm heavily on the ground.
Earth Escape: Return of Earth and Land!
The ground of the entire camp suddenly rose up, forming a five-meter-high earth wall.
Demon Eye’s kunai was nailed to the wall, splashing sparks.
When the Raikage turned around, cold sweat was already oozing from his forehead – he knew that this move could only last for ten minutes, but it was enough for Jin and Haruno Na to disappear into the night.
Let’s go! Haruno Na dragged Jin into the woods.
Her animal taming instinct made the two of them choose paths trampled by wild beasts. The branches hit their faces painfully, but Jin heard the roar of the Raikage and the shrill laughter of Demon Eyes behind him: Old man, do you think you can protect him forever?
When he enters the Blood Moon Valley, he will suffer a lot.
Shut up! The Raikage’s Raikiri tore through the air, and blue arcs illuminated half of the sky.
Jhin’s breathing became rapid.
He could feel the scroll getting hot in his arms, as if urging them to speed up.
Haruno Na suddenly stopped and dragged him into a tree hole of an old cedar tree.
She pressed her finger on her lips and reached for the puppet bag with her other hand – but the next second, the moonlight at the entrance of the tree hole was covered by a shadow.
Silver Moon? Jhin looked up.
The familiar figure stood on top of the tree, the moonlight leaking in from behind him, giving his outline a silver edge.
He held a short sword with a sheath in his arms, and the hilt was in the shape of the Uchiha family crest: The entrance to the Blood Moon Valley is under the Thousand Hands ruins at the mouth of the valley. He threw a kunai engraved with runes to Jin, and told him to use this to break the seal. Remember – his eyes swept over Haruno Na, the fog in the valley would magnify obsessions, you’d better think clearly first, what are you most afraid of losing.
Who are you? Jin clenched his kunai tightly. Why do you keep helping me?
Yin Yue did not answer.
He tiptoed and disappeared into the depths of the tree canopy, leaving only one sentence that was blown away by the wind: When you see the Fountain of Eyes… maybe you will understand.
Haruno Na crawled out of the tree hole and brushed off the pine needles on her shoulders: “Who cares who he is? Let’s get to the valley entrance first.” She pointed to the mountain ridge in the east. The eastern mountain wall that Uncle Raikage mentioned should be there.
Jhin looked in the direction her finger pointed.
Under the moonlight, the mountains in the distance looked like they were covered with blood, and under the highest peak, a narrow valley was faintly visible.
There were two broken pillars standing at the entrance of the valley. The Thousand Hands tribe emblems on the pillars had become blurred, but the two large words “Do Not Enter” could be clearly seen engraved on them, which had been covered with fresh blood.
Is that the Blood Moon Valley? Haruno Na’s puppet made a clicking sound, and it was obvious that it had also sensed the danger.
Jhin touched the scroll in his arms.
The fourth magatama was spinning in his eyes, and he suddenly remembered what Yin Yue said about what he was most afraid of losing – at this moment, he looked at the ends of Haruno Na’s hair dyed golden by the moonlight, and suddenly he knew the answer very well.
Let’s go. He pulled her wrist and walked towards the valley entrance. No matter what’s inside, we will carry it together.
The remaining pillars at the entrance of the valley made a slight sound as they approached.
Jhin raised the kunai given by Silver Moon. The moment the rune touched the shaft, a muffled sound came from the ground, and a moss-covered staircase rose from the ground, leading to bottomless darkness.
Haruno Na’s calico kitten suddenly scurried up the stairs, sat down on the top step, and tilted its head towards the two of them.
Jhin took a deep breath and stepped onto the stairs first.
Behind him came the sound of Haruno Na’s puppet turning its joints, and her low laughter: Xiao Jin, if there is a big monster in there, should I let the puppet go first?
Good. Jin turned around, his Sharingan glowing red in the darkness, but if I can’t hold on
Impossible. Haruno Na hooked her finger around his little finger and said, “You are going to be the Hokage.”
Below the stairs, there came the sound of gurgling spring water.
Chapter 91 Trial of the Blood Moon Valley (Old Version)
The wind from the Blood Moon Valley filled my nostrils with the smell of rust. The sole of Uchiha Jin’s boot rolled over a piece of bloody gravel, and the crisp sound startled the crows on the dead vines above my head, which fluttered away.
Haruno Na’s puppet Tieshan shook his steel arms, and three poisoned kunai popped out from between his knuckles. The sound of metal friction mixed with her laughter: Xiao Jin, did you smell it?
The smell is even stronger than the leech nest I killed in the Hidden Rain Village last time.
Jin’s Sharingan slowly rotated in its eye socket, and the fourth magatama moved like a living thing.
He reached out and pressed the short knife at his waist. The curse mark left by the silver moon on the scabbard was slightly hot – it was a talisman to prevent the erosion of the energy of the Blood Moon Valley. Pay attention to the runes under your feet. He lowered his voice and tapped the dark red lines on the ground with the tip of his boot. These are the imprisonment spells. The stairs that were triggered at the entrance of the valley just now should have been activated by their linkage.
Before he finished speaking, a rumble like thunder came from underground.
Haruno Na’s calico cat Tuanzi suddenly arched its back, its furry tail swept across the back of Jin’s hand, and the next second it jumped onto Tieshan’s shoulder.
Here it comes! Haruno Na’s pupils shrank.
Dozens of black shadows rushed out from the caves on both sides of the rock walls. Their joints glowed coldly in the moonlight, and their wooden frames were oozing blood – they were actually puppets wrapped in a blood curse!
The puppet in the front had two human eyeballs embedded in its eye sockets, still dripping with blood. When it opened its mouth, rows of steel nails fell to the ground.
Tieshan, shield! Haruno Nai gestured, and the puppet’s arms instantly spread out into a fan-shaped steel shield, protecting the two behind them.
Sparks flew from the collision between the steel shield and the puppet’s steel nails. With the help of the Sharingan’s motion capture, Jin could see the movement trajectories of these puppets: there would be a 0.3 second gap between every seven attacks, and the blood curse patterns at the joints were the source of control.
Nai, the third one from the left! He suddenly pulled Haruno Nai and rolled sideways, avoiding the giant puppet arm that was smashing down from above.
The red light of the Sharingan became brighter, he drew out the short sword, and the blade glowed with chakra – this was a chakra sword improved with starlight, specially designed for blood-cursed materials.
Broken! The knife light slashed across the neck of the Zuo San puppet, and the blood curse pattern shattered, and the wooden puppet fell to the ground with a bang.
Haruno Na took the opportunity to control Tieshan’s right arm to eject the chain, accurately wrapped it around the ankle of another puppet, and pulled it hard to throw it towards the rock wall. Amidst the flying stone chips, the wooden frame of the puppet cracked, revealing the densely packed talismans inside.
But the enemies kept coming in larger and larger numbers.
Cold sweat oozed from Jin’s forehead. The high-speed operation of the Sharingan made his temple throb. Every prediction consumed chakra crazily.
When he chopped down the tenth puppet, he suddenly staggered, and the chakra alarm bells in his mind went off – only 20% was left.
Little Jin! Haruno Na’s voice was filled with anxiety. Cracks appeared on Tieshan’s steel shield. She bit her fingertips and tapped the back of the puppet’s neck. The blood curse lit up: Hold on!
I’m going to turn on the armor explosion mode——
No need. A figure leaped down from above, his black windbreaker fluttering like crow wings.
The Lightning Kingdom forehead guard of Guangren shone coldly in the moonlight. He raised his hand and threw a crystal stone with blue light: The Raikage said you will need this.
The moment Jin caught the crystal, the cold chakra penetrated into his palm like a living thing and spread along the meridians to his limbs and bones.
His Sharingan glowed again, and the chakra light on the short sword increased by three inches: Thank you.
You are the ones who should be thanked. The light blade drew out the kunai and joined the battle, the lightning chakra jumping on the blade. The puppets of the Blood Moon Valley used the blood crystal ore that was missing from the Land of Lightning. The Raikage wanted a living controller.
With the support of the Light Blade, the situation on the battlefield quickly turned around.
When the last puppet was chopped into pieces, Jhin noticed that the blood curse lines converged into an arrow pointing into the valley before dissipating.
Let’s go. He wiped the blood off the dagger. The trial had just begun.
The further you go into the valley, the lighter the bloody smell in the air becomes, and it is replaced by fresh water vapor.
When they passed a cliff covered with blood vines, the scene before them made the three of them hold their breath at the same time—
It was a pool of dark blue spring water with tiny starlight floating on the surface. Beside the spring stood a dark blue stone tablet with mottled ancient characters engraved on it: Pupil Spring, Mirror Heart Lake.
Those who retreat when seeing fear have blind pupils; those who become brave when seeing fear have bright pupils.
Is this the key to the Sharingan evolution that Yin Yue mentioned? Haruno Na’s fingertips gently touched the spring water, and when the ripples spread, she suddenly retracted her hand. It was so cold… like an icicle piercing into the bones.
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly trembled violently, and the fourth magatama spun wildly. He remembered what Yin Yue said: The limit of the Sharingan is hidden in the thing you are most afraid of losing. At this moment, looking at the blood stains on the ends of Haruno Na’s hair (splashed during the battle just now), his Adam’s apple moved and he raised his foot to step into the spring water.
The biting cold instantly enveloped his entire body, and Jin’s teeth chattered, but what was even more intense was the images surging in his mind –
The Uchiha ancestral home collapsed in the sea of ​​fire, and the screams of the tribe members pierced the eardrums; Naruto of Team 7 was pierced through the chest by a black stick, and blood splashed on his face; Haruno Na fell into his arms, and the steel arm of the puppet Tieshan broke into two pieces, and her hand gradually became transparent from his palm.
No! He roared and staggered, the spring water overflowing his chest, but the illusion became clearer and clearer.
The wind from the Blood Moon Valley blew up the corners of his clothes, and he could hear his own rapid heartbeat, like the sound of a war drum.
Accept them. Xing Mang’s voice suddenly sounded in my mind, gentle but powerful. The Sharingan is a mirror that reflects your inner self. Fear is not a weakness, but the proof of your protection.
Jhin suddenly closed his eyes.
The tribesmen in the illusion were laughing, Naruto gave a thumbs up, and Haruno Na patted his shoulder and said that Xiao Jin was the most reliable.
When he opened his eyes again, the magatama in his Sharingan was undergoing a transformation, with golden lines appearing on the edge of the fourth magatama, and chakra boiling in his body, as if new meridians were being opened.
Success? Haruno Na’s voice was full of surprise. Just as she was about to reach out to pull him, the spring water suddenly surged.
Dark red energy gushed out from the bottom of the spring, wrapping around Jhin’s limbs like a group of living snakes.
His pupils suddenly shrank, and there were countless distorted human faces in the energy, screaming piercingly. Is this… the remnant of the Blood Devil’s plan? He gritted his teeth and tried to break free, but found that the blood-colored energy was drilling into his body through his pores, and every inch of his skin seemed to be roasted and peeled by fire.
Little Jin! Haruno Na was about to jump in, but was pulled back by Light Blade. Don’t be impulsive! Light Blade put his hand on her shoulder. This was part of the trial, and he had to bear it himself.
Jin’s consciousness began to blur. He heard Haruno Na’s voice calling his name and saw Tieshan’s steel claws leaving deep marks on the edge of the spring. Finally, all that was left in his sight was Haruno Na’s anxious face – that was what he was most afraid of losing, but at this moment it became the strength that supported him.
The blood-colored energy became tighter and tighter, and his bones made a teeth-grinding sound.
Before he completely passed out, he heard a low roar coming from the depths of the spring, as if something sleeping was awakened…
Chapter 92 Backlash of Bloody Energy (Old Version)
Dark red energy snakes were drilling into Uchiha Jin’s body through his pores. Every inch of his skin felt like it was sprinkled with red-hot iron sand, causing his temples to throb with pain.
Haruno Na’s shouts pierced through the screaming crowd, like a thin but tough thread, tying down his consciousness that was about to collapse.
His back teeth ached from biting so hard, and the taste of blood filled his mouth – the pain was only one thousandth of the pain in his body, but it made him more sober.
Little Jin!
Little Jin! Haruno Na’s voice was filled with tears. She broke free from Shining Blade’s hand and was about to jump into the spring. The bells on the ends of her hair were tugged and made to ring.
Tieshan’s steel claws drew deep grooves on the ground. The huge puppet beast supported the ground with its front limbs and let out a low growl from its throat, ready to pounce and tear apart the bloody snakes at any time.
etc!
A blue-gray figure leaped down from the treetop, and the star-shaped wooden clogs made a crisp sound as they rolled over the fallen leaves.
He pushed his glasses on the bridge of his nose, and his pupils flashed with brilliance in the scarlet of the Sharingan: This is an energy trap set by the Blood Demon!
The spring water of Blood Moon Valley originally sealed the defective products of his experiments. Your newly evolved Sharingan triggered a resonance, and those energies are competing for your pupil power!
Uchiha Jin sucked in a breath of cold air, and cold sweat mixed with blood flowed down his forehead.
He forced himself to look up, the four magatama in his Sharingan slowly turning, the golden patterns moving like living things – these eyes were like a sophisticated detector at this moment, able to see through the mist of blood-colored energy and see a crystal stone the size of a pigeon egg deep in the bottom of the spring, pulsating with the rhythm of his heartbeat, and each beat threw out more snake-shaped energy.
The core of the blood crystal is at the bottom of the spring! His voice trembled with pain, but with unquestionable certainty, he had to cut off its energy supply first!
Haruno Na understood instantly and threw out three kunai with her backhand.
The kunai brushed past Jin’s ear and hit the rock beside the spring. The explosive talisman exploded with a bang, and a rain of gravel hit the water surface.
The blood-colored energy was thrown into chaos by the sudden impact, and the snakes wrapped around Jhin’s ankles hissed and loosened half an inch.
Good opportunity! With the star-shaped fingertips, the chakra turned into a blue light net covering the edge of the spring. I will use the barrier to interfere with the energy conduction. You hurry up!
Uchiha Jin bit the painkiller pill in his mouth (this was a backup measure he had asked Shizune to prepare a long time ago), and a muffled groan escaped from his throat.
The newly opened meridians were now like red-hot copper pipes, with chakra rushing along strange routes – this was a gift from the evolution of the Sharingan, and he could clearly sense the trajectory of every energy flow in the body.
Shock! He pressed his palm on the rock beside the spring, and his chakra vibrated at a specific frequency, causing the entire rock to emit a buzzing sound.
This was a technique he improved based on the resonance principle he learned in modern physics classes. The high-frequency shock waves traveled along the rocks to the bottom of the spring and accurately hit the blood-colored crystal.
Tiny cracks appeared on the surface of the crystal, and the blood-colored energy that was originally surging wildly suddenly weakened by three points.
Jin took the opportunity to stand up by supporting himself against the rock wall. Under his torn sleeves, his muscles were bulging due to excessive exertion, and blue chakra veins were faintly visible under his skin.
Damn little devil!
A sinister sneer suddenly came from behind the tree.
Demon Eye appeared in a blood-stained black robe, and the three-magatama Sharingan in his left eye glowed with an evil purple light – it was the product of the forced fusion of blood demon cells using forbidden techniques.
The kunai in his hand was tempered with green poisonous mist and aimed directly at Xingmang’s throat: This crystal is the core of Lord Blood Demon, no one can destroy it!
Get lost! Haruno Na’s puppet Iron Mountain made a dull roar, and its huge bronze arm swept out.
This puppet, which she had spent three months improving, had a spiral saw blade on its right arm. It was spinning at high speed, cutting through the air and colliding with Demon Eye’s kunai, creating a string of sparks.
Are you sure your broken copper and rotten iron are capable of stopping me? Mo Tong jumped up on his toes, and his Sharingan locked onto the joint gap at the back of Tieshan’s neck – that was the most vulnerable part of the puppet.
But just as he was about to make a move, a white shadow suddenly flashed before his eyes.
It’s Haruno Na herself!
She had gone around behind Mo Tong without him noticing, and the kunai on her waist stabbed at his back with the sound of wind.
This girl, who was always said to be as rough as a man, now had fire burning in her eyes: If you dare to touch Xiao Jin’s things, I will break all your bones and use them as puppet parts!
Mo Tong realized that he had been tricked and quickly turned sideways.
The kunai grazed his ribs and cut a bloody hole in his black robe.
Taking advantage of this gap, Uchiha Jin’s Raikiri has condensed in his palm – he deliberately compressed the lightning attribute chakra into a lightning ball the size of a ping-pong ball. This form is more suitable for precise strikes.
The lightning ball penetrated the water with a crackling sound of electricity and hit the blood-red crystal at the bottom of the spring with precision.
The violent explosion overturned half of the pool of water, and gravel mixed with blood foam splashed everywhere.
Jhin was blown against the rock wall by the air wave, but he smiled with the corners of his mouth pulled – he saw the crystal stone shattering like melted wax, and the blood-colored energy wrapped around his body dissipated like the receding tide.
Is it over? Haruno Na ran over to support him, touching the bloodstains on his face with trembling fingers. Little Jin?
Xiao Jin, please speak up——
not yet.
A low voice rose from the bottom of the spring, as if it came from the Nine Nether Hell.
The water surface suddenly boiled, and countless blood-colored runes gushed out from the bottom of the spring, condensing into a huge phantom in the air.
He was a man in a robe with dark patterns, his face shrouded in blood mist, only his bottomless eyes glowed with a faint light: You trespassed into my territory without permission and destroyed my experiments… Do you think you can stop me like this?
Uchiha Jin stood up straight by supporting Haruno Na’s shoulders, and his Sharingan completely evolved at this moment – in the center of the four magatama, a tiny golden ring slowly emerged.
He could clearly see the surging energy flow in the blood demon’s shadow, which was actually composed of countless imprisoned souls: I will dig out all the secrets you hide in the Blood Moon Valley.
Ignorance. There was a hint of interest in the Blood Demon Shadow’s voice. When you truly understand the nature of the Sharingan… you will know how ridiculous it is to resist now.
Before he finished speaking, the shadow disappeared without a trace in the blink of an eye, like blood mist blown away by the wind.
The spring fell into silence again, with only the clear sound of dripping water remaining.
Haruno Na followed Jhin’s gaze towards the spring, and apart from a few pieces of broken crystals, there was nothing unusual there.
She held his hand tightly, and the warmth from his palm came through the blood: Xiao Jin?
He was testing me. Uchiha Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his golden Sharingan glowing coldly in the twilight, testing my ability, testing Konoha’s bottom line… but he chose the wrong target.
The mountain breeze blew up a few fallen leaves and swept across the water.
The broken blood-colored crystal fragments flashed underwater, and a very faint blood light seeped out from the cracks between the fragments, like some dormant beast, squinting its eyes and waiting for the next opportunity to pounce.
Chapter 93 Blood Devil’s Next Move (Old Version)
The dusk was like a crumpled blood-stained paper, weighing heavily on the mountaintops of the Blood Moon Valley.
The smell of blood by the spring had not yet dissipated. Uchiha Jin knelt on one knee against the wet rock and gently stroked the newly appeared golden lines at the corners of his eyes with his fingertips.
The Four-magatama Sharingan emitted a cold light in the twilight, and even the spring water reflected in the eye emitted a fine golden glow – at the place where the Blood Demon’s shadow had just disappeared, a few pieces of broken crystals were swirling with the water flow, and the extremely faint blood light seeping out from the cracks looked like a crushed firefly.
The price of his personal appearance was not small. Xing Mang’s voice came from behind.
This scholar, who always holds his Sharingan research notes, is now half-squatting, with his fingertips suspended three inches above the water surface, and a thin stream of chakra seeps into the bottom of the spring like a silver thread.
His brows were slightly furrowed, and the ends of his hair were stained with water splashed from the battle just now: the blood demon’s projection needs a physical medium to support it, and the phantom just now consumed the energy of at least three of his hidden stakes.
But why did he want to expose himself?
Uchiha Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and his Adam’s apple moved.
The Blood Demon’s words just now, “Wait until you truly understand the essence of the Sharingan,” were still buzzing in his ears. He could feel the evolved Sharingan getting hot, as if some sealed memories were flowing up through his veins. Testing was only one aspect. He squatted down, pressing his palm into the spring water, and the piercing coldness ran through his body along the chakra circuit, more like… a demonstration.
He was telling me that even if I could see through his energy flow, I couldn’t touch the true core.
Before he finished speaking, tiny ripples suddenly appeared on the water surface.
Xing Mang’s pupils suddenly contracted, and the silver chakra lines on his fingertips suddenly straightened. A palm-sized blood-colored fragment surged out from the mud at the bottom of the spring. The surface was engraved with twisted spells, like countless painful faces struggling in the lines. It was a blood pattern! He quickly took out the chakra sensor he carried with him. As soon as the metal contact touched the edge of the fragment, the instrument emitted a harsh beep. This thing was connected to the blood demon’s energy network!
The abnormal chakra fluctuations I discovered in the lower reaches of the Nanhe River before were exactly the same frequency!
Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan suddenly accelerated its rotation.
He had seen similar runes before – when Orochimaru’s laboratory was destroyed three months ago, the edges of the barriers used to imprison the experimental subjects were engraved with such bloody patterns. He was controlling the key locations. His voice was as deep as if a stone was pressing down on it. The Blood Moon Valley was the upper reaches of Konoha’s water source, and the Nanga River was the grain transport river for the Land of Fire… If he planted runes in these places,
So he needs to confirm whether you have the ability to crack these nodes. Xingmang’s fingers flew quickly on the sensor, and the green waves on the screen gradually outlined a vague map. If he could trace back through this fragment, he might be able to find the location of other runes.
You have no chance.
The sinister voice was like a poisoned needle, piercing the back of everyone’s neck.
Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan instantly locked onto the bushes thirty steps away on the left.
The branches and leaves there were shaking at an unnatural frequency, and a figure wrapped in a blood-red ninja robe slowly walked out. He had a strangely shaped chakra amplifier on his left eye, and a three-magatama Sharingan that was glowing blood in his right eye – it was the research expert under the Blood Demon, Demon Eye.
I let you run away last time, but this time… The tip of Demon Eye’s tongue licked the corner of his mouth, and his right hand was already pressing on the chakra blade at his waist. I will gouge out your Sharingan and give it to Lord Blood Demon as a sacrifice.
Haruno! Uchiha Jin growled and leaped to the left.
Almost at the same time, a dark green shadow rushed out from his side – Haruno Na’s beast-taming puppet Iron Fang was like an arrow shot from a bow, and its bronze claws made a sound of breaking through the air, accurately hitting the wrist of Mo Tong holding the blade.
A trifling trick. Mo Tong turned his wrist, and the chakra blade glowed with a dazzling red light, and it actually cut off Tie Ya’s front claws directly.
But Haruno Na was well prepared. The smoke bomb hidden in the puppet’s belly exploded with a bang, and the pungent smell of sulfur instantly enveloped the entire place.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Uchiha Jin bit his fingertips and formed a seal on his palm. The lightning-attribute chakra rushed up his arm like a living thing and condensed into a beating high-frequency lightning ball in his palm.
The lightning ball hit the Demon Eye with a scream that tore through the air.
The latter hurriedly raised his sword to block, but saw the lightning ball suddenly split into seven streams at the moment of contact with the blade, and drilled in along the metal lines. With a crisp sound, the chakra blade exploded into pieces on the spot, and half of Mo Tong’s face was covered in blood.
You! Mo Tong covered his bleeding cheek and took two steps back, the blood in his eyes getting even more intense.
He suddenly bit his tongue and spat out a mouthful of blood mist. Those blood beads condensed into a blood-colored barrier in the air, trapping everyone in a circle with a diameter of five meters.
Spells identical to the rune fragments appeared on the surface of the barrier, and each line was devouring the surrounding chakra.
This is the magic sealing array improved by Lord Blood Demon! There is madness in the laughter of Demon Eye. When your chakra is drained, I will slowly dig out your eyes——
The core is in the center! Xing Mang’s voice suddenly rose.
He didn’t know when he had sat down on the ground. The sensor in front of him was flashing wildly, and the energy node of the barrier was at the spell in the center!
Those blood beads are the trigger, but they need to be maintained by continuous input of chakra. Once the node is destroyed –
Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan accurately captured the rotating blood-colored spell in the center of the barrier.
He pulled out the special kunai from his waist with his backhand, and the chakra wire wrapped around the handle flashed a faint blue light. Haruno, cover!
Haruno Na’s response was a clear whistle.
Six poisoned silver needles suddenly popped out from Tieya’s remaining right claw and aimed directly at Motong’s face.
Mo Tong hurriedly leaned back to avoid it, and Uchiha Jin took the opportunity to leap up, and his kunai pierced towards the node with the force of breaking the wind.
With the sound of metal colliding, the kunai accurately pierced into the center of the spell.
The blood-colored barrier dissipated like a punctured balloon, and the remaining chakra fragments fell at everyone’s feet.
Mo Tong’s face turned pale instantly. He staggered two steps, suddenly took out a smaller rune fragment from his arms and pressed it against his chest.
You can’t defeat Lord Blood Demon. His voice had a strange echo, and his whole body began to become transparent. When he truly wakes up… the entire ninja world will be buried with your arrogance.
Before he finished speaking, Mo Tong’s figure had completely disappeared.
The valley fell into silence again, with only the sound of the spring still gurgling, as if the fierce battle just now was just an illusion.
Haruno Na walked up to Uchiha Jin and reached out to brush off the wood chips on his shoulders.
The warmth of her palm came through the torn fabric: Are you okay?
He used the Blood Escape Clone Technique. Uchiha Jin stared at the place where the Demon Eye disappeared. The Gold Sharingan was still slowly rotating, so the main body should not be seriously injured. He looked down at the rune fragment in his hand. The spell on the surface of the fragment became dim at some point, as if the vitality had been drained.
Xingmang came over and scanned the fragments with his sensor: the energy fluctuations were weakening, but the remaining tracks were still there. He called up the previous map projection, and the originally blurry green ripples were now clearer. Following this direction… he should be able to find the next rune node.
The mountain wind suddenly blew up a few bloody leaves, which swept past everyone’s feet.
Dusk had completely sunk into the valley, and in the distance came the secret signal of Konoha’s Anbu, the chirping of birds – the pick-up person had arrived.
Uchiha Jin carefully placed the rune fragment into a specially made chakra container and gently stroked the demon-sealing seal on the surface of the container with his fingertips.
The golden-patterned Sharingan glowed faintly in the dark night, and the remaining energy fluctuations were following the chakra lines of his fingertips, outlining a vague trajectory, like an invisible net, waiting to be torn apart completely.
Let’s go. He looked up at Haruno Na, a faint smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and returned to Konoha.
Some accounts need to be settled.
Chapter 94: Following the Rune Clues (Old Version)
As dusk completely engulfed the Blood Moon Valley, Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan glowed with golden patterns in the night.
