Swish, swish, swish!
Three black silhouettes tore through the canopy with blistering speed, moving as gracefully as soaring skylarks.
After parting ways with Captain Night Raven, the trio had instantly locked into maximum combat readiness.
Even Eagle, usually bubbly and prone to slacking off, didn’t dare to display a single fraction of carelessness.
She kept her sensory grid running at maximum capacity, deeply terrified of walking blindly into an enemy ambush.
Suddenly, Eagle’s eyelid twitched.
She detected a major anomaly.
She frantically issued a warning to her two squadmates: “Swan!
Direct chakra signatures detected straight ahead!” Ayane remained entirely unfazed, asking calmly, “Copy that.
Give me a headcount.” The young girl’s tone was so chillingly steady that the creeping panic in Eagle’s chest instantly evaporated, replaced by a surge of unshakeable confidence.
She focused her mind to refine the telemetry.
“Exactly four targets,” Eagle reported with absolute certainty.
“Judging by the density of their chakra signatures, it’s a standard vanguard squad—one Jonin leading three Chunin.
But that Jonin’s energy layout…
he doesn’t feel exceptionally powerful.” A Tokubetsu Jonin, then, Ayane deduced internally.
She gave a curt nod, exchanging a silent look with Woodpecker behind her mask.
The veteran didn’t say a word; he merely gave a slow, deliberate nod.
Ayane understood his meaning perfectly: the Special Jonin is mine.
“No one sleeps peacefully when a threat is lurking on their doorstep,” the girl declared, a ruthless edge creeping into her voice.
“Standard protocols apply.
Woodpecker and I will execute the primary assault.
Eagle, hold the rear and provide tactical sensory support!
Move out now!” Nomura was a thoroughly seasoned veteran of the Hidden Leaf.
Born during the chaotic era of the First Hokage, he was part of the second graduating class of Konoha’s Ninja Academy, making him practically a contemporary of the Third Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi.
To this day, he had spent nearly thirty grueling years executing military assignments for the village.
However, severely limited by his own mediocre talent, Nomura’s advancement had permanently stalled at the rank of Tokubetsu Jonin, with zero hope of ever donning the flak jacket of a true elite Jonin.
Traditionally, what this guy likes to do most is to act arrogantly because of his age, bossing around the junior ninjas.
He enjoys seeing them clearly resentful but forced to be respectful to him.
Nomura had pridefully assumed he would comfortably coast through the rest of his career like this.
Yet, just a few days ago, fortune and tragedy struck simultaneously.
He was drafted into an elite black-ops column dispatched to launch a savage surprise blitzkrieg deep into the Land of Rain.
As a cynical old hound, Nomura wasn’t the type to be easily brainwashed by grand, empty speeches about the “Will of Fire.” He knew perfectly well that while a mission like this sounded glorious on paper, the survival rate was abysmal…
Consequently, his already toxic personality had devolved into something far more sadistic.
Take right now, for example…
“You Rain goons really aren’t all that special once someone neutralizes your pathetic poison, are you?” Inside a captured Amegakure scout outpost deep in the woods, corpses littering the floor, the ground ran slick with crimson blood.
Nomura spat disdainfully onto the only surviving prisoner left alive, his expression twisted into a smug, arrogant sneer.
“Hey!
Little girl, didn’t your Academy instructors teach you how to tell a Clone apart from the real thing?” He knelt down, staring at the trembling young kunoichi before him, mocking her ruthlessly.
“You actually fell for my clone, wasting every single one of your explosive tags on empty air…
Hahaha!
I swear, you are spectacularly stupid!” The young Rain kunoichi was completely drenched in her own blood.
Massive lacerations tore across her skin, exposing glimpses of pale white bone beneath the mangled flesh.
It was clear she had just been subjected to an incredibly inhumane, horrific interrogation.
By this point, she had been entirely broken by terror.
She couldn’t even form coherent words, instinctively shaking her head in silent, trembling horror.
“Aww, reacting like that is no fun at all.” Nomura let out a disappointed sigh, his eyes flashing with a sickening mix of sadism and pleasure.
“I was actually planning on ripping your tongue out, but I haven’t even started yet!
How are you a mute already?” Under the girl’s frantic, horrified gaze, he raised a kunai and violently drove it straight through her finger!
“AAAAAAAH!!!” With all ten fingers linked directly to the heart’s nerve endings, the agony tore a bloodcurdling scream from the Rain kunoichi’s throat.
Nomura didn’t think he was being excessive in the slightest.
He pulled the blood-soaked kunai free, bringing it close to his nose to sniff the crimson steel, before letting the razor-sharp tip hover a mere millimeter above her exposed eyeball.
