MM Racing Chapter 92 Office Clash
Chapter 92 Office Clash
Chapter 92 Office Clash
Faced with a bounty hunter driven mad by greed.
At this moment, Yohei, Saori, and the other two members of Minato's team were also risking their lives. They used their bodies, kunai, and ninjutsu, giving their all just to hold off the enemy for a moment.
Taiichi followed closely behind Minato, attacking the Jonin together.
Perhaps due to underestimation, or perhaps because he was too preoccupied with Minato to pay attention, the Jonin didn't focus much of his energy on Taiichi until Taiichi got close.
Taiichi wanted this effect. As he got close to the Jonin, his short sword suddenly gathered a large amount of wind-style chakra, and the blade emitted a clear and pleasant whistling sound. He then slashed at the Jonin with an impeccable straight strike.
Only then did the Jonin realize the imminent danger of death. His pupils constricted, and he was utterly horrified! Ignoring Minato behind him, he forcefully twisted his body, attempting to block the slash.
"Sizzle"
The sound of the blade piercing flesh and bones shattering was clearly audible! His arm had only swung halfway when the short sword, imbued with wind-attribute chakra, cleaved him diagonally down from his shoulder, almost splitting him in two!
Fresh blood mixed with internal organs gushed out!
A Jonin, killed instantly!
This swift killing was like a bucket of cold water, startling the other bounty hunters. However, the Konoha personnel were clearly aware of this and seized the fleeting opportunity to turn the tide.
Minato, who was cooperating with Taichi, was even more decisive. Taking advantage of the opening, he directly used Flying Thunder God Technique to return to Sakumo Hatake's side, and with the kunai in his hand, he pierced the heart of the Jonin who was locked in combat, in front of him in disbelief.
At this moment, the other Jonin who was besieging Sakumo was also startled by the sudden appearance of Minato. The situation, which was originally two against one, suddenly became one against two. His pride immediately turned into fear, and he even became hesitant to make a move.
"Be careful, that blond ninja can appear next to you in an instant. Watch out for his sneak attack."
It's unclear who spoke up at this moment, but it made all the bounty hunters on the field even more fearful.
After killing a Jonin, Taiichi didn't stop and immediately turned back to rescue Yanghei and the others who were in dire straits.
Although Yangping had already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan, unfortunately, the time was too short and he was unable to fully unleash its power. At this moment, he was only relying on his keen perception to deal with the enemy Jonin, and even so, he was already suffering from old injuries and new ones.
Besides this Jonin, there were also many Chunin around them who were attacking. If it weren't for Saori, Sora, and Rei Nakamura risking their lives to block them, they would probably have died eight hundred times over.
Taiyi's arrival at this moment was undoubtedly a shot in the arm for them.
Upon returning to reinforce, Taiyi, seeing the dozen or so people entangled in battle before him, did not hesitate and charged directly into the crowd with his superb swordsmanship.
With his short knife, he would either slash, slice, or tap, always inserting it into the weakest point of the entangled enemy at the most unexpected angle.
As they marched forward, their feet never stopped, but four enemies had already fallen behind them. Saori and her two companions were now freed up to take the initiative in attacking instead of being passively attacked.
Seeing that the three of them were no longer in danger and had even gained the upper hand, Taiyi went directly to Yangping's battlefield.
At this moment, the Jonin felt like a million grass mud horses were galloping through his mind. What he saw was a little brat cutting melons and vegetables, chopping down Jonin and Chunin one by one, and now this god of death had come to his side again.
A chill ran from the soles of my feet straight to the top of my head. Escape! I must escape! This thought was incredibly strong at that moment!
Taiichi didn't care about the Jonin's thoughts at the moment. He drew his sword and charged into the battle. Compared to Yangping, who could only fight the Jonin, Taiichi's offensive was much more fierce.
The short sword's attacks were all aimed at the Jonin's vital points, forcing him to expend more energy dealing with Taichi's attacks. But he had clearly forgotten that he was also fighting an Uchiha ninja who wished he could devour them alive.
When Yangping saw that most of the Jonin's attention was drawn to Taiichi, he knew that his chance for revenge had come.
He seized an opportunity and lunged forward with his whole body.
