The heavily injured Konoha ninja closed his eyes after speaking, lying there uncertain whether he was dead or alive.
"Hey, are you okay?"
The two nearest Konoha Genins hurriedly ran towards the injured Konoha ninja.
"Wait, you two newbies, don't go over there recklessly!"
Jonin Tenchiku's face changed.
The injured Konoha ninja suddenly opened his eyes, with a savage and fierce light emitting from them, looking nothing like an injured person.
However, before he could make a move, there was a "pfft" sound.
The White Fang Short Knife shining with white light stabbed into the back of his neck, piercing through with blood erupting.
The two Genins, slightly older than Hakushi and his group, were stunned by what happened so quickly.
Only then did Jonin Tenchiku sigh with relief.
A bit of annoyance flashed in his mind, he should probably teach these newcomers properly from now on.
Lack of experience is fine, but having a flexible mind is most important.
"Byakugan!"
Veins bulged around Ayane's eyes, and grave intensity filled her pale pupils.
"Is it our old friend?"
"Yeah, there are two new faces in the team, from the intensity of chakra, they're not ordinary ninjas."
Ayane reported.
"Hey, Tenchiku, get ready!"
Sakumo shouted towards Tenchiku.
"Got it!"
Jonin Tenchiku arranged the ninjas at the lookout, taking out the large wooden crossbow that was ready at a moment's notice, filled with numerous kunai.
"From the two o'clock direction on your side!"
Ayane directly reported the enemy's location.
"Fire!"
Countless kunai poured out like a torrential storm, launched towards the dense forest area.
"Wind Style: Wind Dust Fierce Wave!"
The sharp sound of wind howling like blades left fierce marks on the passing trees, blowing the firing kunai askew in the gale, unable to progress any further.
"Fire Style: Flame Array!"
Jonin Tenchiku sealed with both hands, flames swirled like a vortex at his feet, then charged onwards, immediately turning the wind-ridden forest into a sea of fire.
The wind fueled the flames, instantly escalating Jonin Tenchiku's fire style's power to another level.
"It truly is a familiar face."
Seeing over a dozen Hidden Sand Ninjas emerging almost unscathed from the sea of fire, Hakushi showed a faint smile.
It was exactly the same group they encountered over two months ago, which had five Jonins from the Hidden Sand forces.
However, compared to last time, this time the team had two new faces, likely at the special Jonin or Jonin level.
"Brats, your smoke tactics won't work this time."
Last time, Hakushi used smoke bombs to assist Ruri and Ayane in battle, causing considerable trouble for this Hidden Sand unit, making it difficult to fight against the Sharingan and Byakugan in unfavorable conditions.
There was no unnecessary talk, the battle commenced directly.
Sakumo undoubtedly set his sights on the leading pair, a man and a woman, in the Hidden Sand Jonins. They were the son and daughter-in-law of Advisor Elder Chiyo of Hidden Sand Village and were the top Jonin-level experts in the Hidden Sand Puppet Corps, aside from Sakumo, no one present could stand against them.
Although some Chunin were lost in the opponent's squad last time, two new additions joined this time. One of them utilized a powerful Wind Release, blowing all the previously fired kunai away, showcasing his expertise in Wind Style Ninjutsu.
At this lookout point, there were nearly twenty Konoha ninjas, about half were Genin and most of the rest were Chunin, with only Tenchiku being a Jonin.
In terms of numbers, Konoha held the advantage here.
But in terms of overall strength, it was clear that the Hidden Sand side was superior.
Hakushi also joined the fight with a ninja blade, having achieved some success following Sakumo in learning swordsmanship these days.
Ruri charged forward first, activating the Two-Tomoe Sharingan, attacking the Jonin using Earth Style Ninjutsu.
The Jonin using Earth Style Ninjutsu raised a kunai to block Ruri's oncoming kunai, causing a fierce and ear-splitting clash.
"Strong, but I'm not foolish enough to engage you in Taijutsu!"
This Earth Style ninja easily retreated backwards with a cold smile, then quickly sealed with both hands, preparing to place his palms on the ground, when suddenly a powerful binding force took hold of his body, and the scenery before him began to distort. In front of him, two massive Two-Tomoe Sharingan spun, exuding a dark aura that gazed at him.
He immediately realized he was trapped in a Sharingan Illusion Technique.
However, he had already avoided Ruri's line of sight, he shouldn't have been caught in an illusion, right?
The kunai brushed across his body, leaving a ghastly gash at his chest, with blood gushing out.
Clutching the wound in pain, the Earth Style ninja narrowly dodged Ruri's assassination.
"Damn!"
Seeing the Earth Style ninja ensnared by Ruri's illusion at the first encounter, the Hidden Sand ninjas nearby couldn't sit still.
Ruri evaded surrounding, thus turned and retreated.
