"The abbot... is dead..."
Among the monks, there was unrest. For a moment, they foresaw their own fate.
They continued reciting the Buddhist scriptures.
Yet, one by one, they were shocked to discover...
Their bodies were no longer under their control. They couldn't even open their mouths, let alone move their eyes.
The night sky was pitch black, with a bright full moon casting a silver glow over the mountain village.
On the clearing, the flames of the torches burned high.
The Uchiha members were slowly regaining their senses, still somewhat dazed, looking toward the wooden house and at the person standing in front of them, Kuroki.
They were filled with both shock and joy!
Tamao's pupils were dilated as he weakly spoke:
"Big brother, can you spare that family of three? That man treated us sincerely. He gave us his best food. He's already suffered enough. The baby, though a bit noisy, is actually kind of cute."
Tamao's body was already riddled with large wounds caused by his wind chakra.
Even after enduring torture from the Buddhist chants, the first thing he did upon waking was mumbling, pleading to Kuroki for someone else's sake.
"Alright."
"Then... Big brother, when you kill those bald monks, can you slash them a few more times on my behalf? I don't mind going to hell for killing monks. You can add your kills to my tally!"
"... Just focus on your treatment," Kuroki replied with a sidelong glance at Tamao.
"Got it," Tamao fell silent.
...
Nonou was still in shock. She couldn't help but think how oddly amusing the conversation between these two brothers was.
After taking a food pill, she crouched beside Tamao, opening her palm to release medical ninjutsu.
Kuroki asked, "How long will it take?"
"About eighteen minutes."
Nonou estimated the time, her face still dazed. As she glanced back at the wooden house, she saw the bodies strewn across the ground. Her eyes widened in shock, though she felt a bit more at ease.
Those were four of the top Jonin from Konoha.
Not to mention, the abbot of the famous Temple of Fire in the Land of Fire.
All... dead!
Nonou's beautiful eyes, framed by her round glasses, were fixed on the wooden house, unblinking.
This meant she had bet correctly. She had luckily agreed to let the Uchiha save her; otherwise, she would have been among the corpses.
The Uchiha members all looked at Kuroki , whose white clothes were stained with blood, and breathed a collective sigh of relief.
When they looked at the wooden house, their expressions mirrored Nonou's, but they quickly recovered.
After all, Captain Kuroki was the Uchiha who had the courage to assassinate Danzo—and succeeded!
Killing a few Konoha Jonin?
What was that compared to everything else?
"Those two guys with the waistcloths embroidered with the crest of the Land of Fire... were they part of the Guardian Shinobi Twelve, the ones who used to guard the Daimyo?"
"Yeah, that monk was the abbot of the Temple of Fire. As for the bearded Jonin who led the hunt against us, he was the son of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi."
"..."
Two Uchiha members, helping each other up, began chatting casually. When they mentioned the identity of the Konoha Jonin, they fell silent.
Izumi, Mikoto, and Nanaze also regained their composure, their expressions complex as they looked at Kuroki 's back.
This man... even killed the Hokage's son!
The entire Temple of Fire had been mobilized.
The Uchiha thought they had reached a dead end, yet once again, it was Captain Kuroki who saved them.
Izumi's large, beautiful, dark eyes were filled with even more admiration for Kuroki .
Mikoto's eyes flickered with complex emotions that quickly disappeared.
The Uchiha's conversation drifted into Nonou's ears, causing her hands to tremble as she performed medical ninjutsu.
"The Third Hokage's son?"
Nonou glanced back at the wooden house.
Her gaze landed on Asuma's body.
To her horror, she realized that this guy really did resemble the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
"The Hokage's son is dead." Nonou's pupils quivered violently as her mind was thrown into chaos, her body suddenly stiffening.
She understood the implications.
The Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, would undoubtedly be furious and conduct a thorough investigation into the truth of the matter.
If people found out...
That she, Nonou, had been involved in tonight's events, there would be no going back to Konoha for her.
Not everyone knew that Asuma was the Third Hokage's son.
As she wrestled with her thoughts, Nonou's hands didn't stop performing medical ninjutsu.
She anxiously looked toward Kuroki , only to find that this young man, as if nothing had happened, was walking straight toward the monks.
As the Uchiha recovered their spirits, they gathered in an orderly manner around Tamao.
In the clearing ahead.
On the rugged mountain path.
Kuroki , with indifference in his eyes, was about to act when he suddenly sensed that the monks were trying to break free from the control of the Eight Thousand Spears technique.
Under the bright moonlight.
One monk's face suddenly twisted unnaturally. Then, with a sickening crack, his neck burst open, and a pale, bloodstained head emerged from beneath his skin at a grotesque angle.
