Somewhere in the Land of Fire.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh— Three figures sped in the same direction. They were clearly shinobi, yet none of them wore a forehead protector, and each carried a dark, sinister air that made it obvious they were not from Konoha.
"Hey! Are you sure it's this way? We've been searching all day and still haven't found that Uchiha Keizumi. If we can't find him, how are we supposed to explain ourselves to Orochimaru's people?"
"And besides, the direction we're heading doesn't seem to be toward Konoha!"
The ninja at the rear voiced his dissatisfaction.
"Hmph!"
The one in the lead gave a cold snort before replying, "Don't underestimate my tracking skills! We found the inn where he stayed in Tanzaku Town, and I've memorized his scent perfectly. As long as I can catch even a trace of it, I can find Uchiha Keizumi!"
"I don't know why he isn't heading back to Konoha, but I'm certain he took this road. And there are two other scents besides his."
The lead ninja frowned slightly and continued, "One of them doesn't seem human—it could be a summoned beast."
"The last one smells like it belongs to a woman."
"And… the scent is getting stronger."
Suddenly—
The middle ninja, who had been silent until now, barked, "Stop!"
The other two halted immediately.
Under the puzzled gazes of the other two, the middle ninja stepped to the side, his eyes lowered to the ground.
"Look here," he said.
The other two came over, and their pupils instantly contracted.
"A corpse?!"
Lying in the brush by the roadside was a headless body, still slick with blood. The severed head rested only a few dozen centimeters away.
The frozen expression on the face was one of sheer terror and despair.
"There's a forehead protector." One of them bent down to pick up a metal plate, and upon seeing the engraved emblem, his eyes flashed with surprise. "Kumogakure? What's a Kumogakure shinobi doing in the Land of Fire? Could he be a spy planted here by the Cloud? Tsk, tsk… unlucky bastard, getting himself killed like this."
"He was killed by Uchiha Keizumi," the most sharp-nosed of the group said suddenly. "I can smell a strong trace of Uchiha Keizumi's scent nearby. There's no sign of any extended fight in the area—this Kumogakure spy was probably killed instantly."
"Heh… no wonder Orochimaru-sama is so interested in that kid. A shinobi with dual kekkei genkai really is something else."
Another examined the scene closely and said in a low voice, "The body's fresh. That Uchiha Keizumi must have killed him within the last fifteen minutes."
The three exchanged glances.
Fifteen minutes…
That meant Uchiha Keizumi could be very close.
Without another word, they quickened their pace, heading straight ahead.
Half an hour later—
When two humans and a cat appeared in their sights, the long search had them instantly on high alert. They accelerated in unison, surrounding their targets in moments.
One blocked the path ahead, the other two flanking from the left rear and right rear.
Their sudden appearance "forced" Uchiha Keizumi to halt.
"Hehehe… Uchiha Keizumi, the infamous Lava-Style Beast, one of the rare dual–kekkei genkai shinobi in the entire ninja world… you're not easy to find."
The ninja blocking the way grinned slightly, his eyes locked firmly on Keizumi.
Then, unable to resist, his gaze flicked to the woman beside him. "You're… tch, no wonder that woman's scent seemed familiar."
"Mitarashi Anko, personal disciple of Orochimaru-sama! Ha, now this is a surprise."
Mitarashi Anko: "!!"
Just moments ago, Anko had been wondering who these three were and what they wanted.
But the moment the last words left his mouth, she instantly realized they had come with ill intent.
Especially when they mentioned the name Orochimaru—her eyes grew dangerous, her muscles tightening, her whole body coiled as if ready to spring at any moment.
"Orochimaru?"
Beside her, Tachibana Jirō narrowed his feline eyes. "Either Keizumi-sama stays in the village, or, once he steps out, every kind of ghost and demon crawls out of the woodwork."
"Hey, hey, hey!"
One of the ninjas on the right rear side snapped, "We're talking to Uchiha Keizumi here. What right does a pet cat have to butt in?"
Then the one standing in front said, "Uchiha Keizumi, Orochimaru-sama values you greatly—that's why he sent us to find you."
He repeated to Uchiha Keizumi everything Orochimaru had told him earlier, extending an olive branch in the process.
