Chapter 13: Chapter 13: Trap for Jonin
"Sorry, sorry, I just wanted to ask you to go eat some dango together. A new dango shop just opened recently."
Originally, he had wanted to use Transparent Escape to play a joke on Uzuki Yugao, but he hadn't expected the other party to be so serious.
Gekko Hayate quickly apologized.
"But what kind of mission could there be at the school?"
In recent years, Konoha had been quite peaceful, and the most frequent mission for ANBU now was patrolling the streets.
Usually, there were teachers stationed at the school, so why would ANBU need to interfere?
"This is an order from Lord Hokage. Do you want to break the rules and pry into my mission?"
"No, no, absolutely not!"
'Then hurry up and move out of the way,' Uzuki Yugao glanced ahead and realized that, in just this short time, Uchiha Kage's figure was already almost out of sight.
She couldn't help but feel anxious.
'This guy, Hayate… He's been living in peace for too long, he's gotten too relaxed.'
'If an enemy really did infiltrate the village in the future…'
Uzuki Yugao couldn't help but feel worried for Gekko Hayate.
Although, due to them both being ANBU members, they hadn't officially confirmed a romantic relationship yet, the only thing left between Uzuki Yugao and Gekko Hayate was a final confession.
However, now was not the time for lecturing.
After giving Gekko Hayate a cold glare, Uzuki Yugao swiftly moved her feet, dashing through the rooftops and tree branches in a few quick blinks, heading off into the distance.
'Isn't today a day off? What mission did Lord Hokage give Yugao…', Watching the rapidly disappearing figure, Gekko Hayate scratched his head in confusion.
———
As an evil Uchiha, he had been targeted again and again.
Naturally, Uchiha Kage wouldn't just sit back and wait for death.
'I need to come up with a good plan, one that doesn't expose too much of my strength but still makes the other party suffer greatly.'
Looking at the Konoha Forest of Death right in front of him, Uchiha Kage suddenly had a good idea.
Fortunately, he had always been cautious and kept ninja tools for self-defense in his ninja pouch all year round.
'A simple trap definitely won't stop him, but if…'
Dashing behind a large tree to conceal himself, Uchiha Kage immediately began setting things up.
———
Meanwhile, on the other side.
'As expected, something's wrong.'
Buzzzz…
A tiny insect flew from the forest and landed on a person's fingertip.
'He actually sensed my presence behind him in advance and deliberately led me to the Forest of Death.'
Buried beneath a hood, Aburame Ryoma's gaze gradually grew serious as he received the information brought back by his insects.
'Moreover, the intelligence I received indicates that this kid has a considerable amount of chakra, which clearly contradicts the reports describing him as 'weak and sickly'.'
'Lord Danzo's suspicions were indeed correct. This Uchiha orphan is definitely hiding something.'
"Hm? He actually set up a trap in such a short time?"
'A mere Genin who had just graduated from the academy—how could he possibly be capable of this?'
Looking at the perfectly arranged trap before him, one that could be triggered with the slightest misstep, Aburame Ryoma became even more convinced that Uchiha Kage was no ordinary individual.
He had originally planned to avoid the trap, but after noticing something, he halted his steps and deliberately walked toward it.
'Hmph, a trap in front, while he himself hides nearby, waiting for an opportunity to ambush me?'
'But my insects have already found your hiding spot. No matter how clever your tactics are, it's just a futile struggle of an ant.'
BOOM!
Deliberately triggering the trap, Aburame Ryoma put on a panicked expression, but in reality, his attention remained focused on Uchiha Kage's position.
'He moved!'
As the trap was activated, Aburame Ryoma indeed saw the figure of a young boy rushing at him from his blind spot, holding a kunai.
"A shallow trick."
'And he's so impatient—he couldn't even wait for the trap to fully activate before jumping out. Truly, the impulsiveness of youth.'
Curving his lips slightly, Aburame Ryoma decided to give this kid a proper lesson.
'Secret Technique: Insect Sphere!'
Countless insects swarmed out from his sleeves and feet, as if they had anticipated this, forming a mass that enveloped the charging Uchiha Kage.
"Parasitic insects, don't drain all his chakra. If he dies, it would be difficult to explain to Lord Danzo—"
POOF!
