Chapter 47: We Are All Time Bombs
"They didn't chase us?"
The massive blade Samehada split open its abyss-like maw and spat Fuguki Suikazan out with visible effort. His bulky frame was clearly not something the sentient sword found easy to swallow—or disgorge.
Covered head to toe in slick, sticky mucus, Fuguki wiped his face and looked around. Palm trees. White sand. Jagged reefs and rolling surf. Beyond them, an endless stretch of deep blue ocean.
They were on a beach somewhere.
"No," Hōzuki Mangetsu replied lazily from beneath a palm tree. "They didn't chase us at all."
"Didn't chase…?"
Fuguki swept his gaze around. Aside from Mangetsu and himself, the dozen or so surviving subordinates had regrouped nearby.
"Severe losses," he muttered with a sigh.
"That was your own doing, wasn't it?" Mangetsu said flatly.
"Yes." Fuguki did not dodge responsibility. "I underestimated that brat—Hyūga Ritsu. I didn't expect him to possess two bloodline limits, nor did I expect his chakra reserves to be so immense. This defeat was my miscalculation."
He admitted it openly.
But—
His grip tightened around Samehada's handle, teeth grinding audibly.
"Next time, I'll send him underground to keep my subordinates company."
Mangetsu clicked his tongue.
By all logic, Fuguki should be held accountable for such disastrous losses. But reality rarely followed rules or principles.
Could anyone really punish one of Kirigakure's top-tier combatants over a pile of corpses?
Of course not.
Next time, Fuguki would still lead troops as usual—unchallenged.
"And despite the unexpected losses," Fuguki continued, "it wasn't a total failure. We confirmed valuable intelligence on Hyūga Ritsu. A man who carries both the Byakugan and the Shikotsumyaku—the Mizukage will definitely be interested. So will those battle-crazed lunatics from the Kaguya clan."
He began planning aloud.
"Next time we hunt Hyūga Ritsu, the Mizukage should dispatch several elite operatives. Ideally, you'll be among them, Mangetsu. And we can have the Kaguya clan send a few of their monsters as well. With that lineup, killing Hyūga Ritsu shouldn't be a problem."
Mangetsu glanced at him sidelong.
"That's assuming," he said coolly,
"there is a next time."
Mangetsu couldn't help but pour a bucket of cold water on the mood.
"After causing this much of a scene, Hyūga Ritsu would have to be an idiot not to sense something's wrong. Getting another opportunity like this won't be easy."
"That's not something you or I need to worry about," Fuguki replied indifferently. "Some people in Konoha are probably even more eager than we are to see Hyūga Ritsu dead. They'll find a way. All we need to do is gather our strength and strike the moment we get word."
Fuguki clearly wasn't bothered by Mangetsu's pessimism. He had full confidence that certain people in Konoha would not disappoint him.
Especially Shimura Danzō—that old bastard had no bottom line when it came to achieving his goals. They had worked together more than once in the past, and through those dealings, more than a few Konoha shinobi had conveniently "disappeared."
Hearing that name, Mangetsu fell silent.
After a moment, he finally said, "We should report to the Mizukage first. This needs to be decided by him."
---
At the summit, before the crumbling fortress, Hyūga Ritsu and Uchiha Shisui watched as the eight remaining Konoha shinobi who had held the position—along with a medic named Yamanaka Kaido—cleaned up the battlefield below, gathering the corpses of the Mist shinobi.
Shisui pressed his lips together. The light in his eyes was dim, and he murmured almost unconsciously,
"Ritsu-senpai… the fact that the Ishigoryu Mountain defense held out this long is practically a miracle."
The words were clearly tinged with irony.
"It really is miraculous," Hyūga Ritsu nodded.
Given the Mist's combat strength, breaking through the Ishigoryu Mountain defense should have taken minutes at most. And yet it had wavered without collapsing, stubbornly holding on until the two of them arrived.
There was no doubt about it.
This had been a trap.
A trap aimed at him—
…Wait.
Hyūga Ritsu suddenly looked at Shisui.
The prodigy of the Uchiha clan wore a gloomy expression, his mood heavy, as though he had just been betrayed.
Ritsu's eyes flickered, an idea forming. He spoke up casually,
"Shisui, tell me—between the two of us, who do you think dragged the other into this mess?"
"Huh? Ritsu-senpai, what do you mean by that?"
"Don't tell me you didn't realize this was a trap. Someone colluded with the Mist, sold our intelligence, and set this snare, waiting for their prey to walk right in. The only question is—were they hunting you, me… or both of us?"
Shisui fell silent, unable to respond.
Earlier, all his focus had been on the battle itself. There had been no room to think about why today's situation was so strange. But now that the Mist had retreated, with no need to keep his nerves taut, the abnormality could no longer be ignored.
After more than ten seconds, Shisui forced out a strained smile.
"Ritsu-senpai… maybe this was just a coincidence? How could anyone collude with the Mist?"
"How could they not?" Ritsu replied calmly. "Don't lie to yourself, Shisui. Politicians don't have a bottom line. To achieve their goals, they'll do anything."
His gaze remained on the people cleaning the battlefield below.
"This time, we were lucky. The Mist underestimated us, and we turned the tables, shattered the trap. But next time—if they know our movements in advance and set up a net with no escape—do you think we'd still make it out alive?"
Shisui said nothing.
Ritsu didn't press further. Instead, he took a step back and shifted the blame onto himself.
"But I think this time, I might've been the one who dragged you in. Some people in the village want me dead. They sold my information to the Mist, and even sent that Hōzuki clan prodigy specifically to counter me. If it weren't for you, I'd either be dead here… or returning to the village to face questioning for mission failure."
Instead of easing the tension, this made Shisui's eyes widen. He hesitated, struggling internally, before finally asking,
"Ritsu-senpai… you—who in the village would want to harm you?"
"You've heard how I became the head of the Hyūga clan, haven't you?"
"T-That…"
"The elders in the village don't like the way I took power," Ritsu said with a faint smile. "In their eyes, I'm an uncontrollable time bomb, just like the Uchiha. Naturally, they'd want to dismantle me the same way they plan to dismantle you. Isn't that only normal?"
Shisui stared at him, eyes wide.
Was Ritsu-senpai mocking himself…
or was he subtly, bitterly mocking the Uchiha clan?