"An Uchiha?"
Nara Shikaku's face darkened.
At the very first moment, his mind leapt to that unidentified Uchiha. Almost reflexively, he lowered his gaze, no longer daring to look straight at the bird-beak mask. If two Mangekyō Sharingan were to light up inside those abyss-like eye sockets, he would likely be finished on the spot.
His mood sank to its absolute lowest.
The man standing before them—
Could he really be the very same Uchiha who had wiped out Sarutobi Takeo and the others?
Damn it all.
Why did he have to show up here, of all places?
A squad composed of Sarutobi Takeo and Aburame Kenshira, all elite ANBU, had been completely annihilated. With just the handful of people present now, could they really withstand an unknown Uchiha going all out?
Fortunately, at that moment, Shikaku remembered that there was still Koeda Kyoichi, a Kirigakure shinobi highly regarded by both Minato and Orochimaru.
In addition, Most of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were also at Kogaku Temple.
That at least gave him a sliver of hope, enough to keep despair from swallowing him whole.
In truth, it wasn't only Shikaku whose spirits plummeted.
When Inoichi shouted, "This guy is an Uchiha," it wasn't just the two Konoha ninja, Shikaku and Akimichi Choza, whose expressions changed. Even Hōzuki Mangetsu and Ringo Ameyuri from Kirigakure reacted visibly. Mangetsu's eyelid twitched as he muttered under his breath, "You've got to be kidding…"
Ringo Ameyuri's response was far more direct.
She drew Kiba, gripping the blade tightly in her hand.
Among everyone present,
Only Kyoichi remained calm and composed, his expression unchanged.
He did not know this Uchiha's real name, but that hardly mattered. The moment the man had come knocking, a clash had become inevitable. Panic or composure would not change that fact, so there was no reason to be anxious.
"Koeda Kyoichi…"
Uchiha Hatoha took in the expressions of all three Konoha ninja and the three Kiri shinobi. Shikaku and the others lowered their eyes, unwilling to meet his gaze, while he freely scrutinized them in return.
"…They're all nervous. Why aren't you?"
In the end, he found Kyoichi to be an anomaly.
There was none of the tension visible on Shikaku or Inoichi's faces, nor did Kyoichi express emotion through action like Ringo Ameyuri. He stood there like a cold, immovable stone, utterly unmoved by Hatoha's arrival.
"Why should I be nervous?"
Kyoichi asked in return.
"Why…"
Hatoha hadn't expected his question to be answered with another question. He paused, then chuckled softly.
"That's something you should ask the people beside you. They're the ones who know best why they're nervous, aren't they?"
Everyone listened silently to the exchange.
No one took the opportunity to strike.
Because they all understood that if this man truly was the Uchiha who had wiped out Sarutobi Takeo's squad, then the first to launch a sudden attack would most likely gain nothing, and might instead invite a devastating counterattack.
No one wanted to be the first to test the waters.
Even though they knew that passively waiting, letting the enemy strike first, could very well lead them to share Takeo's fate and leave their lives here at the gate of Kogaku Temple on Imoni Mountain.
Still, another reason no one acted was that Kyoichi had clearly drawn this Uchiha's attention.
Which meant—
Even if no one made the first move, the most likely first target would be Kyoichi.
At this point, striking preemptively might only draw fire away from him. Shikaku and the rest of the new-generation Ino–Shika–Chō were not about to do that. As for Mangetsu… his relationship with Kyoichi was nothing special. He felt no obligation to risk himself just because Kyoichi might be attacked first.
As for why Ringo Ameyuri didn't act—
She believed that even if Kyoichi were attacked, he could endure it. She had personally witnessed him use the technique called [Golden Threaded Garment] to block Uchiha Obito's high-level Fire Release without suffering a scratch. By contrast, she herself was a classic case of high offense and low defense. There was no reason for her to draw attention away from Kyoichi.
Thus, for different reasons, they all made the same choice.
They waited.
They waited for the moment Kyoichi was attacked—because that would be the moment they would erupt into action and unleash everything they had.
"They're them. I'm me,"
Kyoichi said calmly. "I don't think being different from others is something worth worrying about, and I don't care why they're different from me."
His focus remained on the man before him, paying little attention to the thoughts of his companions. And even if he knew what they were thinking, he wouldn't have cared. If he were attacked first, there would be nothing to complain about.
He had chosen to stand apart.
He had chosen not to display fear like everyone else, and so he had been singled out.
The consequences of one's choices should be borne by oneself.
That was only natural.
"Sophistry,"
Hatoha said flatly.
He wasn't fooled, yet to his own surprise, he didn't dislike this kind of sophistry. There was a faint hint of amusement in his voice, one he hadn't even noticed himself. Kyoichi struck him as interesting, different from most shinobi he had encountered before.
However,
That feeling meant nothing.
He hadn't come here today to chat.
He had come for revenge.
The next instant—
"Fire Release: Great Fire Annihilation!"
Hatoha formed seals with both hands and exhaled.
From the bird-beak mask poured forth an ocean of flames.
In a single moment, blazing firelight drove away the surrounding darkness, igniting the vegetation along both sides of the mountain path. Like a tidal wave, the inferno rolled forward, its terrifying heat reaching the group even before the flames themselves.
Those being scorched felt as though the blood in their bodies was about to evaporate.
Fortunately—
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Rampart!"
Kyoichi released his hand seals and slammed both palms together.
A towering rock wall erupted from the ground, stretching across the mountain path like a massive fortress wall. It shielded Kyoichi and everyone behind him, forcibly blocking the overwhelmingly ferocious wave of fire.
But—
The next attack came immediately after.
And—
This new assault nearly made the Ino–Shika–Chō trio's eyes pop out of their sockets.
Because—
What tore through the towering stone wall Kyoichi had raised was not Fire Release, not Lightning Release, not any of the five elemental natures at all.
It was the Kekkei Genkai once used by the First Hokage to sweep the shinobi world, now long extinct even within Konoha—
Wood Release.