What happens when an elite jonin—one with absolute speed advantage—charges into a formation of ninja already locked in fierce frontal combat?
After using the Shadow Clone Technique, two "Shimizus" began darting across the Hidden Sand formation with dizzying Body Flicker movements, appearing behind each target before delivering a clean, lightning-fast strike.
Against jonin, he only needed to force them back.
But to genin and chunin, the unremarkable black kunai in Shimizu's hand had become the scythe of death.
The two "Shimizus" continuously used the Body Flicker Technique, weaving mercilessly through the Sand formation and harvesting lives without pause.
This was truly a wolf among sheep.
At this moment, nearly thirty Sand ninja in the formation were fully engaged in a fierce battle against Konoha's twenty-three fighters. Who could have imagined that a speed-specialized Konoha elite jonin would suddenly appear behind them?
The Sand defensive line instantly fell into chaos.
The moment Shimizu broke into the front line, Rashamon had already dispatched two squads to intercept him.
But Shimizu simply refused to engage them directly. He targeted only the Sand ninja locked in combat with Konoha forces—striking from behind.
Watching his defensive line crumble in mere moments, Rashamon felt his heart sink.
His unit had already annihilated a Konoha ANBU division—a major achievement. If they could eliminate this Konoha force as well…
It would be another great victory…
But he hadn't expected this…
Damn it…
Everything was because of that cat-masked Konoha ANBU!
Suddenly, several Konoha ninja were charging toward the sensory team, and some were even launching an assault on his command position.
The defensive line had been torn apart…
"All units, retreat!" Rashamon shouted.
Though unwilling, he had no choice but to temporarily avoid Konoha's momentum.
He hadn't forgotten that this operation involved an entire Hidden Sand legion—ten divisions in total—assigned to encircle and eliminate Konoha's ANBU.
They would fall back for now and regroup once reinforcements arrived…
Then they could return and strike again!
The remaining Sand ninja quickly adjusted their tactics and began an orderly withdrawal.
"Do we pursue?" Bunshi asked, seeking Shimizu's opinion.
"Pursue them! Capture a few prisoners!"
"Understood!" Bunshi immediately ordered, "All Konoha ninja—chase!"
Since the battle was reaching its end, there was no longer a need to conserve chakra.
Hand seals!
Lightning Release: Chidori!
In the pitch-black night, brilliant blue lightning suddenly burst forth, accompanied by the shrill cry of a thousand birds, streaking straight toward the battlefield where Team 6 and Mercury were fighting.
Shimizu hadn't forgotten that the troublesome puppet masters were still there.
But his target was the puppet master squad leader—the one controlling four puppets.
In a flash!
A streak of blue lightning tore through the darkness.
"Captain Kuryu, look out!" Mercury shouted urgently.
Look out?
Did she mean the poisoned needles?
At such extreme speed, even dynamic vision could barely keep up…
In Shimizu's eyes, several dark shapes flashed past.
He shot past the Sand puppet master in a blur, Chidori cutting cleanly through his body.
The puppet master fell.
But beside him, Mercury also collapsed…
Rakusui rushed forward and checked her breathing.
"She's only exhausted from chakra depletion. She used Eight Trigrams: Rotation at the last moment to deflect the needles the puppet master fired at you..."…"
"I noticed those needles…" Shimizu explained helplessly. "Given their speed, they wouldn't necessarily have hit me."
Sometimes, victory or defeat in a single instant comes down to a moment's hesitation.
From beginning to end, Shimizu had charged forward relentlessly, determined to kill the puppet master. He had never once considered the possibility of losing.
In his judgment, the speed of those projectiles simply wasn't enough to harm him.
But if he had hesitated for even a split second, his movements would have faltered—and the outcome might have been entirely different.
Fortunately, Mercury had only collapsed from chakra exhaustion.
Now all four puppet masters had fallen here. It could be said they had achieved significant results. But the cost was heavy as well—of Team 6, only Rakusui remained. Three more teammates had perished.
"Captain Kuryu, more Hidden Sand reinforcements are ahead. We have to withdraw this time," Bunshi suddenly came to Shimizu's side with the latest update.
The main Konoha force that had been pursuing the enemy was also returning one after another.
How was it that halfway through the fight, the Hidden Sand had reinforcements again?
Shimizu looked around. Barely a dozen people were still standing—that was all the combat strength they had left.
"We can only retreat," he sighed inwardly.
At top speed, they gathered their fallen comrades' belongings and began withdrawing.
Before leaving, they made sure to ignite a raging fire behind them…
…
.........
............
The Konoha ANBU moved swiftly through the dense forest.
"Are the Sand ninja pursuing?" Shimizu asked.
"No signs within 300 meters so far," Bunshi replied.
"It's a pity our best scout is unconscious…" Shimizu glanced at Mercury on his back. A 1.5-kilometer field of vision was something ordinary sensory ninja simply couldn't match.
"I doubt they'll pursue. Cleaning up that battlefield will be enough for them. We didn't see them dispatch any chase units just now…"
The Sand likely wouldn't dare pursue after suffering that explosive tag trap.
"Captain Bunshi, do you have a ninja named Midori in your squad?"
"Yes. But Midori has already fallen. Why do you ask?"
"…Because the Hokage previously assigned a mission to your 8th Squad. I wanted to know the current status."
"You mean the squad that Libra was part of… Unfortunately, there were no survivors from 8th Squad this time."
From the entire Ninth Division, only sixteen remained—and nearly all of them were wounded.
Even so, they had reason to be proud. The results of this battle were remarkable—at least a hundred Sand ninja had died at their hands.
"I see. That's truly unfortunate."
Shimizu suddenly recalled the ANBU who had previously claimed to be Midori. That one was probably from Root.
Or perhaps Root had simply borrowed the codename "Midori." After all, Shimizu had never actually known the real Midori.
That Root operative could call himself "Midori" all he wanted—there was no way for Shimizu to verify it.
And now, even the real Midori was dead…
Likely with no body left behind.
How convenient. No evidence, no witness.
"Captain Kuryu, are you still planning to head south to Rakuyō City?"
"Yes."
"Then this is where we part ways. I need to lead my team north to rendezvous with Lord Orochimaru's forces… I hope we'll have another chance to fight side by side."
"We definitely will."
The two bumped fists, then went their separate ways.
...
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