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Chapter 116: The Blind Student Has Found the Crucial Point!
🕑 Added 2025-08-07 14:45:07 +0000 UTCChapter 116: The Blind Student Has Found the Crucial Point!
If it weren't for the fact that his status and position were inappropriate, Orochimaru would have wanted to ask Nara Keisuke to translate for him what exactly he meant by "sharing"!
"Hehe... hehe..."
Orochimaru let out a chilling, cold laugh, the expectant light in the depths of his eyes vanishing completely. "Nara-kun, directly skipping the steps to enjoy the result often does not lead to good feedback. Sometimes, even skipping just one small step will cause all subsequent calculations and results to become incomprehensible."
"It's fine, I enjoy it," Keisuke said with a shrug. "Besides, if I can't understand Lord Orochimaru's research results, I will naturally find someone else to help. For example, the Third Hokage—well, Lord Hokage is busy with a myriad of affairs every day, so I should probably seek help from Lady Tsunade! As you know, Lord Orochimaru, Lady Tsunade is an extremely outstanding medical ninja. No matter what the biological problem is, nothing can stump her."
"Hehe..."
Orochimaru once again let out two cold laughs. He decided to ignore this lazy brat who had Tsunade backing him up. Besides, this Explosion Release ninja was indeed the other's spoil of war.
However...
Orochimaru's cold eyes suddenly shifted to the other two members of the squad. "You two, do you think the same way? To 'share' research results from my hands?"
"Lord Orochimaru," Uchiha Shisui said, having no intention of provoking him at a time like this, "I have no interest in Explosion Release."
In Shisui's view, his Sharingan was thousands, tens of thousands of times stronger than some "Explosion Release." He hadn't even figured out his own Sharingan yet, why would he care about "Explosion Release"?
"Same here," Hyūga Retsu said, her attitude still concise. Her Byakugan was in no way inferior to any other Kekkei Genkai in the ninja world!
"That's good."
Orochimaru's response happened to cut off the last person in the squad from speaking. Shizune swallowed the words that had slipped to her lips back down. She had wanted to say that the capture of the Explosion Release ninja was all the captain's credit; she, an ordinary medic, had played almost no role in the battle. But that's no reason not to let others speak! It's as if no one else knew Lady Tsunade! Shizune was full of regret.
Orochimaru gathered up Kari and the other six corpses of the Explosion Corps. "In the intelligence report from before, there was still one Iwagakure ninja who escaped. Which direction did he flee in?"
Nara Keisuke looked at his own scout infantry and reminded her pointedly, "Hyūga, tell Lord Orochimaru the direction that Iwa ninja escaped."
Hyūga Retsu, with her large Byakugan, stiffly pointed in a direction for Orochimaru.
"Nara-kun," Orochimaru said before leaving, looking at Keisuke one last time, a chilling curve at the corner of his mouth. "The next time you're on the battlefield, you can come and ask me for those research results!"
"No problem," Keisuke agreed at once. "Also, Lord Orochimaru, that Iwa ninja is very good at escaping. You must be careful not to miss any of his tracks."
"Hehe." Orochimaru gave a faint smile, and his figure disappeared directly.
Nara Keisuke lay back down on the back of the shadow deer. Hyūga Retsu, seeing this, silently moved to the side he was facing. "Captain, you and Lord Orochimaru?"
"There was a tiny little conflict," Keisuke said with his eyes closed, unconcerned. "I imagine Lord Orochimaru won't hold it against me."
On the other side, Orochimaru followed Hyūga Retsu's directions and moved forward at high speed. Not long after, he arrived at the location where Keisuke's [Shadow Doppelganger] had fought Kakkō. However, sensing the still-lingering smell of blood and gunpowder in the air, as well as the scattered fragments of Kakkō on the ground, Orochimaru once again lightly licked the corner of his mouth and heavily called out that Nara family boy's name.
"Nara Keisuke!"
After the attack from the Iwagakure Explosion Corps, for the next period of time, the Konoha ninja team was not disturbed again. After nearly a week, the team arrived back at the village safe and sound.
Nara Keisuke and his squad first sent the wounded members of the team to Kikyo Castle—which was still Konoha's wartime medical hub—and then went to the village proper to hand in the mission.
Hokage's Office, top floor.
Nara Keisuke handed the mission scroll to Sarutobi Hiruzen. The panel quietly popped up with a notification.
[A-rank Ninja Commissioned Mission Scroll has been submitted!]
[A-rank Mission [Resource Transport] has been completed!]
[You have obtained one A-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]
"Keisuke, well..." Hiruzen was about to ask him how he felt after completing this A-rank mission. But he suddenly recalled the other's previous "trivial and troublesome" evaluation...
