Chapter 63: The Slap in the Face Always Comes Too Fast
Kitahara definitely wouldn't stay put. After all, the overwhelming smell of blood was too pungent; this behavior was truly a disgrace to the crow species.
Uchiha Shisui was taking his little brother to hand over the captives. A dozen or so Mist Cipher Division members were handed over to Ibiki Morino, with one Kisame Hoshigaki thrown in as a bonus.
Because the support troops were completely wiped out, it triggered a series of chain reactions. The various Mist ninjas could only retreat while cursing, afraid they would miss the last boat if they were late.
Ibiki Morino was finally able to lead the ANBU to receive the captives. This mature-looking and fierce man had just been promoted by Hiruzen Sarutobi to Special Jonin and Torture and Interrogation Unit Captain before the year's end, becoming unrivaled in ANBU for a time.
"According to intelligence from the forward outposts, the invading Mist ninjas are retreating towards the coastline." Ibiki Morino's face was a bit sour. He wasn't very satisfied with ANBU's battle results. As the main combat force this time, all they could do was delay the enemy's actions at the border!
Fortunately, they could still obtain intelligence about the Hidden Mist Village from the Cipher Division captives held by Shisui. ANBU could still be considered to have made a great gain in this operation.
"I'll take them back to the village for interrogation first." Ibiki Morino looked at the two Uchiha and continued, "As for you two, coordinate with the combat troops to continue the pursuit and handle the cleanup!"
Uchiha Shisui watched as Konoha's Torture and Interrogation Unit members escorted the Hidden Mist's Cipher Division members, momentarily choking up, "Doesn't Senior Ibiki have a combat squad with him?"
"Don't worry, I've made arrangements."
Ibiki Morino had several combat squads from his Torture and Interrogation Unit dispatched to pursue the Mist ninjas, and two more squads composed of Special Jonin were lying in ambush. However, at this juncture, he couldn't possibly explain this to Shisui.
"Thank you for your hard work, Senior."
"It sounds like you're my superior, kid!" Hearing Shisui's words, Ibiki Morino's face turned even more sour, "I'll deal with you properly after you get into ANBU!"
"You're joking, Senior..."
Uchiha Shisui smiled happily. He thought Ibiki Morino was joking and was still thinking that these people all seemed quite easy to get along with.
After watching Ibiki Morino lead his men away, Shisui finally breathed a sigh of relief. Uchiha Itachi beside him suddenly said, "Shisui, I remember many people in the village have mentioned Torture and Interrogation Captain Ibiki Morino. He likes to hold grudges over the smallest things and use his public office to settle private scores."
"Itachi, you really like to joke!" Uchiha Shisui rubbed Itachi's forehead, crouched down, and looked him in the eye, "A real man shouldn't speak ill of others behind their backs!"
Itachi pressed his finger to his chin, thought for a moment, and then suddenly said, "Maybe it was at Ichiraku Ramen... I heard he might have been in charge of hosting the joint Chunin Exams, but many people said he couldn't be fair during the exams, so his hosting qualification was revoked."
Basically, anyone with some status in the village knew about Ibiki Morino's promotion to Torture and Interrogation Captain. His style of doing things was no secret in the village either. Even Might Guy knew, so how many could possibly not know!
Of course, it wasn't Might Guy spreading it around. The problem was that even someone like him, who only paid attention to a certain white-haired young ANBU member, had heard that the new head of the Torture and Interrogation Unit was not to be trifled with!
Because the young Ibiki Morino was promoted unconventionally by the Third Hokage, too many people disliked him. Unfortunately, this ANBU Torture and Interrogation Captain was too thick-skinned and remained completely unmoved!
If anyone dared to make Ibiki Morino unhappy to his face, he would use facts to prove what "not letting a grudge last overnight" meant.
Although most of the time he assigned tasks with an attitude of "using public office to settle private scores," and the results proved to be the best arrangements, he still left the impression of a despicable person in the eyes of many ninjas.
