Anya couldn't help but feel puzzled upon hearing this and said, "Aren't both sides declaring war on us at the same time? Yet you're going over there with such a murderous aura—don't tell me it's to form an alliance."
"An alliance?" White Fang sneered. "That's impossible. During the first war, everyone fought independently. The only attempt at an alliance resulted in the tragic death of the Second Hokage. Since then, seeds of suspicion have been sown between all countries."
"So what exactly are you going for then?"
"To send a message of intimidation." White Fang's eyes revealed undisguised killing intent. "The Sunagakure's hands have extended far enough. Now that the war has started, there's no holding back anymore. It's time to sever these hands."
Anya understood White Fang's meaning immediately. This mission was simple—go there to kill people. He said, "So what's my part in this?"
"When we arrive, I'll give you a report containing information about the Suna ninja," White Fang explained. "Since you're currently a genin, your official mission will be to eliminate five enemy genin." He paused briefly before continuing, "But this is the mission given by the village—not mine."
Truth be told, five genin—unless they were from Konoha—would be instant kills for Anya right now. If five of them were encountered together, he could eliminate them all in one second. White Fang clearly knew this.
White Fang enunciated clearly as he revealed his own assignment: "I've decided to entrust the elimination of all these ninjas to you."
"What?" Anya was stunned. "Are you sure you didn't say that wrong?"
Although Anya hadn't seen the report yet and didn't know exactly how many Suna ninjas were deployed, since they had sent White Fang on this mission, there surely were jonin involved, not to mention an unknown number of additional ninja.
White Fang gave a faint smile at Anya's reaction. "I'll be right behind you. If a life-threatening situation arises, I will intervene—but I might not arrive in time, so you need to be mentally prepared."
That made more sense. Anya relaxed slightly, nodded, and said, "Give me the report then."
White Fang handed the information scroll to Anya.
Anya rapidly memorized the contents of the scroll before igniting a flame in his hand to burn it, simultaneously formulating a battle plan in his mind.
The intelligence on Suna ninjas lurking around Konoha was extremely detailed. Clearly, Konoha wasn't sitting idle—they had been well prepared all along but had deliberately refrained from action to avoid provoking international conflict. Now that war had become unavoidable, they had decisively dispatched Legend of the White Fang of Konoha to swiftly eliminate this threat. Needless to say, the Third Hokage was indeed a shrewd strategist who acted decisively. Perhaps his only moment of excessive mercy had been letting his most beloved apprentice, Orochimaru, escape.
Soon afterward, while moving rapidly, Anya suddenly opened his eyes. Although his expression remained unchanged, his eyes now contained a killing intent.
White Fang gave him a silent nod in approval. Though he had never appeared during Anya's training sessions over the past six months, he had observed everything from the shadows. He had been keeping track of Anya's progress all along—that's exactly why he brought him along on this mission today. The blade had been sharpened sufficiently—now it was time for it to taste blood.
White Fang asked, "You've already seen the intelligence report. Do you feel confident?"
Anya clearly had her confidence built up already. She replied, "A total of forty Suna Ninja, led by a pair of jonin. As long as those two jonin aren't together, I'm certain I can eliminate all of them."
"How long will it take?"
"One night."
"Good. We're almost there. Go now."
After saying this, White Fang remained in place and directly handed the White Fang Blade to Anya.
Without saying much, Anya accepted the weapon and immediately disappeared into the jungle, hiding herself while adjusting her physical condition, quietly awaiting the arrival of darkness.
The night sky was clear, scattered with stars. Anya silently arrived at a thick forest. Through observation, she found exactly ten ninja gathered together, discussing something amongst themselves, though their bodies were clearly in a state of constant vigilance—they hadn't let their guard down at all.
Just as Anya was secretly watching them, suddenly one of the Suna ninja smirked, forming hand seals and calling out, "[Earth Release: Ant Hell!]"
The ground beneath where Anya stood instantly collapsed. The originally solid earth transformed into quicksand that began swirling rapidly, forming a black hole underground and swallowing toward her.
Anya immediately leapt from her hiding spot into midair.
Seeing Anya's figure escape, the Suna ninja sneered collectively, forming seals in unison and shouting, "[Earth Release: Earth Spear!]"
Suddenly, numerous sharp rocks erupted from the sand and shot upward, attacking Anya.
In an instant, Anya's body was pierced by countless rocks and turned into mist.
"It's a Shadow Clone! Everyone be careful—they aren't done yet!" One of the ninja shouted quickly.
Anya let out a soft breath—that was too close. She wasn't even sure how they'd discovered her, but thankfully her hand-seal speed was fast enough for her to escape the attack range in time.
Not missing a beat, Anya flashed through hand seals and launched an attack: [Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu].
[Earth Release: Earthen Rampart].
The massive flames were blocked outside by an earthen wall, unable to advance even an inch.
At that moment, the previously scattered sand on the ground seemed to absorb electricity and suddenly shot up from the ground at high speed, piercing straight into their bodies. Those behind the mud wall were instantly riddled with holes—killed in a gruesome manner.
The leading ninja's eyes narrowed sharply, his mouth hurriedly shouting, "He also has Lightning Release! Retreat first!"
Lightning Release counters Earth Release. When both sides are relatively equal in strength, the Earth Release ninja would inevitably get dominated. Moreover, since the attacker dared to lurk nearby, he must have prepared thoroughly beforehand—the enemy knew their positions while theirs were exposed. Retreating was the wisest choice.
Anya couldn't help but admire the leader's reaction capability. But then again… fighting with Ninjutsu isn't even my strongest suit.
"Clang..."
The ringing sound of a blade rang out. The ninja who had just spoken only felt pain in his throat before his entire world plunged into darkness. Choking out with his last breath, he struggled to utter two words: "So...fast..."
The one using the Fire Technique was another Shadow Clone as well. Anya's real body had already hidden itself on their planned retreat path earlier. She was counting on them pulling back. After all, this was Konoha territory (the Hidden Leaf Village). If things escalated into a full-out battle, the enemy wouldn't stand a chance in terms of backup.
After dealing with the leader, the rest were no challenge at all. Soon, only two young ninjas were left, staring in fear at the child who was the same age as them. They lay helpless on the ground, eyes welling up with tears, as they weakly raised their kunai for defense.
Anya put away her tanto and smiled kindly at them. "Don't worry. If you just drop your weapons and surrender, I won't kill you."
One of them, trembling with fear, hesitantly asked, "R-really?"
The other said, "Don't believe her! She's tricking us!"
Anya acted innocent as she replied, "C'mon, why would I trick you? If I wanted to kill you, I really could."
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