Unlike Rorin's relaxed ease, the front battlefield was already filled with smoke and chaos. The partially tailed-beast-transformed Utakata stood slightly hunched, facing the squad from the Village Hidden in the Mist.
Suddenly, Utakata launched an attack. His elongated tailed-beast tail swept toward the Mist ANBU with overwhelming force.
Water Style: Water Formation Wall!
Ao and the Mist squad formed hand seals together, erecting Water Formation Walls to block Utakata's assault. Seven walls of water rose up, cushioning the rapidly incoming tail.
The group quickly retreated, distancing themselves from the tailed-beast's tail.
Seeing the attack fail, Utakata tapped the ground and moved like a phantom, targeting one of the already injured Mist ANBU.
"Not good!" Ao reacted instantly, forming seals with one hand as the situation turned critical.
Water Style: Water Shockwave!
Ao spat out a torrent like a waterfall toward Utakata, intending to save his comrade from Utakata's grasp.
Sensing the powerful surge of water, Utakata halted and sidestepped the attack, but it gave the injured ANBU the chance to escape, and he quickly retreated.
At the same time, the Mist ANBU captain seized the opportunity while Utakata paused and immediately released a jutsu.
Water Style: Drizzle Cut!
A fine rain began to fall around Utakata, gradually weakening his chakra. For a brief second, his partial tailed-beast form flickered and nearly disappeared.
"Now!" the ANBU captain shouted.
"Yes!" Four ANBU responded, swiftly surrounding Utakata and forming seals.
Water Style: Water Whip!
Four whips formed from water bound Utakata tightly as he struggled.
The whips held him fast, and the four ANBU infused them with Lightning Style chakra. Electricity surged through the water, striking Utakata's entire body.
"Arrghhh!"
Utakata cried out in pain, then increased the flow of chakra in his body.
A highly acidic fluid secreted from his body, rapidly corroding the water whips. In moments, they dissolved completely, and Utakata broke free, pausing to catch his breath.
Seeing the failure, Ao frowned deeply. This mission was proving far more difficult than expected. He activated his Byakugan again, trying to track Utakata's movements and find a way to counter him.
Meanwhile, Utakata's thoughts raced. After the intense battle, his stamina and chakra were nearly depleted. He knew he had to end this quickly—if it dragged on, he would definitely lose.
He began gathering chakra in his mouth. Before long, a black Tailed Beast Ball formed. After a brief charge, he fired it.
Facing the incoming Tailed Beast Ball, the Mist ANBU knew they couldn't withstand it head-on and immediately used defensive jutsu.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Smoke filled the air!
The Tailed Beast Ball shattered their defenses one by one. Realizing they couldn't stop it, they scattered and fled to safer positions.
After firing the Tailed Beast Ball, Utakata didn't linger. Taking advantage of their distraction, he escaped.
Watching the entire battle from the sidelines, Rorin felt a bit of regret. Utakata hadn't killed anyone.
As for whether they were severely injured, it was unclear. But judging from the destructive power of the Tailed Beast Ball, they were most likely half-crippled.
And now that Utakata had already left—and clearly had no intention of killing them—if Rorin didn't act now, then when?
Thinking it through, he acted immediately. He leapt down from the tree, removed the weights from his body, feeling completely unburdened, and dashed toward the explosion site.
"Cough, cough!" As the smoke cleared, Ao and the six remaining ANBU emerged.
"Damn it! He got away! After him!" Ao shouted after scanning with his Byakugan.
But the ANBU captain grabbed him and said indifferently, "No rush. Let's deal with the little rat that just arrived first."
As soon as he finished speaking, Rorin landed, appearing before them with a wicked smile.
"No need to rush. Where are you all going?"
After a brief glance, the captain lost interest and casually instructed one of his subordinates,
"Go. Kill him. He saw something he shouldn't have. Deal with him and catch up."
With that, he turned to leave.
"Yes!"
The ANBU operative acknowledged flatly, pulled out a kunai, and charged at Rorin.
The others didn't think much of it and began turning away—until a calm voice sounded behind them.
"Didn't I say not to rush?"
As they turned back, they saw Rorin charging toward the two already injured ANBU, bone spikes in hand.
Slash!
Moving at incredible speed, Rorin appeared beside them, his bone spikes piercing straight into their hearts.
The remaining Mist ninja retreated quickly. Looking closely, they saw that the ANBU who had just attacked Rorin was now a corpse lying where Rorin had stood moments ago.
The other two had been killed in an instant, too fast to react.
Even though they had just fought a tough battle and weren't at full strength, they shouldn't have been this helpless.
Who exactly was this guy?
"Who are you? Why are you attacking ninja from the Village Hidden in the Mist?" Ao demanded angrily.
Rorin raised the bloodstained bone spike in his hand and smiled.
"Isn't it obvious? I'm the one here to take your lives."
That smile sent a chill down their spines.
The ANBU captain thought to himself: There's no talking this out. Fine—I was going to kill him anyway. It'll just be a bit more troublesome.
He exchanged a glance with Ao, and the group spread out, taking battle positions.
Seeing their caution, Rorin stopped holding back. His clothes began to shift, and bones protruded from his chest, arms, and back.
Seeing this, the Mist ninja were shocked. Ao shouted, "You're from the Kaguya clan!"
"Bingo. Correct. Too bad there's no reward," Rorin said as he charged forward, swinging his bone blade.
Dance of the Larch!
Rorin launched a rapid series of thrusts at two ANBU with his bone blade, then suddenly used Body Flicker to appear behind them. Bone spikes erupted from his body and the ground, piercing both of them.
After killing them, Rorin turned toward the stunned ANBU captain and Ao.
"Now, it's just you two left."
Given that Shikotsumyaku could be used for about ten minutes a day, he had roughly eight minutes left.
As for Ao, he needed to finish this in one decisive strike.
After a brief calculation, the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Looks like I'll have to use that move."