After cutting down three enemies in a row, Hajime Hoshita didn't stop. He leapt up, pulled his blade from a corpse, and in the blink of an eye, arrived behind the enemy Tsunade was about to finish off—driving his sword straight through him.
Tsunade, who was just about to end her opponent with a punch, froze for a second.
Hajime withdrew his blade. "You fall back first!"
With those words, he was already dashing toward Jiraiya's side of the battle.
Tsunade glanced at the corpse on the ground, her expression shifting slightly.
His kill speed was terrifying—vicious and brutal.
Then, as she scanned the battlefield, she realized that despite being outnumbered, the Konoha side had already taken the upper hand.
Gritting her teeth, Tsunade ignored Hajime's command and charged toward Orochimaru instead.
Hmph!
She wasn't the type to abandon her comrades and run!
…
Five minutes later, the battle was over.
The Sky Ninja had been completely annihilated.
Tsunade tended to Jiraiya's injuries off to the side, while Orochimaru's gaze followed Sarutobi Toku and his teammates as they went around finishing off any lingering enemies. His eyes eventually settled on Hajime Hoshita—the ANBU team captain.
Hajime's ruthless efficiency during the battle had left a deep impression on him.
His methods were direct and violent, but clean and decisive.
Every kill was brutal—but carried a strange, savage elegance.
Jiraiya, noticing Orochimaru's look, winced in pain and grinned through his teeth.
"That guy doesn't look like one of the old man's personal ANBU."
The ANBU directly under Hiruzen Sarutobi—they might not know every face, but they could usually recognize the fighting style.
Sarutobi Toku and the others were within expectations, but Hajime Hoshita's approach… was far too unique.
Like a pure-bred killing machine.
Orochimaru withdrew his gaze. "He's probably one of Danzo's."
Jiraiya thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah… that does fit his style.
But this one's even more extreme."
"Shut it!"
Tsunade couldn't take it anymore and hammered a fist down on Jiraiya's head.
He yelped, clutching his head, stars dancing before his eyes.
Orochimaru was already used to this kind of scene. His attention returned to the three-man squad as he commented, "Such caution…"
Going back through the corpses to finish them off—not something you saw often.
No—Orochimaru had never seen it before.
…
"Captain, no survivors."
After checking every body, Sarutobi Toku returned to report.
Hajime nodded, then turned and walked over to Jiraiya and the others.
"How long until you can move?"
Tsunade replied seriously, "Give me five more minutes."
Hajime nodded. "Once you're done, evacuate immediately and head for the Land of Fire. We'll handle the rear guard."
Jiraiya asked, "You think the Sky Ninja will come at us again?"
Before Hajime could respond, Orochimaru cut in, "Don't ask such a stupid question."
"The Sky Ninja have already made their move. Of course they won't back down so easily."
Jiraiya recalled what the enemy had said during the earlier ambush.
"Sounds like they wanted to capture one of us alive… probably to exchange as a hostage."
"These bastards—looks like they're not afraid of triggering a war.
There's information we don't know about yet."
Orochimaru immediately thought of the Hidden Cloud Village.
Compared to Amegakure, the Sky Ninja Village was far weaker—yet they repeatedly provoked Konoha. That didn't make sense.
Unless they had a powerful backer.
That would explain everything.
The silent Hajime was thinking the same thing.
North of the Land of the Moon was the Land of Lightning.
A conflict between Konoha and the Sky Ninja, regardless of the outcome, would only benefit Kumogakure.
Of course—
There was always the possibility that the Sky Ninja's leader was just insane.
Thinking of Shinnō, the one who created the Zero-Tails, Hajime figured that possibility couldn't be ruled out.
Five minutes later.
Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Orochimaru began their retreat.
Hajime didn't follow them. Instead, he and Sarutobi Toku's trio began using the scattered corpses on the battlefield to set up traps.
About ten minutes later, Hajime raised his hand. "Scatter!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh—!
