Malphegor
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HSU: Ch. 51
🕑 Added 2024-12-07 14:58:34 +0000 UTCMasashi sensed the approaching Kiri ninjas. None of them had chakra levels that matched Fuguki.
These people weren't his mission goal, so he decided to observe them first. He concealed himself.
In no time, a large group of Kiri ninjas arrived at the location, radiating killing intent.
"Where is he?"
"No one's here?"
"Again, no one?"
"The sensor reported movement here," one of the scouts called out, scanning the area with narrowed eyes.
"Spread out. Check everything," the leader commanded.
They're telegraphing their intentions, Masashi thought as the group of Kiri ninjas practically turned the ground over in their search but found nothing.
"Forget it, probably just an animal setting off the trap," muttered the team leader. He seemed to be in a hurry. "Be ready, our target will be here soon!"
The Kiri ninjas' eyes gleamed sharply.
"This time, we must kill that woman and avenge our fallen comrades!" he declared vehemently, waving his hand to signal the group to move out.
"What if she brings backup?" one of his subordinates asked.
The captain's lips curved into a cruel smile. "She trusts us. Suna's guarantee ensures it."
But just a few minutes later, the same Kiri ninjas came back again.
After another round of checking with no results, they finally relaxed a bit and left once more.
Hidden in the water, his technique perfectly masking his presence, Masashi couldn't even be bothered to mock them anymore. Their repeated searches were becoming almost comical.
Kiri ninjas and their flair for drama...
Oh well, might as well wait; they'd probably come back another one or two times.
Sure enough, as he lay concealed in the water, he watched the group of Kiri ninjas coming and going, wasting a good amount of time. Their patterns were predictable, their movements betraying their inexperience with actual stealth operations.
If he hadn't had more pressing matters to attend to, he would have taught them how to do it correctly.
Finally, the Kiri ninjas were done with their antics and rushed off in a specific direction.
This time, it looked genuine. No more acting. Their chakra signatures had shifted from performative to focused intent. Judging from their earlier words, it seemed they were in a hurry to deal with someone.
Masashi emerged from the water, dispelling his technique. The direction the Kiri ninjas had gone was exactly where he had entered this area.
There was a valley there.
Using the Flying Thunder God, he disappeared from his spot.
After a few relocations, he appeared at a high vantage point overlooking the valley. The terrain provided perfect sight lines while offering multiple escape routes if needed.
It wasn't that he wanted to meddle, but Fuguki had previously been in contact with members of Root. Those meeting points always had personnel stationed, but the location he checked earlier was empty, with no signals left behind.
This made him suspect that Fuguki might have already been eliminated.
Crouching on the cliff, he waited.
Soon, the same group of Kiri ninjas arrived. The team leader signaled, and they hid themselves on both sides of the valley walls, their deployment speaking of careful preparation.
Even Masashi's side wasn't spared, with some Kiri ninjas moving to hide nearby.
Unfortunately for them, before they could issue any warning, he swiftly took them out
One was left alive. Masashi grabbed him by the neck, activated his Sharingan, and hypnotized him.
"Tell me what you know about Fuguki."
"Dead... eliminated last month..." the ninja's voice was distant, trapped in the genjutsu.
"And your current mission?"
"Pakura... Suna's betrayal... agreement..."
Under his control, the Kiri ninja spilled everything.
The first was bad news—Fuguki had indeed been eliminated last month Well, there went the money. This trip was a bust.
But perhaps not entirely, as the second piece of news was much more intriguing.
The Kiri ninjas were preparing an ambush for an old enemy, Pakura of the Scorch Release.
This was part of an agreement between Suna and Kiri. As for the details of the agreement, the Kiri ninja didn't know, only that Suna had sent Pakura over to be killed.
Frowning, he snapped the ninja's neck, placed the body aside, and began to think.
His memory of Pakura was vague. He only recalled that she had been betrayed by Suna's leadership for the sake of the village's interests.
It sounded absurd, but in the shinobi world, it was quite normal.
In the era of nations with their own hidden villages, ninja clans with bloodline limits seemed cursed, targeted constantly, and their numbers dwindled faster than in the Warring States Period.
The Uchiha clan, for example, was wiped out by Konoha's leadership in the original timeline.
And this wasn't unique to Suna or Konoha.
Kiri's clans with bloodline limits would also be exterminated in waves, though Obito played a part in that. Even so, the Kiri ninjas seemed enthusiastic about the task.
As for Pakura's Scorch Release, it wasn't a clan-based bloodline limit. It seemed she was the only one in Suna with this ability, making her a rare and valuable asset.
What kind of benefit could possibly be so great that Suna would give up such a resource to Kiri?
It was incomprehensible.
He decided to investigate. If it really was Pakura, he'd simply rescue her. If Suna didn't want her, the Police Force could use her. His clan members would respect his decision.
Pakura wasn't weak, after all.
And she wouldn't want to return to a village that had sold her out.
Masashi repositioned himself on the cliff and activated his Sharingan, ready to observe.
