Chapter 73: Regret and Rage
The S-Ranked Shinobi of Iwa, named Shimoda Takeo, with the title of Iron Hand, had received a special order from the Third Tsuchikage.
The order entailed that he must make a move. And he must kill either Nara Shikaku, Namikage Minato, or Uchiha Keshiro.
Choosing Nara Shikaku was a lot riskier since his position was quite deep in his allies. Even though he was an S-Ranked Shinobi, Shimoda Takeo didn't dare to be overly arrogant in his abilities. He was well aware that if Hanzo received information that he had made a move, Hanzo would come as quickly as possible.
And, the Shinobi surrounding Nara Shikaku shouldn't have any issue in defending until then.
Now, the only ones who remained were Namikaze Minato and Uchiha Keshiro. Among these two, he rejected the thought of targeting Namikaze Minato since he came as reinforcements. He would have fewer chances of encountering him. Moreover, Minato usually remained near Nara Shikaku and a few other young clan members who would be protected by the senior members of their clan.
So… by the process of elimination, only one remained. Uchiha Keshiro.
From the information he had received, Uchiha Keshiro fought on the frontlines with a team of three. The other two members of his team were also quite strong, nearly mid-chunin or high chunin level.
Normally, Keshiro would be fighting while keeping the Shikaku's instructions in his mind. However, when something unexpected occurred like the appearance of an A-Ranked Shinobi, he would take it upon himself to attack them before they could deal a heavy blow to Konoha or Ame forces. This was a huge boon to Konoha and Ame's forces.
Considering all these things, Shimoda Takeo created a plan.
From Konoha and Ame's side, they had no inkling of an idea that the S-Ranked Ninja was about to make his move. So, naturally, they couldn't plan ahead for this situation.
Shimoda Takeo came forth on the battlefield and killed 2 or 3 attacks with which the Iwa Shinobi had the advantage of terrain and numbers.
Now, as usual, Uchiha Keshiro went forward to combat him. Considering Shimoda Takeo's skill in Earth Chakra, he could empower his whole body in chakra and even some excellent quality weapons would find it challenging to pierce his body.
And it was said that he had a Jutsu named Adamantine Fist which would instantly kill a person upon impact. This was the Jutsu which had raised Shimoda Takeo's reputation and one of the reasons why he was classified as S-Ranked Shinobi.
Although Uchiha Keshiro knew that his opponent was strong, he didn't have a clear idea that this man was the S-Ranked Shinobi. Just as always, he went forward to fight him.
Normally, these A-Ranked Shinobi would target him. Which was good enough for him.
Shimoda Takeo was fighting against Keshiro and frowned when he couldn't land a hit on his target. As if Keshiro knew when exactly he would be hit, he would back away.
His movements were nothing short of excellent or may be coming close to perfection.
After fighting for an hour or so, Shimoda Takeo was starting to get tired. He realised that although he wouldn't lose against Uchiha Keshiro if this fight went on, he also wouldn't be able to accomplish his objective.
Understanding this, he raised a huge pillar made of Earth. Uchiha Keshiro effortlessly dodged it and threw a fireball at Shimoda Takeo.
Shimoda Takeo blocked the fireball by raising an earth wall. After the fireball dispersed, he was forced to raise his arm and block a slash from Uchiha Keshiro's short sword.
Uchiha Keshiro was coldly glancing at him and empowered his sword with lightning chakra before proceeding with attacking Shimoda Takeo.
However, at that moment, he heard a call for help. Moreover, from the voice, he could guess that it was from Uchiha Akemi.
In the middle of his attack, he stopped. He turned towards the direction where his other team members were fighting… and his eyes widened in shock when he saw his friend Uchiha Shuji being pierced with a sabre, blocking an attack for Uchiha Akemi. The one who had attacked was the A-Rank Shinobi of Iwa. Keshiro remembered fighting against that guy…
Just as he was about to fall in grief, he realised that he was in the middle of a fight. Turning his eyes ahead, he saw Shimoda Takeo coming to punch him. Even though he saw Shimoda Takeo's movements, he didn't have the time to dodge it.
Gritting his teeth, Uchiha Keshiro raised his sword and blocked that punch from Shimoda Takeo. Unfortunately, his sword broke apart into two and he was punched by Shimoda Takeo.
But… the sword did manage to lower the power of the punch by a considerable amount so, although Keshiro felt like some of his bones had broken apart, he could still move.
After he was punched, he didn't even try to continue his fight with Shimoda Takeo. He rushed towards his comrade. He saw Uchiha Akemi surrounded by several Iwa shinobi. He knew she wouldn't be able to survive if this goes on any longer.
"Akemi, jump!" He shouted out for her. Although Akemi was disturbed by her friend's death as well, she didn't dare delay upon hearing Keshiro's command.
Just as he had ordered her, she jumped up as high as she could. And in turn, Uchiha Keshiro went through a series of hand seals before using, "Fire Release: Fire Dragon Jutsu!"
A huge dragon of created while Keshiro ran towards Akemi. The Fire Dragon charged towards the shinobi on the ground.
In turn, the A-ranked Shinobi immediately used, "Earth Release: Earth Dragon Jutsu!"
A dragon created out of Earth was created and interrupted the flame dragon from harming the Iwa Shinobi.
Uchiha Keshiro had expected them to counter this move, so he was already going through the hand-seals of his next Jutsu. However, in his recklessness, he had forgotten about the S-Ranked Shinobi after himself.
Shimoda Takeo was also moving as fast as he could. He was well aware that Uchiha Keshiro's mind wasn't in the right place. This was the perfect chance to kill him. He went through a series of hand seals and subtly used, "Earth Release: Earth Hand Jutsu."
Just when Keshiro was about to use his Jutsu, he felt an Earth Hand grabbing hold of his leg before suddenly pulling him into the ground. However, Keshiro flared a bit of Fire Chakra in his legs to release himself from the Earth Hand.
However, he was late in using his Jutsu.
And just as Uchiha Akemi landed on the ground, her body was stabbed by multiple shinobi from different angles.
"AKEMI!" Uchiha Keshiro let out a shout.
To this, Uchiha Akemi simply turned to him and gave him a bitter smile. That expression seemed to stab Keshiro's chest more than anything… He fell on the ground with a distressing feeling looming over his heart. This scene broke him apart… He cursed himself for being weak. For not being by her side…
First, it was Shiju, and now Akemi… In just a span of 10 or so minutes, he had lost both of them. Moreover, other than regret… he felt another even fiercer emotion exploded in himself…
Rage! Not just rage at the ones who killed his friends, but it was also fury directed at himself!
Shimoda Takeo approached Keshiro and smile when he saw Keshiro fall on the ground with. This was the perfect opportunity to kill this brat!
However, unknown to anyone at this moment, the pattern in Keshiro's eyes changed from a Three Tomoe Sharingan to a Three Bladed Shuriken.
[A/N: I will be releasing a preview of my Original Novel (Rising Warriors) on Webnovel. It will be of 9 or maybe 10 chapters (3 more chapters than A.mazon's preview). If you like the novel, you can check it out on A.mazon.]
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