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Naruto: IHCS Ch. 97
🕑 Added 2025-08-18 01:24:27 +0000 UTCIn the heart of the Land of Grass, Suna's position was set against several high cliffs and ruins. The Suna ninjas clung to the rocks like mo
In the heart of the Land of Grass, Suna's position was set against several high cliffs and ruins. The Suna ninjas clung to the rocks like moss, blending seamlessly into the terrain.
Before them stood countless puppets, their presence making one's scalp tingle.
Hundreds of puppets of varying shapes and sizes stood on the scorched earth, facing Konoha's forces.
Each puppet was entangled with chakra threads, so fine they were almost imperceptible to the naked eye.
Behind several of the puppets appeared a red-haired figure.
Akasuna raised his hands slightly, ten fingers linked to the puppets.
Behind him, the ninjas wore masks that hid their faces, leaving only sharp eyes exposed, eyes filled with fearlessness and hatred.
But unlike the others, his gaze contained no killing intent. Instead, his eyes burned with deep interest as they locked onto a white figure in the distance.
Across from them, Konoha's formation was heavy with tension.
Every Konoha ninja gripped their kunai or blades so tightly that their knuckles whitened. Beyond their vigilance, their eyes betrayed a trace of concealed anxiety.
These puppets were far too troublesome!
Slowly, their gazes shifted from the enemy's puppets to the solitary figure standing at the very front of Konoha's formation.
Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake.
He stood tall, his silver-white hair drifting slightly in the wind.
A short blade hung casually at his waist, appearing utterly ordinary.
Like Akasuna, his eyes carried no killing intent, only the calmness of an unfathomable deep sea. His presence alone was like a divine anchor, suppressing the unease and fear in the hearts of the Konoha ninjas.
The enemy had a puppet master, but Konoha had the White Fang.
The battlefield was silent. The sound of the wind sweeping across it seemed exceptionally clear.
Konoha and Suna faced each other without a word. Both sides waited for the moment to strike.
At last, Akasuna twitched his fingers, and the puppets before him suddenly flew toward Konoha. The movement of the puppets shattered the stillness of the battlefield. Like a stone splashing into water, the ripples surged violently.
The cries of battle erupted as Suna and Konoha clashed. Ninjas on both sides charged forward, eyes blazing with hatred.
Sakumo quickly noticed something unusual about this puppet master.
He had crossed blades with Akasuna before on the battlefield, but today, something about him felt different.
Akasuna was unnervingly calm. His eyes even carried a trace of scrutiny, almost playful. He seemed completely out of step with the chaos around him.
Sakumo's brows furrowed, a faint gleam flashing in his eyes.
Akasuna's pupils lit up faintly, scanning Sakumo's body with growing excitement.
Meanwhile, his ten fingers danced nimbly, manipulating the puppets. Poisoned senbon swarmed down like a dense hive of bees, their sharp whistling filling the air. The puppet bodies spun rapidly midair, sharp blades snapping out from every joint.
"Defend!"
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
The Konoha ninjas reacted instantly, the lights of diverse jutsu flashing across the battlefield.
Then, a streak of silver light cut across the field.
The pure, concentrated blade light split an onrushing puppet cleanly in half.
Sakumo, blade in hand, locked his gaze firmly on Akasuna.
So fast!
Akasuna's pupils shrank suddenly, the excitement in his eyes growing even stronger.
Boom.
Sakumo's short blade crashed against the puppet's crossed arms, sparks flying. A deep gash carved itself across the puppet's forearms. The tremendous impact transmitted back through the puppet, shaking Akasuna's own arms violently, leaving his fingers numb.
"Konoha's White Fang… truly worthy of the name."
Akasuna's voice, filled with exhilaration, reached Sakumo's ears.
A flicker of doubt flashed in Sakumo's eyes.
Strange. From the way Akasuna spoke, it sounded as if this were their first encounter, yet they had fought before.
Suddenly, Akasuna raised both hands, his ten fingers moving in a rapid flurry through the air. The faint blue chakra threads entwined at his fingertips whipped about madly, controlling the puppets.
