“Kill!”
Following a low shout from Ayato, over a dozen Kunai shot directly toward the vital points—like the hearts and eyes—of the Sarutobi Ninja ahead.
The Sarutobi Clan Ninja seemed completely unprepared for an ambush here, and they froze upon seeing the Kunai rapidly flying toward them.
“Clang, clang, clang, clang—”
Just as they were about to die on the spot, one of the Sarutobi Clan Ninja drew the short blade from his back and deflected the Kunai one by one.
“Still too poor.
If those had exploding tags attached, even if you didn’t die, you’d lose a layer of skin.”
Seeing the sneak attack fail, Ayato stopped concealing himself.
As he leaped down from the treetop, he quickly formed hand seals: “Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave.”
The Hagoromo Clan naturally possessed more Chakra than ordinary Ninja, and Ayato, who also had the System, was even stronger.
Having reached level 50 and undergone two breakthrough enhancements, his Chakra capacity was terrifyingly vast, making it easy for him to use such large-scale Water Release Ninjutsu.
Facing Ayato’s Ninjutsu, the enemy Ninja scattered, each using Fire Release Ninjutsu to counter the wave-like torrent of water.
“How did you know we were here?” one of the Sarutobi Clan Ninja asked, glaring hatefully at Ayato.
“You just had bad luck and happened to run into us.”
Ayato wasn’t lying.
Ever since they arrived at the Eastern Front Battlefield, his squad’s mission had been patrol duty.
Ayato knew the regular patrol routes so well he could walk them with his eyes closed, and enemies never showed up there.
This situation was completely different from Ayato’s initial goal before coming to the Eastern Front Battlefield; he felt like he was still under Ryunosuke’s control.
The disgruntled Ayato had a sudden idea today and led the Seventh Squad down a route that usually saw no traffic.
Originally, his goal was to see if there were any treasure chests, but unexpectedly, his unintentional actions led to great results—he stumbled upon a group of merits (targets).
“Stop wasting time talking to him!
There must be a mole in the clan.” Killing intent surged in the eyes of the leading Ninja.
“Kill him and hurry back to report to the Clan Head.”
“Heh heh,” Ayato chuckled lightly and jumped onto a tree.
The moment Ayato left the water’s surface, Masashi immediately followed up with his Ninjutsu: “Lightning Release: Ground Running.”
The damp ground was instantly filled with high-voltage electricity, causing two weaker Sarutobi Ninja to collapse directly onto the ground.
“What?
There are others?” This group of Sarutobi Ninja had been so focused on the possibility of a mole in their clan that they hadn’t noticed Ayato had said [us].
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.”
“Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.”
The dying screams of his companions were incessant, and in the blink of an eye, only the leading Ninja remained.
He looked at Ayato and the other two with terror on his face, unable to utter a word before turning to flee.
“Pfft—”
Accompanied by the sound of a sharp weapon piercing a heart, the leading Sarutobi Ninja closed his eyes in resignation.
Ayato clapped softly, not holding back his praise: “That was truly clean and decisive, Retsu.”
Retsu lightly wiped the blood from his blade.
“Stop praising me like an elder.
You’ve only pulled ahead temporarily this time.”
Ayato shrugged.
Retsu had always been resentful that Ayato had become a squad leader one step ahead of him.
Just then, Kiana, having finished cleaning up the battlefield, walked over holding a piece of paper covered in drawings.
“Boss, this was found on the leader.”
Ayato took the paper and examined it carefully for a long time, truly unable to decipher the abstract drawing.
He joked, “It’s probably just a random doodle by his son or daughter!”
Zensuke and Kiana instantly erupted in frustration: “Don’t joke around at a time like this, Boss!”
Masashi sighed, took the paper as if resigned to his fate, frowned at it for a long while, and then picked up a blank sheet of paper and began drawing on his own.
The others gathered around curiously.
Looking at the increasingly familiar pattern in Masashi’s hand, Ayato suddenly realized: “So this crooked line is actually the Naka River?”
“Then that blob in the bottom left corner must be our clan territory.” Retsu looked for a moment, his tone slightly disdainful.
“It’s drawn terribly.”
“In that case, this balloon shape actually looks quite a bit like the Uchiha Clan crest,” Zensuke said, also discerning some meaning.
“Wait, does this dashed line represent…” Watching Masashi reconstruct the ‘doodle’ bit by bit, Ayato’s expression suddenly turned extremely grim.
Masashi and Retsu also nodded solemnly.
“This group was likely targeting us or the Uchiha Delegation.”
Seeing the confused looks on Zensuke’s and Kiana’s faces, Retsu briefly explained the latest diplomatic situation within the clan.
After listening, Zensuke asked doubtfully, “But this group wasn’t strong.
Even our squad could easily defeat them.
Wouldn’t Ninja with this level of strength be committing suicide trying to ambush Uchiha Ninja?”
Masashi nodded, pushing up his glasses.
“That’s the worst part, Zensuke.”
“There are only two possibilities for daring to ambush Uchiha Ninja with such a small number of people. Visit novelping.com for the full chapter.
The first is that their own strength is overwhelming, and the second is that this was only a small wave of people in their overall plan.”
The Seventh Squad, having just fought the enemy, immediately understood.
Given the enemy’s strength, it was clearly the second possibility.
Ayato, knowing the matter involved a mine transaction, immediately made a decision: “Kiana, Zensuke, take this original map back and report to the Fourth Elder immediately.”
Ayato then pointed to the heavily marked location on the map.
“Masashi, Retsu, we are going straight to the marked location.
Whether it’s our clansmen or the Uchiha envoys, no one can be allowed to suffer an accident.”
Knowing the seriousness of the situation, the group said nothing more and immediately split up according to Ayato’s orders.
On the other side, the Naka River Forest.
“What should we do, Captain?
Sarutobi Morita’s squad hasn’t arrived yet.
Could something have happened to them?”
A Ninja wearing the Sarutobi Clan crest looked anxiously at the slightly older Sarutobi Ninja in the center of the group and said, “The Third Squad just sent word that the Uchiha Delegation will arrive at the ambush point very soon.”
That damned Morita, failing us at this crucial moment.
The older Ninja cursed inwardly, a flicker of irritation crossing his eyes.
But this was a serious matter concerning the future of the five clans, and any small accident could cause the plan to fail.
He tried his best to calm himself down and asked in a steady voice, “Have the three squads originally scheduled from the Shimura Clan arrived?”
According to intelligence, the Uchiha Delegation consisted of only nine people, including just two powerful Three Tomoe Ninja, with the other seven being inexperienced rookies.
If you encounter an Uchiha, one-on-one, you must flee.
No one in the Ninja World would treat that statement as a joke, which is why they had arranged twice the number of Ninja as the Uchiha for safety.
The final lineup was three squads from the Sarutobi, and three squads from the Shimura, with the leader of each squad being a top expert from their respective clan.
They were practically guaranteed victory.
However, with their side’s Morita unexpectedly running into trouble, and about to face the infamous Uchiha, the leading Ninja was still feeling uneasy.
“Captain, all the Shimura Clan Ninja are in position.
They are just waiting for our signal.”
A hint of hesitation flashed in the squad leader’s eyes upon hearing this.
The Clan Head had repeatedly stressed that this mission must be completed, and he himself had confidently vowed to the squad commander that there would be no mistakes.
He hesitated for a moment but finally gritted his teeth and gave the order: “We can’t wait any longer.
Notify the Shimura Clan Ninja to proceed exactly as planned.”
He clearly understood the implications behind this operation; a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity could not be abandoned because of one person.
“Understood!”