“Yoru, what should we do?” Seeing the Sand ninjas’ movements, Kagejiro Sarutobi’s expression turned frantic, and he began to harbor thoughts of retreat.
He was just about to propose that he take the intel and withdraw first, but Yoru Gekko pulled him along to stand beside Sasuke Umino.
Clearly, Yoru Gekko wanted to fight them first and see how things went.
“Kagejiro, they are all poisoned.
We don’t necessarily stand no chance of winning.” In Yoru Gekko’s eyes, although this patrol captain before them was only a Chunin, his combat strength was definitely not as simple as it appeared.
The tactical capability he had just displayed was proof enough.
As for the Sand ninjas, some were poisoned, some were crippled, and they had expended a massive amount of chakra.
Right now, they possessed less than thirty percent of their peak strength.
They could completely downgrade the enemy’s combat strength by a tier for tactical consideration, whereas their own side of six still maintained full combat capability.
Six against three—the advantage was on their side.
“Hmph!” Kagejiro Sarutobi let out a cold snort.
Clearly, he was extremely reluctant to stay and block the enemy together.
In his view, the opponents still had a Jonin, a Special Jonin, and two Chunin.
Even though these Sand ninjas looked like they didn’t have much combat strength left, it still posed a significant risk.
A gentleman does not stand under a crumbling wall; he had no desire to take risks.
At this thought, a trace of hostility naturally crept into Kagejiro Sarutobi’s gaze as he looked at Sasuke Umino.
If this guy hadn’t transformed into a fake Uchiha earlier, he might have already retreated with the intelligence.
It was all because of this detestable fellow that he had missed the perfect opportunity to escape this danger.
“Huh?
It’s actually that poor kid from the Umino family!” Kagejiro Sarutobi sized Sasuke Umino up carefully and finally recognized him.
Wasn’t this the poor kid who used to deliver fish to his house?
Did that wretched, fish-selling Umino family actually produce a ninja?
Impossible!
How could a commoner family of wretched fishmongers nurture such a powerful ninja?
“Damn it!” At this realization, Kagejiro Sarutobi was suddenly overcome with shame and anger.
To think that he, the dignified second young master of a Sarutobi Elder’s family, had been saved by this wretched commoner fishmonger.
Didn’t this highlight his own incompetence?
Moreover, this commoner had actually transformed into an Uchiha instead of a Jonin from their Sarutobi clan.
Did this commoner believe deep down that the Uchiha were stronger than the Sarutobi clan?
Furthermore, if not for this commoner’s misleading Transformation Jutsu, how could he have ended up in such a dangerous situation?
Leading him into such danger made this guy absolutely deserve to die!
“Hmm?” Sensing Kagejiro Sarutobi’s growing hostility, Sasuke Umino found it somewhat bizarre.
He had just saved this guy’s life.
Besides, although his Umino family had long since separated from the Sarutobi clan, they were still considered part of the Third Hokage’s faction.
At the very least, they were on the same side.
Where was this hostility coming from?
Could it be that Kagejiro was just too weak and jealous, thinking Sasuke had stolen his spotlight?
“Kagejiro, take care of yourself.
I’ll handle that Sand Jonin!” Yoru Gekko also assumed Kagejiro Sarutobi’s jealousy was acting up again, so he proactively chose the hardest opponent, leaving the slightly weaker, dark-skinned Special Jonin to Sasuke Umino.
The moment he finished speaking, Yoru Gekko drew his long sword and charged toward the strongest spiky-haired Jonin.
Sasuke Umino nodded.
This Yoru Gekko was indeed reliable.
He immediately delegated the tactical tasks: “Tekudo, the three of you will be responsible for stalling that bald Chunin.
Watch out for his Earth Style.
I will take on that dark-skinned Special Jonin.” Having just assigned the tasks, Sasuke Umino glanced at the hostile Kagejiro Sarutobi.