Warm droplets of blood rolled down the blade, splattering directly onto the girl’s frantically dilating pupil…
“Let’s try this again.
Tell me where the remaining Rain scouting outposts are—” Before Nomura could finish his sentence, the girl lost consciousness, slumping completely limp.
“Hey, did you actually pass the Anbu’s interrogation and torture course?” One of his squadmates finally couldn’t stand the sight any longer, chiming in with a sharp tone of disapproval.
“Because from where I’m standing, it looks like you’re just torturing her for your own sick amusement.” Bark!
Bark!
The ninja hound standing beside the speaker let out two sharp barks, clearly echoing its master’s disgust.
“Hey, I never claimed to be a professional intelligence specialist,” Nomura shrugged dismissively, casually sharing his toxic veteran logic.
“But this brutal approach works wonders on these fresh Academy graduates.
I guarantee if we wake her up and do that just a few more times, she’ll spill everything she knows.” The Inuzuka clan ninja shut his mouth, though he couldn’t resist muttering under his breath, “A few more times?
You’re talking like the kid is made of iron.” He possessed a shred of conscience, but clearly not enough to actually stop it.
He was the one voicing sympathy now, but he was also the one who had been watching the spectacle unfold with quiet fascination just moments before.
“This is ridiculous.
I could have completely extracted the intel in seconds using a basic Genjutsu, but you insist on making a massive, prolonged production out of it.” While the Inuzuka ninja had gone quiet, the third member of the squad didn’t hesitate to call him out bluntly.
“Just admit you’re pulling this disgusting stunt because abusing a helpless kid gives you a pathetic power trip, Nomura.
You are as hypocritical as you are cruel.” Nomura’s face flushed with violent anger, but he didn’t dare utter a single word of retort.
There was no other reason: the fabric of that squadmate’s uniform was proudly embroidered with a stylized crest resembling a red-and-white paper fan.
He didn’t have the stones to pick a fight with an Uchiha.
The Inuzuka ninja watched the exchange with immense internal admiration.
Man, these Uchiha guys really have a gift for words.
Every time they open their mouths, it feels like they’re driving a scalpel straight into your insecurities…
Sitting quietly in a dark corner of the room, the fourth and final member of the cell suddenly spoke up, breaking his long silence.
“Gentlemen.
My insects are telling me we have company.” The man wore a high-collared trench coat and dark, opaque sunglasses, casting an incredibly muted, inconspicuous presence.
After deploying with them for so long, this was literally the first time he had spoken.
The squad blinked in surprise, Nomura immediately barking out, “Company?
What sector?!” The Aburame clan ninja closed his eyes, tracking the telemetry through his hive mind.
“Three o’clock…
ten meters…
eight meters…” Before his squadmates could even process the numbers, he snapped his head upward, his eyes widening behind his sunglasses.
“No!
That’s wrong!
They…
they are already directly above us!” CRASH!
The words had barely left his lips when a deafening explosion shattered the ceiling!
A massive torrent of water condensed into a crushing sphere slammed downward, detonating violently right over their heads.
As the high-pressure water droplets pulverized the room, Ayane descended like a specter, a refreshing gale of nature-infused chakra whipping around her form!
Donning her demonic mask, her gaze swept across the ruined outpost, pausing for a fraction of a second on Nomura and the mangled Rain kunoichi at his feet.
She spoke in a tone that was as flat and chillingly detached as flowing water, delivering a polite greeting: “Greetings, you four pieces of Konoha garbage~” However, the response she received wasn’t a civilized return greeting—it was a colossal, roaring inferno!
The Uchiha had moved instantly, unleashing his clan’s signature masterpiece!
“Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!” The extreme temperature instantly caused the air to shimmer, a wall of pure scorching heat rushing straight at her face.
Yet, Ayane didn’t display a single shred of panic or hesitation.
Her fingers blurred through hand seals.
Even though she was technically on the defensive, having to counter a preemptive strike, her execution speed and internal chakra circulation were entirely flawless.
Her casting velocity completely outpaced the Uchiha’s activation speed!
Her Blue-tier Trait, [Intermediate Ninjutsu Mastery], was working overtime!
“Water Style: Water Trumpet!” A violent, high-pressure jet of water erupted from the young girl’s mouth, colliding head-on with the roaring fireball!
Sssssssss!
The violent clash of opposing elements instantly generated a massive, billowing shroud of thick white steam that completely blanketed the area!
Within a millisecond, everyone’s vision was reduced to absolute zero.
“Our turn!
Let’s move, Brownie!” the Inuzuka ninja roared, a surge of adrenaline making him sound ecstatic.
Even though their sight was completely blocked, this blind environment was vastly advantageous to his combat style.
