Chapter 70: The Unseen Sense
As the Konoha column retreated, Kagenori split his focus, his physical eyes on the path ahead while his mind navigated the interface of the Witness System. With only 1,310 points, his options were limited. He dismissed any sensory ninjutsu that required lengthy simulation and practice; there was no time for the system to take over his body on a active battlefield. He needed an ability he could use now.
Such instant-gratification powers were notoriously expensive. He saw an entry for the hyper-acute hearing of Zenitsu Agatsuma, capable of discerning a person's inner thoughts from the sound of their blood flow. The price was a staggering 10,000 points. He moved on.
Then he found it. An ability whose first stage cost exactly 1,000 Witness Points.
Observation Haki (First Stage).
It allowed the user to sense the "presence" or "breath" of others. At this initial level, it could read the position and number of enemies outside his line of sight and give him a vague sense of their next immediate actions. It was a foundation with the potential for incredible growth—foreseeing the future, sensing emotions, gauging strength—all things he could develop through training or by purchasing higher stages later. A key limitation was the need for a calm mind, but that was Kagenori's natural state.
Without a second thought, he spent the points.
Witness Points: 1,310 -> 310.
The effect was instantaneous. A new layer of perception washed over him, clear and sharp. His mind, already ordered, now felt like a still pond, and the world around him was a series of ripples upon its surface. He could feel them—fourteen distinct pressures approaching from the flanks. Seven from the left, seven from the right. He could sense their general strength; most were chunin-level, but on each side, one or two felt denser, heavier. Special Jonin.
The ambiguity was gone. He had a sensory map in his mind.
"Namikaze Minato!" he barked, his voice cutting through the rhythm of the retreat.
Minato flickered to his side. "Here!"
"You will take five ninja and engage the seven Cloud shinobi approximately one hundred meters to the left. One among them is a Special Jonin. Can you handle it?"
Minato stared, his mind reeling. A moment ago, he had reported an unconfirmed contact on the right. How could Kagenori know the exact number and composition of a force on the left? It wasn't the Sharingan; Kagenori's eyes were their normal, dark color. The sheer, impossible certainty of the order was staggering.
"Are you hesitating?" Kagenori's voice was a whip-crack. "Time is critical! Answer me! Can you do it?!"
The force of the command broke through Minato's confusion. "We can do it!"
"Then select your team and eliminate them. Now!"
Minato turned, quickly calling out the names of five capable chunin, and led them off into the foliage on the left flank.
Kagenori formed a single hand seal. A shadow clone poofed into existence beside him. He turned to the remaining shinobi. "Follow my clone. Maintain the pace. I will deal with the right flank."
Before anyone could question him, he was gone, a blur of motion vanishing into the trees on the right.
His Observation Haki guided him unerringly. He found the seven Cloud ninja moving with predatory grace through the forest. He activated his Sharingan, the twin tomoe spinning to life, and immediately identified the two denser "presences"—the Special Jonin.
"Thunder Breathing, Fourth Form: Distant Thunder!" Lightning wreathed his body as he became a bolt of pure speed, closing the distance in a heartbeat. His target, a grim-faced man with a scar across his cheek, had only a moment to widen his eyes before Kagenori's ninjato flashed, and his head was separated from his shoulders.
The remaining six Cloud ninja reacted with the speed born of battle-honed instinct.
"Raiton: Ikazuchi no Jin!" (Lightning Release: Thunder God's Fury) one yelled, his blade crackling with energy.
"Cloud Style: Soaring Slash!"
"Cloud Style: Crescent Moon Beheading!"
The remaining Special Jonin, a woman with cold eyes, drew her own sword, which burst into flames. "Cloud Style: Blazing Slash!" She swung, a crescent of fire roaring toward him.
Kagenori's hands flew through three seals. The coordinated attacks of the six ninja slammed into his position, but only struck a substitution log that sizzled under the combined assault.
He reappeared on a branch above them, his hands already weaving another sequence. "Katon: Gōka Messhitsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fire Destruction). He spewed a torrent of fire that flooded the forest floor below, forcing the six Cloud ninja to leap into the air to avoid the inferno.
They were exactly where he wanted them. Exposed.
"Thunder Breathing, Fifth Form: Heat Lightning!" He leveled his ninjato and released two blistering, lightning-fast slashes. Two of the airborne chunin cried out as the superheated energy pierced their chests, and they fell limp into the flames below.
Without pausing, he formed another seal. "Doton: Doryūdō!" (Earth Release: Earth Stone Dragon). The very earth rose up, forming a massive, coiling dragon of rock and soil that lunged at another chunin. The man frantically slashed at its head, but the earth simply reformed. The dragon engulfed him, dragging him down into the sea of fire.
The three remaining ninja, including the Special Jonin, landed on sturdy branches, their faces pale. The female Special Jonin gathered her chakra. "Katon: Karyūdan!" (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet). A stream of concentrated fire shot from her lips.
Kagenori met it with his own. "Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!" (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique). His massive, roiling fireball swallowed her smaller dragon whole and continued its path, forcing her to teleport away with a Body Flicker.
His Sharingan then locked onto the final two chunin, who stood trembling on a single branch. Seeing the demonic crimson eyes fixed on them, their resolve broke. As Kagenori lunged at them, they swung their swords in a panic. Their blades passed through his form without resistance—an illusion.
They felt a sharp, cold line across their throats. Gasping, they clutched their necks, stumbling backward before falling from the branch into the consuming fire below.
The crackling of the flames was the only sound. Kagenori's Sharingan deactivated, his eyes returning to their dark, calm state. He stood on the branch, listening with his new Haki. Only one "presence" remained nearby, the female Special Jonin. He could feel her hiding in the thick canopy, her breath held, her chakra coiled tight with fear. Her mission was a failure. She was no longer a threat, only a survivor.
He had cleared the right flank in under a minute. It was time to rejoin the column.