Yagami used Body Flicker to leave the mountain peak, picking a direction at random. Not long after landing, long-range attacks like kunai and explosive tags began to harass him again. There was a Mist Ninja unit hidden in the surrounding thick fog; their mission was to stall him. They didn't approach, choosing only to harass from the periphery, and Yagami still couldn't pinpoint their exact location.
Several kunai shot out from a certain direction. Yagami swiped them aside and charged toward the source. In the thick fog with visibility of less than two meters, he saw three figures huddling back-to-back. He threw a copper-colored fist forward, only to pull it back halfway.
Standing before his fist were actually three Hidden Leaf shinobi. To kill his momentum, Yagami's lead foot even sank into the ground.
"What happened!"
Seeing it was an ANBU, the Hidden Leaf shinobi said hurriedly, "We followed the Brigade Commander's orders to set an ambush in the designated area, but we were ambushed by the Mist Ninja instead! Our brigade has been scattered!"
Yagami commanded, "The ambush is over! Escape in the direction away from the coast, do not linger here!"
"Yes!"
Hearing an ANBU order them to retreat, the three Hidden Leaf shinobi were incredibly relieved. If they abandoned their combat positions without authorization, it would be viewed as deserting a mission; but if a superior ordered a retreat, fleeing was no longer an issue.
Yagami was surprised. How many Mist Ninja had come to be able to scatter five Hidden Leaf brigades? After watching the three leave, Yagami turned back into the fog.
He ran straight into a Mist Ninja squad. Yagami thought to himself: finally, not Hidden Leaf shinobi.
The Mist Ninja squad leader saw the silhouette of the bandaged ninja sword and recognized it as one of the Seven Ninja Swords, the Twin Swords Hiramekarei! There was no fear of a strong enemy in his heart, only greed for the blade.
He waved his hand. "Go! Kill him!"
Greed was one thing, but he knew the risks; he would let his subordinates test the waters first. The Hidden Leaf ANBU carrying Hiramekarei should be the Copper Fox from the intelligence reports.
In just one exchange, the backs of three Mist Ninja bulged outward as they were sent flying back one after another. The Mist Ninja squad leader looked and saw that the chest of the nearest corpse had been caved in like a deep pot-shaped crater.
What terrifying Taijutsu.
After confirming through this exchange that it was indeed Copper Fox, the squad leader shouted, "Do not use Taijutsu or ninja tools! Maintain distance and use ninjutsu!"
The advantage of Water Style is that no matter how many people release a Water Trumpet, the streams can merge together. When enough Water Style shinobi are gathered, the power of their combined Water Trumpet rivals a tsunami.
Facing a coordinated Water Trumpet from over a dozen Water Style shinobi, Yagami formed a single hand sign. The Water Trumpet crashed into Yagami. As long as the target was submerged by the massive wave, the Mist Ninja had plenty of tricks to use underwater.
However, the Mist Ninja squad leader was disappointed. The coordinated Water Trumpet didn't hit the target; it only washed away a pile of human-shaped mud.
Copper Fox had used an Earth Clone.
The Mist Ninja squad leader stood on the surface of water over ten meters deep and formed signs to use the Summoning Jutsu. His summoning beasts were over a hundred piranhas. In large enough numbers, a school of piranhas could easily tear a shinobi into mincemeat. Each piranha was only the size of a palm, making them difficult for a shinobi to hit in the water. The piranha school swam rapidly beneath the surface, searching for the target.
Yagami appeared atop a large rock in the distance. Below him were churning waves. Yagami hesitated on whether to use Water Instantaneous Body. The timing wasn't ideal; there were too many eyes around.
Yagami gathered a large amount of chakra and used the long-range Water Style: Water Severing Wave. A stream of water with an effective killing range of over fifty meters shot out, instantly piercing through the Mist Ninja squad leader's chest.
The Water Severing Wave was excellent in every way, except that its power decayed rapidly as the distance increased—this was the nature of water, and there was no good way around it for now.
The Mist Ninja squad leader had been staring at the water, controlling the piranha school to find the target. He suddenly looked at his chest in horror; a jet of water had shot through him from behind. Internal strife was severe within the Mist Hidden Village; he had obtained the piranha summoning beasts and had been invincible in the water, killing many experts from his own village.
Before dying, regret welled up in the Mist Ninja squad leader's heart. He was better at dealing with fellow Mist Ninja and wasn't suited to fighting shinobi from other villages.
After the squad leader was killed, the other Mist Ninja fled quickly. Yagami didn't pursue them deeply, standing on the rock waiting for the flood to recede. After resting for only a few minutes, the annoying kunai and explosive tags pierced toward him again. That unit harassing him was back.
Using Body Flicker to leave, Yagami continued his search in the thick fog. As he walked, he heard the sound of explosions becoming particularly dense in a certain direction. He remembered from the map that there was a low mountain to the southwest.
After walking southwest for a few minutes, Yagami heard the faint sound of crashing waves. In the thick fog, he could only hear sounds; he could see nothing. Yagami formed his signs and waited for the waves.
After staring toward the source of the sound for over ten seconds, a massive wave over ten meters high suddenly appeared three meters away.
"Earth Style: Earth Style Wall!"
A trapezoidal Earth Style Wall over ten meters high rose, providing Yagami with a foothold. As the wave passed and the water surface grew slightly calmer, dozens of silhouettes stood faintly in the distance. These dozens of people were blocking him, preventing him from continuing southwest.
These dozens of people were likely the Mist Ninja monitoring his movements. Now that they were showing themselves, it seemed the battlefield to the southwest was important. The more the enemy opposed it, the more it proved he was right. Yagami was determined to go southwest.
the Mist Ninja Brigade Commander formed a hand sign with one hand, using the thick fog to sense Copper Fox. The fog was mixed with faint chakra; any disturbance in the mist would be transmitted back to him.
"He's vanished! Vanished into the ground! Everyone, watch your feet!"
The Mist Ninja Brigade Commander's mission was to track and harass Copper Fox; he didn't need to risk his life against him. Once several elite Jonin finished their battles on other fronts, they would eventually come to decide the ownership of the Twin Swords Hiramekarei. Until then, no elite Jonin was allowed to seize Hiramekarei ahead of time. He had self-awareness and knew he wasn't capable of touching Hiramekarei. At the same time, he had to prevent Copper Fox from entering other main battlefields.
The Mist Ninja Brigade Commander crouched down, pressing both hands onto the water's surface, sensing the ground beneath the water.
Directly beneath him, someone burst from the earth, charging upward from the bottom of the water! The Mist Ninja Brigade Commander quickly formed signs and used the Water Prison Jutsu. In an environment full of water, the Water Prison Jutsu was easy to perform; a spherical water prison could appear rapidly at any position in the water. According to intelligence, when facing Copper Fox, the priority should be capture.
The Water Prison caught Copper Fox!
However, in the next instant, the white smoke of a shadow clone popping appeared inside the Water Prison. The ground at the bottom of the water churned, and the soil broke apart into mud. The water became incredibly turbid.
Amidst the murky chaos, Yagami took a risk and used Water Instantaneous Body.
The Mist Ninja Brigade Commander was still crouching on the water's surface when a person suddenly appeared on the water behind him. Yagami held a ninja sword and used Kakashi's secret technique.
"Sword Art: One Thousand Years of Death!"
A long blade thrust in from behind the Mist Ninja Brigade Commander. The Mist Ninja Brigade Commander only felt a tightening in his rear as a sharp blade entered his abdomen directly through his backside!
***
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