Chapter 87: The One-Stop Service Jōnin Instructor
"You all need to be careful with that guy's gun. It's a really strange weapon. Whatever it hits just disappears—it's as terrifying as Ōnoki's Dust Release."
Uchiha Shōta once again warned the group about how dangerous the enemy's energy weapon was. When he mentioned "Ōnoki," the mood instantly became serious.
Though none of the kids had ever seen Ōnoki in person, the Third Tsuchikage's Dust Release was infamous across the Five Great Nations. The Uchiha clan even had internal records of encounters with it.
"If you get hit, you won't even have a chance to struggle. You'll be gone in an instant. Avoid it at all costs. Also, that guy with the gun moves fast—he's not your average person. Hayate already suffered a loss because of him."
"Can I ask something—what exactly is this Dust Release? Is it that powerful?" Coulson, still the most useless mascot in the room, asked cautiously.
"It's a technique that erases you on the atomic level. Think of it like this: if you're hit, you'll be disintegrated into basic particles in an instant."
Coulson swallowed hard, trying to hide his shock. Clearly, this bizarre piece of intel had caught his attention—but the Uchiha kids didn't consider it a big secret. Even in the ninja world, Dust Release was public knowledge.
"Clone Technique!"
After a brief discussion, the three of them immediately decided to use clones to probe the enemy. After all, their real bodies couldn't afford to take even one hit.
"Coulson, do you have any idea what that weapon is? I've never heard of any nation with technology that advanced!"
"I have no clue! As far as I know, energy weapons like that only exist in experimental labs!" Coulson replied with frustration.
"We've been spotted!"
As soon as the three clones appeared, they were met with concentrated gunfire. Two were hit by stray bullets and popped like bubbles, while the third was obliterated by the blue energy weapon.
"Send in more clones!"
But this time, all the clones did was draw more suppressing fire.
"This is getting tricky. They're focusing entirely on pinning us down. The moment we show ourselves, they unload on us. And none of us are good at defensive jutsu. They're not going to let up, either."
"Coulson, can't you call in backup? Just request an airstrike and bomb them into the ground!"
"This is Sokovia, not America. Calling in an airstrike over something like this? The UN Security Council would tear us apart. Where did you even learn about airstrikes?"
"Oh, I thought it was easy for you guys to call them in. That's how it works in Call of Duty, right? Just call it in and boom—air support." Shōta finally realized he'd completely misunderstood the situation.
"Maybe cut back on the video games."
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
Uchiha Shōta turned into a small beetle using a shadow clone and the Transformation Technique, slowly flying toward the enemy.
Tanaka and Sachiko followed suit, using the same technique to openly approach the enemy formation as insects.
Once the three beetles had formed a triangle formation, they suddenly dropped the Transformation Technique and unleashed:
"Fire Style – Dragon Fire Jutsu! ×3!"
Brilliant flames lit up the night. The fire attacks, combined with the Uchiha's Shuriken Techniques, took out several enemies. Of course, the clones were soon destroyed by gunfire.
After repeating this tactic twice, the mercenary squad was down to just six members. Even the man wielding the energy weapon looked worse for wear. The enemy's tactics were simply too bizarre—appearing and vanishing out of nowhere.
By this point, the squad had been nearly wiped out, and they hadn't even laid a finger on the Uchiha kids.
"We're leaving! Mission failed," the man said flatly, shooting the remaining mercenary squad captain himself. The remaining four, including himself, were all Hydra agents.
Thanks to the threat of the energy weapon, the man managed to retreat with his team.
"Should we pursue?" Uchiha Tanaka looked to Shōta for a decision.
"No. We leave now. If we run into a large-scale battle, we might be able to escape—but Coulson would definitely die."
Coulson nodded in agreement. The three Uchiha had bizarre techniques—one Transformation Jutsu and they could become small animals to escape. He'd just become a walking target.
This ambush had lasted nearly three hours, and by the time it ended, dawn was breaking. Amazingly, there were no casualties—ninja cats included.
Meanwhile, the four retreating Hydra super soldiers found their escape route blocked.
"Who are you?" the energy weapon user asked warily, eyeing the figure ahead—Uchiha Hinokaku.
"You think you can just walk away after bullying my students? The Uchiha aren't that easy to mess with."
The four enhanced Hydra agents fired repeatedly at Hinokaku, but every bullet was deflected by the kunai in his hands, clang clang clang.
No matter how precise their aim was, none of the bullets could penetrate Hinokaku's kunai defense.
The lead Hydra agent raised the energy gun, charging it for 1.5 seconds before firing a beam of blue light straight at Hinokaku.
"Whoa, that was close!" Hinokaku dodged with a Body Flicker, vanishing from sight. The ground where he had just stood turned into a massive crater.
He hurled several shuriken in response, but the man dodged them all.
"Tsk tsk tsk... No wonder the clan leader warned me not to let my guard down. These four are strange—none of them are weaker than Daredevil. They're experts with modern firearms and have some kind of ultimate weapon. Good thing I came along—this trip wasn't a waste after all."
He had followed the team silently, concerned for Shōta and the others—not just fellow villagers, but family. When he encountered the four super soldiers, he finally stepped in.
After a hard fight, Hinokaku managed to defeat all four. He even spared the squad leader for intel.
Using his Sharingan, he hypnotized the man for quite some time—but all he got was a string of fragmented memories:
"желание (Desire), ржавчина (Rust), семнадцать (Seventeen), рассвет (Dawn), печь (Furnace), девять (Nine), доброта (Kindness), домой (Home), один (One), грузовик (Truck), солдат (Soldier)"
Poor Hinokaku had no idea what the Russian words meant, or what they implied.
"Is this some kind of modern puppet? A living person with a completely blank memory?" He didn't really care either way.
He sealed the four corpses and the high-tech energy weapon into a sealing scroll.
"Sigh, guess I'm cursed with a busy life... But still, this haul was decent. I don't know how that weapon works, but it definitely has potential. These corpses aren't worthless either—their bodies are pretty durable. I'll take them back for research."
Meanwhile, Shōta and the others had no idea that their jōnin instructor had just completed a full "one-stop service" behind the scenes—kill, loot, and clean-up.
Only now did Coulson realize just how much he'd slowed them down the previous day. To improve their pace, Uchiha Tanaka and Shōta took turns carrying Coulson through rugged mountain trails and dense forests.
Especially in the forest, the ninja didn't even touch the ground—leaping from tree to tree at high speed.
"Why didn't you guys travel like this yesterday?" Coulson asked.
"We were trying to accommodate you, slowpoke," Sachiko replied bluntly mid-leap.
Coulson blushed. Getting called dead weight by a bunch of kids—this had to be the most humiliating moment in his entire career as a field agent.