The implication was that the remaining half-crippled Chunin puppeteer would be handled by a certain someone.
This half-crippled Chunin puppeteer was currently the weakest among the Sand ninjas.
With his puppet partially destroyed, his combat capability was likely below that of an ordinary Chunin.
Having Kagejiro Sarutobi, who held the intelligence, handle him was undoubtedly the most suitable arrangement.
“Dammit!” Kagejiro Sarutobi felt deeply insulted and offended, his hostility intensifying.
To be ordered around by a mere former household servant—what right did an insolent fellow who knew nothing of status have to command the main family?
Furious, Kagejiro Sarutobi wanted to throw a tantrum and watch from the sidelines.
Unfortunately, the enemy did not give him that choice.
Clearly, the Sand ninjas were highly agreeable to this evenly matched tactical arrangement.
Thus, the two groups, either willingly or unwillingly, chose their respective opponents and clashed.
“Dance of the Crescent Moon!” Yoru Gekko directly unleashed the secret sword style of Konoha, splitting into three shadow clones to execute a coordinated strike against the spiky-haired Jonin.
“Impressive!” Sasuke Umino praised Yoru Gekko’s reliability upon seeing such magnificent swordsmanship.
At the same time, his heart couldn’t help but feel a twinge of bitterness.
As soon as Yoru Gekko made a move, it was Konoha’s secret sword style, whereas Sasuke could only wield a small tachi, fighting with some third-rate fish-gutting blade technique.
His fish-gutting technique was by no means a profound style; it was merely a common technique evolved from his family’s basic samurai swordsmanship.
He had simply killed too many fish at home, which gave the technique a rather heavy murderous aura.
Other than that, it had no notable advantages.
Seeing such a murderously intense tachi slashing toward him, the dark-skinned Special Jonin gripped a kunai tightly, treating Sasuke as a formidable foe and raising his alertness to the absolute maximum to face the strike.
*Clang!
Clang!
Clang!* Sasuke Umino executed his fish-gutting blade technique, clashing intensely with the dark-skinned Special Jonin.
The cold gleam of the kunai flashed, the tachi moved like a lightning shadow, and their blades clashed in mid-air, ringing out sharply.
Instantly, sword light danced wildly, and sparks flew in all directions.
“Huh?” At this moment, the dark-skinned Special Jonin was filled with suspicion, a look of doubt crossing his eyes.
This Konoha Jonin, who was supposedly a master of mechanical tools, seemed to have rather mediocre Taijutsu.
Aside from possessing great strength and decent basics, he was actually only at the level of an ordinary Chunin.
*Could this be another tactical deception?* *No, I can’t be careless.
Let me test him further to see what is going on.* Thus, the dark-skinned Special Jonin grew even more cautious, constantly testing his opponent’s capabilities.
After a few rounds of testing, the dark-skinned Special Jonin finally uncovered Sasuke Umino’s true strength.
Aside from his tactical prowess and mechanical tools being extremely formidable, in all other aspects, he was indeed just a standard Chunin.
With the testing complete, the dark-skinned Special Jonin decisively seized the combat opportunity.
Utilizing the rebounding force from his kunai, he flipped backward to create some distance.
While still in mid-air, he threw his kunai, and his hands flew into the Tiger and Dragon hand seals before slapping his palms together.
“Wind Style: Gale Palm!” Instantly, a violent blast of wind enveloped the kunai, shooting it toward Sasuke Umino’s chest at a speed almost invisible to the naked eye.
“Not good!” Fortunately, Sasuke Umino had his Acoustic Radar Jutsu active, allowing him to perceive the dark-skinned Special Jonin’s tactical intent.
At a hand-seal speed of five seals per second, he hastily executed his survival technique: Substitution.
*Poof!* The violent wind-wrapped kunai directly shattered a wooden log into splinters.
Meanwhile, Sasuke Umino leaped five meters away, narrowly evading the devastating blow of the Wind Style: Gale Palm.