Arai and the other two arrived at another area near the Land of Rain.
This place was far enough from the territory they had previously raided.
They also came into contact with the Sunagakure guarding this area and learned some information about the 'other side' from them.
Next, they rested for a day.
Late at night, Arai once again led the two of them into the Land of Rain.
Everything proceeded as before.
Arai hid in the shadows, observing the two's performance on the mission while simultaneously protecting their safety.
As for Yuji and Sasori, they acted independently.
With their previous mission experience, the two were clearly more familiar with the routine this time.
"This time... if you lose again, you'll have nothing to say."
Before parting, Sasori crossed his arms and stared indifferently at Yuji, speaking with a bit of a domineering air.
Sasori didn't seem to intend to be too flamboyant, which might cause the mission to be terminated prematurely.
"I was never your match to begin with... You are a genius Puppeteer, and I'm just a Medical Ninja..."
Yuji scratched his head and replied with a chuckle.
Compared to Sasori's confrontational attitude, he seemed more relaxed and free-spirited.
He didn't care much about this competition.
These words made Sasori frown slightly, feeling a bit displeased.
But he said nothing and directly flickered away.
Yuji also hid... A moment later, through a gap in the tree shade, a pair of eyes stared at two patrolling Amegakure.
The two were moving slowly, chatting while running through the forest.
They didn't feel any sense of tension and seemed very relaxed.
They certainly didn't notice the danger lurking in the shadows.
Yuji plucked the piano wire wrapped around his hand... with a'swish' sound.
The two Amegakure had just landed on a tree from the air; as one of them stepped onto the trunk, a flash of silver light passed by, and his head flew off, severed cleanly from his body.
"What was that?!"
The other Amegakure's pupils constricted, as if facing a great enemy.
He only saw a flash of some kind of light, and his teammate was dead.
There wasn't even a human figure.
This made him completely unaware of an enemy's presence.
Swish!
Another subtle movement; this time, being on guard, the Amegakure finally saw the murder weapon.
It was a very light and small flying knife, speeding through the air. Even at high speeds, it barely made any noise, making it extremely difficult to detect.
By the time he saw the flying knife, it was too late to dodge.
Because... it was too fast.
If he could have detected the position of the flying knife from the start, he might have dodged it.
But because this killing method was so insidious, the Amegakure could not judge the attack path in advance.
In the blink of an eye, his head, like his companion's, was tossed into the air along with a spray of blood.
Swish.
The hovering flying knife, pulled by some kind of force, flew back into the tree canopy where Yuji was hiding.
At the same time, the two Amegakure corpses were entangled by Yuji's wires and dragged into the weeds.
Everything was so silent... and fleeting.
"It's indeed not bad... However, since it's not controlled by hand after all, the power and cutting angle aren't that precise yet... It leaves bloodstains, which is a bit of a hassle." Yuji tested his new Ninjutsu, and the results were pleasing, but in his view, there were still some shortcomings.
"What should I name this Ninjutsu... After all, Arai might be in the shadows; I need an explanation for this ability of mine."
"Let's call it Blade Intent Manipulation."
"I'll say the inspiration came from Sasori's Chakra threads and is related to Puppeteers..."
In fact, his method of fighting with wires was quite common on the battlefield.
But his ability was exchanged from the system and did not originate from this world. Therefore, after being assimilated into Ninjutsu, its power and effects were similar to the original character's, and not something an ordinary Ninja could use.
For instance, the Second Pillar, relying on his Sharingan, had also used such wires when fighting Orochimaru.
For example, combining them with some hidden weapons and Fire Release.
But Yuji's piano wire was specially made... it didn't exist in this world. In a combat state, it was very difficult to spot with the naked eye alone.
It looked like... the controlled flying knife was dancing in the air on its own.
And in fact.
Arai was indeed hiding not far from him.
After all, compared to Sasori, Arai was mainly more 'concerned' about Yuji.
He was afraid he would encounter danger.
But seeing Yuji reveal this move, Arai's eyelids couldn't help but twitch.
He was quite far away, and from Yuji's move to the kill, it all ended too quickly... so he couldn't see it clearly at all.
"Is it that scalpel of his?"
"What kind of Ninjutsu is this?"
Arai wasn't quite sure.
The shock in his heart right now was not small.
One must know that when they broke into the Land of Rain before, when Yuji assassinated Amegakure, it was all close-quarters combat.
He hadn't shown this kind of method at all!
Soon... because the patrolling personnel went missing, other Amegakure came looking.
This time, as Arai closed the distance and watched intently, he finally saw clearly.
That scalpel was pulled by a wire, somewhat like a Puppeteer's method of controlling puppets, allowing the flying knife to be flexibly controlled from a distance.
What surprised Arai was that at such a great distance, this small knife could not only be controlled by Yuji with ease... but its power and speed were also remarkable.
The most terrifying thing was the stealth of this method.
The material of that wire was clearly extraordinary, and combined with the uniqueness of the scalpel... "There's a bit of a combination of Ninja Tool techniques... and some hidden weapon elements, but it feels more like a Puppeteer's Chakra threads..." Arai felt extremely strange.
This was a Ninjutsu he had never seen before.
"If it were me, I could handle it, but in a specific environment, a person's state and mindset are different... The unpredictability of this Ninjutsu and its assassination effect... even if a Jonin-level encountered it, one moment of carelessness could be dangerous..."
Arai took a light breath of cold air.
This junior, Yuji... was hiding this move?
He didn't even use it in such a dangerous situation during the previous mission... Just how many more skills is this kid hiding?
Arai suddenly felt that he couldn't quite understand Yuji anymore.
This little fellow was a bit mysterious.
He clearly said before that he didn't want to become a Puppeteer... looking at it now... Arai felt that Yuji had already made a lot of preparations for becoming a Puppeteer.
"The little brat says one thing and does another."
Arai exhaled a breath of turbid air and cursed with a smile in his heart... On the other side, Sasori had also begun his own hunt.
This time, he didn't make a big scene but was equally stealthy.
He performed the Puppeteer's control technique, using his own puppet to take down targets silently.
His hunting style was the same as Yuji's.
Only this time, Sasori did it cleanly and efficiently... demonstrating the Puppeteer's prowess in assassination perfectly.
The traces at the scene were also erased very well.
Time passed bit by bit, and soon... the loss of contact with a large number of Amegakure outpost personnel caused a commotion in the Amegakure defense line.
Many Amegakure began to appear in the forest, and the sense of crisis suddenly increased.
However, this time... Arai's trio was not as disheveled as before.
And the mission time had reached one hour. The three of them still withdrew quietly under the large-scale search and activity of the Amegakure.