The night sky was dotted with stars, but the big, round moon was nowhere to be seen.
The pitch-black Key Village was like a giant beast lying in the mountain valley, its mouth wide open, ready to devour anyone it could.
Senju Chama swallowed hard, gripping the kunai tightly in his hand.
"Teacher, shall we go in together?"
It's normal for Senju Chama to be a little nervous. Compared to his performance at the inn on the road to the Land of Hot Springs last time, Chama has made great progress this time.
"No, there's clearly something wrong with the village. It would be unwise for us to storm in now."
Looking at Key Village in the distance, Sarutobi Shinnosuke already had a well-thought-out plan of action in mind.
"In a moment, I will lead Itachi Uchiha and Sasaki Senju to infiltrate the village and investigate the situation. Naraku Uchiha will stay where he is and wait."
"Naraku, remember this: if there is any commotion in the village, you don't need to pay attention to it. But if we are ambushed in the village, you should assess the situation and take action yourself!"
The situation inside the village is currently unclear, but it seems highly likely that the enemy has laid an ambush or set up traps within the village.
Even Shinnosuke wasn't confident he could guarantee the safety of his three disciples.
Therefore, he left behind Uchiha Naraku, whose survival skills were even stronger than his own, as a reserve force to deal with any potential crises.
This is a very reasonable choice.
"Naraku, be careful."
After checking his equipment, Itachi Uchiha didn't forget to check on his beloved girl.
"Naraku-chan, if you can't hold on, just shout my name, and I'll definitely run back to save you."
Seeing that Uchiha Itachi had already spoken, Senju Chama naturally didn't want to be left behind.
You know what, after he finished bragging, Senju Chama himself didn't feel so nervous anymore.
"Go to the children!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke, with his body hunched over, was the first to leave the hiding place. Senju Chama and Uchiha Itachi did not dare to be negligent and carefully followed their teacher, stealthily advancing towards Key Village.
Uchiha Naraku waited in place, watching his companions disappear into the night.
The distant Key Village looked unchanged, still pitch black.
Naraku waited patiently until, ten minutes later, a loud bang was heard.
A violent explosion occurred somewhere in the village, and almost at the same time, Naraku sensed that he was surrounded!
...
A few minutes ago.
Uchiha Itachi lowered his head, calculating his own combat abilities.
Although one's eye power increases every day after awakening the Mangekyou Sharingan, the Uchiha clan's other physical abilities also undergo tremendous changes whenever their eye power changes.
However, the more this happened, the more obvious Itachi Uchiha's own shortcomings became.
That means he has too little chakra.
As we all know, activating the Mangekyou Sharingan requires a massive amount of chakra; basically, one needs more than 1000 chakra points to withstand such a terrifying chakra load.
In terms of Itachi Uchiha's current chakra reserves, that's a huge, huge difference.
If he hadn't mentioned the side effects of the Mangekyou Sharingan earlier, even if he only activated it for a short time, those terrifying eyes would have turned into a high-powered water pump, instantly draining his already meager chakra.
Therefore, he cannot use the kaleidoscope's ability unless absolutely necessary.
While contemplating his future direction, Itachi Uchiha activated his three-tomoe Sharingan to observe the changes in Key Village.
Unfortunately, there wasn't a soul on the street, and even inside the buildings within sight, Itachi Uchiha couldn't find anything suspicious.
Has the enemy really withdrawn?
The three of them silently approached the wall of Key Village and then quickly rolled over it.
Behind the wall was an ordinary little courtyard.
The courtyard was covered in bloodstains, but not a single body was found.
Shinnosuke quickly surveyed the surrounding area for signs of a battle and soon came to a conclusion…
"These beasts of the Land of Earth, this isn't a battle, this is a massacre..."
Senju Chama and Uchiha Itachi felt a pang of sadness upon hearing their teacher's words, realizing that all the villagers of Key Village had likely been slaughtered by the enemy.
He was filled with resentment and regret; if only his group had arrived sooner…
"Don't overthink it, continue the search, and stay vigilant."
Shinnosuke led the two out of the courtyard, and the streets of Key Village were covered with signs of battle.
As the three were walking down the street, they suddenly heard a slight noise coming from a building on their right.
(Is someone there?)
Sarutobi Shinnosuke immediately gestured to his two disciples, then took the lead and entered the building through the open window.
Uchiha Itachi and Chama observed their surroundings and waited for about two seconds. When Shinnosuke inside the building did not issue a warning, the two entered the building.