"Go to hell!"
Ignoring the kunai that the Jonin had pierced into his shoulder, Yangping used a fighting style of trading injury for life, stabbing the kunai in his hand into the opponent's abdomen.
With a "plop," the kunai sank deep into the hole.
"Damn it!"
The intense pain stimulated the Jonin's nerves, and in his anger, he kicked the Uchiha brat in front of him away.
However, the Jonin's roar abruptly ceased. He looked down, staring incredulously at a blood-stained blade tip slowly being withdrawn. A chilling sense of powerlessness instantly overwhelmed him.
Taiichi, who had just drawn his sword, looked around the battlefield and saw that Minato and Sakumo had already taken down another Jonin. At that moment, the two of them were rushing toward the two Jonin who were fighting with Captain Yamaguchi.
Seeing that the situation had stabilized, Taiichi turned his attention away and focused on dealing with the remaining ninjas. The situation on the field was now completely clear, and with Taiichi joining the fray, Saori and the others quickly eliminated their respective opponents.
The remaining bounty hunters tried to retreat, but it was too late. Taiyi and his men, now free, caught up with them and killed them all on the spot, ignoring their pleas for mercy.
When the last enemy fell, everyone was exhausted, but it was not time to rest. They quickly treated their wounds, collected the bodies of Inuya Makoto and Kuromaru, sealed the body of the Jonin, and left the scene.
On the way, no one spoke, not only because they wanted to conserve their energy, but also because of the death of Inuya Makoto.
One moment they were chatting and laughing with each other, and the next they were engulfed in flames right in front of them. This kind of thrill was a first for Taiyi's team, so the feeling was particularly intense.
For Minato's team, Makoto Inuzuka was a comrade-in-arms with whom they spent every day, but unexpectedly, he was gone in an accident.
The silence continued until the group found a secluded place to stay.
Everyone who had settled down quietly recovered their strength, but Taiyi had no free time at all, as he had to treat all the injured members of the team one by one.
Holding the medical kit, which was already mostly used up, Taiyi approached Yangping, who was the most seriously injured.
"Take care of others first, I can still manage!" Yangping struggled to push Taiyi's hand away, his voice hoarse.
"Shut up and lie down!" Taiyi forced him to the ground without saying a word: "I know better than you who to treat first."
He ripped open the torn clothes and saw that the abdominal wound, which had stopped bleeding before, was now gushing blood again. Seeing that he would go into hemorrhagic shock if he delayed any longer, Taiyi sighed inwardly: "What a troublesome guy."
This was clearly a secondary trauma caused by Yangping's own carelessness, and judging from his absent-minded expression, he had not yet recovered from the shadow of Inuya Makoto's death.
At this moment, Taiyi took out a scalpel and carefully cut open the blood-soaked gauze. He then used the Palm Healing Technique again to stop the bleeding and repair Yangping's wound. At this moment, his chakra was also severely depleted. There were still several people who needed treatment, so he had to conserve his chakra as much as possible.
Another hour or so passed, and Taiyi finally managed to roughly treat all of everyone's wounds. At least now, they wouldn't have to stop because of the wounds reopening while they were on their way.
This also highlights the importance of having an excellent medical ninja in the team. He greatly enhances the ninja team's survivability and endurance. If it weren't for Taichi's superb medical ninjutsu, the team might have been wiped out back in the Land of the Moon.
After resting for a while, mainly to allow Taiyi's chakra to recover, the group resumed their journey. This time, they tried their best to conceal their tracks to avoid being tracked and ambushed by the enemy again.
Fortunately, the rest of the journey was uneventful. They traveled cautiously, hiding and taking two days to leave the Land of Hot Water and enter the Land of Fire. Only then did they breathe a sigh of relief, and the rest of the journey went smoothly back to Konoha.
However, at this moment, a fierce argument broke out in the Hokage's office in Konoha because of their long absence.
"Danzo, is there still no news about Minato and the Sho-Suke squad?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi puffed on his pipe, the thick smoke obscuring his deep gaze.
"No, the spies from Kumogakure have sent back news that their ANBU have returned, but suffered considerable losses. Sakumo and the support team have already escaped."
