Uchiha Yoru wore no chunin vest and displayed no Uchiha crest. He concealed his presence and deliberately misled the Sunagakure ninja into judging him as a genin.
This was a strategy of playing the pig to eat the tiger.
But more importantly, that misdirection was the opening move of his genjutsu, specifically designed to prepare the target before the Sharingan was even activated.
His true strength and the successfully disguised image of a mere genin formed a subtle contradiction in the minds of the three Sunagakure ninja. Under Uchiha Yoru's delicate control, that contradiction quietly pried open cracks in their hearts and planted the seeds of illusion.
The Sunagakure ninja on the left slope rushed forward along the barrier dam. "Maybe he's not arrogant—maybe he's disguised. A lone genin shouldn't appear in a foreign country. There's probably something wrong with him!"
The Sunagakure ninja to the south said coldly, "If there's something wrong with him, then we capture him and interrogate him."
Uchiha Yoru shouted angrily, "Bastards! Is Sunagakure trying to go to war with Konoha?"
"War? You?" the southern ninja sneered. "Your life isn't worth enough to make Konoha and Sunagakure go to war."
When the ninja from the left finally entered shuriken range as well, he suddenly barked, "Attack!"
The three Sunagakure ninja all stepped into throwing range at the same time and each launched shuriken.
Yoru's right hand flickered, putting away the straight sword and filling his fingers with cross-shaped shuriken, which he threw toward the front and the right.
But his whole body tilted left.
Just as he was about to burst toward the enemy on that side—
A puppet surfaced from the lake behind him.
Its gaping mouth pressed against the water's surface and spat out over a dozen senbon. Yoru sensed the danger and instantly turned and rolled, but the distance was too short.
In the end, three senbon struck his torso.
He reached to pull them out—
But suddenly collapsed weakly to the ground, sprawled there and writhing slowly, as if utterly unwilling to accept defeat.
The poison on a Sunagakure puppeteer's senbon was naturally toxic.
Judging by how quickly it took effect, this was a vicious one.
Seeing the ambush succeed, the three Sunagakure ninja actually stepped back instead, retreating beyond shuriken range.
The puppet that had launched the sneak attack sank back into the water, and the puppeteer controlling it surfaced farther out on the lake, standing atop the water.
None of the Sunagakure ninja advanced.
They cautiously waited at a distance, like vultures waiting for prey to die before moving in to feed.
Yoru lay on the ground, struggling uselessly.
Yet that struggle continued for several minutes—
And still, he did not die.
Seeing that the target refused to die, the four Sunagakure ninja instead relaxed and began cautiously closing in.
The southern ninja, clearly the leader, remained careful. Though he already knew his subordinate's methods, he still asked the puppeteer on the lake, "He's not pretending, is he?"
The puppeteer replied with full confidence, "Impossible. No one would guess that what I smeared on the senbon wasn't lethal poison. If it hadn't hit him, he would have used the chance to play dead, not keep struggling this whole time."
The ninja beside him laughed. "Captain, you're too cautious. Liúshā-kun's method is exquisite. It controls the target, confirms the hit, and has never failed."
"Mm. Caution is never wrong."
The puppeteer sneered. "Konoha ninja have quite a reputation, but they're not stronger than ninja from small countries, are they? How did we lose the last war to people like this?"
The rough-bearded genin on the left was pulled into old war memories by that remark.
Without thinking, he muttered, "A lot of Konoha ninja are laughably weak, but there are truly terrifying ones too. Like White Fang…"
The captain to the south turned pale in fright and cut him off sharply. "Shut up! Are you trying to die?"
The puppeteer's expression changed too. "Lord Umino Keisuke is nearby, you idiot! Are you trying to get us killed?"
The bearded ninja's face went white. He bowed repeatedly to everyone around him. "My apologies."
The captain was silent for a moment before saying, "If you don't want punishment, then don't let anything slip."
"Yes!" x3
…
The Sunagakure ninja formed a circle around Uchiha Yoru. The ninja from the left slope was checking the traces of daily activity nearby, estimating how long Yoru had been in the area.
The leader said, "This Konoha ninja is actually pretty capable. He almost escaped from Jietian-kun."
At that, the puppeteer kicked Yoru once and said, "Not bad indeed…"
[Damn it. I've remembered you now…]
The leader continued, "Since we captured a live one, interrogate him. Let's see if he knows anything."
At that moment, the ninja inspecting the traces walked over and said listlessly, "Why waste the effort? We've searched the Land of Rivers for almost a month and found nothing."
"This Konoha ninja has been here four days at most. You think he knows anything about the Kazekage?"
[…Finally, they're here.]
The Uchiha Yoru lying on the ground suddenly said in a muffled voice, "That's hard to say. I actually do know something."
The four Sunagakure ninja were stunned.
In horror, they drew weapons and explosive tags, trying to surround and kill this enemy who had only been pretending to be poisoned.
But Uchiha Yoru had already drawn his straight sword in advance.
The tip of the blade danced lightly, touching each enemy's wrist almost at the same instant.
The sharp point did not stab deeply—
But it severed the tendons in their wrists with perfect precision, crippling most of a ninja's combat ability.
The Sunagakure ninja who had pulled out explosive tags got it worst.
A veteran through and through, he chose mutual destruction instantly.
Naturally, Yoru targeted him specifically.
All ten fingers were sliced off on purpose.
Then the final thrust pierced a key node in his chakra pathway, disrupting the flow of chakra and completely destroying his ability to trigger the explosive tags.
Only after confirming total victory did Uchiha Yoru speak.
"I know your Kazekage has gone missing."
"And now, you're going missing too."
At that moment, the Sunagakure ninja all understood.
They had run into a powerful ninja skilled at baiting prey.
They tried to flee without hesitation, hoping to pass the information to their superiors—
Only to discover that, at some point, their feet had sunk into the ground.
The earth had fused completely with their legs.
They couldn't move at all.
In despair, the Sunagakure ninja immediately tried to kill themselves.
Uchiha Yoru opened his three-tomoe Sharingan and detonated the genjutsu seeds he had planted in their hearts, robbing all of them of their chakra control.
He did not take away their senses or their ability to move.
But without chakra—
What could ninja do, even if they could still move their bodies?
The leader howled like a madman, "Uchiha! You're actually an Uchiha! How can you be an Uchiha? Since when can the Uchiha be this shameless?!"
Uchiha Yoru smiled and replied, "You had numbers on your side. And you, especially—you're a tokubetsu jōnin leading the team. If even one of you got away, I'd have trouble."
"And compared to trouble…"
"I find losing a little pride much easier to accept."
He casually dusted the dirt off his clothes, then pulled the three senbon from the weighted armor they had struck.
Miwa Masayo, who had been hiding, quietly appeared as well. She couldn't help praising him.
"Yoru, you're amazing. You turned their sneak attack into part of your disguise and easily took down a jōnin squad."
"Just like what you said—"
"A master hunter often appears in the form of prey."
"But how did you know the poison needles weren't coated with lethal poison?"
Uchiha Yoru smiled, tapped his nose, and answered,
"I'm an excellent ninja too."
"As long as I catch the scent, I can roughly tell what a poison does."
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