Chapter 58

As numerous Sand Hidden ninja surrounded them, although the emotions of Baitashi and his two companions momentarily fluctuated, they quickly suppressed these emotional waves.

Since the situation was already out of their control, panicking here would only make their situation even more dangerous.

"Ayano, how many are there?"

Baitashi turned his head and asked.

"Counting the Sand ninja who haven't moved, there are a total of 176. Currently, 103 Sand ninja are attacking us."

This Sand Hidden base wasn't very large, and since they had already penetrated deep into its heart, Ayano could use her Byakugan to see the number and positions of the enemies clearly.

"103 people, which means each of us has to deal with 34 enemies on average. This is indeed a big problem."

Moreover, to incite the riot, Ruri had already used up most of her chakra, and it was estimated that she now had only about half of her chakra left.

Against ordinary enemies, Ruri with half her chakra could still handle it, but facing so many Sand ninja, including several Jounin, the situation was clearly hopeless.

"For the upcoming battle, conserve chakra as much as possible and use natural energy to fight."

Baitashi glanced at Ruri and said.

Ruri nodded; she had the same thought.

Compared to the inexhaustible natural energy, chakra should indeed be conserved in this dire situation, to be used at critical moments.

"Now, let's change our tactics. Ayano, you are responsible for using your Byakugan to find a way out. Ruri and I will handle the fighting. We need to find the weakest point and break through."

Previously, to incite the riot, Ruri's fire techniques were the main focus, and they had to protect her to prevent her from being distracted during the action.

But now, to find a way out, they could only rely on Ayano's Byakugan, while Baitashi and Ruri would protect her.

"I'll do my best."

Ayano's expression was serious.

There were many sensory ninja among the Sand ninja, which posed a significant challenge to the Byakugan's all-around exploration ability.

"Let's discuss the mission later. The priority now is to escape from here. If there are no issues, let's move!"

Not only were Ruri and Ayano furious about the intelligence error, but Baitashi's mood was also extremely bad.

But the more critical the situation, the more important it was to remain rational and think clearly to find a way out.

Regardless of whether the village had intended to use their team as bait from the beginning, or if there were issues with the Anbu Root ninja, or if the information from Konoha was incorrect from the start, they needed to be alive to uncover the truth and investigate the cause and effect of the situation.

"Follow me!"

Ayano didn't waste any words; the lives of the three of them were at stake, and she had to do her utmost to find a way out.

Baitashi and Ruri followed her.

At the same time, the two of them abandoned the use of their chakra and instead calmed down, beginning to absorb the natural energy around them.

Due to the different locations, the amount of natural energy varied, affecting the speed of absorption.

However, this was the forest area of the Land of Rivers, where the natural energy in the air and among the trees was abundant. In just a few seconds, Baitashi and Ruri were filled with natural energy.

As soon as the natural energy entered their bodies, Baitashi and Ruri felt incredibly light, and they could easily punch through the ground.

But now wasn't the time to be happy about the increase in strength, as they were facing over a hundred elite Sand ninja, including several troublesome Jounin. If they were caught, it would be difficult to break through.

They should be grateful that their team had the Byakugan, which allowed them to detect the abnormality of the fake supply point in advance. Otherwise, if they had only discovered it at the end, they would have been doomed.

Before the Sand ninja formed a tight encirclement, Ayano had already found the weakest point of the breakthrough, where only 29 Sand ninja were surrounding them.

Compared to the other directions, this was the area with the fewest Sand ninja.

Clang!

Baitashi picked up a kunai and deflected the shuriken flying towards him.

Then he quickly engaged two Sand ninja.

In the dark forest, only the rapid movement of figures and the intense sparks from the collision of kunai could be seen.

The two Sand ninja realized that Baitashi's strength was very powerful. Just a moment of engagement made them groan in pain, their arms feeling extremely sore, and their kunai almost slipping from their hands.

When they adjusted their posture and tried to find Baitashi again, Ruri, who was responsible for the rear, caught up and swiftly used her kunai to cut the necks of the two Sand ninja, eliminating them.

Because of their speed and the fact that the three of them didn't linger in battle, they dealt with the enemies they encountered as quickly as possible. If the enemies were too troublesome, they focused on repelling them.

"Wind Release: Violent Wind Palm!"

A fierce wind suddenly attacked from behind, mixed with a large number of kunai and shuriken.

Due to the influence of the wind, the speed and penetration power of the kunai and shuriken were greatly increased.

