Chapter 49

AN: Check out my P@treon for extra chapters starting at 3$.

Currently, I have published 50 extra chapters. The storyline is at the stage where the Third Shinobi World War has nearly ended.

www.p@treon.com/noviceauthor777

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Although he had no experience using an exploding tag, he had no choice but to take the risk of using it at such a critical moment.

"Don't move! You two, stay together and stay in my sight!" he commanded. "Don't do anything fishy, or I'll kill this little girl before I die!"

He spoke with a crazed expression, looking directly at Kirishima and Toshiro. To emphasize his threat, he pressed the kunai closer to Asuka's pale, slender neck, leaving a thin red mark.

Toshiro slowly moved toward Kirishima with his hands open, trying to appear harmless and not provoke the desperate bandit. He kept a careful eye on his teammates. Kirishima was visibly panicking, unsure whether to attempt a rescue or not. He was as anxious as a headless chicken, running in circles.

The women, who had been carrying supplies, also panicked and scattered. Meanwhile, Asuka, though initially frightened, quickly regained the composure expected of an Uchiha.

"Toshiro! Kill him! Forget about me!" She commanded, her expression calm and resolute despite the danger.

Her composure impressed Toshiro. She truly embodied the spirit of the Uchiha clan, even in the face of death.

"Shut up!" the bandit leader snapped, half in fear. If Kirishima and Toshiro followed her order, he wasn't confident he could save his own life.

"You two, tie yourselves up! Stay where you are, and don't move!" He tightened his grip on the kunai, drawing a thin line of blood from Asuka's neck. He planned to use her as a hostage to escape.

He kicked at his unconscious accomplices, hoping to rouse them for assistance, but they remained sleeping. His plan to gather reinforcements was failing.

Toshiro observed the situation closely. The sleeping drug they used was effective on civilians, but they hadn't accounted for someone with chakra among the bandits. This oversight had allowed the bandit leader to regain consciousness.

Despite the threat, Asuka remained calm, her eyes conveying a silent message to Toshiro: 'Take him down.'

Asuka knew that Kirishima, in his panic, wouldn't act decisively. She relied on Toshiro to make the right move.

"Hurry up! Do as I say, or this girl dies!" The bandit shouted, tightening his grip on the kunai.

He planned to use Asuka as a shield to escape through a pre-planned route. Once there, he intended to push her off a cliff and detonate the explosive tags on her body to buy himself time.

This route led to a small river, which he hoped would help him evade capture. He had wanted to wake up more of his comrades to improve his chances, but they were getting the f*ck up.

"Don't get excited! If something happens to her, it won't end well for any of us!" Toshiro said, trying to calm the bandit. He slowly untied a belt from one of the bandits on the ground.

"Kirishima! What are you waiting for? Do as this guy says!" he urged, testing the belt and signaling to Kirishima with a wink.

Kirishima, realizing the situation, snapped out of his daze and began to follow Toshiro's lead.

Seeing the two ninjas comply with his demands, the bandit leader decided to make additional requests for his safety.

"Throw your swords and all your weapons in front of me, including those next to you!" he commanded.

"Got it," replied Toshiro, signaling for Kirishima to follow suit. They both discarded their swords, ninja pouches, and even the kunai from their legs, tossing them in front of the bandit.

"We've done what you asked. Now, shouldn't you release her?" Toshiro asked.

Seeing the two ninjas disarmed, the bandit knew he needed to maintain control. He loosened his grip on the dagger at Asuka's neck slightly and said, "You two, along with those women, get into the house. Close the doors and windows, and don't look outside! Otherwise, I can't guarantee this girl's safety!"

"No problem! We can do as you say. But how do we know you'll keep her safe?" Toshiro questioned, refusing to blindly comply.

"Exactly! If we follow your orders, how do we ensure Asuka's safety?" echoed Kirishima, now out of his panic and thinking clearly.

The bandit leader realized he needed to provide some assurance. The situation grew tense, with both sides falling silent. Suddenly, a flash of snowy light appeared behind the bandit leader.

**A few momnets earlier**

Toshiro, who had been distracted earlier with handling the supplies, witnessed the whole scene of Asuka being taken hostage but could not react in that microsecond.

