Chapter 10 — Barrett Heavy Sniper Template
"Then let's see! The only one who will die is you," Pakura said, directing the fireballs floating around her toward Tsukigami Ren. The Suna ninja surrounding him in a semicircle began quickly forming hand seals with their hands.
"Wait! Fighting blindly is boring. Before we start, why not make a bet with some intelligence?" Tsukigami Ren shouted loudly. "We each reveal one piece of important information. Whoever survives takes the information."
Pakura ignored him, continuing to control the Scorch Release fireballs toward Tsukigami Ren, while the Suna ninja did not stop their hand seals. The enemy's words were not trustworthy; more likely a trap. They would never reveal Suna's secrets.
"I know the information about the Third Kazekage going missing! Accurate information."
At that moment, Tsukigami Ren's cold words caused Pakura to halt the Scorch Release fireballs she controlled, and the Suna ninja stopped their hand seals as well. The disappearance of Suna's Third Kazekage had been the spark that ignited this war. Such information could not be ignored, especially coming from a strong enemy—even if it might be false, it deserved attention.
"The Third Kazekage was killed by a rogue ninja from your Suna Village. His name is… Sasori," Tsukigami Ren said. Amid Pakura and the Suna ninja's disbelief, his hands suddenly transformed into two Barrett rifles, aiming at the forest behind Pakura and opening fire in rapid succession.
Barrett Template. This was a new weapon technology template his system had detected during the five days of ambush preparation here.
Barrett Heavy Sniper Rifle Template: Fires 12.7mm bullets. Bullet range and firing rate vary by ammunition type. Manifesting the Barrett consumes 10 energy points, and each bullet consumes 1 energy point.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang…
Ten resounding shots rang out, echoing across the riverbank and forest like rolling thunder.
The sheer volume startled Pakura and the surrounding Suna ninja.
This time, Tsukigami Ren had learned from experience. He was using 12.7mm armor-piercing rounds (exact type unspecified). These bullets have a muzzle velocity over 1,000 meters per second, capable of penetrating a 20mm alloy steel plate at 30 degrees from 500 meters. Even a tree trunk half a meter thick two hundred meters away was pierced effortlessly. The Suna ninja observing from the forest had not fully hidden behind trees; some were crouched behind bushes.
The sudden attack—within just over 0.2 seconds—the Suna ninja still in the forest had no time to react. Half their heads exploded like watermelons, necks shattered, and even shots that penetrated trees and hit their chests tore out blood holes the size of walnuts.
(Due to the violent impact, a body hit by the Barrett sniper rifle would be shattered by the wound. Wound size varies by bullet type; armor-piercing rounds cause smaller entry wounds.)
All ten bullets hit, and six Suna ninja hiding in the forest fell one after another.
After the gunfire, Pakura and the Suna ninja surrounding Tsukigami Ren were left shaken with fear. They were closer to him, meaning less reaction time. Even Pakura had been caught off guard.
"Lady Pakura, Sunahara and the others have all been killed," the sensing ninja said, incredulously. Within three seconds, all comrades hidden in the forest were gone, including one jōnin.
"Bastard! Die!" Pakura gritted her teeth and roared, controlling her Scorch Release fireballs once more toward Tsukigami Ren.
At the same time, Pakura's eyes fixed on the strange weapons the enemy had manifested with his hands. Her feet moved quickly, not daring to pause, as she warned the others loudly: "Everyone, be careful! Don't let his weaponized hands aim at you!"
She never expected the enemy to target the distant comrades hiding in the forest first. His intent was clear: to annihilate them completely, leaving no chance of escape. The enemy's attacks were fast, strange, and unpredictable. Two to three hundred meters away, all they saw was flashes of red light as he fired—no time to react.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!" ×3
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" ×2
"Wind Release: Gale Assault!"
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!"
The other Suna ninja unleashed their own jutsu, keeping their eyes locked on the enemy, ready at any moment to use Body Flicker Technique or Substitution Jutsu. They ran quickly in a semicircle around Tsukigami Ren, cautiously closing in. They did not even dare jump, as being airborne would give the enemy a perfect opportunity to kill them.
Even without Pakura's warning, they knew that if Tsukigami Ren aimed his weaponized hands at them, it would be a death sentence.
After all, even jōnin (except speed types) rarely move at speeds surpassing 100 meters per second. They were less than a hundred meters from him, and the flashes of red light were too fast for them to react in time. Even if they did, their bodies couldn't match the speed at such a close range.
Three Earth Wall barriers rose from the riverbank, twenty meters in front of Tsukigami Ren, partially blocking his line of sight.
A violent wind howled, lifting gravel from the riverbank to strike him while obstructing his vision and movement. A terrifying hurricane enveloped him, constantly pulling at his body.
The Fire Dragon surged into the hurricane, growing larger and hotter, scorching Tsukigami Ren.
Earth bullets, as large as watermelons, shot toward him with whistling sounds—enough to break bones if they struck an ordinary person.
Ignoring the blazing fireballs and whirling debris, Tsukigami Ren withstood the barrage and dashed out of the compound jutsu's Fire Dragon tornado. Only his clothing suffered.
What…? Even Lady Pakura's Scorch Release didn't harm him? Is this his kekkei genkai? What kind of kekkei genkai is this?
Seeing him emerge unharmed, not even a hair singed, the Suna ninja widened their eyes in shock. A terrifying thought struck: could this kekkei genkai even be immune to fire, including Scorch Release?
"Damn it!" Pakura cursed. Her kekkei genkai had been countered, completely neutralized. She had seen her own Scorch Release hit the enemy first—but it was ineffective.
Unfortunately, none of them were Water Release users, or they could have tested for the kekkei genkai's weakness.
The harsh environment of the Land of Wind affected chakra attributes for their country's ninja. Although not absolute, Water Release users were extremely rare.
After emerging from the compound fire jutsu, Tsukigami Ren reloaded the Barrett. Despite the impact of flying debris and the hurricane, whenever he tried to aim at the Suna ninja, the prepared elite ninja avoided the shots with Body Flicker or Substitution Jutsu, retreating behind the Earth Walls.
The number of Suna ninja now exceeded thirty, though in Tsukigami Ren's electronic eye, only nine were real; the rest were clones.
(Note: Not Shadow Clones. Shadow Clone is a B-rank Konoha jutsu. Suna clones require sand manipulation.)
Blocking sight, disrupting movement, releasing attacks, interfering with judgment, always ready to evade… as expected of elite Suna ninja. Their coordination of jutsu and tactics is impeccable. And they figured out how to counter firearms so quickly!
After several failed attempts to aim, Tsukigami Ren had to admit—despite having a T800 installed, his own movements were still like a genin's.
Though they couldn't dodge bullets outright, the difference in reaction speed allowed them to anticipate his moves, provided they stayed close. Beyond a certain range, bullets approaching 2.5 times the speed of sound were impossible to dodge. One hit, and they'd be the next corpses on the riverbank.
However, his electronic eye excelled at long-range observation. Even a jōnin's movements could not escape it. The advantage lay in distance. Like the riverbank strewn with bodies, without intelligence, nine out of ten would die before reaching him, with no chance to escape into the forest.
Tsukigami Ren gave up on targeting the elite Suna ninja, redirecting his aim to the incoming Earth bullets and the distant Earth dragon heads that were launching them. He was not afraid of being hit, but repairing his body consumed significant energy points.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!…
Ten more deafening shots rang out. Incoming Earth bullets were destroyed, and the Earth dragon heads launching them were shattered by the bullets.