Chapter 54: Changes

Jin's blade pierced through the female puppeteer's body, but there was no blood, and the sensation was all wrong—it felt like stabbing a rock.

"A puppet?"

In the next moment, his suspicion was confirmed. The woman's head rotated 180 degrees, revealing a wooden face resembling a tiger or leopard.

The puppet's body released countless iron wires that quickly bound Jin tightly. Sharp blades then emerged from its body, impaling him—only for Jin to disappear with a puff of smoke.

Shadow Clone Jutsu.

"Clang!"

The sound of metal clashing rang out as Jin's true body was found by another male shinobi, who had engaged him in combat. The man wielded a kunai, barely able to hold his ground against Jin's long blade.

Their hand-to-hand combat was completely one-sided.

Realizing that Jin's taijutsu was far superior, the male shinobi stepped back, creating distance while rapidly forming hand signs. He kept his eyes locked on Jin, waiting for his next move. But Jin remained still, standing motionless in place. His eyes, however, turned a deep crimson as the three tomoe in his Sharingan began to spin.

"The Sharingan! The Uchiha Clan!!"

The man's face twisted in alarm as he tried to look away, but it was too late.

One of the cardinal rules of fighting the Uchiha was never to meet their gaze. He had reacted too slowly.

Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!

In an instant, the world turned blood-red, and massive iron spikes drove into his body.

"Aaaargh!!" The male shinobi screamed in agony, trying to struggle, but his body refused to move.

Outside the genjutsu, Jin's flaming blade sliced cleanly across the man's throat, ending his pain.

"One down," Jin muttered as he watched the man's body split in two and fall to the ground. His crimson Sharingan locked onto the approaching puppet next.

Jin vanished in a flash, reappearing behind the puppet. His blade left a deep gash across its surface, and fire erupted from the wound, engulfing the puppet. Yet, the flames seemed to do little damage.

Suddenly, the puppet's back opened, and a barrage of kunai, each attached to exploding tags, shot out toward Jin. The tags ignited faster under the heat of the flames.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The violent explosions obliterated a nearby tree, but Jin had already used Swift Step to leap to a higher position, unaffected by the blasts.

His eyes darted, scanning the area.

He traced the chakra threads back to their source behind a tree, where the puppeteer hid.

The Sharingan allowed Jin to see the flow of chakra, but it didn't give him x-ray vision. Without hesitation, Jin used Flash Step to appear at the puppeteer's location.

As his foot landed on a branch, it was quickly ensnared by iron wires. Several explosive tags were plastered to the tree.

"Boom!"

A massive explosion echoed through the forest.

The female puppeteer, hiding behind another tree, reconnected her chakra threads to her puppet, having set the trap in advance. But just as she began to relax—

A figure dropped from the tree above her.

Jin grinned.

"Found you."

His crimson Sharingan eyes filled her vision, growing larger as his blade sliced toward her. The battle ended in an instant.

Hanging upside down from a branch, Jin watched the rest of the battle draw to a close. Sakumo's white streak continued to wreak havoc among the remaining Sand shinobi. Facing such overwhelming power, the remaining shinobi began to flee.

"It's the White Fang!"

Someone shouted in terror, and soon the cry spread like wildfire.

"White Fang is coming! Run!"

Jin rested his chin on his hand.

The name "White Fang" had originated from an encounter with the ninja of the Land of Hot Water, though it hadn't gained much notoriety until now. Sakumo was still far from his peak, but this battle was cementing his legend.

As the Sand shinobi retreated, Sakumo didn't give chase. Instead, he appeared next to Jin in a few quick leaps, glancing at the two corpses on the ground.

"Twelve years old and already this strong?"

Though Sakumo had anticipated Jin's talent, witnessing it firsthand still surprised him. Jin's strength was nothing to scoff at.

"Correction, I'm thirteen," Jin replied, waving dismissively, feeling no particular sense of pride from the compliment.

In his mind, he was far from exceptional. In the future, even Sakumo's son would reach this level, and the Uchiha Clan had produced even more terrifying talents. One Uchiha, at Jin's age, had already annihilated an entire clan.

Compared to them, Jin felt like he was just keeping pace.

Sakumo flicked the blood from his blade, while Aburame Mushi reappeared beside them.

"Sakumo-sama, should we keep going deeper?"

"My insects have detected another Sand Village outpost up ahead," Mushi reported. "But it will certainly be heavily fortified."

Two outposts had already been wiped out. The Sand shinobi wouldn't be caught off guard again.

"Continue," Sakumo ordered, showing no signs of retreating.

Mushi had no objections, and though Jin had plenty of concerns, he kept them to himself. The trio pressed on, moving deeper into the Land of Rivers.

As they ventured farther, the number of Sand shinobi they encountered decreased significantly. It confirmed Mushi's theory—the Sand shinobi were retreating to regroup.

With fewer patrols, the trio moved more boldly, swiftly crossing the mountainous terrain.

But as they ventured deeper, they encountered another change.

The rumble of movement grew louder, and it didn't take any special sensory abilities to hear the sheer number of approaching shinobi.

The trio hid, watching as waves of Sand shinobi rushed past them without even attempting to conceal their presence. They were moving swiftly in the direction Jin's group had come from.

For a moment, the forest was filled with nothing but the blur of Sand shinobi running past.

Once the last of them had disappeared from sight, the three exchanged glances.

They weren't being hunted.

A few insects returned to Mushi, who absorbed them into her body. She closed her eyes for a moment before opening them again.

"Lady Tsunade has led Konoha's forces into the Land of Rivers. Chiyo from Sand Village is rallying troops to hold off her advance. That's what they're gathering for."

Realizing this was an opportunity, the trio exchanged quick nods.

"Let's move!" Sakumo ordered.

They accelerated their pace, heading deeper into enemy territory. Even when they encountered small groups of Sand shinobi, they didn't slow down, and the shinobi, preoccupied with their own mission, didn't notice them.

Soon, another fortress appeared in the clearing ahead.

Without hesitation, Sakumo charged.

Jin and Mushi quickly hid as Sakumo dashed toward the fortress. But unlike the previous outposts, this one didn't explode upon his approach. Instead, a swarm of puppets emerged, filling the sky and encircling him.

Dozens of figures stepped out from the fortress, chakra threads connecting them to the multitude of puppets in the air.

Leading them were a red-haired man and a woman with light brown hair.

Sakumo immediately recognized them.

"The Sand Village Puppet Brigade."

"Hatake Sakumo, this will be your grave," the red-haired man declared coldly.

The entire outpost had been a trap, set specifically to take down Konoha's White Fang.

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