It was obvious that the Sand Ninja wouldn't listen to Linton. He was already preparing to launch an attack on Sarutobi Shinnosuke. Now that Linton appeared in the middle, he naturally became the new target. Without a word, the Sand Ninja threw two kunai directly at Linton's face.
"No!" Linton hurriedly tried to stop him; otherwise, his body would act on its own again. However, he was still a step too late.
"Hostile target detected. Engaging auto-battle mode."
Without further explanation, Linton's body suddenly crouched down, dodging the incoming attack. At the same time, another gun appeared in his hand.
With a "bang," a shot rang out, and blood splattered. This time, Linton only hit the opponent's right arm. The Sand Ninja had dodged slightly at the critical moment, avoiding the bullet aimed at his head. In fact, if one could see the direction of the gun barrel clearly, there was still a chance to dodge a handgun. The Jonin who got shot earlier didn't know what this weapon was and was completely unprepared. But having seen it now, even a Chunin would have a chance to evade.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!" Enduring the pain of being shot, the Sand Ninja quickly performed a jutsu, creating a wall of earth in front of him to block Linton's strange weapon. However, after casting the jutsu, he had no intention of continuing the fight. He was already being chased by the enemy Jonin, and now that he was injured, he had no way to continue fighting. Taking advantage of the earth wall blocking the view, he turned around and fled.
However, Linton had no intention of letting him go. Raising his right hand, he used a web to stick to a nearby tree branch, pulled himself up into the air, aimed at the Sand Ninja on the ground, and fired again.
With another "bang," this time the Sand Ninja wasn't so lucky. While turning to run, he hadn't noticed Linton flying into the air. A bullet went straight through his chest, and he fell to the ground. Blood quickly flowed out, and after struggling a few times, he stopped moving.
"Battle ended," the familiar voice sounded again. Linton regained control of his body. He glanced at Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who had been watching the whole time, and felt a bit of a headache. He hadn't intended to reveal so much; the handgun was already hard to explain, and now the web shooter was even more troublesome. It would've been better if he had just quietly watched from the sidelines.
Before Linton could think of how to explain, the battle nearby also ended. Sarutobi Shinnosuke's two teammates successfully captured a Sand Ninja, though another one seemed to have fled far away. These two were clearly left behind to delay time and help the other escape; their tactic had worked.
The captured Sand Ninja was seriously injured but not dead yet. Sarutobi Shinnosuke didn't immediately question Linton; instead, he started interrogating the captured Sand Ninja using genjutsu. It seemed Sarutobi Shinnosuke was quite skilled in this area, as he quickly extracted a lot of information.
Linton breathed a sigh of relief. Not only did the captured Sand Ninja provide a lot of information, but he also served as a witness. The Sand Ninja claimed that they had encountered Linton's team, engaged in a battle, and killed three people, leaving only Linton alive. They had pursued him, only to be countered by Sarutobi Shinnosuke's team. Naturally, the Sand Ninja didn't mention Linton's odd behavior, and his testimony helped reduce much of the suspicion around Linton.
During wartime, it's natural for Sarutobi Shinnosuke to be suspicious of someone like Linton, whom he had never seen before, especially after witnessing Linton's strange behavior. But with the captured enemy serving as a witness, his suspicion was somewhat alleviated.
At the same time, Linton also gathered a lot of information from the captured enemy. As expected, it was wartime, and Sand and Leaf ninjas were apparently gathering nearby, preparing for a decisive battle. Both sides were currently probing for each other's information—the more they knew about the enemy, the more advantageous it would be for the upcoming battle.
"Captain, what should we do now? One of them got away. Should we pursue him?" one of Sarutobi Shinnosuke's subordinates asked.
"The information he provided is important. We should head back now," Sarutobi Shinnosuke replied. He had just learned the location of the Sand Ninja camp from the captive's mouth. Although he wasn't sure if it was a trap, it wasn't his decision to make; he'd take the prisoner back and let the commander decide.
"Uchiha Linton, you're the only one left from your team. I'll temporarily assign you to our team to act with us. Any problems with that?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke asked Linton.
