Chapter 164: Death and the Ordinary

Shangcun Yizhi was startled; ninja combat truly makes the heart hard to grasp, but seeing the situation turn in an instant, he let out a heavy sigh of relief.

"Pan, are you okay?"

The two had been partners for a long time; Uchiha people were not as hard to approach as he imagined, so their relationship was fairly good, enough for them to address each other by name.

Shangcun Yizhi hurried forward, looking at the other with some worry.

"I'm fine, just a bit careless."

Pan drew his katana, his face turning sour; a moment of carelessness had let someone pierce his chest, nearly killing him.

Had he not had a forbidden technique at his side, the one lying on the ground now would have been him; even so, he lost an eye.

"Damn it!"

Pan looked at the guy on the ground, his chest rising and falling irregularly; this guy could break free of his genjutsu, his taijutsu was not weak, certainly not a commoner, and if he were a wandering ninja, he would surely be on the list. Remembering his clan's lack of money, Pan immediately tried to flip Jiaodu over to inspect, but at that moment Jiaodu's corpse suddenly shivered.

Pan's face changed, and he pulled Shangcun Yizhi back.

A black monster wearing a mask etched with a blue moon suddenly crawled out of his body, landing aside; the mask was full of cracks, and after the black monster left the body, it lay on the floor like a puddle of liquid, limp.

Shangcun Yizhi shouted, "That was the monster that ambushed you just now!"

Pan said nothing; he had already sensed something wrong, so he turned and pulled Shangcun Yizhi to jump from the second floor.

Boom— As the two leapt, a gale lifted flames that swept over, and the tall building shuddered violently before collapsing.

"Go to the back and find them! Run straight!"

Pan let out a hoarse roar, his expression extremely grim; hearing this, Shangcun Yizhi did not hesitate and turned to run.

With his mortal body, staying here would only be a hindrance; better to hurry and fetch reinforcements.

After speaking, Pan ignored Shangcun Yizhi; the other's survival depended on Pan's outcome.

At this moment, dust rose high over the ruins, and night covered the scene, making observation extremely difficult, but Pan, using his sole Copy Wheel Eye, still detected the other's condition.

"What's going on? I clearly pierced his heart, why is he alive again?"

The massive amount of chakra in the dust weighed heavily on Pan's mind.

"Copy Wheel Eye, I never expected to meet a Uchiha person here."

Jiaodu stepped out of the dust, flanked by two black monsters wearing masks of different colors; Pan glanced at the two monsters, pondering.

"Oh? It seems you used an impressive forbidden technique; truly worthy of the Uchiha clan, surviving like this."

Jiaodu noticed Pan's eye, then spoke slowly.

Pan raised his long sword, silent, staring intently at Jiaodu.

The two locked eyes; Pan activated genjutsu again, and Jiaodu's body froze, falling back into the illusion.

Pan did not advance; he casually tossed two kunai bearing explosive seals at Jiaodu.

As the kunai approached, the blue-toothed mask monster opened its mouth, spitting a blast that instantly swallowed the kunai, and a terrifying shockwave surged toward Pan.

"Wind Release, damn it!"

Pan muttered a curse and immediately dodged to the distance, while another red‑lipped mask monster followed, opening its mouth to unleash a sea of fire.

Wind aids the flames, fire borrows the wind's power.

The scorching flames instantly covered the entire front yard.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

Pan had nowhere to evade, so he raised an earth wall for defense.

Before the flames faded, Pan felt his heart race; his genjutsu was easily broken, and before he could react, a fist burst up from below the ground, hammering him heavily.

Pan dodged quickly, but was still grazed and was flung sideways.

"Did you see it with the Copy Wheel Eye?" Jiaodu retracted his fist, speaking calmly.

By now Pan knew that the enemy before him could, if he wished, lift his genjutsu at any time; the earlier control had been intentional, meant to lull him into complacency.

Immune to genjutsu, his ninjutsu is powerful, his taijutsu not lacking, and he also possesses troublesome black lines and a bizarre resurrection ability.

"He's a master with no weak points!"

Pan quickly compiled the opponent's intel, forming an assessment in his mind.

"Silent? Uchiha people really are as proud as ever. Fine, then let me test how far your remaining eye can see."

With those words, the two black monsters on his left and right opened their mouths simultaneously.

"Fire Release: Head Carve!"

"Wind Release: Pressure Harm!"

"Combined Ninjutsu: Flame Wind Turbulent Wave!"

The massive flames poured out like seawater, the hurricane swirling the fire, surging like towering waves.

