Before he could even utter the word "eyes," the Sand Jonin suddenly felt the world spin around him. In an instant, he found himself in a picturesque place, surrounded by blooming cherry blossoms. The serene setting, coupled with the gentle music that began to play, made him feel an irresistible urge to dance.
"Captain!!"
Seeing their captain suddenly freeze and fall silent, the three Sand Chunin were dumbstruck.
Did the captain get caught in an enemy genjutsu?
Just as they were about to step in and break the spell, their captain suddenly moved. The Jonin, now trapped in the large-scale "Sakura Fall" genjutsu, raised one hand in a delicate gesture, placing his other hand on his hip. His feet came together, knees bent, and he began to perform an embarrassingly awkward dance.
"Captain..."
Watching their normally stern and serious leader dancing like that, the three Sand Chunin were left utterly speechless. They had never imagined that their strict, no-nonsense captain would ever dance—and certainly not in such a... cringe-worthy way.
"You wake up the captain, we'll go take down that brat—"
One of the Chunin began to issue orders, but then he suddenly felt a chilling whisper in his ear.
"Trying to take me down, are you?"
The ominous crimson of the three-tomoe Sharingan glowed in the darkness like the eyes of a demon, the tomoe slowly spinning.
Shunk!
A ninja blade pierced through his back, slicing cleanly through his heart and out his chest, blood still dripping from the sharp edge.
"When... did you...?"
"Did you all underestimate these eyes?"
Takuya's figure seemed to materialize like a ghost as he withdrew his blade, swiftly cutting down the other two Chunin who were already caught in his genjutsu.
Has it really been so long since the Sand Ninja faced off against an Uchiha Jonin?
To be this sluggish? They should've known better. When facing someone from the Uchiha clan, especially one with the three-tomoe Sharingan, the best course of action is to run.
Pathetic.
Takuya finally understood why, later on, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi could cut down enemies like it was nothing. With one genjutsu, their foes were as helpless as lambs to the slaughter.
You could even take your time deciding which angle to strike from.
No wonder the Uchiha clan dared to claim the title of the strongest clan in the ninja world—they had every right to. Especially after the Senju clan had essentially faded into the general populace, the Uchiha's claim to being the number one clan was hard to dispute.
As for the Hyuga clan, who always seemed to be competing with the Uchiha for that top spot...
Takuya just smirked and said nothing.
He admitted the Tenseigan was impressive, but the Byakugan...? Well, it was just okay.
Comparing the Byakugan to the Mangekyo Sharingan, or even just the three-tomoe Sharingan, wasn't really fair. If anyone in Konoha wanted to argue that the Hyuga were on par with the Uchiha, they were welcome to, but it was better not to take such claims too seriously.
"Honestly, that was one ugly dance," Takuya muttered, watching the Sand Jonin continue his awkward performance. With a flash of his blade, the Jonin's head was sent flying.
Takuya quickly sealed the body in a scroll before slinging the corpse over his shoulder and chasing after Minato and Mikoto.
A double-layered genjutsu had wiped out an entire Jonin-led squad.
Even if it was just a standard Jonin squad and not an elite one, this was still an impressive feat for Takuya.
Once he brought back the body of the Sand Jonin, he'd earn himself quite a bit of merit and accolades.
The "Sakura Dance of Social Death" was even more effective than he had imagined—the Jonin hadn't even had time to react before he was caught.
Takuya had activated his Sharingan with the intent of targeting the three Chunin, not the Jonin. One specialized genjutsu had been enough to deal with the Jonin.
Even the genjutsu control he exerted with his three-tomoe Sharingan exceeded his expectations.
"Maybe I should start focusing more on genjutsu," Takuya mused to himself. He then thought, Snowy, if anyone approaches, alert me immediately.
"Got it, Master," replied Snowy, the little white fox who had shrunk down to a small size in Takuya's sealed space. Though she appeared lazy, yawning as she lay there, she was actually keeping a close watch on their surroundings. Any sign of an enemy, and she would alert Takuya right away.
And if he couldn't react in time, Snowy would jump out of the sealed space and join the fight.
"Any issues?" Takuya soon caught up with Minato and Mikoto, his Shunshin no Jutsu far faster than theirs.
"No issues," Takuya grinned. "Just a squad of Jonin—they were taken care of in no time. When we get back, I'll have racked up quite a bit of merit."
"But it looks like the Third Kazekage might be on our tail, so we'd better pick up the pace—unless you guys want to face off against the so-called strongest Kazekage."
I swear, I'm going to kill you!
A Jonin squad, taken out in no time? Minato almost choked on his own spit, feeling an overwhelming urge to punch Takuya.
Mikoto also looked exasperated, clearly irritated by Takuya's casual boasting.
Luckily, Takuya's mention of the Third Kazekage startled both of them into picking up speed—no one wanted to stick around to face the man known as the strongest Kazekage.
The fact that the Third Kazekage wasn't personally chasing them down was already a blessing—they wouldn't dare linger.
Seeing the two of them panic and speed up, Takuya couldn't help but chuckle.
He wanted to tell them that even if the Third Kazekage did catch up, their squad could still retreat safely. But Minato and Mikoto needed to learn not to rely on him for everything. Giving them a bit of a scare was probably a good thing.
"Hmph!"
When he found out the squad he had sent to pursue the enemy had been completely wiped out, the lead Jonin missing, the Third Kazekage's expression turned dark and dangerous. The surrounding Sand Ninja held their breaths, terrified of drawing his ire.
They had gathered some basic information about the escort squad from the people at the camp.
Just three kids, and only at Chunin level.
Yet a squad led by a Jonin had been wiped out while chasing them down.
Anyone would find that hard to swallow.
If this information got back to Konoha, the Sand Village's plan to ambush Konoha would be completely ruined.
"Keep pursuing them! We can't let them get this information back to Konoha!" the Third Kazekage ordered, as a large cloud of iron sand gathered at his feet, lifting him into the air as he flew in the direction Takuya and the others had fled.
"Master, someone's chasing us from the sky!" Snowy's voice suddenly alerted Takuya. He paused for a moment before continuing to run, calling out to the panting Minato and Mikoto, "Hey, did you know the Third Kazekage can dance?"
"Huh?"
Minato nearly tripped over his own feet, almost crashing into a tree.
Are you seriously making jokes at a time like this? Who the hell knows if the Third Kazekage can dance or not? No one would waste time gathering such useless information.
"Takuya, that joke wasn't funny," Mikoto said, gasping for breath. She felt like she really needed a break.
If they didn't need to explain themselves when they got back to the village, she would have gladly tossed the heavy burden she was carrying to the ground.
Why did this guy have to be so heavy? It's killing me!
"No, I'm serious—because the Third Kazekage is here," Takuya said, stopping in his tracks.
"The Third Kazekage?"
Minato and Mikoto's faces went pale, their sweat-drenched expressions filled with shock.