“Five hand signs per second!
With hand signs that fast, he must be an elite Jonin who has mastered Ninjutsu!” “There’s no doubt about it.
He’s absolutely an elite Jonin.” Seeing Sasuke Umino’s terrifying hand-sign speed, Kagejiro Sarutobi and the Gekko Chunin felt their confidence surge.
They had only ever heard of someone forming five hand signs per second, but had never witnessed it in person.
Today, they finally had the chance to see it with their own eyes.
It was indeed a realm beyond ordinary people.
Others took five seconds for a single hand sign, while the “Uchiha Jonin” before them formed five hand signs in a single second.
His hands were a blur of afterimages.
He truly deserved the title of elite Jonin; even his hand-sign execution had reached Divine Mastery.
Someone with such high-speed hand signs was bound to be a master of Ninjutsu.
And elite Jonin who mastered Ninjutsu were masters of crowd control.
A single jutsu from them could easily wipe out a horde of enemies.
It looked like this intel mission was in the bag.
Activating his Byakugan, the young Hyuga Branch House member saw the battlefield with crystal clarity.
He could not help but roll his eyes again, his anxiety still lingering.
This fake “Uchiha” was far too deceptive.
Even among elite Jonin or higher-level shinobi, very few possessed such a terrifying hand-sign speed.
No wonder the Sand ninja did not doubt him for a second.
This speed was simply too convincing.
“How despicable!
He has absolutely no pride as a master!” Having wasted a massive amount of Chakra on a useless defense, the bald Chunin burned with rage.
“Ganro, don’t be rash!
This is a tactical level that only elite Jonin or higher possess.
They won’t overlook even the slightest tactical advantage.
We absolutely cannot let him catch us off guard!” The spiky-haired Sunagakure Jonin had extensive combat experience.
He reacted immediately, a look of sudden realization washing over his face as if he had seen right through his enemy’s strategy.
*He’s using tactical deception to buy himself more time to weave hand signs, so he can unleash an even more powerful and complex Water Style jutsu!* *What a master tactician!* It seemed their previous succession of sneak attacks was still not enough to capture the full extent of this man’s staggering tactical genius.
Moreover, even with such an overwhelming advantage, he remained so cautious, refusing to let slip the smallest upper hand.
He had to be a battle-hardened, seasoned elite Jonin.
Seeing that the spiky-haired Sunagakure Jonin had indeed fallen for it, Sasuke Umino was overjoyed in his heart.
*It’s experts like you who are the easiest to fool!
A common ninja wouldn’t even think on this tactical wavelength.* Seeing that the battle had mostly stabilized, the Gekko Chunin leapt over to Kagejiro Sarutobi’s side to ensure the safety of the intel scroll.
Only then did he turn to the distant Hyuga Chunin to ask about his injuries.
“Asuka, are you alright?” “Yoru, I’m fine.
I won’t die yet!” Asuka Hyuga leaned against a birch tree.
His face was deathly pale, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness from the poison.
His Byakugan flickered weakly, yet his words remained remarkably tough.
Yoru Gekko nodded, then stepped in front of Kagejiro Sarutobi to protect him.
Rather than diving into the fray directly, he surveyed the flow of the battlefield while whispering over his shoulder, “Kagejiro, looking at the number of hand signs, what level of Water Style is this?
It couldn’t be the A-rank Water Style: Great Waterfall, could it?” The Gekko Clan specialized in Konoha-style Kenjutsu, which was suited for close-quarters combat, while Kagejiro’s Sarutobi Clan was proficient in all kinds of nature transformations.
They were far more experienced with Ninjutsu and thus had more authority on the matter.
“No, it’s definitely not Water Style: Great Waterfall.” Kagejiro Sarutobi shook his head, instantly shooting down the guess.
“Then what kind of advanced Water Style is it?
Kagejiro, don’t tell me you don’t know either?” “What?
No way!
How could I not know?!” Kagejiro Sarutobi jumped as if someone had stepped on his tail.
Among his peers in the Sarutobi Clan, Kagejiro was a complete dead-last, a total fraud.
There was no way he could recognize what level of Water Style it was.
However, he had always been highly competitive and did not want to look ignorant and be looked down upon by his teammate.
His mind raced as he calculated.
*With such a long sequence of hand signs, it shouldn’t be an A-rank Water Style.