"Earth Release: Multiple Earth Flow Walls!"

Pan clapped his hands; several earth walls rose from the ground, then linked together to block the sea of fire.

But after only a moment, the earth walls began to crumble and collapse.

"Damn Wind Release!"

Pan immediately leapt backward to dodge, while continuously observing Jiaodu; he had already noticed Jiaodu's surprisingly rich combat experience, controlling the situation from start to finish.

Jiaodu indeed did not miss the attack opportunity; he swung his arms, and his fists, bearing black lines, slammed toward him.

Pan instantly raised his blade to slash; with a "Bang!", Jiaodu's fist was deflected, but Pan felt a searing pain in his palm as if cutting into iron.

"What?"

Pan was shocked, recorded the intel again, then, using the recoil, landed far away.

"Physical attacks are useless against me."

Seeming to know his doubt, Jiaodu enthusiastically explained.

"Impossible."

"If physical attacks are ineffective against you, you wouldn't have been knocked down by me just now."

Pan, unaffected by Jiaodu's influence, replied softly.

Jiaodu's eyes lowered; he wasted no more time, and the two black monsters launched another attack.

One fireball after another, one invisible wind cannon after another were fired; the two monsters rained down blows like artillery.

Pan could only keep dodging as black silk threads lay in wait, seizing every gap in his movements to try to capture him.

But Pan sliced the threads apart with his blade several times.

"We can't keep going like this; even if I die I must gather enough intel."

Feeling his stamina drain, Pan formed a plan.

The fight didn't linger; Jiaodu seized the chance, struck, and threw Pan's body off balance, leaving him no time to dodge.

The wind cannon followed; Pan instantly used ninjutsu to defend, and after the earth wall shattered, his silhouette was blown to smoke by a fireball.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu, did you use an Earth Flow Wall to block my sight? Where's the real body?"

Jiaodu immediately leapt to the side of the two monsters and carefully surveyed the surroundings.

Boom—, the ground suddenly sank, and the monster releasing Wind Release ninjutsu was instantly buried in earth.

Jiaodu hardened his arms and dropped a fist, but several earth spikes suddenly rose, flipping him upward.

Pan burst from the earth and slashed at the Wind Release masked monster with a sword. Jiaodu and the Fire Release masked monster naturally would not let him succeed, and both sides acted simultaneously.

Pan failed to dodge, got entangled by black threads, and then was hit by a fireball, turning into wood shavings that fell.

"Substitution Technique!"

Jiaodu's deep‑green pupils narrowed; Pan broke through the earth again, and despite the wound hammered into him while underground, he endured it, and while Jiaodu was slow to react, he raised his flame‑clad long sword and drove a large hole into his chest.

Jiaodu's body trembled slightly and he fell slowly; the Wind Release masked monster seized the chance to escape the pit and, together with the other masked monster, attacked to push Pan back.

Pan retreated, formed a seal again, and shouted, "Fire Release, Majestic Dragon Fire Technique!"

Three fire dragons surged toward the three foes, but the masked monsters' Wind Release ninjutsu blew them apart.

The Fire Release masked monster then slipped into Jiaodu's body.

"Just as I thought!"

Cold sweat streamed down Pan's forehead, and after his red‑lip mask shattered, the Jiaodu he had just killed revived.

Just as Pan was pondering, a thunderclap suddenly sounded behind him; a lightning gun zipped in, and in the blink of an eye pierced through his body, leaving a huge hole.

Pfft~ blood gushed out, no sharp pain, only a clear sensation; he sensed his power draining rapidly.

His heart was exposed, visible to the naked eye; for some reason, Jiaodu did not aim at it.

"Uchiha!"

Jiaodu stared intently at Pan; he had been cautious enough, and after learning the opponent's identity he held nothing back, using the intelligence gap and sheer strength to fully suppress him, yet still the opponent seized a chance and shattered his second heart.

"Give me your heart!"

A multitude of black threads shot out from the gaps in Jiaodu's body, then lunged toward Pan's heart.

Pan's thoughts accelerated countlessfold at that moment, but he couldn't even move a finger, only watching helplessly as the black threads coiled around his heart.

"Captain!"

After a startled shout, more than ten kunai with explosive tags fell toward Jiaodu; explosions rang out, sending plumes of smoke, and the people who had been burying bodies behind finally rushed back, surrounding Jiaodu with guards.

Three Uchiha chunin watched Pan's wounds, their eyes reddened, but before they could speak, a great wind rose, lightning slashed across, and instantly three guards failed to dodge and were cut in half at the waist.