Danzo spoke nonsense with a straight face, as if he wasn't the one who started everything.
"I heard that the Raikage received the message a day later than we expected. Can you give me an explanation?"
The "puff puff" of smoking became more and more rapid.
Danzo looked at Hiruzen Sarutobi, who was hidden in the smoke, and couldn't tell whether this was a bluff or if he had really received accurate information.
"The ninja sent by Root had an accident, which caused the letter to arrive a day late. I have already dealt with that ninja."
"Danzo, the Root ninjas are also Konoha ninjas, not people you can deal with at will," the Hokage suddenly roared.
"Root has its own rules, and ninjas who cannot complete their missions do not deserve to live in this world," Danzo said just as confidently.
The scene fell silent for a moment.
"Sakumo, Minato, Seisuke, Taichi—these are the pillars of Konoha now and in the future. Have you considered the consequences if they all died in battle?"
"Minato was Jiraiya's disciple, and Taichi was also taken in by Tsunade. Have you considered Jiraiya and Tsunade's attitude after they both died?"
"The ninja world is starting to become unsettled again. There might be another war next year or the year after. With these excellent ninjas missing, have you thought about how you'll fight future wars?"
A series of questions left Danzo speechless. To be honest, he did regret it a little. He had only planned to use the Cloud Village to get rid of Hatake Sakumo, a guy with a high reputation and a staunch supporter of the Hokage. He didn't expect that the support team would also be involved.
It can only be said that Sakumo Hatake's strength is too great; he was able to hold out until he could rendezvous with the support team under those circumstances.
Even more serious is the news coming from the black market, which clearly indicates that the Raikage leaked their information to the black market, and as far as we know, at least six Jonin and their teams have taken on this mission.
The Hokage must have also obtained the information he could, otherwise he wouldn't have seemed so pessimistic.
"Danzo, you'd better really not have done anything, otherwise—"
"Hiruzen!" Danzo interrupted the Hokage before he could finish speaking: "Root is the root of Konoha, and they will not do anything to dig their own grave."
Despite saying things he himself didn't believe, Danzo could only make excuses at this moment, because the matter was far too serious.
A series of knocks on the door broke the silence inside.
"Come in." Without even asking who it was, the Hokage was clearly not in the mood to care. However, when the door opened and they saw who entered, both the Hokage and Danzo stood up in surprise.
Indeed, the three ninjas who pushed open the door and entered the house were Hatake Sakumo, Namikaze Minato, and Yamaguchi Seisuke, the same two people inside who had just been talking about each other.
The entire office fell silent. The three Jonin who had just entered were at a loss. Why had they suddenly stopped talking when they had just heard voices inside? And why were the two higher-ups looking at them so strangely?
As for Hiruzen Sarutobi and Danzo Shimura, they were in an awkward position. They had been arguing fiercely about these people who might have died in battle, and now they were standing right in front of them, perfectly fine.
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at the three people in front of him. Minato and Seisuke looked fine and didn't seem to be injured, but they looked a little tired.
Hatake Sakumo was in very poor condition, looking like he was recovering from a serious illness, with no color in his face, clearly due to massive blood loss.
"Lord Hokage, the mission you assigned has been completed, but it has implicated the ninjas who came to provide backup."
Sakumo Hatake broke the silence first, but his tone became much lower as he spoke.
"Oh, what happened?"
Hiruzen Sarutobi looked at Minato and Seisuke, who were heading to meet him, and even Danzo, who was standing to the side, turned his gaze towards them.
Honestly, he was also curious about how this group escaped the pursuit of the Cloud Hidden Dark Division, and how they managed to escape the encirclement of those "hyenas" while severely injured.
After a detailed mission report, Hiruzen Sarutobi had a complete understanding of the entire mission. It has to be said that their mission was incredibly dangerous; if they had been just a little bit less lucky, they might not be back now.
Looking back, it turns out that not only was Danzo's message delivered a day late, but the Raikage's side also probably deliberately delayed the transmission of orders.
The fact that Sakumo and Minato were able to return shows that fate was on Konoha's side.
"Lord Hokage, there was a significant delay in the information regarding this mission, which led to Makoto Inuya's death during the mission. What was the reason for this?"
