As Yuu spoke, Namikaze Minato, Aburame Shiguro, and Inuzuka Agō all entered Little Green's open mouth without hesitation.
The lizard then closed its mouth. As chakra circulated through it, its massive body quickly turned transparent and blurry, eventually becoming an almost invisible outline that blended into the surrounding environment. With the help of Shiguro's Silent Sound Bugs, it silently crept toward the abandoned warehouse.
For a moment, the air was quiet.
There was only the soft rustle of leaves in the breeze.
Among the Kusagakure patrols, one ninja suddenly frowned and looked in the direction where Yuu's group was hiding.
Little Green immediately stopped and suppressed the flow of chakra to the lowest possible level, looking no different from empty air.
A few seconds later, that Kusa ninja failed to discover anything concrete. He scanned the surroundings again, shook his head in confusion, then looked away and continued talking with his companions.
After that, Little Green moved again. Its transparent outline drew closer and closer to the warehouse entrance, soon reaching about two hundred meters away…
And right then—
The sensory ninja in the Kusa group seemed to detect something. He suddenly raised his head, his gaze locking onto Little Green's position like an arrow. He quickly shouted, "Stay alert! Something's not right… There seems to be something approaching from that direction!"
"Tch…"
Yuu clicked his tongue.
It seemed finding Purple Mud Fruit for Little Green had to be put on the agenda. Otherwise, its invisibility was honestly limited. Once it got a little too close, it was difficult to fool the eyes of a sensory-type ninja.
And now…
Since they had already been discovered, there was no need to keep playing secret infiltration.
"Move!"
Minato gave the order.
The next instant, Inuzuka Agō and Aburame Shiguro shot out at the same time, like two black bolts of lightning tearing through the night, charging toward the Kusagakure patrol.
To hide his identity, Agō did not use his signature Beast Mimicry ninjutsu, but as a jōnin, his basic taijutsu ability was still extremely powerful. Two Kusa ninja reacted a little too slowly and were smashed away like broken sacks before they could even scream, their survival uncertain.
Beside him, the instant two other Kusa ninja brushed past Aburame Shiguro, they collapsed to the ground. Strange black-purple lines first surfaced beneath their skin, then their entire bodies rapidly caved in.
Although the Aburame clan's insects mainly fed on chakra, they were also very convenient for destroying evidence.
Of course…
there were still one or two decent fighters among this group of Kusa ninja.
Especially the jōnin with the scar across his face. At this moment, he drew his blade and blocked Inuzuka Agō. Although it was obvious he was weaker than Agō, it would still be hard to decide the fight within two or three moves, and the two quickly became locked in battle.
Aburame Shiguro took the opportunity to clear out the others.
Using this opening,
Yuu and Minato arrived at the warehouse doors. Minato flashed out with Body Flicker, pressing both hands against the runes along the doorframe, then began mobilizing chakra and seeping it into the barrier.
In only about ten seconds,
with a crack, the warning-type chakra barrier covering the outside of the warehouse vanished like a popped bubble.
Yuu immediately broke through the door.
…
Time rewound a few minutes.
Inside the warehouse.
The lighting here was not bright. Most of the doors and windows had been sealed, and only a few oil lamps hanging on the walls provided light.
Against one wall stood several simple iron-frame beds. Several figures were tightly locked down by thick iron chains.
Among them, two had striking red hair, one male and one female. The man's hair color was somewhat dull, while the woman's was bright as blood and especially eye-catching. But at this moment, both of them were covered in wounds, their eyes hollow, looking like medicinal dregs after all value had been squeezed out.
Not far away,
several Kusa ninja were sitting around a broken wooden table, boredly playing cards. Cheap tobacco and empty wine bottles were scattered across the tabletop.
To them, this guard duty was essentially just a formality. There were patrol squads outside anyway. If anything really happened, someone taller would hold up the sky. And if the people outside couldn't hold it, then they wouldn't be of any use either.
"…Hey, Jirō, didn't your little brother go to Konoha recently for that Chūnin Exam or whatever? It's been over ten days, right? Still no news? Don't tell me Konoha detained him!"