But with the natural energy enhancing her physical techniques, Ruri easily deflected the flying kunai and shuriken.

Boom!

However, some of the kunai were attached with explosive tags, and the shock waves from the explosions instantly sent Ruri's small body flying. She barely managed to stand on a branch, her face slightly pale.

"Don't let them escape!"

"Kill these Konoha ninja!"

The sounds of people moving and the cries of the surrounding Sand ninja came from all directions.

Among the Sand ninja were highly skilled sensory ninja. No matter which direction Baitashi and his team tried to break through, Sand ninja would continuously pursue them.

Moreover, the number of Sand ninja was increasing, and the ones blocking their path were elite, delaying Baitashi and his team's escape to buy time for reinforcements.

"Don't linger in battle!"

Seeing the annoyed expression on Ruri's face, Baitashi knew what she wanted to do. This unprecedentedly frustrating battle had certainly ignited a terrible anger in her, making her want to fight these Sand ninja.

But now wasn't the time to act on impulse.

Even with natural energy, they weren't invincible.

If they were surrounded by a large number of Sand ninja, they would only meet their end.

"I understand. Don't give me orders."

Ruri huffed. The explosion of the explosive tag near her had made her feel a tightness in her chest and ignited her boiling battle spirit.

"..."

I don't want to do this either. Baitashi sighed.

These Sand ninja were like rabid dogs, relentlessly pursuing them. Was it really necessary to fight so hard over a fake supply point?

Just then, the ground suddenly trembled.

Baitashi, Ayano, and Ruri felt a chill run through their bodies, almost losing their balance and falling to the ground.

The pursuing Sand ninja were also caught off guard by the sudden earthquake and lost their balance.

"Wait, that is—"

"Damn, has that monster lost control?"

The Sand ninja seemed to know something, their voices filled with fear and confusion.

It was a fear of something unknown.

Rumble!

The heavy tremors continued to shake the earth.

Everyone was completely unaware of what was happening.

"What's going on?"

Baitashi felt that this abnormal and intense shaking was not something a human could produce.

Then, accompanied by the monster's roars, a terrifying and cold chakra permeated the air, making people's scalps tingle and feeling as if a heavy stone was pressing on their hearts, making it hard to breathe.

Baitashi was also shocked by this powerful and chilling chakra. From the distance, it should have been far away, but this unknown source of chakra could penetrate the atmosphere and reach them.

Even so, this powerful chakra had already exceeded the realm of what a normal person could understand.

The ground continued to shake, and cracks began to appear.

The trees in the forest started to sway, and a violent hurricane swept in from the distance. Even if they tried to escape during this time, they couldn't get away.

Baitashi had to grab onto the bark of a nearby tree and use chakra to adhere to it, maintaining his balance.

Ruri and Ayano also grabbed onto large objects nearby to balance themselves.

Not only Baitashi and his team, but even the pursuing Sand ninja were drenched in cold sweat, intimidated by this powerful chakra.

Finally, when the shaking subsided, and just as everyone was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a massive black shadow rose from the distant forest, towering like an insurmountable mountain, appearing before everyone's eyes.

With the appearance of this giant monster, many people could be heard screaming.

The storm became even more violent, and the air was filled with a heavy chakra that felt different from ordinary chakra, full of cold and danger.

"Shukaku has come out!!!"

"Has that monster completely lost control?"

"Damn, wasn't it supposed to be foolproof?"

"Is it the Konoha ninja who did something? Damn!"

Although Baitashi didn't know what Shukaku was, he heard the Sand ninja's panicked screams and suspected it was a frame-up.

Tonight, they had only set a fire, and they hadn't done anything else. How could they have released such an unknown monster?

Moreover, the origin of this mountain-like monster was itself very suspicious.

For the first time, Baitashi felt a bit confused about the concept of being a ninja.

In his view, Ruri's fire techniques were already considered high-level jutsu, capable of igniting a forest.

However, compared to this unknown giant monster, it probably only needed to move a bit to cause more destruction than Ruri's fire techniques.

"Ha ha ha ha, this great lord is finally free again!"

The monster raised its head and roared, looking both delighted and eager to destroy everything.

Its massive body, standing tall like a fortress in the forest, was a sight that no human could match.

Its entire body exuded a violent and destructive aura, and with a light sweep of its sand-yellow tail, a forest was obliterated. The storm uprooted trees, and the earth groaned in pain. Among the chaos, over a dozen Sand ninja were also caught, their terrified screams making people feel afraid.

The entire scene was silent.