"Red Secret Technique: Performance of a Hundred Puppets!"
Over a hundred puppets surged forward.
Yet in the next instant, Sakumo's figure vanished from Akasuna's sight.
As the circle of a hundred puppets closed in to strangle him, he moved, his form becoming a silver flash that tore through the heavens.
Countless streaks of silver light erupted outward from Sakumo's position, spreading in all directions.
The blade light wove together in midair into a vast, all-encompassing net, enveloping every puppet.
"So strong…"
Akasuna's voice trembled as he gazed upon the explosion of silver brilliance. But it was not from fear, it was from excitement, from exhilaration.
"What an incredible body…"
The corners of his lips curled upward, and his eyes blazed with feverish light. Once more, he lifted his hands, forcing hundreds of puppets to dance to his command.
---
Rasa staggered back into Suna in a sorry state. He was immediately taken to see the Third Kazekage.
"Kazekage-sama…"
He knelt on one knee, not lifting his head. He could clearly feel the Third Kazekage's gaze upon him.
Cold.
Merciless.
The Third Kazekage's eyes swept over him from head to toe.
This was not the posture of a victor.
"Why are you the only one?" he asked in a deep voice.
Even if Rasa said nothing, he had already guessed the truth.
He simply did not want to believe it, that Ame, a village so newly established, could have utterly defeated Suna. And yet, Rasa had returned alone.
"What about Pakura?"
Before Rasa could answer, he pressed further.
Rasa swallowed hard. His heart sank to the bottom of the abyss. He cautiously raised his head, meeting the Kazekage's eyes, seething with suppressed fury.
Drawing in a deep breath, Rasa said slowly, "Pakura is dead. We were defeated… I was the only one who survived."
The Kazekage closed his eyes. The office fell into deathly silence.
Behind him, Ebizō held his breath, his pupils trembling.
How could this be?
How could Suna's elite be completely annihilated?
No one knew how much time passed before the Kazekage opened his eyes again. His palm slammed heavily on the desk, the sound reverberating through the room.
Rasa's heart jolted with the impact.
When he raised his head, he found the Kazekage already standing before him.
"I entrusted you and Pakura with so many ninjas, three times the number Ame had, and you still lost?"
His teeth ground together.
Rasa clenched his jaw. "There was an accident!"
"What accident?"
The Kazekage's icy gaze bore down on him.
"A ninja appeared in Ame. He could summon terrifying monsters, and in just an instant, he slaughtered all of our ninjas…" Rasa explained.
The Kazekage's brows furrowed deeply.
If he didn't know Rasa's character, he would almost suspect that Rasa was fabricating a lie to deceive him.
"Tell me everything about him."
He returned to his seat. His brows did not relax.
Just the thought of such a ninja appearing in Ame left him restless, unable to eat or sleep.
Why did he have to appear now? Why in Ame of all places?
"His name is Shiratori. Judging by his appearance, he doesn't seem to be even ten years old, around eight or nine at most…"
Rasa recalled in his mind the image of that little demon on the battlefield.
Before he could finish his words, the Third Kazekage interrupted.
"What did you say?"
He leaned forward, staring at Rasa in disbelief. "A child defeated the elite ninjas of Suna?"
His voice grew louder, laced with furious anger.
Under the Kazekage's glare, Rasa slowly nodded.
Bang!
The Kazekage's palm slammed against the table again. His breathing quickened. It took him a long while to calm down.
"Continue."
"I split forces with Pakura. I led a group to reclaim the border camp, while she went to the gorge to fight the Ame ninjas…"
"I thought her victory was certain, but unexpectedly…"
He paused for a moment, then continued under the Kazekage's sharp gaz,: "When I fought Hanzō, we had already gained the upper hand. The Ame ninjas were heavily injured, barely any could stand. But then, to my shock, the Ame ninjas from the gorge returned alive and reinforced Hanzō…"
He shook his head. "I have never seen such bizarre ninjutsu. The boy summoned several monsters."
