Chapter 233: The Perfect Flaw
Terumi Mei pushed open the door and returned to the office, a scroll still gripped in her hand. A faint smile played on her lips, leaving no trace of the chilling coldness she had shown while questioning her subordinates in the hallway.
Kitahara Kaede looked up, shifting his gaze from the documents on his desk to her face. Mei walked over and placed the scroll before him.
"The ANBU just intercepted this intelligence. Take a look."
She withdrew her hand and returned to her own seat. Kaede reached out, untied the seal, and unfurled the scroll. The message was brief—only a few lines of text, a set of coordinates, and a name: Fuguki Suikazan.
After reading the intel, Kaede closed the scroll and looked at Terumi Mei.
"He escaped Kirigakure?"
Mei nodded. "I noticed something was off with him a while ago and was preparing to move against him alongside Elder Genji. But he must have gotten wind of it somehow and deserted the village. That’s when I stepped in to take his position."
She opened a drawer and pulled out a supplement marking the ANBU tracking route, spreading it across the desk. "The ANBU have been tracking his movements. They’ve just rediscovered his trail near the border."
Kaede stared at the route map, feeling a flicker of confusion. *What does this have to do with me?*
"What is it?" Mei asked, her voice softening. "Fuguki was once high up in the ANBU; he was specifically responsible for reporting intelligence to Yagura. He likely knows the inside story regarding Yagura’s control."
She paused, giving Kaede a moment to process the information. "If we can capture Fuguki, it could be a massive help to our plan to overthrow Yagura."
Kaede fell silent. If Fuguki truly possessed evidence that Yagura was being controlled by genjutsu, then he was a target worth pursuing. With concrete evidence, many things would become far easier to execute. Since Mei had proactively proposed this substantive operational plan, he had no reason to refuse.
"When do we leave?" Kaede asked.
Mei had already stood up. "Now. He was spotted in a border town today. The ANBU are still watching him, but if we wait any longer, we might lose the trail."
Kaede asked no further questions. He stood up and donned the mask resting beside him. The two left the office, Mei leading the way with Kaede following close behind. They departed the Hidden Mist Village, racing westward along the route marked by the ANBU.
By dusk, they reached the outskirts of the border town. The setting sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows. The doors of the houses lining the streets were tightly shut, and not a single soul was in sight.
Mei slowed her pace at the town entrance. She turned her head and lowered her voice. "The last position marked by the ANBU was in the old warehouse district to the east."
Kaede looked in the direction she pointed—a cluster of low, dilapidated buildings.
"Let’s go."
The two pulled up their cloaks, concealing most of their faces, and melted into the shadows of the street, infiltrating the town.
Suddenly, Kaede stopped in his tracks. At the end of the alley, a massive figure stood with his back to them. The man walked with heavy steps, lumbering slowly deeper into the alley. Long, orange-red hair cascaded over his broad shoulders, and a giant, wide blade wrapped in white bandages was slung diagonally across his back.
Fuguki Suikazan.
The moment Kaede confirmed the target, he dropped his center of gravity and vanished behind a pile of discarded wooden crates. Mei crouched down immediately beside him, their arms nearly touching.
Ahead, Fuguki suddenly stopped. His massive head tilted slightly. He seemed to have sensed something, or perhaps it was simply the instinct honed through years of slaughter. In the next heartbeat, Fuguki lunged into an extremely dim side alley to the left, his heavy footsteps quickly fading into the distance.
Kaede and Mei rose simultaneously. Without a word, they followed him in a coordinated pursuit. The alley led to a desolate forest outside the town, where the trees were sparse and the ground was blanketed in hard gravel and withered branches.
Fuguki’s hulking frame stood in the center of the clearing. He turned around, his large hand gripping the hilt of Samehada.
"Two rats," Fuguki said, his voice coarse and heavy, dripping with mockery. "You’ve been following me for so long; why don’t you just come out?"
Kaede stepped out from behind a thick tree trunk, while Mei emerged from the shadows on the opposite side. Fuguki’s gaze swept over Mei first. He grinned, revealing sharp teeth.
