Naruto: Veigar the Ninja

Soichiro led over a hundred shinobi in hot pursuit of Veigar and Shimura Regan, caring nothing for the depletion of chakra, intent only on tracking them down as swiftly as possible.

Fear still gripped Soichiro's heart. His mind was consumed with how to extricate himself from the assassination of Elder Ebizō and avoid being implicated in the political fallout.

During the chase, Soichiro and the Sand-nin under his command pursued Veigar and Shimura Regan for nearly fifty or sixty miles. While they managed to pick up Regan's trail, they couldn't catch even a glimpse of him.

Soichiro was seething with rage.

"Damn it! How could he escape that fast?!"

Behind him, the Sand-nin were nearing their limits, drenched in sweat and panting like hounds. The chase had taken a heavy toll.

"Is that guy faster than a rabbit?" one Sand-nin cursed under his breath.

After a while longer, both Soichiro and his squad were nearly spent. Left with no choice, he finally gave the order to halt the pursuit.

"Soichiro-sama, what do we do now? Do we continue the chase?" a Sand Jonin beside him asked cautiously.

The question only deepened Soichiro's agitation. He was already racking his brain over how to face Elder Chiyo after this disaster.

Looking back at the group of exhausted shinobi, Soichiro was filled with frustration. They had the enemy in custody, practically had the duck in the pot, and still, the quarry had managed to fly away.

Worse, despite being surrounded on all sides, even the revered Elder Ebizō had been slain within the heart of the formation.

"Chase them?"

"With what?!"

"If we go any farther, we'll be at the border of the Land of Fire. In our current state, that would be suicide!"

"Withdraw!"

Soichiro growled the order, his voice thick with fury.

The Sand-nin, hearing the command, exhaled in relief as though granted amnesty.

At last, the chase was over.

...

At the frontlines near the border of the Land of Fire, Shimura Regan had used every last ounce of his strength to make it back alive.

The moment he crossed into the Konoha frontlines, he nearly collapsed.

His body was broken, his chakra nearly depleted. Only sheer willpower kept him standing.

Veigar, who had returned earlier, was chatting casually with Hyūga Hizashi when he heard news of Regan's arrival. He immediately excused himself.

"Hizashi-senpai, I'll go retrieve him."

"Be careful," Hizashi replied with a nod. "The Sand-nin won't let this go, not after Ebizō was killed by your hand."

"I understand. I'll also petition Orochimaru-sama for reinforcements."

"But you…" Hizashi's tone darkened. "You're going to be marked now. Especially by that lunatic Chiyo. She's not one to forgive."

Veigar's reply was calm and fearless.

"If she dares come, I'll dare to kill her."

With that, he strode away.

...

A few hours later, Veigar carried the barely conscious Regan into the Kikyo Mountain command post.

Throughout the journey, he hadn't even tried to treat Regan's wounds, so long as the man didn't die, that was enough.

Seeing the familiar post, Regan finally felt a weight lift from his chest. He was safe.

Yet a new anxiety gnawed at him: he had led over two hundred shinobi on this mission, and not only had they failed to kill a single Sand-nin, but every last one of his comrades had perished. Only he returned.

How could he face Orochimaru-sama… or Danzo… or his clan back in Konoha?

...

Having failed to catch the fugitives, Soichiro returned with his troops to the scene of Ebizō's death. Gasping for breath, he immediately knelt before Chiyo.

"Chiyo-baasama… I am sorry."

"We failed. We couldn't catch the culprit. We didn't even manage to recapture the Konoha ninja."

Chiyo remained silent, completely immersed in grief. Staring at her brother's lifeless, shrouded body, she showed no reaction to Soichiro's report.

"Ebizō… my brother…"

His death was a devastating blow. During the Second Great Ninja War, Chiyo had lost her son and daughter-in-law to the blade of the White Fang. Recently, her only grandson, Sasori, had vanished. And now, her brother too was gone.

It was a wonder she hadn't lost her mind, though the iron discipline honed through years as a shinobi was the only thing holding her together.

Soichiro remained kneeling before her, silent and ashamed.

Then, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, arrived at the battlefield.

The corpses of fallen Konoha shinobi still lay across the ground, not yet retrieved, but Rasa paid them no mind. His eyes fixed on Chiyo, who was kneeling beside Ebizō's body.

"My condolences, Advisor Chiyo," he said softly, kneeling beside her.

She gave no reply. She didn't even acknowledge his presence. Her lifeless gaze remained locked on her brother's face.

Ebizō's death was not only a personal loss to Chiyo, but a massive blow to Sunagakure itself.

Turning his gaze, Rasa fixed a sharp stare on Soichiro.

"What happened? How was Elder Ebizō slain in the midst of our defenses?"

Soichiro felt the Kazekage's pressure like a mountain pressing down. His voice trembled.

"K-Kazekage-sama… it was…"

He recounted everything in painstaking detail, from beginning to end. Rasa listened intently.

"You're telling me… the attacker appeared suddenly, right in front of Elder Ebizō?"

"Yes, Kazekage-sama!" Soichiro answered, not daring to omit a word.

After a moment of thought, Rasa spoke in a low voice.

"I know who the killer is."

"It's Veigar, Special Jonin of Konoha."

Piecing together the details, Rasa quickly concluded that Veigar was the culprit.

The technique used had been too distinctive: the Revolving Heaven. Rasa also suspected the nature of the jutsu: a space-time technique.

He had once seen Minato Namikaze employ a similar jutsu, the Flying Raijin Technique.

It made perfect sense that a student of Minato's might inherit the same ability.

"The killer used a space-time ninjutsu," Rasa stated. "I once saw Konoha's Jonin, Minato Namikaze, use the same method."

"According to your report, that kunai… that must be the key."

As he spoke, Rasa scanned the battlefield, searching for the kunai Soichiro had described.

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