The chakra lines on his fingertips extended like spider silk, following the residual fluctuations of the rune fragments, drawing a faint track between the mountain walls.
Haruno Na followed beside him, the puppet box on her waist swaying slightly with her steps, and her taming gloves were still stained with blood from the fierce battle with the blood clone.
There was a waste chakra reaction in front. Haruno Na suddenly pressed his shoulder, and the tip of her nose moved. It was the smell of rust mixed with blood – like a battlefield that had been drained of vitality.
Uchiha Jin narrowed his eyes, and his gold-patterned Sharingan suddenly accelerated.
In the field of vision, the originally blurry green energy ripples condensed into substance, pointing to a half-open stone door in the belly of the mountain.
Twisted spells were engraved on the door lintel, and dark red liquid oozed from the cracks in the stone, glowing an eerie purple under the moonlight.
The Blood Demon’s stronghold. He pulled out his kunai and cut the lock of the stone door. He remembered seeing a similar rune in the Hidden Rain Village last time, which was used to seal the living.
The moment the stone door opened, the stench of blood hit me in the face.
Haruno Na frowned and threw three kunai, accurately nailing them on the mechanisms in the walls on both sides. The puppeteer’s intuition – there are at least ten trigger points here. She pulled the corners of her mouth and pulled out the control line of the Tieshan puppet from the puppet box. It seems that the blood demon has prepared a welcome ceremony for us.
Before he finished speaking, a muffled sound was heard from the ground.
Seven blood-red puppets leaped out from the shadows, their skin was translucent dark red, glowing spells flowed in their veins, and ghostly green will-o’-the-wisp flames danced in their eye sockets.
The puppet in the front raised its sharp claws, bringing up a bloody wind and going straight for Uchiha Jin’s throat.
The three on the left were powered by wind escape, and the four on the right were enhanced by physical techniques. The gold-patterned Sharingan broke down the puppet’s movements into slow-motion images. Uchiha Jin leaned sideways to avoid the claws and stabbed the puppet’s elbow joint with a backhand kunai – that was the weak point of the chakra circuit. Nai, the right side is up to you!
Haruno Na gave a low shout, and steel blades instantly popped out from the arms of the Tieshan Puppet.
She turned her wrist, and the control line wrapped around the neck of the puppet on the right like a spirit snake, and yanked it hard and threw it against the wall. The source of the chakra of these puppets… is living people! Her pupils shrank suddenly, and she saw that in the puppet’s ruptured chest, there was a half-bloody forehead protector embedded, the forehead protector of Konoha Genin!
Uchiha Jin paused.
The kunai he had stabbed at the third puppet suddenly turned and picked open the spell sticker on its abdomen – inside was a dried corpse, with a distorted face and bloody scratches on his fingertips. Using a living person as a chakra battery. His Adam’s apple rolled, and the golden pattern of his Sharingan became deeper. It was Orochimaru’s forbidden technique, but more cruel.
The seven puppets screamed at the same time, and their movements suddenly increased three times.
Uchiha Jin felt his temples throbbing—the high-speed operation of the gold-patterned Sharingan was frantically extracting chakra.
He gritted his teeth and dodged the iron whip that was sweeping towards him, but did not notice that the last puppet was circling behind him.
Watch out! Haruno Na’s control line wrapped around his waist like lightning, pulling him to the left.
The iron whip scraped across his back, leaving a half-inch deep mark on the wall. Your chakra is almost exhausted! Sweat beads oozed from her forehead. The steel blade of the Iron Mountain Puppet had already cracked into three gaps. If this continued——
then!
A dark figure jumped down from the vent.
The Lightning Country’s Cloud Hidden Headguard of Lightning Blade flashed in the darkness, and he threw a crystal stone with lightning flowing in it: The Raikage said that your tracking runes will be over-consumed, this is a replenishing stone condensed with the Eight-Tails’ chakra, which can last for half an hour.
Uchiha Jin caught the crystal, and chakra flowed into his body along the lines on his palm.
He felt the dry Dantian instantly injected with warmth, and the golden patterned Sharingan glowed again. Thank you. He nodded to the light blade and formed a seal with his backhand: Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!
The red fire dragon swept over with high temperature, burning the seven puppets into charcoal.
Haruno Na’s control line suddenly tightened, and the neck of the last puppet was pierced by the steel blade of the Tieshan puppet.
She loosened the control line and looked at the forehead protector that fell out of the charred puppet wreckage. Her eyes were as heavy as the clouds before a rainstorm: at least fifteen Konoha ninjas… The Blood Demon’s hand was longer than she had imagined.
Guangren patted her shoulder and pointed deep into the passage: Go on.
The Raikage’s intelligence shows that the Blood Demon’s rune network requires seven nodes to be linked together.
The fragments you destroyed are the third one, and there should be a core device in front. He paused, his eyes swept across the chakra container in Uchiha Jin’s hand, be careful, Yin Yue said that the real killer move is after the core is activated.
The three of them went deeper into the passage. The runes on the walls became increasingly dense, and the ground was covered with spiral array diagrams.
When the last iron door was opened, everyone held their breath.
This is a circular laboratory with a ten-foot-high rune machine standing in the center. Countless purple-black chains are wrapped around a main pillar inlaid with blue crystals.
The spells on the surface of the machine flickered with the pulsation of the crystal. The array pattern on the ground matched the patterns on the bottom of the machine perfectly, like a huge mouth, greedily devouring the life energy in the air.
Start the flow chart. Uchiha Jin bent down and picked up the parchment scroll at his feet. On it was a mechanical structure diagram written in blood, and the core position was marked with the Sky Punishment Engine: End. It turned out that the rune network was used to power this… Once it was activated, the vitality of the entire Fire Nation would be drained?
Not just the Fire Nation.
A cold voice came from the top of the machine.
Yin Yue jumped down on the chain, his left Sharingan glowing coldly – that was a special pattern with stars in the center of the three magatama. This machine connected to the node buried by the blood demon in the five countries. After activation, it would form a blood cocoon and convert the chakra of all the living people in the ninja world into his power. He looked at Uchiha Jin, it was still not too late to destroy the core crystal.
How long will it take? Haruno Na has already taken out the blasting talisman, and I can use puppets to hold back any possible defenses.
Ten seconds. Uchiha Jin put the crystal into Haruno Na’s hand, you and the light blade stand back, I will do it. He closed his eyes and made a seal, and the lightning attribute chakra condensed into a dazzling lightning ball in his palm, Chidori Sharp Spear!
The lightning pierced through the darkness and accurately penetrated the core of the blue crystal.
The machine let out a shrill whine, the spell instantly went out, and the chains broke and fell to the ground.
Uchiha Jin staggered backwards and was held firmly by Haruno Na.
He stared at the gradually collapsing machinery and just as he breathed a sigh of relief, he heard a familiar laugh from above his head.
Hahahaha… stupid kid, you think you can stop me by destroying an engine?
The sound was like a rusty blade scraping across glass, with a sickening stickiness.
Uchiha Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank – this was the voice of the Blood Demon’s clone when he ambushed them in the Hidden Rain Village three months ago!
Run! Yin Yue suddenly grabbed the two of them and rushed towards the exit.
The ground shook violently, and black and red liquid oozed out from under the mechanical wreckage, wriggling towards everyone’s ankles as if it had life.
Shining Blade pulled out a kunai and cut through the slime, shouting: The lab is going to collapse!
The exit is on the left!
Haruno Na’s Tieshan puppet broke open the collapsed stone door, and just as the four of them rushed out, a loud bang was heard behind them.
Uchiha Jin looked back and saw smoke and dust rising from the belly of the mountain, blocking the moon. Black and red mist could be vaguely seen pouring out of the ruins, condensing into a huge blood-red pupil under the night sky.
This is just the beginning. The voice mixed with the sound of the wind penetrated into everyone’s ears. When I gather enough energy from seven nodes… your Hokage will kneel before me and beg me to spare Konoha.
Haruno Na held Uchiha Jin’s hand tightly, and the warmth of her palm came through the glove: Next time, it will be our turn to make him kneel.
Uchiha Jin looked at the morning mist rising in the distance, his golden-patterned Sharingan flashing sharply in the morning light.
He touched the chakra container in his arms – there was still a glimmer of the last rune fragment in it.
Some accounts really need to be settled.
And this time, he will not leave any chance for the other party.
The mountain wind blew up dust and smoke, blurring everyone’s silhouettes.
Only the afterimage of that blood-red pupil was still slowly turning in the clouds, as if foreshadowing that a more violent storm was about to sweep across the entire ninja world.
Chapter 95 The True Face of the Blood Demon (Old Version)
The smoke and dust from the ruins in the mountainside had not yet completely dissipated, and the morning mist wrapped in the smell of earth drifted over everyone’s shoulders.
The sole of Uchiha Jin’s boot rolled over a piece of gravel, and the crisp sound startled Haruno Na’s Tieshan puppet’s neck and turned it – it was a mechanical beast that she had improved using the animal taming technique, and at this moment, the bronze joints were still stuck with mucus residue from the laboratory.
The earth shook…Yin Yue suddenly pressed the short knife at her waist, and the ends of her hair were blown upside down by some cold chakra.
His Sharingan (a special eye technique that can be activated by those who are not of Uchiha descent) glowed dark red in the fog, and three kilometers to the east, there was a wave of blood escape.
Before he finished speaking, spider-web-like cracks suddenly appeared on the ground.
Haruno Na pulled Uchiha Jin to the side, and at the moment when the gravel splashed, a blood-red beam of light pierced through the morning mist, like a red-hot spear, and went straight to the place where the two had just stood.
The smell of scorched earth mixed with the smell of rust rushed into his nose. Uchiha Jin rolled over and behind the broken wall. The gold-patterned Sharingan automatically opened, bringing the scene a hundred meters away to his eyes.
It was a figure wrapped in blood mist.
A pale wrist was revealed under the scarlet robe, with thick blood dripping from the fingertips. Every drop that fell to the ground corroded a hole as big as a bowl.
The most eye-catching thing was the closed vertical pupil between his eyebrows, which was now slowly opening, with the same black and red mist surging in the pupil as in the ruins of the laboratory.
Finally showing up? Uchiha Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and tapped his fingers on the ninja tool bag quickly – he remembered that Mo Tong had mentioned in his notes that the blood demon’s blood escape relied on external energy supply. Yin Yue, is that the real body?
Three times stronger than all the previous clones. Yin Yue’s short knife was unsheathed three inches, and a pale golden spell appeared on the blade. He was absorbing the aftermath of the laboratory explosion. If he delayed for another half a quarter of an hour, the strength of the barrier would double.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Blood Demon raised his hand and waved lightly.
The blood mist that was originally scattered around suddenly condensed into substance and turned into countless blood-red spears suspended in the air.
Uchiha Jin felt a chill on the back of his neck, and his Sharingan captured the tip of the spear locking onto the chakra fluctuations of the four people – it was as if it was going to nail them like a sieve.
Hide! He dragged Haruno Na and rolled on the ground, while the Iron Mountain puppet opened its bronze arms to block the two of them. With a crisp sound, the first spear pierced the puppet’s left shoulder, but the chakra spring inside relieved the force and stabbed into the soil crookedly.
Haruno Na took the opportunity to bite her finger and pressed it on the back of the puppet’s neck. The moment the rune lit up, three kunai popped out from the puppet’s abdomen and accurately pierced the Blood Demon’s face.
The blood demon didn’t even raise his eyes, but the vertical pupil between his eyebrows suddenly shrank.
The three kunai suddenly turned in mid-air and stabbed towards Haruno Na!
Watch out! Uchiha Jin threw out his kunai, two of which missed, and the third one brushed past Haruno Na’s ear and pierced into the tree trunk.
His breathing suddenly became rapid – this was not an ordinary blood escape manipulation, it was more like… using pupil techniques to tamper with the trajectory of chakra?
Blood Escape: Sealed Demon Prison! The Blood Demon finally spoke, his voice like the friction of rusty gears, “Your chakra will stay in this coffin.”
A dark red light spread from under his feet, covering an area of ​​fifty meters in the blink of an eye.
Uchiha Jin could clearly feel that the flow of chakra was blocked, as if countless fine needles were pricking his meridians.
Haruno Na’s puppet suddenly froze, and the runes on the joints flickered. It was obvious that her tamed chakra was suppressed by the barrier.
The speed of forming seals was reduced by 70%. Yin Yue’s short sword spell began to dim. This barrier was consuming our energy to supply that vertical pupil.
Uchiha Jin’s golden-patterned Sharingan suddenly accelerated.
He noticed that the red light at the edge of the barrier was not evenly distributed. There were a few faint rays of light at the location where the Silver Moon short knife was pointing – that was the power of the Sharingan guardian fighting against the barrier. Silver Moon, tear it open! He pointed at the weak point and took out a detonating talisman from his ninja tool bag.
Yin Yue’s dagger was completely unsheathed, and golden patterns on the blade suddenly appeared.
He let out a low shout, and the blade slashed at the barrier like lightning. The dark red light immediately created a crack as big as a spider web.
Uchiha Jin took the opportunity to throw the detonating talisman towards the pile of rubble at the edge of the gap. With a bang, the smoke and dust wrapped in the rubble smashed towards the Blood Demon.
Take advantage of now! He dragged Haruno Nai towards the gap, gathering lightning attribute chakra in his left hand.
Blue arcs of electricity danced in his palm, gradually condensing into a fist-sized ball of lightning – this was a simplified version of his improved Chidori Sharp Spear, which did not require complex seals and was suitable for emergency bursts.
The blood demon finally took action.
He raised his hand and grabbed the oncoming rubble. His palm, wrapped in blood mist, instantly melted the stone into magma, and then threw it towards everyone.
Uchiha Jin rolled sideways, and the lightning ball flew past the Blood Demon’s left arm, burning a charred hole in his robe.
But the other party did not even cry out in pain, but the vertical pupil between his eyebrows widened wider and wider, and seven flickering spots of light could be vaguely seen in it.
Seven nodes…Uchiha Jin suddenly remembered the torn notebook in the laboratory. Demon Eye had mentioned that blood sacrifice requires seven energy sources. It turns out that those nodes are not energy, but… coordinates?
The roar made my eardrums hurt.
The blood mist behind the blood demon condensed into a giant python. Its body was as thick as two people hugging together, and its scales were covered with barbs, each of which was dripping with corrosive venom.
Haruno Na’s Iron Mountain Puppet was hit by the snake’s tail, directly knocking down two large trees, and green smoke rose from the bronze shell.
Nai, use a puppet to lure it! Uchiha Jin pulled out the special kunai in his arms – the blade was engraved with a spell copied from the rune fragments, and its core was behind the vertical pupil between the eyebrows!
Haruno Na wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, bit her fingertips and drew the beast taming seal on her palm.
The Tieshan Puppet suddenly roared, and its right arm, which was originally twisted by the snake’s tail, suddenly popped out a chainsaw and chopped off the snake’s belly with a click.
The giant python felt pain and turned to pounce on the puppet. The ground where its tongue swept was instantly charred.
Uchiha Jin used the motion capture of the Sharingan to step on the broken tree and jump onto the snake’s back.
The python’s scales were slippery, so he inserted the kunai into the snake to stabilize his body and quickly climbed up the snake’s body.
The Blood Demon obviously didn’t expect that he would use the snake’s body to approach him. His vertical pupils shrank rapidly, but Uchiha Jin seized the opportunity and pounced on him!
Go to hell! He shouted, and the specially made kunai with lightning pierced into the blood demon’s forehead.
The blood demon’s screams made the air tremble.
Black and red mist gushed out from the wound, and the giant python’s body instantly disintegrated into blood mist, and cracks also appeared in the surrounding Demon Sealing Prison barrier.
Uchiha Jin was blown away by the recoil, hit the tree trunk and slid to the ground, but he ignored the pain and stared at the blood demon who was slowly falling.
However, the next moment, the blood demon’s body began to become transparent.
His shadow floated in the air, the wound between his eyebrows was healing, and the seven spots of light in his vertical pupils became brighter and brighter: Foolish ants…you only destroyed a container.
The real blood sacrifice will begin during the total lunar eclipse tonight.
The energy of the seven nodes will be gathered into the body of the Blood God. By then – the corners of the shadow’s mouth opened into a strange arc, and the Hokage of Konoha will kneel at my feet and beg me to spare this rotten village.
And you… His eyes were fixed on Uchiha Jin, your Sharingan will become the brightest gem on the Blood God’s crown.
Before he finished speaking, the shadow turned into blood mist and dissipated.
The only thing left in the morning mist was a faint smell of blood and the rapid breathing of the crowd.
Uchiha Jin stood up by supporting himself with the help of a tree trunk, his palm still retaining the feeling of stabbing the blood demon – there was no beating heart in that body, no chakra circulation, only the flow of cold energy.
He touched the chakra container in his arms. The rune fragments inside were slightly hot at this moment, as if responding to the seven nodes mentioned by the Blood Demon.
Haruno Na came over and handed him a handkerchief.
Her knuckles were still stained with the puppet’s engine oil, but she carefully wiped the blood off his face: Tonight?
Total lunar eclipse?
The Hokage needs to be notified. Yin Yue put away the short sword, and the golden pattern on the blade dimmed, but more importantly, he had to find the seven nodes.
Uchiha Jin looked at the direction where the Blood Demon disappeared, and his golden-patterned Sharingan became sharper in the morning light.
He remembered the threat posed by the blood pupil in the ruins of the laboratory, the incomplete records of the blood sacrifice ceremony in the Magic Pupil Notes, and the container containing the rune fragments in his arms – that was the only clue they had snatched from the laboratory.
Tonight… he repeated in a low voice, his fingers unconsciously clenching the handkerchief, I won’t let you succeed.
The morning mist gradually dissipated, and the sunlight penetrated the clouds and shone on everyone’s shoulders.
But on the distant mountain top, there was still a faint blood mist hovering, like a sign of something ready to strike.
Chapter 96 Countdown to the Blood Sacrifice Ceremony (Old Version)
Uchiha Jin stared at the direction where the blood demon disappeared, and his Adam’s apple rolled twice.
He could clearly hear his own heartbeat beating on his eardrums – the words “When the moon is totally eclipsed” that the Blood Demon said before he left, “The Seven Meridians Return to Their Origin” were like fine needles piercing his tense nerves.
Haruno Na’s handkerchief was still clenched in his palm, and the touch of the engine oil brought him back to his senses. When he turned around, he saw Yin Yue using a short knife to pick up a piece of blood-stained grass stem, and the golden pattern on the blade flickered.
Chakra remains. Yin Yue’s fingertips brushed the dark red liquid that oozed from the cross section of the grass stem. It was corrosive and had the same energy source as the blood pupil in the laboratory. When she looked up, her Sharingan trembled slightly. The blood sacrifice required a large amount of chakra from living creatures. The seven nodes should be energy gathering arrays scattered across the border of the Fire Country.
Let’s go back to Konoha first. Uchiha Jin tugged at his blood-soaked cuffs, his golden Sharingan glittering in the morning light. The improved puppet of the craftsman soul needed final adjustments, and… He touched the hot chakra container in his arms. The rune fragments inside were resonating with the frequency of his heartbeat. Xingmang sent a message yesterday saying that he had analyzed some rune patterns and might be able to locate the core altar.
Haruno Na pulled her forehead protector down to cover half of her face, and the blood on her hair was blown away by the wind: I’ll go get the ninja dog, and we’ll meet at the South Gate in half an hour. When she turned around, the puppet scroll on her waist rustled. It was the newly improved Iron Arm Yasha of the Craftsman Soul, and the chakra gems embedded in the joints were emitting a faint blue glow.
The smell of burnt iron wafted from the blacksmith shop in Konoha Village.
Craftsman Soul squatted behind the workbench, his goggles slid to the tip of his nose, his left hand holding a micro chakra amplifier and his right hand holding a magnifying glass: This thing can triple the output efficiency, but… He suddenly looked up, his eyes behind the lenses seemed to be quenched with cold light, the chakra circuit will withstand overload pressure, are you sure you want to install it?
Haruno Na slammed the Iron Arm Yasha to the ground, and the puppet’s metal arm smashed into a hole: “Last time when we dealt with the Earth-style Ninja from Iwagakure, if the puppet hadn’t reacted a little slower, how could that guy have escaped?” She squatted down and patted the slot on the back of the puppet’s neck. “Just put it here, I can handle it.”
Uchiha Jin didn’t say anything, but his fingertips gently ran across the spiral patterns on the surface of the amplifier – that was the energy-conducting structure that the craftsman’s soul had improved using the Chidori Flow principle.
He recalled that three days ago in the ruins of the laboratory, the blood-eyed puppet’s attack speed was so fast that the Sharingan could only capture the afterimage. If Haruno Na hadn’t used the puppet to block the fatal blow for him,
He suddenly said, I want two, one for Nai’s puppet, and one… He pointed to his heart and said, I will use it.
The tweezers of the craftsman soul fell to the table with a clang.
He took off his goggles, stared at Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan with golden patterns for three seconds, and suddenly laughed: As expected, he dared to copy the Chunin exam paper in the Ninja School. He turned around and took out a metal box with swirl patterns from the drawer. This was a spare energy block. If the amplifier was overloaded, it could be crushed and last for three minutes.
The midday sun shone obliquely through the skylight of the blacksmith shop, casting the shadows of four people on the ground covered with parts.
Yin Yue stood at the door, the short knife at her waist making a clear sound: the coordinates came from the starlight. She unfolded a blood-stained map and pointed her finger at the abandoned Moon God Altar in the northernmost part of the Fire Country. The sacrificial site was destroyed by Iwagakure during the Third War. There have been abnormal chakra fluctuations in the past three months.
Uchiha Jin leaned over and saw that the red dot on the map was surrounded by star-like rune marks – which completely matched the pattern of the fragments in the container.
He suddenly remembered the torn page in the Demon Eye Notebook, on which were written in blood the words “Moon Goddess Altar, the Hub of the Seven Veins”.
The total lunar eclipse tonight is at 15:30. Yin Yue’s voice is like ice water. It will take four hours to get there from Konoha. If we set out now, we will arrive at the end of the afternoon.
Haruno Na stuck the amplifier into the puppet’s neck, the metal friction sound pierced people’s ears and hurt: Let’s go. She bent down and carried the puppet, her muscles stretched into lines under the loose ninja uniform, who dares to touch my child… She glanced at Uchiha Jin and suddenly smiled, who dares to touch our plan, I will tear his bones to use as puppet strings.
The abandoned altar is more desolate than expected.
The broken stone archway was covered with dead vines. The stone wall that was once carved with the totem of the moon goddess was burned black. The wind made a whimpering sound when it passed through the ruins.
Uchiha Jin squatted on the treetops three hundred meters away, his Sharingan locked on the altar – seven bronze puppets as tall as a person were circling the altar, dark red liquid oozing from their joints, which was the blood demon’s unique corrosive chakra.
Twelve patrol puppets and three fixed sentries. Haruno Na’s voice came from the microphone of the ninja dog’s collar, “I will lead three puppets away from the east side, and you sneak in from the west side.”
Uchiha Jin touched the kunai hidden in his sleeve and rubbed his fingertips across the lightning talisman engraved on it – it was just drawn by the craftsman’s soul this morning, and it was said that it could amplify the penetrating power of lightning chakra.
He took a deep breath, and chakra flowed into the tree trunk along the soles of his feet, and his whole body floated to the west side of the altar like a leaf.
The interior of the altar is more depressing than the outside.
The altar in the center was hollowed out, revealing a circular pit with a diameter of five meters. A blood-red crystal was embedded in the pit, with snake-shaped light patterns flowing on its surface.
There were seven bronze pillars inserted around the crystal, and on each pillar was tied a bloody ninja – their chakra was being drawn away by the crystal and flowing along the pillars to the rune formation on the ground.
What a precise energy-gathering array. Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan automatically analyzed the patterns on the ground. The seven pillars corresponded to seven nodes, and the crystal was the core. During the total lunar eclipse… he wanted to draw all the chakra from the seven places here. He reached for the container in his arms, and the rune fragments inside suddenly became extremely hot, almost burning through his clothes.
Little devil, you are here as expected.
The cold voice was like an icicle piercing the back of my neck.
Uchiha Jin turned around, with the kunai already between his fingers – Mo Tong stood in the shadow of the altar, the blood-red goggles on his left eye glowing with a strange red light, and in his right hand he held a rune fragment that was exactly the same as the one in the container.
I let you run away last time. Mo Tong’s voice was as harsh as the friction of metal. This time… the fragments in your arms, plus the ones in my hand, just make up a complete blood sacrifice array. He pressed his thumb on the fragments, and the rune array on the ground suddenly lit up red. Seven bronze puppets rushed out from the shadows, and the corrosive liquid at the joints dripped onto the ground, emitting bursts of green smoke.
Jin! Haruno Na’s voice exploded from the microphone, and there were suddenly more puppets on my side!
You quick…
The sound of electricity from the microphone suddenly stopped.
Uchiha Jin stared at the twelve enhanced puppets that suddenly appeared behind Mo Tong. Their arms turned into sickle shapes, and the blades were beating with the same dark red energy as the Blood Demon.
He could hear his own heartbeat drowning out his breathing – the chakra fluctuations of these puppets were at least five times stronger than those he encountered three days ago.
Run? Mo Tong licked his lips. Your companion’s puppet has been controlled by me with runes. He pointed to the direction of the altar entrance. She was now being beaten by her own Iron Arm Yaksha.
Uchiha Jin’s pupils suddenly contracted.
He saw Haruno Na’s figure falling in from the entrance, her left face swollen, her forehead protector fell to the ground, and the ends of her hair were stained with puppet oil.
The iron-armed Yaksha behind her raised his metal fist, and the amplifiers at the joints flashed a dangerous red light – that was a sign of overload.
Nai! He shouted and was about to rush over, but was stopped by a sickle puppet.
The blade scraped across his cheek, leaving a deep mark on the stone wall that was deep enough to see the bone.
Haruno Na wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and suddenly smiled: Jin, look at the new moves I learned! She pulled out the kunai from behind with her backhand, and the tip of the knife stabbed into her palm. The moment the blood dripped onto the ground, dense puppet control patterns appeared on the ground – that was the secret blood contract technique of the Nohara clan.
Yaksha the Iron-armed! She roared, smashing the pile of rubbish!
The controlled puppet suddenly trembled violently, and the red light of the amplifier almost burned through the shell.
It turned around and grabbed the nearest sickle puppet, and its metal arms tore the thing in half like tearing a piece of paper. The corrosive liquid splashed on it, but was blocked by the newly applied anti-corrosion coating on the surface – that was specially given to it by the Craftsman Soul this morning.
Good job! Uchiha Jin took the opportunity to seal, and the Lightning Style: Chidori Sharp Spear took shape in his palm, and the blue electric current wrapped in lightning pierced towards the Demon Eye.
But Mo Tong was prepared. He dodged into the shadows and threw the rune fragment in his hand.
