Why is she so fearless?!
The Iwa ninja clenched his teeth but remained outwardly composed. His face remained cold as he exhaled slowly.
"Kill them."
With that, he turned and walked away.
Sakiya blinked in surprise.
"Huh? Just walking off like that? In front of me?!"
The rest of the Iwa ninjas smirked cruelly.
Sakiya, however, remained defiant.
"You fools! Do you have any idea how powerful my Eye of Death is?"
Her serious expression made the Iwa shinobi chuckle.
Ignoring them, she dramatically pointed toward the sky and began chanting:
"Shinra Vortex! Infinite Emptiness! The Unstoppable Jedi Eye! Trapped in Oblivion! It is the Void of the World! The Rupture of Reality!..."
The Iwa ninjas exchanged confused looks.
Even their leader, who had been striding away coolly, briefly considered turning back to see what she was babbling about.
But no. If he turned now, he'd lose his composure. He had to hold firm.
Still, the realization hit them soon enough—she was stalling for time!
"Hah! What nonsense is this?"
"Enough! Kill them!"
"Attack! Wipe them out!"
The Iwa shinobi charged forward.
Chihiro drew her blade.
Sakuragi and Tsuchiya gripped their kunai tightly.
Just as the battle was about to begin, a glowing pattern suddenly formed beneath Sakiya's feet, expanding to envelop her teammates.
In a flash, they disappeared.
The Iwa ninjas froze.
"Where the hell did they go?!"
A ripple of light flickered from a short distance away.
Their eyes snapped toward it—there they were, the same four figures standing unharmed.
The Iwa ninjas hesitated, then resumed their attack.
But just as they struck—
Their blades sliced through nothing.
Only air.
Their targets were phantoms.
The real Chihiro and her team hadn't moved at all.
All the Iwa shinobi could see were perfectly identical clones standing just a few meters away!
Chihiro made a quick hand signal.
It meant: Let's use this chance to escape.
But just as they were about to slip away—
Sakiya smirked.
Chihiro, Sakuragi, and Tsuchiya's eyes widened in alarm.
They wanted to stop her, but they couldn't make a sound.
Sakiya picked up a wooden club and casually walked up behind the Iwa leader—who was still trying to look cool.
The leader had just begun to suspect something was off.
Why aren't they making a move? Why is this fight so quiet?
Then, as he turned his head—
WHAM!
The club came down hard.
With a loud thud, the Iwa leader's entire body slammed into the ground.
Bang!
His head slammed into the stone floor, cracking the bricks beneath him.
Tokumoto Kyomin and Ochiaisuke stood frozen in shock.
Sakiya had only appeared the moment she swung her club—so fast that they hadn't even had time to warn their leader.
The Iwa ninja leader's head rang like a bell, his vision swimming. He couldn't move.
But Sakiya wasn't done.
She raised the club again—
And brought it crashing down.
Thud!
With that second blow, his head smashed a hole into the ground.
Sakiya glanced at her club, then at the unconscious Iwa leader.
"Wow, his skull is tough."
The commotion quickly drew the attention of the other Iwa ninjas.
When they saw their leader lying motionless, rage burned in their eyes.
"Earth Release: Rock Spear!"
One of them launched a ninjutsu attack.
A sharp stone spear shot forward—
But it passed straight through Sakiya's body.
In his vision, she hadn't moved at all, but in reality, what he saw was just a cleverly placed illusion.
His attack had hit nothing but air.
Chihiro gasped.
"Sakiya! Move!"
Then—she froze.
Wait.
Why was this scene so familiar?
Chihiro hesitated, her mind racing.
Weren't we all supposed to be under the same illusion technique?
Had Sakiya layered multiple illusions on top of each other?
Had she just tricked her own teammates too?!
Chihiro quickly turned to check on the Iwa shinobi.
Luckily, they hadn't noticed her outburst.
These weren't weak opponents—they had been chosen as the vanguard, meaning they were skilled.
In a head-on fight, they had no real chance of winning.
Even hidden within Sakiya's illusions, Chihiro knew—
If this turned into an all-out battle, someone was bound to get hurt.
And no matter who it was—
She didn't want to see that happen.
Seeing that no one had noticed them, Chihiro reached out and took Sakiya's small hand.
[Wait… is this really her?]
She wasn't sure if the Sakiya in front of her was real or just another illusion.
To test it, she squeezed lightly.
Yep. Soft little hands.
Reassured, Chihiro tightened her grip, looked Sakiya in the eyes, and spoke seriously.
"Sakiya, stop messing around. Let's get out of here and report to Hokage. We need to warn the village and have them send reinforcements. That's our priority right now!"
Sakiya hesitated for a moment but eventually nodded.
Chihiro let out a relieved sigh.
[Finally! Sakiya actually listened for once… This is rare.]
Tsuchiya and Sakuragi also looked relieved.
Even with Sakiya's powerful illusions, staying to fight was too risky. It was better to retreat and warn the village.
Without wasting another second, the group moved at full speed, leaving the village behind.
The Iwa ninja were still scrambling in confusion.
"Where did they go?!"
"I can't see them! Did they escape?"
"Damn it! We can't let them get away!"
But no matter how hard they searched, the group had vanished without a trace.
---
Chihiro and the others continued their escape, unaware of one crucial fact—
Only Sakiya's shadow clone had followed them.
Her real body was still in the village.
And she had stayed behind for one reason—
To clean up the trash.
Sakiya's right eye glowed with a golden-red brilliance as she scanned the area.
In one corner of the village, she saw them.
Piles of lifeless bodies.
Civilians.
The original residents of this village.
Slaughtered.
Her expression darkened.
These monsters…
She had known for a long time that the world was cruel. But seeing a massacre like this firsthand…
She couldn't ignore it.
Sakiya clenched her clawed fingers.
"This world is so filthy… disgusting… It's time to make them face death."
She raised her hand. Energy crackled at her fingertips.
"Death Explosion."
A sharp arc of electricity shot through the air.
The space in front of her collapsed.
For a brief moment, a vacuum formed at the center of the blast, creating an effect similar to a black hole.
The earth itself compressed—hundreds of meters of land, stone, and every Iwa ninja in range were crushed into a single, dense sphere.
A moment later, the compression effect vanished.
The sphere of compacted debris dropped into a newly formed crater.
Silence.
Without sparing a second glance, Sakiya turned and walked away.
_____
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