Too many people feared him, to the point that people gradually forgot how to respect him.
It was said someone proposed giving him the nickname 'Sadist,' which spread like wildfire in the Konoha rumor mill and was very popular.
The crow had also mentioned that Ibiki Morino was not an easy person to get along with, and his appearance was an eyesore, so Uchiha Itachi had paid attention.
The Third Hokage saw through Ibiki Morino's hidden Will of Fire and placed great trust in him. Perhaps this was also the reason he remained a die-hard loyalist to the Hokage in the future.
"Senior Ibiki is a person worthy of our respect and trust. Itachi, don't listen to rumors!"
Uchiha Shisui trusted the Third Hokage more. He wouldn't doubt Hiruzen Sarutobi's choice. In Shisui's eyes, Ibiki Morino was trustworthy. He wouldn't pay much attention to those little rumors.
The young genius ninja could never have imagined that just half a day later, the head of the Torture and Interrogation Unit he trusted would fiercely slap him in the face, and the style would be extremely cringe-worthy.
Because handing over the captives took too long, the invaders within the Land of Fire had mostly withdrawn. Uchiha Shisui passed through two or three outposts and confirmed that the Mist ninjas were no longer active on the border, deciding to return to Konoha with Itachi.
The journey was very peaceful until they saw a devastated forest. The ground even had patches of accumulated water; it seemed someone had cast a large-scale Water Style ninjutsu…
But this location was almost deep within the Land of Fire's heartland.
Logically, attackers were unlikely to appear here, because as long as the news was promptly relayed to the village, the enemy would almost immediately be surrounded by Konoha ninjas.
"Itachi, let's go down and take a look!"
Uchiha Shisui quickly landed on the ground, cautiously investigating, until he saw corpses everywhere. He had seen some of these people not too long ago.
"They are all members of Senior Ibiki's Torture and Interrogation Unit, and the Mist ninja's Cipher Division..." Uchiha Shisui closed the wide-open eyes of a Konoha ninja.
They looked as if they had experienced something extremely terrifying.
A faint voice was heard. A Konoha ninja, leaning against a tree for support, managed to open his eyes and said in a low voice, "Is it support from the village?"
"Senior Raidō Namiashi!" Uchiha Shisui was greatly alarmed. He hadn't expected the Fourth Hokage's guard to be here and to be so heavily injured in this operation.
"Senior, don't talk, conserve your strength. I'll take you back to the village right away!"
"It's Shisui!" Raidō Namiashi shook his head, "I'm not dead yet! Don't worry about me! Quickly... cough cough... go after... go after Captain Ibiki!"
"Itachi, come help quickly!" Shisui shouted to Uchiha Itachi not far away, grabbing the injured man's hand and calming his emotions in a deep voice.
Uchiha Itachi helped bandage Raidō Namiashi's wounds and asked in a low voice, "Senior, calm down. Can you tell us what exactly happened?"
"We were escorting the captives when one of them suddenly resisted. While we were subduing him, we were ambushed by Mist ninjas..." Raidō Namiashi said anxiously, "Captain Ibiki Morino was captured by them!"
Uchiha Shisui's face became extremely ugly, "Are you kidding? They actually ambushed Senior Ibiki so close to the village!"
"The opponent was Fuguki Suikazan of the Hidden Mist Village's Seven Ninja Swordsmen!" Another person, barely clinging to life, provided the intelligence.
Shisui and Itachi turned their heads and saw Genma Shiranui, who was missing his trademark toothpick senbon, smiling bitterly, "Guy has already gone after them! You guys hurry up and assist him! That guy is just a hot-blooded idiot, he might just fall into someone's trap..."
The delinquent youth's expression was a bit awkward. During the Third Shinobi World War, if it weren't for Might Dai's rescue, his and Might Guy's squad would have nearly died at the hands of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
Three years had passed. The grown-up Might Guy bravely entangled Fuguki Suikazan, but Genma Shiranui was knocked down just like in the past... This was very awkward.
(End of this chapter)