I, Uchiha, will not be whitewashed!

Chapter 90 The Price of Blood!

Shiro, Shizumi, and Izumi have been a team for a year now.

They worked together on seven missions that year.

All seven times it was grade C, and all seven times went smoothly.

He has hunted down wandering ninjas who stole forbidden technique scrolls, escorted secret envoys from the Daimyo's mansion, and eliminated bandits who harassed villages.

Each time, Haku followed behind Shisui and Izumi, a thousand shojos in hand, his ice mirror ready to strike. Each time, he never killed anyone. Not because he couldn't, but because he didn't want to.

Shuoge didn't urge him. Some things can't be rushed.

The eighth mission came suddenly. Shuoge summoned them to the secret service's base, where a map was spread out on the table. It marked the target's movements and the estimated area of ​​their hideout.

"On the border of the Land of Rivers, there is a rogue ninja named Haibara."

Shuoge pushed the task sheet in front of the three of them.

"Chunin, skilled in Earth Release and traps. Alone. C-rank." Haku glanced at the mission sheet and put it away. Shisui didn't speak, while Izumi chewed on her pen and drew circles on her memo.

"Leave tomorrow. Be back within three days." Shuoge turned and left. He stopped at the door without looking back. "Be careful."

""

The three exchanged a glance. No one spoke, but Izumi smiled, her smile as carefree as ever.

The weather was great throughout the trip.

Leaving Konoha, vast rice paddies stretched out on both sides of the road, the heavy ears of rice swaying in the wind. Further on, entering the mountains, the road narrowed, and the trees on both sides grew denser, obscuring the sky.

"I've heard of Haibara."

Shisui walked at the front, holding a kunai in his hand, without turning around.

"He defected three years ago and stole the village's Earth Release scroll. When Orochimaru defected, he ran away with him, but later, for some reason, they parted ways. He's been active in the Land of Rivers area ever since."

"Just one person?" Izumi asked.

"The intelligence says it's the same person."

Bai walked at the very back, without saying a word. He lowered his head, looking at his hands.

The gloves were the same pair Zhishui had bought for him six months ago; they were black, and the fingertips were worn thin, but not torn. He clenched his fist, then relaxed it.

He remembered Zabuza, and Zabuza's words—"Ninjas are not people, they are tools. Tools don't need feelings."

He didn't understand then, and he still doesn't understand now, but he can't forget it.

In the evening, the three set up camp by a mountain stream.

Izumi started a fire to cook, Shisui went on patrol, and Shira sat on a rock polishing a thousand-book. Moonlight shone on the water, breaking into pieces of silvery-white. Izumi handed him a rice ball, which he took and took a bite.

"Shiro, have you been having something on your mind lately?" Izumi squatted down next to him.

"no."

"You're lying." Izumi rested her chin on her hand. "If you don't want to talk about it, I won't ask."

After finishing the rice ball, Bai folded the oil paper that had wrapped it and stuffed it into his pocket.

Izumi couldn't help but laugh when she saw how neatly he folded everything. "You always have to make everything so orderly."

"It's a habit," Bai said, standing up.

The three arrived at their destination at noon the next day.

Haibara's hiding place was deep inside an abandoned mine. The entrance was mostly blocked by bushes, making it almost impossible to spot without careful observation. Shisui crouched down and touched the soil on the ground near the entrance with his fingers.

"Someone went in and out, more than one person. The footprints are messy, indicating at least three to five people."

Izumi leaned closer, looking at the footprints on the ground. She counted them, then looked up at Shisui. "Didn't you say it was just one person?"

Zhi Shui did not answer.

"There are probably quite a few people gathered here." White's hand rested on the ninja tool bag.

After thinking for a moment, Shisui made a decision: "Go in and take a look. If things don't look good, we'll retreat."

The mine was dark, with only a few oil lamps hanging on the walls, their light shimmering on the uneven rock surface.

The air was damp and cold, mixed with a putrid smell.

After walking about fifty steps, the cave suddenly opened up. There were scattered wooden boxes, several torn rice bags, and a few dirty quilts, with empty wine bottles piled in the corner.

"Someone's here." Shisui raised his hand.

Three figures emerged from the shadows. The leader wore a gray robe and a mask, obscuring his face.

The two behind them were dressed in tattered ninja outfits and held short swords in their hands.

The leader took off his hat, revealing a face covered in scars, with a knife scar on his chin running from his left ear to his right.

"Konoha's Anbu?" The scarred man's voice was hoarse, like sandpaper.

"Just three people? And two kids too?"

His gaze swept over Izumi and Shiro.

"Where is Haibara?" Shisui's voice was cold.

"Haibara?" The scarred man chuckled. "I am Haibara." He spread his hands. "Everyone outside says I'm alone and easy to bully. Didn't expect that, did you?"

Izumi's shuriken slid from between her fingers, her white fingers holding a senbon needle, its tip gleaming coldly in the oil lamp light. Shisui's kunai was already held horizontally in front of him.