Not long after, someone approached from the other end of the valley.
It was a woman dressed in eye-catching attire.
Her most prominent feature was her ample chest. Below, her long legs were sleek and well-shaped, her waist slim, and her hips curvy. Her hair color was rather unconventional, giving her an exotic beauty.
Her nose was sharp, and her eyes were cold.
Though, for sheer size, Tsunade still held the crown.
As Masashi's thoughts wandered, the Kiri ninja captain greeted the approaching figure with a friendly smile.
"May I ask, are you Pakura?"
"Yes." The woman nodded. "I am Pakura."
Seeing the Kiri ninja welcoming her, she thought little of them. She'd eliminated countless weaklings like these, none of whom posed a threat to her.
"I'm here to guide you. The mist here is thick and full of traps," the captain said dutifully. "Please stay close to me."
"You're too kind." Representing Suna in forming friendly ties with Kiri, Pakura maintained a polite smile.
She walked toward the captain, who had already turned around. However, she didn't notice the hatred in his eyes as he turned away.
So, just as she moved alongside the captain, she was attacked.
The Kiri ninjas, raised under the Third Mizukage's Bloody Mist policy, excelled at sudden knife attacks—the best in the shinobi world.
Realizing the danger, she reacted quickly, but the captain had timed his strike perfectly, wounding her with a kunai.
Though the wound wasn't deep, it had successfully injured her.
"Feel the pain our comrades endured when they were slaughtered!"
The captain swiftly retreated, unwilling to face Pakura's Scorch Release head-on.
His attack was the signal. Shuriken flew in volleys from one side of the valley.
The captain initially smiled, then frowned.
Why only one side? Where were the others?
Even so, it was enough to trouble her.
The kunai was poisoned. Despite Suna's expertise with toxins, Pakura herself wasn't a poison specialist. Worse, the poison on the captain's kunai was custom-made and not easily countered.
The toxin slowed her nerves. Despite her efforts to evade, over a dozen shuriken hit her back.
None were ordinary—they all carried poison.
She fell to the ground with a thud, paralyzed. Unless someone intervened, her decapitation was certain.
The captain smiled. Though part of his team hadn't attacked, Pakura had fallen, and his vengeance was complete He was so ecstatic he nearly howled at the sky.
But his joy was short-lived.
A massive fireball lit up his face, roaring past with devastating force and exploding against the cliff, instantly killing several Kiri ninjas. The heat was intense enough to vaporize the moisture in the air, creating a temporary clear zone in the mist.
Before the captain could react, a figure swooped in, hoisted Pakura onto their shoulder, and bolted. The movement was so swift it seemed like they'd teleported.
---
On Earth, all ball games have standardized sizes for their balls. This ensures fair competition.
Otherwise, the varying sizes would severely affect performance.
Having been hit in the face by balls more than once, Masashi found himself pondering this principle of standardization.
He had picked her up the wrong way. Not that he minded.
In his first round of life, carrying all kinds of women, he had never encountered a situation like this before.
Kunoichi of the Warring States Period had maintained strict standards. So why, after the establishment of the One Nation, One Village system, did so many female ninja seem to abandon such uniformity?
Was it the middle-class lifestyle?
The expanded dating pool causing genetic diversity?
Take Tsunade's transformation from 'modest' to 'impressive' without marriage—was this another example of how peacetime prosperity changed ninja society?
Realizing his thoughts had wandered into inappropriate territory during a rescue, he decided not to pursue this line of thinking further. Better to focus on the task at hand.
Chakra signatures ahead. Six... no, seven Kiri ninjas. Through his Sharingan, Masashi spotted the approaching squad on the cliff. Their formation suggested they were hunting rather than patrolling.
His hands moved swiftly through the seals—Snake, Ram, Monkey, Boar, Horse, Tiger.
The chakra molded perfectly in his lungs.
After blasting away the Kiri ninjas appearing on a cliff with a Great Fireball, he used the Flying Thunder God to swiftly pick up Pakura, teleporting away in an instant.
The massive sphere of flames illuminated the cliff face, forcing the Kiri ninjas to scatter.
When it came to unrelated individuals, he avoided unnecessary killing.
Moreover, Kiri's "pond" was valuable to Masashi—a sustainable resource worth preserving, including its "fish."
"Don't let them escape!" A voice echoed from behind as they vanished.
The cries of the Kiri ninjas quickly faded from his ears. On the journey, all obstacles came solely from Pakura.
After being smacked in the face repeatedly, Masashi finally escaped from the valley where Kiri was located, running far away. His movements were precise despite the awkward burden.
"You picked a fine time to need rescuing," he muttered to his unconscious cargo.
The Flying Thunder God couldn't stop the two "balls" from falling and swinging freely. They even fought each other. Nature's forces truly were infinite.
So, mid-flight, he had no choice but to adjust her position.
Much better.
