~ Every 100 Power Stones = Bonus Chapter! Your votes keep this climbing. Thanks!
A Mud Wall, summoned by an Anbu, was sliced clean in half by a Water Style: Water Severing Wave from Yahiko. The sight left every Konoha ninja present utterly stunned.
The falling halves of the earthen barrier kicked up a thick cloud of dust, obscuring Yahiko and Miyuki Uzumaki within.
In the haze, a warning from Miyuki sent Yahiko turning towards an Anbu ninja hidden high in the branches of a tree.
"Water Style: Heavenly Weeping!"
A barrage of over a dozen high-speed water needles shot from Yahiko's mouth, streaking towards the concealed Anbu.
The hidden ninja didn't see it coming. But a Hyūga did. "Look out! Dodge!" he shouted.
Too late. The water needles were too fast, too unexpected. No one even knew who the Hyūga was warning. The barrage found its mark.
The Anbu was dead before he hit the ground, his body slumping from the tree.
A cold dread settled over the remaining Konoha forces. This… was going to be a brutal fight.
Yahiko's gaze snapped to the Hyūga who had called out. Another Water Style: Heavenly Weeping. Dozens of water needles lanced out.
The Hyūga, his Byakugan active, saw them coming and twisted aside. The needles thudded into the tree trunk behind him.
This Hyūga wasn't from the main family. His combat skills were mediocre. Only the main family was allowed to learn the secret techniques: the Gentle Fist art of the Sixty-Four Palms and the Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven. The irony was bitter. The main family, who rarely saw direct combat, hoarded the clan's strongest arts. The branch family, who fought and died for them, were denied.
The Anbu who had used the Earth Release earlier acted again. "Earth Style: Heaven Descending Clay!"
A massive glob of sticky clay dropped from a spatial rift above. Water wouldn't cut through this.
Yahiko's hands flew through seals, ending with his palms pressed together. "Water Style: Surging Wave!"
In an instant, a whirlpool of water erupted from nothing, spinning upwards like a tornado. The churning vortex caught the falling clay, swallowing it whole. Then, the water exploded outward and crashed down, forming a wide, shallow pond.
Raiga Kurosuki and Pakura returned to Yahiko and Miyuki's side. The four stood on the water's surface.
Raiga grinned, a savage thing. "Perfect timing with the water. Don't get in my way."
Yahiko understood. His hands formed another seal. A thick pillar of earth rose from the pond. Yahiko, Miyuki, and Pakura stepped onto it.
Raiga plunged both of his Lightning Blades, Kiba, into the water.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Strike!"
Violent arcs of electricity erupted from the twin blades. The water conducted it perfectly, becoming a lake of crackling, high-voltage current.
The Hyūga, an Inuzuka ninja and his ninken, the Aburame with the withered left arm, and two more Anbu—all still standing in the water—took the full force of the blast.
Raiga's attack killed five of the pursuers outright. Add the Anbu Yahiko had taken out earlier, and their force of ten was slashed down to four ninja and one dog.
Raiga threw his head back with a booming laugh. "Hahaha! How do you like the funeral I've prepared for you?"
Only one Inuzuka, one Aburame, and two Anbu remained. Their mission had clearly failed. Or… had it? They were only supposed to track Miyuki Uzumaki. They never expected a direct confrontation. They never expected the wife of the Fourth Hokage to betray Konoha.
The fight had already drawn the attention of spies from other villages monitoring the Leaf's borders.
The Anbu captain weighed the situation, his voice a low growl. "Retreat."
The four surviving Konoha ninja turned to flee.
As they did, Pakura's hands blurred through seals. "Wind Style: Gale Palm!"
A vortex of wind formed before her. With a flick of her will, she guided the orb of scorching flames that hovered around her into the heart of the whirlwind.
"Scorch Release Combination Jutsu: Superheated Typhoon!"
Wind and fire fused into a raging inferno of a storm. It roared forward. Every drop of water Yahiko had created vanished into steam in an instant.
The ninken was too slow to escape the storm's edge. It was caught, desiccated into a mummified husk in a blink. A wounded Anbu, lagging behind, was also swallowed by the flames and reduced to a dry corpse.
Only three made it out alive.
Raiga made to give chase, but a voice from his ring stopped him. It was Qianyu.
"Enough. Don't pursue. All of you, leave the Land of Fire immediately. Find a place to lay low. Miyuki," his tone softened slightly, "I'll keep you updated on Naruto."
At the mention of her son's name, Miyuki's voice hitched with emotion. "Thank you, Qianyu. Thank you, truly."
"Go. Now. No lingering. If anything goes wrong, contact me immediately. I'll come. That's all for now. I need to get back to Konoha."
The communication cut. Qianyu turned, his form flickering as he sped back towards the village.
Danzō would definitely try to stick his nose in this. It was up to Hiruzen and the others now. If anything went sideways… he'd have to step in himself.
The three survivors staggered back to Konoha and reported directly to Hiruzen Sarutobi.
When he heard that Miyuki Uzumaki had defected, the Third Hokage's eyes bulged. His jaw went slack. An expression of pure, unadulterated disbelief settled on his weathered face.
It made no sense. Why? There was no reason. No reason at all.
Hiruzen's brow furrowed deeply. He took long, heavy drags from his pipe, the smoke swirling thickly around him.
One possibility surfaced in his mind: the sudden, vicious rumors that had been spreading through the village lately.
But… if that was it, why didn't she take Naruto with her?
"These three who helped her escape," Hiruzen asked, his voice gravelly. "Do you know who they were?"
The Anbu captain replied, "All wore masks, Miyuki included. We could only positively identify one: Raiga Kurosuki, missing-nin from Kirigakure, former wielder of the Lightning Blades Kiba. Another was a woman, a user of the Scorch Release kekkei genkai. The third was a man. He used… the Second Hokage's Water Release jutsu."
Hiruzen jolted in his seat. "What?! One of them knew the Second's techniques?!"
"Without a doubt," the Anbu confirmed. "Water Style: Water Severing Wave, Water Style: Heavenly Weeping, and Water Style: Surging Wave. He used all three in the engagement."
Hiruzen's heart gave a violent thump.
Tobirama Senju's personal jutsu were sealed records. No one in Konoha should know them. There was only Maruboshi Kosuke, who had received some personal instruction long ago and knew Water Style: Water Wall and Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet.
But now, a ninja who could use Tobirama's Water Release had appeared out of nowhere?
This… was beyond strange.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
Read up to (100+ ) advanced chapters on Patre\on
Visit us here: patreon.com/GoldenLong
Happy reading, everyone!