Bang!
A vicious knee slammed into the kidney of the Sunagakure shinobi.
The brutal strike sent a wave of agony through his body, robbing him of the last chance to fight back.
Shing!
The short sword in his hand was instantly snatched away.
With a swift twist, the blade was driven straight into his heart.
The Konoha ANBU shinobi had just used the Substitution Jutsu to evade the attack and immediately countered, slamming his palm into the enemy’s body and sending him crashing toward the ground.
One of the shinobi who had survived the violent explosion of the explosive tags looked up as the body came flying toward him.
He immediately sidestepped.
But he didn’t miss the brief flash of fire.
“Damn it!
Explosive tags again!”
Sure enough, several explosive tags had already been attached to the body of the enemy the Konoha ANBU had knocked down.
“BOOOOM!”
Another violent explosion erupted.
“Water Release: Wild Water Wave!”
“Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!”
The shinobi who had barely survived the second barrage of explosive tags were stunned.
Under the relentless attacks, they had no opportunity to fight back.
The one person who had managed to find an opening had been dealt with effortlessly, and even his corpse had been turned into a weapon against them.
A massive torrent of water descended from above like a waterfall, carrying tremendous force as it slammed into the shinobi on the ground and sent them flying.
Immediately afterward, a bolt of lightning crashed down into the water.
Electricity coursed through the torrent, wrapping around the shinobi and making their bodies convulse uncontrollably.
Only after some time did the highly vigilant Konoha ANBU shinobi finally leap down from the trees.
Shing!
Everyone drew their weapons, remaining on guard against another ambush.
BOOM!
The seemingly calm ground suddenly exploded.
Three figures burst out from different locations, weapons in hand as they charged toward the Konoha ANBU!
At such close range, combat was incredibly dangerous.
The slightest mistake could cost someone their life.
Under the moonlight, the shinobi on both sides launched into a brutal, bloody battle.
Clang!
Weapons collided, sending sparks flying.
As time passed, the Konoha ANBU systematically cut down every enemy who remained standing.
After all, aside from the chakra they had spent on their ninjutsu, their physical condition was still excellent.
Their enemies, on the other hand, had been caught completely off guard and were already severely weakened.
Winning under such circumstances was incredibly difficult.
“Where’s Lord Dragon?”
“He went after the Iwagakure leader…”
“You three clean up here.
The rest of us are going to help Lord Dragon!”
“Yes!”
…
Swish—
The Iwagakure commander silently landed in a patch of dense grass.
He held his breath and suppressed his presence as much as possible.
The next moment, ShihōinNaraku appeared.
He glanced around, chose a direction, and immediately rushed away.
Only after Naraku’s figure had completely disappeared did the Iwagakure commander quietly exhale.
He immediately stood up and fled in another direction.
He tightened the scroll strapped to his back.
Blood continued dripping down his face, yet a smile appeared on his lips.
Although they had been ambushed, the Iwagakure mission had already succeeded.
During the chaos, he had managed to seize the scroll brought by Sunagakure!
It had to be said that the overall quality of Iwagakure’s shinobi was indeed higher than that of Sunagakure.
Iwagakure had only sent a single four-man squad along with a commander.
Sunagakure, meanwhile, had brought two full squads.
Yet after the initial ambush, more Iwagakure shinobi had survived.
By the time the Konoha ANBU launched their final assault, two Iwagakure shinobi were still alive.
They had hidden underground and launched a surprise attack.
And the Iwagakure commander had already escaped.
As for Sunagakure, only one shinobi remained.
The difference was indeed substantial.
…
“Huff… huff…”
Even though he could feel his breathing becoming increasingly labored, the Iwagakure commander didn’t slow down.
His subordinates had sacrificed their lives to buy him this opportunity.
He absolutely could not waste it.
Furiously squeezing every last drop of chakra from his body, the Iwagakure commander accelerated once more, streaking past one tree after another like lightning.
Blood running from his forehead seeped into his eyes, blurring his vision.
But he didn’t even have time to wipe it away.
In fact, the most sensible thing for him to do now would have been to treat his injuries.
The steady trail of blood he was leaving behind would expose his position and allow his pursuers to catch up quickly.
But there was simply no time.
Blinking rapidly to ease the burning sensation in his eyes, the Iwagakure commander continued racing through the forest.
He swept his gaze across the terrain ahead.
Hm?
His pupils suddenly contracted.
A figure had appeared directly in his path.
The figure stood silently atop a large tree.
Several distinctive red markings adorned his white animal mask.
He wore an ANBU vest, and his slightly messy short black hair fluttered gently in the wind.
ShihōinNaraku!
Naraku calmly looked at the Iwagakure commander approaching him with killing intent.
He had been waiting for quite some time.
How had he caught up so quickly?
Which village’s ANBU was this?
The commander had already fled this far, yet his pursuer had somehow gotten ahead of him.
The Iwagakure commander gritted his teeth.
He reached into his pouch and pulled out several shuriken, then hurled them toward the motionless ShihōinNaraku.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Several shuriken tore through the air and instantly reached Naraku.
“Did they hit?”
The Iwagakure commander couldn’t believe he had eliminated his opponent so easily.
But the next second, the shuriken pierced straight through Naraku’s body and embedded themselves in the tree behind him.
“What?
An afterimage?”
Before the Iwagakure commander could react, a figure suddenly appeared before his eyes as if it had teleported there.
“Bang!”
ShihōinNaraku, wreathed in flames, flashed through the air and appeared directly in front of the Iwagakure commander.
His flaming leg slammed viciously into the man’s body.
“Gah—!”
The Iwagakure commander’s eyes widened as he violently spat out a mouthful of blood.
The sheer force of the attack instantly robbed him of the ability to resist.
He crashed into the ground, rolled several times, and slammed into a tree.
“Chk!”
Naraku followed immediately.
He drew his katana and drove it straight through the Iwagakure commander’s body, pinning him firmly against the tree.
“Hhk…”
The commander’s eyes widened, blood and tears streaming from them.
He still seemed to want to say something.
But every last bit of strength had already left his body.
Soon, darkness swallowed him completely.
After confirming that his enemy was dead, ShihōinNaraku stepped aside and picked up the enormous scroll the Iwagakure commander had dropped during the battle.
“So it’s gold dust.”
Naraku opened the scroll and immediately understood.
It was filled with enormous quantities of gold dust.
The current Kazekage of Sunagakure was the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, who specialized in using Magnet Release to manipulate gold dust.
With the daimyo of the Land of Wind continually reducing Sunagakure’s funding and shinobi forces, the Fourth Kazekage had relied on extracting and collecting gold dust from beneath the ground to barely keep the village afloat.
As a result, Sunagakure frequently traded gold dust with other nations.
Konoha had received gold dust from them before as well.
“Gaara’s father is going to have a rough time after this.”
Naraku weighed the scroll in his hand, finding the situation somewhat amusing.
“All that gold dust he worked so hard to refine and collect is gone, and he didn’t even get the supplies in return.”
Compared with Konoha, Sunagakure really was dirt-poor.
“My lord!”
“Lord Dragon, are you all right?”
While Naraku was contemplating the scroll, Konoha ANBU shinobi rushed over one after another and landed behind him.
“Let’s go back.”
Naraku casually tossed the scroll to one of his subordinates and led everyone away.