Navi (White Tiger) looked ahead toward the stone cliff. Clearly, the inside was hollow, and a proper structure had been built within it. Feeling the many presences inside, Navi said, "It seems that this must be one of Orochimaru's active hideouts. Most probably, he may also be present here. Be cautious and alert."
(A/N: Image in paragraphs comment.)
As soon as Navi said this, the team of twenty Shadow Guards simultaneously replied, "Yes." Their voices were low, but still enough to reach Navi's ears as the cold wind brushed past them.
Navi then commanded, "Team One, go and destroy this structure and rat those people out."
As soon as Navi's voice fell, three people among the Shadow Guards stepped forward and started moving toward the stone cliff. At first, their speed was slow and measured, their feet barely making a sound against the ground, but soon they began to pick up pace.
All three of them started dashing forward.
Two of them unsheathed their swords while making hand seals at the same time. The metallic sound of the blades leaving their sheaths echoed faintly in the air. As soon as they did so, the arm with which they held their swords was coated in Armament Haki. Their swords themselves were also covered in Armament Haki, turning pitch black under the dim light.
The next moment, both of them jumped.
As for the third person, he charged like a mad bull toward the lower area of the tower. He was quite burly, his muscles clearly visible beneath his clothes as he made two hand seals while running.
Immediately, both of his arms were covered in Armament Haki, turning dark and metallic-looking.
When the two who had dashed ahead were close enough, they jumped into the air and forcefully swung their swords downward. Both of their sword swings created powerful flying slashes, sharp enough to split through solid stone.
The way they attacked was perfectly coordinated. Both slashes crossed one another in midair, forming a giant cross-like pattern before crashing into the stone cliff.
A deafening sound echoed through the area.
The entire section of the cliff struck by the attack was cleanly cut apart, and huge chunks of stone immediately started falling away. Dust and debris exploded outward, filling the air.
Meanwhile, the third person, charging like a raging bull, had already reached the base of the stone cliff.
Without slowing down, he planted his feet firmly into the ground and punched forward with both hands simultaneously, shouting, "Double Destruction!"
As soon as both of his punches landed on the lower section of the cliff, a heavy shockwave spread through the entire structure.
From the point where his fists had struck all the way up to the area that had been cleanly cut apart by the swordsmen, countless cracks began to spread. They raced across the cliff like spiderwebs before the entire section shattered apart.
For a brief moment, the whole stone structure trembled violently.
Then the entire rock cliff structure collapsed.
After finishing their mission, all three of them returned without hesitation and took their place beside White Tiger, standing once again within the ranks of the Shadow Guards as if nothing had happened.
Ahead of them, the entire area where the rock cliff had once stood was now shrouded in a massive cloud of dust.
Soon, loud sounds of cursing began to echo from within it.
"Damn bastards!"
"What the hell?! Who enters like this?!"
"Damn it, they destroyed the tower first!"
As those angry voices continued coming from beneath the rubble and from the sides of the collapsed cliff, figures slowly started crawling out from under the debris. Some pushed away broken rocks, while others stumbled out covered in dust and blood.
When the dust finally began to settle, only the shattered remains of the rock cliff could be seen.
Around fifty people were now standing in the ruined area.
As soon as the Shadow Guards' eyes fell on them, many of them narrowed their eyes.
A few of those people had half of their bodies covered in strange white skin. Some had bizarre structures like horns growing out from their heads, while a few had arms that looked more like the limbs of beasts, covered in scales and ending in claw-like fingers.
One of them even had an arm that looked like the bark of a tree.
The sight was grotesque.
Seeing so many people gathered in one location, and noticing that none of them were tied up or showed any signs of being prisoners, Navi quickly understood the situation.
Most of them were already battle-ready.
A few were even holding different kinds of weapons. Some carried broadswords, while others held sickles or heavy clubs in their hands.
With this, Navi made a quick deduction and said, "It seems that we have offended Orochimaru by quite a lot. That is why he has created an ambush for us here to try and kill us."
Navi then took a step forward.
The wind blew past him, causing the edge of his cloak to flutter slightly as his sharp gaze swept across the ruined battlefield.
"Be on alert. Maybe from somewhere around here, that snake is watching us fight."
All of the Shadow Guards nodded.
The entire team of twenty became battle-ready, their bodies tense and prepared to attack the group of fifty people standing ahead of them. Some slowly placed their hands on the hilts of their weapons, while others quietly adjusted their stances.
On one of the tallest rock cliffs, at quite a far distance but still close enough to observe everything clearly, Obito stood silently.
Beside him were White Zetsu and Black Zetsu.
From where they stood, they had a clear view of the battlefield below.
Obito had already received the news about Orochimaru's hideouts being raided by the Shadow Guards of Uzushiogakure.
This was not very surprising for him, nor for anyone within Akatsuki.
What Orochimaru had done would definitely bring down the wrath of Shanks Uzumaki.
So, the Shadow Guards raiding Orochimaru's hideouts was not surprising for Obito or anyone within his alliance.
On the contrary, this gave him a very good opportunity to use the soldiers that had been prepared after more than a decade of hard work and research.
Or, to be more precise, Orochimaru's hard work and research.
Obito wanted to see how these soldiers would perform against the Shadow Guards, who were also rumored to have been injected with some kind of serum.
Obito had already tried to investigate this matter and had found out that the serum injected into the Shadow Guards, and the elite ninjas of the Uzushiogakure ninja army, was nothing less than a perfected version of Hashirama cells.
Or rather, perfected in the sense that it did not harm the body.
The Shadow Guards appeared completely normal. There were no changes in their body structure, no twisted limbs, no bark-like skin, no horns, and no monstrous mutations like the fifty people standing below.
That kind of physical distortion was common within his own army of soldiers injected with Hashirama cells.
Obito's gaze remained fixed on the battlefield below as the wind blew past the rocky cliff where he stood.
He wanted to see exactly how his soldiers would fare against the soldiers of Uzushiogakure.
Or, to be more precise, against the most elite soldiers of Uzushiogakure.
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