Recalling the battlefield, his black eyes darkened, and the images of those rampaging monsters resurfaced in his mind.
"The first monster was enormous, at least twenty meters tall. Normal ninjutsu had no effect on it…"
"The second monster resembled a human. It had blue hair and heterochromatic eyes, but its entire body was covered in suture lines. Whoever it touched either exploded and died, or… was turned into a monster."
The Kazekage's brows tightened, his whole body radiating a chill. "Turned into a monster?"
Rasa nodded and explained, "Yes. Whoever its hand touched would transform into a mindless beast, attacking their own former comrades."
Suspicion and dread flickered in the Kazekage's eyes. He motioned for Rasa to go on.
"The third monster was strange. Many ninjas were infected with smallpox and died."
"The fourth monster also resembled a human, but without suture lines, nearly indistinguishable from a real person. It could manipulate blood, and it was extremely fast."
"The fifth monster's head was shaped like a mountain. It could spew flames and magma, its heat unbearable, its nature cruel and violent."
"The sixth monster…"
A bloody haze clouded Rasa's vision. He remembered the blood of his Suna comrades being spilled before his eyes.
His throat tightened, his pupils stained red. "The sixth monster had four arms and two faces. Its power was overwhelming, greater than an average jonin. Its sudden arrival instantly changed the battle, cutting apart the remaining Suna ninjas in an instant."
The Kazekage's pupils contracted sharply.
At his side Ebizō was filled with shock.
Impossible! Suna ninjas, cut down in an instant?!
"Shiratori…"
The Kazekage said the name slowly. His voice carried an endless killing intent.
"Does he have any other monsters?" he asked in a low tone.
Rasa hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.
"No more?" the Kazekage pressed.
Rasa pursed his lips. "I do not know."
The Kazekage's heart sank.
Why would someone like that appear in Ame of all places? Why?!
He closed his eyes briefly, steadying his breath.
"Kazekage-sama."
A voice came from behind the door, it was the ANBU.
"Come in."
The Kazekage glanced at Rasa, then spoke toward the door.
A shadowy figure appeared silently before him.
The ANBU knelt on one knee and presented the intelligence report in his hands.
"This is news from the battlefield in the Land of Grass."
The Kazekage cast a look at the ANBU, took the scroll, and quickly scanned through its contents.
Bang!
The scroll slammed hard against the wall.
"Kazekage-sama?"
Ebizō looked at him anxiously.
"A crushing defeat on the front lines…
We lost ten jonin, over three hundred chunin, and more than eight hundred genin…"
The Kazekage braced himself against the desk, his body trembling violently. His eyes turned bloodshot, he wanted nothing more than to rush to the battlefield and slaughter every last Konoha ninja.
"All ten jonin died at the hands of the White Fang… Very well! Once again, it's him!"
He nodded again and again, his killing intent almost taking tangible form.
"Akasuna and Karasu…"
Ebizō could not help but ask, his voice filled with worry.
The Kazekage's gaze swept over him, and he sighed silently. "Akasuna is alive…"
"That's good…"
Ebizō let out a breath of relief.
"But…"
The Kazekage's tone shifted.
A chill ran through Ebizō's entire body. He opened his mouth, only to see regret flickering in the Kazekage's eyes.
"Karasu is dead. Akasuna is gravely injured…"
The Kazekage's words made Ebizō's vision spin.
What!
Karasu… Karasu is dead… And Akasuna gravely injured…
How could he tell his sister? How could he face Sasori? The child was still so young!
"Go deliver the news to Chiyo."
The Kazekage spoke to Ebizō, who suddenly looked ten years older.
He nodded vacantly, like a wandering soul, and drifted out of the Kazekage's office.
"Spread information about Shiratori throughout the shinobi world."
The Kazekage fixed his gaze on Rasa and gave the order.
"Yes."
After Rasa withdrew, he rubbed his temples wearily.
Now the village was seething with war-weariness, both battlefronts had ended in crushing defeats… How was he supposed to calm the hearts of the people?