"What?"

The crowd was shocked, seeing a monster covered in black threads staring intently at them.

"What kind of monster is this?"

Several guards felt a desire to retreat; the formidable foe they had imagined was already lying on the ground, and after a previous massive battle they were in poor condition, so facing such a powerful and bizarre opponent, they truly did not wish to continue fighting.

Pan opened his mouth, and a Uchiha chunin hurried forward; the two exchanged a glance, and Pan used his last strength to activate a technique, then completely lost his life.

"Go!"

The three, carrying the corpse, immediately gave the order, and everyone withdrew in haste.

"Leave the heart!"

Jiaodu, of course, could not let them leave like that; otherwise the trip would have been in vain.

Wind Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release launched simultaneously.

Black silk threads swirled through the sky, and soon several people were slain by them.

The three's expressions changed; they were no match for Jiaodu, and he would not let them leave easily.

"What to do?"

The person carrying Pan's corpse, upon hearing this, had to endure his grief, removed Pan's eyes, then created a clone that carried the body and ran to the other side.

Jiaodu, seeing this, immediately gave up the chase; they were just a few ants, not worth keeping, but that Uchiha's body could not be let go.

The clone ran at full speed, doing everything possible to buy time for the other side, but in front of Jiaodu it lasted only a minute before being caught.

"Uchiha's heart, I really haven't collected it before."

Jiaodu chuckled, easing his inner bitterness, then extended a black thread to extract the heart.

"Damn!"

Jiaodu's gaze shifted; he only managed to shout a curse before being engulfed by the explosion. When the smoke cleared, Jiaodu was still unharmed, but his black hands had grasped nothing.

He stared silently at the malformed corpse beside him, which had been affected by the blast, for a long while, then turned and left.

Meanwhile, the three, with the remaining guards, found Shangcun Yizhi, who had left earlier.

"Where's Pan? Why didn't he come?"

Shangcun Yizhi sized up the group and then asked.

"Captain—"

Everyone's mood was low, their expressions sad.

"What? Even Pan?" Shangcun Yizhi's heart lurched; he felt sorrow but even more worry.

Given that even Pan's strength couldn't retreat unscathed, how could they stay on the Eastern Sea Route? "Let's head back to the Village first; that monster's power is beyond our ability to handle, we must seek the clan's help for this."

"We couldn't even keep the captain's corpse safe; we must never let him go!"

"Find someone in the Hui region; this grudge must be avenged!"

They're not opponents, but they have someone behind them!

"Alright, back to the Village!"

Konoha, at noon.

"So these are all I need to see?"

After yesterday's visit to the Sarutobi Clan lands, the Hokage's affairs transitioned more smoothly, yet the tasks that must be done are unavoidable.

Shisui looked at the stacks of documents, his mouth twitching involuntarily.

The documents here exceed a month's worth of the Police Department.

"They're already few; these are the ones I've filtered. After reviewing them now, there's no need to look at them later."

Yan Shifan said gravely, "These are the Jonin list, this is each clan's assets and ninja roster, this is the intel from each unit, this is the Village merchants' information, this is the ninja academy status, and this is the record of past ninja wars."

Yan Shifan pointed at a pile of classified documents, continuing his briefing.

"These are all classified files; even the Uchiha never had access. You must quickly familiarize yourself, control the Village's personnel, finances, and armaments; only then can we respond to these matters later."

"I understand, teacher; I will examine them carefully."

These are unavoidable; without reading them you cannot deeply understand Konoha, and without understanding you cannot plan for the future.

"Additionally, the ninja we sent yesterday to protect the daimyo envoy replied; the envoy was indeed ambushed, but the enemy clearly didn't expect us to send protection. After a missed strike, they retreated."

Shisui smiled and remarked, "Danzo truly lacks patience; acting so quickly, he doesn't even fear the daimyo envoy noticing something amiss."

"Hahaha, Danzo is just a turtle in a jar, a withered bone in a tomb, a dying struggle. Just keep an eye on him; the real concern is the Zhuanxin Clan."

"The teacher is right; since Tsunade left, the Zhuanxin Clan has controlled the hospital, and any move against them requires prior preparation."

"No rush, take it slowly."

The two exchanged a glance and then busied themselves; Shisui had just entered the Hokage Tower, and there were still many people and matters to learn about.

But Shisui was already accustomed; everything was merely ordinary.

Being pulled to read documents, the time to return to the dorm kept getting later, whimpering.

(End of chapter)