Naruto: The Information Broker from the Uchiha Clan.

Chapter 148 Illusion

"So, I really envy you young people..."

The old man glanced at his busy tribespeople, smiled, and said, "When I was young, I was in excellent health. We traveled far and wide with the changing seasons; as a nomadic people, we couldn't do without good health."

As they were talking, a gray figure darted into the old man's arms. The ferret looked up at the clouds, baring its teeth and revealing a fierce expression.

"Oh? Is Nilugu a little shy today?"

The old man reached out to comfort the ferret, saying, "Don't mind it. Nilugu is older than me. Perhaps your power made him uneasy."

Yun waved his hand to indicate that nothing was wrong, glanced at the ferret, and then ignored it.

An ancient lifespan and extraordinary perception? Is it because of the Grell Stone?

The little creature noticed the fluctuations created by the illusion just a moment ago.

Perceptive abilities correspond to vortexes, and powerful life force corresponds to the Thousand Hands—truly, every aspect of this place sparks endless imagination…

……

The first night passed very peacefully.

Apart from one or two rabbits or mice causing a commotion among the three new recruits who had just started their mission, there were no other unexpected incidents.

Perhaps because of what Yun had said earlier, the closer they got to the border of the Land of Fire, the more tense the three of them became.

The next afternoon, Yun shielded her eyes from the sun and looked at the distant sunset: "Quan, you can't see this view from the village."

Upon hearing this, Quan, who was standing to the right of the protective team, looked over and saw a pool of water in the direction where the sun was setting, its reflection in the water creating a truly beautiful scene.

However, Yun glanced at its shimmering surface and then ignored it.

The group moved slowly along the path. Quan glanced at the scenery he had just seen, lost in thought for only a moment, before looking away.

Now is not the time to admire the scenery; the most important thing is to remain vigilant and protect the safety of the entire caravan.

After a while, the caravan was getting closer and closer to the pool where the sunset had been reflected, but Yun was still sitting on the roof of the carriage, feeling drowsy.

"Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."

The shuriken and kunai, their blades gleaming white, surged forth, instantly turning the clouds atop the carriage into a pincushion.

"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!"

The sound came from the rock wall beside the pool. Immediately, the soil around the carriage trembled, and in an instant, three sharp spikes made of soil rose up, skewering Yun, who had already turned into a hedgehog.

After the raid was completed, the most threatening Jonin was already dead.

Earth Release: Rock Concealment Technique.

Three figures appeared on the rock wall, without headbands, but they grinned maliciously at Tokuma and the others.

"You controlled the Tulong Spear quite well, didn't you? Even the carriage wasn't damaged."

"That's because the enemy has already been killed by my kunai..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the leader looked at Tokuma and the others and said, "Aren't you sad that your teacher was killed? Are you guys really Konoha ninjas? You look more like Kirigakure ninjas."

"So young and already a Jonin, yet we killed him so easily. Konoha's Jonin are too weak..."

"These kids... they're not simple!"

The last enemy to speak chuckled, looking at Tokuma opposite him and saying, "Hyuga, Uchiha, and Inuzuka—how could such a trio of clans be paired with such a trashy team leader?"

Tokuma's gaze turned serious, but he ignored the other party's question and instead asked, "What is your purpose?"

At this moment, the three had already formed a formation to protect the caravan.

As for Uchiha Yun, who was already lying dead on the ground, the three of them completely ignored him.

If the Leaf Village Ghost, capable of slaying the Fourth Raikage on the battlefield, were to be killed by a few henchmen, wouldn't that be the biggest joke in the ninja world?

Thinking about Yun's wicked sense of humor when it came to the graduation assessment task, it was clear that Yun meant for them to solve the problem themselves.

"Purpose?"

The leader of the group chuckled, then said, "If your teacher had died before, our only objective would have been the caravan, but now..."

"We only feel at ease if you all stay here after killing Konoha ninjas!!"

As soon as he finished speaking, his hands, which had been hidden behind his back, completed a hand seal and then slammed down.

"Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!"

Sharp earth spikes suddenly shot out from the ground. The target was Tokuma and his companions, but they did not attack the caravan.

However, this was obviously not hidden from Tokuma, who had already activated his Byakugan. The three of them scattered and instantly dodged the sneak attack.

Izumi, who had risen into the air, quickly formed hand seals: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!

A huge burst of flame erupted from its mouth, interrupting the opponent's subsequent attack.

"Buzz!"

