Chapter 305: Hiruko Appears

Chapter 305: Chapter 305: Hiruko Appears

The Third Hokage had barely finished asking when not only the Konoha ANBU and jōnin, but even the Uchiha elites following Fugaku all turned to look at him, waiting for his answer.

Clearly, everyone was extremely curious about this Police Force squad captain who had managed to defeat the fully transformed Shinno so quickly.

Fugaku immediately found himself in an incredibly awkward position.

Because just like everyone else, he had absolutely no idea what was going on.

If everyone hadn’t heard Shinno’s furious roar of "Damn Uchiha!" on their way here, Fugaku might even have suspected that someone else had been impersonating a member of the Uchiha clan.

After all, as a member of Akatsuki, there was no way Shinno would fail to recognize the Sharingan.

So in Fugaku’s eyes, although the person who had fought Shinno here just now wasn’t actually a squad captain of the Police Force, they were definitely an Uchiha who possessed the Sharingan. There could be no mistake about that.

"Who could it be?"

For a moment, countless thoughts raced through Fugaku’s mind.

As far as he knew, there were only two people in the entire Uchiha clan capable of something like this—himself and Shisui, the two possessors of the Mangekyō Sharingan.

And obviously, the person who had just fought here was neither of them.

Seeing Fugaku remain silent in thought, the Third Hokage’s expression darkened.

Although the Police Force was firmly controlled by the Uchiha clan, the Third Hokage naturally knew every officer at the squad-captain level.

And precisely because of that, he was even more curious about who had actually fought Shinno here just now.

"Could the Uchiha clan be hiding other forces within its ranks? Could there be an entire squad within the Police Force that the village knows nothing about?"

The thought quickly surfaced in the Third Hokage’s mind.

Once he realized that such a possibility existed, he became even more determined to uncover the identity of the mysterious person who had fought Shinno. He immediately shouted, "Inoichi!"

Yamanaka Inoichi stepped forward at once.

The Third Hokage ordered, "Read his memories. I want every piece of information inside his head!"

"Yes!"

Inoichi acknowledged the order, then leaped over and landed beside Shinno.

The Yamanaka clan was one of Konoha’s clans specializing in secret techniques, particularly those involving the mind and spirit. When it came to interrogation and extracting memories, they possessed methods few others could hope to match.

But just as Inoichi crouched down and prepared to read Shinno’s memories, countless feathers suddenly began drifting down from the sky.

"Huh? Why are there so many feathers?"

"Look! The tips of those feathers are burning!"

The moment the Konoha ninja noticed the feathers, they sensed that something was wrong. Without needing anyone to warn them, they immediately took emergency measures.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Like explosive tags, the burning feathers erupted in a series of violent explosions!

Under the ferocious barrage, even the ground itself seemed to tremble. Thick clouds of smoke billowed up from the ruins and rapidly spread throughout the surrounding area.

Whoosh!

At that moment, an enormous black shadow swept through the smoke above the ruins.

The enormous shadow was none other than Hiruko’s chimera summon—a creature created by using the Chimera Technique as a foundation to fuse several summoned beasts together. Not only could it fly, but every single one of its feathers possessed explosive power comparable to a powerful explosive tag.

Standing atop the chimera summon, Hiruko folded his arms across his chest, the faintest hint of a smile playing at the corners of his lips.

Compared to underhanded tricks like disguising himself as an Uchiha to assassinate the Hokage and inciting internal conflict within Konoha, he much preferred taking revenge against Konoha in a simple and direct manner!

Just like this—

Completely destroying the place before him, a place filled with nothing but painful memories!

Taking advantage of the smoke and dust kicked up by the explosions, Hiruko leaped down from the sky and landed steadily beside Shinno.

Since Shinno was an important source of intelligence, when the attack began just now, one of Konoha’s ANBU had used an Earth Style technique around his position, raising several earthen walls to protect him.

As a result, although the explosions had been fierce, the unconscious Shinno remained unharmed.

Arriving before the earthen walls, Hiruko casually placed a hand against one of them.

As he activated his Dark Release, the earth-nature chakra maintaining the walls’ shape was rapidly absorbed until nothing remained.

Crack... crack...

Amid a series of cracking sounds, the once-solid earthen walls immediately crumbled into a pile of sand and rubble.

At that moment, an ANBU lying in ambush nearby seized the opportunity and used the Body Flicker Technique, charging straight at Hiruko. The kunai in his hand, forged from refined steel, stabbed viciously toward Hiruko’s lower back.

Clang!

The expected spray of blood never came.

Instead, the sound of metal striking metal rang out!

"What...!?"

The ANBU who had ambushed Hiruko felt his entire arm go numb around the kunai, as though what he had stabbed wasn’t a person at all, but a solid block of steel.

"Hmph!"

Hiruko gave a cold snort. Turning around, he drove his arm, now as hard and resilient as steel, straight through the ANBU’s chest.

Then he violently ripped it back out, sending blood spraying through the air.

Although smoke and dust still blanketed the ruins, nearly everyone present was a jōnin-level expert. They quickly detected the clash between Hiruko and the ANBU and realized that an enemy had broken through their perimeter.

Immediately, one of the ninja used Wind Release to blow away the smoke and dust covering the battlefield.

By the time the air cleared, Hiruko had already reached Shinno’s side.

The Third Hokage stared at Hiruko in the distance and asked uncertainly,

"You... you’re Hiruko?"

Shinno’s rampage had ruined Obito’s plan, so Hiruko had come to rescue him without using any disguise whatsoever. He was appearing entirely as himself.

However, after completing the Kekkei Genkai fusion ritual, both Hiruko’s appearance and physique had changed considerably.

He looked vastly different from the Hiruko the Third Hokage remembered.

For that reason, even the Third Hokage couldn’t immediately be certain whether the man standing before him truly was Hiruko.

Hearing the uncertainty in the Third Hokage’s voice, a flash of anger crossed Hiruko’s face. Gritting his teeth, he snarled,

"What? You can’t even remember what I look like anymore, Lord Hokage?!"

Seeing the hatred burning in Hiruko’s eyes, the Third Hokage immediately thought of the attacker who had tried to assassinate him earlier.

"You were the one who attacked me!"

Mitokado Homura, standing nearby, said, "How is that possible? The attacker from before clearly had the Sharingan!"

"The Sharingan, huh?"

Hiruko smiled and activated his Sharingan.

"I took these eyes from a guy named Uchiha Hiiragi. They’re actually quite useful."

The instant Hiruko revealed his Sharingan, every Uchiha present erupted in fury.

Fugaku, in particular, radiated killing intent as he said coldly,

"Pay for your crimes!"

With that, Fugaku was the first to charge.

Hiruko grabbed the unconscious Shinno and tossed him into the air, sending him onto the back of the chimeric summon.

Then the corners of Hiruko’s mouth curled upward, and with an excited expression on his face, he charged straight toward Fugaku.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

In an instant, the two figures became like a pair of phantoms, weaving and clashing throughout the ruins.

Only the occasional sparks bursting from their colliding kunai allowed anyone to pinpoint their exact positions...