Chapter 447: Dilemma on the Battlefield
Hiruko was nothing more than an ordinary Konoha jonin. He held no important position, and he had none of the fame or influence Orochimaru and the others carried. His defection did not cause any real trouble for the village.
It was wartime. Konoha did not even bother sending a jonin squad to chase him down. They only dispatched a few people to investigate for appearances. If nothing turned up, the matter was quietly shelved.
In Konoha's overall situation, Hiruko's defection was like a small branch snapping off a towering tree, too insignificant to affect anything.
But even a small branch still has leaves attached to it, and to Hiruko's friends, this was not a small matter at all.
Orochimaru did not have many friends. It was not because he was incapable of making them, but because most people simply were not qualified to stand beside him.
Hiruko was one of the few he truly considered a friend.
They had been in the same class, friends since their academy days. Later, Orochimaru and his companions became the legendary Sannin while Hiruko remained an ordinary jonin, yet none of the three cared about that difference. They kept the relationship as it had always been.
But the documents recovered from Hiruko's laboratory made one thing painfully clear. Even if they did not care about Hiruko's lack of power, Hiruko himself cared deeply.
"He was too reckless," Orochimaru said, setting the documents down and shaking his head slightly.
His own human experiments were concealed with Danzo's help. For Hiruko to attempt them alone meant exposure was only a matter of time.
Konoha had the word village in its name, but it was not some peaceful rural settlement. At its core, it was a military base.
Orochimaru felt a trace of regret. Hiruko's research level was not bad. If he had joined Orochimaru's cooperation with Danzo, he would not have ended up in this situation.
Still, Hiruko had already defected. Orochimaru would not waste time drowning in nostalgia. There were far too many things waiting on his desk.
Instead, Orochimaru used his former friend's last remaining value to test Mugetsu's attitude toward human experimentation.
As the two of them inspected different units around the camp in their roles as commanders, Orochimaru suddenly spoke.
"Lord Mugetsu, did you hear that a jonin recently defected from Konoha?"
"I'm not sure," Mugetsu replied with a shake of his head. "Who was it?"
He had not received any such news. Still, Mugetsu assumed it must have been an ordinary jonin. If the incident truly harmed Konoha's interests, it would have spread quickly.
Orochimaru was not surprised by the answer. Hiruko was not an important figure, and defection was never something Konoha would publicize during wartime.
"Hiruko," Orochimaru said.
"It was Hiruko?" Mugetsu said, putting on a look of surprise. "I really couldn't tell."
"Lord Mugetsu knows him?" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Not well," Mugetsu replied. "We served together as chunin examiners once. He seemed quiet, like someone who follows the rules. I never expected him to defect."
At that point, Mugetsu already understood what Orochimaru was doing.
He also knew why Hiruko defected. It was for human experimentation. Orochimaru would later walk a similar path, only far more extreme, even digging into forbidden research like Hashirama's cells.
"Actually, he was my friend," Orochimaru sighed, the tone almost like genuine mourning. "We were from the same class. I never imagined he would secretly capture innocent people from nearby villages and use them in human experiments."
As he spoke, Orochimaru watched Mugetsu's expression from the corner of his eye.
He needed to know Mugetsu's true stance. It mattered more than almost anything.
If Mugetsu was interested in human experimentation, Orochimaru could pull him onto his side and bind him tightly, forming the same kind of mutually beneficial relationship Orochimaru had with Danzo.
If Mugetsu was not interested but also not disgusted, then Orochimaru could safely reveal some of his secrets, turning Mugetsu into a trusted confidant.
But if Mugetsu was strongly repulsed by it, Orochimaru would need to be careful. He could not let Mugetsu learn about his hidden research on Hashirama's cells.
"That's too much," Mugetsu said without hesitation. "Too extreme. Capturing innocent people for human experiments is unacceptable."
Mugetsu did not hate all human experimentation. Some research truly required it.
But when it involved innocent civilians, all he could say was that Konoha was better off without someone like that.
Orochimaru considered Mugetsu's words, then nodded.