Beneath Izumi's Sharingan with its two tomoe, a figure rapidly approached.

Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!

"Bang!"

The kunai in Izumi's hand collided with the rock-encased fist, and the immense force caused it to fall from mid-air.

Clearly, shooting it down was not the enemy's objective. The enemy then formed hand seals again: Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave.

The soil on the ground churned up and quickly swept towards the falling spring.

Unable to gain any leverage in mid-air, Izumi ignored the rocks rushing towards her from behind, her Sharingan eyes still fixed on the enemy above.

"Whoosh!"

The enlarged Rimaru, using Izumi's help in mid-air, repelled the enemies with her four-legged technique. Hana looked at Izumi and asked, "How was it?"

Quan nodded: "No problem, the final blow."

As soon as he finished speaking, Izumi formed hand seals again: Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

A violent fireball suddenly hurtled towards the enemy in mid-air.

"Ninjutsu that misses its target is just a waste of your chakra, kid. You still have a lot to learn. But... it seems you won't have the chance."

The flower's opponent was mocking him, but the next second, he found that his companion in mid-air was completely still.

How is that possible?

"Get out of the way!!!"

Despite the roar, his companions showed no intention of dodging.

Under the shroud of the fireball, the body that fell from mid-air was already charred.

"Sharingan?!"

The moment the other party saw Izumi's eyes, they instantly understood, but the two-tomoe Sharingan in his sight horrified him.

Their bodies stiffened in just a moment of eye contact.

I can't move.

How is that possible?

How could such a young Uchiha, who is only a genin, possibly awaken the Sharingan, let alone have two tomoe?

"flower!"

The cry of the spring rang out.

"clear!"

"Orc clone, Fang-to-Fang!"

In an instant, the two rapidly spinning pellets collided.

"boom!!!"

The second is to solve it.

"call……"

Seeing that the enemy had stopped moving, Quan collapsed and sat down on the ground.

The Sharingan with two tomoe was still too much of a burden for her, who had just become a genin.

Although the two consecutive genjutsu activated by the Sharingan were successful, the chakra required to maintain them rendered him powerless.

"Izumi, are you alright?"

After stuffing a soldier's ration pill into Quan's mouth and making him swallow it, Hua, who had regained his original form, was somewhat worried.

Quan smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'm just a little tired."

Hua nodded and looked at the remaining battlefield not far away, but did not go to help.

Although only three enemies have appeared, it is unknown whether there are more hidden enemies.

At this moment, Quan had lost her fighting ability, and both the caravan and Quan needed her care.

Aren't you going to help?

The old man lying on the ground secretly looked up and asked a question, but this provoked Hua's anger.

"The standard for a C-rank mission is that you won't have a ninja-level opponent. You should understand that, right?"

"If we don't have a reasonable explanation soon, we'll abandon this mission. Good luck to you all!"

These words sent a chill down the old man's spine, and he hurriedly said in a panic, "I really don't know why ninjas are targeting us, please believe me! We can compensate this mission with the standard of a B-rank mission."

The old man's expression didn't seem to indicate he was lying, and the mention of additional compensation proved that the other party wasn't exaggerating the mission level because of money.

So... why would such an ordinary caravan be targeted?

At this moment, Inuzuka Hana was pondering while keeping an eye on Tokuma's battle not far away. If Tokuma lost, she would have to take a gamble.

……

Earth Escape, Earthquake Core!

The moment the opponent completed the hand seals, the ground beneath Tokuma's feet began to sink rapidly.

From Byakugan's perspective, Tokuma, who had been on guard since Byakugan began forming hand seals, was preparing to retreat.

Earth Release: Earth Rising Spear!

Spikes rose rapidly from the sinking ground, but Tokuma dodged them all under his Byakugan gaze.

"This Hyuga brat is quite skilled at using the Byakugan! How about this?"

As soon as he finished speaking, he formed a hand seal, and a dragon made of mud rose up and headed straight for Dejian.

"Whoosh!"

After dodging in an instant, Tokuma looked up at the enemy, and behind him, the earth dragon swirled and attacked again.

At this height... a jump isn't enough.

However, if one gathers chakra at the soles of their feet to reach the target, it's clear that the opponent is waiting for a surprise attack.

From this perspective, it seems there are opportunities to take advantage of them.

After a moment of clarity, Tokuma rushed upwards along the soil.

Sure enough, what awaited him was a series of kunai, with explosive tags even attached to them.