"Are there any other people outside?" Shisui's voice was calm.

What do you think?

The mine suddenly fell silent.

It wasn't deathly silent, but rather a very light rustling sound coming from above, like a mouse crawling in a crevice in the rock, but not quite like it; it was rhythmic, seeping out from the cracks in the stone wall above.

Bai raised his head and sensed a dangerous chakra surging from the depths of the mine, hot and murky, carrying the smell of gunpowder.

He had seen this kind of chakra before; it had been used on Zabuza's enemies, where explosive tags had been planted.

"Retreat," Shisui said, his voice barely audible.

It's too late.

Haibara snapped her fingers, and a flame shot out from the cracks in the rubble on the mine ceiling, spreading along the cave wall.

It's not fire-style, it's the fire from the exploding tags.

The three of them ran towards the cave entrance at the same time, but Haibara's two companions had already blocked their escape route.

The short sword came slashing down from the front, but Shisui parried it, the clanging of metal ringing out sharply. Izumi's shuriken flew out from the side, forcing back the second person.

Haku rushed in front of Haibara and thrust Senbon straight at his throat.

Haibara parried with the blade of her sword, deflecting the senbon needles. Haku's left hand had already completed the hand seals. An ice mirror appeared between him and Haibara, its transparent surface reflecting their shadows.

"Ice Release?" Haibara's pupils contracted. "From Kirigakure—?"

Bai did not answer.

Senbon flew out again, this time aiming at Haibara's ankle.

Haibara jumped to dodge, but another senbon flew out of the ice mirror, aiming for the back of his neck from behind. He ducked to avoid it, rolling awkwardly around the edge.

When he stood up, a piece of gravel scratched the scar on his face, and blood streamed down his face.

His hand reached into his robes, and Shiro suddenly remembered Zabuza's words—"When an enemy reaches into their robes, it's either to pull out a weapon or to pull out the detonator for an explosive tag. Whatever it is, don't let him take it out."

"Underfoot!"

The sound of still water exploded from behind.

Bai looked down at the cracked ground, from which a dark red light shone—a sign that the explosive tags buried underground were about to detonate.

Without thinking, he grabbed Izumi's wrist and rushed out. Shisui followed behind, throwing kunai and forcing Haibara's two companions back.

boom-!!!

The explosion came from behind. The blast wave, carrying rubble and dust, threw the three of them out of the mine entrance.

He fell to the ground, his ears ringing and his vision going black. He lay there, his mouth full of dirt. He struggled to his feet, his left arm torn and his sleeve stained red.

He looked back and saw that the mine entrance had collapsed, and the rubble had piled up into a small hill.

"Shisui! Izumi!" Shiro's voice caught in her throat, unable to utter a sound.

A hand reached out from the rubble. The white cuff was stained with ash and blood.

Quanmei crawled out from the crack in the rubble, half her face covered in blood, her lips trembling, her eyes wide open, her pupils shrunken to pinpoints.

She opened her mouth, trying to say something but no sound came out, her hands still digging into the pile of rubble.

Bai rushed over and helped her dig. The gravel was sharp and hurt their hands; their fingernails were torn open, and blood smeared on the stones, making it slippery and difficult to hold on.

Zhishui was buried at the very bottom. A large stone slab pressed down on his waist, and gravel buried his lower body, leaving only his chest and above exposed.

His eyes were still open, there was blood at the corner of his mouth, and his breathing was so weak that it looked like he was about to stop breathing at any moment.

His lips moved, but he didn't make a sound. His eyes looked at Shiro, then at Izumi, and then closed.

Something exploded in Bai's mind, just like the detonating tag from before, muffled and dull, making his vision go black.

"Shisui! Shisui!" Izumi's voice finally came out, hoarse as if she were crying or shouting.

Bai gritted his teeth and dug his hands into the cracks under the stone slab.

My nail is split open, and the red stuff is either blood or dirt.

He strained with all his might to lift it, but the stone slab remained motionless. More blood trickled from the corner of Zhi Shui's mouth, and his chest heaved more and more slowly until it finally stopped.

Quanmei knelt on the gravel, grabbing Shisui's outstretched hand.

"Shisui—Shisui—

'

It wasn't fake, it wasn't a drill. Shisui's body was really cold, really still, and really not breathing.

Bai's brain split in two.

Half of it was screaming, the other half was saying: It was you, it was you who didn't kill Haibara. You hesitated. You gave him time to pull out the detonator. You killed Shisui. If you could do it all over again, would you kill that person the moment he reached into his clothes?

Yes. You will.

"White—" Izumi's voice trembled. "Let's go."

"Stopping water"

'

"Go!" Izumi grabbed his wrist, her nails digging into his flesh. "He's already dead, are you going to die here too?!"

Bai looked up and heard movement in the woods outside the mine. There were more than three people.

Footsteps approached from all directions, the sound of hand seals being formed, and the fluctuations of chakra expanded in the night.

He stood up and tried to lift Zhishui's body onto his back—no, he didn't, because the stone slab was too heavy for him to move.

