*Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh…* Soon, the rapid rustling of leaves echoed from the canopy.
Three figures leaped and darted through the branches.
Tekudo’s eyes lit up, a smirk playing on his lips.
He was about to form the Tiger seal to detonate the Heaven-and-Earth Net trap.
But Sasuke Umino grabbed his wrist and pointed.
“Look at their headbands!” The ninjas entering the trap were not Sand ninja, but members of a Konoha intelligence squad.
“They’re our people?!” Tekudo’s hands, still holding the Tiger seal, trembled slightly.
When he clearly saw the three ninjas wearing animal masks and dark green tactical vests, his sudden relief almost caused his Chakra to go out of control.
Had forming the seal not required a steady infusion of Chakra, this sudden shock might have caused him to trigger the Heaven-and-Earth Net prematurely.
Wiping the cold sweat from his brow, Tekudo felt a chill run down his spine, filled with lingering fear.
Thank goodness his captain had stopped him in time, otherwise they would have definitely caught their allies in friendly fire.
Judging by their attire, they didn’t look like Anbu, nor did they belong to the sector patrol.
Could they be…
Tekudo’s eyes shone as he put two and two together.
He quickly realized their identity: they were indeed members of the Konoha intelligence team.
The pursuing Sand ninja had already crossed the Konoha defense zone and were still hot on their heels, which meant the intelligence this team carried must be highly valuable.
From the looks of it, this ambush not only carried less risk, but if they could help secure the intelligence, they might even complete an A-rank mission—or perhaps an S-rank one if it was top-secret.
At this thought, Tekudo grew excited, already fantasizing about becoming a Chunin after completing a high-ranking mission.
Once he became a Chunin, those factions eyeing the Tekudo family’s weapon business would probably back off, right?
*Wait a minute!* Tekudo snapped back to reality, finally realizing something was off.
How did the captain know in advance that this was the intelligence team?
Had he received prior word?
Looking back, the captain had indeed behaved a bit unusually before they set out to reinforce this area.
He had even specifically ordered them to leave Konoha’s emergency evasion markers within the trap.
But before he could ponder further, the three fleeing Konoha ninjas crossed into the core area of the trap and spotted the triangular mark carved by three Kunai on the bark—Konoha’s emergency evasion symbol.
The two Konoha ninjas at the rear, wearing eagle and cat masks, flashed looks of vigilance behind their eyeholes but remained calm, continuing to flee as if nothing had happened.
In contrast, the ninja wearing the monkey mask—who was running in the lead and was the first to enter the trap—was the last to notice the signal.
Overwhelmed by sudden relief, his breathing pattern faltered, and even his running stride grew clumsy.
*Dammit!
Isn’t the Konoha intelligence team supposed to be the elite of the elite?* Seeing this cursed display, Sasuke Umino nearly lost his mind.
Even a basic battlefield veteran would know how to hide their reactions, yet this idiot had exposed such a glaring weakness.
He wanted nothing more than to pin this pathetic excuse of a Chunin to the ground and beat him half to death, demanding to know if the fool was a spy sent by the Stone Village.
Among the Five Great Nations of the Ninja World, only the Stone Village’s intelligence team was known to produce such fraudulent Chunin.
The other four great hidden villages staffed their intelligence teams with the elite of the elite; such low-level mistakes were virtually impossible.
With this fraud’s lack of discipline, if the Heaven-and-Earth Net had been a pressure-triggered trap, the idiot would have set it off long ago.
The one link least expected to fail had failed.
The battlefield was ever-changing; truly, no surprise was too bizarre.
While Konoha had a fraud in its ranks, the Sand ninjas proved to be highly experienced and sharp.
These elites instantly picked up on the idiot’s strange behavior.
Just as the three Konoha ninjas passed through the trap and the pursuing Sand ninjas crossed the outer perimeter, about to enter the core zone, the pursuers noticed this massive blunder at the critical moment.
It nearly caused the ambush to fail entirely.
In particular, the Sand Jonin captain, a man of immense experience, instantly sensed something was wrong with this stretch of woods and decisively signaled his squad.
The six Sand ninjas halted in defensive stances and immediately began to retreat.
Clearly, these pursuers possessed flawless coordination; they were all top-tier experts.
It was not too late to mend the fence.
Since the ambush had failed, it was time to execute Plan B immediately.
Sasuke Umino raised two fingers, signaling the tactical command.