The fragments hit the blood-colored crystal, and the crystal suddenly burst into a blinding red light. The ninjas on the seven bronze pillars screamed at the same time, and their chakra was being drained at a speed visible to the naked eye.
There is still half an hour before the total lunar eclipse. The voice of the demon pupil came from all directions, and when the chakra of the seven pillars is drained, the blood sacrifice will start.
It’s no use killing me now, the ritual will be completed automatically.
Uchiha Jin’s Chidori spear crackled in his palm.
He could feel the chakra amplifier burning in his blood vessels, and every trace of chakra that flowed felt like fire.
Haruno Na’s puppets had already dismantled five enemies, but the remaining seven were approaching in a circle, and the red light of the blood-colored crystal was getting brighter and brighter, making the entire altar look like it was soaked in blood.
Jhin! Haruno Na suddenly threw something over – it was the spare energy block given by the Artisan Soul.
One of her puppet’s arms was broken, but she was still holding on: Crush it!
Get through this wave!
Uchiha Jin caught the energy block and felt the vortex pattern engraved on it with his fingertips.
He glanced at Haruno Na, the blood was still dripping down her face, but she made a gesture to him that it was okay.
Looking at the shadow where the Demon Eye was, the rune array there was speeding up, and the bodies of the Seven Pillar Ninjas had become so transparent that one could see their bones.
The gold-patterned Sharingan moved faster in the blood, reflecting Haruno Na’s bloody face, the puppet’s broken joints, and the panic beneath the magic pupil goggles.
Who said I was going to kill you? He crushed the energy block, and blue chakra gushed out like a volcanic eruption. The burning sensation of the amplifier was dispersed by the more turbulent force.
The lightning from the Chidori Sharp Spear suddenly tripled in power, illuminating the entire altar. I will destroy your ceremony.
The pupils of Demon Eye shrank in the lightning.
He finally realized something was wrong – Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan had locked onto the center of the rune formation of the blood-colored crystal without him knowing it.
Give it to me…broken!
The Chidori sharp spear pierced the air with the power of thunder.
This time, the lightning did not stop in front of Demon Eye, but brushed against his goggles and accurately pierced into the core of the blood-colored crystal.
Amid the violent explosion, Uchiha Jin saw Haruno Na’s puppet swing the last sickle puppet and smash it towards Mo Tong, saw the chains on the Seven Pillars Ninjas break, and saw rune fragments burst out from the crystal, one of which fell right into the container in his arms – the gap was filled.
But he had no time to be happy.
Because in the smoke of the explosion, Mo Tong’s voice sounded again, with a crazy smile: It’s too late!
Total lunar eclipse… has begun!
Uchiha Jin suddenly looked up.
Through the broken dome of the altar, he saw the moon being slowly swallowed by the shadow.
The moment the last ray of moonlight disappeared, fragments of the blood-colored crystal suddenly floated up and formed a huge blood formation in the air.
And in the center of the blood formation, a familiar figure was gathering – it was the blood demon who disappeared three days ago. At this moment, his eyes were scarlett than ever before.
Haruno Na staggered over and grabbed his wrist: Jin, what should we do?
Uchiha Jin stared at the Blood Demon’s body which was becoming increasingly clear, and the golden-patterned Sharingan reflected the bloody light in the sky.
He could feel the container in his arms getting hot, hear Haruno Na’s rapid breathing, and smell the smell of blood and rust in the air.
But a smile slowly appeared on the corner of his mouth.
Don’t worry. He said, we still have… one last card.
The blood demon’s laughter shook the altar so much that rocks fell to the ground.
He raised his hand, and the blood ball condensed at his fingertips was facing the two of them.
At this critical moment, Uchiha Jin suddenly opened his collar, revealing something hanging around his neck – it was the Sharingan amulet that Yin Yue had given him yesterday. At this moment, it was emitting a faint blue light as the blood formation fluctuated.
Silver Moon! He yelled into the amulet, activating the backup plan!
On the distant mountain top, Silver Moon stood on the highest rock.
She looked at the bloody light in the direction of the altar, formed a seal with her left hand, and pressed her right hand on her Sharingan.
The patterns on the Sharingan suddenly started spinning wildly, and its memory storage capacity was pushed to the limit – the blood demon chakra sample that was snatched from the laboratory three days ago was now flowing into the altar along the chakra lines like a torrent.
The blood demon’s blood ball stagnated in mid-air.
He looked down at his body, his eyes widened in disbelief – he could feel that his energy was being devoured by some purer chakra.
This is…
Your chakra was extracted from the blood of a living person. Uchiha Jin drew out his kunai, and the lightning talisman flowed through the blade, while Yin Yue’s Sharingan stored the chakra that was lost when you were cut by us three days ago.
Use your energy to destroy yourself… Isn’t this a good trick?
The blood demon’s body began to disintegrate.
He took one last look at Uchiha Jin, the madness in his eyes gradually turned into horror: You… who are you…
I am…Uchiha Jin’s kunai pierced the blood demon’s core, and the lightning shattered the last trace of blood mist. I am the one who will not let you succeed.
The altar fell into darkness again.
The total lunar eclipse was over, and the moonlight once again shone on everyone.
Haruno Na slumped on the ground, smiled and patted his leg: Next time…tell us in advance that you have a backup plan.
Uchiha Jin squatted down and wiped the blood off her face: “It won’t be exciting if I tell you.” He picked up the rune fragments on the ground and put them into the container. Now, it’s time to deal with the remaining six nodes.
Silver Moon stepped out of the shadows, and the golden pattern on the short sword lit up again: “I have notified the Anbu, they will take over.” She glanced at the unconscious Mo Tong on the ground, as for him… leave it to the Hokage to deal with.
Haruno Na suddenly tugged at Uchiha Jin’s sleeve and pointed to the corner of the altar – the Seven Pillars Ninja were helping each other to stand up, and one of the young Genin bowed to them with red eyes: Thank you… Thank you for saving us.
Uchiha Jin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly laughed out loud.
He turned to look at Haruno Na, her forehead protector was tilted to one side, her face was stained with oil and blood, but her smile was brighter than the moonlight.
Let’s go. He said, go back to Konoha and find the craftsman soul to repair the puppet.
Haruno Na jumped up and carried the Iron-Armed Yasha who was missing an arm: This time we need to add two machine guns!
Yin Yue shook her head and chuckled, then took the lead towards the exit of the altar.
The moonlight shone on their backs, stretching their shadows very long.
On the distant mountain top, the last trace of blood mist finally dissipated, as if it had never appeared.
In the Hokage’s office in Konoha Village, the Sandaime put down the information in his hand, looked at the moonlight outside the window, and a relieved smile appeared on the corner of his mouth.
He knew that this kid who always brought surprises had once again changed the trajectory of fate.
Chapter 97: Raikage’s surprise attack, Blood Demon’s trap (old version)
Just as the moonlight climbed up to the dome on top of the altar, the talisman bag on Mo Tong’s waist suddenly burst out with a dazzling red light.
Uchiha Jin was bending over to check the unconscious Demon Eye. He caught a glimpse of the blood in his peripheral vision and his pupils suddenly contracted – several rune fragments the size of fingernails popped out of the rune bag, suspended in the air, and vibrated violently as if they were grasped by an invisible hand.
Watch out! He grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and leaped back. Almost at the same moment, the ground cracked open with several bloody cracks, and six blood-colored puppets that were two meters tall broke out of the ground.
Dark red crystals were embedded in their joints, ghostly green fire flickered in their eye sockets, the runes on their necks echoed the fragments in the magic pupil bag, and the friction between their metal bodies produced piercing screams.
Is this… an enhanced blood puppet? Haruno Na’s Iron-armed Yasha puppet was knocked off balance. She supported herself on one foot to steady herself, cold sweat oozing from her forehead.
The blood puppets I saw in the Hidden Rain Village last time were not so big. These guys had chains wrapped around their arm armor, and every step they took caused the stone bricks of the altar to crack.
Uchiha Jin’s Raikiri condensed into a translucent blade at his fingertips, and lightning spread along his arms and all over his body.
He used the stone pillar as a cover to dodge, and the lightning blade accurately struck the knee of the nearest puppet – sparks flew everywhere, but only a shallow mark was left on the metal surface. Chakra-enhanced body! He shouted, turned around to avoid the sweeping chain, and his back hit the stone pillar, causing a sweet taste in his throat.
Over here! Haruno Na controlled the Iron Arm Yasha and threw out two poisoned kunai, accurately nailing them into the eye sockets of the two puppets.
The green will-o’-the-wisp suddenly went out for half a second, then lit up again. The shattered crystal oozed black blood, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye. Self-repair?! She gasped. The puppet’s right arm was entangled in chains, and the metal joints made a whine as if they were about to break.
At the critical moment, a ray of silver light came through the wind.
Silver Moon emerged from the shadows, the Sharingan pattern on the dagger glowing scarlet, and the blade accurately cut open the chest of a puppet—where a beating blood jade core was embedded. The core is in the chest! Her voice was like ice, and the dagger slashed three times in a row. The moment the blood jade burst, the puppet collapsed with a loud bang.
Uchiha Jin’s eyes lit up, and Raikiri suddenly grew three inches taller, taking advantage of the gap created by the silver moon and rushing towards the blood-red crystal in the center of the altar.
The runes on the surface of the crystal were flowing like living blood. As soon as he touched the stone, the unconscious Demon Eye suddenly let out a sharp laugh: Too late!
How could Lord Blood Demon’s ceremony be interrupted by little characters like you?
The altar shook violently, and the crystal stone burst into bloody mist, which condensed into a blood moon phantom in the air.
Uchiha Jin’s fingers were burned by the runes. He gritted his teeth and tore off the corner of his clothes to wrap around his palms. He turned around and saw that Mo Tong’s pupils were glowing a strange purple – it turned out that the old man was not unconscious at all, and the coma just now was just a pretense of showing weakness!
“Hold the Demon Eye!” he shouted, and slashed at the puppet that tried to approach the crystal.
Haruno Na’s Iron Arm Yasha suddenly ejected a mechanical tail spike, wrapped around Mo Tong’s ankle and pulled him down. She then climbed onto the puppet’s shoulder, pulled out the kunai from behind and pressed it against the back of Mo Tong’s neck: If you dare to move, I’ll pierce your scapula!
But the change came faster than thunder.
The sound of dragging chains was heard from deep within the altar, and a dark shadow walked out from the blood mist.
The man wore a black robe embroidered with puppet patterns, his face was as pale as paper, and there were dark red curse marks at the corners of his eyes. With every step he took, a bloody mandala bloomed on the ground. Uchiha Jin, I have heard of your name for a long time. His voice was like a rusty gear. He was able to break the blood sacrifice of the demon pupil, so he was indeed quite capable.
Evil Puppet! Yin Yue’s dagger suddenly sank.
She had seen this name in the intelligence before – the Puppet Master Organization had a new leader three years ago, and his methods were even more brutal than his predecessor. The missing Iwagakure Puppet Master and the massacre of the Kirigakure bloodline family were all related to him.
The evil puppet raised his hand and waved it lightly, and twelve blood-red puppets crawled out from the shadows at the four corners of the altar.
They were shorter than before, but more agile. Black blood seeped from their joints and dripped onto the stone bricks, corroding them with a hissing sound and emitting green smoke.
Uchiha Jin’s Raikiri began to flash unstable arcs – the chakra was consumed too quickly.
He caught a glimpse of Haruno Na’s puppet being besieged by three large puppets, and the left arm of Iron Arm Yasha was broken; Yin Yue’s Sharingan dagger chopped on the core of the puppet, but it could only slow down the repair speed and could not completely destroy it.
The Craftsman Soul said… He suddenly remembered the conversation in the Puppet Workshop three days ago.
Jianghun held the fragments of the blood puppet seized from Yuyin and observed them carefully with a magnifying glass: the blood jade in the core was refined with the hearts of living people.
If they are burned at high temperatures…perhaps their regeneration mechanism can be destroyed.
Haruno! He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and used the puppet flamethrower! Burn the core!
Haruno Na’s eyes lit up and her fingers flew across the puppet control panel.
Two copper tubes suddenly popped out of the Iron-Armed Yaksha’s chest, and orange-red flames wrapped in high-temperature air waves gushed out.
The puppet enveloped in flames let out a shrill scream, spider-web-like cracks appeared on the surface of the blood jade core, and the repair speed was significantly slowed down.
Well done! Uchiha Jin’s Raikiri took the opportunity to smash the cores of the two puppets, and Yin Yue’s short sword followed up, and the Sharingan accurately locked onto the remaining weaknesses.
Three large puppets fell down one after another, the black blood on the ground evaporated into blood mist, and the air was filled with the smell of burnt meat.
But Xie Kui’s smile became even wider.
He reached out to catch a piece of falling blood mist, and sniffed it: Do you think you can win by burning the core? His nails suddenly grew longer, piercing his palm and pressing on the altar stone bricks. The real blood prison plan… is just beginning.
There was a rumble like thunder from under the altar, and more bloody cracks appeared on the ground. This time, what came out were not puppets, but sticky black blood.
Countless pale hands emerged from the black blood and grabbed everyone’s ankles.
Uchiha Jin’s Raikiri cut off one hand, but more hands emerged from the blood gap, like an endless tide.
The figure of the evil puppet became blurred in the blood mist, and his voice came from all directions: Tell the Third Hokage that the gate of the Blood Hell… is open to Konoha.
Uchiha Jin’s heart was shocked.
He quickly glanced around – Haruno Na’s puppet’s legs were corroded by black blood, Yin Yue’s dagger chopped on the bloody hand but it was like chopping into mud, and the blood-colored crystal in the center of the altar was emitting a more dazzling red light than before, and the runes were flowing so fast that they were almost invisible.
Something is awakening underground.
Chapter 98 The Secret of the Blood Prison Plan (Old Version)
The pale hands in the black blood were surging like maggots. The forelimbs of Haruno Na’s “Fire Rock Beast” puppet had been corroded into charred holes. She gritted her teeth and injected chakra frantically along the control line. Suddenly, a blazing column of fire burst out of the puppet’s mouth, burning the bloody hands that pounced on her into ashes.
But the next second, more bloody hands emerged from the gaps in the fire pillars and gnawed tiny gaps in the puppet’s metal joints.
There’s no way to kill all of these things! Haruno Na yelled at the top of her voice, the ends of her hair dyed dark red by the blood mist, Jhin!
If I don’t find a solution, my old friend is going to fall apart!
Uchiha Jin’s Raikiri leaped in his palm like a living thing. When he chopped off the bloody hand that was wrapped around his ankle, he caught a glimpse of the runes on the edge of the altar connecting into a chain at a speed visible to the naked eye. Those originally scattered blood-colored lines now seemed to devour and merge with each other as if they had life, outlining the outline of a giant formation on the ground.
Silver Moon! He turned to avoid the blood needle shot by the evil puppet, and nailed the kunai to the stone wall behind him to gain leverage. What on earth was going on with this formation?
Yin Yue’s dagger was splitting a ball of blood mist that had condensed into spikes. Cold sweat oozed from her forehead, and her Sharingan glowed a strange red in the blood mist: it was the Blood Prison Formation.
I have seen records in the ancient books of my clan. This is a forbidden technique used by the ancient Blood Release Ninja Clan to summon monsters from the abyss by sacrificing human blood.
Once the formation is closed… the tip of her knife suddenly stopped, the entire Fire Country would be shrouded in blood mist, all chakra would be drained and turned into nutrients to sustain the monsters.
Drain the Fire Nation? Haruno Na’s puppet made a harsh metallic friction sound. She bit her fingertips and pressed on the control symbol. Wouldn’t my zoo become a dead sea?
This old thing Xie Kui has gone crazy!
The evil puppet’s laughter mixed with the blood mist floated over, his figure completely blended into the blood, leaving only a pair of blue-gray eyes: Crazy?
You Konoha ninjas who only see the world from a narrow perspective have no idea what kind of power is hidden under the Blood Prison!
When the abyss monster awakens——
Shut up! Uchiha Jin shouted, and Raikiri’s blue light suddenly surged.
He noticed that before Xie Kui finished speaking, the blood-colored crystal in the center of the altar suddenly trembled, and those madly flowing runes began to converge towards the crystal.
The core is in the crystal! He instantly grasped the key point, but the evil puppet must have set up protection nodes around it.
His eyes swept across the eight stone pillars surrounding the altar, and his pupils shrank slightly – on the base of the stone pillar on the far right, a very thin blood pattern was connected to the crystal.
The lines were so fine that they seemed to be melted into the stone, but they were invisible under the observation of the Sharingan.
Chun Ye! Yin Yue! He quickly made a gesture to restrain Blood Hand, and I will break the node!
Haruno Na’s puppet immediately spewed out two fire dragons, covering the location of the evil puppet in a sea of ​​fire: Go with confidence!
My sister’s flame can burn three incense sticks! Yin Yue’s short knife turned into a knife net, accurately nailing the bloody hand that pounced on Jin to the ground.
Uchiha Jin leaped up with the help of the firelight, and his Raikiri drew a dazzling blue light on the stone pillar.
But just as the tip of the knife was about to touch the hidden pattern, a blood whip suddenly shot out from the ground and hit him hard on the back!
Cough – he bumped into another stone pillar, a sweet and fishy taste rose in his throat. He looked up and saw the evil puppet emerging from the blood mist, black blood dripping from its fingertips: Little bastard, did you think I would expose my core?
This blood prison formation has nine escape doors. Can we break one?
It’s just a tickle.
The bloody cracks on the ground suddenly exploded, and black blood rushed into the air like a fountain, and then turned into millions of blood spears pouring down.
Haruno Na’s puppet barely held up the fire shield, but was pierced with dozens of holes by the blood spear; although Yin Yue’s Sharingan saw the trajectory clearly, the dagger could only cut one-third of the front.
Die for me——
Wait! Suddenly, the voice of the craftsman soul came from the communicator, along with the hum of mechanical operation, Jhin!
I cracked the core code of the evil puppet!
I used the chip extracted from the destroyed puppet to create a virus program that can paralyze all blood-colored puppets for ten minutes!
How long will it take? Uchiha Jin wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gathered Raikiri in his palm again.
Nine and a half minutes. The voice of the craftsman soul is urgent, but you need to attract the attention of the evil puppet and prevent him from turning off the signal source.
Silver Moon! Jin threw out three kunai with his backhand, accurately nailing them on the trajectory of the blood spear. Hold on!
Haruno Na gritted her teeth and injected the last of her chakra into the puppet: “Old buddy, I’m sorry for letting you down!” The puppet’s chest suddenly exploded, and the blazing flames formed a wall of fire, blocking the blood spear in mid-air.
She took advantage of the blast to leap to Jhin’s side, with a short blade in her hand: I’ll block the front!
Yin Yue’s Sharingan speed increased, and her short sword suddenly glowed silver: This is the family heirloom Demon-Breaking Sword, which can cut off the blood escape chakra! The sword light flashed, and the bloody hand wrapped around her ankle instantly disintegrated into blood mist.
The three of them stood back to back in a triangle. Jin’s Raikiri formed an electric net in front, Haruno Na’s short blade specifically cut Bloodhand’s wrist, and Yin Yue’s Demon-Breaking Sword continuously split the blood mist that was trying to condense into a solid.
As time passed, the runes on the altar flowed slower, but were still moving towards the direction of closure.
Thirty seconds left! There was a nervous tremor in the voice of the craftsman soul.
The evil puppet seemed to have sensed something, and his pupils suddenly shrank: Are you stalling for time? The blood mist suddenly surged wildly, gathering into a huge bloody hand, pressing down on the heads of the three people!
Form a formation! Jin shouted, and the flames of Raikiri and Haruno Na, and the blade of Yin Yue stabbed at Bloody Hand at the same time.
With a bang, a crack was torn on the bloody hand, but it healed in an instant.
Ten seconds! Five seconds! Three—
As soon as the communicator’s prompt sounded, all the blood-colored puppets suddenly trembled violently.
Those bloody hands that were still climbing seemed to have their bones and muscles pulled out, and they drooped back into the blood seams limply; the flow speed of the runes on the altar slowed down sharply, and even the evil puppet’s face turned pale.
What’s going on?! He roared and rushed towards the crystal, but was blocked by Jin’s Raikiri.
This is a gift from the tinker’s soul. Jhin wiped the sweat from his forehead, his eyes as cold as a blade. Now, it’s our turn to fight back.
But at this moment, the ground suddenly shook violently.
A figure slowly rose from the blood crack, with scarlet chakra wrapped around his body, even the air was burned into distorted ripples.
He held a blood-stained long knife in his hand, and as the blood dripped from the knife, it actually corroded and left charred marks on the ground.
Blood thorn?! Yin Yue’s pupils shrank suddenly. Weren’t you sealed away by the Hidden Rock Village?
Xue Ci licked the corner of his mouth and his eyes fell on Uchiha Jin: Someone offered a high price for this kid’s life.
Don’t worry – his sword pointed to the sky, and the blood-colored chakra turned into a blood dragon and soared into the sky. I will make him die painfully.
Uchiha Jin felt cold sweat on his back.
The chakra fluctuations of this blood thorn are several times stronger than those of all the enemies encountered before.
What’s even more terrifying is that he can clearly feel that the blood chakra on the other party’s body has some kind of strange resonance with the thing that is awakening under the altar.
It seems… He clenched the Raikiri and stared at the bloodshot in Xue Ci’s eyes. Today’s trouble has just begun.
Chapter 99: A surprise attack from heaven turns the tide of battle (old version)
The long knife in Xue Ci’s hand slashed through the air, and the blood mist it brought up instantly corroded the lightning barrier that Jin had just formed.
The Raikiri made crackling sounds in his palm, but it was like hitting a sticky blood gel, and even the blade was covered with dark red rust spots – this was a sign of being eroded by the blood-style chakra.
Watch out! Haruno Na’s scream mixed with the explosion of the puppet mechanism.
Her last puppet, which was based on the iron-horned deer, was using its antlers to block the blood thorn’s blows. The metal skeleton was emitting black smoke in the blood mist, and the steel cables at the joints broke one by one.
The girl gritted her teeth and poured chakra into the control line frantically. The ends of her hair were burned by the blood mist and curled up. Ashes!
You go break the formation first!
I can hold on here—
Before he could finish his words, the iron-horned deer’s head exploded.
Haruno Na staggered and fell, blood oozing from the corner of her mouth – the backlash from the destruction of the puppet core rushed into her meridians along the chakra lines.
The tip of the blood-piercing blade was already against the back of her neck, and a fishy-sweet blood mist wrapped in the breath of death enveloped her.
He used chakra to instantly appear in front of Haruno Na, and slashed horizontally with Raikiri, but only a few sparks were created on the blade of Blood Thorn.
Xue Ci chuckled softly, exerted a little force with his arms, and Jhin’s knuckles instantly split open, and Raikiri fell to the ground with a clang.
Is this the new generation of Konoha? The tip of the blood-piercing knife picked up the strands of hair on Jin’s forehead. That Uchiha brat…is actually weaker than the rumors say.
Suddenly there was a deafening roar from the ground.
Everyone looked up and saw a crack in the lead-gray clouds, and a wooden puppet as tall as three stories broke through the clouds and fell down.
Bronze gears were embedded in its joints, and six mechanical arms extended from its back, each end of which was hung with a primitive puppet weapon – there was an iron whip with barbs, a giant blade engraved with spells, and even a half-human-high mechanical crossbow.
The strangest thing is its face. Its two bronze eyes are glowing with a faint blue light, like two bright lights that can illuminate the soul.
Young man, you are doing well. An old voice came out from the puppet’s chest with a metallic echo. Next, it’s my turn to stretch my old bones.
The tip of the blood thorn blade suddenly stopped.
He looked at the wooden puppet, and for the first time, surprise appeared in his pupils: Is it… the mechanical art of the Tiangui School? !
Heavenly Puppet?! Yin Yue took a deep breath.
She had seen the record in the ancient books in the Uchiha secret room – the most mysterious puppet master in the ninja world a hundred years ago, who could make dead objects have a spirit almost like life. Even the magnetic puppet of the Third Kazekage had been defeated by him.
It is rumored that he disappeared after the Third Ninja World War, but I didn’t expect him to appear here today.
The wooden puppet’s mechanical arms suddenly unfolded.
The giant blade at the end of one of them slashed towards the blood thorn with a sound of breaking wind, and actually tore the blood mist apart in mid-air.
Xue Ci hurriedly swung his sword to block, and the loud noise of metal hitting metal made everyone’s eardrums hurt.
He took three steps back, and the rock under his feet was corroded by the blood escape, leaving three deep pits. You… shouldn’t you retire underground in the Land of Earth?
I can’t just watch my friend being bullied by a clown like you. Tian Kui’s voice was filled with laughter.
The iron whip of another mechanical arm suddenly wrapped around Blood Sting’s long sword. Amid the hum of the turning bronze gears, fine lightning patterns appeared on the surface of the iron whip – it was the lightning chakra that restrained Blood Escape.
Green smoke instantly came out of the blade of the Blood Thorn. He gritted his teeth and let go. The blood-stained long sword was actually melted into molten iron by the iron whip.
Your bloody puppet is nothing but a toy in front of me. As soon as Tiangui finished speaking, the wooden puppet’s eyes suddenly burst into a dazzling blue light.
All the blood puppets wandering on the battlefield froze at the same time, the blood crystal cores at the joints cracked, and black and red liquid gushed out of their bodies like rotten blood.
impossible!
This is… a core resonance blocking technique?! The evil puppet that had been hiding in the shadow of the altar finally couldn’t hold back. His puppet shell cracked open several times, revealing a pale and distorted face inside. I improved the forbidden technique of the Wind Country, and even the intelligence department of the Five Kage couldn’t crack it.
What you improved was the puppetry of the Third Kazekage, which I taught you. Tian Kui’s voice suddenly turned cold. You stole half of my notebook and you dare to call yourself a master?
Go back and re-copy the first thirty pages of “A Hundred Solutions to Mechanisms” ten times.
The evil puppet’s shell trembled violently, as if its most painful reverse scale had been stabbed.
Taking this opportunity, Jin picked up the Raikiri on the ground, and chakra poured into the blade like a volcanic eruption.
He could clearly feel that the strange resonance under the altar was weakening – the mechanical technology of the Sky Puppet not only suppressed the blood puppets, but also cut off their connection with the core of the altar.
Haruno, Feiliu! Jin shouted, help me delay for three seconds!
Haruno Na wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and crushed the pill in her mouth – it was a chakra supplement specially made by the Artisan Soul.
Her fingers flew and she formed seals. The puppet bag on her waist suddenly exploded. Dozens of chakra threads as thin as hairs sprang out, weaving a temporary puppet made of chakra in mid-air.
This was her newly created virtual puppet technique. Although it could only last for ten seconds, it was just enough time for her to pounce in front of the evil puppet and grab the opponent’s core with her puppet claws.