One Kusa ninja asked vaguely, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
The Kusa ninja called Jirō smiled, his tone carrying a bit of showing off. "What nonsense are you spouting? My little brother Saburō is a genius! He's only thirteen, but he already has chūnin-level strength! Dealing with those flowers raised in Konoha's greenhouse, who've never seen blood, should be effortless for him.
"And besides, he was specially approved to bring that thing… In a critical moment, it's basically like having one extra life compared to others. Maybe he'll even kill a few Konoha brats in the exam and make Kusagakure famous!"
"That thing" naturally referred to the blood of a certain red-haired woman.
"Tch, the Uzumaki bloodline really is freaky. A few mouthfuls can restore chakra. It's even more useful than soldier pills."
The cigarette man spoke again. "Too bad there's only one usable one. If there were a few more…"
Another short, fat Kusa ninja laughed lewdly. "Don't rush. Isn't the higher-up already thinking of making her have children with that male Uzumaki? Hmph, if they weren't worried that mixing the bloodline might weaken the healing effect, the village would've raised her like a sow long ago!"
"…"
As they were speaking, a dull sound exploded.
It seemed as if wind had blown into the warehouse.
Several Kusa ninja raised their heads from their idle chatter and looked toward the entrance, but they saw nothing. Instead, on another empty patch not far away, a figure appeared from nothing, like a ghost.
It was a white-haired boy with a short sword on his back. Judging by his face, he was not old, only around ten. But his eyes were sharp and cold, like a black, icy pool, sending chills down their spines.
"Who are you? Where did you come from?!"
"Look at his forehead protector! He seems to be from Kumogakure!"
"…Doesn't matter who he is. Kill him first!"
Just as the Kusa ninja were still shaken and instinctively reaching for kunai or forming defensive seals,
the white-haired boy exhaled softly and released a cold voice, like the whisper of a death god.
"Shadow Prison Phantom Kill Formation… open!"
Buzz—!
The light inside the warehouse seemed to distort for an instant.
Under the horrified gazes of the four Kusa ninja, they saw the white-haired boy flicker, as if splitting into several afterimages in one instant. Then those images merged again behind them, close enough to touch, while he was already sheathing his blade.
Clang.
A clear, long metallic friction sound rang out, crisp as if right beside their ears.
"?"
What did that mean?
A mysterious entrance just to strike a pose and look cool?
However…
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
The next second, four glaring crimson lines of blood sprayed like fountains from the necks of the four Kusa ninja. They splashed across the old wooden table, the playing cards, and the cold floor, blooming into vivid blood flowers.
"Uh… guh… guh…"
The Kusa ninja's eyes bulged wide. They uselessly clutched their spurting necks, unable to stop the blood from gushing out, much less counterattack Yuu. In the end, their bodies convulsed violently before they stumbled into pools of blood and went silent forever.
From Yuu appearing to the four Kusa ninja collapsing, the entire process happened in the blink of an eye.
If a high-speed camera had been set up nearby, recorded everything just now, and then played it frame by frame in slow motion, one could see that Yuu changed position four times in one second and swung his blade four times, instantly killing all the Kusa ninja.
But none of the people present had that level of eyesight. At most, they saw a few blurry afterimages. By the time their vision cleared, the smell of blood had already spread.
"You are…"
One of the hostages raised his head in shock and tried to speak.
The others, including the two red-haired people, were all stunned by the sudden bloody slaughter. Their eyes toward Yuu were filled with fear and confusion, along with a trace of release.
Their treatment in Kusagakure had already been bad enough. No matter who took them away, surely things couldn't get worse…
"Shh—"
Yuu made a silent gesture. Then his figure blurred again. Under the effect of Shadow Prison Phantom Kill Formation, he cut through the chains on the hostages within one second. At the same time, he gave each person a chop to the back of the neck, making them fall asleep.
Since he was already here,
although the mission target was only to rescue the Uzumaki, leaving the others here wasn't ideal. If they said something to the Kusa ninja who arrived later, they might bring unnecessary trouble. So he might as well pack them all up and take them away, then consider how to handle them later.
Thud, thud, thud.
All five hostages lost consciousness.
After that, Yuu glanced at the Shadow-Stalking Giant Lizard nearby.
"Little Green!"
