"Ssh—ssh!"
Tatsuma had barely finished shouting that ridiculous name, fighting back a wave of sheer secondary embarrassment, when several kunai tore through the wall of flames and whistled toward him. He performed a mid-air butterfly twist, several kunai appearing in his own hands as he countered. He managed to deflect all but one.
As for that final kunai...
"Tatsuma, your shoulder!"
Minato shouted in alarm, instantly positioning himself in front of Tatsuma with a kunai at the ready to intercept any follow-up attacks from the Iwa-nin.
"It's fine. I'm used to it."
Feeling the sharp sting in his left shoulder, Tatsuma forced a wry, strained smile. He stowed his remaining shuriken back into his pouch and reached up, pulling the kunai clean out of his flesh.
He immediately wove a set of one-handed signs, activating the Mystical Palm Technique to knit the wound shut. His eyes, however, remained narrowed and heavy as he watched the smoke and fire from their explosion dissipate.
These Iwa-nin were definitely elites. Facing a combined assault from him and Minato, they hadn't just managed to deploy a defense in time—they had actually found the opening to counterattack.
As the flames died down, scorched earth walls stood revealed. The surfaces were riddled with the impact marks of countless shuriken, though the clones produced by the Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique had long since vanished after being consumed by the heat or shattered against the stone.
Rumble...
The earth walls slowly sank back into the ground. Of the nearly one hundred Iwa-nin who had been caught in the crossfire of the combined jutsu, only six or seven showed visible signs of burns or cuts.
Only three lay dead on the ground. A combined jutsu that had drained nearly half the chakra reserves of two talented genin had only taken out three enemies. The realization cast a grim shadow over the faces of the two boys and the surrounding Konoha shinobi.
However, the Iwa-nin weren't exactly celebrating. To besiege the Sannin, they had burned through a massive amount of chakra. Having just coordinated a large-scale Earth Style defense, their own reserves were hitting critical levels.
"Close in! They're Earth Style specialists; long-range ninjutsu won't be effective enough!"
A member of the Inuzuka clan shouted the command, leaping onto his ninken and charging toward the Iwa lines. Minato turned his head, checking on his friend. "Tatsuma, can you still fight?"
Tatsuma, whose shoulder had already stopped bleeding, nodded firmly. "I'm good. Don't worry about me."
Minato gave a quick nod and vanished, following the vanguard of Konoha ninja as they closed the distance. Tatsuma reached into his pack, pulled out a sealing scroll, and unsealed a chakra short blade.
He lunged toward an Iwa-nin who had just been sent flying by an Inuzuka's ninken. The ninja, mid-air and seeing Tatsuma charging with a blade, panicked and wove signs at lightning speed.
"Earth Style: Hardening Technique!"
Clang!
The moment the chakra blade swept across the ninja's throat, Tatsuma felt a violent vibration travel up his arm. The pressure against the "tiger's mouth" of his hand was so intense he nearly lost his grip on the hilt.
The Iwa-nin landed, touching the faint trickle of blood on his neck with a look of pure shock. His defense had actually been breached... by a child.
Seeing that he'd drawn blood, Tatsuma didn't hesitate. That jutsu might have stopped one strike, but it wouldn't stop ten.
"Earth Style: Earth-Shaking Palm!"
Seeing Tatsuma close in again, the Iwa-nin slammed his palms against the ground. The earth between them split open in a jagged ravine. Tatsuma clicked his tongue, a flash of envy crossing his eyes as he watched the terrain shift.
Is having a massive chakra pool really that great?!
Tatsuma's left hand formed the Seal of Confrontation. While most used their right hand for this out of habit, he didn't care; it was merely a tool to help focus and circulate his chakra.
Using the Body Flicker Technique, Tatsuma blurred across the shifting debris. Strangely enough, being injured seemed to sharpen his focus, allowing him to exert even finer control over his physical movements.
He appeared directly in front of the Iwa-nin and thrust his blade forward. The ninja wove another sign, his right hand turning to solid rock as he reached out to catch the blade with his bare palm.
"Earth Style: Rock Fist Jutsu!"
Snap!
The blade was caught fast within the stone-encased hand. Tatsuma gave it one experimental tug, then immediately let go. He wasn't some prideful swordsman who viewed his blade as his soul; if a weapon was stuck, it was a liability.
The sudden release of tension broke the ninja's balance. He staggered back, his right arm rising slightly from the momentum. That tiny movement was all Tatsuma needed—it momentarily blocked the man's line of sight.
Tatsuma slid his palm forward, aiming for the man's abdomen. The Iwa-nin reacted at the last second, sucking in his gut and taking a small, frantic hop backward to open the distance.
Seeing that Tatsuma's short arms couldn't reach him, a smirk of derision began to form on the ninja's face.
"Eight Trigrams! Vacuum Palm!"
Puff!
A concentrated burst of vacuum-like chakra erupted from Tatsuma's palm. However, because of the ninja's mid-air adjustment and the fact that he hadn't landed yet, the air-bullet didn't hit his stomach.
It hit his "jade orbs."
The ninja's eyes instantly rolled back into his head, turning a stark, white-blank color that would have made a Hyuga jealous. As the man collapsed in silent agony, the stone casing on his hand crumbled. Tatsuma reclaimed his short blade and, with a single fluid motion, beheaded him.
