Chapter 28: B-Rank Shinobi Secret Scroll: [Blood Piercing Bullet]!
'The one I was just fighting was merely a doppelganger?'
A great sense of astonishment rose in Oyakata En's heart as he watched the [Shadow Doppelganger] across from him explode into smoke and dissipate. His eerie, demonic Ketsuryūgan also became somewhat dazed due to this shock.
But Oyakata En was an elite Jonin, after all. He couldn't afford to dwell on his surprise. The moment he realized his visual genjutsu had failed, he immediately began to mold chakra, wanting to flee the scene as quickly as possible.
However, the familiar feeling of restraint from his body made Oyakata En realize that he had once again been controlled by the boy's "shadow."
'When did that kid sneak up behind me?'
Oyakata En gritted his teeth, the blood flowing from his eye sockets like incessant tears. Hearing the young voice from behind, he understood that his true identity had been discovered. At this point, Oyakata En could no longer be bothered with concealing the commotion of the battle.
'Escape! Escape with Chino as fast as possible, out of the Konoha ninja's sensory range!'
Just as Oyakata En was about to erupt with his full power to break free from the shadow's restraint, the off-generation Ino-Shika-Chō team, which had been hiding in the shadows for a long time, finally made their move.
Yamanaka Inoichi sat cross-legged on the ground, raised his hands—right palm forward, left palm backward—and touched his thumbs and index fingers together to form a peculiar hand gesture resembling a "camera."
Normally, a ninja's hand signs were divided into twelve types, named after the twelve Earthly Branches. But those were just the basic hand gestures. In the ninja world, there were some special secret techniques that required special hand gestures to assist in their completion. The special "camera" gesture that Yamanaka Inoichi was forming now was specifically tailored for the Yamanaka clan's advanced spiritual secret techniques.
And the target of this "hand camera" was none other than Oyakata En, who was being controlled by Nara Keisuke's [Shadow Paralysis Jutsu].
"Ninja Art: Mind Body Disturbance Technique!"
The spiritual power that Yamanaka Inoichi had been accumulating for a long time surged forth, rapidly crossing space and rushing into Oyakata En's brain. This advanced Yin Release secret technique from the Yamanaka clan completely scattered Oyakata En's spiritual energy. Even though his consciousness was still awake, he could no longer control his body smoothly, let alone perform advanced operations like ninjutsu or his bloodline limit.
'Another ninja has made a move.'
Feeling his body completely lose control, Oyakata En's heart sank. 'This secret technique that disrupts the connection between mind and body must be from the Yamanaka clan, right? The Ino-Shika-Chō has mobilized...'
Nara Keisuke stood in the shadows behind Oyakata En. Feeling the other's resistance vanish almost instantly, he immediately understood—the clan head had made his move!
Nara Keisuke peeked out and saw Nara Shikano flicker into view. The old clan head approached, reached out to pry open Oyakata En's jaw, and stuffed a dark, secretly-made pill inside.
"That's enough, Keisuke," Nara Shikano said, while also making a hand signal to the rear. "I've already fed him a chakra-suppressing drug. He won't be able to use or mold chakra for a while."
Just as Nara Keisuke nodded and released the [Shadow Paralysis Jutsu], Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza also emerged from the shadows and arrived.
Ignoring the disheveled and grim-faced Oyakata En, the two members of the current Ino-Shika-Chō looked at Nara Keisuke with great surprise. Before this small-scale battle had broken out, neither Yamanaka Inoichi nor Akimichi Chōza had thought highly of Nara Keisuke's chances.
In a sense, a battle between ninja could indeed be called an "intelligence war." As long as one side's combat abilities were leaked, the other side could formulate a specific battle plan in advance, targeting the enemy's weaknesses. For a ninja, obtaining intelligence on an enemy's abilities beforehand was almost like grasping the key to victory.
But this situation only applied to ninja of comparable strength. To have a Genin face an elite Jonin? What was the difference between that and sending him to his death?
In the eyes of Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza, the power gap between a Genin and an elite Jonin couldn't be erased by a mere intelligence leak. Not to mention that the intelligence they had on the Chinoike clan's abilities was decades old.
But what Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza had never expected was that even though Oyakata En had displayed an expansion ability that went beyond their intelligence during this battle, Nara Keisuke had still delivered a performance that could be called perfect.
"Very impressive, Keisuke."
"As expected of the Nara clan's genius!"
For a talented young ninja from the same Ino-Shika-Chō camp, Yamanaka Inoichi and Akimichi Chōza were naturally generous with their praise.
"Well done, Keisuke," Nara Shikano also praised, his weathered face full of gratification. Although he had been the one to personally ask Nara Keisuke to face Oyakata En alone, to be honest, Nara Shikano hadn't been very confident himself. Even though he was hiding in the shadows, the old clan head had been ready to provide support at any moment.
