Jiraiya showed no fear and shouted, "Who are you, guy?"
The burly man looked at the four of them with a mocking expression on his face. "What's wrong? The target of your mission is right in front of you, and you can't recognize me?"
The bandage covering his face was specially treated—it allowed him to see clearly through it, though it couldn't compare to looking with bare eyes. His vision was slightly impaired.
"You are?"
"I'm the one you're looking for—Tyrant Dokai."
The man, who introduced himself as Dokai, casually tossed something from his hand.
When Tōshirō and the others looked closely, they saw it was a bloody severed head.
The dead man's face was familiar—it was none other than Kin'emon, the person who had hired them.
Their employer was dead just like that. Orochimaru's expression turned grim as he demanded, "What happened to Momonosuke?"
"Who knows? But he's probably not doing too well."
Dokai's mood swung unpredictably. His face was calm one moment and deadly serious the next. "But one thing I can assure you: you won't have a good time either."
Tōshirō narrowed his eyes and turned to Tsunade with a serious expression. "Tsunade, use your sensory abilities to analyze this guy for me."
Receiving the instruction, Tsunade closed her eyes, focused her mind, and performed a hand seal to detect Dokai's chakra flow.
Dokai's lips curved into a sinister smile.
Tsunade furrowed her brows, and a thin layer of sweat appeared on her forehead.
Seeing this, Tōshirō immediately asked, "What's the situation?"
Tsunade opened her eyes, her expression grave. "Such immense chakra… Since I learned sensory techniques, I've only ever seen this kind of chakra from my grandmother. This is unprecedented."
Tōshirō cursed Kin'emon's poor intelligence.
Weren't they told that the strongest ninja in the Land of Wano were the three they had just defeated?
How had this elite ninja suddenly appeared out of nowhere?
Logic told Tōshirō to forget the mission and retreat immediately.
But once an arrow is loosed, there's no turning back.
If he walked away now, it wouldn't just damage the reputation of the Fire Nation's ninjas—it would also doom the rebellious soldiers who had joined him to certain death.
He had no choice but to push forward.
Tōshirō turned to another teammate and said, "Jiraiya, test him out with a jutsu."
"Got it."
Just as Jiraiya was about to step forward and perform a hand seal, he hesitated. "Wait, why am I the one testing him? Why don't you do it?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Out of the four of us, you have the most chakra. If not you, then who? We've already used up a lot of chakra in the previous battle, so we need to be cautious moving forward."
Tōshirō's reasoning was sound.
Though Jiraiya didn't look happy about it, his body acted on its own. He unleashed a Flame Bullet—fast and hard to dodge, making it an ideal probing technique.
As the Flame Bullet was unleashed, the battle officially began.
Dokai's body crackled with electricity as lightning coursed through him.
In this state, his speed was incredible, allowing him to easily evade the flame-based ninjutsu, which relied on speed as its main advantage.
Tōshirō frowned.
This was clearly the result of Lightning Style, which activated cellular activity in the body to enable high-speed movement. It was evident that the enemy was a master of Lightning Style ninjutsu.
Tōshirō's mind worked quickly to analyze the opponent. At the same time, he summoned chains of ice to restrict Dokai. Until he understood Dokai's abilities better, maintaining distance was the best course of action.
As Dokai ran, his sharp eyes scanned the ice chains. He thought to himself, What an interesting jutsu, but its speed is a weakness.
Exploiting this flaw, Dokai accelerated and closed the distance.
A flash of lightning burst forth, and his figure shot forward like a streak of light. Tōshirō's eyes widened in surprise, marveling at Dokai's incredible speed.
Had he been fighting alone, Tōshirō would have been struck and sent flying. Luckily, his teammates reacted in time.
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough.
Orochimaru performed a hand seal, unleashing a sharp wind with cutting force.
The fierce wind struck, forcing Dokai's body to arch like a shrimp as he was thrown backward through the air. His feet skidded across the ground before he finally steadied himself.
