Chapter 13: Duke Zheng of Zheng Defeated Duan at Yan

Second-line camp, after everyone returned to camp, Shisui quickly wrote a letter in front of everyone and sent it by urgent dispatch to the Wuzhen camp.

He then gathered everyone to tally the casualties.

"Lord Shisui, a total of fifteen squads came to support us this time, including three medical ninja squads. In this attack, seventeen ninja have been confirmed dead, among whom—"

The one in charge of reporting was likewise Koizumi May, a special jonin of common birth, looking about thirty years old, his expression heavy as he spoke to this point.

Shisui's face was full of puzzlement, gesturing for him to continue.

"Among them, the leading chunin, Makumura Rikitō, also sacrificed himself."

"What?!"

Shisui's pupils contracted as if he could not believe it; he turned his head to look at Uchiha Hui beside him, wanting to confirm this news.

"Yes, the body of Chunin Makumura has already been brought back by us. Sigh~"

Uchiha Hui shook his head and sighed, seeming somewhat unable to bear it.

Sima Yi, who had been silent all along, timely revealed a sorrowful expression and slightly lowered his head.

Seeing this, Shisui immediately reacted, slamming the table and rising, his eyes filled with fury.

"Damned Mist ninja! Hui, gather the men immediately, we'll charge over there — we must avenge Chunin Makumura!"

The three-tomoe appeared, and the violent chakra made everyone's heart tremble.

"Yes!"

"Wait! Lord Shisui, calm down!"

"Lord Shisui, you mustn't!"

The squad leaders, who had been keeping silent on the side, could no longer sit still and spoke up one after another to dissuade him: "The intelligence on the Mist ninja still cannot be confirmed. We just went through an attack and lost quite a few companions; at this moment we truly have no heart for further fighting."

"That's right, Lord Shisui, it's not worth it for a person like that!"

Someone blurted it out, and regretted it the moment he finished; everyone fell silent and looked over one after another.

"A person like that? What do you mean by that?"

Shisui's eyes shifted, and he immediately pressed for an answer.

"Uh—"

Uchiha Hui was even more displeased, stepping forward and sternly rebuking: "He also disregarded danger to come here and support us — how could you speak like that about a companion of the Village?"

Pressed by Uchiha Hui's questioning, that man's face instantly flushed red, and he hurriedly said: "If it weren't for him deliberately delaying, we would have reached the camp long ago, and we wouldn't have been attacked by the Mist ninja!"

"Exactly! If it weren't for that bastard, we could have reached the camp before dark — how could we possibly have been attacked by the Mist ninja? My teammates wouldn't have died either!"

With someone taking the lead, the others could no longer hide the fury in their hearts and spoke up one after another to vent.

"That bastard has ruined us all!"

"What!?"

Shisui's eyes went wide, his face full of disbelief; his whole body trembled, yet he forced himself to say: "Nonsense! Chunin Makumura was a reinforcement chosen by Nara jonin — like you, he is our companion!"

"He is a companion of the Village! How could he possibly have deliberately delayed!?"

Shisui's face went pale, his pupils shook, and his chakra grew increasingly violent.

Koizumi May was the closest, and facing an Uchiha strongman head-on, he truly understood for the first time what it meant to feel as if standing at the edge of an abyss.

That Mist ninja who had performed the large-scale Water Release was nothing but a rabble before this young man.

"Lord Shisui, you need not get angry over a person like that — his death was of his own making. But why is your camp located here, rather than at the front line?"

This was likewise the doubt in everyone's heart; they always felt that this matter reeked of something strange.

Uchiha Hui gave a cold snort and retorted directly: "Isn't it because you were迟迟 (delayed) in arriving? The Mist ninja's attacks have been too frequent — we couldn't guarantee we could hold back their infiltration.

We could only retreat rearward and contract the defensive line; this was an order Commander Nara issued yesterday. Didn't you know?"

The crowd suddenly understood, then exchanged glances — the only one among them who could speak with that side was one person, and now that person was gone too.

"It's all Makumura's fault!" "It's all Makumura's fault!"

Hatred swelled in everyone's hearts, their thoughts growing ever more aligned; some even turned to look at the riddled corpse outside the tent, which eased their feelings somewhat.

"Regardless, you were willing to come back and support us at this time — Uchiha will never forget your service!"

"Thank you!"

Shisui composed his emotions, bowed in thanks; after rising, his gaze sincerely swept over each person, and every one who met his eyes rather embarrassedly looked away.

"Uh, no—"

"It should be us who give thanks — if it weren't for Lord Shisui leading men to rescue us, we—"

"Originally we were the reinforcements, but now, sigh, it's truly too shameful."

Everyone knew clearly in their hearts: if they hadn't been forcibly chosen, who would be willing to come to the front line at this time? "Hahaha, don't say that — your coming has already been a great help. Alright, tonight's patrol will be left to us; everyone go down and rest first."

"Yes, worthy of being Shunshin no Shisui — truly reliable!"

After a few rounds of polite refusal, the crowd accepted; someone could not help sighing in admiration, a longing rising in his heart.

If one could work under such a person, perhaps there would be a brighter future.

"Heh, looks like you've already started to adapt."

Once only the two of them remained in the tent, Sima Yi opened his mouth with a smile to tease.

"No, no, no — this feeling is just too strange; I can hardly believe those words were spoken by me."

He rubbed his face hard, recalling his expression and words from moments ago with a slight shiver, feeling uneasy all over.

"To win people's hearts, all of this is necessary. You must adapt as soon as possible — once we go to Konoha, we'll have to do this often."

"Often!"

Shisui's neck shrank; the mere thought of that scene sent a chill down his spine, but thinking of the Uchiha's current situation he could only nod helplessly. "To restore the Uchiha's image, we have no choice but to do this."

Sima Yi nodded in satisfaction — this youth before him had finally grown a little.

"Has everything been arranged?"

Shisui nodded, his eyes filled with anticipation, and said: "The Mist side has no more manpower. Tomorrow, send them to scout. Once we report back, we just need to wait for the rotation change, and within half a month we can return to Konoha."

"Mm, then sit down. Today we are discussing Zheng Bo Ke Duan Yu Yan."

Shisui obediently sat down properly; it was once again his favorite part of the day — story time.

"The Duke of Zhou spat out his food and the whole world turned to him! Small measures in, large measures out, the Tian clan replaced Qi!" Each of these peculiar stories gave him some kind of insight.

And Sima Yi was actually quite helpless inside. Conditions were limited, but Shisui's education could not wait — he could only use this method to instill some ideas.

"Once there was a state called Zheng, its ruler—"

"Therefore it is said: he who commits many unrighteous deeds will bring about his own downfall. You may just wait and see."

"The meaning of this sentence is: one who commits many unrighteous deeds will find that others will not come close to him. Even though his territory has expanded, he will still collapse."

"He who commits many unrighteous deeds will bring about his own downfall!"

Shisui stared blankly, repeating this sentence in a daze.

Seeing this, Sima Yi slowed his pace, and after finishing the ending of Gongshu Duan, he deliberately omitted the later matter of Duke Zhuang and his mother meeting each other in the Yellow Springs.

Shisui was silent. For some unknown reason, the Third's evaluation of Itachi flashed through his mind.

"A child with the mind of a Hokage."

Then the scene he had seen that night flashed by again — an Itachi standing atop the corpses of his clansmen.

"Zheng Bo Ke Duan Yu Yan!"

(End of chapter)