The four of them instantly vanished from the grass, each disappearing into the surrounding forest.
***
Meanwhile…
Having passed through the forest, Tsunade suddenly turned around. "Jiraiya, can you sense them?"
Jiraiya shook his head. "They probably have other orders."
Tsunade frowned. "So we're just leaving like this?"
All three of them were jōnin, while Hajime Hoshita's squad—aside from the captain himself—consisted of shinobi who, in her eyes, weren't even at tokubetsu jōnin level.
Even though she didn't like Danzo...
Hajime had clearly saved them back there.
They were all Konoha shinobi—Tsunade didn't want to abandon her comrades and retreat, especially not when the ones staying behind were weaker.
Jiraiya knew what Tsunade was thinking and said, "They'll probably catch up soon."
"Besides, we have something more important to do—we need to bring this intel back as soon as possible and get the village to reconsider its stance on the Sky Ninja Village."
Tsunade shook her head. "If it's just about intel, one person is enough."
With that, she stopped moving.
Jiraiya quickly stopped as well, turning to Orochimaru. "Orochimaru, you take the intel back to Konoha. Tsunade and I are staying."
Idiots.
Orochimaru cursed them inwardly, but turned back nonetheless and said calmly, "It's just the Sky Ninja."
"We weren't even going all out earlier."
Jiraiya grinned at that. "Exactly. We can't let the Root guys show us up!"
Tsunade scoffed, but her eyes were smiling.
And so, the three of them headed back the way they came.
***
In the forest...
Hidden behind a tree, Hajime suddenly frowned and turned his head.
Why are they back?
He looked at the three with confusion.
Jiraiya called out with a smile, "Two squads working together gives us better odds, right?"
Hajime was speechless.
How am I supposed to use Wood Release with you around?
Without Wood Release, how am I supposed to make an impression—how can I intimidate Sarutobi Toku and the others further?
Should I silence them?
But I can't beat them!
And besides… who could bring themselves to harm those golden twin tails?
Looking at the trio, Hajime gave a small nod. "If that's the case, then you should set up on the far side of the forest."
Jiraiya nodded right away. "No problem!"
As the three of them retreated, Hajime could hear Tsunade yelling from afar:
"Jiraiya, you idiot! Why'd you agree so fast? We're the ones leading this mission!"
Still, despite her grumbling, Tsunade had no real intention of contesting command.
She knew very well that Hajime and his squad had likely already set everything up. Interfering rashly would only cause chaos.
Her complaints were more about her dislike for Danzo than anything else.
Hajime didn't mind Tsunade's complaints.
Their mission was already complete, after all.
Having them return to fight by his side wasn't a bad outcome.
Of course—whether they helped or not didn't really matter to him.
Not because he was arrogant.
It was just that the plan had never involved fighting side by side in the first place.
Even if things went south, Hajime was confident he could escape.
***
Time ticked by.
About twenty minutes later, shadows began to appear.
At the edge of the forest, Hajime's Wood Clone was merged with a large tree—only his face visible—watching as Sky Ninja emerged one by one.
Not many. Just eight.
They quickly entered the battlefield, cautiously inspecting the corpses.
Before long, a middle-aged Sky Ninja spoke up. "Looks like Konoha was ready for this. There wasn't just one three-man squad like our intel said."
"With just our two squads, we probably won't achieve much. We'll need to request reinforcements."
Another team leader, a kunoichi, frowned. "It's probably been at least thirty minutes since they left. Even if we call for help now, it'll be too late."
The middle-aged Sky Ninja smiled. "You haven't forgotten about the Hidden Cloud, have you?"
"They already had people in position. We just turned them down at first."
"But in this situation… it doesn't really matter anymore."
(End of Chapter)
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T/N:
This is the end of initial uploads, you can expect daily updates (2 chaps/day mostly + bonus chapters according to powerstones). As always you can find extra chapters on my Patreon/RedX43.
Hope you like the story!
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