"Our mission isn't protection."
Shawn spoke calmly as they moved through the forest.
"It's contingency."
"If the Sky Ninja make a move, we intervene immediately."
He continued flatly:
"And second—if they don't make a move…"
"We intercept and eliminate them on their return."
Inuzuka Ryo's eyes sharpened.
Aburame Fuiichi spoke in a low voice:
"So no matter what happens… the Sky Ninja involved this time must die?"
Shawn nodded.
"Correct."
"Remember this well—this is Root's doctrine."
"Anyone who threatens the village must be erased."
"If the ANBU cannot kill them—Root will."
Harsh words.
Ryo and the others felt their scalps prickle.
Too decisive.
Too ruthless.
But also—
Absolutely convincing.
Ahead of Them
Up front, Jiraiya suddenly glanced back and spoke to the man on his right.
"Orochimaru… you noticed it too, didn't you?"
Orochimaru replied calmly:
"ANBU. A precautionary detail."
Jiraiya then looked toward Tsunade.
"You think the Sky Ninja would really dare strike us?"
Tsunade frowned slightly.
"They stole sealing techniques and border defense layouts."
"There's probably nothing they wouldn't dare to do."
Jiraiya nodded grimly.
"Either way—we stay alert."
The Exchange
By noon, the two teams crossed the Fire Country border and entered the Land of Hot Water.
At 2 p.m., on a wide grassy plain, Jiraiya's group encountered the Sky Ninja.
There were five of them.
One was bound tightly with ropes.
Tsunade took one glance and snorted.
"As expected. A half-hearted response."
Orochimaru agreed:
"Predictable."
Jiraiya stepped forward.
"You two better not screw this up."
Orochimaru smiled thinly.
"With Tsunade here, you won't die."
Jiraiya raised a finger behind his back.
The Sky Ninja approached as well.
When the two sides were five or six steps apart—
"This is the one you demanded."
The Sky Ninja leader sneered and shoved the bound man forward.
A cruel glint flashed in his eyes.
One step.
Two steps.
Three—
Suddenly, the bound Sky Ninja broke free and lunged at Jiraiya.
"Watch out!" Tsunade shouted.
Orochimaru's hands were already forming seals.
Jiraiya leapt back instinctively—
But it was too close.
Smoke began rising from the attacker's body.
"Explosive tags!"
"Clone—!"
BOOOOM!
Fire and smoke erupted, completely engulfing Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya!!"
Tsunade roared in fury, charging forward.
Her kick shattered the earth—
But the Sky Ninja leapt back in time, laughing coldly.
"You're the ones dying today!"
"No… we'll leave one of you alive—as a hostage!"
Before the words even finished—
Three more Sky Ninja appeared, seals already complete.
Wind howled.
Flames roared.
Shuriken screamed through the air.
Boom—!!
A stone wall erupted in front of Tsunade, blocking the onslaught.
"I'm fine—!"
The smoke cleared.
Jiraiya emerged, battered but alive, grinning.
"Good thing I just finished developing a new technique."
In the moment of impact, he had used Lion's Mane Technique, hardening his hair to absorb most of the blast.
Orochimaru spoke coldly from behind.
"Don't relax yet. Kill your way out first."
They were surrounded.
Twenty Sky Ninja.
And likely more hidden in the forest behind them.
The only good news—
Their rear should have been covered by ANBU.
The Oriole Strikes
In the forest behind the Sky Ninja—
Four Sky Ninja lay in ambush.
Behind them—
Shawn moved like a shadow.
The explosion rang out.
Shawn raised his hand and signaled.
Attack.
Sarutobi Atsu moved first.
Explosive-tag kunai flew in rapid succession.
Boom! Boom!
The hidden Sky Ninja were forced to break cover.
"Inuzuka—now!"
"Fang Passing Fang!"
Ryo and his ninken Blackball tore through one target.
Aburame Fuiichi's insects swallowed another whole.
Then—
Shawn struck.
Faster than anyone else.
As he leapt forward, his form split in three.
The Sky Ninja squad leader barely blocked one slash—
Before his body was cut into three pieces, crashing down.
By the time Ryo finished his opponent—
The three Shawns had already slit the throat of the third enemy.
Less than five seconds.
Four Sky Ninja—eradicated.
The clones dispersed.
Shawn didn't stop moving.
"Out."
They burst from the forest.
Shawn Enters the Battlefield
The open grassland was chaos.
Tsunade and the Sannin were fully engaged.
Wide-area ninjutsu was impossible.
Shawn's eyes locked onto Tsunade's flank.
He raised both arms.
Wind chakra coated his shuriken.
Two massive spinning windmill shuriken screamed forward.
A Sky Ninja disengaged from Tsunade, dodging cleanly—
Passing through the hollow of the first, deflecting the second—
But the moment he landed—
Two Shawns struck from both sides.
Steel rang.
The Sky Ninja blocked both—
And then—
Shawn's true body descended from above.
Wind-enhanced blade cleaved straight through the enemy's skull.
Before the body hit the ground—
Two clones exploded, struck down by shuriken.
Shawn seized the corpse, using it as a shield to block a kunai.
He tore his blade free—
Chakra detonated beneath his feet.
He vanished.
Steel collided—
Sparks erupted.
Shawn kicked his opponent away, then hurled his sword.
Thud!
The blade pierced the enemy's chest.
Shawn followed instantly, slamming the impaled body into another Sky Ninja.
Release.
Flash step.
Behind them—
A sphere of violently rotating chakra formed in Shawn's palm.
Rasengan.
BOOOOM!
The attack drilled straight through the enemy's back, smashing him into the ground.
A crater formed.
From the outside, it looked like superficial damage—
But internally, the spine and organs had been pulverized completely.
Instant death.
The cicada never realized—
The oriole had already closed its beak.
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