Rustle… rustle…
Soft sounds echoed through the jungle.
Hidden beneath a thicket, Chiba lay in wait—silent, steady, patient.
Footsteps approached.
He held his breath, fingers tightening on his sword hilt.
The weapons from Tenten's family weren't chakra-forged, but they were still more than enough for real combat—the only issue was that chakra enhancement didn't last long on them.
Far away, the clash of Kakashi-sensei's battle rang through the forest—sharp, violent.
"Lord Ishi, should we—"
"Wait. Let Kakashi and that samurai fight a little longer. Once the water's muddied, we can profit from the chaos."
A middle-aged samurai gave his orders quietly.
"Spread out. Don't let the enemy escape."
"Yes!"
The group responded in low voices, dispersing through the woods.
From the shadows, Chiba's eyes gleamed coldly.
So it's just as I thought.
These men weren't random soldiers—they were coming for them.
No… more precisely, their aim was to ignite conflict between the Land of Iron and the Land of Fire, forcing the neutral Land of Iron into the bloody turmoil of the shinobi world.
"The Artisan Ninja Village… the Kiyoda Clan…"
Chiba frowned.
Those two collaborating? Absurd at first glance—but also strangely logical.
After all, ninety percent of all ninja tools in the world originated from Artisan Ninja Village.
It was the shinobi world's factory of war, coveted by every nation, yet no one wanted it to possess its own military power.
Thus, the village had always existed in an awkward position—
and within it were always ambitious men, descendants of the famed craftsman Seimei.
As Chiba's thoughts fell into place, the picture became clear.
"Should I strike now…?"
He hesitated. If he attacked too early, he might scare off the "cicada"—the prey.
But after a moment's thought, he realized he was overthinking it.
Anyone daring enough to target a Jinchūriki or an elite jōnin wouldn't see a child like him as any kind of "mantis waiting to catch the cicada."
If he attacked the Kiyoda samurai, the Four Celestial Symbols Men would probably think they were the mantis—
and he was the unseen oriole ready to strike them.
That settled it. No more hesitation.
He wouldn't activate his sealing arrays just yet—
first, he'd rely purely on his own skills.
Of course, he couldn't go all-out. He'd need to conserve chakra and strength.
His plan was set in seconds.
Then he crouched, still as a shadow, waiting for the enemy to step into his web.
From the sounds of the battle ahead, things were reaching their climax.
Almost there.
"It's time. Move!"
Whoosh!
A group of samurai broke from cover, rushing toward Kakashi and Yuichi's battlefield.
But—
Swish!
From the dense undergrowth, a flicker of motion—
a shadow flashed through the air.
In midair, the blade was drawn—
and fell.
A single cut.
The nearest samurai clutched at his throat as a crimson arc sprayed across the air.
Before the others could even react, the attacker was gone—vanishing behind a tree trunk.
"Who's there!?"
Kiyoda Ishi's face darkened.
That strike—such mastery of Iaido!
Even in the Land of Iron, few could perform a draw like that.
And the attacker had hidden right under their noses without them noticing…
Could it be one of Mifune's men?
Impossible. If Mifune had known of their scheme, he'd have sent an entire squad, not just one man.
Then who was this boy?
A Konoha shinobi?
"Lord Ishi," one of his men whispered, "how many ninja are there on the Konoha side?"
"Kakashi, one boy, one girl. If they're the usual four-man squad… they're missing one."
"Ah, I see… So, brat, Kakashi must really trust you—to let you come alone to stop us."
Ishi's gaze darkened, fixing on the spot where Chiba hid.
If it were anyone else, he'd doubt it. But their leader was the Copy Ninja, Hatake Kakashi—it wasn't strange for his student to wield such precise swordsmanship.
After all, the man had copied over a thousand techniques.
"To deal with you,"
Chiba's calm voice drifted from all around,
"one of me is enough."
The voice was unmistakably Kakashi's.
Ishi's pupils narrowed.
"Kakashi? No… you're not him."
His hand flicked behind his back, signaling silently to his comrades.
Clever little bastard.
Not only skilled in swordsmanship, but capable of voice mimicry and silent assassination as well.
A true prodigy. No wonder the legendary Kakashi had taken him as a student.
Ishi pieced the situation together in his head.
"kid, we hired you to capture Yuichi. But you've killed my men instead—doesn't that seem a bit ungrateful?"
"Heh." Chiba's voice was cool. "That man clearly has jōnin-level strength, and you filed this as a B-rank mission. On that basis alone, we have every right to abandon the contract."
Pushing his limits was dangerous—it drained him quickly.
But with his fast recovery speed, he didn't mind humoring the man's small talk.
Ishi, of course, wasn't merely stalling.
During the conversation, three samurai had already moved quietly into position—each crouched behind a different tree, less than ten meters away.
A real fight for life and death left no room for carelessness.
Chiba's focus sharpened to a single point.
He formed hand seals rapidly, chakra gathering in his palms.
"Be careful," Ishi muttered, charging forward with blade in hand.
"This brat is fast—and deadly with that sword!"
At that very instant, Chiba finished his seals.
Around him, threads of chakra extended outward—thin, nearly invisible—
weaving silently into a glimmering web.
Maintaining it with one hand, he slipped a special soldier pill into his mouth.
Then, peering through the leaves, he watched Ishi's direction—waiting.
And then—
Whoosh!
Three faint sounds cut through the forest air.
Three figures lunged from the shadows toward his position.
One from the left, sword already swinging down—only to freeze mid-strike, eyes widening in shock.
"Wha—!?"
He felt searing pain rip through his body.
Invisible threads sliced through muscle, tendons, even veins. His breath caught in his throat as agony and suffocation overwhelmed him.
He tried to push through, blade still descending—
But Chiba moved with effortless precision.
Shing!
A single cut.
The samurai's body fell limply from the tree.
The other two landed nearby, staring wide-eyed.
What… what was that technique?
Looking closer, they saw it—an intricate lattice of chakra threads surrounding Chiba like a silken cage.
He stood in its center, calm, patient—
like a spider awaiting prey in its web.
They wanted to retreat—but it was too late.
They could only twist desperately, trying to protect their vitals.
But in a true battle, any injury could be fatal. And at Chiba's speed—
Two flashes of steel.
Two bodies hit the ground.
Silence fell once more.
"In a shinobi's battle," Chiba murmured,
"information is everything."
He understood that better than ever now.
Those three weren't weak—each at least chūnin-level—
but with careful preparation, with traps and tactics, he'd killed them all with barely a scratch.
This was his original jutsu, one he'd developed over the past two months—
a technique requiring extreme chakra control.
Only he could use it, which was why he hadn't taught it to anyone else.
"Spiderweb Technique… works well enough," he mused. "But the chakra cost is high, and it demands too much control. Not suitable for general use."
He thought for a moment.
"Hmm… maybe I can adapt it into a barrier technique."
Having made his notes, he moved swiftly, vanishing into the trees.
He'd killed three samurai, yes—
But that didn't mean he could take on Kiyoda Ishi and the rest head-on.
Anyone daring enough to ambush Kakashi had to have at least one real expert among them.
The earlier victory had been due to one thing—
A prepared hunter striking unprepared prey.
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