Eventually, Masashi arrived at a relatively dry cave. He had prepared this spot earlier by setting up a Flying Thunder God seal and roasting the space with fire jutsu. His Sharingan swept the perimeter, confirming no unwanted visitors.
It was perfect for a temporary rest.
As for wild animals—don't be ridiculous. The shinobi world has no animal protection laws; in fact, eliminating wild beasts was often a low-level mission for chunin.
In the cave, he laid the unconscious Pakura on a hay pile. After examining her, he confirmed she had been really poisoned. He gave her a universal antidote developed by the Nara clan to sustain her condition.
Then he got up, took out his sealing scroll, and retrieved camping equipment like a tent.
Once everything was set up, Pakura already looked healthier.
Kiri's poisons were weak. When it came to toxins, Suna was unmatched.
The only person who ever surpassed Suna in poison mastery was Hanzō of the Salamander from Ame.
Pakura was still unconscious, so he squatted next to her. His Sharingan traced the flow of chakra through her system, monitoring the antidote's progress.
Although the antidote had helped, it likely wasn't fully effective, and the poison wasn't entirely neutralized.
No big deal—she could deal with it herself when she woke up.
After some thought, he decided to clean himself up.
One misstep had ended up covering him in mud. Even half his shoulder was caked in it.
Despite his current appearance, he was a very clean person.
He had chosen this cave for a reason. It was not only secluded but also spacious enough. After cleaning and drying it, the natural depressions inside could even serve as a bath.
Gathering some firewood, he lit a fire and went inside to bathe.
Fire and water—truly the best ninjutsu for both combat and everyday life.
Once finished, he rinsed the mud from his clothes with water and dried them with fire before putting them back on and returning to the tent.
Pakura's breathing was steady. Her chakra patterns have changed. She's awake.
"Hey, wake up," Masashi called.
Pakura kept sleeping.
Masashi felt insulted—did she doubt his professional skills?
Did she think he couldn't tell whether someone was awake just by looking at their chakra?
Fine.
Rolling up his sleeves, cloth in hand, he began wiping Pakura down. He had tolerated her being covered in mud for too long.
Sneak attack? Impossible.
After the Third Great Ninja War, no Kiri ninja could ambush him. Pakura's Scorch Release could never match the speed of his ice.
That said, even as he wiped her down, he avoided inappropriate areas.
Touching her unnecessarily while she was immobile? He wasn't that kind of person.
Such behavior was an insult to his standing.
If anything, he considered himself polite for not making a crude comment like, "Do it yourself."
Back in the day, he had been quite the charmer among kunoichi. Though he never understood why things never worked out in the end.
They even called him a "scumbag."
How had matters of love turned into accusations of scumminess? Women's hearts were like the depths of the ocean.
After finishing, Masashi couldn't ignore the mud left on two particular areas. Torn between his OCD and the risk of being labeled "creepy," he chose to address the OCD.
If he cleaned everything but left that bit behind, it would drive him crazy.
Fortunately, he had a solution.
With the precise control of his Sharingan and exceptional chakra manipulation, he used wind to generate a stable airflow. This lifted the cloth, which he maneuvered toward the "two peaks."
In terms of fire, water, and wind, he preferred not to rely on fixed techniques for wind. Instead, he embraced its natural properties. His Wind Release resembled the Gentle Fist of the Hyūga clan.
This skill was honed during his first life, thanks to a certain Hyūga princess.
Although that slap hurt—it left his face swollen for a month. Why did she use Gentle Fist for a slap? Wasn't she worried about hurting him?
His mind was drifting again.
With this technique, though he failed to replicate the string-manipulated shuriken technique using wind, cleaning up was easy.
Quickly and precisely, the cloth moved, enveloped, and spun.
Beautifully executed.
He tossed the cloth aside, leaving it be.
Settling down by the fire, he snacked on some rations.
Soldier pills were made from ordinary food ingredients mixed with special additives, designed for quick digestion and energy replenishment. High-quality pills were better balanced and harmless to the body. Ultimately, they were food, not medicine.
But they tasted awful.
Masashi had once tried to create his own recipe. The result? Even worse.
Since then, he stuck to the standard issue from his clan.
Behind him came a noise. Finally dropping the act.
Turning, he saw Pakura sitting up, staring at him. Her eyes were sharp, assessing, already calculating possible escape routes and combat scenarios.
"Why did you save me?" she asked. Though aware he had rescued her and likely meant no harm, she still needed to discern his intentions.
After all, there were no identifying marks on him.
"Because I can," Masashi replied reflexively, slipping into his usual persona.
Seeing her reaction, he quickly apologized. "Sorry, force of habit. Wrong context."
He stood, activating his Sharingan.
"Member of the Police Force, Masashi. I've long admired your reputation, Pakura of the Scorch Release."
Hearing his name and seeing his Sharingan, Pakura was startled. Her posture shifted subtly from defensive to respectful.
"No, the admiration is mine…" As someone essentially part of Suna's upper echelon, she understood the kind of figure standing before her. "Thank you for saving me."
