Chapter 42

The heavily wounded Konoha ninja, after speaking, closed his eyes, lying there, whether dead or alive, no one knew.

"Hey, are you okay?"

The two nearby Konoha genin hurriedly ran towards the heavily wounded Konoha ninja.

"Wait, you two newbies, don't just go over there!"

The face of the Jonin Tenzoku changed.

The heavily wounded Konoha ninja suddenly opened his eyes, a fierce and cruel light in them, not at all like someone who was injured.

However, before he could move, there was a sound of a blade piercing flesh.

A white-glowing White Fang short knife had already stabbed into the back of his neck, piercing through and drawing blood.

The two genin, slightly older than Shiroishi and his team, were stunned by the suddenness of the events.

Tenzoku, the Jonin, finally let out a sigh of relief.

He was a bit annoyed, thinking that he should properly educate these newbies later.

Lack of experience wasn't the problem; what was most important was having a flexible mind.

"Byakugan!"

Ayumi's eyes were filled with veins, her pale white pupils showing a serious expression.

"An old acquaintance?"

"Yes, the team has two new faces. From the strength of their chakra, they're not ordinary ninjas."

Ayumi reported.

"Hey, Tenzoku, get ready!"

Sakae shouted to Tenzoku.

"Got it!"

Tenzoku, the Jonin, arranged the ninjas inside the outpost and took out a large wooden crossbow loaded with numerous shurikens.

"From your two o'clock direction!"

Ayumi directly reported the enemy's position.

"Fire!"

Countless shurikens shot out like a sudden downpour, heading towards the dense forest.

"Wind Style: Dust Storm!"

The sharp, blade-like wind whistled, cutting through the trees, and the shurikens were deflected by the strong wind, unable to advance.

"Fire Style: Flame Array!"

Tenzoku, the Jonin, formed hand seals, and the flames at his feet swirled, then rushed forward, turning the wind-swept forest into a sea of fire.

The wind fueled the flames, increasing the power of Tenzoku's Fire Style.

"Sure is a familiar face."

Seeing the nearly unharmed group of over ten Sand ninjas emerge from the sea of fire, Shiroishi smiled.

It was the same Sand team they had encountered two months ago, with five Jonin.

However, compared to last time, this team had two new faces, likely special Jonin or Jonin-level ninjas.

"Brats, your smoke tactics won't work this time."

Last time, Shiroishi used smoke bombs to assist Ruri and Ayumi in battle, making the Sand team suffer greatly, fighting in an unfavorable environment against the Sharingan and Byakugan.

Without any unnecessary words, the battle began.

Sakae undoubtedly targeted the male and female Sand Jonin leading the team. They were the son and daughter-in-law of Chiyo, the Sand Village's chief elder, and top-tier Jonin in the Sand Puppet Corps. No one except Sakae could stop them.

Although the Sand team had lost a few Chunin in the last battle, they had been reinforced with two new members, one of whom used powerful Wind Style jutsu, blowing away all the shurikens from the crossbow, showing his expertise in Wind Style.

At the outpost, there were nearly twenty Konoha ninjas, about half of them genin, the rest mostly Chunin, with only Tenzoku as a Jonin.

In terms of numbers, Konoha had the advantage.

But in terms of overall strength, the Sand side was clearly superior.

Shiroishi took out his ninja sword and joined the battle, having learned some sword techniques from Sakae in recent days.

Ruri was the first to charge, her two-tomoe Sharingan activated, attacking the Earth Style-using Sand Jonin.

The Earth Style-using Sand Jonin blocked Ruri's shuriken with his own, the collision producing a loud, sharp sound.

"You're strong, but I won't be foolish enough to compete in taijutsu with you!"

The Earth Style user easily stepped back, a cold smile on his face. He then formed hand seals, about to press his palm to the ground, when suddenly he felt an overwhelming binding force, and the scene before him began to distort. Two large, two-tomoe Sharingan eyes were spinning, emitting a dark aura that stared at him.

He immediately realized he was caught in a Sharingan genjutsu.

But he had avoided Ruri's line of sight, so he shouldn't have been caught in the genjutsu, right?

A shuriken cut across his body, leaving a deep, bloody gash on his chest, blood gushing out.

The Earth Style user clutched the wound, narrowly avoiding Ruri's killing blow.

