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Naruto: IHCS Ch. 119
🕑 Added 2025-09-09 15:24:28 +0000 UTCShiratori pondered for a moment.
What was this supposed to be?
A rehearsal in advance? So that in the future, Yahiko and Nagato would have some experience dealing with such a situation. Looking at it this way, this assassination attempt wasn't entirely a bad thing.
He glanced at Yahiko and Nagato beside him, curiosity hidden in his eyes.
How would Yahiko and Nagato handle this?
"Don't hurt her!"
Yahiko shouted nervously at the ninja. The blood flowing down Konan's neck was like a sharp blade.
Shiratori, Nagato, Konan.
He could not accept the death of any one of them.
The one left alive would be the one who suffered most. The only death he could accept was his own.
In that instant, he seemed to see things more clearly.
It didn't matter if he died, Shiratori would carry their dream forward. That way, it was as if he still lived.
A smile appeared on his face, but it was stiff, like a mask forcibly stuck there, while a film of tears clouded his eyes.
He wasn't afraid of death. He couldn't bear to leave everyone. He really couldn't bear to.
"Let her go. Take me instead."
He drew a kunai from his ninja pouch.
At that moment, it felt as if his soul had already left his body, calmly standing aside as an outsider, watching himself move.
He didn't know why he was able to be so calm.
"Yahiko..."
"No!"
Konan's tears poured out uncontrollably. A trace of hatred flickered in her eyes. If it came to this, she would rather die here and now. She absolutely would not allow Yahiko and the others to be threatened because of her.
Nagato's pupils dilated as he stared blankly at Yahiko.
Seeing this, Shiratori immediately realized Nagato had sunk into his own world again. At times like this, Nagato was terribly unreliable.
Konan glared bitterly at the ninja holding her, took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and, to the ninja's shock, threw herself against the kunai.
She moved so fast that even the ninja couldn't react.
"Konan!"
Yahiko bolted toward her like lightning, tears spilling from his eyes.
Bang.
Konan's neck slammed into something cold.
But it wasn't the sharpness of a blade. At least... She didn't feel any piercing pain.
Her eyes flew wide open.
Before her was a gentle smiling face. Stitches covered his cheeks, but they did nothing to diminish his smile.
"Oh my... How could you be so cruel to such a lovely girl?"
Mahito held the ninja's kunai with one hand and gripped the ninja's head with the other.
"Run along now."
He grinned at her. "Otherwise, you'll be scared."
Goosebumps broke out all over Konan's arms, and she instinctively retreated until her back bumped into Shiratori. He grabbed Konan's wrist and pulled her behind him.
[Affection detected: Konan +2000 points]
[Curse Growth - Love: 52%]
Shiratori looked at Mahito before him. "He's yours."
Mahito's smile grew sweet. "Mhm! Got it!"
He was more than happy. He cradled the ninja's head with both hands.
It was as if he couldn't see the deep fear etched into the ninja's face.
The ninja's whole body went stiff, unable to move. He wanted to move, wanted to escape, but he couldn't. His head was gripped too tightly.
No, more precisely, it wasn't just his head.
It was his soul... His soul was being held in someone's grasp. If he so much as twitched, his head would explode. His pupils quivered inside their sockets as though struck by lightning.
He opened his mouth, but not a single word came out.
There was fear.
There was regret.
Why had he come here?
Why had he accepted this mission?
"Now, now, that's naughty, why would you threaten such a lovely girl?" Mahito asked with feigned puzzlement.
Hearing Mahito's twisted words, Shiratori's expression grew complicated.
A cursed spirit scolding a human instead?
The world was upside down!
"Don't you know that by doing this, you're hurting him?"
Mahito turned back and flashed Shiratori a sweet smile.
"..."
This time, even Shiratori's skin broke out in goosebumps.
"So tell me, how should I punish you?" he asked as though troubled.
The ninja opened his mouth, forcing out a broken rasp from his throat. He couldn't even string together a complete sentence.
But his eyes were filled with pleading.
Don't kill me!
He knew he was wrong! He really knew he was wrong!
Bang!
The ninja's head burst like a ripe watermelon smashed on the ground, exploding in an instant. Blood and brain matter splattered across the walls.
Mahito stood in place, touched the blood on his face, then kicked the headless corpse lying on the ground.
[Fear detected]
[Multiple sources: +3000 points each]
[Total accumulated: 12,000 points]
[Energy transferred to Hanami]
[Development progress: 92.37%]
Yahiko and Konan stood behind Shiratori, their pupils dilated, staring unblinking at the scene before them.
So much blood... Their trembling eyes gradually focused on his figure standing in front of them.
It was all because of him. Shiratori was doing this only to protect them. He was always protecting them. Without him, they would be the ones lying dead in that pool of blood now.
A chill rose from their feet and spread through their whole bodies.
"Stitches... mismatched eyes... death at a touch..."
"He is..."
"Shiratori!"
The ninjas and samurai hiding in the shadows all had the same name flash through their minds.
Suna had spread information about Shiratori of Ame throughout the shinobi world. Most borderland ninjas and ronin had heard of this name. It had even been a frequent topic of idle chatter at mealtimes.
And now, the bearer of that name stood right before them. If not for the first assassin's failure, they would never have recognized the man before them as Shiratori.