“Detonate!” Tekudo instantly channeled his Chakra, snapping his hands into the Tiger seal to trigger the trap.
In an instant.
*Boom, boom, boom…* Flames shot into the sky as seventy-two Explosive Tags erupted in unison.
Tongues of fire danced like wild crimson serpents, erupting from beneath the earth.
The searing shockwave warped the air for a hundred meters around.
The wood fibers of the trees burned in the intense heat, carbonizing almost instantly.
Though the Sand ninjas on the outer edge had avoided the core of the blast and spared themselves direct damage from the tags, they could not escape the blistering heat.
The incoming thermal wave singed their hair and eyebrows to ash.
Their skin felt as if it were being scorched by a Great Fireball Jutsu.
Had they not already channeled Chakra to shield themselves, their flesh would have been ripped open.
“Terrifying…
we were almost wiped out.” “To lay down so many Explosive Tags…
in the entire Ninja World, only Konoha ninjas could be this extravagant!” A chill ran down the spines of the Sand ninjas.
If they hadn’t spotted the flaw beforehand, entering the core zone of such a devastating array of Explosive Tags would have left few, if any, survivors.
Sasuke Umino, using his Acoustic Radar Jutsu to perceive the entire battlefield, nodded in satisfaction.
Although the trap had not dealt a fatal blow to the Sand ninjas, their tactical goal was met.
The Sand ninjas’ formation instantly scattered like panicked ants.
For the moment, they were unable to form an effective defense.
Seizing this perfect opportunity, Sasuke Umino unfastened a sealing scroll from Tekudo’s waist.
Understanding the plan perfectly, Tekudo grabbed the other end of the scroll.
With a coordinated tug, they unraveled the scroll, releasing the seal.
*Poof.* Two massive, custom-made steel Fuma Shuriken materialized in their hands.
At a glance, these giant Fuma Shuriken were taller than they were, spanning over two meters and weighing at least a hundred pounds.
They rested the massive Fuma Shuriken against their shoulders.
Chakra surged beneath their feet, causing the bucket-thick branches beneath them to groan under the sudden weight.
Just then, while the aftershocks of the trap’s explosions still rumbled, and while the Sand ninjas were in complete disarray, unable to form a defensive line— “Hup!” The two spun and flung the deadly weapons in perfect sync.
Powered by immense centrifugal force, the giant Fuma Shuriken spun rapidly as they tore through the air.
A piercing screech rent the air, drowning out the lingering rumbles of the explosions.
The deadly weapons, over two meters in diameter, transformed into windmills of razor-sharp steel.
Slicing through four or five burning birch trees along their path, they traveled along curved trajectories, hurtling toward the disoriented Sand ninjas.
Handling such a massive Fuma Shuriken was a strain even for Tekudo despite his burly build, the veins in his neck bulging as he exerted himself.
Sasuke Umino, however, looked completely relaxed, as if he hadn’t even exerted half his strength.
The benefits of exceptional Chakra control were instantly apparent.
Though his current level wasn’t enough to replicate Tsunade’s monstrous strength, wielding this Fuma Shuriken was well within his comfort zone.
If not for his concern over Chakra consumption and the need to conserve energy for subsequent tactics, he could have even infused the Fuma Shuriken with Chakra using the principles of the A-rank Ninjutsu Rasengan, executing a bootleg version of the “True Rasen Fuma Shuriken Jutsu.” The battlefield was a sea of fire and thick smoke, rendering visibility almost zero.
But under the perception of his Acoustic Radar Jutsu, everything was laid bare.
The two giant steel windmills cleaved through a row of burning birches, slicing with pinpoint accuracy toward the two Sand captains.
The Fuma Shuriken thrown by Tekudo spun toward the puppet master captain.
Although this puppet master was only a Special Jonin, puppet masters possessed formidable combat strength, easily rivaling standard Jonin.
Just as the Fuma Shuriken was about to cleave him in two, the Special Jonin puppet master finished a set of hand seals: Ram-Snake-Tiger.
“Puppet Substitution Jutsu!” *Crack!* The Fuma Shuriken sliced through, shattering the puppet substitute into flying splinters.
His real body had already leaped five meters away.
As expected of a Special Jonin puppet master, he had successfully executed the Puppet Substitution Jutsu in the nick of time, using one of his puppets to take the lethal blow in his place.
However, for a puppet master, losing a puppet was like losing an arm.
His combat capabilities would surely be heavily compromised.