"Chase!"
"You Konoha bastard up ahead! I'm going to kill you!"
In the dense forest, dozens of Suna ninjas were in hot pursuit of the figure ahead, leaping from tree to tree.
The bald man at the very front, with a thick beard on his chin, looked enraged as he stared at the figure in front.
Then, he swiftly moved his fingers, condensed Chakra in his mouth, compressing it into invisible blades, and spat them out towards the figure continuously leaping through the trees.
Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Several invisible blades shot forward at high speed, shattering countless giant trees along the way, causing them to collapse.
Boom!
The pursuing Suna ninjas stopped in their tracks, looking at the dust cloud that had exploded before them.
"Satetsu-sama, was it successful?" one of the Sunagakure Chunin asked, his voice trembling.
Satetsu, the bald leader, didn't respond, instead sensing everything around him.
If that Konoha ninja could be dealt with so easily, they wouldn't have had to chase him all the way here.
"No! Scatter!" Satetsu's pupils contracted sharply as if he had sensed something, and then he roared.
Pfft—Pfft—
Hundreds of earth spears burst from the ground, and several Sunagakure Chunin who couldn't dodge in time were instantly impaled through the heart. Even in death, their eyes still held an expression of disbelief.
Satetsu ignored the dead Chunin, formed hand signs towards the location where the earth spears had emerged, and unleashed a series of sharp wind blades.
The landing points showed no signs of prediction, covering the entire area.
The other two Jonin charged forward, while simultaneously ordering the Chunin and Genin behind them to spread out and encircle the area in a fan formation.
From within the dust, Shinji sidestepped, avoiding the wind blades aimed at him, then formed a single hand sign and slammed it down onto the ground.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
Rumble!
Several thick earth walls instantly rose from the ground, surrounding Shinji.
This was immediately followed by the sound of countless shuriken and the hot blast of exploding explosive tags.
The massive shockwave shattered the earth walls around Shinji.
Amidst the swirling sand and dust, a blade glinting with an eerie blue light tore through the air and struck.
Shinji flipped his kunai, parrying the attack, and then, instead of retreating, moved forward towards the blade's previous position.
Pfft—
The kunai flashed with a cold gleam. A Chunin watched with disbelief as a spray of blood erupted from his neck, splattering onto his face. He collapsed to the ground, lifeless.
"Got you!"
Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel!
A Sunagakure Jonin who had followed closely behind spotted Shinji's figure. He immediately pulled out the fan from his back, and violently swung it towards Shinji.
A hurricane with slashing properties tore through the air, hurtling towards Shinji's location.
Shinji glanced at the Sunagakure Chunin still around him who hadn't managed to retreat. These guys really don't care about the lives of their fellow villagers.
Rumble—
The hurricane impacted the ground, encompassing the surrounding giant trees and the Sunagakure Chunin who hadn't managed to leave within its slashing range.
Several figures of Sunagakure Chunin, accompanied by blood mist, were blown away.
The Sunagakure Jonin, successful in his attack, instead frowned, because Shinji's figure had vanished.
Just as he was still searching for Shinji, another Jonin who had rushed over from the side immediately unrolled a scroll, and a shadow, moving at extreme speed, enveloped the Jonin in front of him.
Secret Technique: Puppet Jutsu: Kuroari!
Boom—
The next instant, a scorching flame struck the puppet.
The immense heat caused even the Sunagakure Jonin protected by the puppet to sweat from his forehead.
He was so close! He almost died!
"Good reaction."
From within the dust, Shinji slowly walked out, looking at the Sunagakure ninja squad that had completely surrounded him.
Three Jonin, dozens of Chunin and Genin.
It seemed he had been a bit too reckless lately, allowing Sunagakure to send so many people to pursue him.
However, Asuma should be able to use this opportunity to thoroughly investigate the location of Sunagakure's rear supply lines.
"Hmph! Konoha ninja, let's see how you run now!" Satetsu's voice sounded, filled with a cold sneer.
Shinji looked sideways and chuckled, "Did I say I was going to run?"
Hmm?
Satetsu was startled at first, then his anger intensified, and he waved his hand, roaring, "Attack!"
Whoosh—Whoosh—
The other two Jonin, who had been waiting, immediately attacked. This time, all three of them would engage together.
The puppeteer who had just protected another Suna ninja came forward first.
A monstrous puppet, massive in size and covered in blades and mechanisms, rushed towards Shinji with a grating metallic screech.
As it was about to get close, the puppet's mouth opened, spewing out a cloud of purple poisonous smoke.
Shinji's eyes narrowed. He held his breath, and gathered Chakra in his right hand, swinging it violently towards the puppet.
Boom—
The immense impact caused a radiating shockwave, and in an instant, the originally sturdy puppet shattered.
The Jonin controlling the puppet was filled with disbelief, that was a specially made puppet.
It was actually smashed to pieces by a single punch from Shinji. He gritted his teeth, no longer overthinking it, and decisively detonated the poisonous mist device on the puppet fragments. The poisonous mist instantly spread.
Satetsu, who followed closely, immediately formed hand signs.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
A strong gust of wind enveloped the poisonous mist in front of him, then pushed all the poisonous mist towards Shinji.
On the outside, the Sunagakure Chunin, who had formed a encirclement, seeing this, threw kunai or shuriken, vowing to take down Shinji.
Shinji swiftly formed hand signs, his eyes quickly observing his surroundings. As the signs were completed, his entire body plunged into the ground.
The poisonous mist instantly enveloped the area, and countless shuriken and kunai missed their target, embedding themselves deeply into the ground.
"Underground!"
The Jonin who had just been manipulating the puppet exclaimed in surprise.
On the other side, the Jonin who had remained still also reacted immediately, forming hand signs and unleashing a volley of dense, high-pressure air bullets towards the spot where Shinji had just disappeared.
Bang, bang, bang—
In an instant, the ground was riddled with craters, but Shinji's figure was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn it! Is he from Konoha or Iwagakure?!" Satetsu, looking at the vanished Shinji, slammed his fist on the ground and roared.
From the beginning, Shinji had been using Earth Release Ninjutsu, making him so slippery that he couldn't be caught at all.
"Guess what—"
A voice suddenly appeared behind Satetsu, followed by a barrage of Ninjutsu.
Boom—
A massive area of flames, so hot that even space itself twisted slightly, instantly swept through.
The target was all the Sunagakure Chunin and the three Jonin in that area.
"Ahhh—!"
The Sunagakure Chunin, who had formed the encirclement, were unable to avoid it and were engulfed by the sea of fire, their screams rising one after another. Then they were reduced to charcoal, sinking into the sea of fire where the sand and gravel had turned into a molten lava due to the high temperature.
The three Sunagakure Jonin quickly retreated, barely managing to escape the fiery waves using Wind Release.
"Hoo—hoo—"
Satetsu was utterly disheveled. He was the first to be attacked by the flames, and now his entire body was covered in burn marks.
Looking at Shinji's figure in the sea of fire, his face was incredibly cold.
In just that instant, dozens of Chunin he had brought along were almost completely wiped out.