Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The Third Kazekage Gives Chase

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: The Third Kazekage Gives Chase  Before he could even utter the word "eyes," the Sand Jonin suddenly felt the world spin around him. In an instant, he found himself in a picturesque place, surrounded by blooming cherry blossoms. The serene setting, coupled with the gentle music that began to play, made him feel an irresistible urge to dance. "Captain!!" Seeing their captain suddenly freeze and fall silent, the three Sand Chunin were dumbstruck. Did the captain get caught in an enemy genjutsu? Just as they were about to step in and break the spell, their captain suddenly moved. The Jonin, now trapped in the large-scale "Sakura Fall" genjutsu, raised one hand in a delicate gesture, placing his other hand on his hip. His feet came together, knees bent, and he began to perform an embarrassingly awkward dance. "Captain..." Watching their normally stern and serious leader dancing like that, the three Sand Chunin were left utterly speechless. They had never imagined that their strict, no-nonsense captain would ever dance-and certainly not in such a... cringe-worthy way. "You wake up the captain, we'll go take down that brat-" One of the Chunin began to issue orders, but then he suddenly felt a chilling whisper in his ear. "Trying to take me down, are you?" The ominous crimson of the three-tomoe Sharingan glowed in the darkness like the eyes of a demon, the tomoe slowly spinning. Shunk! A ninja blade pierced through his back, slicing cleanly through his heart and out his chest, blood still dripping from the sharp edge. "When... did you...?" "Did you all underestimate these eyes?" Takuya's figure seemed to materialize like a ghost as he withdrew his blade, swiftly cutting down the other two Chunin who were already caught in his genjutsu. Has it really been so long since the Sand Ninja faced off against an Uchiha Jonin? To be this sluggish? They should've known better. When facing someone from the Uchiha clan, especially one with the three-tomoe Sharingan, the best course of action is to run. Pathetic. Takuya finally understood why, later on, Uchiha Shisui and Uchiha Itachi could cut down enemies like it was nothing. With one genjutsu, their foes were as helpless as lambs to the slaughter. You could even take your time deciding which angle to strike from. No wonder the Uchiha clan dared to claim the title of the strongest clan in the ninja world- they had every right to. Especially after the Senju clan had essentially faded into the general populace, the Uchiha's claim to being the number one clan was hard to dispute. retreat safely. But Minato and Mikoto needed to learn not to rely on him for everything. Giving them a bit of a scare was probably a good thing. "Hmph!" When he found out the squad he had sent to pursue the enemy had been completely wiped out, the lead Jonin missing, the Third Kazekage's expression turned dark and dangerous. The surrounding Sand Ninja held their breaths, terrified of drawing his ire. They had gathered some basic information about the escort squad from the people at the camp. Just three kids, and only at Chunin level. Yet a squad led by a Jonin had been wiped out while chasing them down. Anyone would find that hard to swallow. If this information got back to Konoha, the Sand Village's plan to ambush Konoha would be completely ruined. "Keep pursuing them! We can't let them get this information back to Konoha!" the Third Kazekage ordered, as a large cloud of iron sand gathered at his feet, lifting him into the air as he flew in the direction Takuya and the others had fled. "Master, someone's chasing us from the sky!" Snowy's voice suddenly alerted Takuya. He paused for a moment before continuing to run, calling out to the panting Minato and Mikoto, "Hey, did you know the Third Kazekage can dance?" "Huh?" Minato nearly tripped over his own feet, almost crashing into a tree. Are you seriously making jokes at a time like this? Who the hell knows if the Third Kazekage can dance or not? No one would waste time gathering such useless information. "Takuya, that joke wasn't funny," Mikoto said, gasping for breath. She felt like she really needed a break. If they didn't need to explain themselves when they got back to the village, she would have gladly tossed the heavy burden she was carrying to the ground. Why did this guy have to be so heavy? It's killing me! "No, I'm serious-because the Third Kazekage is here," Takuya said, stopping in his tracks. "The Third Kazekage?" Minato and Mikoto's faces went pale, their sweat-drenched expressions filled with shock.