"Tobi, don't bring back such weird things next time. It's nothing but trouble."
Shinji said this almost casually as he finished preparing the pheasants and hares and set them over the fire to roast.
Tobi wasn't sure if his suspicious activities had been noticed, so he continued playing the fool. Rubbing the back of his head, he promised he wouldn't do it again.
First, he had somehow caught a white fox out of nowhere, which led them to the survivor of the Land of Beasts, and then the pursuers from Kumogakure showed up one after another...
Thinking about it carefully, it was all a little too coincidental. It felt as if everything had been arranged in advance.
Of course, Tobi had arranged it all on purpose.
His ultimate goal was to turn the Jashin Church into a common enemy of the Five Great Shinobi Nations.
This time, he had just happened to spot the Cloud ninja and decided to take advantage of the opportunity.
Now, all he needed to do was figure out a way to expose the bodies nearby so that the people of Kumogakure would find them.
Otherwise, out here in the middle of nowhere with no witnesses, who would know who killed them?
However, after Shinji's comment just now, it had become much harder to carry out his plan.
If he made it too obvious and got caught, the whole thing would backfire.
"Forget it. There will be plenty of opportunities later. For now, I'd better focus on removing any suspicion directed at me."
With that thought, Tobi doubled down on his performance, acting even more air-headed and harmless than usual.
At one point, he even deliberately handed Hidan a roasted hare that was still raw and bloody inside. This resulted in the two of them rolling around on the ground, strangling and punching each other.
Huh?
Why are those two always rolling around fighting on the ground?
After eating some food, Sasuke looked much better, but soon his stomach started rumbling loudly.
He wasn't sure if it was because the meat wasn't cooked properly or if his body was just unusually weak lately. Either way, Sasuke frowned—well, he would have frowned if he still had eyebrows.
Suddenly, his eyes widened as he sensed something was wrong. He immediately turned and walked stiffly toward the deeper parts of the forest.
Noticing this, Hidan yelled after him, "Go further away! If I smell anything disgusting coming from you, I'll chop off your head and shove it up your own ass!"
Sasuke didn't answer, and it wasn't clear if he even heard him.
Some time passed, and Shinji began to feel uneasy.
Sasuke had been gone for quite a while. Even if he had eaten something bad and had an upset stomach, he should have returned or at least made some noise by now.
"Tch... never mind. I'll go check myself."
Shinji had originally thought about sending Tobi, but decided against it. Knowing Tobi, he'd probably just make more trouble or mess things up somehow.
So he headed in the direction Sasuke had left, following his trail.
Strangely enough, he found no sign of Sasuke, nor did he smell anything unpleasant that he was expecting.
"Don't tell me something happened to him?"
Thinking back to the Cloud ninja that Hidan had killed earlier, he wondered if Sasuke had just had terrible luck and run into trouble.
"Hmm? Isn't that Sasuke's headband?"
Shinji spotted something under a tree and walked over to pick it up.
But the moment he bent down...
Enemies who had been hiding in the branches above struck instantly!
A long blade wrapped in crackling lightning slashed down from above with terrifying force!
Cloud Style: Falling Lightning Slash!
Just die!
As the Cloud ninja leaped down from the tree, he suddenly met a pair of calm eyes. It was as if Shinji had been waiting for him all along.
BOOM!
The strike, which the ninja was confident would kill his target, hit a thick wall of crystallized blood, shattering into nothing but fine debris.
In the next instant, more than a dozen sharp blood spears shot out from all directions, pinning the attacker firmly to the tree. Shinji had deliberately aimed them to avoid any vital organs, keeping him alive.
"Talk. Where is he?"
"If you mean that brash little kid... he's already gone ahead to wait for you. Anyone who dares harm people from Kumogakure must be prepared to pay with their lives. Even if you kill me now, it's too late. My comrades will find you soon, and they will avenge me and the others!"
Oh?
So we've got a hot-headed warrior-type here.
To be honest, Makai, the previous Cloud ninja, had been surprisingly timid and cowardly—nothing like the fierce reputation Shinji had heard about them. But this one... this one felt right.
"Fine. Got it."
Shinji nodded casually, summoned a sharp blade made of blood, and cleanly chopped off the man's head.
Since things had come to this point, there was no need to waste words.
He decided he would hunt down and kill every single Cloud ninja in this area. That way, no one would know who did it. Perfect.
Oh right... I almost forgot. I still haven't found Sasuke.
He really didn't believe Sasuke would die so easily at the hands of some random minor character.
You'd have to ask the Will of the World first if it would allow that!
"Blood Manipulation Art: Mist of Illusionary Tracks!"
A large amount of blood transformed into mist and rapidly spread out in all directions. As the mist expanded, Shinji's sensory perception increased dramatically.
"Found you!"
Shinji opened his eyes sharply and rushed toward a specific direction.
He soon found Sasuke unconscious inside the hollow trunk of a dead tree.
Even in his unconscious state, Sasuke's face was twisted in a grimace, as if he was suffering from unbearable pain.
"Wake."
Using his Curse Speech, Shinji instantly woke him up.
The moment Sasuke opened his eyes, he instinctively threw a punch, ready to attack. But when he saw who was standing in front of him, he slowly lowered his fist.
"Brother Shinji?!"
"Calm down. The guy who knocked you out is already dead. You were taking so long, I thought you fell into a latrine and couldn't climb out."
Shinji teased him casually. But as soon as the words left his mouth, Sasuke's face went pale. He clutched his stomach and his rear end and sprinted away as fast as he could.
Moments later, a series of unmistakable sounds echoed through the forest...
Clearly, Sasuke had been holding it in with sheer willpower until the very last moment.
It was truly impressive that he had managed to keep his dignity intact until now.
Several minutes later, looking completely relieved and refreshed, Sasuke found Shinji about a hundred meters away and briefly explained what had happened.
Actually, there wasn't much to say. He was just about to drop his pants when he was suddenly knocked out from behind.
It had been a disaster narrowly avoided.
When they returned to the others and Shinji explained the situation, Hidan didn't care at all and shrugged it off. Tobi, however, acted very surprised and made a big fuss about it.
"Could it really just be a coincidence?"
Shinji wasn't entirely sure. But Tobi had been right there in front of him the whole time...
Meanwhile, Tobi was secretly celebrating inside.
He hadn't even needed to do anything or lure them on purpose—the Cloud ninja had found them all by themselves!
Even though only one had come and ended up dead, it was obvious he must have managed to send some kind of message to his comrades.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have risked his life attacking alone like that after capturing Sasuke.
Tobi made up his mind: the next time they encountered Cloud ninja, he would definitely find a way to let at least one escape.
It would be easy enough. While no one was looking, he'd just knock them out, hide them inside his Kamui dimension, and dump them somewhere else later. Simple!
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