"Is that... the Ryoma of the Leaf?!" an Iwa-nin nearby shrieked in horror.
Another ninja turned around, seeing the twin sprays of blood from his comrade's throat and groin. He gasped, "The Jade-Cracker?!"
Tatsuma's face went completely black. He had never imagined that the nickname whispered in the back alleys of the Hidden Sand would travel all the way to the Hidden Stone.
In that moment, he realized just how right Jiraiya's old lessons had been. A ninja should be a person without a name or a reputation!
He, Sakamoto Tatsuma, would rather be a complete nobody than have "The Jade-Cracker" follow him to his grave!
And it wasn't even on purpose... well, not every time! His height and arm span simply made that specific area the most efficient target on an adult's body! How was that his fault?!
Take that last guy—if he hadn't jumped, he would have been fine!
With a dark expression, Tatsuma's crimson eyes locked onto the loud-mouthed ninja who had recognized him. The Iwa-nin felt a phantom chill between his legs, followed by the very real sensation of cold sweat sliding down his spine.
Don't you come over here!!!
The ninja screamed internally, but he was currently busy fending off a swarm of Aburame insects. He could only watch in terror as Tatsuma used the Body Flicker to close the gap.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Spears!"
The Iwa-nin scrambled, dodging within a tight radius. Tatsuma glanced at the insects surrounding the man and decided against Fire Style; the bugs were friendly fire, after all. He opted for his own Earth Style to restrict the man's movement.
Puchi!
As the stone spears erupted from the ground, the Iwa-nin, in a stroke of catastrophic bad luck, tripped and sat directly onto one of the rising spikes. His eyes, too, evolved into the "White Eye" of pure agony, his mouth hanging open in a silent scream.
Buzz...
The insects seized the opening, flying into the man's open mouth and devouring him from the inside out. Tatsuma stopped in his tracks, staring at the spot where the stone spear had... well, anchored the man. He was at a loss for words.
The Aburame ninja controlling the swarm walked up to Tatsuma and patted his shoulder. "Striking the 'jade bag' is indeed an efficient way to instantly neutralize a male combatant. It's a solid combat style. Keep it up. Just...
Try not to use it on allies."
I didn't want this! He sat on it himself!
Tatsuma looked like he wanted to cry, but no tears came. Two kills, two crushed "jade bags." Not only had the look in the Iwa-nin's eyes changed, but even the Konoha ninja—and the Konoha ninken—were looking at him with a mixture of respect and profound fear.
On a distant ridge, guarded by a ring of shinobi, Orochimaru looked at Tsunade. "Did you teach him that?"
"You know me," Tsunade said, her voice dripping with righteous indignation. "He never learned combat from me."
She then turned a look of utter disgust toward Jiraiya. Jiraiya, having been stabilized by Tsunade's treatment and some high-grade medical supplies, could finally open his eyes.
His neck, which had been too stiff to move moments ago, suddenly found the strength to whip back and forth in frantic denial. "It wasn't me! It's Sakumo-senpai! It has to be him! Don't forget what Sakumo-senpai's..."
Hearing that, both Orochimaru and Tsunade paused. They recalled Hatake Sakumo's particular "Ultimate Secret Art" of Konoha Taijutsu. Though they had never experienced it themselves, they had been unfortunate enough to witness it.
Suddenly, looks of realization dawned on their faces. They nodded in unison. That style... yes, it definitely felt like something coached by Sakumo.
"Achoo!"
Inside the Konoha Hospital, Hatake Sakumo—who was currently undergoing a routine health check with his fiancée—suddenly sneezed. A shiver ran down his spine, and he felt a sudden, inexplicable sense of impending doom.
"Sakumo-sama!"
The door to the consultation room swung open, and a medical ninja rushed out looking frantic. Sakumo's heart hammered against his ribs as he jumped to his feet, staring tensely at the man.
The bad feeling grew stronger. Under his intense gaze, the medical ninja stammered, "Sakumo-sama, you're going to be a son! No, wait—I mean, you're going to have a father! Uh..."
Under the pressure of Sakumo's unintentionally leaking killing intent, the medic's speech became a train wreck. Sakumo snatched the report from the man's shaking hands and read it himself.
When he saw that his fiancée was pregnant, a wide, genuine smile broke across his face. It seemed his "efforts" over the last six months of staying in the village had finally borne fruit... wait! Why was he thinking like that brat Tatsuma?!
Just then, a roar echoed from deep within the hospital corridor.
"This is youth! My youth, Might Duy's youth, will be inherited by my son!!!"
Hearing the distant shout, Sakumo recalled the passionate genin he occasionally saw at the mission desk. He murmured, "Did Duy-kun have a boy?"
Sakumo was about to head inside to talk to his fiancée before going to congratulate Duy, when a figure suddenly flipped through the window at the end of the hallway.
Seeing the Anbu uniform and the mask, Sakumo's expression instantly went cold. Anbu did not appear in public hospitals unless something catastrophic had happened.
The Anbu reached Sakumo's side and whispered, "The Hokage summons you immediately. Tsunade sent a distress signal. The Land of Lightning has mobilized."
Sakumo nodded. He looked at the medical ninja who had performed the check-up. "Keep this quiet. And... thank you."
Before the medic could even nod, Sakumo and the Anbu had vanished. The medical report was back in the medic's hand.
All of it, except for the page with the ultrasound image.
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