"No, Sir Sarutobi," Linton could only agree. What else could he do? He clearly sensed that Sarutobi Shinnosuke was still wary of him. Saying "no" now would be courting death. Besides, since his task was to explore this world, going back to their camp would be better. The only concern was whether his identity could be maintained.
As for his identity issue, Linton decided to take it one step at a time. Sarutobi Shinnosuke then briefly introduced his two teammates. The taller one was named Jinjiro, who had no surname, indicating he was a civilian ninja. The other was named Yuta Kaneshiro, who seemed rather unremarkable, with a friendly demeanor.
It was clear to Linton that these two had fewer doubts about him. His appearance was quite typical of the Uchiha clan—black hair was a distinctive trait. Along with the Sharingan and the captive's testimony, the two seemed to believe his identity.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke instructed them to clean up the traces and take the captive away. Then, he pulled Linton aside and quickly asked about the gun.
"This is a ninja tool I developed," Linton replied, already prepared with an answer. As he spoke, he handed the gun over.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke took it and examined it closely. Though he wasn't knowledgeable about machinery, he could roughly understand its operating principle.
"The thing that shoots webs too?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke asked.
"Yes," Linton replied, showing him the device on his hand. "I developed these myself because I'm not very good at chakra control. Climbing trees or walking on water is pretty challenging for me, so I thought of creating these tools."
"An oddball in the Uchiha clan, huh?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke remarked. Though he still had doubts, he largely believed Linton. It was just odd that he'd never heard of such a weirdo in the Uchiha family.
"My family... doesn't really support me doing these things," Linton said with a helpless smile, which made Sarutobi Shinnosuke infer a hidden meaning. Maybe it wasn't just a lack of support—they probably found it shameful and had suppressed the news. Indeed, in this world where everyone aspired to be a ninja, ninjutsu was the right path. Even if ninja tools were precise, they were seen as secondary, especially in a prominent family like the Uchiha.
"I think you have some talent," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said. "These ninja tools are quite useful. You just took out a Jonin and a Chunin."
"That was a sneak attack. If the opponent is prepared, I wouldn't stand a chance," Linton replied.
"What happened when they ambushed your team?" Sarutobi Shinnosuke asked.
"Sorry, it was my first time on the battlefield..." Linton admitted.
"Got it." Sarutobi Shinnosuke nodded, seemingly understanding. This oddball ninja tool may be effective for sneak attacks, but it was Linton's first time on the battlefield. He must have been nervous or flustered and didn't use it effectively at first. There was nothing suspicious about that. He still remembered his own first time on the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Jinjiro and Yuta Kaneshiro had finished clearing the battlefield and searching the bodies. Sarutobi Shinnosuke waved his hand, and everyone began to retreat.
Linton continued using the web shooter to move. He was starting to get used to this mode of movement, which was much like Spider-Man's. In a forested area, it was very fast. Sarutobi Shinnosuke observed carefully and realized it was quite handy, given Linton's poor skill in climbing trees.
After following Sarutobi Shinnosuke for a while, Linton saw a camp in front of him. This was clearly a temporary camp, consisting mainly of tents. Though there were no symbols or flags, Linton knew this was the Leaf camp.
"Sir Sarutobi," a few figures appeared in front of them, blocking their path. However, these people were clearly Leaf ninjas, most likely in charge of guarding the camp perimeter. They recognized Sarutobi Shinnosuke as well.
"Please report to Lord Orochimaru that we have captured a Sand Ninja and obtained some important information from him that needs to be reported in person," Sarutobi Shinnosuke said immediately.
"Yes," the leading ninja nodded and quickly left. Linton and the others continued forward and soon reached the inside of the camp.
Inside the camp were many ninjas, all clearly from the Leaf. Linton carefully looked around, but before he could
get a clear picture, Sarutobi Shinnosuke led them, along with the Sand Ninja captive, into a room built with wooden frames.
After reporting, Sarutobi Shinnosuke lifted the curtain and entered, with Linton following him inside. There were several people in the room, seemingly in the middle of a meeting. Right away, Linton noticed the person standing in the center. This was the first character he had seen from the original story so far, but it was indeed a troublesome one—his name was Orochimaru.
(End of this chapter)