"Arrogant little brat..."
Swish.
Following Yubi's words, several Hidden Mist Ninja appeared one after another from the shadows.
One of them stared at him, a look of mockery on his face.
Clearly, their three-person squad was also mistaken for the kind of pure rookie team Konoha sends to gain experience on the battlefield.
"A bunch of trash."
Sasori looked at the Hidden Mist Ninja, who seemed certain of victory, and said indifferently.
Huh?
Hearing this, the expressions of the Hidden Mist Ninja immediately strained.
"I agree."
Yubi also smiled.
Whoosh!
Without further ado, the Hidden Mist Ninja immediately dispersed, attacking the tree trunk where the three stood from various directions.
One of them held a chain-like weapon, swinging it through the air. A sharp sickle attached to the end of the chain sliced toward Sasori's neck.
Another Hidden Mist Ninja, the fastest one, mysteriously 'vanished' in mid-air while using a tree trunk for leverage. The faint mist already prevalent in the forest, combined with the dim light, was quite suitable for executing Ninjutsu that deceive perception.
Sasori merely flicked a finger, and the Hidden Mist Ninja who was tightly gripping the chain and jumping closer was instantly seized by the 'Puppet' he controlled, suddenly suspended in mid-air.
The Puppet's several arms wrapped tightly around the Hidden Mist Ninja's body like shackles.
Then... the Puppet's neck flipped open, revealing its mechanism.
No matter how the Hidden Mist Ninja struggled, it was useless. The Puppet and the Hidden Mist Ninja fell together from mid-air, and when they hit the ground, the Hidden Mist Ninja's entire face had been sliced open by the Puppet's mechanism, splashing blood everywhere.
As for Yubi.
His eyes seemed unable to locate the 'invisible' Hidden Mist Ninja.
But a few meters away, the sound of a drop of blood penetrating an object was heard.
A corpse subsequently dropped.
He had arranged and scattered many blood beads around their squad's area, forming a seemingly simple 'domain'.
Although it hadn't reached the airtight level of the Third Kazekage, if the enemy didn't notice and moved near the blood beads, they would be attacked immediately... This simple application of his ability didn't even require him to form hand signs.
Almost simultaneously with the Hidden Mist Ninja's attack, although Sasori and Yubi did not move.
Arai, the Elite Jōnin, launched a preemptive strike.
Arai ignored the Hidden Mist Ninja attacking the two boys and instead rushed directly toward the target positioned further back, striking with the swiftness of thunder.
Accompanied by several whistling and tearing gusts of wind in the forest, soon... the entire Hidden Mist squad was annihilated.
Having finished, Arai leaped back onto the tree trunk, standing between the two boys, his lips moving slightly as if speaking softly to Sasori and Yubi.
Meanwhile, behind several tree trunks nearly a hundred meters away from them.
Several figures pressed against the bark, their hearts chilled.
They had 'witnessed' this scene.
This was also a four-person Konoha squad.
It consisted of a Special Jonin acting as the teacher, with the remaining three being students.
The Hidden Mist Ninja who attacked the Sunagakure group were actually targeting them... but unexpectedly ended up fighting the three Sunagakure individuals before them.
Their squad and the Konoha squad currently outside the forest in the white mist were executing the same mission, operating together in a mutual assistance relationship.
After being discovered and pursued by the Hidden Mist Ninja, the two squads split up to escape... without engaging in combat.
Because for a teacher, protecting the safety of their students is always the top priority.
But unexpectedly, neither team managed to shake off the Hidden Mist Ninja... Even though this place was far from the main battlefield, the large number of Ninja active in the Land of Rice Fields meant that the presence of Sunagakure individuals was quite normal.
The teacher leading the team initially... hoped that the Hidden Mist and Sunagakure groups would fight each other so they could reap the benefits later, but he never expected that these three seemingly 'weak' Sunagakure individuals would eliminate the Hidden Mist Ninja in a flash.
It was a complete rout... "Especially... those two young boys."
Yano, the captain and teacher, secretly poked half his head out from behind the tree, cautiously observing the three 'black dots'.
If the other Konoha squad could successfully deal with the Hidden Mist Ninja and join up with them... perhaps they would have a fighting chance against the Sunagakure group before them.
The only adult in the opposing squad... judging by the efficiency of his kills against the Hidden Mist Ninja, he was definitely a Jonin.
His strength was definitely superior to his own!
With such a powerful individual present, if they were discovered, his three students would likely not be spared.
"The red-haired one is a Puppeteer... although very young, being able to instantly kill a Hidden Mist Ninja means he is at least Chunin level. I didn't notice the methods of the other brat at all... but his strength must not be weak. The truly troublesome one is the man standing between them..."
Yano's rotating eyeballs became somewhat rigid.
This Sunagakure three-person team was definitely not a typical training squad.
They were a mission squad with extensive experience.
At this time, Sunagakure Ninja operating in the Land of Rice Fields must primarily be focused on gathering battlefield intelligence.
"Wait a minute."
Suddenly, Yano thought of something.
Three people... one adult and two young ones, especially the age of the two brats.
Abruptly, Yano's expression changed slightly.
He recalled an incident: nearly a year ago, a Sunagakure squad intercepted their Konoha resource transport group. Due to the exposure of the route, the Village had to find new transport paths.
This was normal during wartime... the reason the Village noticed was that this Sunagakure squad only had three members... Furthermore, in the subsequent pursuit battle sent by the Village, they killed two veteran Jonin from their Village.
This was a'serious' loss for the Village.
Another thing was, recently... Konoha and Iwagakure were fighting fiercely, and at that time, a Sunagakure squad frequently harassed the rear of the battle lines. Although the impact wasn't major, they became known to some troops.
This squad was very cunning. Because of their small numbers, they only operated around minor front lines and frequently moved, making it inconvenient to target them given the situation on the front lines at the time.
The main reason was that the person leading the team was extremely experienced... clearly a veteran.
Later, the Village integrated the information and confirmed that this Sunagakure squad was the same trio that had killed Ryosuke and Otani.
Ryosuke was killed by their Elite Jōnin, and Otani... seemed to have died at the hands of one of the young boys.
Otani was a famous Taijutsu master in their Village, and a veteran Jonin at that.
"It's them... Arai of Sunagakure, and the genius Puppeteer of Sunagakure... Sasori, I think? As for that brat... the one who killed Otani? His name is... Yubi?" As he realized this, Yano's scalp instantly prickled.
The reason Konoha knew so much about the three of them, besides their strong intelligence gathering capabilities, was also thanks to the secret techniques of the Yamanaka Clan. Inoichi Yamanaka had accurately sensed the three at the time, and through descriptions, confirmed Arai's identity from Ryosuke... thereby bringing Sasori and Yubi into the Village's sight as well.
"This is bad..."
Yano swallowed hard.
A drop of cold sweat unknowingly trickled down his forehead.
He gestured toward his students hiding behind the trees a few meters away.
The message he conveyed immediately stunned the three students, making their faces turn pale.
At this moment, Yano suddenly noticed that Arai seemed to be whispering something secretly to Sasori and Yubi.
A sense of foreboding immediately set off alarm bells in his mind.
Whoosh.
The next second, the three black dots that had been standing on the tree instantly transformed into streaks of white silk, scattering in different directions and vanishing from his sight.
"Run! Head for the mist!"
Yano's pupils constricted, and he immediately shouted.
He knew... his squad had been discovered!