"Using the principle of elemental advantage—an obvious choice."
Dokai casually dusted himself off as if nothing had happened. "But your Wind Style isn't strong enough."
Before his voice had even faded, a gray figure lunged at him from behind, fists slicing through the air.
"How about this, then?"
Accompanied by an angry roar, a punch landed with a thunderous crash. The ground exploded, leaving behind a massive crater amidst the settling dust and smoke.
Dokai, standing a short distance away, glanced at the smoking crater and nodded approvingly. "Impressive strength, but not enough speed. Now, I wonder—how's your defense?"
He lowered his spiked club and quickly formed hand seals. Lightning Chakra surged from his body, gathering in his right hand. As he punched, the lightning formed into a ring-like beam of light that shot straight forward.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall
Ice Style: Glacier Wall
Tōshirō and Jiraiya combined their defensive techniques. Though the outer earth wall was pierced, the second layer of ice successfully blocked the weakened Lightning Style attack.
Tōshirō stared at the cracked ice wall with lingering fear. Lightning Style was unlike the other five major techniques; if struck, not only would one take damage, but paralysis would also ensue—a highly dangerous situation.
Considering their opponent's strength and the lack of bystanders, Tōshirō decided it was time to stop holding back to avoid any catastrophic mistakes.
With a sharp opening and closing of his eyes, his irises turned red, and two tomoe marks appeared around his pupils.
His teammates noticed the dramatic change in his eyes, their own widening in shock and surprise.
"You really think your opponent is that strong?" one of them muttered.
Tōshirō spoke calmly, "I don't want anything to happen to you because of me."
Hearing this, Tsunade and the others were deeply moved.
They knew how much Tōshirō disliked using the power of his Sharingan. For him to activate it now showed how much he valued their safety.
"Save your gratitude for later," Tōshirō joked. "Let's focus on defeating the enemy in front of us, or we'll all be in big trouble."
Though the person who sent us here is already dead… Tōshirō added silently to himself.
Tsunade stubbornly muttered, "Who said I was grateful?"
Dokai, who had remained silent until now, fixated his gaze on Tōshirō's eyes.
So, this is the one Lord Madara has his eye on.
Ice Style combined with the Sharingan—a dual Kekkei Genkai. No wonder he caught Lord Madara's attention.
"If that's the case," Dokai thought, "then I'll make him dedicate everything to Lord Madara."
He slowly removed the bandages covering his eyes.
The four ninjas immediately became alert at Dokai's strange behavior.
Even though they had braced themselves, they were still shocked when Dokai's crimson eyes were revealed.
"Tōshirō , what's going on? Why does this guy have eyes like yours? Could he be an Uchiha too?" one of his teammates asked in confusion.
"To be honest, I have no idea," Tōshirō replied, his scarlet Sharingan wide with surprise.
Dokai smiled faintly, his tone carrying a hint of amusement. "So, you're an Uchiha, huh?"
Tōshirō nodded and countered with a question. "Who are you, and why do you have the eyes of my clan?"
Dokai chuckled and explained, "You're impatient, aren't you? Well, I suppose it's only fair to tell you. I'm not an Uchiha—I came across these eyes by chance."
As Dokai spoke, Tōshirō began to piece things together.
Combining the information provided by Elder Itachi and what Kin'emon had shared, Tōshirō speculated that the Uchiha who aided Dokai's rebellion was likely Uchiha Madara himself.
After witnessing Madara's overwhelming power, the people here must have idolized him, elevating their admiration to the level of blind fanaticism. Naturally, the Sharingan became an object of their obsession.
It turned out Tōshirō's guess was spot on. Dokai confirmed as much, even revealing additional intel: Momonosuke and his group had been lying. Their claims of peace and justice were a facade—they were just as deceitful.
Orochimaru's squad was left stunned.
"All of them are villains?"
"This is just bullying honest folks…"
"In that case, should I just leave?"
(End of Chapter)
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