"Terumi Mei, the newly appointed ANBU head." He then turned his gaze toward Kaede. "And you brought a helper. Tell me, why do you have time to come looking for me instead of cleaning up the mess back at the village?"
Mei didn’t bother responding. Her hands blurred through a sequence of signs, and a massive torrent of mucus erupted from her mouth, splashing onto the ground behind Fuguki and sealing off his retreat.
Almost simultaneously, Kaede launched his attack, his feet exploding with power. He pressed his five fingers together, and Lightning Style instantly surged into his palm. Blue-white lightning illuminated the dim forest. Moving like a bolt of electricity, Kaede lunged for Fuguki’s left ribs, striking from a precarious and刁钻 angle.
Fuguki’s reactions were lightning-fast. He gripped the hilt with both hands and swung the massive Samehada horizontally to block. The bandages on the blade tore open instantly, revealing the deep-blue, barb-covered body of the sword.
The lightning collided violently with Samehada, resulting in a muffled, booming explosion. Kaede felt the force of his strike being neutralized; using the recoil of the impact, he quickly leaped back half a step.
Fuguki’s hands felt a slight numbness from the grip. *How is this kid’s Lightning Style so powerful? And it feels so familiar...*
*It’s that brat!*
With Terumi Mei, who possessed dual Bloodline Limits, watching him like a hawk from the side, he was trapped in a two-on-one. He wouldn’t gain any advantage here; if he wasn’t careful, he might actually die today.
Before Kaede could even steady himself, Fuguki’s long, orange-red hair suddenly hardened, transforming into a dense array of sharp steel needles. In the next instant, the needles erupted like a rainstorm, shrieking in every direction and covering all available space.
Kaede performed a series of rapid foot-steps, shifting his body laterally to dodge the frontal wave of needles. Mei likewise maneuvered to the flank. She quickly distanced herself to the left, her gaze locked onto Kaede through the flurry of flying needles.
She knew Fuguki’s strength well. With her and Kaede attacking together, Fuguki wouldn’t last another two rounds.
And that was exactly the problem.
If Fuguki were captured alive and the truth about Yagura’s control was extracted, Kaede’s mission would be completely fulfilled.
*No. Absolutely not.*
Mei narrowed her eyes as she moved at high speed. The thought in her mind was wildly reckless, yet perfectly calm. Fuguki could not be captured alive, but he couldn’t die at their hands either. A dead man was useless for stalling for time.
She needed a reason. A reason that would compel Kaede to stop his pursuit of his own accord.
Fuguki’s second wave of needles arrived, denser than the first and covering more erratic angles. As Mei retreated to dodge, her footwork suddenly lagged by a fraction of a second. She intentionally let her right foot slip on the gravel, causing a momentary loss of balance.
The flaw was executed with extreme naturalness, occurring even in a blind spot where Kaede couldn’t see it. Fuguki seized the opportunity instantly. Three hardened needles shot straight toward Mei.
Mei twisted her body to avoid two of them, but the third needle pierced straight through her right forearm.
*Pfft!*
Blood sprayed instantly. Mei let out a muffled groan. Warm blood flowed rapidly down her sleeve, and a sharp pain surged through her body. The force of the impact sent her spiraling backward, and she collapsed onto the ground, her face turning deathly pale.
Seeing that his strike had landed, Fuguki had no intention of pressing the attack. He retracted his hardened needles and slung Samehada back over his shoulder. Turning away, he used the deepening twilight of the forest to flee at full speed. His massive body was surprisingly agile among the trees, disappearing into the shadows after a few leaps.
Kaede’s eyes turned cold. He leaned forward, preparing to use the Body Flicker Technique to chase after him. But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mei collapsed on the gravel, her left hand clutching the wound on her right arm. She was bloodless in the face, her lips pressed thin.
Kaede’s movements came to a jarring halt. He turned around and hurried toward Terumi Mei.
"Don’t move."