That means it must be an S-rank Water Style!* *And there are only a handful of S-rank Water Style jutsu in the Scroll of Seals.
Judging by this, it’s either the S-rank Water Style: Water Severing Wave, or the S-rank Water Style: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade?* *This evil Uchiha intends to cast a Water Style jutsu using the river behind him, so it definitely isn’t Water Style: Water Severing Wave.* *That leaves only one answer.* Realizing this, Kagejiro Sarutobi was hit with a sudden epiphany.
He immediately put on an air of supreme expertise, practically begging for praise.
Brimming with confidence, he said decisively, “Yoru, truth be told, I saw through it long ago.
This is absolutely the legendary S-rank Water Style: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade.” Asuka Hyuga: #$%@& Asuka Hyuga rolled his Byakugan yet again.
A-rank Water Style: Great Waterfall?
Legendary S-rank Water Style: Hard Whirlpool Water Blade?
It was all fake, completely fake!
*What’s the point of moving your hands so fast?
Through the chakra pathway system of my Byakugan, I can clearly see that this fake Uchiha hasn’t molded his Chakra at all.
How on earth is he going to cast a jutsu like that?* *Kagejiro is just spouting absolute nonsense.
It seems that on top of being overly competitive, hot-headed, jealous, and a bit of a fraud, he’s also a pathological liar.* *Wait, why do I suddenly get the feeling that this Kagejiro fellow is incredibly unreliable?* Remembering how Kagejiro had provoked the Sand ninja for no reason just now, and the massive opening he had exposed when crossing the Explosive Tag trap, Asuka Hyuga became even more convinced of his assessment.
This train of thought almost caused the venom to seize his heart in anger.
He nearly blacked out.
His teammates were too unreliable to count on; he could only hope this fake “Uchiha” would hold out a bit longer.
It had to be said that this fake “Uchiha’s” tactics were quite brilliant, and his hand-sign speed was truly unprecedented.
However, this deceptive tactic probably would not buy them very long, let alone keep them safe until the Sand ninja succumbed to the poison and lost their fighting power.
At most, it would deplete some of the Sand ninja’s Chakra and throwing weapons, but ultimately, it would not bridge the gap in their overall combat strength.
Asuka Hyuga’s Byakugan was already growing hazy, flickering weakly.
Due to the rapid spread of the poison, the sensory range of his Byakugan had been compressed to less than a kilometer.
Otherwise, he would have noticed that the mobile patrol was already on its way.
Then, he would have understood that this fake “Uchiha’s” tactical deception had a far grander purpose than merely stalling for time, depleting the enemies’ Chakra, and wasting their ninja tools.
It was a masterstroke designed to kill three birds with one stone, with the baseline goal of stalling until reinforcements arrived.
“Yoru, look!
Those three are poisoned.
There’s no way they can last much longer.
Hahaha, we’ve got this in the bag!” Surveying the battlefield, Kagejiro Sarutobi made a new discovery.
Brimming with confidence, he let out a hearty laugh.
His expression was the picture of arrogant bravado.
“Kagejiro, have you noticed?
Their special antidote pills aren’t working at all.
They’re relying entirely on their Chakra to hold it back.” Keen and observant, Yoru Gekko quickly spotted the anomalies and weaknesses of the poisoned Sand ninja.
“Hahaha!” Kagejiro Sarutobi’s arrogance grew even more pronounced.
Then, his eyes darted around, and he suddenly suggested, “Yoru, how about you retreat with the intel first while I hold the line this time?” “This—” Yoru Gekko was momentarily speechless, unsure how to reply.
Victory was already in sight.
If he left now, wouldn’t he miss out on a massive chunk of mission merit points?
Then again, the intelligence took top priority, and they could not afford to take even the slightest risk.
It was indeed safer to send the intel back first.
“Kagejiro, you should be the one to retreat and bring the intel back.
I will stay and back up this Uchiha Jonin.” With a sweep of his sword, Yoru Gekko made the optimal tactical decision.
In his view, his strength was clearly superior to Kagejiro’s, meaning he would be more useful if he stayed behind.
Sending Kagejiro back with the intel was the most sensible option.
Besides, Kagejiro Sarutobi was a relative of the Third Hokage.
If he let him stay behind to take risks and something went wrong, how would he explain it to his superiors?