The moon was dark and the wind was high, truly a good time for killing.
With a few 'whoosh' sounds, a dozen figures dropped down in the forest, searching forward in a scattered triangular formation.
"Slow!" Suddenly a low shout came, and everyone involuntarily froze in place, their legs stopping mid-air as if the pause button had been pressed.
A Special Jonin wearing a red headscarf walked over quickly, ran to the point man's feet, and carefully pushed aside the weeds. A steel wire faintly reflected light.
"It's an explosive tag trap. Don't move." The Special Jonin glanced at the point man who was swallowing hard, followed the steel wire, and pulled out several explosive tags from behind a tree.
These explosive tags were connected one after another like gourds on a vine. If stepped on, it would immediately cause a chain explosion. It seemed there was a trap expert in the Konoha team.
The bomb-disposal Special Jonin was a perception-type ninja, with extremely low presence but extremely important, although lacking the perversion of a bloodline limit like the Byakugan, he was extremely skilled in tracking and anti-tracking.
"Indeed, besides those two, there's someone else." Dai looked at the Iwa-nin carefully disarming the bomb and was also extremely satisfied. Measuring a ninja's strength wasn't solely based on killing ability.
Although ninjas were strong, they were too fragile, basically relying on Substitution Jutsu and Clone Jutsu for evasion. Without this reconnaissance expert, nearly half the team would have been wiped out right away.
He had sent the main force after Hiashi, never expecting there was still a rat here.
"How many Konoha ninjas are there in total?"
"Judging from the tracks, there should be three, but this doesn't rule out shadow clones." The Iwa-nin who cut the steel wire looked at the quiet surrounding forest, suddenly placed one hand on the ground, and closed his eyes tightly.
In the early spring forest, it was utterly silent, even insect chirps were hard to hear. He closed his eyes for a moment and then suddenly opened them.
"They are right around here!"
Before his voice fell, Dai sneered and directly drew his sword.
"No, he's already here!"
Shua—
The leaves overhead trembled slightly, as if an enemy hidden in the treetops was suddenly swooping down. Instantly, the sound of drawing swords was continuous, and the team of a dozen people scattered abruptly.
"Only one brat?" Dai saw a white-haired teenager falling from overhead. Before he could attack, kunai shot from all directions pierced him like a hedgehog.
He was just about to lament the brat's stupidity when he saw him turn into white smoke and disappear.
Shadow Clone!?
"It's bait! Be careful around!"
Actually, there was no need for a reminder. Everyone present was at least a veteran Chunin and was already alert to the surroundings. But the expected attack didn't come, only the continuous 'rustling' sound of leaves.
"Five! That direction!" shouted the Special Jonin with one hand on the ground, seemingly detecting the enemy's location from the vibrations of their running.
Dense forest, dark night, yet the perception-type ninja could leave the enemy nowhere to hide. Dai hesitated for a moment, but several Iwa-nin suddenly pounced over.
"Trying to escape? Chase!" He hesitated no longer, waved his hand, and the group followed.
The battle was urgent, without a moment's delay. Dai had barely leaped a few steps when he saw a white-haired teenager running away in front.
The opponent's speed was not slow, and he was dodging kunai left and right. From his appearance, it was unknown if he was the real body. Oddly, the other four mentioned in the intelligence were nowhere to be seen.
"Surround him! Try to capture him alive!"
"Yes!"
A Great Fireball instantly illuminated the forest. Perhaps feeling the heat from behind, the teenager suddenly turned sideways. The Great Fireball almost grazed his back and exploded on the opposite tree.
The teenager dodged the residual flames, unable to accelerate, and suddenly drew the long sword from his back. A cold gleam immediately shone in the forest. Then, with a 'clang', it happened to collide with the blade of the surrounding Iwa-nin.
Still too green!
Dai's smile widened, because after clashing blades twice, the teenager jumped back to dodge kunai. And the two Iwa-nin ninjas hidden in the dark leaped out, firmly locking his waist from behind.
A perfect capture. Dai, watching the Iwa-nin locking the arms, suddenly saw his smile freeze on his face, because the teenager pulled something on his body, and immediately burst into white smoke and dispersed again.
Another shadow clone?! No, it's a trick!
It happened in an instant. Just as the white smoke appeared, a fireball exploded right among the three of them!
Boom—
The originally dim forest suddenly brightened, and a scorching airflow rushed towards them. Dai saw through the gaps in his fingers that his three subordinates immediately became dismembered limbs flying outwards. Heaven knew how many explosive tags the opponent had strapped to his body.
