Just as the atmosphere in the room was growing heavy, Baki came rushing over with a stunned expression and reported, "Kazekage-sama, an undercover agent has critical intelligence!"
"Critical intelligence?" Rasa immediately went on high alert. "Could it be Iwagakure is moving again?"
Baki shook his head. "It's about the battlefield between Konoha and Kirigakure."
"The battlefield of Konoha and Kiri?" Rasa frowned. What did they care about that?
Still, he quickly reconsidered.
Konoha was their ally, while Kiri constantly launched sneak attacks from the southern seas, so this information wasn't entirely irrelevant.
Therefore, Rasa patiently asked, "What kind of intelligence is it?"
Trying hard to suppress his shock, Baki concisely replied, "Kirigakure sent the Seven Ninja of the Bloody Mist to ambush Konoha's Seiki Shimaseki, but he turned around and killed five of them!"
As soon as those words fell, the entire room fell into complete silence.
Not only Rasa, but even Chiyo and her brother Motoi, who hadn't been paying attention originally, as well as the medical ninja present, all looked over in stunned expressions.
The Seven Ninja weren't unknown in Suna; quite the opposite, since they frequently led raids, they were actually notorious in Sunagakure.
Precisely because of that, when everyone heard how the Seven Ninja had surrounded a single individual yet still got five of their own killed in return, they were all overwhelmed by shock.
"Seiki Shimaseki—you don't mean that same guy who became famous two years ago during the Chunin Exams?"
"Come on! Two years ago he was still just a chunin!"
"Oh right, wasn't Baki also promoted to chunin during that exam two years ago?"
"Haha, Baki, have you secretly held back your strength too?"
Hearing these voices, Baki felt extremely annoyed.
He was just an ordinary human being! Why did people always compare him with monsters?
Rasa frowned. "This doesn't make sense. If they knew Seiki uses the [Flying Thunder God Technique], why would Kirigakure still send people to kill him?"
Baki explained, "According to intelligence, apparently Seiki was stuck babysitting a group of deadweights, leaving him no choice but to engage in battle desperately."
Everyone listening couldn't help twitching their lips. Listen to that—what exactly kind of logic is that?
While burdened with liabilities, he casually killed five members of the Seven Ninja.
At this point, the Seven Ninja really must've committed unforgivable sins—to force someone to eliminate them like that.
Rubbing his temples, Rasa said, "So you're telling me—he slaughtered five of the Seven Ninja despite being hindered by liabilities?"
Baki hesitated before slowly nodding. That seemed... approximately correct.
He'd been too shocked at the time and left in a rush after barely skimming the report.
Speechless, everyone else thought the same thing: eliminating the Seven Ninja while being dragged down by liabilities? Was this Seiki Shimaseki actually the avatar of the Sage of Six Paths?
At that moment, Ebizō suddenly asked, "Seiki Shimaseki—isn't he the disciple of that Princess of Katsuyu?"
Rasa suddenly saw light, "You mean we should request his assistance?"
Ebizō nodded slightly. "Since his power is that formidable, surely his Medical Ninjutsu—the role he officially serves in—wouldn't be lacking either."
Taking a deep breath, Rasa ordered, "Baki! Get the Intelligence Division to send an emergency call for help—now!"
At the border of Land of Rivers.
"Is that Seiki Shimaseki, the Hextech Warrior? Run away quickly!"
"He's actually the Evil Demon King!"
"Isn't that the Blade of Light cleaving through the Mist?"
Watching those fleeing Mist ninja still quarreling over his identities while escaping in panic, Seiki Shimaseki shrugged helplessly. "I wonder how many nicknames they've cooked up for me?"
"Conservatively estimated, over twenty!" Asuma said with envy. "Damn it, I wish my enemies would give me some nickname too!"
Mizuki glanced at him sideways. "Aren't you already called Smoky Asuma?"
Asuma grumbled, "This nickname's got zero flair. And if I use it too much, I'll end up getting slapped around."
Seiki Shimaseki chuckled. "Okay, let's finish our mission and go back quickly."
Since the main forces of Mist had fled to sea, the Mist ninja left behind for patrol outside were doomed.
They almost served as experience points for others now.
Perhaps having heard the cries from those escaping Mist ninjas, several wounded ninja rushed out from nearby bushes.
"O great ninja masters from Leaf Village! Save us, please save us!"
Seiki Shimaseki examined them carefully before asking cautiously, "You're ninja from Hoshigakure?"
The group nodded repeatedly. "We are expedition troops dispatched by our village. We were scattered during the battle against Frost Village ninja when ambushed by Cloud ninja!"
They still seemed somewhat indignant. "It's supposed to be fair—underdogs fight underdogs, leaders fight leaders. So why did those Frost bastards bring in higher-ups to gang up on us?"
"What, you think we don't know how to grab support from big shots?"
"If that's the case, then lead the way soon."
Seiki Shimaseki wasn't worried about any trap. The Third went off to duel the Raikage like some fiery old action hero. Under such circumstances, there wouldn't be anyone on the battlefield capable of stopping him.
It should be the enemies who need to feel anxious!
"Just like this?" The Hoshigakure ninja looked somewhat hesitant. "There are many of them."
Asuma wore a strange expression. "Didn't you hear how those Mist ninja shouted while fleeing?"
Confused, several Hoshigakure ninja scratched their heads. "We heard, but couldn't understand what they meant."
Sighing dramatically, Asuma said, "Feels kinda weird introducing ourselves like this... But hey, can you blame us for being awesome? Listen carefully—we..."
"Wah! It's Lord Seiki Shimaseki!"
"We're just..."
"Move aside! Don't block the road!"
Seeing several Hoshigakure ninja admiringly squeeze toward Seiki Shimaseki, Asuma showed a haggard look. "Sigh, I knew exactly this would happen."
Very shortly afterward, Seiki Shimaseki and his team found a portion of Hoshigakure ninja engaged in what they called a fierce battle against enemy forces at another side of the forest.
At least in Seiki Shimaseki's party's eyes, the combat appeared quite pitiful.
One ninja took over ten seconds just to form the seals for a basic C-ranked jutsu, while both sides kept cycling through the same handful of moves.
"What? Someone can become so proficient in [Grand Fireball Jutsu] like that!"
"Watch my [Giant Water Sphere Jutsu]!"
"Darn it, if only my [Peacock Mystical Technique] was perfected..."
Observing the enthusiastic clash between Frost and Hoshigakure ninja, Team Konoha finally decided to intervene.
Thirty seconds later, the one-sided slaughter was over.
Some of the remaining Hoshigakure ninja stepped forward to thank them. "We're saved thanks to everyone from Konoha. Otherwise, we would've been in serious trouble today."
Asuma said, shaking his head in pity. "You don't even have a single Chunin among you? It's disgraceful for Hoshigakure to send nothing but Genin like you into battle!"
As if deeply insulted, the leader of the Hoshi ninja flushed red and argued, "I'm a Jonin! And they're all Chunin!"
"Chunin? Jonin?" Asuma was genuinely shocked. Could these guys seriously be Chunin and Jonin if they could barely handle Class C Ninjutsu?
He felt that these Hoshi ninja wouldn't even stand a chance against him back when he was just a Genin.
Noticing the tension rising, Seiki quickly suggested, "Your comrades from the village should still be scattered around. We should hurry and continue searching for them."
As Seiki turned to leave, the Hoshi Jonin called out, "Please proceed with caution. I have a feeling Cloud Village may not actually be here at Mist's request."
The Konoha ninja shared puzzled looks. If not at Mist's request, were they possibly targeting Hoshigakure specifically?
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