Hiruzen shifted his gaze to Uchiha Shisui at the side, who looked more honest. "Shisui, how did you feel carrying out an A-rank mission?"
"The feeling of being able to protect my comrades with my own strength is very good," Shisui said honestly. "But there is still a gap between my strength and the captain's. This mission, if it weren't for the captain's powerful and special abilities, I'm afraid we wouldn't have been able to protect all of our comrades."
"Mm..." Hiruzen's gray-white eyebrows rose slightly. The intelligence Shisui had sent back to the village before had indeed mentioned their encounter with the Iwa Explosion Corps. But because they had already defeated the opponent, and could even be said to have completely annihilated them, Shisui had not described the process in too much detail in the intelligence scroll, only mentioning it briefly.
Hiruzen knew that Keisuke's squad had almost wiped out two small teams of the Iwa Explosion Corps, and they were even two teams led by elite Jonin. It was just that he didn't know the specific details of the battle. Now hearing this, it seemed there was another hidden story...
Hiruzen looked at Keisuke and saw that he was staring blankly, his mind wandering. You dare to be in a daze in the Hokage's Office?! Hiruzen forcefully tugged on his beard. "...Shisui, can you describe the course of the battle at that time?"
"Alright." Shisui began to recount frankly. "Hyūga first discovered... the captain summoned a dark space..."
Hiruzen listened carefully. The key to this encounter was that absolute dark environment that had appeared out of thin air on the battlefield! Aided by the obstruction of the dark space, the Konoha ninja side had inflicted effective damage on the Iwa Explosion Corps, causing a large reduction in their numbers.
It was just... this dark space, why did it sound so much like an A-rank forbidden jutsu that his own village possessed?
"Keisuke." Hiruzen could no longer ignore him and called out his name. "The technique you used in the previous battle that created a dark environment... was it a self-developed ninjutsu?"
"A self-developed ninjutsu? Of course not." Keisuke came back to his senses and looked at the Third Hokage. "Lord Hokage, this is the [Bringer-of-Darkness Technique] that you, hmm, 'gifted' to our Nara clan before."
The Bringer-of-Darkness Technique...
Hiruzen was silent for a moment. He remembered having told Keisuke before that the ninjutsu he had used to appease the three Ino-Shika-Chō clans was the A-rank forbidden jutsu he had developed himself, the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique. But how did the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique pop out?
A possible guess flashed through Hiruzen's mind. Someone interfered with the Anbu and swapped the appeasement scroll I gave to the three Ino-Shika-Chō clans? But the next moment, he instinctively avoided this thought. The number of people in the village with the ability and guts to carry out such an operation could be counted on one hand. It could even be said that Hiruzen had already locked onto the target.
But no matter what, it was currently wartime. It was best not to have any more troubles within the village...
"Keisuke, this is the technique scroll for the [Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique]. Consider it an extra reward for this A-rank mission." Hiruzen took out two scrolls from the drawer beside him, first handing one to Keisuke. "Everyone in your squad can use this scroll. Also, I suggest you show this to Shikano. You must understand one thing: the village belongs to everyone."
"I am well aware of this point." Keisuke accepted the scroll. "The union of the Senju and the Uchiha brought the alliance of the Sarutobi and Shimura, and then the addition of the Ino-Shika-Chō, Aburame, Inuzuka, and other ninja clans... Without everyone's joint efforts, the village could not have been built."
Hiruzen nodded lightly. Few children in Konoha were interested in old stories. The fact that Keisuke knew of such historical events and possessed this kind of awareness showed that his caliber was already beginning to break away from the level of an ordinary ninja...
"One last thing." Hiruzen handed the other scroll in his hand to Keisuke. "Your squad will have a few days of leave for the time being. During this period, I hope you will take a good look at this map."
Keisuke held the grass-green map and asked with some confusion, "This map is?"
Hiruzen replied, "It is a map of the Land of Grass that the village has collected and organized as much as possible. It basically records all the major and minor terrain features and passes within the country."
Keisuke understood. As early as when he had accepted the A-rank mission [Resource Transport], he had considered which battlefield Hiruzen would dispatch his squad to. Now it seemed it really was the Iwagakure front!
Keisuke looked down at the scroll in his hand. "Lord Hokage, may I take a look at this map first?"
"Of course."
Keisuke unrolled the scroll and looked at the map of the Land of Grass. He discovered that it recorded not only the general terrain, but also the corresponding distribution of personnel and forces. The Konoha base, the Iwagakure hub, the two wavering Kusagakure, and...
'Kannabi Bridge!'
Keisuke looked at a bridge on the map that had been pointed out with great emphasis, and his heart was filled with astonishment. 'I knew I had overlooked something before...'
'The Kannabi Bridge is actually inside the Land of Grass!'
(End of Chapter)