Using the extremely chakra-consuming shadow clones like this was truly an eye-opener.
Before he could get angry, he leaped backward and saw three more white-haired teenagers falling from the air, making him both shocked and furious.
There was no Konoha team, clearly, there was only one person!
Water Formation Wall!
A wall composed of water immediately rose. Without needing orders, his surrounding subordinates had already thrown kunai one after another to kill them in advance.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three more fireballs rose in the forest, but the continuous screams in his ears made Dai's pupils shrink sharply.
At this distance, it definitely wouldn't...
What!?
His eyes gradually widened as he saw densely packed steel balls appearing within the Water Formation Wall. The immense kinetic energy they contained almost pierced the Water Formation Wall.
Not just explosive tags! The canisters on those shadow clones were full of steel balls. Exploding overhead now was like a steel rainstorm.
Without activating ninjutsu defense, it was either death or injury!
How could Dai not understand that the enemy had exploited the ninja's ingrained habit: dodge whenever possible, never tank a hit. With such a wide-area attack covering them from above, those who chose to dodge were the ones who got injured.
But this elite Jonin had forgotten, how could ordinary people hastily perform ninjutsu?
"A total of five, there should be one more!" Dai had no time to care about casualties. He performed several backflips, landed on the ground, and quietly formed a Substitution Jutsu seal. He suddenly raised his head and saw the hellish scene in front.
Leaves and tree trunks were stained with blood. Seven or eight subordinates were either dead or injured, and the remaining ones immediately jumped towards him, attempting to regroup.
"Spread out!" Dai roared angrily. He had never encountered such a crazy enemy. Who dared guarantee that the opponent wouldn't self-destruct with his real body?
But as soon as his voice fell, the ground exploded with a 'boom', and another white-haired teenager rushed out from the earth, apparently preparing to attack those subordinates who were still in shock.
"Courting death!"
This must be the real body. Before the scattered soil fell, a long sword had already split it open from the middle! The teenager leaped backward in the air, letting the blade graze past his forehead. Using both hands and feet, he retreated several meters in succession. As soon as he landed, the seal was also completed simultaneously.
Earth Release: Earth Style: Rising Stone Spears!
The ground surged, dense spikes shooting out like a hedgehog, but they were cut off in the middle before they could fully form.
"Useless!" The Jonin rushed forward like lightning. His ninja sword flicked several times against his chest and abdomen, unexpectedly deflecting every single earth spike without missing one.
Fast, ruthless, urgent! The teenager seemed flustered. Before the second seal was completed, he quickly drew his sword, but that pitch-black ninja sword pierced through his chest!
"You fought well, but that's all." Dai, who usually liked to boast about his son, had cold eyes. Seeing the teenager's stiff expression, he admitted he was a genius.
With the strength of one person, he had injured or killed nearly ten. Konoha ninjas were indeed formidable.
"Really?" Otonashi forced a smile, turning into white smoke and disappearing.
!?
Amidst the bursting light and hundreds of steel balls, only one thought flashed through the Jonin's mind.
Where is his real body?
...
The successive explosions of fireballs and screams in the forest made the Special Jonin stop in his tracks. A person's energy was limited after all. After specializing in perception, his direct combat power was only that of a Chunin. How could he dare to rush into the battlefield and offer himself up?
But he was still somewhat puzzled. If the few Konoha ninjas had such combat power, why did they need to flee?
Could it be...
A slight vibration on the ground made him jump back abruptly. He saw a sword and a person burst out of the earth, passing almost grazing his nose tip.
"It's you again!" He recognized the opponent instantly. Without wasting words, he immediately formed seals after landing.
Wind Release: Tearing Violent Wind!
Perhaps stimulated by the killing intent, the B-rank ninjutsu was completed within a second. Hundreds of invisible small blades covered the area in a fan shape.
Shadow clones were too fragile; use large-area, low-power ninjutsu to destroy them. This had become instinct after crawling through battlefields.
But just as the storm began, an afterimage flashing with residual azure electricity charged out from the front. His clothes were tattered, and his body was covered with dozens of bloody cuts from the storm. He had actually tanked the hit.
Pfft!
The long sword pierced the Iwa-nin's chest, and the inertia pushed him back, pinning him to a tree over ten meters away.
Otonashi looked at the man's incredulous expression, twisted the sword hilt, turned his waist, and the drawn long sword slashed across his neck.
Blood sprayed, the head flew, and the white-haired, blood-stained teenager gave a savage grin.
"I'm over here!"