Yakushi's forehead protector was already soaked in blood.
She struggled forward against the wind and sand, three kunai deeply embedded in her left shoulder, while pursuing shinobi from Sunagakure pressed relentlessly from behind.
"Just a little more… talking with the Akasuna no Sasori cost me extra time."
Yakushi felt herself close to death, but there was no panic in her heart. This was the most basic quality of a top-tier spy: "As long as I deliver this intelligence back to the frontline troops, it should help end the war with Sunagakure faster."
Even gaining a single day could save many lives—that was enough.
Suddenly, a massive swirl of sand erupted from nowhere, forming a localized sandstorm. Countless grains of sand struck Yakushi like a torrential hailstorm, further obscuring her vision.
Two puppets moved silently through the blinding sand, opening their mouths to spray acidic mist, attempting to melt Yakushi into a honeycomb.
Yakushi could barely keep her eyes open. Instinctively, she rolled to evade, but a tail-like puppet appendage shot up from the sand beneath her feet, piercing her side and worsening her already critical condition.
"A spy who's been exposed… you really think you can escape?"
The captain of the Sunagakure pursuit squad stood atop a rock face, sneering. His hands formed hand signs—this sudden localized sandstorm was clearly his doing.
"Hand over the intelligence you stole from the village, and I'll leave you a whole corpse. That's the greatest mercy I can offer. Who told you to get so bold as to approach Akasuna no Sasori? He's our village's genius ninja."
"I won't give it to you."
Yakushi lifted her gaze to the dozen or so surrounding her, finally focusing on the captain controlling the sandstorm.
She recalled the intelligence on this dangerous man—Araki of the Sandstorm, a master at creating sandstorms. In the Land of Wind, he possessed a uniquely powerful combat ability.
"Sunagakure really has its share of talent… and their own special ninjutsu."
Yakushi thought silently, suddenly crushing a glass vial in her sleeve while covering her mouth and nose, retreating quickly. Purple smoke exploded, spreading rapidly through the sandstorm.
Araki of the Sandstorm said coldly, "Did you think I'd be unprepared? You're a medical ninja, aren't you? I've already analyzed all of Konoha's medical ninja intelligence!"
He immediately formed hand signs again, causing the direction of the swirling sand to shift abruptly, carrying the purple toxic mist in a single direction.
"This is the newt poison I acquired in the Land of Rain. It's not from the newt controlled by Hanzō, but it should still have an unexpected effect on you."
Yakushi held her breath to limit her body's intake of the newt poison—her pores would also absorb it. "I'm releasing this toxic mist not to fight you directly, but to buy time for reinforcements. Those who assigned me won't let me fail before I lose my value."
Swish!
Three zombies charged forward rapidly. With every sprint, chunks of flesh burst from their bodies, pushing their bodily functions beyond normal limits.
Sunagakure ninjas, seeing these zombies, quickly made a judgment. Excitement lit their faces.
"That's right… this is the Konoha ninja's Dead Soul Technique!"
"Hmph. I originally planned to use this Konoha spy to lure a few Konoha ninjas over… but what a pleasant surprise."
Araki of the Sandstorm was genuinely surprised—who didn't know how much Chiyo valued Kaede Tsukasa? As a veteran elite jōnin of Sunagakure, effectively part of the upper echelon, he had access to many of the village's secrets and had even vaguely noticed hints of human puppet experiments.
With a little deduction, Araki understood the necessity of seizing the Dead Soul Technique.
"Move! Destroy these three bodies remotely first! There's a high chance they've been rigged with explosive tags!"
Araki shouted sharply, suddenly shifting the direction of his palm. "Magnet Release: Sandstorm Shower."
A massive surge of sand formed into razor-sharp blades, piercing the three zombies instantly and turning them into sieves.
"As expected, destroying the head truly deactivates the corpse."
Araki took the opportunity to experiment. In the end, only the zombie with a massive hole in its waist and a broken spine retained some mobility, though it could only flail its arms in place.
