As soon as the sentry guard stepped in, Lock immediately sensed eight distinct chakra signatures within a one-kilometer radius.
"There are eight of them."
A cold light flashed in his eyes. Using the mark of his flickering dagger, he moved toward one of the chakra sources.
The Iwa-nin hiding in the dark clearly hadn't expected Lock to appear before him so suddenly. He had no time to defend. In that instant, Lock, long accustomed to the dagger's teleportation technique, launched an attack the moment he appeared.
"Pfft!"
The kunai pierced clean through the man's throat. One strike, one kill.
Lock wasn't sure whether the fallen Iwa-nin was a sensory type, but judging by the sentry's earlier report, the man's chakra presence had been one of the strongest among the eight.
"He can sense us! Gather together—don't let him pick us off one by one!"
The remaining Iwa-nin were shaken. They had been hiding deep in the shadows, yet they'd still been found. At once, the seven remaining chakra signatures began to converge.
Lock caught sight of their movement, flickered again, and appeared behind another Iwa-nin. Even though his target was on guard, he was far too slow. Another life ended in an instant.
But as soon as Lock struck, he found himself surrounded. The remaining six Iwa-nin were already closing in, attacking from all sides. His invisibility had been broken after the previous kill, and they could now see him clearly.
"He's the one Lord Tsuchikage warned us about! Be careful—fall back!"
Lock didn't hold back his chakra. With his teleportation mark exhausted, he unleashed his most powerful technique.
"Pfft!"
Another Iwa-nin fell—yet what followed stunned him.
"Defend!"
The remaining Iwa-nin, seeing Lock vanish, reacted instantly. Their hands blurred through seals—not for an attack, but defense. Thick walls of earth rose behind each of them, two and three layers deep, their backs pressed against the stone.
Boom!
Lock's strike slammed into the walls. When the dust settled, not a single Iwa-nin had fallen. His expression darkened.
"What the hell… they thought of this? Why aren't you that clever, Lock?" he muttered bitterly.
He'd never imagined that someone could counter his technique this way—and worse, it actually worked.
Only then did he realize his mistake. He'd inherited the techniques from his past experiences, but this was the real world, not some perfect system of guaranteed effects.
In theory, his secret strike targeted an opponent's back—it was meant to be unavoidable. But here, it couldn't simply ignore obstacles. These Iwa-nin had anchored their backs against solid earth walls, and his strike couldn't pierce through both the barrier and the target fast enough to kill.
The realization hit him hard. If an enemy could defend by covering their back… even lying flat on the ground might work against him.
"No… I'll find a way to counter this. If they can come up with a defense, then I can create a way to break it."
For the second time, Lock was reminded that raw strength alone wasn't enough—wisdom mattered just as much. Recklessness would only get him killed.
The duration of his technique ended, and he returned to the visible world, slipping back into invisibility immediately after.
"Smoke."
Though his secret strike had failed, he wasn't done. He tossed several smoke bombs toward the Iwa-nin's position and darted forward.
"You can't use ninjutsu in there! We're not his match! Lord Tsuchikage's orders—retreat if you encounter him!"
Lock blinked in disbelief. "Seriously? The Third Tsuchikage values me that much? Shouldn't this be meant for Minato-senpai?"
The Iwa-nin, realizing the smoke was suppressing their chakra flow, began retreating to the back. But Lock was faster. He closed in on one of them.
Boom!
In an instant, another enemy fell. The Iwa-nin's blade thrust toward him but missed by a hair—his timing and precision left no room for retaliation. Even if the strike had landed, Lock had already shifted his stance to avoid any fatal wound.
His body healed quickly from minor injuries, and he never wasted time dodging blows that wouldn't matter.
After cutting down another foe, only four Iwa-nin remained, already retreating from the smoke's edge. Lock flung his marked dagger again, freezing the hindmost one in place for a split second.
"Not good—!"
Before the man could react, Lock was upon him.
"You go! Report back! I'll hold him off!" the slowed Iwa-nin shouted. He knew he couldn't escape, but if he could buy a few seconds for his comrades, it would be worth it. Determination burned in his eyes as he turned to face Lock head-on.
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