At some point, Hatake Hiru had circled to the side of the altar.
The Sharingan in his left eye spun wildly, reflecting the movements of all the blood-colored puppets on his retina.
When Xue Ci tried to pounce on Jin again, Fei Liu threw out three kunai, accurately nailing the eye of the blood escape formation under the opponent’s feet – that was the weakness he had just memorized with the Sharingan.
Three seconds.
Enough for Jhin to rush to the center of the altar.
The blue light of Raikiri collided violently with the blood-red runes on the altar, and sparks flew like a rainstorm.
He gritted his teeth and stabbed the tip of the knife into the last rune node, and the chakra penetrated madly along the sharpness of the lightning attribute.
There was a crisp sound of porcelain breaking from inside the node, and the blood-red light suddenly shrank, like a strange bird with its neck strangled.
The entire altar began to shake violently.
The stone pillars supporting the altar broke one after another, and blood-colored crystals fell like rain, creating deep pits on the ground.
The shell of the evil puppet cracked even bigger, and he screamed and grabbed Xue Ci’s arm: Go!
The plan is launched ahead of schedule, we need more sacrifices——
You can’t escape. The mechanical arm of the Sky Puppet suddenly stretched out, and the iron whip wrapped around the right leg of the Evil Puppet.
But the blood thorn suddenly bit through the fingertip, and the blood escape chakra rushed out like a poisonous snake, actually melting the iron whip.
The two men turned into two blood shadows and disappeared in the gradually collapsing altar, leaving only the roar of the evil puppet drifting in the wind: Uchiha Jin!
Next time we meet, I want you to see with your own eyes… the entire Konoha turns into an altar of blood!
The dust has settled.
Jin knelt on one knee on the ruins, and the blue light of Raikiri gradually dissipated.
Haruno Na staggered over and checked if he was injured. After confirming that he was fine, she cursed: “If you dare to rush to the front alone next time, I will tie you up to the training ground with puppet strings!”
Yin Yue walked up to the huge wooden puppet.
The puppet’s bronze eyes slowly closed, and the secret door in its chest opened, and a white-haired old man walked out.
He was wearing a washed-out gray cloth shirt and had an old puppet bag hanging around his waist. If it weren’t for what he had just done, no one would have thought that he was the puppet master famous in the ninja world.
My friend. Tiangui walked up to Jin, his eyes like examining a carefully carved jade, “You remind me of myself back then – I always liked to take the trouble on myself, but I could always find flaws in desperate situations.”
Senior, why did you help me? Jin wiped the blood off his palm and looked into the other person’s eyes. We are strangers.
Tian Kui smiled but did not answer.
He turned and walked towards the wooden puppet, his old hands stroking the marks on the puppet’s joints – they were some kind of ancient ninja runes.
When his fingertips passed over the mark of the word “天”, the puppet’s bronze eyes suddenly opened a tiny slit, and a faint blue light reflected on his white hair, like a starry sky.
Some causes and effects were planted the day you stole the test paper at the Ninja School. Tian Kui’s voice was as light as the wind. Remember, the real danger is never the enemy standing in front of you… but the things you can’t see, growing in the shadows.
He mounted the puppet, and the mechanical arms slowly closed in, protecting him in the center.
The wooden puppet waved its arms and flew away, disappearing into the sky in the blink of an eye.
Jin looked at the disappearing afterimage, his fingers unconsciously stroking the hilt of Raikiri.
Haruno Na followed his gaze and saw a piece of wood floating in the air with the word “Kui” engraved on it and a faint lightning chakra still remaining.
Who is he? Fei Liu walked to Jin’s side, his Sharingan still moving slightly. I didn’t find even a single portrait of him in the files of the Intelligence Department.
He bent down and picked up the piece of wood. It felt like touching the skin of a living thing – warm, with a familiar pulse.
Deep in the ruins of the altar, the tremor of something awakening was transmitted to the soles of his feet, stronger and clearer than before.
The wind blew the lingering scent of blood mist through everyone’s hair.
Konoha’s alarm bell was heard in the distance, which was a signal that the Anbu had discovered something unusual and were on their way.
But Jin’s gaze remained on the direction where Tiangui disappeared, and a voice in his heart whispered: This battle is just the beginning.
Chapter 100: Gift from the Heavenly Puppet (Old Version)
The wind from the ruins of the altar, carrying the smell of blood and rust, blew into his collar. Uchiha Jin’s fingertips slowly stroked the joints of the wooden puppet.
The sawdust that had fallen when Tian Kui left was still on the back of his hand. Those tiny wood chips were actually warm like living things, as if they were infused with some kind of life force.
Jhin! The urgent voice of the craftsman soul suddenly came from the communicator, don’t touch the diamond-shaped groove on the puppet’s abdomen!
That could be—
Before he finished speaking, Jin’s thumb had already pressed on the depression.
With a slight click, the puppet’s chest suddenly opened.
Countless runes with a faint blue glow rose from the inside and floated in the air like fireflies blown away by the wind. Finally, they condensed into a huge sealing formation above everyone’s heads.
Haruno Na’s animal ears suddenly stood up, she drew out the short knife from her waist and blocked in front of Jin, the blade and the runes rubbed against each other, producing tiny sparks: This thing is absorbing chakra!
It’s not suction. Feiliu’s Sharingan rotated at high speed, and the trajectory of the runes was reflected in his pupils. It was resonance. He reached out to catch a falling rune. The light blue light pattern wandered in his palm for a moment, and actually drilled into his arm along the chakra veins. These runes were identifying chakra attributes… Jin, your chakra fluctuations are consistent with their frequency.
The voice of Jianghun gasping for air came from the communicator: It is indeed a sealed puppet!
I’ve seen similar structures before in the Iwagakure ruins, but those could only seal the chakra of the tailed beasts.
The rune structure of this machine…the old man’s voice suddenly changed tone, wait, look at the puppet spine!
Jin looked in the direction he pointed out and saw that the puppet’s spine was actually made of translucent crystal, with a wisp of dark purple chakra sealed inside, which was vibrating slightly with the resonance of the external runes.
That’s the blood demon’s chakra! Yin Yue suddenly spoke.
I don’t know when she took off her veil, and her pale face glowed coldly under the reflection of the runes. Three years ago, when I was on a mission in Yuyin, I saw ninjas who were corrupted by blood demons, and the chakra in their bodies was this color.
The ground of the altar suddenly shook violently, and everyone staggered and held on to the puppet.
The soles of Jhin’s boots could clearly feel the pulsation coming from underground, as if some huge monster was waking up from a deep sleep.
Haruno Na’s summoned beast, the black panther Riftwind, jumped out from the shadows, letting out a low roar from its throat – in its beast pupils, dark red blood beads were oozing from the ground, like countless pairs of eyes opening.
The Anbu will arrive in ten minutes. Feiliu glanced at his watch, and his Sharingan suddenly shrank into a needle-like shape, but the thing underground could not wait for ten minutes.
Jhin, can the puppet be activated?
He pressed his fingertips on the rune on the puppet’s heart, and chakra poured into those lines like a tide.
The dark purple chakra in Crystal’s spine suddenly became wildly agitated, and actually flowed upstream along the runes, condensing into a blood-red curse seal on his forehead!
Let go! Yin Yue threw out a kunai to sever the connection between him and the puppet, but the curse seal drilled into his skin like a living thing. This was the blood demon’s erosion technique!
The puppet of Tiangui is in…
Purifying. Jhin suddenly spoke.
He could clearly feel two forces fighting in his body: the dark purple chakra was trying to corrode his meridians, while the blue light released by the puppet rune was breaking it down into tiny spots of light. This was not an attack, but… a teaching.
Haruno Na stared at his shining pupils and suddenly laughed out loud: You, you can even find benefits in being cursed. She pulled out the puppet string from her waist and wrapped her chakra along the string around Jin’s wrist. How much is needed?
I have plenty of them here.
When the chakras of the two people intersected at the core of the puppet, the entire altar suddenly burst into a dazzling white light.
When everyone regained their vision, the blood that had seeped out of the ground had all evaporated, and the dark purple chakra in the crystal spine had also disappeared, replaced by a ball of pure blue light.
This is… the voice of the craftsman soul came from the communicator, with uncontrollable excitement. This is the purified chakra!
Jhin, you just used the Sky Puppet to complete the reverse transformation of the Blood Demon Chakra!
The wrought iron furnace in the Konoha Puppet Workshop was burning fiercely, and a layer of fine ash was covered on the craftsman’s reading glasses.
He held a magnifying glass close to the crystal on the puppet’s spine, and his eyes behind the lens were frighteningly bright: Do you see these lines?
This is not an ordinary sealing technique, but a purification circuit that combines puppetry, sealing techniques, and medical ninjutsu.
Tian Kui may have saved hundreds or even thousands of ninjas using this method during the Blood Demon Rebellion three hundred years ago!
Yin Yue stood in the corner of the workshop, her fingertips gently brushing the bronze nameplate on the bottom of the puppet. The four ancient characters of Blood Demon’s Disaster cast a shadow on her palm, and she whispered: I have seen this word in the ancient books of the clan.
The Blood Demon is no ordinary monster. It is a monster created when ninjas in ancient times sealed the negative emotions of millions of people into puppets in pursuit of power.
It will possess puppeteers, turning them into blood puppets that only know how to kill.
So the Sky Puppet betrayed the organization? Haruno Na squatted beside the puppet, comparing his puppet strings with its joint structure. Those old antiques must have wanted to use the power of the blood demon, but he chose purification.
Jhin leaned against the wooden pillar of the workshop, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the light blue mark on his palm – that was left after resonating with the puppet.
He looked at the back of the craftsman who was frantically marking on the drawing, and suddenly asked: Can it be replicated?
Replica? The hand of the craftsman stopped. This puppet uses the thousand-year-old wooden core of the Snow Country. The runes are engraved with the secret sealing technique of the Whirlpool Country. The core crystal… He suddenly laughed, his eyes shining behind the lenses, but who said that he had to use the original materials?
Xiaonai’s beast taming puppet line can conduct chakra, Feiliu’s Sharingan can record runes, plus your chakra adaptability…the old man grabbed the carving knife on the table and made a heavy mark on the new drawing. Give me three days, and I can make a simplified version of the purification puppet!
At dusk on the third day, the wrought iron door of the workshop was knocked open.
Haruno Na strode in carrying the newly made Purifier Zero, with sawdust still stuck on the puppet’s joints: “Old craftsman, your improved version is twenty pounds lighter than the original!
Jhin walked forward, and just as his fingertips touched the rune on the puppet’s heart, the whole puppet suddenly trembled.
Light blue chakra patterns spread from his palm to his entire body, and the puppet’s mechanical arm slowly rose up, drawing an arc in the air – that was the starting move of the ninjutsu he had just taught Haruno Na that morning.
Success! The beads of the Craftsman Soul’s abacus fell to the ground. It was synchronizing your chakra fluctuations!
But the mental power consumption is too great. Yin Yue stood at the door, holding a chakra meter like a lie detector in his hand. You just used only three moves, and your mental power dropped by 30%.
If you keep fighting…
It will backfire, Jin said.
He could feel his temples throbbing, as if being pricked by countless needles, but a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. However, it was enough to deal with a surprise attack.
Before he finished speaking, Fei Liu flashed out from the shadows, holding a blood-stained letter in his hand: intercepted by the Anbu, anonymously sent to the Hokage. He unfolded the letter, and the handwriting on it was crooked, as if it was written with his left hand: Evil Puppet, Blood Thorn, Target: Fire Country Border Supply Point…
The temperature in the workshop dropped suddenly.
Haruno Na’s animal ears were pressed tightly behind her head, Liefeng rushed out from her arms, and his claws left deep marks on the ground; Yin Yue’s hand was pressed on the handle of the kunai, and his lips were pursed into a line under the scarf; the drawings of the craftsman soul were blown away by the wind, but he stared at the bloodstains on the letter paper, his voice trembling: This blood… is from the blood puppet.
Jhin looked at the darkening sky outside the window, and the blue mark on his palm suddenly became hot.
He drew out Raikiri, the blade glowing coldly in the setting sun: Notify Team 7 to assemble.
The Hokage Rock at night casts a huge shadow in the moonlight.
Jhin stood on the roof, looking at the flickering fire in the direction of the border in the distance, holding the control core of Purifier Zero in his arms.
Haruno Na’s voice came from behind: I asked Liefeng to explore the way first, and it said…
They said there were at least fifty puppets hiding in the woods around the supply point. Jhin didn’t look back.
He could feel the control core getting hot, as if responding to some kind of call. The puppet left behind by Tiangui was indeed not a coincidence.
The wind suddenly blew up a piece of wood and it fell right at his feet.
The word “魁” on the wood chip glowed with a faint blue luster, echoing the mark on his palm.
From the direction of the border, there was a slight sound of puppet joints turning.
Chapter 101 Border Battle, Puppet Awakening (Old Version)
The moonlight was like crumpled silver foil, sparsely scattered among the mountains and forests on the border of the Fire Kingdom.
When Uchiha Jin stepped on a dead branch and broke it, the fire at the supply storage point ahead suddenly exploded, illuminating the entire forest with a strange red color.
Here it comes. Haruno Na’s voice came into his ears wrapped in the wind.
The female ninja with neat short hair was squatting on a tree branch, her animal ears trembling slightly in the night breeze – that was the bloodline characteristic of the Nohara clan that she had connected with special puppet strings.
The Riftwind in her arms was ready to strike, its claws digging deep grooves in the bark and a low warning rolling in its throat.
Yin Yue’s figure slid down from the tree canopy on the other side, her face veil blown up by the night wind, revealing her cold white jawline.
The kunai in her hand glowed dimly, and her Sharingan slowly turned in her eye sockets: there were seventy-two puppets in four directions: east, south, west, and north. This mysterious Sharingan guardian could always break the tension with the most accurate intelligence. Twelve of them were blood puppets, and the core position was at the third rib of the chest.
Jhin’s fingertips rubbed the hot blue mark on his palm.
That was the mark he accidentally obtained in the Tiankui ruins. At this moment, it was burning his skin as he heard the puppet’s joints turning in front of him.
He pressed the control core of Purifier Zero against his chest. The moment the metal touched his skin, he heard several mechanical roars in the distance. A wooden puppet walked out of the shadows, with moonlight flowing through its blue-painted joints, like an ancient beast that had been awakened.
Nai, take Lifeng to the east. Jin drew out the Raikiri from his waist, and the blade cut a silver arc in the firelight. Use your improved puppet to lead away the blood puppets wrapped in chains.
Yin Yue, follow me from behind and find a chance to cut the core. He turned to look at Haruno Nai, who was tying a bundle of puppet strings wrapped with talismans around her waist. Her hair was stained with broken leaves, but she smiled wantonly: Don’t worry, my puppetry skills can turn those broken copper and iron into toads that are spinning in circles.
Before he finished speaking, a sinister sneer came from the top floor of the supply point.
The evil puppet stood on the edge of the burnt roof, his red robe stained with blood, and the puppet mask on his face cracked, revealing the pale skin underneath: Uchiha boy, you got the advantage last time in the Tiangui ruins, this time… He raised his hand and waved, and seventy-two puppets turned their necks at the same time. The sound of metal friction was like countless knives scraping across your eardrums, letting you see the real army of blood puppets!
Activate Zero. Jhin growled.
The eyes of the wooden puppet suddenly lit up with a faint blue light, and its two mechanical arms swept out. The blood-red puppet holding a kunai on the left was smashed into scrap metal, and the three puppets holding bows on the right were shrouded in blue light – their core systems were instantly disordered, and the arrows pierced into their chests.
Good job! Haruno Na whistled, and Liefeng rushed out like black lightning, grabbing the chain of a blood puppet that was trying to get behind.
She threw out three animal-taming puppets: they were modified from rock spider shells, with explosive talismans tied to their eight legs. Go!
Take down the ones that spray poison mist!
But the battlefield changes rapidly.
The evil puppet’s fingers drew strange marks in the air, and the eyes of all the blood puppets glowed red at the same time.
The puppet that was originally disturbed by the blue light of Zero suddenly adjusted its direction. The twelve blood puppets actually abandoned Haruno Na’s puppet and rushed towards the joints of the wooden puppet collectively – their sharp claws glowed with cold light, and their targets were so precise that they seemed like instructions engraved in the program.
Oh no! The voice of the tinker spirit suddenly exploded from Jin’s communication scroll, and the core algorithm of the blood puppet had been modified!
They can lock Zero’s movable joints through heat sensing!
He could clearly feel that the vibration frequency of the control core had changed – that was Zero transmitting the pain.
When the sharp claws of the third blood puppet were about to pierce the rotating axis of Zero’s right arm, he suddenly bit his tongue, and chakra poured into his core along the mark: Get out of my way!
The right arm of the wooden puppet suddenly rotated 180 degrees counterclockwise, and the blood puppet’s claws scraped across the shaft, leaving glaring scratches on the metal surface.
But such an operation was extremely exhausting. Jhin’s knees hit the ground heavily and blood flowed from the corners of his mouth.
Ember! Haruno Na’s exclamation was heard along with the roar of the explosion talisman.
Two of her beast-taming puppets had been dismantled, and Liefeng’s hind leg was cut open, and he was using his body to protect her.
The ninja’s chakra shield was only a thin layer left, and the sweat on her forehead dripped onto the ground. I couldn’t hold on any longer…
At the critical moment, a white shadow fell from the sky.
Gin Yue’s Sharingan was fully opened, and three magatama were spinning in his eyes.
Her short blade, wrapped in wind chakra, cut the spines of two blood puppets, and then drove the kunai into the core of the third one: Now you know why I always say I have a backup plan? She kicked away the puppet wreckage at her feet and shouted to Jin, the command center is under the supply point!
The evil puppet’s chakra fluctuations came from there!
Jhin’s pupils shrank.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and controlled Zero’s left hand to smash it to the ground.
The soles of the wooden puppet’s feet cracked, and six steel spikes popped out and pierced into the ground – this was the newly improved ground binding function of the Craftsman Soul, which could stabilize the body within three seconds.
Taking this opportunity, he bit his finger and pressed it on the core. The blue mark completely overlapped with the pattern on the core: Zero, charge!
The wooden puppet let out a dull roar, and its mechanical legs crushed two rocks, and it ran towards the top floor where the evil puppet was.
The blood-red puppets along the way tried to intercept it, but were swept away by it and crashed into the woods like rag dolls.
The evil puppet’s expression finally changed. He screamed and jumped off the roof, landing on top of a giant blood-red puppet that was three stories high. The puppet was wrapped in chains, and the core of its chest was a beating blood-red crystal, which vaguely resembled the outline of a living person’s heart.
Tear him apart for me! The evil puppet’s voice came through the puppet’s loudspeaker, shaking the leaves to fall.
The giant puppet raised its mountain-like fist and smashed it down towards Zero’s crown.
Jhin’s breathing almost stopped.
He could feel that Zero’s core temperature was approaching the critical point, but there was no room for hesitation at this moment.
He gritted his teeth and injected the last bit of chakra into the mark, roaring: Start the hidden program!
Blue light burst out from all of Zero’s joints, forming a chakra shock wave that was visible to the naked eye.
The giant puppet’s fist froze in mid-air, and then with a crack, spider-web-like cracks appeared.
Sparks burst from the cores of all the blood-colored puppets at the same time, and their metal limbs fell limply to the ground as if the bones had been pulled out.
The evil puppet fell from the top of the giant puppet and rolled into the ruins in a mess.
He tore off the broken mask, revealing a distorted face: Impossible… Tiankui’s technology has long been lost!
You…who are you?
He stared at the corner of the evil puppet’s mouth that suddenly raised when it retreated – that smile was too calm, not like what a loser should have.
The communication scroll vibrated again, and the voice of the craftsman soul trembled: Jhin!
I dismantled the cores of the three blood puppets, and inside…there were microscopic tracking bugs embedded inside!
Their chakra fluctuations match our locator symbols perfectly…
The moonlight was suddenly blocked by dark clouds.
Jhin looked at the puppet wreckage scattered all over the ground, the mark on his palm was still hot.
He turned and walked towards Haruno Na, who was bandaging Liefeng’s wound, while Yin Yue was standing on a high place on guard.
Gather. His voice was very soft, but it hit everyone’s heart like a heavy hammer. The craftsman soul talked about tracking the worm…
Haruno Na’s animal ears suddenly stood up, and Liefeng also raised his head and growled.
Yin Yue’s Sharingan shrank slightly, and his fingertips unconsciously stroked the short blade.
Jhin looked in the direction of the border, and the moment the dark clouds dispersed, he seemed to see a flash of fire on the distant mountain top – that was not an ordinary campfire, but more like some kind of signal.
They knew we were coming. He whispered, his eyes sweeping over every member of the team, and they wanted much more than just this border battle.
Chapter 102: Shadows Behind the Scenes, New Threats (Old Version)
The moonlight was torn into pieces by the dark clouds. In the dense forest on the border of Konoha, Uchiha Jin squatted down and ran his fingertips across the scorch marks on the remains of the puppets on the ground.
Haruno Na’s Wind-Splitting Beast was licking the burn marks on the back of his hand with its tongue – when the kunai just now flew past his wrist, this beast-ninja with human-like nature reacted faster than its master.
Come here. Jhin’s voice was like an ice-hardened kunai, shattering in the night wind.
Haruno Na shook her waist-length red ponytail, and her animal ears shook off two dead leaves; Yin Yue jumped down from the treetop, and her Sharingan glowed scarlet in the shadows; the rapid breathing of the craftsman soul came from the communication scroll, “Jin, I dismantled two more blood puppets, and the egg-laying sac of the tracking insect is still moving.”
Their chakra fluctuations are exactly the same frequency as the locator we set up three days ago…
They installed two-way trackers on us. Jhin suddenly stood up, his knuckles cracking, and the smile on his face as the evil puppet retreated was not a provocation, but a confirmation that the bait had been taken.
Haruno Na’s animal ears suddenly stood up into two small swords: In other words, from the moment we took on the task of wiping out the Blood Demon Puppet Group, we have been on their chessboard?
Worse. Silver Moon’s fingertips stroked the blood groove of the short blade. I checked everyone’s forehead protectors this morning. The locator was newly pasted.
But tracking bugs can penetrate chakra barriers… His Sharingan suddenly shrank. This technology is at least two generations more advanced than that of Konoha Intelligence Department.
Suddenly, a low roar of wind was heard in the woods.
Haruno Na patted the beast’s back and took out a piece of roasted venison from the leather bag on its neck – this was her usual way of pacifying Liefeng, but at this moment even the most greedy beast ninja just sniffed it and then looked up and stared at the southeast.
There was fire. Jhin narrowed his eyes.
The moonlight that had just been blocked by dark clouds began to shine again, and there was indeed a dark red dot flickering on the top of the distant mountain. It was not a bonfire, but more like the pupil of some creature.
They are waiting for us to catch up. Jin suddenly smiled, and that smile was exactly the same as Xie Kui’s when he left. Yin Yue, you said that the best way to prevent tracking is to make the hunter think that the prey is running away.
The corner of Yin Yue’s mouth raised slightly, which was his way of expressing approval.
Haruno Na has already started fastening the protective gear for Liefeng, and her animal ears are shaking with excitement: If you want to act, then act the full version!
I’m going to lead our footsteps to the northwest right now, and I guarantee it will look more like a real retreat.
The plan was formed within half an hour: Haruno Na and Liefeng deliberately stepped on the bushes in the northwest, leaving footprints of varying depths in the mud; Yin Yue used a short blade to carve a retreat signal on the tree trunk – that was a mark that only Konoha ninjas could understand; Jin hung his forehead protector on a conspicuous branch, and the remaining chakra still carried the warmth of the previous battle.
Let’s go. Jin patted the puppet fragments in his palm. They were the wooden mechanism that he had just taken out from the core of the evil puppet.
When Haruno Na carried Lifeng and jumped onto the treetop, he heard a very light sound of clothes rubbing against each other behind him – like a dead leaf being blown by the wind, but heavier than the wind.
They crept along the secret passage in the southeast, and the deliberately suppressed footsteps suddenly disappeared after three quarters of an hour.
Jhin could feel the hairs on the back of his neck standing up, that was the intuition of being locked in sight.
He winked at Gin Yue, and the latter’s Sharingan opened instantly, capturing three faint chakra fluctuations in the darkness – the faintest one was moving along Haruno Na’s shadow.
Nai! Silver Moon’s short blade shot out from the air.
Haruno Na reacted faster and swung out the animal taming flute from her waist with her backhand. The flute brushed past her ear, bringing up a strand of black hair.
A low laugh came from the shadows, and a figure wrapped in a black cloak walked out from behind the tree, his face hidden in the shadows, only a pair of ice-blue eyes revealed. The little brats of Konoha are smarter than I thought.
Shadow? Jhin’s pupils shrank slightly.
This name was mentioned in the secret letter intercepted by Craftsman Soul three days ago. He is the new contact person of the Blood Demon Organization and is good at turning his prey into his own shadow.
Three hair-thin chakra threads popped out from Shadow’s fingertips, one of which wrapped around Haruno Na’s wrist.
Her eyes suddenly became empty and Liefeng let out an anxious whimper – this was an illusion!
Jin had seen the same look on Genin who had been hit by Tsukuyomi, but Shadow’s illusion didn’t even involve opening the Sharingan.
A trifle. Gin Yue’s Sharingan speeded up, and the short blade drew a semicircle, accurately cutting off the three chakra lines.
Haruno Na shook her head violently, her animal ears bristling: He just let me see… my mother waiting for me at the entrance of the village? Her voice trembled, and she pulled out the puppet blade behind her. I hate it most when someone touches my memories!
The battle broke out in the blink of an eye.
The shadow’s speed was insanely fast. It was standing five steps away, but appeared next to Yin Yue in the next second. Its nails were a strange purple-black color – they were tempered with blood escape poison.
Yin Yue spun around to avoid the attack, but the short blade grazed the opponent’s cloak, only cutting off a piece of cloth. The arm exposed inside was covered with dark red lines, like magma flowing in the blood vessels.
Watch out for his shadow! Jhin suddenly shouted.
The shadow at Shadow’s feet was twisting strangely, transforming into two bone claws that grabbed Haruno Na’s ankles.
Haruno Na’s puppet blade slashed down, but only hit a ball of black mist. Instead, the shadow took the opportunity to get closer and pressed its palm on the back of her neck – that is the most vulnerable nerve plexus in the human body.
What! Jin threw away the fragments of the wooden puppet in his arms.
This was the mechanism he removed from the core of the evil puppet. The remaining chakra exploded the moment it hit the ground, creating a wave of air.
The shadow was forced to take two steps back, and a corner of his cloak was lifted by the air wave, revealing half of his face: the left side was normal human skin, but the right side was covered with dark red scales, like the skin of some beast.
The game has just begun. There is a double echo in the shadow’s voice, as if two people spoke at the same time, do you think you have won?
