12dz Chapter 597 Eye Power
Chapter 597 Eye Power
His voice was broken and intermittent, but the amount of information in his words shocked Zhang Hai.
Zhang Hai quickly realized what was happening. His eyes shifted from anger to shock, then to disbelief: "So... that Jinchuriki's berserk state... was something you deliberately orchestrated?!" His voice trembled slightly. He couldn't believe that his teammates had such a crazy plan.
The first ANBU member confirmed again in a hoarse voice, "Yes... Captain. This base is too big... With just a few of us... we can only destroy a small part... That's such a pity..." He coughed violently again, each word accompanied by immense pain, "So... I used my eye power... to trigger the Jinchuriki's berserk state. The power it unleashed certainly didn't disappoint us... It destroyed everything here... If... if my eye power were a little stronger... maybe I could have controlled this Tailed Beast... Then... then everyone could have survived..."
Although Zhang Hai knew there were members of the Uchiha clan in the team, he never expected them to be so audacious as to attempt to control a tailed beast using their Sharingan. That requires extremely advanced ocular techniques; even Madara Uchiha needed the Eternal Mangekyou Sharingan to fully control the Nine-Tails. However, the fact that they could trigger the tailed beast's rampage was enough to demonstrate their considerable ocular power, possibly even reaching the level of the three-tomoe Sharingan. Their actions, though reckless, were remarkably effective; the logistics base was practically razed to the ground by the Five-Tails Jinchuriki.
Just as Zhang Hai was pondering, the group flying low was spotted by the Iwa ninja. A sharp shout came from below: "Look! Those are Konoha's ANBU! They're trying to escape!"
With that shout, a cacophony of whooshing sounds came from below. It was the Iwa ninja throwing kunai, shuriken, and various earth-style ninjutsu, raining down like a storm, their target the people on the eagle's back.
Zhang Hai's expression instantly turned grim. The eagle's speed was already slowed by carrying many people, and now that it was surrounded, the situation became extremely dangerous.
"Captain... please put us down..." an injured teammate pleaded weakly, "If this continues... none of us will be able to leave..."
Another teammate spoke with difficulty, a hint of relief in his voice: "I... I feel like I'm not going to make it... Captain... Don't waste your chakra trying to save us... Take the teammates who can still move... Let's go..." There was no resentment in their voices, only trust in their captain and a desire to survive. They knew that if they stayed here, they would only be a burden to Zhang Hai, and ultimately everyone would perish here.
"Captain, let us down..."
"If this continues, no one will be able to leave..."
The voices of several Anbu members, though noticeably weak, were unusually resolute. They had long anticipated their fate and were prepared to sacrifice themselves. In their view, dying on the battlefield was an honor for a ninja. They urged Zhang Hai, as a rational ninja, to make the final choice—to abandon them and save themselves in order to bring the vital intelligence and mission results back to Konoha.
However, his teammates' persuasion only stirred a strong, indescribable reluctance within Zhang Hai. He gripped the chakra threads controlling the puppet tightly, his fingers trembling slightly from the force. This made him deeply doubt his own conscience. He had always thought of himself as a cold-blooded and ruthless person, someone who would stop at nothing to achieve his grand goals, and shouldn't be so indecisive. He desperately tried to convince himself that the lives of these "NPCs" were far less important than his own, especially since he was a second-life being, and shouldn't stay here for a group of dying people, jeopardizing his own future.
Ironically, his body betrayed his will. He manipulated the eagle, trying his best to evade the attacks of the pursuing Iwa ninja, while his medical chakra never stopped flowing into his most seriously injured teammate, attempting to use the last hope to keep the dying embers of life alive.
Finally, the ANBU ninja who still had the strength to fight saw Zhang Hai's struggle. He stopped talking and instead struggled to his feet, leaping off the eagle puppet without hesitation, despite his injuries. Even through the mask, Zhang Hai could clearly sense that he was smiling—a smile of relief and resolve.
After landing, he swayed, but quickly regained his balance. Panting, his hoarse voice echoed in the air: "To have completed such an important mission, I have no regrets even if I die! Captain, I'll cover you!"
Watching the dark force member gradually disappear into the distance, his thin figure stood out starkly against the chaotic battlefield, yet remained remarkably resolute. Zhang Hai's heart turned utterly cold at that moment, feeling a profound emptiness, as if something important had been forcibly ripped away.
On the eagle's back, the remaining members of the secret service, seeing this, felt their blood boil and began to shout. Their voices were filled with determination and tragedy, even bordering on hysteria: "Captain! Put us down! Quickly!"
"Leave us alone! We're already done for! Don't waste your chakra trying to save us!"
"Kill us! Don't let us fall into enemy hands!"
These words, like sharp blades, pierced Zhang Hai's heart again and again, causing him indescribable pain, as if his internal organs were being churned and he could not find peace. He knew that this was the last contribution they, as ninjas and as teammates, could make for him.
Finally, Zhang Hai's gaze turned cold and sharp. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and when he opened them again, he was back to that extremely cold and rational state. His face was expressionless, as if he were wearing another invisible mask.
He dispelled the summoning jutsu, and the slug vanished in a puff of white smoke. Then, he took out several explosive tags from his ninja tool pouch and quickly and precisely placed them in the hands of each of his teammates.
"Alright! I'll remember you!" Zhang Hai's voice was deep and swift, devoid of any emotion, as if he were reciting some pre-prepared line. "Now I'll teach you a forbidden technique, listen carefully!"
He swiftly taught them the hand seals and chakra circulation for the "Mutual Explosive Tags" technique in the simplest and clearest language. This technique is usually used in conjunction with the Impure World Reincarnation, but at this moment, it was the most suitable self-sacrificing explosive technique for them. It was simple, brutal, and incredibly effective, and of all forbidden techniques, it was the easiest to learn. Although the life force of these Anbu members was about to be extinguished, and their bodies had almost lost their ability to fight, there was only one condition for learning this technique—fearlessness.