The Three-Tails simply stayed put like a fat couch potato, lying at the bottom of the lake without moving.
Although it was a tailed beast shaped like a turtle, its habits were the same as a turtle's — motionless, curled up at the bottom of the lake as if it were hibernating.
Kiyosuke didn't waste words. He made a subtle hand signal to Obito, then said,
"Retreat. Our target is Orochimaru's subordinates; we don't want to get involved with the Akatsuki right now."
"Is that really okay?" Shino asked. "They showed up here for a reason — shouldn't we capture them?"
"Capturing Deidara would cost too much. I'm worried you'd get hurt."
Deidara was exactly the type to blow himself up, and his explosions were powerful. Kiyosuke could withstand them, but his younger teammates might not.
Kiyosuke said, "Let's go. If we keep tangling with them it'll only lead to a fight. For now we need to focus on finding Orochimaru's men."
"Fine."
The group left. Deidara watched them go, puzzled.
"What's going on? Usually when he sees me he just rushes in. Why today—?" Kiyosuke's departure baffled him; he'd expected a big battle.
"It must be that he got scared when he saw me! Who knew I was so awesome!" Obito put his hands on his hips and acted like he'd achieved something great, which made Deidara grab his collar and start berating him.
"You idiot, Tobi, you couldn't possibly have that power to make Kiyosuke scared! Dream on! It's my art that made him avoid fighting me."
"Senpai, that's not fair — it was me! Senpai's the one who said Kiyosuke called you little yellow-haired! He didn't fear you — it had to be me!"
Deidara flew into a rage.
"You bastard, Tobi! Go die!"
"Ahhhh! Senpai, no!"
An explosion rang out. Kiyosuke glanced back and saw Obito blown away, tumbling into the lake.
"Keep playing, then."
Letting Deidara collect the Three-Tails wasn't a problem — their plan could proceed soon enough.
Kiyosuke told his subordinates,
"Kiba, Akamaru — remember those people's scents from that day. Go find them, and bring them in."
"Yes!"
Kiba and Akamaru charged ahead and led the search. After some time scouring the forest, they found Guren and the others at a base — though Kabuto was not among them.
"Why is it just you? Where's Kabuto?" Kabuto was obviously the more valuable target.
"Tch, he's already fled."
Guren snapped, shielding the boy behind her. Crystal blades formed on her arms as she said,
"Even if I can't defeat you, I won't give up."
"What? You want to kill me that badly? I only killed Orochimaru — I did the world a favor by removing a menace!"
"Shut up!"
Guren shouted in anger.
"What do you know? You traitorous bastard who turned on your teacher — you were the one who followed Orochimaru the longest, so why betray him and kill him? Isn't he your master?"
She couldn't understand why someone who had been raised and trained so carefully by Orochimaru would betray and murder him. Orochimaru had been so great — shouldn't being his disciple have been a privilege and an honor?
Why would he betray him?!
Kiyosuke scratched his ear and said,
"How should I put this? This was a lesson from the dojo. Orochimaru tried to kill the Third Hokage but I stopped him. I killed Orochimaru, since he couldn't survive — just shows his skill was lacking."
He narrowed his eyes and smirked.
"You poor fools. You think dedicating your whole life to Orochimaru gives you meaning, but you're living like puppets."
Shaking his head, he looked at Guren and said,
"The Crystal Release bloodline limit isn't common. I forget which village that kekkei genkai comes from, but if I'm not mistaken, you're the last Crystal Release user. Are you really going to fight me? If you die here, your family's bloodline will be cut off."
For many clans, passing down a kekkei genkai was of the utmost importance.
In wartime, big families often had more than one wife because casualties ran high and they needed to preserve the lineage by increasing offspring. Families could only decline if too many members died in war and no next generation could rise to carry on.
After the era of the ninja villages began and peace arrived, population shrank somewhat. Without the awareness to plan ahead, many clans slipped into decline.
Take the Kurama clan of Konoha, for example — their situation was due to a failure of the kekkei genkai to awaken, yet their line still continued in some way.
Guren's clan now likely had only her left — the sole Crystal Release user in the shinobi world. That was why Orochimaru had adopted and trained her.
But that had nothing to do with Kiyosuke. He said,
"If you don't want to die, come back to Konoha with us. Konoha treats prisoners well."
Guren snorted coldly. "I will never go to Konoha with you. Don't even think about it. I'll kill you, Kiyosuke!"
"I see."
Kiyosuke sighed and in an instant was in front of Guren. His speed was so fast she didn't have time to react — nobody there did.
So fast!
Everyone realized it a heartbeat too late. Kiyosuke grabbed Guren by the throat with one hand and hoisted her up, saying,
"Then don't blame me for breaking you."
"You—"
Guren struggled for breath, her vision blurring. Her legs kicked wildly, but she calmed and slashed at Kiyosuke's arm with the blade on her other arm — only for Kiyosuke to catch that hand.
Crack!
Without changing his expression, he snapped that arm cleanly. The sound of bone breaking rang out clearly to everyone present.
"Ahhhh!!"
Guren screamed in pain. The boy she'd been protecting shoved at Kiyosuke and yelled,
"Don't you hurt her!"
"Kid, shut up."
Kiyosuke grabbed the boy by the collar and tossed him aside. To Guren he said,
"One last time — come with me to Konoha, or be killed here by me."
He released his grip and set her down.
Guren gulped like a fish out of water, breathing hard.
There was a red bruise around her neck — moments ago she had been inches from death.
She hadn't grasped the truth of survival, but she saw the faces of her former family beckoning from across the river.
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