"Looks like I'm not very good at these illusion tricks, got out so quickly..."
Seeing the Earth Style ninja back to normal, Ruri gently exhaled.
"Hey, that's a Jonin you know."
Hakushi and Ayane were both a bit embarrassed.
If this level is considered not proficient, one could hardly imagine how terrifying an Uchiha ninja truly skilled in Illusion Technique would be.
"Take note, that little girl is somehow different from two months ago, her Illusion Technique is very strange and completely unpredictable."
The Earth Style ninja's eyes were filled with seriousness, suspecting that Ruri's Illusion Technique was not released through the Sharingan.
"It's obvious, just avoid direct contact with her..."
Bang!
Over there, Hakushi has already thrown a smoke bomb, causing an explosion.
Since it was just him, Ruri, and Ayane around, and the other Konoha Ninjas were fighting elsewhere, it wouldn't affect them.
"I told you, this trick won't work on us!"
Among the Hidden Sand Ninjas left behind, there were those skilled in using Wind Style Ninjutsu.
"Wind Style: Wind Dust Fierce Wave!"
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!"
The storm and fireball collided, creating a huge firestorm that would not extinguish for a long time, making the surrounding vision even more blurred.
"Damn it! Retreat!"
They completely avoided fighting and withdrew from such a battlefield with narrow vision.
"Eleven o'clock direction."
The Hidden Sand Ninja responsible for sensing revealed the location.
The Earth Style Ninja shouted: "Earth Style: Earthquake Core!"
The land ahead suddenly sank down.
The three of them, Hakushi, used kunai to fix themselves onto the wall, suspending themselves to avoid falling.
"Hey, that guy really is a Hidden Rock Ninja, right? Things are looking a bit grim."
Hakushi increasingly felt that the ninja using Earth Style was a Hidden Rock Ninja infiltrating the Hidden Sand forces.
In other words, these two villages could very well be secretly colluding together.
"Annoying as hell, whether they're from Hidden Sand or Hidden Rock, just kill them directly!"
This was Ruri's remark. Against such ninjas who can easily change terrain, if they weren't killed promptly, it indeed was a hassle.
The three moved along the flat rock wall, rushed to the land above, with surrounding trees slanting and collapsing, dust billowing.
Half of the outpost here was almost destroyed.
——On the other side.
"Your end has come, Konoha White Fang!"
The male Puppet Master manipulated his puppet, issuing this confident claim.
Beside him, the female Puppet Master was silent, watching Shakumo's every move with a cold gaze.
"It's best not to speak too soon... However, since you've come here yourself, it saves the effort of finding you."
Shakumo vanished from the spot, moving along with the two puppets controlled by the Puppet Masters.
Blocked Shakumo's White Fang Short Knife emitting white light.
"Do you think the same move will work on us? Naive!"
The two puppets divided again, stretching out a black chain from opposite sleeves, unlike last time, this was a chain used jointly by the two puppets.
The puppets circled and twirled around Shakumo's body mid-air.
On the chain were saw-like blades, constantly making creaking sounds.
If wrapped around, it would undoubtedly shred one into pieces.
Blocked mid-air and attacking, Shakumo, in their eyes, had no foothold to evade the attack.
Certain death.
"Hmm?"
The male Puppet Master suddenly paused, realizing Shakumo mysteriously vanished from the encirclement of the two puppets.
"How is this possible!?"
With no leverage points, even Instant Body wouldn't be possible to employ.
Was it Space-Time Ninjutsu? The male Puppet Master's eyes widened in shock.
Just because he saw through Shakumo's weakness, the male Puppet Master was confident in this helpless situation to kill Shakumo.
A subtle sound of wind being cut reached his ears.
In an instant, the male Puppet Master seemed to understand something.
And what awaited him was even more severe injuries than before, with blood splattering out.
The female Puppet Master panicked too, hurriedly pulling back the puppet.
A flash of the blade.
The puppet was cleanly sliced through the middle.
"Ah!"
The female Puppet Master had her arm severed along with it.
Blood gushed out profusely, her face turning pale.
Shakumo's face was cold as ice, filled with killer intent.
Suddenly, a Hidden Sand Ninja charged from the left, with a sharp Wind Blade forming in his hand.
Shakumo could kill the male and female Puppet Masters at this time, but he would suffer severe injuries himself afterward.
Without much thought, he turned his body, grasped the arm of the attacking Hidden Sand Ninja, causing the Wind Blade to miss.
Then swung the White Fang Short Knife in his other hand, stabbing into the left side of the Hidden Sand Ninja's neck.
The opponent's body swayed twice, then fell to the ground weakly.
Meanwhile, the male and female Puppet Masters disappeared.
"Don't think you can escape so easily."
Now both of them were severely injured, with the male Puppet Master unconscious, it was the perfect time to pursue.
Shakumo's eyes were cold and unwavering.