Initially stunned, Toshiro quickly grasped the gravity of the situation. He had missed the best opportunity to save Asuka due to a moment of hesitation, a common reaction for someone unaccustomed to life-and-death situations despite his knowledge.

**Current time**

Still, he thought of a solution while contemplating how to reach an agreement with the bandit while keeping Asuka safe. The bandit leader, deep in thought, sensed an imminent threat. His survival instincts, honed from years of living on the edge, triggered an alarm.

Feeling like prey targeted by a hunter, he prepared to take Asuka with him to the afterlife. He activated the exploding tag on her back, resigned to die and take others with him.

Suddenly, he heard a sharp sound as a blade cut through the air. "sskk" The sound of Toshiro's tanto being unsheathed echoed in the square.

The bandit leader felt a sharp pain in his right hand and then a sensation of flying. He saw a figure behind him with a sword, reflecting the morning sun. In his last moments, he realized the figure standing was him, now headless.

His consciousness faded to darkness as he pondered how the ninja had moved behind him so fast.

With a single swift strike, he severed the bandit leader's right hand that held Asuka. His clone's second strike decapitated the bandit leader, leaving no time in between strikes.

"Hiss!" The sound of the exploding tag being ignited filled the air, urging Toshiro to flee quickly. He discarded his tanto and tore off the tag on Asuka's back, throwing it to the clone.

Asuka was still shaken by the abduction. He pursed his lips tightly and swiftly ran towards Kirishima, carrying the pale and frightened Asuka. As he ran, he instructed them, "Lie down!"

Together with Kirishima and Asuka, he took cover behind a medium sized rock. The other Toshiro, holding the exploding tag, grabbed the falling body of the bandit leader and threw it away with great force.

"Boom!" A massive explosion erupted as the tag went off. The hot wind and shockwaves from the explosion blew through the area, causing the hems of their clothes to flutter slightly. Along with the shockwave came severed limbs, body parts, and blood, landing nearby or on them like gruesome rain.

This triggered a chain reaction of explosions. The initial explosion was followed by a series of explosions from other exploding tags attached to the other bandits.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!…" More and more explosions shook the ground, sending debris and body parts into the air. The hidden settlement location turned into a hellish landscape.

When the explosions finally subsided, only a short time had passed, but to the three of them, it felt like an eternity. Anything that flew up due to the explosions either landed near them or struck them directly. They had to endure the nausea and stay motionless to avoid being caught in the blasts.

Kirishima and Asuka were nauseated but otherwise unscathed, while Toshiro had it much worse. His shadow clone, which had been near the explosions, brought him considerable trouble. Death by an explosion in the worst. Even worse than when the clone died from the attack of Satoshi-sensei in their first spar.

In reality, the other Toshiro was just a shadow clone. When the bandit leader's attention was on Asuka, Toshiro created the clone and substituted with it to deceive the bandit and prepare for his real plan. The clone even pretended to bind itself with a belt while signaling to Kirishima and Asuka to be ready for action.

Worried about Kirishima's reliability, Toshiro had given him a wink to ensure he played his part convincingly. Fortunately, once Kirishima realized Asuka's safety was at stake, he did not act rashly. Asuka, too, played her role as a hostage perfectly, and together with the shadow clones, they successfully deceived the bandit leader.

However, there was one imperfection. The shadow clone, in its final act, carried the bandit leader's headless body and the exploding tag away from Toshiro's location. The clone's destruction, along with the large number of explosions, resulted in a visceral experience for Toshiro.

The sensation of being blown apart, as if hit by a heavy truck, was something Toshiro vowed never to experience again. Reflecting on Naruto, who could endure such torture without flinching, he couldn't help but admire him.

For an ordinary person, such an ordeal would be mentally devastating. Yet Naruto could continue fighting as if nothing had happened.

'Only if I become such a monster can I come up with a crazy way to maintain peace between the clan and the village,' he thought, sighing deeply, lying on the ground.

AN: Check out my P@treon for extra chapters starting at 3$.

Currently, I have published 50 extra chapters. The storyline is at the stage where the Third Shinobi World War has nearly ended.

www.p@treon.com/noviceauthor777