The rules had long been rewritten by Lord Blood Demon—his figure suddenly merged into the shadows, leaving only a charred piece of scale. The next time we meet, you won’t even have the chance to regret it.
The forest fell silent again.
Haruno Na kicked the burnt marks on the ground. The puppet blade was still stained with Shadow’s blood, which glowed a strange purple under the moonlight: Why is this grandson’s blood purple?
Like rotten grapes.
It’s not blood. The voice of the craftsman soul came from the communication scroll, I just used chakra test paper to test the scale sample you sent back. This is a fusion of blood limit and puppetry.
The Blood Demon Organization is researching…human puppets.
Jhin’s fingers unconsciously stroked the puppet fragments in his palm.
When the explosion just now happened, he clearly saw the shadow staggering backwards – it was not fake.
In other words, this mysterious contact is not invincible, but…
He said the rules were rewritten. Yin Yue picked up the scales on the ground, and the Sharingan reflected the patterns on the scales, which might mean that they had broken through some common sense in the ninja world.
For example, the fusion of blood escape and puppetry, or illusions that don’t require the Sharingan…
Haruno Na suddenly squatted down and picked up a piece of cloth left by the shadow with her puppet blade.
There was a tiny hexagram embroidered on the corner of the cloth, which was exactly the same mark found on the core of the blood puppet three days ago: it seemed that the Blood Demon Organization was not only creating killing puppets, they were creating… monsters.
Liefeng suddenly rubbed the back of Jin’s hand with his head, and the stars in the night sky were reflected in his eyes.
Jin looked up and saw that the dark clouds had dispersed at some point, and the moon was dark red as if it had been washed by blood.
He took out a kunai from his ninja tool bag and carved a secret code on the tree trunk to report to the Hokage immediately – this was an emergency contact method that only the Anbu could understand.
Go back to Konoha. Jin’s voice was more heavy than ever before. “Artisan Soul, you should take the sample back overnight and ask Lady Tsunade to find Shizune for analysis.”
Yinyue, you take the secret passage on the left; Nai, you and Liefeng stay behind.
Haruno Na patted his shoulder: What are you afraid of?
At worst, I can call all the beasts of the Wind Rift and see how that grandson can play dirty tricks again. Her smile was still so carefree, but her fingertips quietly pressed the switch of the animal taming flute – that was the code to activate the Wind Rift beasts.
Yin Yue put the short blade back into the sheath, and his Sharingan slowly closed: “I will leave a mark on the old locust tree at the entrance of the village to make sure no one follows me.” He paused, and added, “The illusion of the shadow… is a bit like the lost shadow binding technique of my clan.”
Jhin paused.
The secret technique of the Uchiha clan?
He suddenly remembered the records of taboos from the elders in the clan – about the forbidden technique that combined bloodline limit with puppetry.
Could it be that the Blood Demon Organization…
Let’s go. He quickened his pace, and the moonlight stretched the shadows of the four people very long, like four nails stuck into the darkness.
The cracked wind was humming ahead, as if asking the question that was hanging in everyone’s mind: When the rules are rewritten, when the enemy is crazier than imagined, can they still defend the dawn of Konoha?
And on the top of the mountain that they could not see, the dark red bonfire suddenly exploded into a bloody mist.
Half of a shadowy face emerged from the fog, and its scales glowed coldly in the moonlight: Uchiha Jin, do you think you can escape?
What Lord Blood Demon wants has never been your lives… His laughter was blown away by the night wind and merged into the boundless darkness. The rules of the entire ninja world had to be rewritten for him.
Chapter 103 Shadow’s Trap, Sneaking into Konoha (Old Version)
The moonlight cut a silver edge on the wall of Konoha. Uchiha Jin’s heels tapped on the bluestone slabs, and every step felt like hitting a taut string.
Haruno Na swung the broad-bladed knife behind her, and her leather armor rustled as it scraped against the wall: The shadow binding technique that old man mentioned, I’ve heard similar rumors when I was wandering – it’s said that a person’s shadow can be used as a rope to bind chakra.
The workshop of an advanced craftsman. Jin tugged at his collar, and the night wind made the back of his neck feel cold.
He caught a glimpse of the silver moon setting at the end, and the cloud pattern on the scabbard glowed in the dark. It was the unique poison-tempering technology of the Qimu clan.
The tracking device they had intercepted in the Hidden Rain Village three days ago was still in his arms, the metal shell sticking to his skin like a piece of burning charcoal.
The workshop of the craftsman soul was hidden under the martial arts arena. When he pushed open the stone door covered with talismans, he saw the old craftsman squatting in front of the workbench polishing the joints of the puppet.
Hearing the noise, he looked up and his reading glasses slid to the tip of his nose: Xiao Jin?
Didn’t you say you would be back in three days… He paused and stared at Jhin’s open palm – three fingernail-sized devices glowed coldly under the candlelight.
I picked them from the bushes outside the Hidden Rain Village. Jin pushed the device over, and one would fall off every ten miles. I let Li Feng eat two, and I didn’t dare to touch the third one.
As soon as the tweezers of the craftsman soul touched the device, the fingertips suddenly trembled.
He pulled his hand back abruptly, took out a chakra test paper from the drawer and pressed it on it. The light blue paper instantly burned to ashes. Chakra resonator. He pushed his glasses and his voice became tense. In addition to positioning, these gadgets can also resonate with a fixed source in the village.
It’s like…it’s like someone buried a bell in Konoha, and these are the ropes that ring the bell.
Haruno Na’s fingers unconsciously stroked the hilt of the knife: So the Blood Demon’s people have already sneaked in?
Not only did it blend in. The craftsman soul used a magnet to suck up the device, and fine lines appeared on the metal surface. Looking at this mark, it was carved with wind attribute chakra.
There are no more than five people in Konoha who can accurately control the wind attribute to carve such micro-carvings. When he looked up, the eyes behind the lenses seemed to be poisoned. The traitor was in the village.
Jin pressed his knuckles against his chin and his Adam’s apple rolled twice.
He suddenly turned around and opened the door. The candlelight flickered in the night wind: Nai, you disguise yourself as an old lady selling grilled fish and go to Xishi and Nanmachi to patrol.
Pay attention to those who are always hanging around in the corners, with chakra fluctuations that are sometimes large and sometimes small. He looked at Yin Yue again, “Come with me to the outside of the village, and use the Sharingan to scan around – the chakra of the shadow is a bit sweet and fishy, ​​like rusty blood.”
That device… The Tinkerer lifted up the half-disassembled block of metal.
Keep it. Jhin threw a magic-sealing scroll to the old craftsman, and said, “When we come back, try to reverse-engineer the resonant frequency.”
Haruno Na’s disguise skills are superb.
She put on a gray cloth shirt, smeared some soot from the bottom of the pot on her face, and hid the broad-bladed knife in the wooden barrel containing the grilled fish. From a distance, she looked like an old woman who was cursing and packing up her stall.
When passing by Sanchome, she caught a glimpse of two Anbu whispering on the street corner, but their chakra fluctuations were like crumpled paper – too deliberate, the chakra of a normal Anbu should have been condensed into a line long ago.
At the same time, in the maple forest outside the village, Jhin controlled the wooden puppet and stuck behind a tree.
This puppet is made of hidden wood improved by the craftsman’s soul, the surface is covered with living bark, and the sound of chakra flowing is lighter than the flapping of mosquito wings.
He lay down behind a rock and looked through the puppet’s eyes – in the moonlight, the bushes twenty meters away suddenly rippled, as if something was penetrating the air.
Silver Moon. He lowered his voice.
There was a slight sound of the scabbard rubbing against each other behind him.
Gin Yue’s Sharingan lit up scarlet in the darkness, and the three magatama slowly turned: seven.
No, eight chakra sources.
But… one of them was pretending. The tip of her knife was slightly raised, the faintest one, imitating the shadow technique of Shikamaru’s family.
Before he finished speaking, a dark shadow fell rapidly from the treetops!
It was a man wrapped in a dark purple robe, with half of his face covered with blue-gray scales. He was the shadow that had appeared on the top of the mountain.
When he landed, his toes touched the ground without disturbing a single fallen leaf. The moment he made a seal with his left hand, the two Chunins guarding the village entrance suddenly froze – their shadows wrapped around their necks as if alive, and their eyeballs bulged out and turned purple.
Chakra sensor network triggered! Tinker Soul’s low roar came from Jin’s earphone.
His fingers trembled violently, and the arms of the Hidden Wood Puppet suddenly exploded into countless wooden spikes, shooting towards the shadow like a rainstorm!
The shadow did not dodge or evade. His right hand drew a bloody line on his chest. His scales glowed red. The moment the wooden thorn touched his body, it was as if it had stabbed into a pool of water, and it twisted to the side.
Haruno Na!
Guard the south exit! Jhin grabbed a kunai and rushed out, his boots plowing deep grooves in the ground.
The shadow laughed, and that laugh sounded like a rusty gear: Uchiha kid, do you think this is a trap? He threw out three kunai with his backhand, each kunai was wrapped with lavender chakra – exactly the same type of tracking device as before!
The moment the kunai was nailed into the ground, goose bumps appeared on the back of Jin’s neck.
He saw several purple beams of light rising from the center of the village. That was the signal that the resonator was activated! The traitor had taken action! He gritted his teeth and threw out the Fuma Shuriken, but saw that the shadow suddenly blurred and overlapped with one of the beams of light – was this… a space ninjutsu?
Illusion! Silver Moon’s knife slashed into the void, the blade brushed past Shadow’s neck, but only cut off a piece of scale armor.
Her Sharingan suddenly shrank, and she used illusion to hide her real body in the beam of light, and what we saw was a projection!
He bit his finger hard and pressed it to the ground: Wood Release: Thousand Hand Binding! Countless wooden vines sprang out from underground, wrapping all the light pillars into dumplings.
The shadow’s projection screamed, and its scales exploded into a blood mist, but a face condensed in the blood mist: Want to catch me?
Let me take a look at your forbidden secret room first!
Secret room! Jhin’s pupils shrank suddenly.
He suddenly remembered that three days ago, the Sandaime said that some S-level forbidden scrolls would be transferred – and the transfer route was only known to the Hokage, the Anbu chief, and
He grabbed the communicator and yelled, “Forbidden room! Quick!”
Haruno Na is confronting two villagers in Higashi-machi.
The chakra of the two men suddenly surged, one threw out a poison needle, and the other formed hand seals to release fire escape.
She used her broad-bladed knife to deflect the poison needles and chopped off the arsonist’s wrist with her backhand, but at this moment she heard a roar in the communicator.
She kicked the last enemy away, her hair rope broke, and her long hair danced wildly in the wind: Jhin, I’ll go right away!
The stone door of the forbidden room was glowing with a faint blue light. When Haruno Na arrived, she saw a man wearing a fox mask trying to pry the door lock.
Her knife drew a silver arc of light, but was blocked by the opponent’s kunai – the handle of the kunai was engraved with the blood demon’s hexagram symbol!
You can’t leave. Haruno Na grinned, quickly formed a seal with her left hand, and summoned the Spiritual Wind Breaker!
Amid the howling of the wolf, the giant white wolf broke through the roof and its fangs went straight for the masked man’s throat.
The masked man suddenly let go of the kunai and formed strange seals with his hands – is that… puppetry?
Before Haruno Na could react, several iron chains suddenly emerged from the ground and entangled Liefeng’s limbs!
At the end of the iron chain, there were three puppets covered in wounds, and the three-magatama Sharingan in their eye sockets were glowing a strange red.
Uchiha’s Sharingan puppet? Haruno Na gasped.
She swung her knife to cut the chain, but saw the puppet’s mouth suddenly split open, spitting out the same purple chakra bullet as the Shadow!
On the other side, Jhin and Silver Moon chased the blood mist into the underground passage.
The shadow’s projection was still sneering: Do you think you can stop the Blood Prison by catching me?
Naive! His figure suddenly froze, and then… he exploded.
The violent vibration caused the rubble on the top of the passage to fall like raindrops.
Jhin rushed over and pushed Silver Moon away. A piece of gravel scraped past his temple and blood splattered on the wall.
When the dust settled, the shadow had long disappeared, leaving only a bronze mirror engraved with a hexagram and a sentence wrapped in blood mist: When the moon covers the sun, the door to the blood prison opens.
He escaped. Yin Yue wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and slowly closed his Sharingan.
Jin picked up the bronze mirror, and ripples suddenly appeared on the mirror surface, reflecting the panoramic view of Konoha – below the Hokage Building, there was an area where chakra fluctuations were like boiling magma.
His fingers clenched unconsciously, his nails almost digging into his palms.
Haruno Na’s communicator sounded at this time, and the voice was panting: There is a blood demon in the secret room, use the Sharingan puppet to attack!
I’ve solved it, but…the chakra of those puppets is the same resonance source as the tracking device!
Jhin looked into the darkness deep into the passage, his throat tightening.
He suddenly remembered what the Artisan Soul had said about the wind-attribute ninja who could carve micro-carvings, remembered what the Anbu chief had said three days ago about personally supervising the transfer of forbidden techniques, and remembered the Blood Prison Plan mentioned by Shadow.
The moonlight shone in through the vents, cutting out a boundary between light and dark on his face, and in the bronze mirror, the shadow of the Hokage Building was slowly twisting, as if it had been crumpled into a ball of paper by an invisible hand.
Silver Moon. When he turned around, the cold light in his eyes was sharper than a knife, and he went to inform the Sandaime to strengthen the guard of all confidential locations.
Nai, take Lifeng to collect the chakra samples of all the wind-attribute ninjas in the village – don’t miss any.
Yin Yue nodded, and the scabbard made a crisp sound when it hit her waist.
Haruno Na’s voice came from the communicator: I understand.
But…Jin, who do you think the traitor is?
He looked at the distorted Hokage Building in the bronze mirror, and suddenly remembered the forbidden legend told by the elders in the tribe – the Blood Demon, which is an evil magic that can transform living people into chakra batteries.
At this moment, underground in Konoha, something that had been sealed for decades was slowly opening its eyes at the call of the resonator.
The wolf howl of Liefeng sounded again, this time more mournful than ever.
Chapter 104: The Secret Room’s Surprise, the Truth of the Forbidden Technique (Old Version)
When the moonlight was crushed by the clouds, Uchiha Jin’s footsteps suddenly stopped in front of the forbidden technique room.
Haruno Na’s neck hair stood up, and a low and hoarse roar came from her throat – the bronze door that should have been tightly closed now cracked half a foot wide, and there were fresh traces of chakra burning on the door hinges.
Yin Yue’s hand was on the hilt of the knife, and the scabbard and belt made a rustling sound when they rubbed against each other: “Someone used wind escape to forcefully break through the door, and the chakra fluctuations have not completely dissipated.”
“The Shadow’s chakra is of fire attribute.” Jin’s fingertips brushed across the remnants of wind attribute chakra that seeped out of the crack in the door, and his eyebrows raised slightly, “He’s just a pathfinder.”
Haruno Na bit the kunai in her mouth and pressed one hand on Liefeng’s back.
The giant wolf immediately lowered its body, and the roar in its throat turned into a low roar, clearing a path for the three people.
When the musty smell mixed with the smell of blood came out of the secret room, they saw a figure wrapped in a black cloak curled up in the corner.
“Put down the scroll.” Jhin’s voice was as cold as an ice-tempered kunai.
The man turned around slowly, his left eye covered by a faded ANBU forehead guard, and there was an old scar on his right cheek running from his brow to his jaw.
When he lifted his cloak to reveal the scroll in his arms, Haruno Na’s pupils suddenly contracted – it was the “Blood Demon Record” that was suppressed by the Sandaime with the Demonic Seal, and the talisman on the cover was glowing a strange purple-black color.
“Cruel Wolf.” Yin Yue’s sword was three inches out of its sheath. “Three years ago, all members of the Anbu B class were killed. It was you who sent the information to Kirigakure.”
The man called Canlang curled his lips and rubbed the seal on the edge of the scroll with his fingertips: “The kid from the Hatake family has a good memory. But you shouldn’t have come – this is Orochimaru’s legacy, it’s not Konoha’s turn to interfere.”
Jhin did not move, but took a half step back to let Moonlight pass: “Do you know the Blood Demon Plan?”
Canlang’s fingers stopped.
“Three days ago, the Anbu transferred the forbidden scrolls, and the supervisor was personally on duty.” Jin’s voice was very light, but it hit Canlang’s heart like a heavy hammer. “But the wind attribute chakra remaining in the ventilation duct is ten times finer than the wind blades used by the Anbu. There are no more than three wind attribute ninjas in the whole Konoha who can carve micro-carvings.” He stared at the faint tattoo under Canlang’s forehead protector. “And in the Anbu files, the wind jutsu of the class leader of B can carve a complete Fire Temple scripture on his hair.”
Cripple Wolf’s breathing suddenly became heavy.
He yanked open his forehead guard, revealing three tattoos lined up below his left eye – that was the symbol of the Anbu Special Service Team, and only those who had carried out three fatal missions were qualified to have it tattooed.
“I have been stealing intelligence for Orochimaru for three years,” he said in a hoarse voice, “but when I saw this scroll three days ago…” He pushed the scroll to the ground, “the blood-style fusion technique recorded in it is an evil technique that turns living people into chakra batteries. Orochimaru wants to use Konoha as a testing ground.”
Yin Yue’s knife bounced out half a foot with a buzz: “Why would you help him if you knew this earlier?”
“My daughter is in Otogakure.” Canlang’s scar twisted with his expression. “Orochimaru threatened me with her life. But I just saw the contents of the scroll…” He suddenly knelt down and knocked his knuckles on the bluestone slab. “Let me atone for my sins. I know the location of Orochimaru’s teleportation array and the conditions for activating the Blood Demon Resonator. I’ll confess everything.”
Haruno Na squatted down and pressed her fingertips on the acupuncture points on the back of Cripple Wolf’s neck.
After confirming that the other party did not hide his chakra fluctuations, she nodded to Jin.
Jhin bent down to pick up the scroll. The purple-black symbol on the cover suddenly emitted sparks, leaving burn marks on his palms.
“Don’t touch the seal!”
A familiar voice came from the door of the secret room.
The Artisan Soul leaned against the door frame and gasped, his forehead covered with sweat. “This scroll contains the remnant soul of the Blood Demon. If it is destroyed directly, it will trigger the self-destruct mechanism. Danzo tried it thirty years ago, and half of the Hokage Mountain was flattened.”
Jhin quickly withdrew his hand, and the sparks on the scroll’s surface instantly went out.
He stared at the trembling fingertips of the craftsman soul: “Solution?”
“Xuanfeng.” Jianghun took out a copper bell from his arms, “He was the last person in the forbidden technique class during the first Hokage’s time. He knew how to use the five elements seal to decompose the remaining soul of the blood demon. But…” His Adam’s apple moved, “Xuanfeng should have died ten years ago. Three days ago, I went to the forbidden technique library to look for his notes, and found that his coffin was empty.”
The air in the secret room suddenly froze.
“Split into two groups.” Jin’s fingers tapped out a rhythm on the scroll. “Nai and I will go find Xuanfeng. Yinyue and Canlang will guard the scroll. If there is an accident, protect the scroll first, but don’t fight hard.” He stuffed the scroll into Haruno Nai’s arms. “Left behind the Wind. Its sense of smell is more sensitive than that of the summoned beast.”
Haruno Na wrapped the scroll in her cloak, and Liefeng immediately came over and rubbed her wrist with his head.
Yin Yue pulled out the White Fang dagger, and the blade cut a half-inch deep mark in front of Canlang: “If you dare to play tricks, this knife will stab your daughter’s heart.”
Canlang stared at the blade and nodded heavily.
After the two left, the candlelight in the secret room suddenly shook strangely.
A chill ran down the back of Yin Yue’s neck. He spun around suddenly, using his short knife to pick up a green-tinted kunai.
The woman in the scarlet robe stepped out from the shadows, her eyes beneath the veil like venomous snakes: “Lord Orochimaru said that he wants the scroll alive and the traitor dead.”
“Poisonous scorpion.” The tip of Yin Yue’s knife was dripping with venom. “Among the Seven Otoin, the madwoman is the best at using poison.”
The scorpion’s nails suddenly grew three inches longer, emitting a faint blue light: “Kid from the Hatake family, try my newly refined ‘Bone Erosion Powder’——” Her figure turned into a residual shadow, and her nails scraped across Yin Yue’s neck, leaving charred marks on the wall, “Once you are poisoned by this, your chakra will turn into corrosive acid, which will rot your internal organs first, and then your bones.”
Yin Yue’s knife drew a semicircle, cutting the poisonous fog in half.
He retreated to Canlang’s side, with his short knife between them. “Can you detoxify?”
“My daughter was poisoned by her.” Canlang took out a porcelain bottle from his arms, “This is the antidote given by Xuanfeng, but it can only last for half an hour.” He stuffed the porcelain bottle into Yinyue’s hand, “Protect the scroll, I’ll go and lure her away.”
“Idiot!” Yin Yue wanted to grab him, but saw Canlang suddenly bite his fingertips and draw a dark tracking symbol on the ground.
When the scorpion’s nails pierced his left shoulder, he smiled: “The blood of the Anbu Special Forces can trigger all traps within three kilometers. Guess how many detonating tags Konoha buried around the forbidden room?”
A loud explosion sounded from overhead.
Yin Yue took the opportunity to pick up the scroll and rolled into the secret compartment, but he felt a burning pain in his left shoulder – the scorpion’s nails still scratched his skin.
He unscrewed the porcelain bottle with trembling hands. The powder tasted sweet and fishy as soon as it entered his mouth, and the scene in front of his eyes began to double.
At the same time, Jin and Haruno followed Liefeng to the bamboo forest outside the village.
The moonlight shone through the bamboo leaves, weaving tiny pieces of silver on the ground. Liefeng suddenly stopped in front of a bluestone slab engraved with a hexagram, and scratched the moss in the cracks with his claws.
Haruno Na used a kunai to pry open the stone slab, revealing half of a rusty copper bell underneath – exactly the same as the one given by the Artisan Soul.
The copper bell suddenly made a crisp sound.
Jin’s communicator vibrated at the same time, and Xuanfeng’s voice came from it, with a hoarse voice like metal friction: “Don’t trust the craftsman soul. The mastermind of the Blood Demon Project is more…”
Communications were suddenly interrupted.
Haruno Na stared at the bamboo forest that was suddenly filled with white mist, and clenched the scroll in her arms: “Jin, Liefeng is shaking.”
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly opened, and the three magatama slowly rotated.
He saw countless chakra fluctuations deep in the bamboo forest, like countless pairs of eyes staring at them.
The copper bell at his feet had turned blood red at some point.
“Let’s go.” He grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and rushed into the white fog, “Let’s go to Nantai Temple. Xuanfeng’s coffin should be there…”
Before he finished speaking, he heard the sound of a scroll cover being torn behind him.
Haruno Na looked down and found that the purple-black talisman was crawling up her fingers like a living poisonous snake.
Chapter 105: Xuanfeng’s Choice, Forbidden Technique Confrontation (Old Version)
The moonlight was torn into pieces by the bamboo leaves, and Uchiha Jin grabbed Haruno Na’s wrist and ran wildly in the bamboo forest.
Haruno Na felt a burning pain at her fingertips. The purple-black talisman had already climbed up her forearm, winding along her blood vessels like a living thing. Every inch it climbed felt like being burned by a pair of tongs.
“Does it hurt?” Jin tilted his head, the three magatama in his Sharingan spinning rapidly. He could see the sinister chakra flowing in the talisman. “Bear it for a while. Xuanfeng’s laboratory is in the back hall of Nantai Temple. He has been studying forbidden detoxification techniques for twenty years…”
“I didn’t cry out in pain.” Haruno Na smiled with gritted teeth, while her other hand tightly grasped the scroll in her arms.
Liefeng huddled at the feet of the two men. His originally shiny wolf fur exploded into thorns, and he let out a suppressed whimper from his throat – this was his instinctive reaction when he sensed danger.
The bluestone road suddenly ended before my eyes.
The vermilion gate of Nantaisi Temple lay askew on the ground, and the four characters “Nantai Ancient Temple” on the lintel were burnt black by the fire.
Jin paused, and his Sharingan caught the smell of medicine coming from the door – the smell of mugwort mixed with cinnabar that Xuanfeng often used, “He’s in there.”
The candlelight in the hall flickered.
Sitting on the cushion in the center was a white-haired old man with cracked glasses on his nose and a half-volume of “Record of Forbidden Techniques to Break the Boundary” spread out in front of him.
Hearing the noise, he said without even raising his head: “Did the bronze bell of the craftsman soul lead you here? That thing has long been tampered with by Orochimaru.”
Haruno Na slammed the scroll on the altar: “Senior Xuanfeng! We need your help–“
“Stop.” The old man pushed up his glasses, his cloudy eyes suddenly sharp as a knife, “Three years ago, three Genin broke into my laboratory, saying they wanted to ‘stop the abuse of forbidden techniques’. What happened? They triggered the blood escape amulet, one was burned to charcoal, and the other two are still crazy.” He knocked his knuckles on the bronze medicine mortar on the table, “Forbidden techniques are not toys, they should be controlled by those who truly understand them.”
Jin took a half step forward, and the red light of his Sharingan swept across the old man’s face: “Why do you study forbidden techniques?”
“for……”
“In order to prevent them from becoming weapons of murder.” Jin interrupted him, “You gave the antidote to the Bone Erosion Powder to the Anbu three years ago, improved the Fire Sealing Talisman half a year ago, and taught the medical class how to crack the puppet poison last month – you have always been helping us.” He lowered his voice, “Now Orochimaru wants to revive the Shadow Snake, using the Blood Fusion Technique mentioned in your notes. If we fail, the entire ninja world will become his experimental field.”
The old man’s fingers rubbed the edge of the medicine mortar, and the eyes behind the glasses gradually softened.
He suddenly stood up, and the hem of his clothes swept off half a book: “Follow me.”
There is a secret door hidden under the floor tiles of the rear hall.
Walking down the stone steps, the smell of burning metal wafted in the humid air – they had arrived at Xuanfeng’s laboratory.
The walls were inlaid with glowing fluorite, illuminating the talisman diagrams that covered the walls. On the central experimental table was a half-mechanical puppet, with chakra wires as thin as hair wrapped around the joints.
“The core of the Blood Fusion Technique is frequency resonance.” Xuanfeng took off his glasses and wiped them. “Just like the strings of a guitar, chakra of a certain frequency will cause the technique to resonate. To crack it…”
“We need to interfere with this frequency!” Jin suddenly interrupted. He remembered the wooden puppet improved by the Artisan Soul – that thing can simulate twelve kinds of chakra fluctuations. “If we use the puppet to emit reverse frequency waves, can we break down the spell?”
Xuanfeng’s finger paused on the map.
