Flashback to before the battle—
As the Renjiro Squad was about to attack, Feng Zheng shouted.
"Nine Formation!"
Renjiro, Mieko, and Hodaka all widened their eyes. Nine Formation was the battle tactic code Renjiro had taught them.
This was a strategy used under specific conditions. The condition was that the predicament they faced was extremely dire, with almost no chance of victory, and a very high probability of death!
Renjiro's eyes widened, but his Ninjutsu was still completed. Feng Zheng created a Shadow Clone and injected about 70% of his Chakra into it.
Renjiro created three Shadow Clones, injecting 60% of his Chakra into one of them, and 5% into each of the remaining two.
The weaker Shadow Clones used Transformation Technique to transform into Hodaka and Mieko, as neither of them could use Shadow Clone Technique.
Renjiro then used Summoning Technique to summon sloths.
All of this was completed within the two seconds that Kakuzu and Shen Cheng were hiding under the Earth Release dome. The Shadow Clones remained, while the real bodies continuously flickered and fled.
After fleeing for one kilometer, Renjiro created three more Shadow Clones, and Feng Zheng created another.
A pair of clones once again transformed into Mieko and Hodaka, continuing to flee forward.
Meanwhile, the real people took a different, longer route, leaving no trace!
After separating, Feng Zheng found it difficult to breathe. Most of his Chakra had been distributed to his clones.
Since he intended to end with the Shadow Clone Great Explosion Technique, his Shadow Clones would not return any Chakra.
After moving for some time, Mieko asked seriously.
"Why did you shout Nine Formation? Who were those guys?"
Feng Zheng did not answer, merely patted a pocket on his vest. A scroll fell out.
Feng Zheng opened it and summoned a bottle.
Everyone watched as a bottle of soldier pills appeared in Feng Zheng's hand. Feng Zheng opened it, took a pill, and looked at Renjiro, asking.
"Teacher, would you like one too?"
Renjiro nodded, took a pill, and Feng Zheng put the bottle away, answering.
"The masked man was Kakuzu. I saw his information in the wanted manual. He is, or rather, was an S-Rank Ninja!"
This information greatly surprised them, especially Renjiro, who knew the information of all S-Rank Ninja. Renjiro asked.
"What do you mean by 'was'?"
Feng Zheng replied.
"According to the information, he was sent by Takigakure to assassinate the First Hokage, but he failed and was presumed dead. However, it's unknown how he survived and returned to his Village. After returning, he rebelled against the Village and became a rogue Ninja. Perhaps everyone thought he was dead, so he wasn't listed in newer wanted manuals."
This explanation shocked them. But soon, they became suspicious. Mieko said.
"The First Hokage was from a very—long—time ago! How could that guy still be alive if he was from that era?"
Mieko deliberately elongated the word 'long' when speaking, to tease Feng Zheng.
Even Renjiro was skeptical of this information. How could someone so old still look so young?
Feng Zheng shrugged and said.
"We'll get the information once our clones are dispersed. If you have a larger wanted manual, you can check it yourself."
He looked at Mieko with a smirk and said.
"If you want to go back and see for yourself, then good luck. I'll definitely lay flowers on your grave, haha."
Renjiro immediately told him to shut up, saying.
"Don't joke about such things. Anyway, fighting them is not within the scope of our mission. So there's no need to risk fighting enemies we don't understand."
Feng Zheng looked at Hodaka and asked.
"Hodaka, you said his body was disgusting. What did you see?"
Hodaka replied.
"His body wasn't made of nerves and blood vessels, but of threads. And he had five hearts in his body!"
Mieko was shocked. She asked.
"Five hearts? How is that possible?"
Hodaka replied.
"I don't know either."
Both looked at Renjiro at the same time. Feng Zheng did too. Renjiro shook his head and said.
"I've never heard of such a technique. However, if we assume that only one heart is needed for him to survive, it might mean he only faked his death to Hokage-sama."
Feng Zheng, Mieko, and Hodaka nodded. They were all analyzing the information.
After a while, Feng Zheng asked.
"Teacher, who was the other person?"
Renjiro looked at Feng Zheng and asked.
"Didn't you see him in the wanted manual?"
Feng Zheng replied.
"There were too many names in the wanted manual, I might have forgotten. I only looked at the S-Rank Ninja's information in detail."
Renjiro understood. There were many names in the wanted manual. It was impractical to remember everything. He said.
"The other one was Shen Cheng, an Elite Jonin from Hidden Cloud Village. He's very strong, very close to S-Rank. During the Third Great Ninja War, he was sent to deal with Hidden Mist, so I hadn't fought him before."
Feng Zheng was surprised. He thought.
"Aren't all the Ninja Akatsuki recruits S-Rank? Kakuzu's previous partners weren't S-Rank. That's why they died by his hand. This guy will be killed by him too."
Feng Zheng asked Renjiro.
"Why did he defect?"
Renjiro replied.
"We don't have much information on that either. He disappeared after the Third Great Ninja War. We speculate it might be because the Third Raikage passed the secret of Lightning Release Chakra Mode to his son instead of him."
