Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

Chapter 33 Missions and Companions

Time seemed to slow down at this moment.

In Sakumo Hatake's mind, two voices were locked in a fierce battle.

A voice, cold and rational, echoed the ironclad rules of the Dark Guard he had upheld for years: "Mission first. Personal sacrifice is for the greater good of the village. Now is the best time to eliminate the enemy commander; hesitation will only render the sacrifice meaningless."

Another voice, carrying the gentle yet firm tone of their teacher Hiruzen Sarutobi, said: "Sakumo, remember, we are human, not machines for missions. Cold rules can never replace the warmth of the Will of Fire. Protecting our comrades is the highest level of mission."

Shuo Mao suddenly closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, all his struggles and hesitations had vanished.

"Cover the wounded and retreat immediately! That's an order!"

"Captain?!" The cat-masked second-in-command froze, unable to believe his ears. "But..."

"Retreat!" Shuo Mao's tone left no room for doubt. He hoisted the poisoned team member onto his shoulder, and with a backhand slash, cleaved a scorpion puppet that lunged at him in two.

At the top of the canyon, Rura and Uzuki couldn't help but laugh when they saw this.

"Oh? You chose to run away?"

Rura's tone was full of disdain, "This is the famous White Fang of Konoha? He's not as good as he sounds."

"It seems we overestimated him."

Uzuki shook her head. "Want to leave? You might as well leave your lives behind. Intensify the offensive, don't let a single one escape!"

Instantly, the puppet's attacks became even more ferocious.

The Hidden Leaf Village's ANBU squad, led by Sakumo, fought and retreated.

In an attempt to cover the retreat, one of the team members was overwhelmed by dozens of puppets and instantly torn to pieces.

Finally, they retreated to a relatively narrow valley entrance.

"Take the wounded and get out of here first! Quickly!"

Shuo Mao handed the poisoned team member on his shoulder to his deputy, then turned around abruptly, facing alone the hundreds of puppets surging towards him like a tide.

"team leader!!"

Everyone gasped in surprise.

Without turning his head, Sakumo's voice was resolute: "I'll cover their retreat!"

The second-in-command gritted his teeth, watching Sakumo's resolute retreating figure: "Withdraw!!"

The secret agents, carrying the wounded, quickly disappeared behind the valley entrance.

On the battlefield, only Sakumo Hatake remained, along with the endless army of puppets.

"Covering the rear? What foolish individualism."

At the top of the canyon, Ruro sneered, "You think you can stop my ten-machine maneuver by yourself? Crush him!"

However, what happened next completely froze his smile on his face.

Hatake Sakumo, facing the puppet frenzy alone, was not instantly overwhelmed as they had expected.

Instead of retreating, he charged forward.

Compared to the passive situation just now, Sakumo Hatake can unleash his full potential when fighting alone.

The white fang dagger in his hand seemed to come alive at that moment.

A silver lightning bolt, against the tide of puppets, charged resolutely into the enemy ranks.

His figure moved with incredible speed.

Instead of confronting those hard puppets head-on, it moved like a top dancer, weaving between blades and claws.

Each dodge was perfectly timed to avoid a fatal attack.

Each strike was precise, hitting the puppet's most vulnerable joints, or... the chakra lines that controlled them.

"Swish! Swish! Swish!"

A flash of silver light, and several chakra threads, barely visible to the naked eye, snapped instantly.

In mid-air, more than a dozen puppets instantly lost control and fell to the ground with a clatter, like kites with broken strings.

"What?!" Ruro raised an eyebrow.

He then realized that Sakumo's target had gradually shifted from the puppet itself to the chakra threads used to control it.

You noticed it so quickly?

"Stop him!"

Rura's alarm bells rang, and she immediately changed her strategy, commanding all the puppets to stop their indiscriminate area attacks and instead shrink their formation, intending to trap Sakumo in the center.

However, it was too late.

"Whoosh!"

After severing a large number of chakra threads and creating a brief period of chaos, Sakumo's figure suddenly stomped on the ground, and his whole body shot upwards like a cannonball along the almost vertical canyon wall.

His target was the Sand Couple at the top of the canyon.

"He's coming! Uzuki, use the Dark Secret Technique!"

Ruro's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected that Sakumo would still have the strength to launch a counterattack under those circumstances.

"Understood!" Uzuki formed hand seals, and a huge scroll on her back instantly unfurled.

"Dark Secret Technique: Puppet Summoning - Three Treasures Absorption!"

Three enormous humanoid puppets instantly appeared, blocking their path. One of them opened its massive mouth, generating a tremendous suction force, attempting to pull Sakumo, who was in mid-air, directly towards them.

However, Shuo Mao's figure made a strange turn in mid-air, and a white light flashed by.

Sizzle—!

The puppet that was releasing suction was cleanly and neatly split in two from head to toe.

Without even the slightest pause, he used the power of his strike to break through the defenses and appeared in front of the couple as if by teleportation.

too fast!

Uzuki's face still held the focus she had when casting the spell, and a pure silver blade light was reflected in her pupils.

That was the last ray of light she saw in her life.

puff!

The white dagger silently sliced ​​across her neck.

A handful of warm blood splattered onto Lulu's face beside him.

"卯...月..."

Ruro stiffly turned his head, staring blankly at the incredulous expression on his wife's face and the thin line of blood on her neck.

"you……"

He only had time to utter one word.

Sakumo swung his sword backhand, and the White Fang short sword drew a perfect arc, piercing right through his heart.

He withdrew the dagger, which was not stained with a single drop of blood.

The two corpses slumped to the ground.

Below the canyon, the dozens of originally ferocious and terrifying puppets simultaneously lost all power and crashed to the ground with clangs, turning into piles of broken copper and scrap iron.

Between Shuo Mao's chest and abdomen, a wound slashed open by a poisonous claw was oozing dark blood.

This is the price paid to break through the defenses of the Three Treasures Absorption and withstand the next attack.

He endured the excruciating pain and the numbness caused by the poison, and hurriedly chased after the main force.