"Curse you, brat!"
"Again, it's you!"
The familiar voice echoed in his ears. Feeling the restraint under his feet, Hozuki Jozou couldn't guess who it was. Wasn't it that pesky Anbu kid who always gave him trouble? Even though Hozuki Jozou could recognize Yasuke's identity and saw Kurenai Yuhi and Dakota, he couldn't believe that Yasuke and the others had managed to infiltrate the Mist Ninja camp so easily.
Moreover, after sneaking in, they even managed to get into the part of the camp where prisoners were held!
At the same time, as if he could see the confusion on Hozuki Jozou's face, Yasuke, his face hidden behind a mask, couldn't help but smile smugly. He explained to the bewildered Hozuki Jozou and the surprised Asuma Sarutobi, "You must be very curious about how we infiltrated, right? Since you're about to die, I'll tell you how you ended up dead."
"Red, explain to our friend here. Let him know so he can explain it to the Grim Reaper."
"Yes, Shadow."
Seeing Yasuke's command, Kurenai's eyes were filled with pride as she explained to Hozuki Jozou, "Mist Ninja, we owe it to you for being able to sneak into your camp and easily take out your guards. You didn't explain where your squad went, so we could disguise ourselves as your team members and follow you back to the camp."
"And Mist Ninja, it seems you're not very popular in your village! We disguised as your subordinates, and no one even asked where the others went!"
"So, your death is thanks to your good nature!"
"What?"
As Kurenai revealed the reason, Hozuki Jozou felt a chill run down his spine. Especially recalling that a Mist Ninja Genin had asked about his squad's whereabouts earlier, he regretted it deeply. If he had told that Mist Ninja Genin that his squad was dead, the guards wouldn't have let Yasuke and the others in so easily.
But no matter what, Hozuki Jozou couldn't imagine that even if he had told them about his squad, Yasuke and the others would have found another way to infiltrate the camp, albeit with more difficulty.
The reason?
Yasuke's intellect far surpassed Hozuki Jozou's. Long before, when Kurenai and Dakota had just "killed" Hozuki Jozou with Yasuke's help, Yasuke had sensed something wrong with Hozuki Jozou's aura. Especially noticing a slight dampness on his wound, Yasuke, who knew the original storyline well, had a suspicion that Hozuki Jozou was from the Hozuki clan of Mist Village.
Given his knowledge of the original storyline, Yasuke knew the secrets of the Hozuki clan! Additionally, knowing that Suigetsu Hozuki, a companion of Uchiha Sasuke (referred to as "Uchiha second pillar"), was from the Hozuki clan, Yasuke planned accordingly. After discovering that Asuma Sarutobi was captured by Mist Ninja, Yasuke decided to let Hozuki Jozou think he had valuable information about Asuma.
Then, Yasuke "killed" Hozuki Jozou again, using a strategy of feigned release to let Hozuki Jozou lead them to the Mist camp. Dakota, being a sensory ninja, could block others' senses. So, with Dakota's ability to block senses and Yasuke's Shadow Clone Jutsu, Yasuke's plan was half-completed once they infiltrated the camp. Then, learning from Dakota that there were only a few Mist Chunin and Genin guarding the camp, Yasuke's plan was seamless. Disguising as Hozuki Jozou's subordinates, they easily eliminated the guards.
Thus, Yasuke's plan was a complete success!
As Yasuke used the Nara clan's secret technique to silently take out the guards, he could easily use a shadow clone to restrain Hozuki Jozou. Initially, Yasuke hadn't restrained Hozuki Jozou directly to teach Asuma Sarutobi a lesson about disobeying orders. But seeing Asuma, rescued by Kurenai from the Mist's genjutsu and about to kill Hozuki Jozou without any gratitude, Yasuke sighed. Asuma was proving to be a piece of deadwood, unworthy of any effort.
Watching Asuma repeatedly fail to kill Hozuki Jozou and being mocked by the Mist Jonin, Yasuke frowned and shouted at Asuma, "Asuma, haven't you learned your lesson yet?"
"You're planning to kill my prisoner without my order? Are you planning to defect and become a Mist Ninja spy, protecting their intel?"
"I..."
Yasuke's accusation left Asuma speechless, staring at Yasuke with defiance in his eyes. Yasuke, seeing Asuma's defiance, turned to Dakota, "Dakota, this guy can't be killed by conventional means. Put some explosive tags on him."
"Red, burn the Mist camp to the ground to eliminate any evidence and aid our escape."
"And as for Asuma..."
Yasuke looked at Asuma, who responded with a cold snort, irritating Kurenai and Dakota. Yasuke and his team risked their lives for Asuma, yet Asuma showed no gratitude, only arrogance. In that moment, Asuma's cold snort destroyed any goodwill Kurenai and Dakota had for him.
Yasuke, however, smiled coldly, and as he and Asuma locked eyes, a shadow rose from beneath Asuma, knocking him unconscious before he could react.
As Asuma lost consciousness, Yasuke's icy words were the last thing he heard, pushing him into despair. "Red, Dakota, Asuma is unfit for duty."
"For the sake of our mission, let him sleep for a while."
"Once we escape, we'll let The Fourth Hokage deal with him!"
-----------------------------------------------------------------
10 Advance Chapters: patreon.com/ReadingOasis
Make Sure to give a Review!