Habara was also currently in the northern reaches of the Land of Fire—specifically, the northwestern part. However, the battlefield requiring his support lay in the northeast… not excessively far, but certainly not close either.
Uchiha Shisui kept pace beside him, a testament to Shisui's impressive speed. Habara, after all, was pushing forward with little regard for chakra conservation, yet Shisui managed to stay with him.
Because Habara was operating near the Land of Fire's border, far from Konoha, and moving at such high velocity, Daigo's signal remained intermittent. Whenever the connection stabilized, she would report updates on the situation.
"The enemy is a Jonin-level missing-nin from Kirigakure. Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai user. Combat strength exceeds our operative's. The Konoha squad has decided to scatter and retreat…"
"Captain Jingū has chosen to remain behind to obstruct the enemy, buying time for her teammates' withdrawal."
…
"Captain Jingū has engaged the enemy. The battle has begun."
…
"Habara…"
Daigo's final battlefield update made Habara falter for a split second. Then, pushing beyond even his current extreme speed, he seemed to 'overclock', accelerating abruptly and instantly leaving Uchiha Shisui far behind.
"Stop. Right here."
After another ten minutes or so of sprinting, Daigo's voice brought Habara to a halt. Her warning was almost unnecessary; Habara could already smell the faint, metallic tang of blood carried on the air.
He stopped, scanned the traces left on the battlefield, and immediately dashed off in a specific direction. After only a few steps, he saw large patches of blood staining the ground.
Spilled onto the sandy soil, the blood had dried quickly. Habara saw only dark, brownish-red crusts. He frowned. Although blood and bodily fluids make up a significant percentage of human body weight, even someone who bled to death wouldn't lose all their blood.
The amount of blood staining this battlefield… it was far too much.
Ahead lay a sparse patch of woodland. Entering the trees, Habara soon saw the body—or rather, the remains—of Konoha's Chunin Jingū Maki.
It seemed almost a curse that those who moved fastest often arrived too late.
Limbs were scattered in different locations. Her torn-open abdominal cavity exposed incomplete viscera. The sight compelled Habara to strip off his own jacket and drape it over Jingū's remains. Shinobi combat prioritized lethal efficiency; death in battle was common, but death inflicted with such deliberate cruelty was incredibly rare.
It wasn't about professional ethics or unwritten rules between shinobi; rather, ninja who indulged in theatrics during a fight were often vulnerable to counter-attacks. Better to aim for a clean kill, like a blade through the chest.
Yet, Habara was witnessing a scene that defied that common sense.
"Even with far more chakra than usual, mere energy without the corresponding techniques probably doesn't amount to much… Daigo, did our new system provide any relevant support during the fight just now?"
Habara knelt. He reached out, using his sleeve to wipe the bloodstains from Jingū's forehead protector and the insignia pinned to its band. Then, he carefully removed the chakra receiver from beside her ear.
"Chunin Jingū was grateful. Otherwise, she couldn't have held off such a powerful enemy… Because of her obstruction, her subordinates successfully escaped the battlefield," Daigo stated.
For an ordinary Chunin to hold off an elite Jonin for any significant length of time was, frankly, incredible. Jingū had managed to stall the Kiri missing-nin by relying on mid-to-long-range jutsu, a feat most Chunin couldn't accomplish simply due to chakra limitations. Jingū had saved up a month's worth of chakra crystals before the battle. Even if only half of that translated into usable energy, concentrating it allowed her to exert more than ten times her usual power output. In terms of raw chakra capacity, she had briefly surpassed Jonin levels without question.
Unfortunately, sheer quantity and intensity of chakra didn't automatically equate to a drastic increase in combat prowess. Possessing chakra exceeding a Jonin's level absolutely did not mean possessing combat power exceeding a Jonin's.
Habara gently closed Jingū's eyes. In that moment, he suddenly felt that the Third Hokage was a massive obstacle to his goals. Promoting the wider use of ninjutsu would ultimately only increase Konoha's overall fighting strength. What was there to hesitate about? What significant disruption could it possibly cause? Would disseminating high-level Fire Style jutsu like the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet truly pose a threat to the Hokage's authority?
Forbidden jutsu, clan-specific secret techniques, and advanced sealing arts—restricting the spread of those certainly had merit. But there was no harm in allowing broader access to offensive elemental ninjutsu… Well, Habara admitted, viewing the issue from his perspective was fundamentally different from viewing it from the Hokage's standpoint.
Regardless, Habara felt it was time to kick that stumbling block out of his path.
Just then, a slightly breathless Uchiha Shisui finally caught up. Seeing Habara's jacket covering the fallen Konoha ninja, he instantly understood she had died.
"Habara-senpai, our priority should be dealing with the enemy."
Shisui sensed the heavy pressure emanating from Habara; his senior was clearly in a foul mood. Still, he offered the reminder. Their comrade's death was irreversible. The priority now was eliminating the threat. The signs of battle here were fresh; the enemy couldn't have gotten far.
Habara nodded and stood up. Black markings suddenly crawled across his face as he activated his strongest perception mode.
"They didn't flee at all. They pursued them deeper into the Land of Fire. How… arrogant."
With his wide-range sensory abilities, Habara quickly located a chakra signature likely belonging to the enemy. After finishing the fight here, the opponent had brazenly chased the escaping shinobi into the Land of Fire—Jingū had died, but her three subordinates had gotten away. Clearly, the enemy wanted to continue their game of cat and mouse.
"Habara-senpai, shall we begin pursuit?" Shisui asked immediately.
"No," Habara shook his head unexpectedly. "At this distance, anyone with decent hearing could pick up sounds from over here. Given how this person operates, they'll come to us."
As he spoke, Habara retrieved a shuriken from his ninja pouch. Tied to it was a thin wire, trailing a string of explosive tags.
With a casual flick of his wrist, Habara sent the shuriken flying. A series of explosions ripped through the air moments later.
Shortly after the blasts subsided, a seemingly gentle smile touched Habara's lips. Just as he'd expected, upon hearing that 'signal', the enemy had ceased their pursuit and was now heading back this way.
Habara's eyes were inherently cold, and combined with this smile that didn't reach them, it sent an involuntary shiver down Uchiha Shisui's spine.
Then he heard his senior say, "In shinobi battles, the weak truly don't even get to choose how they die. So…
The person who shows up next will die with every single bone in their body crushed to powder."