The razor-sharp sense of smell possessed by his ninken companion was more than enough to pinpoint the enemy’s coordinates in the mist.
“Passing Fang!” Bark!
The brown ninja hound let out a fierce howl, its body spinning at blinding speed into a drilling vortex of kinetic force, launching itself directly at a specific coordinate within the steam.
However, the Aburame ninja was the very first to realize something was horrifically wrong.
The Parasitic Destruction Insects coated in his personal chakra were radiating a wave of absolute confusion, alerting him that the entity inside the mist was an illusion.
Realizing they had been baited, he screamed a frantic warning: “Fall back!
She’s not in the smoke—!” “Then where exactly do you think I am?” a soft whisper echoed from right behind his ear.
!!!
The Aburame ninja’s soul practically left his body!
His heart completely skipped a beat from sheer terror!
There was no time to think.
Relying purely on raw muscle memory, he desperately tried to trigger his Insect Substitution technique to flee.
But a brilliant, snow-white chakra blade tore through his chest in the next millisecond, slicing through his flesh as effortlessly as cutting through warm butter.
“Your Body Flicker…” the Aburame ninja wheezed, his voice rapidly losing power as blood pooled in his lungs.
“…how can it be that fast…?” Ayane naturally had zero interest in answering a dead man’s questions.
What am I supposed to say?
‘Sorry bro, I’m playing with an aimbot’?
She narrowed her eyes beneath her mask, tracking the movements inside the billowing steam.
As she channeled her chakra through a sudden hand seal, she muttered a single, chilling command in her mind: ‘Detonate!’ BOOM!!!
A blinding flash of secondary explosions tore through the white mist.
The raw destructive force of over ten high-grade explosive tags detonating simultaneously easily rivaled the output of an A-rank offensive jutsu!
The Inuzuka ninja hound, which had charged directly into the center of her discarded ninja pouch, stood absolutely no chance.
A faint, unmistakable scent of charred meat drifted out from the clearing…
[Successfully killed a Chunin!] [Achievement Points +94!] [Successfully killed a Chunin-level Ninken!] [Achievement Points +81!] “BROWNIE!!!” The scream tore from the Inuzuka ninja’s throat was filled with pure, unadulterated agony.
Ayane didn’t even bother looking back.
She smoothly swung Arashikiri, effortlessly deflecting a desperate kunai hurled from her blind spot, stating callously, “Don’t cry.
I’ll send you to the Pure Land right now so you can reunite with your dog early!” Having lost his lifelong partner, the Inuzuka ninja’s eyes turned entirely bloodshot with rage.
He snapped his wrist, unleashing a massive hail of kunai and shuriken to force an opening, before dropping onto all fours.
Letting out a feral, beastly roar, he launched himself at Ayane like a striking leopard!
This was the secret taijutsu style of the Inuzuka clan.
Compared to generic Konoha taijutsu forms, its kinetic output and raw speed were easily doubled.
When mastered to its absolute apex, a shinobi could achieve a state beyond civilian imagination—literally merging with their beast into a multi-headed monster.
However, as a mere Chunin, his mastery was severely lacking.
At his current level, his form resembled nothing more than a rabid human dog running on all fours…
Hearing his teammate’s furious roar, the Uchiha Chunin finally snapped out of his daze.
Never in his wildest dreams did he imagine that in the literal blink of an eye, an entire member of their cell and his companion beast would be violently slaughtered!
Their combat efficiency had been halved in an instant!
His hands blurred into motion.
The Uchiha began furiously weaving hand seals once more.
“Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Jutsu!” A dozen fist-sized fireballs erupted from his lips in rapid succession, scattering across the sky like the bursting pods of a phoenix flower, raining down from every angle.
“Tch, how annoying!” Ayane executed a sharp leap backward, her silhouette blurring as she retreated at maximum speed.
The Phoenix Sage Fire might have lacked the raw, singular destructive mass of the Great Fireball, but its fragmented nature provided a vastly superior area-of-effect coverage.
More importantly, the center of every shifting fireball concealed a spinning shuriken, delivering a lethal combination of magical fire damage and physical piercing force simultaneously!
Seeing her fall back, the frenzied Inuzuka ninja pressed the advantage relentlessly.
Digging his claws into the dirt to pivot, he launched himself high into the air, closing the distance instantly!
“You slaughtered my dog!
DIE, YOU MONSTER!” Ayane’s gaze turned chillingly sharp.
Bullying people based on numbers is one thing, but do you ever stop barking?
Broadcasting a brilliant blue current, Arashikiri swept upward from her right side, carving a perfect semi-circular arc that left a beautiful, pale blue afterimage trailing through the dark forest.
