Chapter 23 — Sniping, Part Two
Inside the Sand Ninja outpost, alarmed voices rose in chaos.
"Enemy attack!"
"Where is the enemy?!"
Sand ninja rushed out from every direction, their eyes sweeping across the valley and the surrounding mountains in frantic attempts to locate the attacker.
The direction of the gunshots had given them a rough idea of where the attack originated, but when they looked toward the slopes of the mountains, they saw nothing.
Not a single enemy silhouette. Even the few sensory ninja stationed in the base could detect nothing.
Their chakra perception searched the area again and again, but the intruder remained completely hidden.
All they could do was estimate that the enemy was somewhere on the high mountains to the right side of the valley.
Inside the wooden huts and tents, more sand ninja emerged with weapons in hand.
Many had only heard the strange noises and the shouting of "Enemy attack!" before rushing outside. They had no idea what had happened.
Some hadn't even noticed that several of their comrades had already collapsed on the ground.
Among the dead was even an elite jōnin.
The situation was so sudden that most of them hadn't even realized someone had been killed.
Only a few seconds had passed since the first attack.
Then the bullets came again. Invisible projectiles screamed through the air at terrifying speed, far faster than any thrown weapon.
The metal rounds tore through the camp like invisible spears.
Bodies were pierced instantly. Flesh and bone shattered under the impact.
Within three seconds, five more sand ninja were struck.
Some had their chests punched open.
Others had their skulls blown apart.
Their bodies collapsed before they even understood what had happened.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Only after those five sand ninja had already fallen did the echoing gunshots finally reach the base.
The delayed sound rolled across the valley like distant thunder.
For the sand ninja, the effect was terrifying.
They were dying before the sound of the attack even arrived.
Panic spread through the camp.
"Enemy attack!"
The sand ninja who had witnessed the carnage screamed in horror.
Some rushed toward the fallen.
Others desperately scanned the mountainside, searching for the hidden enemy.
But even as they watched their comrades die, they still couldn't find the attacker.
All they knew was that the shots were coming from somewhere high on the mountain to the right.
Even the sensory ninja could not pinpoint the exact location.
Their detection range simply couldn't reach that far.
---
A piercing scream suddenly echoed across the outpost.
"Sensei!"
A young sand ninja dropped to his knees beside the body of his teacher.
The man's skull had been completely destroyed.
Blood soaked the ground beneath him.
The young ninja trembled as grief overwhelmed him.
"Little brother!"
Not far away, another ninja collapsed beside a fallen body.
He grabbed the shoulders of the corpse—his younger sibling.
Half of the boy's head had been blown away.
The older brother sobbed uncontrollably, his voice breaking with despair.
"Hang in there, Pantsu-chan! Stay with me!"
Seven or eight sand ninja had gathered around a fallen female ninja. Her body lay motionless on the ground, a terrible hole torn through the center of her chest.
Her husband knelt beside her, desperately pressing his hands against the wound in a futile attempt to stop the bleeding.
Blood continued to pour out between his fingers.
"Medical ninja! Someone get a medic!"
Nearby sand ninja shouted urgently.
A medical ninja rushed over, immediately kneeling beside the wounded woman.
Green chakra glowed around his hands as he began performing emergency healing. But when he saw the injury clearly, his expression darkened.
A Barrett bullet had struck her directly.
The damage was catastrophic.
Even for a trained medic, such a wound was almost impossible to save.
Still, he continued the treatment, unwilling to give up.
The female ninja gasped weakly.
For a moment it seemed as if she might recover.
Then her breathing stopped.
Her body went limp.
"No—!"
Her husband's anguished roar echoed across the camp.
At that exact moment—
Pfft!
A bullet tore through the chest of the ninja standing in front of him.
The round passed straight through his body, entered the grieving husband's mouth, and exited through the back of his skull.
The momentum didn't stop there.
The bullet continued onward and slammed into the thigh of another sand ninja standing behind them.
Blood erupted everywhere.
Six or seven nearby ninja were instantly splattered in crimson.
They stood frozen in shock.
Pfft! Pfft!
Less than a second later, another bullet struck.
The newly arrived medical ninja had just begun to stand—
His head exploded instantly.
The same bullet continued through his body and pierced the chest of another sand ninja behind him.
Bang!
The gunshot followed an instant later.
Then three more bullets tore through the area.
Four additional sand ninja collapsed to the ground.
---
"The attack is coming from the mountain on the right!"
"Don't stand in the open!"
"Take cover!"
The sand ninja finally began reacting more decisively.
Even though they still couldn't see the enemy, they understood that remaining exposed in the open was suicidal.
Several ninja immediately dove behind wooden huts.
Others slammed their hands onto the ground and used Earth Release techniques to raise defensive walls of dirt and stone.
Within seconds, much of the camp was scrambling for cover.