It appears to be a duplex villa with luxurious interior decoration, and there are no signs of damage.
For some unknown reason, the owner of this place has disappeared.
The three of them searched their way to the second floor of the duplex building, where they heard faint, almost inaudible breathing sounds coming from the end of the corridor.
Uchiha Itachi, who possessed the Sharingan, pointed to the depths of the dark corridor and spoke in sign language:
(There's someone deep in the corridor... judging by their attire, they're a Konoha ninja.)
Sarutobi Shinnosuke gestured for the two to stay away, and he approached the Konoha ninja alone.
When they got to about three meters away, Sarutobi Shinnosuke could see clearly that it was a young female ninja sitting in the corner.
She was wearing a Konoha Chunin vest with a few drops of blood on her body. Her hands hung limply at her sides, and her head was bowed, her disheveled hair obscuring her face.
She slumped weakly in the corner of the corridor, her breathing shallow, as if she had suffered a serious injury.
Because she was looking down, Shinnosuke couldn't see her face clearly, but he could see that she was indeed wearing a Konoha headband.
"Teacher...this young lady seems to still be alive, I'm going to rescue her."
Senju Chajian saw that the girl was unconscious and was about to walk over.
"Run!!"
As soon as Sarutobi Shinnosuke finished speaking, the female ninja struggled to raise her head.
What a cruel scene that was.
Even many years later, Itachi Uchiha still found the memory vivid.
The girl's face, except for her mouth, was covered with layers upon layers of explosive tags. Itachi Uchiha's Sharingan clearly saw that the girl's mouth was wide open, as if she was trying to breathe, or as if she was wailing in despair.
But no matter what, it was too late!
The detonator lit up with a flash.
"Boom!"
A terrifying explosion shattered the silence of the night, reducing the entire duplex to ashes.
And the female ninja from Konoha who was the source of the explosion was naturally blown to pieces in the most terrifying hell!
Death may not be so painful.
But what kind of despair she experienced while waiting for death, only she herself probably knows...
...
You can now download the complete English PDF of the story you're currently reading at my Patreon shop. I also have a wide variety of other books available there for you to explore!
What's up, everyone! I've just uploaded several new Adult (18+) Naruto fanfics. Feel free to head over and check them out. Most Of Them Include R@pe and L0li so beware before you check them.
Here are titles of uploaded Naruto adult fanfics on Patreon:
~ Naruto: Tsunade R@pe (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Tsunade and Mei Terumi Become Milk-Sucking Mares (18+) ~
~ Naruto: The Lewd Fox (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Erotic (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Son Inherits Father's Wife, the Eighth Hokage (18+) ~
~ Naruto Hypnosis System: Forced to Embark on a Path of Collecting S*x Slaves (18+) ~
~ Naruto World: Where Common Sense Has Been Altered (18+) ~
~ Naruto Pervert: The Aloof and Secretly horny Tsunade and the Seductive and Beautiful Mei Terumi (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Absolute Evil (18+) ~
~ Naruto: The Humiliation of Women (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Random Gender-Swapped Fanfics, Found in my Collection (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Short Stories (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Lingering Warmth (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Ntr Chronicles (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Super Pervert Ninja (18+) ~
~ Naruto: The Hyuga Clan Cecame a Gathering Place for Female Ninjas' Lewd Parties (18+)
~ Naruto: Lowly Reborn Danzo (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Debauchery (18+) ~
~ Hyuga Hokage (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Amazing World Experience Ticket (18+) ~
~ Hinata's Hypnotic Battle with Her Crossdressing Son (18+) ~
~ Naruto Bondage (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Starting as a Daimyō—My Many Children Bring Me Great Fortune (18+) ~
~ Becoming a Pokémon Master in Naruto? (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Reborn in the Sand Village as a Magnet Release Puppeteer ~
~ My Girlfriend Transmigrated Into The Naruto World And Became A Female Version Of Kakuzu (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Inside the Akatsuki—Starting Out by Taking Kushina (18+) ~
~ Naruto: When Naruto Realizes Sasuke Is a Girl ~
~ Naruto: Starting as a Daimyō—My Many Children Bring Me Great Fortune (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Lurking in ANBU Until Becoming a Super Kage ~
~ Becoming a Pokémon Master in Naruto? (18+) ~
~ Naruto: Reborn in the Sand Village as a Magnet Release Puppeteer ~
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(End of Chapter)