"Damn!"

Seeing the Earth Style user controlled by Ruri's genjutsu in the first encounter, the other Sand ninjas couldn't stay idle.

Ruri, to avoid being surrounded, had to retreat.

"Indeed, I'm not very good at genjutsu tricks, he broke free so quickly..."

Seeing the Earth Style user return to normal, Ruri sighed.

"Hey, that's a Jonin, you know."

Shiroishi and Ayumi were a bit embarrassed.

If this was what "not very good" looked like, they couldn't imagine how terrifying the Uchiha genjutsu users were.

"Be careful, that girl is different from two months ago. Her genjutsu is very strange and unpredictable."

The Earth Style user's eyes showed concern, suspecting that Ruri's genjutsu wasn't released through the Sharingan.

"Obviously, avoid direct contact with her..."

Bang!

Shiroishi had already thrown a smoke bomb.

Since only he, Ruri, and Ayumi were nearby, the other Konoha ninjas were fighting elsewhere and wouldn't be affected.

"Such tricks won't work on us!"

Among the remaining Sand ninjas was one skilled in Wind Style.

"Wind Style: Dust Storm!"

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

The storm and fireball collided, creating a massive firestorm that obscured the surroundings.

"Damn! Retreat!"

They immediately disengaged from the narrow battlefield.

"Eleven o'clock direction."

The Sand ninja responsible for sensing reported the position.

The Earth Style user shouted, "Earth Style: Earthquake Core!"

The ground in front of them suddenly sank.

Shiroishi, Ruri, and Ayumi used shurikens to anchor themselves to the wall, preventing them from falling.

"Hey, that guy is definitely a Rock ninja, the situation is a bit tricky."

Shiroishi increasingly felt that the Earth Style user was a Rock ninja infiltrated into the Sand Village.

In other words, the two villages were likely secretly colluding.

"Enough talk, whether they're from the Sand or Rock, just kill them!"

Ruri's words. Such ninjas who could easily alter the terrain were indeed troublesome if not killed immediately.

The three of them ran on the flat rock wall, reaching the top, where the surrounding trees were toppled and dust rolled.

Almost half of the outpost was damaged.

—On the other side—

"Your end has come, Konoha's White Fang!"

The male puppeteer manipulated his puppet, declaring confidently.

The female puppeteer beside him was silent, her cold eyes fixed on Sakae's every move.

"Better not be too confident... But since you came here, it saves us the trouble of looking for you."

Sakae disappeared from his spot, and the two puppets controlled by the puppeteers moved to block his glowing White Fang short knife.

"Think the same move will work on us? Naive!"

The two puppets separated, and from their sleeves, a black chain extended, different from last time, this was a chain used by both puppets.

The puppets circled Sakae in the air.

The chain had saw-like blades, making a creaking sound.

If caught, one would be torn to pieces.

With his attack blocked in mid-air, Sakae had no leverage to avoid the attack.

Certain death.

"Hmm?"

The male puppeteer suddenly paused, as Sakae mysteriously disappeared from the center of the two puppets.

"How is that possible!?"

Without leverage, even a Body Flicker Technique couldn't be used.

Was it a space-time jutsu? The male puppeteer was shocked.

Confident in Sakae's weakness, the male puppeteer thought he could kill him in this helpless situation.

A faint sound of wind being cut reached his ears.

In an instant, the male puppeteer seemed to understand something.

Then, he suffered even more severe injuries, blood splattering.

The female puppeteer panicked, quickly pulling back her puppet.

A blade flashed.

The puppet was cleanly sliced in half.

"Ah!"

The female puppeteer's arm was also severed, blood gushing out, her face pale.

Sakae's face was cold, his killing intent intense.

Suddenly, a Sand ninja rushed from the left, a sharp wind blade in his hand.

Sakae could kill the male and female puppeteers, but he would be heavily injured afterward.

Without hesitation, he turned, grabbing the Sand ninja's arm, making his wind blade miss.

Then, with his other hand, he swung the White Fang short knife, piercing the Sand ninja's neck from the left.

The Sand ninja's body twitched twice, then fell to the ground, lifeless.

Meanwhile, the male and female puppeteers disappeared.

"Not so easy to run."

Now both were heavily injured, the male puppeteer unconscious, the perfect time to pursue.

Sakae's eyes were cold.