"Reinforcents… still haven't arrived? We're about to reach our limit."
Beneath the enormous yellow earthen trench, Mimura Hazashi—the commander leading Konoha's frontline defensive unit—spoke anxiously while glancing toward the shinobi beside him.
Hazashi was a middle-aged man with a thick beard covering much of his face.
At this mont, however, his exhausted expression made him look far older than he really was.
Dust and blood stained his green Konoha flak jacket, and even his breathing had beco noticeably heavier.
"Commander, we already sent the intelligence back several days ago."
The shinobi beside him forced himself to speak encouragingly despite his own miserable appearance.
"Konoha will definitely send reinforcents."
"We just need to hold out a little longer."
The man's uniform was caked with dirt and dried mud.
His body looked as though it could collapse at any mont.
Even so, a faint trace of hope still remained within his eyes.
"Hold on?"
A bitter smile appeared on Mimura Hazashi's face.
"Out of everyone we started with, only four of us are left."
"How exactly are we supposed to keep holding on?"
If the situation were not already hopeless, how could he possibly think of giving up?
The one pursuing them now was his old rival—
Higashi Shikaku.
And this ti, Shikaku had personally led fifty Iwagakure shinobi to hunt them down.
anwhile, Konoha still had not sent even a single update regarding the reinforcents.
Of course…
It was also possible their intelligence had already been intercepted halfway.
"Commander! They're here!!"
The sensory-type ninja among the four suddenly raised his head and warned the others urgently.
At those words, everyone's expressions changed instantly.
"Run."
Mimura Hazashi gritted his teeth and slowly stood up.
"Hurry and run."
"I'll stay behind and buy you so ti."
He knew very well that everyone had already reached their physical and ntal limits.
If nobody stayed behind now—
Then all of them would die here.
"Commander…"
The three shinobi beside him were just about to say sothing emotional when a calm voice suddenly interrupted them from above.
"Why aren't you leaving yet?"
"Do you want to die that badly?"
The four of them instantly raised their heads in shock.
At so unknown point in ti, a young boy had appeared crouching atop the trench above them.
The boy wore specially tailored black shinobi clothing.
Three swords hung at his waist.
His sudden, ghost-like appearance startled all four Konoha ninja badly.
"You're… also a Konoha shinobi?"
Mimura Hazashi frowned slightly while staring at the three swords hanging from the boy's waist.
For so reason, they felt strangely familiar to him.
If the boy were truly an enemy, Hazashi knew he would not be standing there warning them calmly.
He would have already attacked with his blades.
"Isn't that obvious?"
Zoro rolled his eyes slightly, suddenly feeling as though these four might have suffered so damage to their brains.
Or perhaps the overwhelming tension they had endured for so long had stretched their nerves beyond the limit.
"You… don't tell …"
Mimura Hazashi stared at him in disbelief.
"You're the reinforcent Konoha sent?"
None of them knew anything about Zoro's achievents.
During his years in ANBU, all of his missions had been classified at the highest level.
"What do you think?"
Zoro revealed what looked like a relatively friendly smile.
At the sa ti, he felt sowhat speechless inwardly.
Why were these people still standing around talking?
Why weren't they running already?
"We're finished…"
One of the Konoha ninja behind Hazashi revealed a completely despairing expression.
"Konoha actually sent a kid here to die with us?"
"Do you even know how many ninja are chasing us right now?"
After fleeing for so long, the final bit of hope inside him shattered completely the mont he saw Zoro appear.
Nothing was more despairing than hope collapsing right before your eyes.
"You should leave quickly."
Mimura Hazashi weakly waved his hand toward Zoro.
"You're still so young. Don't throw your life away here."
Looking at the boy before him, who seed around the sa age as his own son, Hazashi simply could not believe it.
No matter how talented this child was—
Could he really carve out a path to survival while being hunted by fifty Iwagakure ninja?
Seeing that the four had practically given up on escaping, with death already reflected in their eyes, Zoro's expression remained indifferent.
To them, death now probably felt easier than continuing to endure the unbearable tension pressing against their nerves.
The instant Hazashi and the others stopped running—
The surrounding ground suddenly trembled violently.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!
Massive earthen walls rose from every direction.
"Earth Release: Earth Rampart Wall Technique!!"
Fifty shinobi simultaneously using Earth Release caused the entire area to quake heavily.
One sturdy earth wall after another erged rapidly, completely surrounding Zoro and the four Konoha ninja inside.
"Well, kid…"
Mimura Hazashi gave a bitter laugh as debris rained down around them.
"Looks like you can't escape now either."
"You four really can run."
A cold voice echoed from above.
"We've been chasing you for quite a while."
"But now…"
"It's finally ti for all of you to die."
One after another, Iwagakure shinobi wearing gray uniforms leapt onto the surrounding earthen walls.
Dense.
Nurous.
A full fifty of them.
From every direction, they stared down coldly at the Konoha ninja below like predators cornering trapped prey.
"Hm?"
After hearing one of his subordinates speak, Higashi Shikaku frowned slightly.
"Why is there one more person?"
Swish! Swish! Swish!!
All fifty Iwa ninja simultaneously jumped down from the walls.
"It's over, Commander."
One of the Konoha shinobi revealed a hopeless smile.
"In the end, we still couldn't escape death."
"I can't believe Konoha only sent so reckless brat as support."
"At least if it had been Hatake Kakashi…"
Everyone present already knew that Kakashi Hatake had recently passed the jōnin examination.
If he had arrived as reinforcent instead, perhaps they might still have had a slim chance to survive.
"Hmph."
Mimura Hazashi slowly rose to his feet.
"Fine."
"Even if we die here today, we'll drag a few of them down with us first."
His fierce gaze locked onto Higashi Shikaku in the distance.
"That's right!"
"Even in death, we'll follow the Commander!"
"Co on, then!!"
The four Konoha ninja, who had originally lost all fighting spirit, once again stood back-to-back in formation.
Although they shouted bravely, fear still lingered clearly in their hearts when facing fifty enemy ninja head-on.
However... It's as if ti had stopped.
One second.
Two seconds.
The atmosphere beca strangely silent.
The four Konoha shinobi could clearly hear the sound of one another's breathing and heartbeats.
Even the whistling wind around them sounded unusually sharp.
Several more seconds passed.
Yet the fifty Iwa ninja simply continued staring at them without making a single move.
The increasingly suffocating silence caused cold sweat to slowly appear on the faces of the Konoha group.
Crack.
A crisp sound suddenly echoed through the area like a stone dropped into still water.
The four Konoha ninja instantly tensed and turned toward the source of the noise.
Only to discover—
It was rely Zoro casually stepping onto a branch while walking forward.
The four imdiately sighed in relief.
Mimura Hazashi had just been about to warn him not to move recklessly—
But the next scene completely stunned all four of them.
The mont Zoro casually took one step forward—
The surrounding Iwa ninja retreated backward almost simultaneously.
Zoro took another step.
The fifty Iwa shinobi widened the distance even further.
It was as though the person standing before them was not a young boy—
But so terrifying monster they absolutely did not dare approach.
"W-What…"
One of the Konoha ninja swallowed hard.
"What the hell is going on?"
The four of them stared blankly at one another in total confusion.
Only Mimura Hazashi seed to slowly realize sothing.
A bright light gradually appeared within his eyes.
At that mont, he finally understood why Higashi Shikaku had stopped mocking them earlier.
And why the Iwa ninja still had not attacked despite surrounding them completely.
The boy standing before them—
Was likely a terrifying powerhouse they had all severely underestimated...
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