“Begone!” The girl’s long crimson ponytail whipped through the air, perfectly mirroring the violent crackle of lightning dancing along the edge of her blade!
The kinetic visual was breathtakingly beautiful—and entirely lethal!
SLASH!
A human body wasn’t forged from refined steel.
Infused with the conduction of her [Lightning Style: Electromagnetic Murder], Ayane’s singular upward slash cleanly severed the ninja’s right arm at the shoulder, the limb spinning away to collapse heavily into the mud!
The Inuzuka ninja crashed into the dirt, rolling several times before losing consciousness from the sheer traumatic shock.
Refusing to leave herself exposed to a counter-strike while delivering a finishing blow, Ayane simply ignored the unconscious boy.
She lifted her amber eyes to lock onto the Uchiha standing a few meters away, her voice incredibly flat: “Now…
there’s only you left.” “It seems we’ve run into quite a monstrous rookie,” the black-haired Uchiha replied, his voice still heavily laced with the trademark arrogance of his clan.
Even though his teammates were currently slaughtered or mangled, and a cold thread of panic was beginning to coil around his heart…
he kept his hands casually tucked into his weapon pouches, letting out a sharp scoff.
“Judging by your voice, you can’t be very old.
To don an Anbu uniform at your age…
are you some secret genius hidden away by the Rain?” Ayane’s ears twitched slightly.
In the distance, the brutal clash between Woodpecker and the Leaf’s Special Jonin was reaching a fever pitch, the rhythmic clang-clang of clashing steel echoing endlessly through the trees.
It looked like a grueling battle of attrition that wouldn’t be settled for some time.
She tightened her grip on Arashikiri, her mind locking onto a single objective: settle this instantly.
Her mental focus pulled into absolute alignment.
“Whether I’m a genius or not doesn’t matter.
I have more than enough teeth to rip your throat out!” Before the final syllable had even echoed through the clearing, her form launched forward like an arrow released from a high-tension bowstring!
“Let me educate you on a fundamental truth of this world…” the Uchiha roared, bursting into a manic laugh.
“…To us Uchiha, being a ‘genius’ is merely the bare minimum required to stand in our presence!” Facing the blinding descent of her lethal steel, his pupils spun violently.
Two blood-red tomoe manifested clarity within his eyes.
“Witness the absolute supremacy of the Sharingan!” The sword strike that had been terrifyingly fast a millisecond ago was systematically slowed down within his visual perception, as if time itself had been forced to grind to a halt.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
A series of incredibly sharp, rhythmic rings echoed out.
Within a microscopic boundary of space, brilliant sparks showered the darkness.
Relying entirely on a single kunai, the Uchiha had successfully executed a sequence of flawless, hyper-precise parries against her blade!
“Hahaha!
I’ve mapped your structural flaw!” the Uchiha snarled, a deranged smirk stretching across his face.
“In front of these eyes, your entire combat layout has absolutely nowhere to hide!” Ayane didn’t say a word.
She had to begrudgingly admit that the Sharingan was a ridiculous genetic cheat code.
However…
if this idiot honestly believed that raw swordsmanship was the absolute limit of her combat power, he was profoundly mistaken!
Although she maintained the appearance of a two-handed grip on her hilt to force the leverage, her left hand secretly retracted its pressure, her fingers shifting through a silent pattern beneath the shadow of her guard.
Ayane was executing her signature hidden card once more: silent, one-handed seals!
“What are you doing?!” The Sharingan was a visual marvel, but it wasn’t omniscient.
It took his brain a fraction of a second too long to process the anomalous chakra circulation running through her left arm.
The Uchiha roared out a panicked demand for answers.
But it was already far too late.
Ayane’s jutsu parameters had locked into place!
“Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!” The countless droplets of water that had scattered across the battlefield during her dramatic, crashing entrance had been a trap set in advance.
The dormant moisture littering the ground instantly coalesced, gathering into a barrage of hyper-pressurized, razor-sharp water projectiles that tore free from the mud, launching themselves at the Uchiha from his blind spots!
Thwack!
Thwack!
Thwack!
Even with the enhanced visual tracking of the Sharingan, it was mathematically impossible to find a gap to evade within a continuous, three-hundred-and-sixty-degree hail of pressurized bullets.
For the very first time, pure, unadulterated terror manifested within the blood-red eyes.
“Body Flick—” The kinetic movement of his escape technique was only halfway through its processing sequence before it was completely crushed in its tracks.
The relentless bombardment of water bullets battered his body, causing him to stumble wildly, making it a monumental struggle just to maintain his footing.
Seizing the absolute opening, Ayane stepped forward, her face completely expressionless as her blade traced a clean line across his throat.
[Successfully killed an Uchiha Chunin!] [Achievement Points +144!]