But he hadn't expected Nara Keisuke to actually "take down" Oyakata En! Even Nara Shikano himself believed that Keisuke's performance in this battle was almost flawless. Although the final winning move was made by Yamanaka Inoichi, if Keisuke had used the "Shadow Sewing Technique" instead of the "Shadow Paralysis Jutsu" when he snuck up behind Oyakata En, the battle could have ended right then and there!
And what made Nara Shikano even more satisfied was the flexible use of the family's inherited "Shadow Secret Techniques" that Nara Keisuke had demonstrated in this battle.
Nara Keisuke nodded his thanks to the three elders and silently stepped aside, calling up his panel. Just as the old clan head was giving Oyakata En the drug, a mission completion prompt had popped up.
[You have defeated the B-rank Ninja Combat Mission target!]
[You have obtained one B-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]
'It seems the "Lazy System" doesn't care about the process, only the result...' Nara Keisuke quietly observed the virtual panel, his thoughts active. 'Once I trigger a combat mission, as long as the opponent is defeated in front of me, it will be considered mission complete, regardless of whether anyone else intervened in the fight...'
'It seems it's not just commissioned missions I can piggyback on, but combat missions too?'
Nara Keisuke felt he had discovered a "brilliant point" of the "Lazy System." But at the same time, he inexplicably felt that something was not quite right. 'What kind of "Lazy System" is this?'
'Besides being able to increase stats by eating and taking pills, this is almost turning into a mission system...' Nara Keisuke grumbled internally.
But complaining was one thing; he still had to open the [Shinobi Secret Scroll].
Nara Keisuke glanced at Oyakata En, who was slumped on the ground like a salted fish that had lost its dreams. 'I wonder what good stuff this B-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll] will give me...'
For Nara Keisuke, the Chinoike clan's visual genjutsu was a very good reward choice. If he could integrate it into his [Lacquer Eye], he could also experience the wonderful feeling of "knocking someone out with a single glance."
'Will it be genjutsu?' Nara Keisuke opened the [Shinobi Secret Scroll].
[Opening...]
[Contents of this B-rank Shinobi Secret Scroll: Technique]
[B-rank Technique: Blood Piercing Bullet]
[Technique Description: An advanced blood-controlling secret technique of the Chinoike clan.]
[Technique Effect: Infuse one's own Yin Release chakra into blood, compressing the blood to its limit and firing it out like a bullet, concentrated at a single point. The initial velocity can reach the speed of sound.]
[Technique Evaluation: I'm up, one-shot kill, what's there to say?]
'Eh?' Nara Keisuke's pupils widened slightly as he looked at the B-rank technique on the panel. 'Am I about to evolve from the cold weapons era to the hot weapons era?'
Although the description of the [Blood Piercing Bullet] specifically mentioned that it was a special blood-controlling secret technique of the Chinoike clan, compared to the ninjutsu he had obtained before, like [Camouflage Concealment] and [Super Beast Scroll], the [Blood Piercing Bullet] was undoubtedly the one that best fit Nara Keisuke's ability system.
Because this was a Yin Release secret technique!
In a short moment, Nara Keisuke had already thought of a set of ninjutsu combinations, but... it was a bit dirty.
'The invisibility of Camouflage Concealment, paired with the incredibly fast Blood Piercing Bullet...'
'Go invisible, get close, and a headshot at point-blank range.'
'What kind of dirty ninja would think of such a dirty combination of ninjutsu!'
Nara Keisuke's mood was extremely cheerful.
Just then, Oyakata En, who had been looking dejected, happened to raise his head. "I've fallen into your Konoha's hands..."
Having lost control of his chakra, Oyakata En was forced out of his Ketsuryūgan state, his pupils returning to their original light purple. "But I don't understand. I thought I was cautious enough along the way. How did you guys find me?"
Actually, none of us discovered you were a ninja...
Nara Shikano's face was stern, showing little emotion. "That's a secret." The old clan head stared at Oyakata En. "Ninja of the Chinoike clan, what did you want to do by hiding your identity and sneaking into the Land of Fire? I advise you to confess honestly. Otherwise, we'll have to search your brain ourselves."
As his voice fell, Yamanaka Inoichi appropriately took a step forward, making his presence known. As the deputy head of Konoha's Analysis Team, Inoichi was very skilled in memory probing.
Oyakata En glanced at Yamanaka Inoichi, a lingering horror in his eyes. He still felt a sense of dread from the power of that spiritual secret technique from before.
"If I said that I came to the Land of Fire just to live in anonymity, do business, and support my family... would you believe me?"
(Author's Note:)
The special hand signs are similar to the cross sign for the [Multiple Shadow Clone Technique] or the heart-shaped sign for the [Mind Body Switch Technique]. There are others; interested readers can look them up.
Regarding the drug Nara Shikano fed him, the inspiration comes from the drug Tsunade gave Jiraiya before the battle in Tanzaku Quarters.
(End of Chapter)