He put on his glasses again, his eyes behind the lenses brightening amazingly: “How did you know…”
The dome of the laboratory suddenly exploded.
Poisonous fog and fishy wind poured in. The poisonous scorpion jumped down on the gravel. The faint blue light on its nails was colder than the moonlight. “You guys are having a good time chatting? Hand over the solution, and I’ll let you die happily.”
Haruno Na’s puppet strings suddenly stretched straight.
The red flame puppet in her arms suddenly jumped up, and slapped the poisonous scorpion in the face with its iron claws – this was the “explosive flame style” that she had spent three years to improve, and it could release high-temperature chakra at the moment of contact.
The scorpion dodged with its head tilted, its nails scratching the puppet’s right arm, instantly corroding the metal into a charred hole. “It’s useless. My Bone-Erosion Powder can even melt the scales of the three-tailed beast.” She opened her arms, and twelve venomous snakes appeared behind her. “Now, it’s your turn to have a taste—”
“Start the interference!” Jhin shouted.
He bit his fingertips and pressed on the core array pattern of the wooden puppet, and chakra poured into the puppet’s body like a torrent.
The crystal on the puppet’s head suddenly lit up with a dazzling green light, and a buzzing vibration sounded in the air.
The scorpion’s movements suddenly stopped.
She stared at her nails with wide eyes—the blue light was fading, and the snake shadow was becoming fragmented: “What did you do?!”
“It interfered with your chakra frequency.” Xuanfeng suddenly pressed the red button on the experimental table, and countless cracks appeared on the ground, gushing out sticky sealing glue. “Now, it’s your turn to taste my ‘expertise’.”
“Damn old man!” The scorpion screamed and stomped his feet.
The sealing glue on the ground was corroded instantly, leaving a big hole. She grabbed a piece of gravel and smashed it on Xuanfeng’s head, “I’m going to make you into specimens—”
“Let’s go!” Xuanfeng picked up the notebook on the table and stuffed it into Jin’s arms, “Let’s go to Tianzang Cave, where there is a record of Shadow Snake’s weaknesses. The laboratory’s defense can only last ten minutes!”
Jin dragged Haruno Na towards the secret door.
The moment he turned around, he saw Xuan Feng’s figure shrouded in poisonous fog – the old man was turning the operating panel frantically, his white hair was blown all over the place by the air waves, but there was an almost relieved smile on the corner of his mouth.
“Bang!” The secret door closed behind him.
Haruno Na leaned against the stone wall and gasped for breath. The spell on her arm finally stopped spreading. “Senior Xuanfeng, he…”
“He can hold out until the Anbu comes to help.” Jin flipped open the notebook of Xuanfengsai. On the yellowed page, there was a line of words written in cinnabar: “Shadow Snake, based on the skeletons of a hundred shadow ninjas, guided by the blood escape fusion technique, on the day of resurrection, the shadow escape will overthrow the world.” His pupils suddenly contracted, “Orochimaru is not going to resurrect a human, but…”
The communicator suddenly vibrated.
Yin Yue’s voice was sweet with the smell of blood foam: “The secret room was lost, and the scroll was stolen. The Scorpion’s men blew up the laboratory, and Xuan Feng’s defense system…”
“boom–“
There was a muffled sound in the distance.
Jin looked up and saw orange-red flames rising from the direction of the laboratory, casting a dark red light on the night sky.
Haruno Na grabbed his wrist: “Jin, we have to…”
“I know.” Jhin closed his notebook, his knuckles white.
He looked toward the distant mountain top, where a dark shadow passed by, as fast as a crow feather blown by the wind.
“The gears of fate have begun to turn.”
A hoarse female voice suddenly sounded in my ears.
Jhin turned his head sharply and saw only half a fallen feather – ink-colored with golden patterns, like some kind of bird he had never seen before.
Haruno Na followed his gaze and asked, “What did you hear?”
“Nothing.” Jin took out his communicator and hovered his finger over the “Team 7” communication channel for a moment. “Let’s go back to Konoha first. We need to tell Kakashi-sensei about Shadow Snake, and…” He looked at the gradually extinguishing fire, his voice as low as a whisper, “We need to confirm that Xuanfeng-senpai is safe.”
The mountain wind blew up a few pieces of ashes and dropped them on his shoulders.
Jhin looked up at the sky; the dark shadow had already disappeared, leaving only a faint sigh that drifted away in the night.
Chapter 106: Shadow Snake Awakens, Danger Lurks (Old Version)
The veins on Uchiha Jin’s hand that was gripping the communicator were bulging, and Reimu’s words “The gears of fate have begun to turn” were still buzzing on his eardrums.
He stood under the old camphor tree on the back hill of Konoha, the moonlight shining through the branches cast shadows of varying depths on his face, Haruno Na’s body temperature came from his clenched wrists, with the touch of the coarse cloth wristband – that was sewed by her own hands using the torn animal skins she had worn out while taming animals.
“Go to the Seventh Squad’s base.” He suddenly loosened his hand, his knuckles turning white in the moonlight. “Silver Moon is injured, Craftsman Soul should be in the medical department, and Canlang…he said he would wait for news in the broken warehouse on the south wall.”
Haruno Na didn’t ask why, but grabbed his sleeve with her backhand.
There were still scorch marks on her palm from the explosion of the lab bench. Her rough skin brushed against Jin’s wrist, as if reminding him of something: “I’ll go call Fei Liu. His Sharingan can copy the mechanism of puppetry.”
“Wait.” Jin suddenly turned around, the moonlight falling into his dark brown pupils, “Don’t let Feiliu come.” He remembered the fishy sweetness of the blood foam in Yinyue’s communicator, and Xuanfeng’s relieved smile when he was shrouded in poisonous fog. His Adam’s apple rolled twice, “Shadow Snake’s matter…Don’t let irrelevant people get involved for the time being.”
Haruno Na’s eyebrows twitched.
She was half a head taller than Jin, but at this moment she bent down slightly so that their eyes were level: “Do you think I am irrelevant?”
The taming bell on Haruno Na’s wristband rang softly. It was made from the canine teeth of the first snow fox she tamed.
He looked at the talisman mark on her neck that had not yet faded – it was left by the corrosion technique in the laboratory just now, with a purple edge. He suddenly reached out to help her tidy up her hair that was messed up by the mountain wind: “When we discuss it later, help me keep an eye on Canlang’s eyes.”
Haruno Na was stunned for a moment, then laughed softly.
Her laughter was like a stream hitting rocks in a mountain stream, making the bells of animal training jingle. “Are you afraid that guy is hiding something again? Okay, I’ll keep an eye on him. If he dares to blink a second time—” She clenched her fists, and her knuckles made a crisp sound. “I’ll take apart all his puppet strings and use them as shoelaces.”
As soon as the oil lamp in the Seventh Squad’s base was lit, Canlang lifted the door curtain and came in.
His Anbu uniform was stained with blood, and there was a fresh scratch on the left side of his face, as if it had been caused by a ninja dog.
Seeing Jin looking up, he threw down a map – on the contour map of the Fire Nation’s border, an area marked as “abandoned iron mine” was circled in red.
“Orochimaru’s secret base.” Canlang pulled off his forehead protector, revealing a hideous old scar on his forehead. “Three days ago, I intercepted intelligence from the Hidden Rain Village. They transported a hundred skeletons of Shadow Ninjas there.” His voice was like a rusty blade. “The awakening ceremony of Shadow Snake will start at midnight tonight.”
The oil lamp wick crackled and sent out sparks.
Haruno Na was pouring coarse tea into the tea bowl. Her hand shook and the hot tea splashed on her palm, but she seemed unconscious: “One hundred shadow ninjas…they must have been collected since the Warring States Period, right?”
“So Orochimaru waited for twenty years.” Jin’s finger traced the red circle on the map, his nails almost piercing the back of the paper, “The Xuanfeng Notes said that Shadow Snake uses skeletons as its foundation and blood escape as its guide. If he were allowed to complete the fusion…” He suddenly stopped, his Adam’s apple moving, “During the Fourth War, the Five Kage Alliance almost fell to Obito’s Infinite Tsukuyomi. If Shadow Snake could overthrow the world with Shadow Escape…”
“So we have to go now.” Canlang interrupted him, tapping the map with his knuckles, “There are three layers of barriers around the iron mine, but I know a secret passage – it was dug by the Anbu when they were tracking Orochimaru.” His old scar twitched as he spoke, “I’ll take you in.”
Haruno Na suddenly put the tea bowl heavily on the table.
The tea splashed on the edge of Canlang’s map, and the group turned dark red: “Why should I trust you? Last time you said ‘temporary alliance’, but you turned around and led us into the puppet trap of the Sand Village.”
“Because my daughter is in there.” Canlang’s voice suddenly dropped, like a strangled wind. “Three years ago, Orochimaru captured her as a blood escape experiment subject.” He lifted the corner of his clothes, revealing a small copper bell hanging around his waist – very similar to the taming bell on Haruno Na’s wristband, only older, with the edges polished to a shine. “This was made by my wife when she was one year old.”
The oil lamp flickered at this moment.
Jin stared at the red corners of Canlang’s eyes, thinking of the mysterious female voice he had just heard outside the laboratory, and the black shadow that passed over the mountain top like a crow feather.
He reached out and pressed the back of Haruno Na’s hand, which was burning hot. “Prepare the puppet,” he said to Haruno Na, and then turned to Canlang, “You lead the way, but if you tell even a lie–“
“I know.” Canlang pressed the copper bell into his palm, his knuckles turning white, “I should have been buried in the Anbu dungeon long ago.”
The wind at midnight smells of rust.
Jin stuck to the shadow of the outer wall of the iron mine, watching Haruno Na’s puppet “Gray Crow” flapping its wings and flying into the sky.
It was a wooden puppet improved by the craftsman’s soul. The surface was coated with sound-absorbing paint, and even the chakra fluctuations could be simulated like an ordinary flying bird.
He touched the kunai in his arms and it felt cold – this was the “breakthrough cone” mentioned in Xuanfeng’s notes, made of magnetite from the Land of Lightning, specifically designed to counter rune formations.
“The barrier is thirty steps to the southeast.” Canlang’s voice squeezed out from his throat, “The tunnel that the Anbu dug using earth escape technique should have been sealed now, but…” He suddenly stopped, his eyes fixed on the place where the gray crow flew past.
Under the moonlight, a faint blue light emerged in the shadow of the iron mine wall – it was not ordinary chakra, but more like… He remembered the cinnabar words in the Xuanfeng Notes, “Shadow Escape Covers the World”, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood up.
“That’s the Blood Fusion Formation.” He lowered his voice and dug his fingernails into his palms, “Absorb the surrounding chakra to supply the Shadow Snake to wake up.” He took out the formation-breaking cone, and the coolness of the metal crawled into his blood vessels along his fingertips, “Haruno Na, Gray Crow flies southwest to lure away the patrolling puppets. Canlang, follow me.”
The tunnel entrance is harder to open than expected.
Canlang used his kunai to pry three times before he finally lifted up a loose bluestone slab.
The smell of mold and rust came out. Just as Jin bent down and crawled in, he heard a slight “click” sound above his head – like the sound of a mechanism being activated.
“Oh no.” Canlang’s voice was muffled in the tunnel, “Orochimaru may have changed his defense…”
“Shut up.” Jhin’s pupils shrank into thin lines.
He could hear his own heartbeat, which made his eardrums hurt.
There was light at the end of the tunnel, not fire, but a faint blue light that seemed to suck people in.
He took out his pocket watch and the hands pointed to three quarters past midnight – in half an hour, the Shadow Snake’s awakening ceremony would be completed.
“Wait.” Canlang suddenly grabbed him by the back of his collar.
Jin turned around and saw him staring at the marks on the stone wall of the tunnel. It was in the shape of a snake, very similar to Orochimaru’s summoning seal, but more distorted. “This is the mark of Shadow Escape. The Xuanfeng Notes said that the weakness of the shadow snake is…”
“The bone ring at the heart position.” Jin continued, his voice hoarse, “Xuanfeng said that it was the only part that was not eroded by the blood escape when the skeletons of a hundred shadow ninjas merged.” He remembered Xuanfeng’s smile when he was shrouded in the poisonous fog, and suddenly felt his throat tighten, “Let’s go.”
When the stone door at the end of the tunnel creaked open, Jhin was almost knocked over by the force.
It wasn’t chakra fluctuations, more like something alive and slimy, wrapped around his ankles.
He staggered two steps, looked up—
The entire core area of ​​the iron mine was shrouded in black fog.
In the center stood a black stone pillar with a crystal embedded in it, which was bubbling like boiling blood.
Hundreds of skeletons were kneeling around the stone pillar, each with a faint blue light in their eye sockets, forming a huge formation diagram.
In the center of the formation, the black mist was condensing into a solid entity.
“You are too late.”
The sound was like an icicle piercing my eardrum.
Jhin looked up and saw the shadow’s face – or rather, its lack of a face.
There were only two scarlet lights under the black fog, like burning charcoal. “I am Orochimaru’s final masterpiece, and an existence that you cannot defeat.”
Haruno Na’s puppet Gray Crow fell to the ground with a “bang”.
From the corner of his eye, Jhin saw her climbing over the wall, and the taming bells were ringing.
Her puppet “Iron Mountain” was swinging its iron arms to smash the patrolling mechanical men, but more puppets emerged from the darkness, and the friction of metal joints was so painful that it hurt people’s ears.
“Shadow Escape·Shadow Bind!” The black shadow raised his hand.
Jin felt his ankle tighten, as if it was grabbed by an invisible hand, and his whole body was pulled and staggered.
He took out the Breaking Array Cone and stabbed it into the ground. The moment the magnet stone brushed against the rune, blue and white sparks burst out – but the shadow binding only shook and tightened.
“The weak point is the bone ring at the heart!” The roar of the crippled wolf came from behind.
Jin turned around and saw him using a kunai to hack at the black shadow’s waist and abdomen.
The moment the kunai pierced into the black mist, dark red blood splattered out – it was not ordinary blood, it had a rancid stench, like leaves rotting in the mud, “My daughter said so! She overheard it when Orochimaru was conducting an experiment!”
The black shadow’s scarlet eyes suddenly shrank.
It swung its palm, and the crippled wolf was knocked flying and crashed into the stone wall, spitting out blood mixed with broken bones.
Jhin took the opportunity to break free from the Shadow Binding, and clenched the Formation Breaking Cone until his knuckles turned white.
He saw the black mist on the black shadow’s chest was surging, revealing a piece of white bone – it was ring-shaped, wrapped with a faded red rope, “Is that… the heart bone of the shadow ninja?”
“Destroy it!” Haruno Na’s voice came from above.
Jhin looked up and saw her jumping down on Tieshan’s shoulders, holding the detonating talisman improved by the Artisan Soul in her hand.
Her taming bell exploded in the wind, like a death drumbeat, “I’ll help you delay!”
The black shadow’s arm suddenly extended, and the black mist condensed into a sharp blade that stabbed at Haruno Na.
Jhin’s heart almost stopped beating – he saw the sharp blade grazed her left breast and cut a bloody hole in her coarse cloth.
Haruno Na smiled. She threw the detonating tag in her hand and stuck it accurately on the wrist of the black shadow: “Jin! Now is the time!”
“Boom!” The moment the detonating talisman exploded, the black shadow paused.
Jin gritted his teeth and rushed forward, aiming the Breaking Array Cone at the piece of bone and stabbing it hard – the moment the magnet stone touched the bone ring, the entire iron mine began to vibrate violently.
The shadow screamed, and the black fog dispersed like a popped balloon, revealing the
“It’s Orochimaru!” Haruno Na’s voice was filled with shock.
Jin followed her gaze and saw a human body wrapped in Shadow Escape lying where the black fog had dissipated – pale skin, snake-like vertical pupils, it was none other than Orochimaru who had disappeared for many days.
And that black crystal was now inserted into his heart. “So Shadow Snake…is the product of the fusion of him and Shadow Escape?”
“It’s too late.” Orochimaru’s voice was mixed with the hoarseness of the black shadow. His fingertips scratched the crystal stone, and dark red blood spread along the stone pattern. “The shadow snake has awakened, and I…” His mouth opened, revealing his white teeth, “I will become the god of the ninja world.”
“Lord Scorpion has arrived!”
Suddenly there was a shout from outside.
Jin turned his head and saw Poison Scorpion coming in from outside the wall riding a giant puppet. Her long hair was blown all over the place by the air waves, and she was holding Xuanfeng’s notebook in her hand – the cover was still stained with blood.
Her puppet was surrounded by hundreds of mechanical men, and the friction of metal joints surged like a tide.
“Jin.” Haruno Na’s hand rested on his shoulder.
Her blood dripped onto the back of his hand, scalding hot. “The crystal is the core.” She pointed to the black crystal at the location of Orochimaru’s heart. “The Artisan Soul said that the magnetite can interfere with blood escape.”
Jin looked at the venomous scorpion’s puppet that was gradually approaching, looked at Orochimaru’s increasingly crazy laugh, and looked at Canlang’s trembling hands under the stone wall – he was still holding the small copper bell.
He took a deep breath and handed the Breaking Array Cone to Haruno Na: “You go and lure away the poisonous scorpion’s puppets and use the taming bell to disrupt their chakra. I’ll go grab the crystal.”
“What about you?” Haruno Na’s voice trembled.
“I have the Sharingan.” Jin touched the eye patch – it was given to him by Yin Yue, who said it could temporarily store chakra.
He didn’t know if this was true, but at this moment he could only gamble, “Believe me.”
Haruno Na stared into his eyes for three seconds, then suddenly lowered her head and pecked the corner of his lips.
Her lips were salty with blood, but they made Jin’s heart beat faster than any ninjutsu: “Don’t die.” After she said that, she turned and rushed towards the group of poisonous scorpion puppets, and the taming bells rang.
Jin held the Breaking Formation Cone tightly and looked at Orochimaru’s Shadow Release Armor which was gradually taking shape.
He could hear his own heartbeat, like a war drum, like a countdown.
The moonlight shone through the broken iron mine roof and fell on the crystal, glowing a strange red.
He bent down, speeding in the shadows—
This time, he wouldn’t let anything slip through his fingers.
Chapter 107 Crystal Crisis, Ways to Break the Situation (Old Version)
The moonlight from the iron ore dome was torn into pieces by the black fog. Uchiha Jin’s boots crushed the gravel, and the buzzing sound of metal joints rubbing against each other was heard in his ears – the group of scorpion puppets had approached thirty steps.
He could see the faint blue chakra light flickering in the eye sockets of those mechanical men, making them look like undead ghosts with their skin and flesh peeled off.
We can’t linger in this battle. He lowered his voice, and his Adam’s apple brushed against Haruno Na’s bloody palm.
The girl’s animal taming bell was still burning on the back of his hand. Looking at the runes, he tapped the ground with the tip of the Breaking Array Cone. In the cracks of the bluestone, the dark red lines flickered with Orochimaru’s breathing. The Artisan Soul said that the Shadow Escape Array relied on an energy source, and the core here… should be the black crystal.
Haruno Na’s thumb brushed across the edge of his eye mask: What do you want me to do? Her pupils reflected the cold light of the puppets, but they were brighter than ever.
Jin’s Sharingan was burning under the eye mask. He caught the small movements of Canlang hiding behind the stone wall. The hand holding the copper bell was bleeding, and the knuckles were white due to the force. Canlang, use the copper bell to interfere with the chakra flow of Shadow Escape. He turned to the girl and said, “You lead the tamed beast group to lure away the puppets of the poisonous scorpion. Their joint axis is the weakness.”
I understand. Haruno Na pulled off the animal taming scroll from her waist, and the moment she bit the straps, the shadow of a three-tailed raccoon cat jumped out of the scroll, but you – she suddenly grabbed his collar, and pressed her bloody forehead against his. If you dare to let me collect your body, I will make you into a puppet and hang you at the entrance of the village.
Before she finished her words, she leapt into the air.
The taming bell rang like thunder, and the chakra of the three-tailed raccoon turned into vines and wrapped around the neck of the nearest mechanical man. The girl’s figure shuttled through the metal jungle like a ball of fire burning through the darkness.
Jhin ran quickly along the stone wall, and sparks flew when the magnetite of the Array-Breaking Cone scraped against the wall.
When he was still twenty steps away from Orochimaru, his shadow was suddenly grabbed by something – the moment he lowered his head, his Sharingan caught the sudden red light of the runes on the ground.
Traps! He instinctively jumped back, and the stone slabs at his feet suddenly exploded, and three poisoned kunai flew past his waist and abdomen.
Cold sweat slid down his spine into his collar, and he realized that the ground around the crystal was covered with fine seals, and each seal was connected to a hidden trap.
The communicator vibrated behind his ear, and the voice of the craftsman soul was filled with the noise of electricity: Don’t force your way in, the crystal is absorbing the Shadow Release chakra to repair itself.
Direct destruction will cause a blood explosion, which must be weakened with a chakra jammer.
Materials? Jhin hid behind a stone pillar and watched as another wave of kunai drove into the same spot.
The gravel at your feet contains magnetite. The speed of the craftsman’s speech increased. Use the magnetite as the core, make the Shen-Si-Wei seal to activate the chakra, and it can be assembled in three seconds.
Jhin’s fingers flew in the pile of rocks, and when his bloody fingertips touched the blue magnetite, his heart almost jumped out of his throat.
He leaned his back against the stone pillar and formed a seal, while chakra flowed through his fingertips into the ore. Amid the sound of metal friction, the prototype of a simple jammer took shape in his palm.
Jammer activated! He shouted, and threw the device towards the crystal.
Something strange happened.
The black fog that originally wrapped around Orochimaru suddenly rolled back, and the group of Scorpion’s puppets screamed at the same time – the neck of the mechanical man in the front row turned 180 degrees, and all the muzzles were aimed at him.
Embers! Haruno Na’s shout resounded throughout the iron mine, and the next second, brown smoke flooded in like a tide.
Jin saw the girl biting her fingertips and drawing a talisman on the raccoon’s forehead. A low growl of the beast tamer came from the smoke: Delay time!
The smoke blurred his vision, and Jhin took the opportunity to rush towards the crystal.
The hum of the jammer overlapped with the vibration of the crystal. He could see that the bloodstains on the surface of the black crystal were fading, but the speed was so slow that it was despairing – Orochimaru’s Shadow Release Armor had covered his chest, and his pale fingers were slowly grasping the crystal.
It’s too late to continue like this! Canlang’s voice came from the left.
Jin turned around and saw the man who had betrayed the Anbu kneeling on the ground, with a copper bell buzzing in his palm. The weapons depot was on the southeast side, and there were detonating talismans inside!
Blow it up, the shock wave can directly shatter the crystal!
Jin’s Sharingan reflected Orochimaru’s gradually opening vertical pupils.
He touched the chakra stored in the blindfold and suddenly shouted at the top of his voice: Poison Scorpion!
Are your puppet joint axes rusted?
The roar of the machine gun almost broke my eardrums.
Jhin ran wildly in the hail of bullets, deliberately stepping on the seal on the ground to trigger the trap – he could hear Scorpion’s sneer through the smoke: Catch him, I’m going to skin these Sharingans alive.
Haruno Na’s figure emerged from the smoke, her cuffs stained with fresh blood, but she made an OK gesture to Jin.
Jin understood what he meant and deliberately tripped when he turned around, rolling two meters away on the ground – the muzzle of the mechanical man’s gun was almost touching his back.
This way! He shouted and rushed towards the iron mine exit, with the scorpion puppets following him closely.
Only after making sure that all firepower had been diverted did he sneak into the side passage using the cover of the stone pillars. Haruno Na’s suppressed breathing came from the communicator: The explosives have been installed, and the countdown is thirty seconds.
Well done. Jhin’s voice trembled, not because of fear, but because of some kind of crazy excitement – this was the first time since his rebirth that he felt so close to winning.
But fate always likes to play jokes.
When the countdown jumped to five seconds, Orochimaru’s laughter suddenly penetrated all the noise.
The black fog was spinning wildly with him as the center, the scales on the Shadow Escape Armor stood up, and the black crystal was oozing thick black blood: Do you think… this is the end?
Run! Jin roared and pounced on Haruno Na, and the copper bell of the crippled wolf rang at the last moment.
The explosion was more violent than expected.
The air wave blew the three people away, and when Jin’s back hit the stone wall, he could hear the crisp sound of broken ribs.
He barely raised his head and saw that Orochimaru’s figure was torn into pieces by the shock wave, but the black mist seemed to have life and condensed again – in the smoke and dust, the pupils of a snake slowly opened.
Let’s go! Haruno Na pulled his arm and ran towards the exit, while Canlang followed behind and threw the last few kunai.
The dome of the iron mine began to collapse, and rubble fell like a rainstorm, but Jin’s eyes were always fixed on the black fog – it was laughing, with the voice of Orochimaru, the voice of Shadow Snake, and some older, more sinister voice.
The moment the three men fell out of the iron mine, a loud bang was heard behind them.
Haruno Na’s group of trained beasts wailed, the copper bell of the crippled wolf broke in two, and Jin’s Sharingan stung beneath the eye mask.
He took out the communicator and heard Hatake Hiru’s voice filled with anxiety: Jhin!
The Five Kage Summit was brought forward, and the Kazekage talked about the plan for a major reorganization of the Ninja World… They didn’t buy it at all!
Jhin looked at the black fog that was gathering again in the distance and licked the blood from the corner of his mouth.
Under the moonlight, his smile was colder than any ninjutsu: Then let them…see what the new rules are.
Chapter 108: Ninja World Game, Undercurrent Surges (Old Version)
The moonlight was like a poisoned silver blade, cutting into Uchiha Jin’s back.
He leaned against the charred stone wall outside the iron mine, a fishy and sweet taste rising in his throat, and with every breath he could hear the tiny friction sounds of his broken ribs.
Haruno Na squatted beside him, the broken bell of the crippled wolf was bleeding in her palm, and the spiritual beast, the little spotted tiger in the trainer group, was licking the wound on his leg with its tongue – this beast had more conscience than some people.
“Communicator.” He spoke in a hoarse voice.
Haruno Na immediately took out the vibrating metal block from her waist, and with her fingertips, which were still stained with blood, she left dark red marks on the keys.
Hatake Hiru’s voice came crashing down on him: “The Five Kage Talks have been brought forward! The Kazekage’s envoy just burned Konoha’s peace agreement at the entrance of the village. The radical faction of Raigin brought thirty jonin to block the south gate, saying… they don’t buy into the grand reorganization plan at all!”
Jin’s Sharingan throbbed beneath the eye mask.
He remembered the black fog that refused to dissipate in the iron mine three hours ago. Orochimaru’s laughter mixed with the hissing of shadow snakes was like a thin needle piercing his temple.
Now the mess of the ninja world’s game has come again. Fate will choose its time.