Because he was nothing like ordinary prodigy ninjas!
He was a true veteran of the battlefield, one who had survived, and left behind a fearsome reputation in enemy lands.
For missing-nin like them, how could they possibly compare with him?
"All right, you may go back now."
Shiratori said to Mahito.
"..."
Already? Going back so soon?
But he hadn't played enough yet.
A violet vortex swallowed Mahito's figure.
The ninjas lurking in the shadows all let out a sigh of relief.
Shiratori stroked the ring on his finger and whispered softly, "Come forth, Rika."
Thick black mist overflowed from the ring on his finger.
The relaxed mood of the ninjas did not even last a second. An icy, chilling aura instantly engulfed everything. The ninjas hiding in the shadows suddenly felt locked in by an invisible, freezing gaze.
They were like statues frozen in place, their whole bodies stiff, unable to move.
A piercing shriek exploded from the depths of everyone's soul. The roar shook the entire Aomine as if it were trembling. A massive figure began to take shape within the black mist.
In an instant, the buildings were torn apart by the enormous body of Rika.
Her gigantic form was fully exposed under the moonlight.
Everyone inside the inn panicked, rushing out of their rooms and fleeing in the opposite direction.
Some even fainted on the road.
The inn crumbled into ruins beneath her body.
The ninjas lurking in the shadows were completely exposed before Rika's eyes.
She let out a deafening scream; within her gaping, blood-red mouth, sharp teeth gleamed coldly under the night, like countless long blades stuck upside down in her jaws.
"I advise you not to act rashly."
Shiratori's gaze swept over the ninjas who had intended to sneak away.
Rika loomed beside him, towering over the group of ninjas. A soul-freezing chill radiated from her.
The ninjas and samurai stood frozen in place, unable to move. They all knew very clearly: whoever moved would immediately enrage the giant monster before them.
Very quickly, apart from these night-raiding ninjas and samurai, everyone else in the vicinity had fled.
The night fell into dead silence.
Konan looked up at Rika, taller than any building, mouth agape in shock.
Rika had grown this tall?!
Amazing!
In just a short time, she had already grown this much!
Yahiko stared dumbfounded at the colossal figure before him.
Rika, already massive to begin with, had become even larger; now they barely reached the height of her ankle.
With Rika glaring down at these intruders, Shiratori felt completely at ease. He believed that if anyone tried to move, she would immediately strike, slapping them into meat patties.
He turned his eyes toward Konan.
"Konan, just now, you threw yourself into death. In battle, as long as there's even the slimmest chance of survival, you must not let it go. Even if you only managed to bite a ninja's wrist, that would have been better than running headlong into a kunai. Even if you failed, at least you would have tried your best to live."
Konan lowered her head in shame.
"I understand... I'll definitely train harder from now on!"
Tears welled up in her eyes.
After the lesson, he followed with encouragement-
"I don't want to lose a single one of you. I hope each and every one of you will cherish your life."
Konan nodded, her voice already breaking into sobs: "Yes!"
Only now did she feel the relief of having narrowly escaped death.
She wasn't crying from his scolding, she was moved by the fact that she was still alive.
"And you, Yahiko."
Shiratori shifted his gaze onto Yahiko.
Even though Yahiko was actually the oldest among the four of them, at this moment, standing before him, he looked more like a child being disciplined.
He lowered his head in embarrassment.
"How can you let yourself waver just because of a single sentence from the enemy? I know Konan means a lot to us, but precisely because she means so much, our first reaction should be to think of ways to rescue her, not to throw away your own life in exchange for hers!"
"Have you thought about... Have you thought about me, Nagato, and Konan?"
"If you died, the three of us would be left to live in pain!"
Yahiko's eyes reddened again, and he sniffled.
Indeed, Shiratori was right. Now that his emotions had cooled, he realized what a foolish mistake he had just made.
"Don't cry! I know I was wrong! I won't ever do that again!"
Yahiko rushed forward and hugged him tightly.
[Affection detected: Yahiko +3000 points]
[Curse Growth - Love: 52.3%]
Shiratori blinked. When had he started crying?
He'd only choked on his words just now. But let this beautiful misunderstanding continue. He patted Yahiko on the back, signaling for him to let go.
There was still someone else here who hadn't been properly taught a lesson.
"Nagato."
The moment Shiratori called his name, Nagato flinched. He lifted his head blankly, as though finally awakening from a world of his own.
Seeing Nagato's dazed expression, as if he didn't even know what day it was, Shiratori felt a surge of helplessness.
What on earth was Nagato always lost in thought about?
Could it be lingering trauma from the deaths of his parents?
Every time tragedy struck, he seemed to shut down, shutting out everything, only to wake up again after the crisis had passed.
"Why did you freeze up just now?"
"Huh?"
His tone softened. Nagato's heart was fragile, he was afraid a single harsh word might drive him back into his shell.
"Just now, what you should have done was take advantage of Yahiko drawing the ninja's attention, circle around them in secret, and attack, then rescue Konan. Isn't that right?"
"I..."
Nagato opened his mouth, but his mind went blank. That was what he should have done.
But what had he been doing at the time?
He had been so consumed by fear, fear that Konan and Yahiko might die, that his body had refused to move.
