With the muffled sound of a kunai, the Sand Village Jonin died unwillingly like that.
"Iwaki!"
"I will kill you all to avenge him!"
The other two Sand ninjas, restrained by that Jonin, could only watch as their teammate died at the hands of a brat.
The seeds of hatred spread once again. Everyone was caught up in the whirlpool of revenge in the name of their bonds.
But these philosophical questions were not what the ninjas present needed to consider. Surviving was everyone's first priority.
So, Tatsumi, pulling out his kunai, walked straight toward the remaining two Sand ninjas. In an instant, the Sand ninjas, who had originally held the upper hand, immediately became the weaker party.
They clearly realized this as well. They could take down one Jonin if they worked together. But if the other side had another Jonin, then their original advantage would disappear.
What, you say that's just a brat wearing a Chunin flak jacket, not a Jonin?!
Don't be ridiculous. Have you ever seen a Chunin kill a Jonin like slaughtering a chicken?
Don't believe it?! Come, come, Iwaki's corpse is still warm. Do you want to take advantage of the heat and give it a go?
So, the two Sand ninjas confirmed with each other's eyes, and their years of tacit understanding made them reach a mutual decision.
In that case, let's leave first, and we'll avenge Iwaki later!
Thus, a perfect escape plan was completed in one second.
The Sand ninjas suddenly burst out with great fighting power, and the Jonin, who was already at a disadvantage, was suddenly overwhelmed.
The complicated chakra threads trembled slightly, and the puppet hidden underground immediately drilled out. A deep red gas spewed from the puppet's vents.
—Wind Style: Great Breakthrough
Seeing the red poisonous gas, Tatsumi, who had been guarding against this move, immediately held his breath. At the same time, he formed hand seals, and a Wind Style jutsu blew the poison from the puppet back.
The two Sand ninjas ignored everything else, throwing out smoke bombs, explosive tags, toilet paper, and even some rubber balloons from their ninja pouches like they were worthless.
In an instant, smoke and dust filled the air from the explosions.
This time, Tatsumi didn't need to do anything. The reinforcements that had just arrived began using Wind Style to disperse the smoke. After the haze cleared, the Sand ninjas had disappeared.
So, they ran away? What happened to the promised revenge?
Under normal circumstances, Tatsumi would have chased after them to finish off the two Sand ninja puppeteers.
But let's forget about it for now.
Who knows if there are more Sand ninjas waiting in ambush? What if he ran straight into an enemy encirclement?
Seeing the danger had passed, the besieged Jonin sighed in exhaustion and sat down on the ground with a thud. He then shouted toward Tatsumi's direction: "Thank you for saving us."
Tatsumi didn't reply. He simply looked at the ninja quietly and fell into deep thought.
The man seemed like he was twenty years old, yet also like he was thirty. He had a black explosive hairstyle and a thick beard, which had grown even denser due to long-term care.
Tatsumi knocked on his head.
He was sure he had seen this man somewhere before. That wretched face was too familiar! But he just couldn't remember.
Just when Tatsumi was still pretending to be profound, the Jonin couldn't stand the brat's gaze any longer and walked over.
Did I owe you money or something? Why are you looking at me like that?
Getting closer, Tatsumi realized that the man's back was covered in blood, a clear sign that the battle had been intense.
"Hey, I feel like I've seen him somewhere before. What do you think?" Tatsumi nudged Nawaki's arm.
"Now that you mention it..." Nawaki held his chin. "Let me search through my memory palace."
Tatsumi: "...."
"Are you Shin'nosuke-san?" Nawaki suddenly asked. Intelligence gathering wasn't his strongest suit, but when it came to recognizing people, he was a master.
"Eh, are you... Nawaki? You've grown so much." The bearded man finally recognized him.
"It really is you! We haven't seen each other in five years, right? I remember you're only seventeen this year. How did you end up looking like this?" Nawaki asked.
Tatsumi was shocked. Mikoto was shocked. Everyone present was shocked.
Nawaki, are you sure this person is seventeen? With that beard, I'd believe you if you said he was thirty!
Shin'nosuke touched his beard awkwardly. "It's an accident, purely accidental. I actually take good care of myself, and I'm a bit of a clean freak. Believe me!"
I believe your nonsense.
Nawaki pointed at Shin'nosuke and said, "Let me introduce you. This is the Hokage-ojisan's son, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke."
Oh! Tatsumi finally remembered. No wonder that face seemed so familiar. It was the exact same wretched face as the Third Hokage's!
Tatsumi was a little excited. He had finally seen the legendary man who had the worst fate in Konoha.
Why do I say that? The Naruto series is filled with large-scale flashbacks.
Yet, despite so many memories being revisited, there was one person never recalled by his father, younger brother, or son. How tragic is that?
Thinking about it, when Konohamaru was born, it was Konoha's fiftieth year, right? That means this Shin'nosuke fellow was nearly forty when he had Konohamaru.
Could it be that he had some... issues? Otherwise, how do you explain the Third Hokage fathering Asuma in his forties?
Tatsumi felt like he had uncovered a great secret.
"By the way, Shin'nosuke-san, where have you been all these years without any news?" Nawaki asked.
For years, he had been trying to find out what happened to him, but there was never any news.
"I was thrown into Anbu all these years," Sarutobi Shin'nosuke said helplessly.
Of course, this story started many years ago.
Back then, Konoha had a notorious troublemaker. She did whatever she wanted because of her family's high status.
That demon queen had three primary hobbies—gambling, losing money, and drinking.
Normally, people like her, who disrupt social order, would be closely monitored by either the police force or Anbu. But because of her special status, she was untouchable.
After losing a lot of money, she gathered a group of children from powerful clans to be her enforcers. Among them, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke was one of her staunchest supporters.
Eventually, the Third Hokage disbanded this rogue organization.
While the others were successfully reintegrated into society, Sarutobi Shin'nosuke was thrown into Anbu by his father.
So, in the end, this is truly a sad story.
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