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[Konoha2] Chapter 52: Hajime vs the Iwa-nin!
🕑 Added 2025-05-25 20:46:31 +0000 UTC“We could of course report to the Third Hokage and Lord Danzō, and wait for their decision.”
“But Iwa won’t wait for us.”
“If they dared to disguise themselves as Rain-nin to ambush us, they’ll dare to disguise themselves as Konoha-nin to target Amegakure next.”
Hajime’s voice was firm and decisive: “Right now, we hold the initiative. But if we give that up, we’ll be back on the defensive.”
Shimura Daichi and Yomaki Mimura fell silent. They thought Hajime was being far too aggressive—but they couldn’t deny his reasoning.
Then Hajime added, “I’m not telling you this to ask your opinion.”
“This is an order!”
His sharp gaze swept over everyone. “Who’s in favor? Who’s against?”
Inuzuka Ryo and Aburame Ryōma raised their hands immediately.
The ANBU squad followed suit, raising their hands one after another.
The other two squads looked toward their respective captains.
Yomaki Mimura gave a bitter smile, then raised his hand.
Shimura Daichi also raised his. “Alpha, what you said makes perfect sense.”
Hajime nodded in satisfaction. “Good.”
“Then let’s move.”
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Yomaki Mimura and his team were the first to use the Body Flicker Technique and vanished into the forest.
The ANBU team followed, taking the captured Takashi Kamishiro with them.
As for Hajime and his group, they sealed the corpses of the Iwa-nin into scrolls, then took the surviving ones and headed straight for Amegakure.
But less than fifteen minutes after they left—
A group of shinobi dressed as Rain-nin suddenly appeared at the battlefield, examining the surroundings carefully.
After a while, one of them said, “Captain, looks like the operation really did fail.”
“What now?”
The captain, a man named Masaya, asked, “How many enemies are there?”
“At least twelve.”
“From the terrain and what traces are left in the trees, it looks like they split into three groups.”
“The squad escorting the merchant caravan went east—they’re probably headed back to Konoha.”
“One of the other groups… very likely went toward Amegakure.”
Masaya’s expression darkened, his eyes narrowing. “Amegakure…”
“Looks like not only did the mission fail, but our identities have been exposed.”
“We have to intercept them!”
“Chase them!”
As soon as the words left his mouth, he vanished from his spot.
The others quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to follow, turning into blurs in the rain as they sped toward Amegakure.
But just after they left, Hajime stepped out from within a tree—then instantly transformed into one himself.
Wood Clone!
———
Beneath the pouring rain, Hajime briefly halted in his tracks, receiving the memory feedback from his wood clone.
“You guys go ahead. Iwa-nin are on our tail.”
Hajime stopped.
Shimura Daichi paused for a moment, then continued on. “Understood.”
As Inuzuka Ryo’s group vanished into the rainy distance, Hajime formed a quick seal and transformed into a patch of roadside weeds, swaying lightly in the wind and rain.
Not long after—
Several figures tore through the air.
As the last one swept past, Hajime suddenly struck!
“Who—!?”
The ambushed Iwa-nin was startled but reacted swiftly, twisting his body to counterattack—only for Hajime to grab both arms and drive a brutal kick into his chest, sending him flying and spitting blood.
A wooden spike followed close behind—fired straight through the rain.
“Enemy attack!”
“Be careful!”
The Iwa-nin up ahead reacted quickly. One of them turned back and caught his injured comrade—only for both of them to be skewered by the same wooden spike.
In the next instant, the branching wooden spikes burst out from within their bodies. Blood sprayed everywhere, and their agonized screams tore through the curtain of rain.
Crack!
Rumble!
Lightning flashed, thunder roared, and the downpour suddenly intensified.
Hajime stepped over the two corpses. A glint of his blade flared in the storm.
An Iwa-nin disguised as a Rain-nin stared wide-eyed as he collapsed into the muddy ground, clutching his slashed throat with one hand while still holding a kunai in the other. Blood gushed forth, staining the soil red before being washed away by the rain.
What a fast blade!
But he had only blocked a single strike.
After cutting down the third enemy, Hajime was met with a barrage of stone bullets suddenly swelling midair, and sharp rock spikes erupting from the ground, spreading rapidly.
An aerial blockade and a ground assault—there was nowhere to escape.
But Hajime didn’t stop moving. The short blade in his left hand was infused with Wind Release chakra and hurled through the air, slicing a stone bullet in half before piercing through the chest of a forming Iwa-nin.
As the blade flew out, Hajime’s left hand quickly formed a one-handed seal.
Just as the ground spikes were about to impale him, thick wooden vines sprouted beneath his feet. One vine lifted Hajime high into the air.
The rest of the vines acted like wooden shields. Stone bullets struck them with loud smacks, sending splinters flying.
Using the vines as a platform, Hajime leapt and appeared next to the corpse impaled by his flying blade.
He drew his knife—the body was sent flying straight at another Iwa-nin.
“Bastard!”
The Iwa-nin snarled in fury, but the comrade beside him remained calm and shouted, “Disperse!”
The two of them split off, and the next instant, the corpse exploded—limbs torn apart, chunks of flesh and bone scattering in all directions.
The ground rumbled.
The terrain rose, and enormous boulders plummeted from the sky, smashing down toward Hajime.
He slashed upward—Fūton!—sending a wind blade that sliced the falling boulders into rubble.
But just as he was about to leap out of the depression, sharp stone pillars began to grow rapidly from the raised earth surrounding him.
Rumble!
Hajime leapt skyward, twin blades dancing. Razor-sharp wind blades shredded the stone pillars as he ascended.
But Iwa-nin appeared one after another, attacking from high ground.
Stone bullets, staffs, spikes, jets of water, shuriken, explosive tags… a barrage of attacks rained down.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Hajime’s upward momentum was disrupted. The overwhelming onslaught forced him to fall back.
His hooded robe was torn to shreds, revealing the iron armor beneath his vest—and the blackened, hardened skin underneath.
Suddenly, the light above dimmed.
He looked up—tons of rubble were tumbling down.
The Iwa-nin wanted to bury him alive!
“As I thought… just relying on Wind Release and swordsmanship isn’t enough to take on all these Iwa-nin.”
Hajime sighed inwardly.
“If it were Sakumo Hatake, he’d probably be up there already…”
Sheathing his blades, Hajime brought his hands together into the Ram seal.
Wood Release: Nativity of a World of Trees!
Wooden vines erupted from the ground, shooting upward in all directions.
All attacks were blocked. Hajime’s body rose with the growing vines.
The Iwa-nin standing “onshore” were stunned as they saw the green wave surge toward them.
In that moment, Masaya finally understood the strange forest from earlier.
It was Wood Release secret art!
Konoha’s Wood Release experiment succeeded!
“Scatter!”
Masaya shouted.
But an Iwa-nin who had just leapt into the air was instantly entangled by vines. With a boom, he was slammed into the ground.
The ground cracked open. The fallen Iwa-nin was instantly engulfed by the writhing vines.
The stone walls that had risen were torn apart by growing trees.
The fractured land was quickly swallowed by a surging forest.
Trees spread rapidly, transforming the terrain and trapping all Iwa-nin within.
The writhing vines left them no time to form hand seals and cast Earth Release to alter the terrain. All they could do was leap and dodge, struggling desperately to escape.
(End of Chapter)