The earth dragon was hot on its heels, while a series of explosive tags were hurtling towards it.

Baguazhang, Reversing Heaven!

In an instant, a large amount of chakra was released from the chakra points in Tokuma's body, and then it made a circular rotation like a spinning top.

The detonating tag and the earth dragon behind him were directly destroyed, and Tokuma also leaped out of the sinkhole caused by the earthquake core.

"Whoosh!"

A kunai came flying straight at him. The Byakugan's perspective made Tokuma slightly turn his head, and he rushed past without slowing down at all.

The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!

Earth Release: Fist Rock!

"boom!!"

The Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms were not even finished; in fact, it was only the first strike before it had to collide with the fist formed of rocks.

Tokuma, who had retreated, looked grave. His Byakugan could indeed see the enemy's every move; it had seen the enemy's ninjutsu the moment it was activated.

but……

Is the reaction speed too slow?

Sure enough, the gap was still too obvious. Even if one could see it, even if one could complete all sixty-four strikes, one was not a motionless target when facing an enemy.

If your reaction speed isn't fast enough, you won't be able to land the Thirty-Two Palms.

The so-called "Eight Trigrams Realm" is only guaranteed to hit when reaction speeds are similar.

"Kid... was that Hyuga's Gentle Fist just now? It aims to sever chakra pathways, but it has to hit its mark!"

As soon as he finished speaking, the other party charged at him again.

For a time, Tokuma managed to keep up with the situation using his Byakugan's insightful abilities, but he couldn't find an opportunity to retaliate.

……

It's a miracle!

Once again, the defensive reversal turned the tide, but Tokuma was already struggling to even maintain the Byakugan.

"Can't hold on any longer, kid? But for a genin to last this long against me, the name Hyuga is already something to be proud of."

As soon as he finished speaking, while Tokuma was catching his breath, the other party charged at him again.

however……

"Bang!"

With a muffled thud, a figure grasped a fist made of rock in his palm. It was an ordinary palm, with nothing special about it.

"Who?!"

The retreating enemy glared at them angrily, then froze in shock.

"How is this possible? How can you still be alive?!"

Yun smiled and said, "Why is it impossible? If you wanted to kill me, the sacrifices of Iwagakure would be far greater than those for killing the Third Raikage. Would Onoki be willing to do that?"

!!!

The mocking voice from the other side startled him, and he held his kunai horizontally in front of his chest: "What do you mean?!"

Yun shook her head slightly and pressed down on Tokuma, who was about to get up: "You should rest for a while. Although it was meant to be a test, you've already exceeded my expectations in persevering this far."

As he spoke, Yun slowly walked towards his opponent, and three tomoe suddenly appeared in his eyes as he slightly raised his head.

"asshole……"

As she murmured, the illusion that had already struck her caused her to close her eyes.

Yun, who had only just reached him, paused and asked, "Why target this caravan?"

"Because they possess a power that they shouldn't have, a power capable of changing the world that they shouldn't have."

"What is this power?"

"The Stone of Life is a mineral that can instantly heal injuries. We must master this power ourselves."

Like myself, did you have other ideas because you knew about the life energy of the Grell Stone?

After a moment's thought, Yun asked, "Where did you get this information?"

The ninja under the illusion replied, "The Book of Grell contains many uses for this ore."

Where is the book?

"have no idea."

???

For a moment, Yun even thought that her illusion had failed, but the other party's subsequent reply dispelled her doubts.

"We came across the Book of Grell by chance, and at first we didn't know if it was real or fake, which led to its loss. Later, we learned that a ferret in the caravan had lived for hundreds of years, so we started to take a closer look at the book."

"However... this caravan will not enter the Land of Earth, so in order to test the truth, or rather, to give it a try, we chose to conceal it."

……

Yun understood after hearing this, but she still asked, "Who are you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the creature in the illusion suddenly struggled, its previously closed eyes opening wide, revealing a blood-red color.

"ah!!!"

Amidst the roar, Yun's Sharingan detected another type of chakra appearing in this guy's mind.

Is it a cursed seal?

With the appearance of another stream of chakra, the genjutsu was broken.

Before Yun could even be surprised, a surge of chakra suddenly erupted in his head.

"boom!!!"

With a tremendous roar, the man who had just broken the illusion was reduced to nothing but ashes.

The clouds, having shaken off the dust, frowned at this moment.

The rule of the secret service in each village is to leave no corpse behind after a death.

……

(End of this chapter)