Sakumo Hatake looked directly at the Hokage and asked the question that had been on his mind. If the death of his comrade was due to his own lack of strength or the disparity in strength between himself and the enemy, then he would have nothing to say. But this time, it was clearly a problem with the transmission of information, which was unacceptable.
On the way back, he also discussed the details of the mission with Minato and Seisuke, and they were both certain that there was a problem with the intelligence regarding this mission. They couldn't let this go unresolved.
As an elite Jonin of Konoha, he was all too aware of the importance of intelligence. Just like this mission, the delay almost led to their complete annihilation. If they had just let it slide, what if they received wrong intelligence later?
If we don't investigate and prevent this from happening again, who will be next?
Hiruzen Sarutobi was also in a very awkward position. What could he say? Danzo had pushed out a scapegoat to take all the blame, and he couldn't very well push Danzo out as well.
Not to mention that he wouldn't deal with Danzo just for this little thing, he himself wouldn't want to do it, since there are still many shady things that Danzo needs to do.
But after this incident, Danzo needs to be given a good talking-to. "The Root ninja had an accident." Thinking about Danzo's explanation, I felt a surge of anger. He really didn't even want to come up with a good reason!
Thinking it over, Hiruzen Sarutobi glared fiercely at Danzo, but still had to clean up his mess.
"An accident occurred to the ninja responsible for delivering the message, causing our warning to reach the Raikage a day late."
The Third Hokage puffed on his pipe and continued, "The Raikage definitely wanted Sakumo dead, so the order to withdraw the pursuit force was delayed by a day. But that's just our speculation afterward. It's these two coincidences that led to what happened to you later."
Sakumo and the other two exchanged glances, remaining silent. Although the Hokage's glance was subtle, the three of them were not ordinary ninjas, and they could easily see through it. Combined with the Hokage's far-fetched explanation, they understood the trickery involved.
However, all three were staunch Hokage-affiliated ninjas and believed that the Hokage would give them justice, so they did not make a fuss.
After the three finished reporting their mission, they didn't linger in the Hokage's office. After all, Sakumo was also covered in injuries and urgently needed proper treatment.
As the office door closed again, before Hiruzen Sarutobi could even speak, Danzo's cold voice rang out once more, tinged with his usual suspicion.
"Hiruzen, we need to be wary of that Uchiha brat in the main squad. He's only eleven or twelve and he's already awakened the three-tomoe Sharingan. Such talent is too dangerous. Given time, he might just become another Uchiha Madara!"
"Danzo!" Hiruzen Sarutobi roared, his anger, which he had just suppressed, erupting forth in a torrent: "Haven't you caused enough trouble?!"
"Don't think I don't know your little tricks. The Uchiha are also part of the village, and they can't be suppressed and sacrificed at will. Don't forget, there are ninjas like Kagami in the Uchiha."
"There's only one Mirror, and he's been dead for a long time. Where in the Uchiha clan can there be a ninja who can inherit his will? Everyone needs to be wary of the evil Uchiha!" Danzo roared back defiantly.
"Danzo, I am the Hokage!" Hiruzen Sarutobi, his previous anger gone, stared at Danzo with a solemn expression.
He stepped forward, his voice not loud, but heavy as a thousand pounds: "Furthermore, from now on, every action your root unit takes must be reported to me, understand?"
Danzo was stunned, his one eye blazing with unbelievable rage and humiliation. He never expected that Hiruzen would take this opportunity to directly tighten the Root's power.
He gripped his cane tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force, and after a long while, he finally managed to squeeze out a resentful word through gritted teeth.
"Hiruzen, you'll regret this."
After saying that, he slammed the door and left.
While the three captains were reporting to the Hokage in his office, Taichi and the others were receiving treatment at Konoha Hospital. Of course, Taichi himself was not among them; he was currently assisting the hospital's medical ninjas in treating his comrades' injuries.
Yangping was the most seriously injured, followed by Saori. This girl usually looks quiet and gentle, but once she starts fighting, she acts like she doesn't care about her life. In addition, she helped Yangping block the blows several times, so she was the second most seriously injured after Yangping.