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[NTU] [ARC-18] Chapter : 222
🕑 Added 2024-12-07 16:59:27 +0000 UTCThat night, deep within the heart of the Fire Nation, a primeval forest stood in tranquil stillness beneath the shadowed sky. Silence enveloped the woods, broken only by the occasional sigh of wind rustling through the trees, creating a ripple-like effect in the otherwise serene landscape.
Above, the night sky was a canvas of glittering stars, while at the forest’s edge, a bonfire blazed. The flames danced and flickered, their glow casting shifting patterns of light and shadow as they swayed gently with the breeze.
"Shisui, you should rest too," called out a teammate who had teamed up with him on several occasions. The figure’s voice carried a tone of concern as he glanced at Shisui, still seated by the campfire.
"You won’t be at your best tomorrow if you don’t," he added.
Shisui turned to him, his expression warm and cheerful despite the late hour. "Don’t worry, Ryofui. This won’t affect my condition," he assured with a light smile.
"Fine, have it your way," Ryofui relented, shaking his head with a resigned sigh.
"But you still need to take care of your body!"
For a ninja of Shisui's caliber, going without sleep for a night or two wasn’t much of a concern.
Ryofui, having offered his warning, chose not to press the matter further. Without another word, he leapt into the distant canopy and vanished into the shadows.
"The situation feels a bit off," Shisui muttered to himself.
After traveling tirelessly all day, he remained alert even through the stillness of the night. His gaze swept across the quiet, ancient forest surrounding him.
Though he wasn’t a specialized sensory ninja and couldn’t definitively detect the presence of enemies, Shisui’s instincts were sharp. At his level, a heightened intuition and acute sensitivity to dangerous auras often compensated for the lack of precise sensing skills.
Though the forest around him appeared calm and ordinary, Shisui couldn’t shake the sense of impending danger. The peculiar behavior of the Mist Ninja envoy earlier that day had set him on edge.
Moving silently beneath the canopy where Ryofui was concealed, Shisui signaled with a series of quick hand gestures before merging into the shadows and vanishing into the night.
Moments after Shisui disappeared, a team of more than thirty ninjas, cloaked by the cover of darkness, began advancing quietly toward the campsite.
"Stay alert, everyone. We’re nearing our target," Mei instructed, her voice low but commanding as she addressed her companions.
At the front of the group, the lead tracker ninja signaled their progress. Turning to one of her subordinates, Mei issued another order. "Ao, activate your Byakugan and confirm our path. Pay special attention to Konoha’s ninjas—particularly our mission target."
"Understood!" Ao responded, forming a series of hand seals. With a steady voice, he activated his dojutsu: "Byakugan, activate!"
As he drew closer to the target’s location, Ao’s Byakugan, inherited from the Hyuga clan, allowed him to faintly discern the movements of the other party.
“This is... a little—”
Aaah!
Before he could finish issuing a warning, a Mist Ninja scouting ahead let out a piercing scream. The sound was followed by the dull thud of a body hitting the ground, falling lifelessly from the treetops.
"Everyone, be on high alert! The attacker is at nine o’clock!" Ao shouted urgently. "The one approaching is—"
The veins around his eyes bulged as his Byakugan strained to pinpoint the threat. But before he could name the attacker, he had no choice but to teleport away in a burst of speed, abandoning his original position.
Swish!
No sooner had he vanished than a shadowy figure materialized in the spot he had just occupied.
But it wasn’t over yet. Seeing their target evade the blade, the mysterious figure blurred once more, disappearing into the shadows as they prepared to strike again.
A flash of cold light reflected off a blade under the pale moonlight, its sharp edge faintly glowing with an icy fluorescence as it streaked straight toward Ao’s throat.
“This is it—I’m done for!”
Through the vision of his Byakugan, Ao could clearly see the figure cloaked in blue chakra. The attacker’s sharp dagger was aimed unerringly at his throat, and in that moment, he envisioned the finality of the strike—the end was imminent.
"I won’t let you kill him!"
Just as Ao braced himself for the inevitable and prepared to close his eyes, a short figure surged forward, stepping between him and the blade. The newcomer unleashed a powerful punch toward Shisui's left side, intercepting the attack in the nick of time.
“I’m saved!”
Relief flooded Ao as he stared at the figure who had shielded him. He had been convinced this would be his end, but now he felt an overwhelming sense of gratitude.
'It’s a good thing I stayed close to Mei Terumi, wary of an ambush. If I hadn’t, given the speed of the attack, no one would’ve been able to save me in time,' he thought, his heart still racing from the close call.
From Ao's vantage point with the Byakugan, the curvaceous figure of Mei Terumi was briefly visible. But, in his defense, Ao would later insist his Byakugan had a blind spot for such details~
Poof!
Before Ao could fully catch his breath, Mei's attack struck through the attacker’s figure, revealing it to be a normal clone. Her strike shattered a piece of stone on the far side, scattering fragments into the night.
"Behind you!"
There was no time for Ao to process how quickly the enemy had deployed a clone. However, Mei, ever alert, didn’t need his warning. She had already sensed the danger closing in from behind.
With fluid precision, she twisted her lithe yet powerful waist, pivoting on her right leg. Her left leg snapped out in a fierce horizontal arc, delivering a devastatingly powerful scorpion-tail kick aimed directly at the figure behind her.
The force of her strike was so immense that the air around her leg whistled sharply, a testament to the explosive energy of her counterattack.
"Ao! Over there!"
The gust generated by Mei Terumi’s powerful kick rippled outward, but even before her leg could make contact, she realized the figure in front of her was yet another phantom clone.
Where is the real body?
She didn’t need to deliberate—her instincts screamed the answer. The target wasn’t her; it was Ao.
Her suspicion proved correct. Another image of Shisui materialized behind Ao, his ninja blade gleaming as it hovered mere centimeters from Ao's throat, poised to deliver a fatal strike.
"Ten Fingers Piercing Bullets!"
Luck seemed to favor Ao—or rather, the support of his teammates did. Just as the blade’s tip was about to pierce his throat and end his life, a swift counterattack intervened.
Ten sharp projectiles, resembling pale finger bones glinting faintly in the moonlight, shot toward Shisui’s back with incredible speed, breaking the deadly momentum of his strike.
It was clear that if the assailant pressed forward to strike Ao, they would have to endure this barrage—far deadlier than any conventional thrown weapon.
Swish!
Puff! Puff!
The sharp sound of high-speed movement sliced through the night, followed by the unmistakable noise of projectiles embedding themselves into flesh.
"Hmm... ah..."
A muffled cry of pain escaped into the silence. Ao, who had been mere moments from death, was now splattered with blood. The attacker’s body bore deep, bloody wounds where the sharp finger bones had struck, leaving gaping holes in their flesh.
Despite the gruesome scene, Ao held no resentment toward his comrades. This was the way of the Mist Ninja. Brutal as it might seem, he was simply grateful they had acted to save him at all. Complaining wasn’t an option; survival came first.
"The attacker... it’s Uchiha Shisui!" Ao exclaimed, his voice trembling as recognition dawned.
After catching his breath, Ao finally managed to complete the sentence he had left unfinished.
Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, he gritted his teeth against the lingering pain in his body and swiftly leaped to Mei Terumi’s side.
Facing Uchiha Shisui, Ao instinctively felt that staying close to Mei offered better protection than hiding on his own. Her presence provided a sense of security that he couldn’t afford to ignore.
That teleportation technique… it’s far too fucking fast and indiscernible, he thought, still shaken by Shisui’s unnervingly fluid and unpredictable movements.
Comments
Jose Miranda
Thanks for the chapter