The other two zombies remained completely still.
Yet what puzzled him was that none of the three zombies had explosive tags—weren't they supposed to be used for self-detonation?
"That Kaede Tsukasa has grown… knows how to adjust his usual tactics, though it's of little consequence," Araki snorted coldly, directing his squad to encircle Kaede Tsukasa and his group.
Two puppets led the charge, emitting a series of clicking sounds as they lunged toward Kaede Tsukasa and the others.
"The good news is, our reinforcements are still alive. The bad news is, the enemy has more troops than we do." Kaede Tsukasa opened his eyes, paying little attention to the failure of the three zombies.
He carried a summoning scroll, ready to summon new zombies at any time, and had already ordered two zombies to bury themselves in the sand fifty meters and one hundred fifty meters away.
Terai observed Kaede Tsukasa's abilities carefully. "So your Dead Soul Technique also grants some perceptive capability? You've mastered a ninjutsu with significant tactical value—it's fitting that Sunagakure would give you such a grand welcome."
Under Terai's command, the Konoha ninjas moved swiftly. Their sole objective was to rendezvous with Yakushi and obtain the intelligence she carried.
As the elite jōnin of the team, Terai naturally took the lead against Araki of the Sandstorm.
Kaede Tsukasa unrolled his scroll, summoning two zombies to coordinate with his teammates. He followed closely behind them, constantly under their cover.
Tactically, this was sound: medical and sensory ninjas should always receive top-priority protection. Yet, unfortunately, the enemy also prioritized attacking Kaede Tsukasa.
Ninjutsu clashed at range—flames met lightning, storms roared against sand and wind.
Seizing the moment when the enemy puppeteers were entangled by Morino Isuke and others, Kaede Tsukasa sent his zombies close to the enemy and triggered sudden detonations. Unlike before, he was no longer cash-strapped. Now, as a rising chūnin, he had greater authority to obtain explosive tags and other tools from the camp. He wanted to attach an explosive tag to every single bone in every zombie.
Boom!
A massive explosion, several times larger than anything before, erupted in the chaotic, sand-filled environment. For a brief moment, it created a silent vacuum, reducing a Sunagakure ninja to pieces. Blood and flesh splattered everywhere, covering both allies and enemies alike.
No one cared about such details—both sides had red eyes, intent on killing, hardly noticing if a few fragments of flesh stained them.
"Watch out! The enemy's main target isn't me—it's you!" Yakushi shouted loudly.
Kaede Tsukasa's expression didn't change; he had already mentally prepared for this.
Several Sunagakure ninjas charged forward.
Araki of the Sandstorm fully leveraged the terrain, recklessly expending large amounts of chakra, using thick sand to disrupt Terai.
Honestly, Terai was similar in type to Sakumo Hatake—effective in solo combat. Against an enemy capable of wide-area bombardment, self-preservation was easy enough, but completely restricting the enemy throughout the battle? That was another matter.
In an instant, Kaede Tsukasa found himself in an almost impossible situation. No matter how he assessed it, escape seemed extremely difficult. He had positioned himself slightly forward; taking two steps back would have given him a bit more maneuvering space.
"Hmph… got him."
Araki manipulated the sand with one hand to distract Terai while forming a small sand vortex with the other, attempting to trap Kaede Tsukasa and create openings for the other Sunagakure ninjas.
But Kaede Tsukasa showed no sign of panic. Calmly forming hand signs, he suddenly vanished from his original spot before any enemy could subdue him with taijutsu.
Swish!
In his place appeared the zombie whose spine had been broken and legs rendered useless—the same one that had also formed hand signs with its hands.
Meanwhile, Kaede Tsukasa reappeared instantly in the zombie's original position, roughly ten meters from Araki of the Sandstorm. Their eyes met directly.
"…Flying Thunder God?!"
Araki of the Sandstorm was utterly shocked, disbelief etched across his face.