“Nao,” he suddenly grabbed Haruno Nao’s wrist, pressing his fingertips on the beating pulse in her wrist, “Go to the medical squad to find Master Tsunade and tell her that I need three bottles of top-grade medical ninja tools – don’t let Shizune follow, she’s too tight-lipped.”
Haruno Na’s pupils shrank, but she didn’t ask why, she just shook his hand back vigorously.
The warmth of his palm came through the blood scabs, and Jin suddenly remembered that when they were on their first mission, she did the same thing, scratching her palm with her taming claws and smearing the blood on his forehead protector: “Blood is the best signpost. Even if I die, I can bring you back.”
“Fei Liu,” he chuckled into the communicator, his knuckles touching his aching ribs, “have the Anbu clear out the negotiation room on the third floor of the Hokage Building, and send information about Feng Nu and Lei Bao’s preferences to my room – for tea, I want Rock Honey Oolong from the Wind Country, and for the Lightning Country… don’t they like strong liquor? Ask Shikamaru to borrow two jars of Drunken Immortal Brew, and remember to soften the seal so as not to prick Lei Bao’s hand.”
The rustling sound of flipping papers came from the communicator. “Someone has already sent it over. By the way, Advisor Tsuruha has been waiting in your room for half an hour. She said that the advance teams of Wind Fury and Thunderstorm brought chakra detectors and checked the barrier outside the Hokage Building three times.”
Jhin’s knuckles rubbed against the stone wall, causing pain.
He looked at the black fog that was gathering again in the distance – Orochimaru’s remaining chakra was still wandering around, like a poisonous needle hanging over his head.
But what is more difficult at the moment are those old foxes hiding behind the negotiating table.
“Let’s go.” He stood up by holding on to the stone wall. Haruno Na wanted to help him, but he avoided her calmly.
The pain of broken ribs ran along his spine to the back of his neck, but he smiled even colder: “We should let them see that Konoha’s negotiation table is not for slamming the table.”
The sandalwood on the third floor of the Hokage Building mixed with the sweetness of rock honey, weaving an invisible net in the negotiation room.
Fengnu’s leather boots knocked heavily on the ground. The face of the Sand Village leader was like a cracked slab of rock, and there was an old scar on his left brow, which was left from the conflict with the Iwagakure Village three years ago – it was clearly stated in Feiliu’s intelligence.
Lei Bao was like a bear locked in a cage, his muscular arms propped up on the table, his knuckles white from clenching his fists, and the Kumogakure forehead protector around his waist was still stained with blood, apparently he had just had a conflict with the Anbu.
“Where is Konoha’s negotiating representative?” Feng Nu’s voice was like sandpaper scraping against iron. “Let that old man from the Third Hokage come, or…oh, I heard you have a new genius?”
The moment the door was pushed open, everyone in the room looked over at him.
Uchiha Jin leaned against the door frame, his right hand inserted into the secret pocket of his Uchiha clan uniform – where the painkiller pills Tsunade had just given him were placed, and his left hand was loosely supporting his waist, as if he was injured.
“Master Fengnu, Master Leibao.” He nodded and took small steps, letting the pain in his ribs make a thin layer of sweat on his face. “I am Uchiha Jin, from Team 7.”
Lei Bao sneered and slammed his fist on the table: “A Genin who hasn’t even fully grown his hair is qualified to sit at the negotiation table? The swords of the Hidden Cloud Village have no eyes!”
“That’s right, Master Thunderstorm.” Jin suddenly bent down, gasping in pain, but as he bent down, he pushed the intelligence scroll in his secret bag to Fengnu’s hand, “So I brought a gift – the magnetic ore vein that the Wind Country recently discovered in the Wind Desert. We can give up 30% of the mining rights. As for Kumogakure…” He straightened up, and his Sharingan slowly turned under the eye mask, “The lightning attribute chakra refining technology that you urgently need, Konoha’s scientific research department has compiled 20 pages of core information.”
Fengnu’s fingers paused on the scroll.
He didn’t touch it, but looked up at Jin’s eye mask – Uchiha’s Sharingan, a source of information more valuable than gold in Sunagakure.
Lei Bao’s fist loosened, and his Adam’s apple moved: “Refining technology… can reduce the consumption of Raikiri by 20%?”
“Twenty-five percent.” Jin smiled, “But these will have to wait until the big reorganization plan is passed before they can be fulfilled. Think about it, everyone, with resource sharing and technology exchange, the Sand Village won’t have to worry about water sources in the future, and the Cloud Village won’t have to compete with the Rock Village for lightning mines every year–“
“Bullshit!” Feng Nu suddenly slammed the table, causing the scroll to slide half a foot out. “What you call sharing is nothing more than allowing the Root Organization of Konoha to infiltrate our village openly! A few days ago, an envoy from the Hidden Grass Village came to me and said that you signed a secret agreement with them in private!”
The temperature in the negotiation room dropped sharply.
The thunderstorm’s chakra began to leak out uncontrollably, and the air crackled.
Tsuruha clenched her fingers into fists under the table, and she looked at Jin with a warning look – it was Zhihu, the strategist of the old Ninja Village Alliance, who was behind this. They had intercepted Zhihu’s secret letters before, but had no evidence.
He thought of the black fog in the iron mine, and the malice surging in Orochimaru’s remaining soul, and suddenly realized: the wise fox was just an open weapon, the real backhand…
“Master Fengnu.” He suddenly stood up, and the chakra of the Sharingan seeped into the floor through his fingertips. He drew a topographic map of the Sand Village at Fengnu’s feet. “If Konoha wanted to infiltrate, why wait until now? Three years ago, Sand Village was short of water, and it was Konoha that sent fifty wells. Two years ago, there was a border conflict between you and Iwagakure, and it was Konoha that sent a medical team. As for Kusagakure…” He tapped his fingertips, and the location of Kusagakure on the map lit up red. “Their village chief came to me the day before yesterday and said that the people of Wise Fox burned their medicinal fields and threatened them that if they didn’t cooperate, they would cut off their water supply.”
Fengnu’s pupils shrank into needle points.
He suddenly grabbed the Rock Honey Oolong Tea on the table, tilted his head back and drank half a cup – this was his habitual action when he was nervous, and it was clearly written in Feiliu’s intelligence.
Thunderstorm’s chakra fluctuations weakened a little, and he leaned over to look at the map on the ground: “You said… there is evidence?”
“Here’s the evidence.” Jhin took out his communicator and pressed the play button.
The voice of the chief of Kusagakure Village echoed in the room with tears in his eyes: “The people of Zhihu said that as long as we say that Konoha is trying to win us over, they will give us ten boxes of gunpowder… They also burned the medicinal field behind the village, saying that it was a ‘lesson’ for us…”
Feng Nu slammed his hand down on the table, causing the teacup to jump.
He stared into Jin’s eyes as if he was looking at a piece of red-hot iron: “Did you know that?”
“I knew the wise fox would do something naughty, but I didn’t expect him to act so quickly.” Jin sat down again. The painkillers began to take effect, and the pain in his ribs turned into a dull thud. “So I propose that all the major ninja villages jointly form a ‘Peace Committee’ to supervise the process of the major reorganization. Sand Village and Kumogakure will each send three people, Konoha will send two people, and other small ninja villages will take turns – all agreements must be approved by more than half of the committee to take effect.”
Tsuruha added at the right time: “The committee’s headquarters will be located in the neutral zone at the border between the Fire Kingdom and the Earth Kingdom, and the five Kage will jointly send troops to garrison there. This will avoid the concentration of power and enable disputes to be resolved quickly.”
Lei Bao scratched the back of his head. The Yunyin forehead protector on his arm flashed silver. “It sounds… more reliable than the previous plan.”
Fengnu said nothing, his knuckles resting on his chin, his eyes moving back and forth between Jin and Heyu.
At this moment, the door of the negotiation room was slammed open.
A messenger wrapped in a black cloak fell in, and the secret letter in his arms fell at Fengnu’s feet.
“Sir!” The messenger panted like a broken bellows, “The messenger from the Hidden Rock Village said… that Konoha sent an Anbu to their village last night, with a ninja with Sharingan!”
Feng Nu’s face instantly turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
He bent down to pick up the secret letter, glanced at it, and suddenly slammed the paper on the table: “Uchiha Jin is so good! He said he would share, but he turned around and sent the Sharingan to Iwagakure to steal the information?”
Jin’s Sharingan trembled violently under the eye mask.
He thought of the black fog in the iron mine and the malice surging in Orochimaru’s remaining soul – it turned out that the real situation was here!
Someone pretended to be a member of Konoha’s Anbu and used the Sharingan as bait to prove their crime of “stealing intelligence”.
“Master Fengnu, Master Leibao.” He stood up suddenly, his voice filled with a desperate ruthlessness, “If you are willing to continue the negotiation, I promise in the name of the Uchiha clan that I will invite all the ninja village representatives to visit Konoha’s latest scientific research achievements at noon tomorrow – including medical ninja tools that can treat chakra overdraft, and defensive barriers that can resist S-level ninjutsu.”
Lei Bao’s eyes lit up: “Defensive barrier? Can it block Lightning Release: Kirin?”
“It can block 90% of the damage.” Jin stared at Feng Nu, “This is enough to prove our sincerity in cooperation. If you think it is not enough…” He pulled off his eye patch, and the three magatama of the Sharingan slowly turned, “I can leave one Sharingan in Sunagakure as a hostage.”
You could hear a pin drop in the negotiation room.
Feng Nu’s fingers unconsciously rubbed the rock honey pot on the table. Lei Bao’s Adam’s apple moved, and finally he slammed the table heavily: “Alright! I want to see what you can come up with!”
Feng Nu was silent for a moment, then he grabbed the secret letter on the table and tore it into pieces: “I’ll give you one day. If I find any falsehood in it…” He glanced at Jin’s Sharingan, “I’ll dig it out myself.”
When the negotiations ended, the setting sun was dyeing the glazed tiles of the Hokage Building red.
Jhin leaned against the window, watching the troops of Windfury and Thunderstorm leave in a mighty manner, and the sweet and fishy taste in his throat surged up again.
He took out the painkillers and swallowed them, and suddenly heard footsteps behind him.
“Uchiha-sama.”
The voice was as clear as a spring, carrying an indescribable sense of familiarity.
Jin turned around and saw a young man in a moon-white kimono standing in the shadows, with a short sword without a hilt hanging on his waist. His eyebrows and eyes were very dull, but it was impossible to take your eyes off him.
“My name is Tianhe,” the young man smiled, a faint scent of agarwood wafting from his sleeves, “I heard that you are looking for someone who can mediate the ninja world?”
Jin’s Sharingan shrank slightly.
He looked at the short knife on the young man’s waist, and suddenly remembered the black fog in the iron mine – there seemed to be such a scent of agarwood in the remaining soul of Orochimaru.
“Sit down.” He pointed to the teacup beside him, but his tone was as cold as ice. “Tell me what you can mediate.”
Tianhe’s smile deepened.
He sat down, tapping the table with his fingertips, causing tiny ripples on the surface of the tea. “Of course it’s… those shady conspiracies.”
Chapter 109 The Secret of the Mediator (Old Version)
When the wooden door of the negotiation room closed amid the sound of angry wind and thunder, Uchiha Jin’s nails almost dug into his palms.
He looked at the Sand Village and Cloud Village teams gradually moving away outside the window, and the sweet and fishy taste in his throat surged up again – just now when he was forcing himself to negotiate, he secretly bit the tip of his tongue and used the pain to suppress the dizziness caused by the chakra disorder.
Lord Uchiha.
The clear voice slid across the back of my neck like a thin piece of ice.
Jin turned half a beat slower than usual, and his Sharingan felt slightly hot under his eye mask – there was just the right sense of distance in the address, neither flattering nor stiff, like a carefully tuned string.
A young man in a moon-white kimono walked out of the shadows.
The short sword at his waist had no hilt, and the scabbard was wrapped with faded indigo thread. His eyebrows and eyes were so pale that they were almost blurred, but it was still hard to look away.
Jin’s three magatama slowly turned in his eye sockets, and suddenly caught a whiff of the fragrance of agarwood – the smell was exactly the same as the black mist in the iron mine and the malice surging in Orochimaru’s remaining soul.
My name is Tianhe. When the young man bent down, his sleeves swept across the tea table, and the wind caused the water in the teacup to ripple. I heard that you are looking for someone who can mediate the ninja world?
Jhin tapped his fingers on the table twice.
He took out a painkiller and put it in his mouth, the bitter taste exploded on the tip of his tongue: Mediation?
The last person with this title was Hanzo from the Hidden Rain Village.
Tianhe’s smile lines spread out at the corners of his eyes, like a spring stream flowing over bluestone: Master Hanzo used his sword to mediate, and I used my eyes. He pointed to the center of his brows, and the Kages of the five major ninja villages asked me to tell them that what they wanted was not Konoha’s concession, but a plan that would allow everyone to survive.
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly shrank.
The five major shadows were commissioned at the same time?
This is impossible.
Last month, Kazekage Rasa had called him a “fox cub of Uchiha” in a letter, and Raikage Ai was even more eager to replace all the teacups of the Konoha delegation with ones marked with lightning.
He stared at the short sword on Tianhe’s waist and suddenly remembered the record in the Anbu files: a short sword without a guard…is it the Kusanagi style?
My Lord, you have a good memory. Tianhe’s fingertips gently stroked the scabbard. An abandoned disciple of the Kusanagi family, not worth mentioning.
Jhin’s back teeth felt sore from biting his teeth.
The Kusanagi-ryu swordsmanship is known for its speed, and can take off a person’s head within ten steps, but the man in front of him even restrained his chakra fluctuations completely – either he is a top intelligence expert, or… He suppressed the fishy sweetness in his throat and suddenly asked: Where is the wise fox?
Do you know where he is?
Tianhe’s teacup hung in mid-air.
He lowered his eyes and blew on the floating tea, the water surface reflected the fine lines at the end of his eyes: The wise fox has been visiting small ninja villages recently, using the iron ore of Iwagakure and the seafood of Kirigakure as bait, saying that the big reorganization will turn them into tenants of Konoha. When he raised his eyes, his gaze was like a fine needle. Do you think those villages that can’t even get a medical team together will believe in your defensive barrier or the iron ore that can be exchanged for food immediately?
He remembered the secret report that Tsuruha had sent this morning: Takigakure Village had refused Konoha’s irrigation technique teaching, and the caravan from the Land of Water had suddenly transported three times more salt to the Land of River.
It turned out that it was not a coincidence, but the wise fox was dividing – the big ninja village might be afraid of Konoha’s military power, but the small village wanted the benefits to fill their stomachs.
So what you should give them is not the enchantment blueprint. Tianhe’s voice suddenly became softer. It should be something that they can use tomorrow.
For example… an improved water diverter valve, a herbal remedy for dysentery, or… he smiled, the chakra-driven flour mill you were researching a while ago.
Jhin straightened up suddenly.
The Sharingan was spinning at high speed under the eye mask – this was exactly the plan he and Shizune had been studying until the early morning last night!
Apart from Team 7 and the Hokage’s office, only… He suddenly stared at Tianhe’s cuffs: Have you flipped through my experiment notes?
I just happened to pass by the laboratory. Tianhe drew a circle on the table with his fingertips. Last night at 11:30 pm, you asked Nara Shikaku to help you calculate the angle of the water diversion valve. He cursed that the Uchiha’s brains were made of ninja tools.
Being able to sneak into Konoha’s top-secret laboratory silently and eavesdrop on the conversations of the Hokage’s direct advisors… This Tianhe’s identity is more dangerous than he imagined.
But at this moment, Zhihu’s conspiracy was burning like a fire. He suppressed his vigilance and tapped the table with his knuckles: Heyu, go and notify the logistics team.
There was a sound of rubbing fabric at the door.
Tsuruha emerged from the shadows, the osmanthus hairpin in her hair flashing – this was the secret signal for the Anbu’s mission to be confirmed.
When she bent down, the diplomatic bag on her waist rubbed against the corner of the table: How many copies of the improved drawings do she need to bring?
Three copies for each small ninja village. Jin’s voice was like quenching fire, one copy each of the water diversion valve, flour mill, and dysentery prescription.
In addition… split out the twenty medical tents that Iwagakure rejected last time.
Yes. When He Yu turned around, the scent of osmanthus flowers passed over Tianhe’s nose.
Her footsteps were light, but Jin knew that this cautious diplomatic advisor would sneak into the caravan before sunset – there were always some part-time Anbu among Konoha’s coachmen.
Tianhe looked at Heyu’s back, and the smile on his face faded a little: You are more…pragmatic than the rumors say.
Only pragmatic people can live longer. Jin took off his eye patch, and the three magatama floated in the twilight. Now, take me to see the nest of the wise fox.
The iron door of the abandoned laboratory was badly rusted. Tianhe’s dagger lightly picked it up and the lock snapped into two pieces.
The smell of mold and rotten rats came out, and Jin narrowed his eyes – the chakra residue here was very faint, as if it had been deliberately cleaned, but the spider webs in the corners were still covered with fresh dirt, indicating that someone had been here recently.
Three months ago, Zhihu met with merchants from the Kawa no Kuni here. Tianhe drew a fire stick, and the firelight reflected the map on the wall. They were not talking about iron ore, but… the blood vessels of the ninja world.
Jin’s Sharingan suddenly widened.
There were twenty-seven marks circled in red on the map: the fertile fields of the Land of Fire, the rare minerals of the Land of Lightning, the fishing grounds of the Land of Water… There was a number written next to each mark. He took a closer look and saw that it was the annual output, transportation route and defense strength.
The big reorganization plan needs to integrate resources, but Zhihu wants to be the banker himself. Tianhe’s fire stick stopped at the mark of the iron mine in Kawanokuni. By controlling these, he can make any ninja village run out of food in winter and lack iron during war.
Jhin’s fingers traced the markings of the medicinal fields in the southern border of the Fire Nation – that was the source of the medicinal herbs that Shizune’s medical team relied on most.
He suddenly remembered that three days ago, the farmer who guarded the medicinal field said that a Yunyin merchant had come to ask about the irrigation system. It turned out that he was not a merchant at all.
There was a strange noise coming from the ventilation duct in the laboratory.
Tianhe’s short knife was unsheathed, and the knife light drew a semicircle in the air and then retracted – he took out a blood-stained note, on which was the secret code of the Anbu: Fengnu and Leibao will hold a meeting at Yuyin border at midnight tonight, and bring five thousand people.
Jhin’s pupils constricted.
Five thousand people are enough to flatten Konoha’s outpost defense line, and Konoha’s main force is still confronting Sunagakure… He grabbed the map and stuffed it into his arms, his throat tight: I’ll go inform the Hokage now!
It’s too late. Tianhe held his wrist, the temperature of his palm was like ice, what you need is time.
If I go see Fengnu, I will tell him that Konoha is willing to give the merchants from the Land of Lightning 20% ​​more trading rights – what they want is never war, but profit.
Jhin stared at the hand.
Tianhe’s nails were trimmed very short, and there were calluses on his fingertips from years of holding knives, but his pulse was beating steadily – he didn’t seem to be lying.
He gritted his teeth: You have half an hour.
If there is no news before midnight…
I will bring back Feng Nu’s sword. Tian He’s short sword turned a circle in his palm and disappeared into his sleeve.
He walked to the door and stopped. By the way, Zhihu recently captured the leader of a small ninja village.
The village chief of Takigakure?
Or Tangyin’s? He tilted his head and smiled, you’d better let Tsuruha speed up.
The door creaked shut.
Jin looked at the map mark left on the wall and suddenly felt a chill on the back of his neck – how did Tianhe know that Zhihu was catching people?
He took out the communication scroll and was about to contact He Yu when the scroll suddenly vibrated. It was He Yu’s code: the target was missing and kidnapping was suspected.
Damn it! Jhin slammed his fist on the table.
Amid the flying sawdust, he caught a glimpse of a line of tiny words on the edge of the map, written in Orochimaru’s snake-like code, indicating the final node: Fire Temple.
The three magatama of the Sharingan were spinning wildly, and just as he was about to take a closer look, he suddenly heard the sound of clothes rubbing against each other from behind.
Do you seem anxious?
The clear voice sounded again.
Jin turned around suddenly, and Tianhe was standing in the shadow without him knowing, his moon-white kimono was stained with Yuyin’s moisture.
His sleeves fell, revealing half of the bloodstained scabbard, and his smile had a sharpness that Jin had never seen before.
Jin’s Sharingan burned in his eye sockets.
He looked at the sky, the short knife at his waist, and then at the map in his arms, and suddenly realized that this man who claimed to be a mediator might be more dangerous than Zhihu.
The densely packed marks on the map were now burning his chest through the cloth.
Chapter 110: The Mastermind, Undercurrents (Old Version)
Uchiha Jin’s Sharingan was burning in his eye sockets, and the three magatama were spinning rapidly with the rhythm of his heartbeat.
He spread the map flat on the rusty laboratory table and ran his fingertips along the densely packed markings – the iron mines of the Wind Country, the fishing grounds of the Water Country, the medicinal materials producing areas of the Earth Country. The name of the small ninja village was marked next to each red dot, like steel needles piercing the retina.
The wise fox wanted to dismantle the big reorganization plan. His throat tightened, and his knuckles knocked on the three words “Fire Temple”. Controlling the resource points would strangle the lifeblood of the small ninja village, making them dare not rely on the ninja village alliance led by Konoha.
As the communication scroll vibrated in his palm, he was using a trickle of chakra to decipher Orochimaru’s serpentine code.
Tsuruha’s code was like an ice cone piercing his eardrum: target missing, suspected kidnapping. Then he launched the second transmission, and the new information before the ink dried made his pupils shrink suddenly – the kidnapped leader of the small ninja village appeared in the underground auction house on the border of the Wind Country, and the list of buyers included the Iwagakure Anbu, the Kirigakure merchants, and even the exiled ninjas of the Raingakure.
Trap. He bit his back teeth and crumpled the scroll into a ball of paper, and the pieces of paper fell into the charcoal basin, but if we don’t go…
The small ninja village will feel that Konoha can’t even protect its own people. Tianhe’s voice came from behind, and the hem of the moon-white kimono swept across the dusty ground. The great reorganization plan requires trust, not force.
Jin turned around suddenly, and his Sharingan automatically locked onto the other person’s Adam’s apple – when did Tianhe come in?
The laboratory door was clearly locked from the inside.
But at this moment, the scabbard of the dagger on the opponent’s waist was still stained with Yuyin’s moisture, and the blood stains on the cuffs were fresh, as if he had just been pulled out of a battlefield.
I’ll go outside to meet them. Tianhe tapped the table with his fingertips, his eyes swept across the red dots on the map, there are only two exits in the auction house, you disguise yourself as merchants to sneak in, I’ll be responsible for leading the patrol away. He suddenly smiled, his eyes slightly raised, haven’t you always wanted to know Zhihu’s back-up plan?
This is the best opportunity.
Jhin stared at the hilt of the knife that was barely visible in his sleeve.
The Three-magatama Sharingan could capture the changes in the focus of Tianhe’s pupils – no dodging, no panic, and even a little anticipation.
But just half an hour ago, this man said he was going to Fengnu to negotiate, but now he seemed to have known about the auction house in advance.
Separate actions. Jhin pulled down the torn curtains of the laboratory and wrapped the map. If there is no signal before midnight…
I will bring back the mask of the wise fox. Tianhe’s short sword was unsheathed three inches, and the cold light made the corners of his eyes red. When he turned around, he brought a gust of wind, blowing the remaining pages of the secret code on the laboratory table like a group of black butterflies.
The smell of the auction house was the first to rush into my nose – a mixture of spices, blood, rust, and the fishy sweetness of cheap liquor.
Jhin tugged at the indigo robe that dressed him as a merchant, and his throat felt itchy from the smoke.
Tsuruha followed him half a step behind, the merchant’s abacus hanging on his waist was fixed with chakra, and each bead was engraved with a detonating talisman.
There is a Chunin from Iwagakure in the second floor box. Tsuruha lowered his voice and glanced at the secret code on the pillars – three black plum blossoms, the symbol of Sand Village. Behind the third row of pillars on the right is a puppeteer from Kirigakure. The chakra fluctuations are not right, so there must be a mechanism hidden.
The curtain of the auction table was suddenly drawn open, revealing a fox totem embroidered in gold thread on the scarlet velvet.
The host wore a bronze fox mask, and his voice, processed through a voice changer, sounded like rusty gears rubbing against each other: Dear guests, I’m sorry to have kept you waiting. This time, the finale product… He paused, and there came a muffled sound of something heavy being dragged from behind the curtain. It was the life right of the chief of Tangyin Village.
The crowd went wild.
Konoha’s protection fee is collected very quickly, but they are slow to save people. The Chunin of Iwagakure slammed the table and laughed on the second floor, and the wine cup smashed into slag on the railing. I heard that Yugakure gave Konoha 30% of the mineral tax last year?
Now even the village chief can’t be protected?
He could see the white hair of the village chief of Yugakure behind the curtain – stuck to his forehead in strands due to blood, the sealing talisman on his mouth was oozing blood, and the chakra chains on his wrists were glowing blue.
When the big reorganization plan was launched, Tangyin was the first small ninja village to sign the alliance, but now it is thrown on the auction table like a rag.
Starting price, five thousand taels. The host’s fox mask turned to the second floor, and asked, “Sir, would you like to make a good start?”
Create chaos. Jhin’s voice was colder than an icicle. “You go backstage to save people, and I’ll lead the guards away.”
Your Sharingan…
What they want is to humiliate Konoha, not to kill people. Jin took out the puppet string from his sleeve, and the chakra crawled along the silk thread to the candlesticks on the auction table – those bronze lamp trees that looked like decorations were actually mechanical puppets modified by Haruno Na. When Tianhe took action…
Suddenly there was an explosion outside.
Jin looked up and saw a hole in the skylight on the second floor. The moonlight leaked in, illuminating Tianhe’s moon-white kimono, which rustled.
His short sword knocked away the kunai of two guards, and the scabbard hit the pillar, triggering the mechanism of the Kirigakure puppeteer – the poison needle hidden in the wood carving shot towards the auction table.
Now! Jhin pulled the puppet strings, and the bronze petals of the candlestick suddenly opened, spewing out thick smoke.
The crowd screamed and rushed towards the door, and the guards’ attention was all drawn to Tianhe.
He Yu’s abacus slammed to the ground, and the beads exploded into sparks, which took advantage of the chaos to sneak into the backstage curtain.
The sound of the Yuyin village chief’s chains breaking was crisper than expected.
When Jin saw Heyu rushing out carrying the old man, the other party’s sealing talisman had been torn off and a vague whimper came from his throat.
But when they ran to the side door, their way was blocked by a dark shadow——
Wise fox.
He was not wearing a mask, and his hooked nose cast a cold, hard shadow in the moonlight.
The gray robe was embroidered with the same fox totem as the one on the auction table. In his left hand he held a bloody kunai, and in his right hand the chakra knife was hissing.
