The next day, Sakumo Hatake disguised himself as an ordinary merchant and left the city as usual.
The Sand ninja guarding the area did not notice anything unusual.
Once they were far beyond the Sand ninja's line of sight, the group immediately increased their pace and headed toward the target location.
Soon, they spotted a withered tree with a faint human figure swaying beside it.
"Wait." Sakumo Hatake suddenly raised a hand and narrowed his eyes at the distant silhouette. The figure beside the dead tree was swaying unnaturally.
The other two instantly halted upon hearing the order.
At that moment—
The sand on the ground suddenly split apart, and a massive net tightened upward from beneath the earth, attempting to trap all three of them inside.
Right then—
A flash of white light flickered past.
The giant net was instantly shredded into pieces.
Sakumo Hatake's short blade had already appeared in his hand. At the same time, seven or eight figures burst out from beneath the sand.
"Wind Release: Wind Prison!"
Four of them rapidly formed hand seals together. Violent winds suddenly erupted around the trio, forming a cage-like prison that sealed them inside.
The four Root members disguised as Sand ninja simultaneously pressed their palms against the wind wall.
"Barrier Technique: Four Dragon Wind Seal!"
Dragon heads formed from the four walls of wind and lunged toward the trapped trio.
One of the trapped ninja quickly formed seals while Sakumo Hatake and the other ninja cooperated, blocking the attacks from the wind dragons with kunai and short blades.
"Earth Release: Earth Core Movement!"
The ground beneath the three rapidly rose upward.
The weakest point of this barrier was above.
Sakumo Hatake instantly understood his companion's intention. He swung his short blade upward with force, and a white crescent slash tore through the barrier overhead in an instant.
The three of them immediately dashed toward the distant tree.
Even though they had already been exposed, confirming the spy's condition remained their top priority.
The real purpose of this mission was to obtain the intelligence.
"Wind Release: Violent Wind Dance!"
One of the Root ninja forcefully exhaled toward the trio.
Countless chaotic wind currents blasted toward them.
Left with no choice, the three split apart to evade the raging winds. The Root members also divided into pairs, charging toward the Konoha ninja and forcing them away from their original path.
Sakumo Hatake gritted his teeth. The ANBU behind him failed to catch up immediately, allowing him to rush straight to the spy's side.
The spy's corpse hung from the tree branch, completely lifeless.
But Sakumo knew that Konoha spies would always leave information behind before death.
His blade quickly sliced open the corpse's clothing.
As expected, he saw black markings hidden beneath.
At that moment, the remaining Root members charged in.
They forced Sakumo Hatake away from the corpse. The ninja sent here were all experts in Wind Release.
Four of them surrounded Sakumo Hatake simultaneously.
Sakumo's eyes sharpened.
White light appeared along his short blade.
In nearly an instant, he passed through one ninja's body and appeared behind him.
The ninja froze briefly before collapsing forward onto the ground.
The remaining three showed no fear whatsoever and continued charging at Sakumo.
"Disposable death soldiers?" Sakumo Hatake narrowed his eyes.
His figure transformed into a streak of white light as he rushed toward the second ninja.
The two crossed paths instantly.
Without stopping, Sakumo charged toward the third ninja while the second slowly collapsed behind him.
The moment he crossed paths with the third ninja—
The white flash also sliced through the fourth.
Within only a few breaths, the battle had already ended.
Just as Sakumo stepped forward to inspect the spy—
A transparent wind rope wrapped around the corpse and dragged it away instantly.
Hyuga Arin stepped onto the corpse and looked toward the halted Sakumo Hatake.
"So you're Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake. I've really wanted to see your abilities for myself."
Arin grinned broadly. He lightly flicked the long blade in his hand, and the sharp edge tore open the sand beneath him.
"Who are you!?" Sakumo Hatake demanded in a deep voice.
The opponent gave him an intense sense of danger.
This was absolutely no ordinary ninja.
A ninja of this caliber should never have been dispatched by Sunagakure during wartime.
"Well, who knows?" Arin replied casually.
Wearing an utterly ordinary face with the characteristic features of a Wind Country native, he lightly pushed off the ground and charged toward Sakumo Hatake.
"Thunder Breathing."
Arin inhaled deeply.
Electric sparks began flickering within the currents of wind surrounding his body.
Whoosh.
His speed suddenly skyrocketed.
Sakumo immediately raised his blade to block.
Clang!
The long and short blades collided violently.
Crackling lightning surged along the blades toward Sakumo Hatake, whose figure vanished instantly from Arin's sight.
Arin reacted as though he had eyes behind him, hurriedly blocking behind his back.
Clang!
"So fast."
Arin tilted his head sideways toward Sakumo Hatake.
For a moment there, he had nearly failed to react.
At that instant, white light flared once more along Sakumo's blade.
BOOM!!
Arin's figure was instantly blown apart by the white slash.
"Not bad at all," Arin's voice sounded from nearby.
"Genjutsu."
Sakumo reacted instantly and quickly formed seals.
"Release!"
The Arin before him vanished as well.
The real Arin had already appeared directly in front of him. His blade had reached Sakumo's left side, the sharp edge already pressed against his face.
Slash!
In that instant, Arin struck empty air again.
Sakumo vanished from his original spot and appeared behind Arin, his short blade slashing toward Arin's neck.
Lightning crackled across Arin's body as he instantly lowered his head to evade.
The blade sliced through his hair, several strands of black falling to the ground.
Arin hurriedly flipped backward and kicked toward Sakumo.
But Sakumo disappeared again in an instant.
The kick shattered only an afterimage.
"Wind Release: Wind Tornado!"
Violent winds suddenly swirled around Arin.
Within the tornado, white light flashed once more.
The next moment, Sakumo Hatake appeared in the distance, leaning forward and aiming directly at Arin.
"What a troublesome opponent."
Arin could not help sighing at Sakumo's speed.
His body movement speed was already terrifying enough, combined with an unbelievably fast blade.
This really was a difficult enemy to deal with.
Arin stretched out a hand toward Sakumo.
"Wind Release: Infinite Walls!"
Instantly, countless walls of wind materialized before him one after another.
At the same moment, Sakumo moved.
His entire body transformed into a streak of white light.
The white crescent slash pierced through wall after wall of wind in an instant.
"It can't stop him at all!"
Arin pushed his chakra output to the limit, pouring everything into the raging tornado around him.
Whoosh!
The white flash instantly severed the tornado protecting Arin.
Arin's body flickered once before dissolving into light and vanishing.
"Genjutsu!?"
Sakumo Hatake frowned.
Hadn't he already experienced this once before?
Unable to recall any method to break it, he simply chose to close his eyes.
Clang!
Arin's descending blade was blocked by Sakumo's short sword.
"You've got to be kidding me."
Arin stared at Sakumo Hatake in shock.
How the hell did he detect him?!
✨ Bonus Chapter Goals ✨
10 Reviews = 1 Bonus Chapter
100 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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