Chapter 53: Innocent Bystanders Caught in the Disaster
"Damn it!"
Seeing Pakura leap toward his direction, Ryuya's expression changed instantly. He spun around and jumped down from the stone pillar.
"Move, now!"
As soon as he hit the ground, Ryuya shouted a warning. Without sparing a glance for Shinnō and the others behind him, he broke into a full sprint.
"Damn it all!"
Behind him, the chūnin squad leader—who had just landed from the stone pillar—watched Ryuya's retreating back and cursed loudly. Then he darted to Shinnō's side, scooped him up, and fled at top speed.
After all, on the surface, Ryuya was clearly the strongest among them.
Yet this guy had actually abandoned the client's safety the moment trouble arose and turned tail to run.
That kind of professional ethics was enough to make someone spit blood in rage.
What he underestimated, however, was Shinnō's acting skills—and his ability to escape.
Both the chūnin squad leader and Ryuya had seen it clearly just now: Sunagakure's assassination unit was hunting down one of their own heroes, Pakura, the Scorch Release shinobi.
There was obviously some hidden, unspeakable secret behind this.
And those who just happened to witness it—like them—were very likely to become targets for elimination.
Pakura of the Sand was a well-known powerhouse throughout the shinobi world. An assassination unit capable of driving her to this state would certainly include formidable experts.
With Ryuya's group's current strength, resisting them would be extremely difficult.
Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!
Sure enough, before they could flee very far, a shout rang out from behind them. A violent hurricane instantly swept in from the rear.
In an instant, Ryuya, Pakura, Shinnō, and the others were all thrown off balance by the fierce gale, their bodies tumbling chaotically.
A高手—
An expert!
Feeling the overwhelming pressure carried by the wind behind him, Ryuya immediately realized that the Wind Release user was no ordinary shinobi.
Wind Release of this caliber was not something an average ninja could perform.
When the technique ended and Ryuya barely regained his footing, he flashed to the nearest stone pillar for cover.
Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh!
A series of piercing sounds followed as several kunai accurately struck the spot Ryuya had just vacated.
Boom—boom—boom!
The explosive tags wrapped around the kunai detonated instantly.
After the explosions subsided, Ryuya poked his head out to look back—and a bitter smile crept onto his face.
As the dust settled, he saw that in the open space between several stone pillars, the chūnin squad, Shinnō, and the injured Pakura were completely surrounded by more than a dozen Sand shinobi.
And atop a stone pillar several meters in front of Ryuya stood the Sand ninja leader, glaring down at everyone like a predator.
The man was tall and powerfully built, his face concealed behind a white cloth mask. The high-powered Wind Release technique from earlier had clearly been his doing.
In the field below, Pakura, dragging her injured body, looked up at him with eyes filled with hatred.
Meeting her gaze, the Sand ninja leader's eyes showed a complicated expression.
"Everyone here is from Konoha. Our village has already formed an alliance with Sunagakure—are you really going to violate that treaty openly?"
The chūnin squad leader stepped forward, fury written across his face, and shouted at the Sand shinobi.
All three members of the chūnin squad had suffered minor injuries from the earlier Wind Release and explosive tags, leaving them looking disheveled.
Hearing the question, the Sand shinobi remained cold and silent—no one answered.
The Sand ninja leader raised one hand and gave a sharp signal. Instantly, the Sand shinobi attacked from all directions, charging toward Pakura, Shinnō, and the others in the center.
At the same time, the leader himself leapt down from the stone pillar and rushed straight toward Ryuya.
During the brief exchange earlier, he had already judged from Ryuya's chakra fluctuations and reactions that Ryuya was the strongest among the Konoha shinobi.
Damn it! Why is he coming after me?!
Watching the Sand ninja leader charge at him, Ryuya cursed inwardly.
He had only taken an extra glance from atop the pillar—how had that been enough to mark him?
From the Sand ninja leader's body, Ryuya felt an overwhelming sense of danger.
This was undoubtedly an extremely powerful shinobi—one he could not handle at his current level.
At once, Ryuya stopped worrying about the chūnin squad and Shinnō. He kicked off the ground and retreated rapidly, hurling several kunai toward the charging Sand ninja leader.
At the same time, his hands flew through seals in rapid succession. His body expanded instantly—more than tenfold—transforming into a massive mountain of flesh.
Once his height swelled to over ten meters, Ryuya slammed both hands downward toward the onrushing Sand ninja leader. The enormous palm strike, carrying terrifying pressure and a roaring wind, crashed toward the ground.
In just a few seconds, Ryuya unleashed two Akimichi clan secret techniques in succession: Super Multi-Size Technique and Super Push Hand.
From the very first move, he went all out.
Without summoning Green Serpent, these two techniques were already Ryuya's trump cards. In terms of raw destructive power, they were extremely formidable—and consumed a massive amount of chakra.
No ordinary Akimichi shinobi could possibly perform them at this level.
Yet even so, they posed no real threat to the Sand ninja leader.
"Hmph!"
Wind Release: Wind Blade!
Facing the descending flesh palms, the Sand ninja leader didn't dodge. With a cold snort, a thin, transparent, elongated blade of wind rapidly formed in his hand. He slashed upward toward the massive palms.
Slash!
The razor-sharp wind blade sliced cleanly through the gap between Ryuya's fingers, carving out a chunk of flesh as the Sand ninja leader shot through the opening.
Rumble—!
The two gigantic palms slammed into the ground, producing a thunderous impact like an earthquake.
This is bad!
Feeling searing pain shoot through his right hand, Ryuya didn't even have time to cry out. Through the rising dust, he saw the Sand ninja leader's figure rushing straight toward his head.
Not daring to take risks, Ryuya immediately formed seals and canceled the Super Multi-Size Technique.
The Sand ninja leader's movements had been far too fast. Ryuya hadn't even clearly seen the exact motion, but the wound on his right hand was undeniable. The wind blade in the enemy's hand radiated a lethal sense of danger.
Under these circumstances, maintaining his massive size would only turn him into a living target.
With his attack missing its mark, Ryuya shrank back to normal size and didn't hesitate for a second. Taking advantage of the moment when the Sand ninja leader was still airborne and unable to change direction, he turned and fled.
Behind him, the sounds of intense combat and screams quickly erupted.
While running, Ryuya glanced back. He saw the wounded Scorch Release user Pakura engaged in battle with three Sand shinobi. Of the chūnin squad escorting them, two members had already been killed. The squad leader, meanwhile, had grabbed Shinnō and was fleeing desperately in another direction.
After landing from his missed strike, the Sand ninja leader swept a glance behind him. Without the slightest hesitation, he flashed forward and pursued Ryuya's escape route.
The fact that the village had dispatched shinobi to assassinate Pakura could not be allowed to leak out.