Uchiha Jin, you are easier to deceive than I thought. The voice of Zhihu was like a snake’s tongue sweeping across the eardrum. Did he think that rescuing the village chief would restore the trust of the small ninja village?
They will know tomorrow that I have bribed 30% of the miners at Tangyin Iron Mine.
Jin pushed the head of Tangyin Village behind Tsuruha.
The Sharingan captured the chakra fluctuations of the wise fox – at the peak of the jonin level. The chakra knife was mixed with wind attributes, and the edge of the blade was green, which must have been poisoned.
Tianhe! He growled.
In response he heard the sound of the short sword being sheathed.
Tianhe walked out from the shadow behind Zhihu. There were a few bloodstains on his moon-white kimono, but the short sword was clean and shiny.
He looked at Zhihu as if he was looking at an old acquaintance.
Get out of the way. Tianhe’s voice was two notes lower than usual. I’ll take them away.
The wise fox’s pupils shrank into needle points.
He stared at the dagger on Tianhe’s waist, then glanced at the bulging map in Jin’s arms, and suddenly laughed: So the variable you are talking about is him?
Interesting. He took a half step back, and the chakra knife dissipated in his palm. This time you win, Uchiha Jin.
But next time… His eyes swept over the chief of Yugakure Village, I will let all the small ninja villages watch their leaders shattered into pieces in front of you.
Tianhe held his short knife against Zhihu’s neck until the other party disappeared into the night.
When he turned around, Jin’s Sharingan caught a flash of darkness in his eyes – not vigilance, not hatred, but more like… disappointment?
Let’s go. Tianhe took off his outer robe and wrapped it around the head of Tangyin Village. Zhihu’s people will be around in five minutes.
On the way of evacuation, Jin kept staring at the back of Tianhe’s neck.
The moonlight stretched the opponent’s shadow very long, and the scabbard of the dagger swayed at his waist, and every collision seemed to hit his nerves.
The whimpering of the village chief of Yugakure gradually turned into sobbing, Tsuruha’s chakra chain felt hot in his palms, and the three words “Fire Temple” on the map were branding his chest through the cloth.
He suddenly remembered what Tianhe said in the laboratory: You’d better let Heyu speed up.
At that time, Tsuruha’s information had not yet been transmitted.
Tianhe, when did you know that the wise fox had kidnapped the leader of the small ninja village?
And when did he know the whereabouts of Zhihu better than the Anbu of Konoha?
The night wind blew sand onto his face. Jin took out the communication scroll, and his fingertips hovered over the talisman for contacting the Hokage for three seconds before finally pressing on Haruno Na’s exclusive mark.
Get the puppet ready. He looked at Tianhe’s back, and the three magatama of the Sharingan slowly turned. We may need to check some old accounts.
There was a sound of dog barking in the distance; it was Konoha’s tracking dog that had arrived.
Tianhe turned around and smiled at him. The bloodstains on her moon-white kimono glowed dark brown in the moonlight, like a withered flower.
Jhin clenched the map in his arms and suddenly felt that they had just climbed out of a trap and fell into another bigger trap.
And at the center of the trap stood the man who called himself the mediator.
Chapter 111: Suspicion and secret planning (old version)
Water droplets seeping from the rock walls of the cave dripped through the cracks in the rocks and formed a shallow pool on the ground.
Uchiha Jin sat down with his back against the damp stone wall, still holding the cloth bag containing the map in his arms. The heat from his body temperature transmitted through the cloth almost burned his palms.
He stared at Tsuruha opposite him – he was using a chakra chain to gently stir the bonfire, sparks crackled and splashed tiny bits of light between the two of them.
Tianhe’s short sword. Jin suddenly spoke, his voice like a blade soaked in cold water, and before Zhihu appeared, the blood on his scabbard was wet.
He Yu’s fingers paused, and the flame at the end of the chain twisted into a thin snake: You mean…
He had fought with Zhihu before. Jin’s three magatama slowly turned in his eyes, magnifying the scenes in his memory frame by frame – the bloodstains on the moon-white kimono had dark brown edges, which were traces of oxidation caused by the night wind when the blood was half dried; the sound of the short sword being sheathed was half a beat faster than usual, but the blade was too clean. Zhihu said that he was the variable, which meant that Tianhe had long been a preset chess piece in this game.
He Yu loosened the chain, and the sound of metal colliding echoed in the cave.
He took out a small porcelain bottle from his arms, poured out two healing pills and threw them to Jin: “I checked the chakra fluctuations of the head of Tangyin Village this morning, and he was under a tracking spell.” The medicine bottle drew a silver arc between the two of them. It was not a coincidence that the people of Zhihu could find us.
Jin’s fingertips holding the pill tightened slightly.
The fire made the jade in his eyes glow red, like two clusters of dark fire that could not be burned out: Tianhe wrapped the village chief’s outer robe…
It’s a special barrier fabric. Tsuruha’s Adam’s apple moved. I just touched the fabric fibers, which were mixed with wind attribute chakra.
He broke the tracking spell of the wise fox in advance.
The air in the cave suddenly became heavier.
Jhin leaned his head back against the stone wall, listening to his own heartbeat drowning out the sound of dripping water.
He remembered the dark color in Tianhe’s eyes when he turned around. It was not vigilance, nor hatred, but more like… disappointment – disappointment in whom?
To the wise fox?
Or is it this carefully planned game?
Sleep for two hours. Jin pulled off his forehead guard to cover his eyes, but the burning sensation of his Sharingan pierced his skin through the cloth, and he returned to Konoha at dawn.
The Konoha barrier glowed with a light blue light in the early morning.
Uchiha Jin walked on the stone road, and the village chief of Tangyin followed behind him wrapped in Tianhe’s robe. The other party’s sobs had long been replaced by wooden silence.
Tsuruha fell back half a step, his fingertips always on the ninja tool bag, chakra surging under his skin like a dark tide.
When the door to the Hokage’s office opened, Sarutobi Hiruzen was frowning at the sand table.
The old man’s pipe was placed on the table, and the smoke swirled around his graying temples.
Hearing the report, he tapped his fingers lightly on the edge of the sand table three times: Zhihu has been active in Yugakure and Kusagakure recently, and the Anbu has intercepted his secret letter, the content of which… He paused, his eyes swept over the map in Jin’s arms, which was related to the Fire Temple.
Jin went straight to the point, he knew that the wise fox would kidnap the leader of the small ninja village, and even broke the tracking spell in advance.
Hiruzen’s pupils shrank, and he turned his pipe half a circle in his palm: Three days ago, the Anbu received anonymous information that the wise fox would take action at the auction. He pulled out a yellowed paper from the drawer, with burn marks on the edge. The informant only wrote the word “和”.
He looked at the burnt ink stain on the paper and suddenly remembered the hilt of the short sword on Tianhe’s waist – it was a broken pattern of the Chinese character “和”.
The teahouse is filled with the scent of jasmine in the afternoon.
A corner of the bamboo curtain was lifted by the wind, and the sunlight that leaked in drew golden lines on the sky-and-moon-white kimono.
The teacup in front of him remained motionless, and the steam condensed into tiny beads on the bridge of his nose.
You asked me why I knew Zhihu’s plan. Tianhe’s voice was like jade dipped in cold water, because three years ago, he killed my master with his own hands.
Jhin’s fingers curled into fists beneath the table.
He stared at the sky and his falling eyelashes, watching the shadows flickering in the other’s eyes: So you act as a mediator in order to…
In order to let his knife hit the right person. Tianhe suddenly raised his head, the darkness in his eyes surged like the sea, Zhihu was not the most dangerous.
When the anger of the small ninja village burns towards Konoha, the real hunters will step out from the shadows.
The bamboo curtain fell down with a snap.
Jin looked at Tianhe and the short knife at his waist. The word “和” on the hilt of the knife was faintly visible in the shadow.
He suddenly remembered what He Yu had said – we don’t know who the real ally is, and it felt like a handful of red-hot iron sand was stuck in his throat.
As dusk drifted into the old Uchiha residence, Haruno Na’s footsteps shook the wooden door.
Her animal taming gloves were stained with grass, and the ends of her hair were still wet with dew: “In the tavern at the east end of the village, three people from other villages are asking about your daily routine.” She slapped the intelligence scroll on the table, and the parchment rolled up in the wind and flew in front of Jhin. They asked about the training ground you often go to, who you team up with, and what tasks you have accepted recently.
Jin unfolded the scroll, revealing three brief portraits: a tall man with a scar on the left side of his face, a short and fat woman with a silver ring on her earlobe, and a thin young man with a teardrop mole at the corner of his eye.
His Sharingan suddenly turned, and the three magatama formed a scarlet vortex in the bottom of his eyes: These three, I saw them in the Land of Waves last week.
Haruno Na’s pupils shrank into pinpoints: The mission in Wave Country… is it the Mizukage’s people?
No. Jhin’s fingertips traced the portrait of the tear-mole youth. They were following a caravan, and the caravan’s flag was decorated with the emblem of the Fire Temple.
The crow outside the window suddenly fluttered away.
Haruno Na picked up the kunai on the table, the blade reflecting her tense jawline: I’m going to get the puppets, and set up a trap in the abandoned house in the south of the village tonight…
Wait. Jhin suddenly held her wrist.
He looked out the window at the darkening night, the burning sensation of the Sharingan crawling up his neck along his blood vessels. Don’t alert the enemy yet. He took out the communication scroll from his arms, and his fingertips paused on the mark of the crane feather. We need…
Boom.
Something hit the windowsill.
Haruno Na’s kunai flew over, but only broke half of the brick.
Jhin bent down and picked up the ball of paper that fell at his feet. When he unfolded it, a line of words with wet ink pierced his eyes: Be careful of everyone around you, especially those who seem the most trustworthy.
There were very light blood stains on the edge of the paper, which were fresh.
Haruno Na came over to take a look, her breath brushing the tip of Jin’s ear: Who sent this?
He stared at the line of words, and suddenly remembered the bloodstains on Tianhe Yue’s white kimonos, the tracking spell that Tsuruha said, and the three gold-plated words on the map of the Fire Temple.
The moonlight leaked in through the window, casting spider-web-like shadows on the pages of paper, like the patterns of some curse.
Go to sleep. He stuffed the paper ball into his arms, and when he turned around, he caught a glimpse of Haruno Na’s worried eyes. Tomorrow… He looked at the moon outside the window, and his voice was as light as ashes blown away by the wind. Tomorrow he and Tsuruha will go somewhere.
As the night spread over the eaves, a dead leaf on the window frame of the Uchiha old house was blown by the wind and spun around, finally falling into the shadow.
From afar came the sound of a night watchman’s clapperboard, dong, like some kind of countdown drumbeat.
Chapter 112: Step by Step, the Truth Comes to Light (Old Version)
As the morning light penetrated the broken window of the Uchiha old house, Uchiha Jin was facing the bronze mirror with his forehead protector.
The mirror was covered with a thin layer of dust, reflecting the faint blue shadows under his eyes – he had lay on the couch for half the night last night, clutching the bloody paper, and the burning pain from his Sharingan was like a fine needle, pricking his nerves one by one.
Knock knock.
The door knocker rang half a minute earlier than the agreed time.
Jin’s fingertips paused slightly, and he hid the dagger in his sleeve with his backhand. When he turned around, he had a nonchalant smile on his face: Lord Heyu is in a hurry to see me?
When I opened the door, He Yu was standing at the bottom of the stairs.
The diplomatic advisor was not wearing his regular clothes today. He wore a coarse cloth cape over his moon-white hunting robe, with his hat brim pulled down low, revealing only his thin lips: “There are three clusters of fresh shoe prints on the old locust tree at the west end of the village. He handed over a bamboo tube, and I asked the Anbu to check it. It matches the size of the three people from other villages you mentioned.”
Jin took the bamboo tube, inside of which were three clay seals. The patterns were indeed the same as the clogs of the short and fat woman in the portrait.
He stuffed the bamboo tube into his arms, and pulled a piece of dead vine from the eaves and wrapped it around his wrist: Let’s go.
The morning mist had not yet dissipated as the two men passed through several back alleys.
The sound of Heyu’s clogs was very light, but Jin could hear his own heartbeat hitting his ribs – the words in the anonymous letter asking him to be careful of the people around him surged in his mind, and he subconsciously touched the communication scroll at his waist, where lay the note that Haruno Na left this morning: The puppet is ready, if anything changes, I’ll wait for you at the third pine tree against the north wall.
The old locust tree is at the edge of a mass grave outside the village, with a few rags hanging on its branches, as if they were used by villagers in the past to ward off evil spirits.
As Jin just walked around the tree stump, his Sharingan suddenly felt hot – three shadows flashed out from behind the tree. They were the scarred man, the silver ring woman and the tear mole young man in the portrait.
Mr. Uchiha. The tear-mole youth took the lead, and the sound of the short sword at his waist entering the scabbard was like a thin string. We have been waiting for you for a long time.
Tsuruha stood in front of Jin, with his hand under his cloak on the ninja tool bag: Konoha does not welcome spies who intrude.
We are not spies. The scarred man spoke, his voice like sandpaper grinding on rock. He was the mediator of the Hidden Rock Village. He lifted his collar, revealing the dark red rock tattoo on his chest. The powder of the wise fox flowed into the border of the Land of Earth. Seventeen children died in our village.
The silver-ringed girl suddenly lifted her veil, revealing a hideous burn on her face: “My son is only six years old.” She dug her fingers into the bark, and sawdust fell down. “We need to know the source of the Wise Fox’s goods, and who is selling this kind of stuff.”
Jin’s Sharingan slowly turned, and the three magatama swept across the chakra fluctuations of the three people – there were no illusion fluctuations, and the heartbeats were steady.
He looked at He Yu, who nodded slightly.
So you followed me? Jin leaned against the tree trunk, speaking nonchalantly, just to confirm whether I was Zhihu’s next client?
You intercepted a caravan in the Land of Waves last week. The tear-mole young man took out a list from his arms, the ink still damp, and there were half a carload of empty medicine jars in that batch of goods, exactly the same as the fragments we found at the border of Iwagakure.
He Yu took the list, glanced at it, and suddenly sneered: The caravan from the Fire Temple?
Exactly. The scarred man’s Adam’s apple moved. We found out that the leader of that caravan had his tongue cut off in the Kingdom of Soup three days ago.
The morning mist was suddenly torn apart by the wind, and the sunlight leaked in, making the burns on Silver Ring Girl’s face glow a pale red.
Jhin stared at the scar and recalled the pottery bottle that rolled out of the wooden box he overturned at the dock of Wave Country. At that time, he thought it was an ordinary spice, but now thinking about it, the dark patterns on the pottery bottle did look like some kind of medicine.
Cooperation. He suddenly said, you give me the clues about Zhihu in Iwagakure, and I will give you the movements of the Fire Temple found in Konoha.
He Yu suddenly turned his head to look at him, surprise flashing in his eyes.
The three scarred men looked at each other, and the woman with the silver ring nodded first: Deal.
The process of exchanging information was faster than expected.
When the scarred man stuffed half of the map into Jin’s palm, Heyu’s communication bug suddenly vibrated inside his cloak – it was Tianhe’s mark.
He said he would wait at Nanxi Pavilion. He Yu whispered, rubbing his fingertips over the antennae of the communication bug, and met alone.
Nanxi Pavilion is the most dilapidated tea shed in Konoha. Most of the thatch on the roof has fallen off. The wind blows through the hall, making the tea bowls clink.
Tianhe sat behind the innermost low table. She had changed into a new moon-white kimono, but it was still tied loosely, with half of a blue-gray pendant visible at the collar.
You check the wise fox, Iwagakure checks the wise fox, and the Anbu of Sand Village also entered the Land of Fire last week. Tianhe picked up the teacup, but didn’t drink it. But you all don’t know that the account book of the wise fox is in the hands of Lord Hei Yan.
Jin’s pupils suddenly shrank: The Black Flame who is going to run for Hokage?
He worked as a consultant at Yuyin ten years ago. Tianhe’s fingers stroked the pendant, and the sound was as light as tea mist. The earliest powder of Zhihu came from the underground laboratory of Yuyin.
The sound of a candy man seller came from outside the tea stall, but Jin felt a chill on the back of his neck – he had seen Hei Yan before. During the campaign speech last month, the old man had held his hand and said that young ninjas were the future of Konoha. Now, this kind face was suddenly overlapped with that of the Wise Fox Master, which made him feel sour in his stomach.
I need evidence. He lowered his voice and said, I need a direct connection between Heiyan and Zhihu.
Tonight at midnight, in the Sutra Library of the Fire Temple, Tianhe finally drank a sip of tea, his brows furrowed, they were going to transfer the last batch of account books. He took off the pendant and pushed it over. This was the pass jade of the Fire Temple, which could open all the side doors.
Jin picked up the pendant, and the jade felt cold to the touch.
He stared at the sky and the bloodshot eyes, and suddenly asked: Who are you?
Tianhe smiled, with a hint of tired relief in his smile: I am a person like you who doesn’t want to see the children being ruined by the powder.
When they left Nanxi Pavilion, the setting sun stretched their shadows very long.
Jin clutched the pendant, his fingertips almost digging into his flesh – he had to ask Haruno Na to adjust the puppet, ask Fei Liu to check the guard route of the Fire Temple, and ask Hinata Liuyun to borrow the Byakugan to explore the way.
When he reached the entrance of the village, his communication scroll suddenly vibrated, and it unfolded to reveal Haruno Na’s handwriting: Hei Yan had just announced his candidacy at the martial arts arena, and the audience was packed.
Faint cheers came from the direction of the martial arts arena, mixed with the crisp sound of gongs.
Jin looked up and saw that the sky of Konoha was dazzlingly blue. A few clouds were slowly drifting towards the Hokage Rock, just like the suffocating dark clouds before the Third Ninja World War.
He touched the map and pendant in his arms, and then touched the dagger in his sleeve.
The night wind blew up the ends of his hair, and in the distance came the shouts of a tofu seller and the laughter of children chasing each other – he suddenly wanted to protect these sounds with all his might.
Let’s go. He said to He Yu, with a kind of almost scalding determination in his voice, go to the training ground and call everyone.
At this time on the streets of Konoha, some people had already begun hanging portraits of the candidates under the Hokage Rock.
The portrait of Hei Yan was the most eye-catching. The black characters outlined in gold paint glowed in the sunset like a burning fire.
And in a forgotten alley corner, a dead leaf swirled and fell into the gutter. On the leaf, one could vaguely see half of the mark of the Fire Temple.
Chapter 113: Election Storm, Fighting Black Flame (Old Version)
When the chirping of cicadas in Konoha wrapped in the summer heat burst into the training ground, Uchiha Jin was standing on the wooden podium adjusting the microphone.
From the corner of his eye, he saw Heiyan’s servant carrying a teacup through the side door. The jasmine petals floating on the edge of the celadon cup trembled, just like the crack on the jade pendant when Tianhe said that the Zhihu account book was in Heiyan’s hand three days ago.
Fellow villagers, the election debate is about to begin. The sound of cranes rang out over the loudspeaker, startling the pigeons on the eaves and causing them to flutter and fly.
Jhin curled his fingers that were hanging at his side – he had specially asked Haruno Na to sew a secret pocket on his sleeve this morning, and inside it was the guard shift roster he had taken a photo of at the side door of the Fire Temple. The corners of the paper were wrinkled by sweat.
Heiyan was the fourth to speak.
The old man was wearing a washed-out ninja uniform with a badge made from a modified Konoha forehead protector pinned to his left chest. He deliberately held his waist as he walked onto the stage, and sporadic shouts of “Be careful, Lord Black Flame” were immediately heard from the audience.
Jin stared at the half bandage sticking out of his sleeve – it was the result of charcoal burns during the free clinic in Nishi-machi last Wednesday. At that time, he held the old man’s hand and said that it was a blessing for Konoha to have a doctor like you as the Hokage.
I heard that Uchiha-kun has been going to the Fire Temple recently? Hei Yan suddenly turned around, and a sharp light flashed in his cloudy eyes. When I was young, I also loved to go to temples. Later I realized that what the Hokage needs is not the patience to read Buddhist scriptures, but the experience to calm down the situation. He tapped the podium with his fingers. How many missions have you led?
How many villagers have you saved?
Can the ninjutsu copied with the Sharingan compare to the intuition accumulated from thirty years of actual combat?
The audience suddenly became quiet.
Jhin could hear the blood vessels throbbing at the back of his neck – Black Flame’s move was too toxic, tying the Fire Temple and inexperience together, hinting at him to investigate secretly while also hitting the young candidate’s soft spot.
He remembered the records he and Feiliu found in the Anbu data room last night: Heiyan was a squad leader at the age of 20, and put down the Yuyin rebellion at the age of 30. But no one mentioned that after the rebellion, seven more drug-making rooms were added to the Yuyin underground laboratory.
Experience is a knife. Jin took a step forward, and his shadow enveloped the black flame teacup. Some people use it to cut vegetables, and some people use it to cut throats. He paused deliberately until the old woman in the front row relaxed her frown. When I was twelve years old, I took a make-up exam at the Ninja School and copied Haruno’s ninjutsu theory paper. There was a chuckle from the audience, and Haruno Nai made a face while holding up a cheering sign in the audience. But what I remember most is not the answer, but the words she wrote on the side of the paper: If you can’t learn the clone technique, practice more, and don’t let your teammates block kunai for you.
In the past ten years, I have led Team 7 to carry out forty-three missions. Before each departure, I would ask myself: Will today’s decision save the people following me from shedding a drop of blood?
The applause came like a tide.
The Heiyan teacup cracked with a click. He pressed his skinny hand on the crack, but his smile did not fade: It sounds nice, but nice words can’t save the students who were kidnapped by the Sand Village during the Chunin Exam.
Jhin’s pupils shrank into pinpoints – these words should have appeared three days later, which meant that Black Flame’s intelligence network was faster than expected.
He reached for the hidden bag, and his fingertips felt the coolness of the Fire Temple Pass Jade. He suddenly smiled: “So I had people bury raven communication points at the junctions of each village. Last week, the Sand Village caravan got lost, and it was this system that found them within two hours.” He turned to the audience, “Experience can teach us how to fight, but the times are teaching us how to prevent fighting from happening.”
The wind from the training ground blew up the ends of his hair.
Black Flame’s counselor, Conspiracy Ghost, hid behind a pillar, digging his nails deep into his palms – the lack of practical cards that he had originally prepared had been dismantled, and the transfer plan of the Fire Temple had to be accelerated.
He took out his pocket watch and the minute hand was pointing to three o’clock, which matched the news from the underground laboratory: the transfer from the hour of Hai must be brought forward to the hour of Zi.
The rally three days later will be held in the central square of Konoha.
Haruno Na’s puppets carried banners of the new Konoha and stood on both sides of the platform. Feiru mingled in the crowd and scanned every unfamiliar face with his Sharingan. Mokuhana held up a megaphone and shouted: Those with children should go to the second area, and those wearing Anbu uniforms should go backstage to get their certificates!
Jhin stood backstage, looking at the crowd below the stage.
The old man selling candy figures set up his stall in the front row. The phoenix drawn out of syrup shone golden red in the sun, looking very much like the black words on Hei Yan’s portrait.
He touched the dagger hidden in his belt – Tianhe said that the account book would be transferred tonight, but the rally must overwhelm Heiyan’s momentum, and neither side can lose.
Everybody! He stepped onto the stage, and the applause shook the colorful flags. Ten years ago, I picked up an abandoned puppy on this street. It is now Haruno’s spiritual animal. Five years ago, I heard the elderly complain that the clinic was too far away at Nanxi Pavilion. Now there are mobile medical centers in every district.
Be careful! Fei Liu’s voice exploded in the communication scroll.
The crowd on the left suddenly exploded, and seven or eight masked ninjas threw out smoke bombs.
Jin’s Sharingan opened instantly, and he saw clearly that two of them had Iwagakure-style kunai hanging on their waists – they were facing the Iwagakure Chachi Fox that Tianhe mentioned.
He drew out his dagger and threw it at the pillar of the platform. Amid the sound of metal collision, Haruno Na’s iron golem fell to the ground with a bang, crushing the attacker who tried to climb onto the platform.
Muhua, take the women and children and retreat to the barrier area!
Feiliu, chase the one holding the detonating talisman in the east! Jin jumped off the platform and used his short knife to deflect the kunai that was stabbing at the little girl. Stop it!
It’s me you want, come at me!
The smoke dissipated quickly.
When the Anbu arrived, the attackers had already been disarmed, and the blue spots on the neck of one of them were particularly glaring – that was the sequelae of the Wise Fox Powder.
Lord Black Flame, you say this is a coincidence? Jin pulled off the attacker’s mask, revealing a face full of scars. He worked as a laborer in Yuyin three years ago, and you happened to be a consultant to Yuyin ten years ago. He approached Black Flame’s carriage, and the window slowly rolled down. The old man was sprinkling the powder into the tea with tweezers. The powder of the wise fox can make people addicted, but it can also make people crazy – such as these poor people who were instigated by you to make trouble.
Heiyan’s hand paused, and the medicine powder fell into the teacup: Young man, you have to provide evidence when you speak.
Evidence? Jin took out the Fire Temple Pass Jade and waved it in the sun. Tonight at midnight, in the Fire Temple Scripture Pavilion, what do you think we will find?
Ledger?
Or is it the blueprint of Yuyin Laboratory?
The carriage suddenly sped away, a corner of the curtain was lifted by the wind, and the conspiracy ghost’s face was twisted into a ball in the shadow.
Jhin looked at the receding wheel tracks, and the communication scroll vibrated again – it was Feiliu’s message: the guards of the Fire Temple changed shifts ahead of schedule, and they might have to transfer the account books in advance.
As the last debate ended, the setting sun dyed the Hokage Rock golden and red.
Jin stood in the empty training ground, rubbing his aching temple – today Heiyan suddenly turned from defense to offense, talking about the warmth of traditional Konoha, and even the old people who usually supported him were a little shaken.
The real victory belongs to those who persevere to the end.
A clear female voice came from behind.
Jin turned around and saw a girl in a white dress standing under a cherry tree with a hairpin covered in star sand in her hair.
Her eyes were like two deep pools, reflecting the setting sun: what you are looking for will shine in the darkest moment.
Who are you–
Reimu. The girl smiled, turned around and walked into the falling cherry blossoms. Remember, what is more important than evidence is the eyes that are willing to believe you.
Jhin looked in the direction where she disappeared, and his hand unconsciously touched his chest – there was still the pass to the Fire Temple, and the small note that Muhua had slipped to him this morning: The old lady in the third district said that you didn’t ask for a penny when you helped her repair the roof last time.
The evening breeze lifted the corners of his clothes, and children’s laughter came from afar.
Jhin suddenly laughed and held the jade of passage tighter – the Fire Temple might be very lively tonight.
But more importantly, he finally understood that some battles are already won when someone is willing to stay for you.