"Uu…"
Little Green, which had long been waiting to the side, immediately opened its huge mouth. Its enormous tongue flicked out and retracted five times in a row, rolling all five unconscious people into its stomach. Fortunately, it was big enough. Otherwise, its belly probably wouldn't be able to fit so many people.
Afterward,
Yuu did not linger at all and rushed toward the warehouse entrance.
By this time, Minato and the others had already dealt with all dozen or so Kusa ninja outside. Apart from the ones Aburame Shiguro handled, most had either had their throats slit or hearts stabbed. The methods left no trace of Konoha's style.
However, Kusagakure was still rather small. Although their rescue operation was already very fast, using even half less time than expected, the killing here still drew the attention of some people in the distance. Sharp whistles and shouts soon rang out, seemingly Kusagakure reinforcements.
"Did you get them, Yuu?"
"Mm."
Yuu nodded.
"Good! Then move quickly. I'll cover the rear!"
Minato stood in place, constantly throwing kunai and shuriken to block the reinforcements rushing in from all directions, buying time for Yuu, Inuzuka, and Aburame to retreat.
Seeing that Yuu and the others had already brought Little Green back to a safe distance,
Minato formed several hand seals, then crouched down and slammed his hand onto the ground.
"Lightning Release: Spider Web!"
Zzzzz—!!!
Blinding blue lightning erupted from Minato's palm, forming fine, leaping arcs of lightning. Like living creatures, they madly spread across the ground and quickly wove into a lightning spiderweb covering over a hundred square meters.
Several Kusa ninja who had dodged the shuriken were caught off guard. The moment their feet entered the lightning web, they let out shrill screams. Their bodies convulsed violently and collapsed, paralyzed.
The others either retreated to avoid it or released Wind Release ninjutsu in an attempt to disperse the lightning.
However, among the kunai Minato had thrown earlier, some were tied with explosive tags. At this moment, those explosive tags detonated after a delay of a few seconds, exploding one after another and kicking up rolling clouds of smoke and dust, temporarily cutting off the pursuers' sight and steps.
Boom, boom, boom—!
Amid the interwoven lightning and explosions, Minato used Body Flicker to catch up with Yuu and the others. Together, they sprinted toward the dense forest outside the village.
If they were going to play a part, they had to do it properly. Since they had decided to dump the blame on Kumogakure, they naturally could not use Konoha's signature Flying Thunder God.
But the fact that Minato could use Lightning Release ninjutsu surprised Yuu greatly. He couldn't help asking about it while running.
"Ah, yes."
Minato nodded. "I asked the Third Hokage for guidance before and learned a little. But I'm not good at this type of ninjutsu. I can only use it in emergencies to deceive the enemy… Don't get distracted. We haven't escaped Kusagakure's control area yet. Let's get out first!"
…
One had to admit, the average quality of Kusagakure ninja wasn't impressive, but their numbers were surprisingly large.
During Yuu's group's retreat, some Kusa ninja launched signal flares, causing surrounding Kusa ninja to pour out continuously from hiding places and try to surround and intercept them. By rough estimate, there were dozens in total.
Angry roars, hurried footsteps, and the sound of ninja tools cutting through the air rose and fell continuously.
"The enemy is over there!"
"Don't let them escape!"
"Catch them! Get the blood packs back!"
Facing this pursuit that clung like maggots to bone, Yuu's group had no choice but to stop from time to time, exchange a few moves with the Kusa ninja, kill a few, then continue forward.
Because they were currently pretending to be Kumogakure ninja, most of their signature abilities were inconvenient to use. So aside from Minato's Lightning Release and Yuu's Water Release, the other two basically fought purely with taijutsu and ninja tool throwing. This gave Kusagakure inexplicable confidence, making them feel the enemies weren't that strong and that they could take them down if they charged just one more time.
By the time they chased and fled their way outside Kusagakure,
Kusa ninja corpses had been left all along the path.
The remaining Kusa ninja sensed something was wrong and stopped one after another, deciding they had to return and report to the higher-ups. If they kept chasing, even if all of them died, they might still fail to stop that team of "Kumo ninja."
As for the "blood packs" being stolen…
what did that have to do with them? The "blood packs" were reserved for the people above them. Ordinary low- and mid-ranking ninja like them never got to drink any.
For a monthly salary of only a few thousand ryō, why risk their lives?
~~~
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