Quanmei grabbed his collar and dragged him into the woods.

Shiro stumbled along, looking back every step of the way. Behind her, on a pile of rubble, Haibara emerged from the half-collapsed mine entrance, bent down to pick up a piece of rubble, weighed it in her palm, and tossed it aside.

"Chase."

Haibara's voice wasn't loud, but it was very clear.

A dozen or so people surged out from behind him.

They weren't wandering ninjas, nor were they a rabble; they were a team dressed in uniform gray combat gear, their coordinated actions clearly indicating they had been trained, working in groups of several to seal off the surrounding area.

Shirai and Izumi walked among the rocks and withered trees.

Izumi's legs were trembling, and Shiro couldn't lift her left arm. They had been running for an unknown amount of time, and the sounds of their pursuers were getting closer and closer. Izumi suddenly stopped and stuffed a scroll she was holding into Shiro's arms.

"Here are the mission details and Shuoge's contact information. You go, I'll hold them off."

He shook his head in white.

"You're stronger than me; you can escape using Ice Release. I can't hold you off for long, so you'd better leave quickly."

Izumi held the kunai in front of her and shoved him. Shiro stumbled from the push, and when he tried to regain his footing and turn back, Izumi's voice came from behind, hoarse and rapid, like a barrage of bullets, silencing any courage he might have to turn around.

"If you die, Shisui will have died in vain."

Bai bit her lip, turned and ran, her legs moving uncontrollably, tears blurring her vision, she lost her footing and tumbled down the gravel slope, falling into the stream.

Get up and keep running.

The stream water was cool, washing away the blood from my face.

It's almost dawn.

When Bai dragged his injured leg into Konoha Village, the sun had already risen.

On the street, people were selling vegetables, walking their dogs, and the shouts of vendors rose and fell. He was covered in mud, his sleeves were soaked with dried blood, and fresh blood was still seeping from the wound on his left arm.

No one recognized him. Shuoge emerged from the secret police stronghold and stood opposite him.

"Where's Izumi?"

Bai lowered his head. "They captured him. Shisui—Shisui is dead."

Shuoge remained silent for a long time. Bai thought he would punch him. But Shuoge did nothing, only turned around, his tone as cold as the winter wind: "Come with me."

The underground training ground of the secret service's stronghold. Bai knelt on the ground, a thousand books scattered everywhere.

Shuoge sat opposite him, picked up his thousand-note book one by one, and placed them in front of him.

"What were you thinking when Haibara reached into his clothes? Whether he wanted to pull out a hidden weapon, a detonator, or whatever, it was none of your business. Your mission was to kill him, not to analyze him."

Bai lowered his head and listened.

"You hesitated. Shisui died, and Izumi was captured. The mission intelligence you brought back was false. Haibara wasn't alone; he was the leader of a rogue ninja gang. He had at least a dozen trained, organized, and armed men under his command. This wasn't a C-rank mission; it was B-rank or even A-rank. But the important thing isn't that the intelligence was wrong; it's that you chose the wrong approach."

"sorry----"

"Sorrying me won't help."

Shuoge placed the last senbon in front of Bai.

"Qianben, from today onwards, poison them. They'll kill on sight. From now on, in missions, if the enemy doesn't surrender, kill them; if they surrender, cripple their movement ability before binding them. For those you don't want to kill, break their arms and legs and bring them back. For those you do want to kill, don't hesitate. Those few seconds of hesitation are enough for you to die a hundred times, enough for your teammates to die a hundred times."

Haku picked up the senbon needles, holding them in his hand; they were cold. "When you and Shisui first teamed up, I said, 'The world of ninjas has no fairy tales.' Do you understand the weight of those words now?"

'

Sakugo stood up and put the senbon needles back into Haku's ninja tool pouch. He stopped at the door without turning back: "Shisui's body can't be brought back. Izumi, I'll send someone to look for her. But if she's dead, it's your fault."

The door is closed.

Bai knelt alone on the training ground, clutching the senbon needles in his hand for a whole day and night. He ate nothing, drank nothing, and shed no tears. He spent the entire night polishing the senbon needles, the tips gleaming coldly under the lamplight.

The next day, before dawn, I went to the training ground for nothing.

He pierced the bullseye on the target, he pierced the wooden figure, he pierced a hole in the wall. He threw a thousand poisoned needles, their tips gleaming purplish-black in the morning light.

A masked ANBU emerged from the shadows and stood at the edge of the training field watching. Bai ignored him and continued throwing. The ANBU stood there for fifteen minutes, then turned and left.

He threw senbon needles all day long, until his arms could no longer lift, until there wasn't a single needle left in his ninja tool pouch. He pulled each needle from the target, wiped it clean, and put it back in his pouch.

He looked up at the sky. A flock of birds flew by on the horizon, forming a V-shape, heading south. One bird lagged behind, flapped its wings a few times, and then caught up.

I watched for a long time in vain. That bird never fell behind again.