"Hiruko was indeed too extreme. For certain techniques, human experimentation is a necessary process. The village has organized human experiments before as well, but the subjects were usually death row prisoners and volunteers. Capturing innocent villagers is truly inappropriate."
Mugetsu nodded in agreement.
Seeing that, Orochimaru understood Mugetsu's stance well enough. Not completely opposed, but with a clear line: do not harm the innocent.
"Lord Mugetsu has still experienced too little," Orochimaru thought. "I hope the coming war makes him understand how fragile life truly is."
People always changed.
Orochimaru himself was proof of that. The Orochimaru of today was nothing like the Orochimaru of ten years ago.
He shifted the topic smoothly.
"Recently, your disciple, Uchiha Shisui, has been very active on the battlefield. Some jonin are starting to feel ashamed."
Mugetsu was intelligent. Probing too much would only make him suspicious.
"Shisui works too hard," Mugetsu said with a smile, praising him.
…
"Our squad's reputation is really growing," Uesugi said excitedly. "Last time, the enemy recognized us before we even fought. If this keeps up, we might even get official titles someday."
"Why are you dreaming in broad daylight?" Kenji shot back. "Shisui is famous. What does that have to do with you?"
As an eight year old chunin, Shisui had killed Hidden Mist jonin more than once. He was already the most famous Konoha genius on the Hidden Mist battlefield.
Originally, Guy was the undisputed strongest genius, but Guy and his team had returned to Konoha to recover, so he was temporarily out of the discussion.
"Shisui is part of our squad too," Uesugi said with a laugh, throwing an arm around Shisui's shoulder like they were old drinking buddies. "So it's the same thing."
He grinned. "Right, Shisui?"
Shisui nodded calmly. Even if he would not stay with this squad forever, he was undeniably a member right now.
"Quiet down," their guiding jonin, Shinji, warned. "We're almost at the mission location. Even with Shisui here, don't underestimate an A Rank mission."
Once the jonin spoke, Uesugi and the others immediately shut up. They had been on the battlefield long enough to understand how cruel war could be.
Hidden Mist suffered casualties.
Konoha did too, even if their losses were fewer.
Shisui activated his Sharingan in silence and began scanning the surroundings.
None of them had sensory abilities. In this squad, Shisui's three tomoe Sharingan was the best tool for observation.
As they closed in, Shisui spotted the hidden enemies.
His expression did not change. He simply made a few subtle hand signals.
The moment they saw them, Uesugi and the others became alert. It was the signal for enemies.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The instant they reached a certain distance, all five of them, including Shisui, threw shuriken in multiple directions.
Several Hidden Mist shinobi were caught off guard and got scratched.
The injured shinobi instantly flickered away, creating distance.
Uesugi was about to pursue when streams of water shot out from even farther away.
Whoosh!
Shisui reacted in a flash, using the Body Flicker Technique to grab Uesugi and dodge the Water Release.
"We caught a big fish," a voice said through the haze. "Uchiha Shisui. The one who awakened three tomoe at eight years old."
Eight Hidden Mist shinobi emerged.
"To kill a jonin at eight years old… that's not talent, that's absurd," a Hidden Mist jonin said coldly. His face was wrapped in bandages, and he held a long sword in his hand. "But your shinobi career ends here."
The intelligence had been deliberately leaked to lure weaker Konoha squads to their deaths.
Of course, it was possible they might run into a strong squad instead. There was no absolute safety on the battlefield. If they met a monster like Mugetsu, they could only accept their bad luck.
"There are three strong chakra signatures…" Shisui's Sharingan swept across the enemy formation, and he frowned slightly.
If his judgment was correct, there were three jonin and nine chunin or genin here.
Shisui could handle two Hidden Mist jonin. These were not monsters like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, just ordinary jonin.
But the rest of his squad could not handle one jonin and nine other shinobi on top of that.
"It's a trap," Shinji said grimly. "Retreat, now!"
He did not have Sharingan and could not judge their strength precisely, but a force like this should not exist on an A Rank mission unless most of them were genin and there were no jonin at all.