Behind one of the huts, an elite sand ninja crouched low.
His face was pale as he quickly analyzed the situation.
The attack arrived more than a second before the sound…
That means the projectiles traveled faster than sound.
His eyes widened slightly.
The enemy is attacking from beyond the sensory ninja's range…
At least five hundred meters away.
Such a strange and terrifying attack method was something he had never encountered before.
He immediately shouted toward the others.
"Everyone listen!"
"The enemy is attacking from the mountains hundreds of meters to the right!"
"Take cover immediately!"
"Do not leave shelter unless absolutely necessary!"
---
A sand ninja rushed toward the command position.
"Lord Rofi!"
He stopped beside the elite ninja and spoke urgently.
"Chisaku is dead. Only his disciple Baki survived."
Not far away, a young boy stood trembling beside the bodies of his teacher and fellow students.
In front of the wooden hut lay four corpses.
Elite jōnin Chisaku, his two disciples, and a chūnin. All of them had been killed within seconds.
(Kunai can injure or even kill a chūnin or jōnin. But bullets travel at least ten times faster than thrown kunai. For ordinary ninja, dodging them is almost impossible.)
---
Konoha Position — Mountain Slope
"Ren… why won't you listen to us?"
Gekkō Hoshino rubbed his forehead in frustration. He looked as though he might pull his hair out at any moment.
"Acting on your own like this…"
"Gekkō Ren, you're being reckless!"
Another jōnin glared angrily.
"As a ninja, you must obey orders!"
"This is unauthorized action!"
The surrounding jōnin and chūnin were visibly furious.
Ren's actions had essentially revealed their location.
If not for his special identity and abilities, some of them might have already restrained him.
No one believed his plan could actually work.
Hitting targets from seven hundred meters away?
That was absurd.
Even Gekkō Hoshino doubted it.
Although they had tested Ren's Bloodline Limit before, they had never tried anything even close to this distance.
After all—
Their understanding of firearms was practically nonexistent. But Ren ignored them completely.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five more shots echoed across the valley.
"Hey! Are you even listening?"
"Do you want to get us all killed?!"
The repeated gunfire pushed several jōnin past their limit.
A few even rolled up their sleeves as if preparing to physically stop him.
In their eyes, Ren was gambling with the lives of more than one hundred comrades.
Even if this mission depended on Ren's Bloodline Limit, he needed to learn obedience first.
Otherwise, they would all die.
"Everyone calm down!"
Hoshino quickly stepped between them.
"Our position has already been exposed. The sand ninja will arrive here soon. The priority now is retreat—not arguing."
He glanced toward Ren with a stern expression.
"Once we regroup, I'll discipline this kid properly. This won't happen again."
One jōnin frowned.
"Clan Leader Hoshino, you must control your boy."
"He could get everyone killed—including your own clan members."
Hoshino nodded quickly.
"You're right. Once we retreat, I'll deal with him myself. He won't repeat this mistake."
But Ren spoke calmly without even turning around.
"You know nothing about my abilities. Nor about sniper tactics. You think my plan won't work?"
"Fine."
"Follow your plan. I'll follow mine."
His voice was cold and emotionless. As if the surrounding anger meant nothing.
Then he fired again.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Five more shots rang out.
Through the scope, he had seen sand ninja gathering around the corpses.
It was the perfect target cluster.
"You—!"
Several jōnin were now completely enraged.
Even Hoshino was at a loss for words.
He rushed forward and pressed his hand down on Ren's Barrett rifle.
"That's enough! You need to reflect on what you've done!"
Ren simply replied calmly.
"I don't think I need to reflect. Just look at the results."
He shifted slightly, allowing Hoshino to look through the rifle's scope.
Reluctantly, Hoshino leaned forward and peered through the optic.
The moment he saw the scene below—
He froze.
His eyes widened in shock.
"You actually did it…"
"You really killed them!"
Through the scope, the Sand Ninja outpost was in complete chaos.
Ninja were scrambling for cover.
Some were raising Earth Release barriers.
Others dragged injured comrades away.
Scattered across the camp were more than ten bodies.
Dead sand ninja.
Behind him, the Konoha ninja fell silent.
"What…?"
Seven hundred meters.
A jōnin quickly pulled out a pair of binoculars and looked toward the valley.
A few seconds later, he lowered them slowly.
"…He actually did it."
Ren looked at Hoshino calmly.
"Just because you can't do it… Doesn't mean I can't."
"So tell me."
"Do you still think my plan is impossible?"
Hoshino finally recovered from his shock and shouted to the others.
"He's already killed more than ten sand ninja!"
"It's true," the jōnin with the binoculars confirmed, passing them to another.
Now every Konoha ninja stared at Ren with disbelief. Not only had he successfully sniped enemies from seven hundred meters away—
He had eliminated more than ten of them in the short time they had spent arguing.