Before Keizumi or Tachibana Jirō showed any reaction, Mitarashi Anko's expression had already changed slightly.
She couldn't help but glance nervously at Keizumi.
"Well? Orochimaru-sama is showing great sincerity here. As long as you join the organization he belongs to, you'll stand as his equal in the future."
"Your so-called [Absolute Justice], which no one else accepts, will find recognition there. It's far better than staying in a place like Konoha."
"And…"
Just as the ninja in front was about to continue his persuasive pitch, Keizumi abruptly cut him off with a voice as cold as ice: "So that's the message that unrepentant beast Orochimaru sent you across half the world to deliver to me?"
That single, blunt sentence made all three shinobi's expressions change at once.
This bastard Uchiha had just insulted Orochimaru-sama with such crude words—
When Orochimaru-sama valued him so highly!
Unbelievable!
Keizumi's voice was even colder as he spoke again. "I have a message for you to take back to him—wash that long neck of his clean, and wait for [Absolute Justice] to come for him."
"…That is, assuming you have the ability to send a message from the Pure Land."
The moment those words left his mouth, the three shinobi sent by Orochimaru felt a surge of intense danger wash over them.
Before they could react, Tachibana Jirō struck first.
In the blink of an eye, the not-so-large cat transformed into a terrifying giant over ten meters tall, its visage twisted into something monstrous. Without hesitation, it brought a massive paw crashing down toward the ninja on the right rear flank.
Caught off guard, the man had no time to evade—Tachibana Jirō's paw slammed into him directly.
[Boom!!!]
The ground itself trembled slightly.
"What?!" The other two paled in shock, but before they could act, Keizumi was already standing mere steps away from one of them. His eyes had shifted into the fully awakened three-tomoe Sharingan, the scarlet irises reflecting in his opponent's pupils.
In the instant that the man's gaze turned vacant, the blade in Keizumi's hand traced a deep crimson line across his neck.
A large head rolled to the ground.
Blood fountained skyward.
The last ninja's pupils shrank in panic as he tried to leap back to safety—only for Mitarashi Anko, who had been ready from the start, to grit her teeth and attack.
In an instant—
From the sleeves of Mitarashi Anko's robe burst more than a dozen vicious, venomous snakes, each striking forward at blinding speed. They lunged through the air and sank their fangs into the target again and again, delivering more than a dozen savage bites in the blink of an eye.
Venom pumped through their fangs and into the man's body.
"D… Damn it…" The sudden wave of weakness hit like a hammer, and the shinobi's legs gave out, his whole body collapsing limply.
Anko strode forward quickly, drawing a kunai and pressing its tip against his throat.
Her voice was tight with anger as she threatened, "Three minutes—that's all the toxin needs to kill you. Tell me where Orochimaru is, and I'll give you the antidote."
"Heh, you think—" The weakened shinobi began to sneer, but his expression suddenly froze.
Before Anko could process the change, she felt a sharp tug at the back of her collar.
Her body was yanked backward, sent flying.
She hadn't even had time to wonder who had pulled her before the shinobi in front of her—face still locked in that rigid, frozen look—began to swell before her eyes.
His body ballooned into a grotesque sphere—then exploded with a deafening boom!
[Boom!!!]
Chunks of flesh sprayed in every direction.
[Boom!!!]
[Boom!!!]
The other two corpses suddenly swelled in exactly the same way—grotesque, rapid, and unnatural—before detonating in turn.
Flesh and blood splattered over Anko, leaving her momentarily stunned, her expression frozen.
She had never expected the fight to end like this.
Then Uchiha Keizumi's calm, emotionless voice came from behind her.
"Looks like Orochimaru sent the three of them here to die. He made sure to plant a failsafe to destroy their bodies, so no one could use them to track him down. Too bad… it seems he doesn't have the courage to stand before me himself."
Keizumi narrowed his eyes. In his view, the shinobi world's evil had many sources—
And Orochimaru was one of them.
Hearing those words, Anko couldn't shake the strange feeling that…
Right now, it wasn't Orochimaru hunting Uchiha Keizumi—
It was Uchiha Keizumi hunting Orochimaru.
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