Chapter 23: The White Fang of Konoha

"Something's wrong! A massive chakra signature is approaching!"

Suddenly, a sensory ninja stationed on the outer perimeter of the encirclement shouted.

Ishito, who was mid-swing with his puppet and had just decapitated a Yamanaka clan ninja, frowned slightly and immediately issued an order:

"Change the mission objective—kill the Uchiha ninja, seize the Sharingan, then retreat immediately!"

In an instant, all the Suna ninjas, including Shimizu, focused their attacks on the Uchiha.

As for the remaining Konoha chūnin, he was tightly bound by Sasori's Salamander puppet.

To be honest, Uchiha's performance had been impressive.

With just a pair of double-tomoe Sharingan, he had managed to fend off one special jōnin and two chūnin, sustaining only minor injuries.

But no matter how strong he was, it was nearly impossible to survive a focused assault from so many attackers.

He had just dodged hundreds of poison needles with his Sharingan's dynamic vision and used precise Fire Release techniques to evade multiple jutsu. Just as he was about to find a weak point to break through, a massive steel fist came crashing down.

This Uchiha's reflexes and combat instincts far surpassed those of the earlier sword-wielding ninja.

In the blink of an eye, he drew a short blade from his waist to deflect the blow, followed by a graceful backflip to retreat.

In just a few seconds—and despite suffering minor internal injuries from absorbing the impact—he had nearly escaped unscathed.

Such is the power of an awakened Sharingan.

With it, a Uchiha can push taijutsu and ninjutsu to their limits, and it provides a huge boost to genjutsu effectiveness.

They are rarely defeated in battles against peers.

After landing his punch, Shimizu quickly retreated, using only long-range attacks like poisoned needles and kunai to pressure from a distance.

The pneumatic cylinders in Fatty's arms needed time to recompress air. Though this only took about ten seconds with the help of chakra threads, it still wasn't instantaneous.

The three special jōnin pounced simultaneously, attacking the Uchiha from all directions.

Two seconds later...

"Stop him!"

Miba shouted anxiously as he controlled his puppet.

It was Uchiha Sen—realizing escape was impossible—who tried to gouge out his own eyes to destroy his Sharingan before death.

Blood splattered—

But a flying blade from a puppet severed his fingers mid-action, and a new wound appeared across his neck.

The next moment—his head hit the ground.

Within his crimson Sharingan, the two tomoe spun rapidly—hints of a third beginning to form—but lacking sufficient chakra, they faded into darkness.

"This is bad—he's here!"

The Suna sensory ninja cried out in alarm.

In the distance, across the sands, a flash of white lightning streaked across the desert dunes.

Seeing this, Shimizu quickly climbed out of Fatty.

Fatty was fine for fighting genin or lower-level chūnin, but against speed-based special jōnin, it could easily become a sitting duck—let alone whatever was coming now, which was no ordinary enemy.

"Damn it… It's White Fang... All units, retreat!"

Ishito barked.

He abandoned the fight and controlled several puppets to grab Shimizu and Sasori, retreating at full speed.

Carried by a towering puppet over two meters tall, Shimizu quickly used his chakra threads to retrieve Fatty and Little Boy, sealing them into his scroll.

Jūichi, meanwhile, wasn't as lucky—or perhaps just too greedy.

He tried to retrieve Uchiha Sen's head.

Even if they failed to capture him alive, bringing back the Sharingan would still be a major achievement.

But he had miscalculated.

The supposedly dead Nara Hirano, already half-slashed by a puppet, suddenly opened his eyes and weakly formed a hand sign.

"Shadow Imitation Technique."

Barely conscious and close to death, Hirano could hardly maintain the jutsu—it lasted less than two seconds.

But those two seconds were the difference between life and death.

Jūichi exploded with jōnin-level chakra, forcing himself free of the shadow bind.

But by then, the white lightning had already closed the distance—from the horizon to the battlefield—in less than five seconds.

It was a man of medium height and slim build, with white hair—

Hatake Sakumo!

"The White Fang of—"

"Shhk!"

A flash of white light swept across the field.

Jūichi didn't die immediately—he was a jōnin after all—and even facing a Kage-level foe, he wasn't cut down like grass.

But he didn't escape unscathed either.

His kunai shattered.

A deep slash appeared across his brown vest, and blood began to spread.

"White Fang of Konoha… Why are you here?"

Sakumo didn't answer.

He simply stared, grief-stricken, at the fallen Konoha ninjas.

Lightning crackled more intensely around his short white blade.

Then came another flash.

And another.

And another.

A few breaths later—Jūichi's head fell to the ground.

Sakumo sighed.

Of Konoha's six-man elite squad, only two remained alive—and one of them was Nara Hirano, barely hanging on to his last breath.

He wouldn't live long.

The other survivor was the middle-aged ninja from earlier.

When Sakumo had arrived, already wounded, he finally succumbed to exhaustion and collapsed unconscious.

"Looks like only Inosuke will make it back alive. That guy's always been lucky…"

Hirano said through fits of coughing, after being stabilized and given a soldier pill by Sakumo.

"Lord Sakumo… you must be injured. Otherwise, that jōnin wouldn't have taken so long to defeat."

Sakumo didn't reply.

He just placed a hand gently on Hirano's shoulder.

"Hirano, I'll take you all home."

"No need, Lord Sakumo… My wounds are beyond saving—even Lady Tsunade couldn't help me now. You have to dispose of our bodies here, to prevent Suna from extracting intel. Just bring our ashes back."

Sakumo pressed his lips together. After a moment, he spoke a single word:

"Alright."

"Cough… Also, the Suna squad that ambushed us was led by Ishito of the Puppet Corps. There were two young puppet masters in the group—much stronger than their peers. If possible, please eliminate them. They'll be a threat to the village in the future. If not… at least take the intel back. And lastly… please… end my… suffering…"

Hirano's breath grew weaker, his words slurred.

Sakumo sighed again—then reached out and snapped his neck.

"Sorry… I probably won't be able to chase down the enemy for revenge…

And I can't bring everyone home either."

(End of Chapter)