And that was clearly not the case.
If a Hidden Mist squad had this kind of formation, there was only one explanation. Their commander had planned it, and Shinji did not believe Yagura was brain dead.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu!"
The three Hidden Mist jonin cast the technique together.
In an instant, dense white fog swallowed the entire area. Shinji and the others could not even tell directions anymore, let alone retreat.
Because the mist was created by chakra, Shisui's Sharingan could not see through the enemies hiding inside it either.
"Everyone, don't panic," Shisui said quickly. "Pay attention to your surroundings. Stay calm and face them."
The enemy was stronger, but unless someone reached Mugetsu's level, there was no such thing as absolute advantage. A special jonin might beat a jonin. A chunin could still kill a jonin under the right conditions.
But if they panicked, everything changed. In a close fight, the brave win. The first person to lose control had already stepped into defeat.
"Shisui is right," Shinji said, accepting that retreat was not possible for the moment. "Don't panic."
With reassurance from both their commander and their strongest ally, and with Uesugi and the others being experienced chunin, they steadied themselves and began listening carefully, preparing for battle.
"Heart, head, thigh, arm," a voice sneered through the fog. "Which part do you think gets cut first?"
It was not just trash talk. It was psychological warfare, the kind Hidden Mist shinobi were trained to use when killing in the fog.
Sight mattered. The unknown frightened people. When you could see something, touch it, understand it, fear weakened.
But losing sight without warning made nerves unravel.
Cruel words struck at unstable emotions, spreading panic and forcing mistakes.
Whoosh!
Two kunai wrapped in flame shot toward the direction of the voice.
"Oh? You found me," the Hidden Mist jonin dodged quickly, sounding surprised.
Intimidation in the fog had its own techniques. Normally, someone without special training could not pinpoint a location from sound alone.
Shisui had already closed his Sharingan. His eyes were shut as he moved.
To prevent exactly this situation, Mugetsu had put him through brutal training. In low visibility fog, Shisui learned to abandon sight entirely and sharpen every other sense.
At first, it felt wrong. The Sharingan's insight was too strong, too convenient.
But once Shisui adapted, he could fight at nearly full strength in the fog. Only genjutsu became inconvenient to use.
At first, the Hidden Mist jonin assumed it was luck.
Then Shisui's next close range exchange proved otherwise.
The most dazzling genius on this battlefield was not famous for nothing.
"This time, your teammates aren't Guy and Kakashi," the Hidden Mist jonin said, even as he fell into a disadvantage.
He could not beat Shisui, not even in the mist.
But once his comrades finished off Shisui's teammates, could Shisui really fight all twelve of them alone?
Swish!
A sharp blade cut through cloth and pierced flesh.
Kenji sucked in a painful breath.
"Flame Breathing, Full Concentration!"
Shisui pushed his breathing to the limit, forcing back the jonin in front of him for an instant. Then he flashed to Kenji's side.
He had to save him.
Even if Shisui was stronger than that jonin, killing a Hidden Mist jonin was not simple. If he focused on the kill, Kenji would be dead long before Shisui finished.
If Obito or Kakashi were here, they might have been able to burst out and instantly kill a jonin with an unexpected strike.
Shisui could not do that.
Among Mugetsu's disciples, Shisui's burst potential was the worst, aside from Rin. Obito had Flame Breathing Chakra Mode. Kakashi had the Transparent World. Guy had the Eight Gates.
They had explosive trump cards Shisui had not mastered yet.
Relying on precise sensing and his ghostlike Body Flicker Technique, Shisui successfully pulled Kenji out of danger.
But as he sensed the condition of his other teammates, a powerless heaviness surged in his chest.
He could fight two jonin.
Yet the enemy was not stupid. They knew his combat power. Wouldn't it be smarter to kill his teammates first and then overwhelm him?
Why fixate on the genius when the squad was right there?
"There are three strong chakra signatures…" Shisui's Sharingan quickly swept over all the Mist shinobi, then he frowned slightly.
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