Before Aburame Ryoma could finish speaking to himself, the Uchiha Kage ensnared in the swarm of insects suddenly vanished into a puff of white smoke.
'A Shadow Clone?'
'Then his real body is—'
'To the side!'
Sensing the sound of something cutting through the air from his flank, Aburame Ryoma immediately pinpointed Uchiha Kage's real location.
'Secret Technique: Insect Cocoon!'
Even though he had been tricked, Aburame Ryoma's battle experience and reaction speed allowed him to quickly adjust.
While channeling more chakra to breed additional insects, he simultaneously drew a kunai, preparing to engage the approaching boy in close combat.
CLANG!
But the moment their kunai clashed, Aburame Ryoma instantly sensed that something was wrong.
POOF!
"This one was a Shadow Clone too?"
As white smoke dispersed, Aburame Ryoma suddenly felt uneasy.
'No, it was a Substitution Technique, and the substitution itself was the real trap.'
"The real trap?"
As Uchiha Kage's voice came from above, Aburame Ryoma finally realized that the trap he had first triggered had never actually activated.
"So that first trap was just a distraction!"
ZING!
With a sharp, taut sound of thin wire pulling, the wooden log Aburame Ryoma had struck with his kunai suddenly shattered.
At the same time, countless invisible threads wrapped tightly around his body.
Attached to those wires were more than a dozen explosive tags, hanging around him like colorful streamers.
"Explode!"
Without hesitation, Uchiha Kage detonated the explosive tags wrapped around Aburame Ryoma.
His opponent was most likely a Jonin—he couldn't afford to hold back.
And just as he suspected, even though his explosive tags had caught the enemy in a trap, once the smoke cleared, the opponent's presence remained steady.
'Secret Technique: Insect Wall!'
The newly bred insects that Aburame Ryoma had summoned earlier played their role, blocking most of the explosion's impact.
Plop! Plop!
Seeing his carefully raised insects fall in large numbers, Aburame Ryoma felt an anger he hadn't experienced in a long time.
Even more humiliating was his left shoulder, now bleeding from a wound caused by the explosion due to an imperfect defense.
He had actually been injured like this by a mere Genin fresh out of the academy.
"You're not getting away, brat!", Breaking free from the wires binding him, Aburame Ryoma, face filled with killing intent, chased after Uchiha Kage, who was once again attempting to flee.
———
"Huff… Huff…"
'Even after all those explosive tags, he only got a scratch?'
'Is this the "law of smoke but no damage" in action?'
As he ran, Uchiha Kage internally ridiculed his own results.
"Now that he's chasing me this aggressively, I wonder if I can make it in time."
Calculating his position, Uchiha Kage activated his Byakugan, searching for a certain blond-haired boy running with a scroll.
"The previous trap was just an appetizer. Now it's time for the main course."
Rustle!
Before long, Uchiha Kage heard movement ahead in the forest.
And just in time, right before Aburame Ryoma caught up—
He crashed directly into—
"Naruto?"
Uchiha Kage held his head while 'surprised' as he looked at the blond-haired boy he had knocked to the ground.
"Kage?"
The person running through the forest with a scroll on his back was naturally Naruto, who had coincidentally stolen the Forbidden Jutsu Scroll from the Hokage's office.
""Why are you here?"", The two of them almost simultaneously asked each other.
Of course, Uchiha Kage was just pretending.
"Brat, let's see where you run this time!"
His blood boiling with anger, Aburame Ryoma had no time to notice Naruto. At that moment, he stabbed his kunai towards Uchiha Kage's neck.
And this scene was finally seen by an old man in the Hokage's office, watching through a crystal ball as a surveillance monitor.
Clang!
A gleaming long blade was thrown from afar, precisely blocking the kunai in Aburame Ryoma's hand.
Immediately after, a purple-haired kunoichi wearing a mask appeared, panting, on the trunk of a nearby tree.
She had finally made it in time. Letting out a sigh of relief, Uzuki Yugao also took note of Aburame Ryoma's miserable state.
His clothes were tattered, and blood was seeping from his left shoulder.
In contrast, Uchiha Kage, whom he had been relentlessly chasing, didn't have a single scratch on him.
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