The creature had hair the color of green algae, a plain face, and eyes that were dull and lifeless like a corpse.
It stared intently at Kuroki with an eerie smile on its face.
Thud—thud—thud—
The same horrifying scene unfolded across the monks' bodies, with crisp sounds like watermelons splitting open.
Red and white matter splattered to the ground.
The air filled with a nauseating stench.
"Ahhhh—"
The monks, their minds controlled by the Eight Thousand Spears, let out hoarse cries of agony as some parasitic entity awakened within them.
"What are these monsters?!"
"How can something like this exist in the ninja world?!"
The Uchiha, witnessing the scene, felt their scalps tingle, their bodies trembling. Gripping their ninja swords tightly, they shuddered as the stench filled their nostrils, their skin prickling with goosebumps.
Nonou stood frozen, dumbstruck. This terrifying and grotesque sight was something even she, a seasoned ninja, had never encountered before.
"White Zetsu..."
Kuroki narrowed his eyes.
In his perception, the White Zetsu were currently awakening inside the monks, frantically absorbing their chakra.
When this group of monks climbed the mountain, they were unknowingly planted with Obito's Spore Technique, becoming nourishment for the incubation of White Zetsu.
"End your suffering and be reborn in the cycle of reincarnation!"
Kuroki 's Mangekyō Sharingan spun fiercely.
He forcibly controlled the chakra within the monks that hadn't been fully absorbed by the White Zetsu.
Boom—
A muffled sound echoed from the chests of the doomed monks of the Fire Temple. They died on the spot but escaped the cruel torture of the White Zetsu.
Thus,
The Fire Temple
was no more!
No
Some monks, however, managed to complete the incubation process before dying, giving birth to one or even two or three White Zetsu depending on the amount of chakra they had in life.
"Delicious chakra!"
"An Uchiha!"
"Kill them all and taste that alluring chakra!!"
The White Zetsu, landing on the ground, screamed in frenzy, eyes filled with greed and hunger. With their androgynous bodies, they rushed toward Kuroki !
They were utterly fearless.
In the distance,
on a tree branch,
masked Obito watched everything coldly, the twisted expression beneath the mask curling into a smile.
He was curious to see how many waves of White Zetsu Kuroki could withstand.
No matter how powerful Kuroki 's Mangekyō was, there would come a time when his Yin Release chakra would run out.
Then,
that would be the best moment for Obito to strike.
...
On the clearing in front of the wooden cabin,
"Protect Captain Kuroki !!!"
Uchiha Nanfeng shouted furiously, drawing his ninja blade, and activated his Three Tomoe Sharingan. Together with his fellow Uchiha, they charged fearlessly against the hundreds of White Zetsu.
There were only eleven Uchiha.
The number of White Zetsu exceeded that of the monks and had absorbed a large amount of the monks' chakra.
They were a fusion of monsters and monks!
The first encounter saw the charging Uchiha quickly overwhelmed by the mass of White Zetsu, finding themselves at a disadvantage in one-on-many combat.
Near Nono and Tamayo,
Izumi drew her ninja blade.
Suddenly,
she felt a delicate touch on the back of her hand. She looked down to see her hand being held by Mikoto beside her.
Mikoto's face was expressionless, her eyes showing the Three Tomoe Sharingan. She took the ninja blade from Izumi and advised, "Someone needs to guard this place. I'll take care of the front line!"
Before Izumi could stop her, Mikoto bit her lip, shedding the refined demeanor of a noble lady. Her figure turned into a black shadow, darting past Kuroki with a cold and determined expression, leaping into the battlefield.
The blade flashed, severing a White Zetsu's head!
Before becoming a full-time housewife, Mikoto had been a formidable Three Tomoe Uchiha.
From her emotionless face, Kuroki saw the determination to fight to the death.
He turned to look at the still-frightened Nono and calmly said:
"You only need to focus on healing."
Nono nodded slightly, her attention returning to treating Tamayo. She could feel the threat of death emanating from the white creatures.
If she wanted to survive tonight,
she would have to rely on these Uchiha, so Nono chose to place her trust in the young Uchiha warrior who gave her a strong sense of security.
Kuroki 's Mangekyō Sharingan scanned left and right, capturing the White Zetsu attacking from all directions.
Their bodies seemed to radiate an endless surge of power, recklessly sprinting across the clearing, savagely lunging at their targets.
Standing his ground, Kuroki drove his broken ninja blade into the earth and reached out with his right hand, grasping the air.
The space rippled like water.
A pitch-black longsword appeared in his hand as if out of thin air.
The dark blade melded with the night, cold and silent, its presence dimming the brilliance of the long night.
Under the bright moonlight,
the dark moon seemed even more profound and void of light.
(End of chapter)