Naruto: Chronicles of a Fire Ninja-Chapter 355 - 351: Last Cigarette

While many enemy ninja pursued the escaping Konoha ninja, a squad was given orders to eliminate the ninja inside the outpost, as someone must have stayed behind to detonate the barriers.

After receiving the order, forty-five enemies, all either elite Chunin or Jonin, entered the outpost. Since they were entering enemy territory, they maintained complete defense, their bodies reinforced with Iron Skin and similar defensive techniques.

They moved cautiously, expecting traps or resistance but encountered nothing—no attacks, no explosive tags, no opposition.

Slowly, they descended into the outpost, checking every room in their way. Finally, they reached the control room, identifiable by the number of seals surrounding it—seals which had now lost all their power, having been utilized to create that blast.

The control room stood silent as forty-five elite ninja surrounded it. After a brief nod from their captain, a Jonin in front of the door kicked it open. A series of earth walls were released by the ninja behind him, expecting Konoha ninjas inside to produce their last resistance, but they got nothing. Soon, a ninja looked out and said, "There is only one enemy inside."

Getting the message, others cancelled their earth walls. The younger ninja in the group sighed in relief, but the experienced ninja tensed at what they were seeing.

Inside, they found a single figure—Shinji Nara, sitting calmly in his chair, a cigarette dangling from his lips.

Every experienced shinobi knew the reputation of the Nara clan. They were menaces to face on the battlefield; if they had a similar team, their win was almost guaranteed. Even if that wasn't the case and the difference in strength was apparent, they would still find a way to deal maximum damage. Finding one who'd had time to prepare was the worst-case scenario, especially in an enclosed space like this.

"What took you guys so long?" Shinji drawled, taking a long drag. "This is my last cigarette, you know." He exhaled slowly, smoke curling in the dim light, completely emptying his cigarette. "Shame, really. I should have bought more."

The experienced ninja tensed up. The sensors among them activated their chakra field around the area. Even the less experienced ninja became tense after seeing their seniors' response, but before anyone could act—

The walls of the control room suddenly collapsed outward, revealing hundreds of explosive tags covering every surface. The enemy ninjas' eyes widened in horror as they realized their predicament: they were many floors below ground level, with tons of earth and rock above them.

Everyone knew they had to act or die. All were about to make hand signs when—

"Shadow Possession Jutsu: Area Bind!"

Black tendrils shot out from Shinji's feet, splitting and branching rapidly to catch as many ninja as possible. In the confined space, all forty-five of them, distracted by the explosive tags, found themselves frozen in place, muscles straining against the shadowy bonds.

Three seconds.

That's all they had before the tags would detonate. The more experienced among them didn't panic; they knew that even though the Nara ninja were geniuses, they lacked in strength. Controlling so many ninja and maintaining it for long was impossible for them, so they poured chakra into breaking free, while others remained stunned by their sudden paralysis.

Two seconds.

Five ninja managed to break loose, their enhanced defensive techniques giving them a chakra coat over their bodies, providing just enough strength to resist the shadow binding.

One second.

"Earth Style: Multiple Earth-Style Wall!"

"Earth Release: Dome Prison!"

Boom, Boom, boom...

One after another, the explosive tags detonated. The blast was deafening, and the deadliest part was the chain reaction that brought the entire outpost crashing down. The five who'd escaped frantically created defensive domes, trying to shield their trapped comrades from the collapsing structure. Many suffered multiple burns all over their bodies; luckily, when the blast happened, the shadow binding disappeared, allowing them to save themselves from burning to death.

Everyone thought Shinji died from the blast, causing the binding to break. When the dust settled, forty-five ninja lay buried under tons of rubble. Only the quick thinking of their freed companions had prevented total casualties, their earth-style techniques creating pockets of survival throughout the collapsed structure.

In the chaos, none noticed Shinji tossing some bloodied meat and bone fragments near his position before slipping underground with the last of his chakra. The Hiding Like a Mole technique carried him away.

If he had tried this before, he would have been found by enemy sensors and hunted to death, but now there was a high chance of survival as enemy forces would focus on rescuing their trapped ninjas.

The attack force's commander, Kitsuchi, surveyed the devastation with gritted teeth. Forty-five of their best ninja were now trapped but thankfully alive; otherwise, he couldn't have shown his face to Onoki. He quickly dispatched twenty of their remaining forces for rescue operations.

Deep underground, Shinji allowed himself a small smile as he felt the vibrations of rescue operations beginning above. His gambit had worked perfectly, significantly reducing the forces hunting his people.

"Really should have bought more cigarettes though," he muttered, continuing his slow journey through the earth.

...

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Aside from the sudden loss of his ninjas, one more thing weighed heavily on Kitsuchi's mind—Konoha would soon receive news of the attack and dispatch a rescue force immediately. This meant the maximum time they had for the assault was 30 minutes, making every second crucial.

To ensure complete dominance and completion of the mission, they had brought three times the number of ninjas Konoha had, aiming to overwhelm them entirely. However, everything had gone downhill from the start.

After the blast, many Konoha ninja managed to escape. Although they eliminated most by deploying an outer perimeter of Jonin-level ninjas, some still managed to flee. With 15 minutes already spent, they were left with only half the time to handle the situation. They needed to eliminate as many as possible; otherwise, the entire mission would be pointless.

Soon Kitsuchi got the report he desperately wanted, which made him release a sigh.

"What is it? Do we have to make a move?" Deidara asked excitedly.

"No, it's the opposite. We were able to eliminate 30 of their ninjas, with only 10 on the run, 5 of them around Chunin rank. They're as good as dead, and if our luck is good, we may even eliminate some of the other Jonin as well," Kitsuchi said.

"Why leave it to luck when we can handle this easily? Just let me go, Sensei," Deidara said.

"No, Deidara. Tsuchikage-sama specifically said not to allow you to participate. It's really easy to find the traces of your big attacks," Kitsuchi said.

"Fine," Deidara said as he started molding different animals from his mouths in his hands not wanting to waste his time anymore.