"So he couldn't master Lightning Release Chakra Mode and had no chance of becoming the Fourth Raikage. Seeing that he has defected, it seems that's indeed the case."
Feng Zheng was surprised, thinking.
"Well, it seems nepotism is everywhere, no matter the world!"
Feng Zheng said.
"I see, that seems foolish."
Renjiro nodded and said.
"Yes."
Feng Zheng asked.
"Teacher, did you notice their cloaks?"
Renjiro nodded.
Feng Zheng said.
"They are both rogue Ninja, and they are both very strong. Seeing them wearing the same cloaks, I suspect there's some organization behind them."
Renjiro echoed.
"Yes, this is unsettling. I will ask Hokage-sama to investigate. If there are more Ninja of this level in this organization, even Konoha will be threatened."
They walked along the longer path for about 10 minutes, discussing more.
Mieko and Hodaka complained about missing the fight and decided to learn Shadow Clone Technique after returning to the Village.
The Renjiro Squad used Body Flicker Technique many times to ensure they weren't caught. Mieko and Hodaka also each took a soldier pill.
Feng Zheng thought as he moved.
"Renjiro was never mentioned in the original story. Was it because he was killed by Kakuzu? Then again, he's also old. Maybe he just retired and stepped down. He might also have become one of the thousands of nameless Ninja in the Fourth Great Ninja War. Sigh, there's no point in thinking about these things."
Finally, Renjiro and Feng Zheng both received the memories of their Shadow Clones.
Sweat immediately broke out on Renjiro's face. He exclaimed in shock.
"Feng Zheng was right, Kakuzu is strong, very strong. If we had stayed, the most likely outcome would have been death!"
Mieko and Hodaka were both stunned. Hodaka asked.
"Is he stronger than you, Teacher?"
Renjiro nodded. He replied.
"Don't overestimate me, there are many people stronger than me. Kakuzu said he wanted to take my heart when he killed my Shadow Clone. I estimate that the secret to his longevity might be related to him having multiple hearts."
"Moreover, he might have been a little lenient with my Shadow Clone because he didn't want to damage my heart. If he really wanted to kill me, my clone wouldn't have lasted that long."
Mieko and Hodaka were very shocked by Renjiro's words. Feng Zheng was not surprised. He was very clear about Kakuzu's strength.
Renjiro looked at Feng Zheng and said.
"You did very well. If it becomes known that you successfully injured Shen Cheng, your reputation will soar."
Mieko and Hodaka looked at Feng Zheng with envy. Feng Zheng knew what they were thinking, looked at them, and with a smug smile, said.
"His right forearm was probably also burned by the Shadow Clone explosion."
They immediately snorted and turned their heads away. They all hated seeing Feng Zheng's smug face!
Feng Zheng looked at Renjiro and said.
"Teacher, please keep it a secret. I don't want a bounty on my head so soon."
Renjiro nodded. Getting attention wasn't always a good thing. He said.
"I will report this to Hokage-sama in secret. Mieko, Hodaka, don't tell anyone about this."
Both nodded. As Ninja, keeping secrets was crucial. The less others knew about you, the greater your chances of winning.
Shen Cheng was much stronger than Feng Zheng. The reason Feng Zheng was able to injure him was because he was overconfident and didn't realize the mastery of Feng Zheng's Wind Vacuum Technique.
Feng Zheng looked at Renjiro and said.
"Using long-range, large-scale Ninjutsu is very useful. Especially when fighting stronger opponents."
Renjiro nodded and said.
"This is even more true for Wind Release. Facing Sunagakure in the desert is a nightmare, especially when poison is mixed in."
"However, don't be overconfident. Shen Cheng didn't go all out because your Chakra will eventually run out. If you're not strong enough, this tactic can only be used to buy time."
Feng Zheng nodded. He felt that Shen Cheng was only held up because this tactic couldn't last.
Feng Zheng asked.
"I wonder if they'll pursue us?"
Renjiro analyzed.
"Probably not. It took them ten minutes to disperse our Shadow Clones, and tracking will be even more difficult. Plus, they'll have to move faster to catch up to us."
Feng Zheng nodded, feeling that continued pursuit would be meaningless. However, they were both wrong. After a while, both regained the memories of their Shadow Clones.
Feng Zheng said.
"That was an impulse."
Renjiro nodded and said.
"Yes."
Mieko and Hodaka asked.
"Teacher, what happened?"
Renjiro replied.
"They tracked our Shadow Clones. Shen Cheng attacked recklessly, and four Shadow Clones surrounded him and exploded. He should be injured, but not fatally. He's angry because he was fooled."
Mieko laughed.
"That'll teach him a good lesson for chasing us."
Renjiro said.
"Don't be too complacent. This time we were saved because Feng Zheng looked at the wanted manual. When we get back, you and Hodaka should also look at it. Also, this tactic was executed perfectly this time, but it might not be as effective next time. So work hard to become stronger."
His students nodded. Although they were not injured, this experience was still very frightening.
After walking for a while, they finally reached the border of the Land of Fire.