Outside the Frost Shinobi village, occasional passersby strolled by. They were all ordinary people, none of them noticed that Hiroki Hyuga and the others were hiding nearby.
After waiting for about two hours, a Genin named Kakei Higashi broke the silence first. Trusting in his seniority, he gave orders in a commanding tone, "Hyuga, check what's going on inside."
"If he activates the Byakugan, his Transformation Jutsu might fail. Better let me handle it," Hana Inuzuka chimed in.
"You can see what's happening inside?" Kakei asked, turning his head.
"No, but I and my Ninja Hounds can smell whether someone escaped," Hana answered.
"Hana Inuzuka, Hiroki Hyuga, if someone shows up later, you two better not make a move. Your fighting style is way too familiar to Konoha — it'll give us away," Itachi Uchiha suddenly interjected.
"I agree too," Kakei nodded.
"Uchiha, are your Fire Release techniques not from Konoha? Isn't your Sharingan also associated with Konoha?" Hana shot back.
"I can kill them," Itachi replied calmly.
"Well so can I. Who do you think you're talking to?" Hana said with some dissatisfaction.
Hiroki Hyuga didn't care much; if they wanted to show off, let them go ahead. Maybe they'd even win without lifting a finger and finish the job for him.
They lapsed into silence again until Hana suddenly turned serious. "Someone's coming out. Smells like blood — I bet they're badly hurt."
"How many?"
"One?"
"Which direction?"
"There."
Kakei immediately stood up. "Itachi, let's go check it out."
Hiroki suggested, "I think we'd better stay together."
The two, Itachi and Kakei, ignored him as they turned and left.
"I hope they come back quickly," Hana sighed.
Hiroki had no comment.
A little later, the 'huh huh' wind sounds blew over, and some ashes floated through the air.
After taking down the fleeing ninja, Itachi tossed in a Fire Release on the side to burn the body.
Itachi Uchiha and Kakei returned shortly after, faint traces of blood scent clinging to them.
Just as Hiroki was about to say something, Hana suddenly pressed several of her ninja dogs onto the ground, whispering, "More people are coming — chakra signatures of ninjas, unfamiliar ones."
Everyone immediately fell silent, trying their best to suppress their chakra.
The sound of footsteps grew louder...
Footsteps echoed closer until finally, three men and one woman — four ninjas — slowly came into view within the four observers' sights.
Leading them was a man with short purple hair, wearing a black tight combat suit, a yellow scarf around his neck, and sporting a Kumogakure forehead protector on his head. His name was Toroi.
The other three behind him also wore Kumogakure forehead protectors.
One Jonin and three Genin — an active squad completing a mission assigned to Kumogakure ninjas.
Hiroki and the others exchanged glances, making no move to attack. They simply waited for these ninjas to leave.
Toroi halted, straining to catch every sound from the surroundings, then scanned the area before turning to leave.
The four let out a quiet sigh of relief.
At that moment, a barrage of senbon needles rained down toward them.
They were forced to reveal themselves in order to dodge the attack.
Toroi frowned as the sudden appearance of several figures caught his eye.
"You lot..."
Suspicion rose in his heart.
Although these people wore Kumogakure forehead protectors, he didn't recognize any of them.
Besides, if they truly were allies, why were they lurking in the shadows?
Toroi said flatly, "There's an unidentified ninja roaming around the Country of Frost. We've already lost many comrades. Have you found anything?"
"No." The group shook their heads together.
"What are your ninja identification numbers? You look a bit unfamiliar to me."
N-006823.
"...00."
"...0."
"...0."
One after another, they rattled off fake numbers — only realizing too late that something was off.
"Kumogakure ninja don't use six-digit identification codes."
Toroi took out two square-shaped shuriken the size of his palms and flung them forward.
Three kunai shot out from Itachi Uchiha in a triangular formation.
Toroi sneered.
When the shuriken met the kunai, instead of colliding noisily, the kunai snapped onto the shuriken magnetically and kept moving forward relentlessly.
Toroi was a Kekkei Genkai user from Kumogakure who specialized in Magnet Release, capable of magnetizing anything he touched and transferring that effect to other objects.
His specialty was offensive attacks using ninja weapons.
Thanks to his Magnet Release, he could charge just about any weapon — but his favorite move was firing invisible projectiles enemies couldn't even dodge.
After throwing the first two shuriken, he followed up with two more. The blades spun through the air, generating sharp sparks.
The others instinctively pulled out kunai to block.
"Woof!"
The Gray Trio let out a howl and lunged at the three genin beside Toroi.
Humans and dogs tumbled together in fierce combat.
"Ninja hounds... Are you from Konoha's Inuzuka clan?"
A mocking smirk crossed Toroi's face. "And yet you're still wearing Kumogakure forehead protectors — so desperate to become Cloud ninja, aren't you? Why go to such trouble?"
Seeing they weren't going to talk, Toroi scoffed and retrieved a small scroll used for storing weapons.
With a puff of smoke, over a dozen massive square shuriken, each over a meter long, dropped onto the ground.
"You won't escape this time..." Toroi sneered darkly.
[Katon: Gōka Messhitsu no Jutsu (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)] Itachi puffed his cheeks and unleashed a colossal fireball racing straight toward Toroi.
Unfazed, Toroi shot four giant shuriken in quick succession toward the four ninjas.
The flames couldn't stop the shuriken, which flew directly toward Itachi Uchiha.
With nowhere else to go, Hiroki and Itachi vanished using the Shifting Body Technique.
Hana Inuzuka activated her Four Legs Technique, enhancing her grip and attack power, then clamped one of the enormous shuriken to the ground.
Kakei Higashi wasn't so lucky — the giant shuriken tore through his body, leaving a long gash across him. Severely wounded, he could no longer maintain his Transformation Jutsu and reverted to his original form, collapsing into a pool of blood.
Toroi took down one opponent and continued launching Shuriken with calm precision.
When these men deflected his Shuriken with Kunai earlier, their bodies also became magnetized.
The Shuriken would pull toward their bodies — no matter where he threw them, they always found their targets. One misstep, and they'd meet their end.
"His ninja tools seem to automatically track targets..." Hiroki Hyuga frowned.
"... " Hana Inuzuka nodded seriously.
"Waaargh!"
The Gray Trio's howls turned miserable as they were kicked flying by the Genin.
After all, they were still immature Ninja Hounds Ninken — not quite ready for sustained combat against Genin.
"Let's move toward those three..." Itachi Uchiha shot a knowing glance at Hiroki Hyuga and Hana Inuzuka.
"Your meaning is..." Both caught on immediately.
"Hn." Itachi Uchiha nodded.
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