Hakushi frowned, a faint green light swirling around his hand as he covered the side of his abdomen, beginning to heal the wound.
Beside him, Ruri and Ayane were also sitting, gasping for breath, their clothes covered in dust, eating a Soldier Rations Pill to restore Chakra.
Surrounding them were twenty-one Hidden Sand Ninjas lying in pools of blood, with Kunai and Shuriken scattered everywhere.
Leading the group were three Jonin, the rest were all Chunin.
In annihilating this unit here, the three of Hakushi also paid a heavy price.
Having healed the wound on his side, Hakushi felt inside the Ninja Tool Bag; it was almost empty, leaving only two Sealing Scrolls and a vial for collecting Shukaku's Chakra.
"Are there any Soldier Rations Pills left?"
Using Taijutsu doesn't consume Chakra, but Medical Ninjutsu does, and there were no Soldier Rations Pills left in his Ninja Tool Bag.
Even if they made them on the spot, they had to be cautious of when the next Hidden Sand Ninja attack might come.
"No more, the last one was used just now."
Ayane replied apologetically.
Ruri also shook her head. The main function of Soldier Rations Pills is to satisfy hunger, only offering emergency Chakra restoration.
Even the special Soldier Rations Pills made by Hakushi only restore a limited amount of Chakra.
Hakushi sighed helplessly and struggled to get up, moving towards the fallen Hidden Sand Ninjas to see what useful equipment might be in their Ninja Tool Bags.
Luckily, in the first body he checked, there were a few undamaged Kunai and two Explosive Tags in the Ninja Tool Bag.
Hakushi put all these into his own Ninja Tool Bag.
Suddenly, one of the fallen Hidden Sand Ninjas opened his eyes, his hand wrapped in a spinning sharp wind, slashing a Wind Blade towards Hakushi's body.
Hakushi was startled, not expecting there was someone pretending to be dead here.
Without thinking, he leaned away, and a few strands of hair fell.
A cold sweat involuntarily trickled down Hakushi's face as he rolled awkwardly away.
The Hidden Sand Ninja, seizing the advantage, charged at Hakushi like an Evil Demon, his body stained with fresh blood, his face twisted in a grimace.
Boom!
A Fireball crashed into him.
The Hidden Sand Ninja couldn't defend in time, struggling and screaming in the flames, finally falling helplessly, turning into a charred black corpse.
Ruri took a deep breath, looking even more exhausted.
The Fireball just now almost used up the last of her Chakra.
Any further Chakra consumption would be fatal.
"Idiot, can't even tell the dead from the living."
"Sorry."
Hakushi awkwardly got up from the ground, patting the dust off his clothes.
He continued searching the bodies, being much more cautious now after the earlier experience.
Before searching each body, he would throw a Kunai first to make sure no one was playing dead.
Fortunately, his caution was unnecessary; only one Hidden Sand Ninja earlier wasn't completely dead.
Ultimately, Hakushi obtained about forty to fifty combined Kunai and Shuriken, sixteen Soldier Rations Pills, and approximately ten Explosive Tags.
He took them to Ruri and Ayane, who didn't want to move, to distribute these spoils.
Ruri and Ayane didn't hold back either, primarily because this time was too embarrassing.
Of the sixteen Soldier Rations Pills, Hakushi and Ayane each took four, while Ruri, due to her high Chakra consumption Ninja Techniques, took half.
The three of them consumed the Soldier Rations Pills on the spot to replenish Chakra.
Hakushi, now recovered, was ready to use Healing Jutsu on Ruri and Ayane's wounds.
"No need, these are just minor injuries, we can endure."
Ruri picked up a white bandage, skillfully wrapping her bleeding calf and arm; despite the deep pain of the wounds, her brow didn't twitch.
"Ruri is right. We're not completely safe yet. These injuries won't affect our combat capacity for now. There's no need to waste Chakra."
Ayane nodded, mimicking Ruri in using Medical Bandages to wrap her wounds, stopping the bleeding was enough.
"Alright then."
Hakushi didn't insist.
The cold wind swept through the valley, blowing over them, causing the three to tighten their collars against the cold.
To reduce the pursuit pressure from the Hidden Sand Ninjas, they took a detour into the canyon base of the Land of Rivers.
The terrain here was complex and inhospitable, shrouded in thick mist.
Up close, the mist was white; deeper within it was pitch black, like a massive black hole swirling above their heads.
After resting for a while, the three of them managed to recover some stamina and began searching for an exit.
All around were damp, heavy rock walls; the further they walked, the darker the environment grew. Cold, dense mist filled the deep valley, chilling their skin.
They trudged forward silently, not saying a word.
Mainly, they didn't want to waste unnecessary energy; conserving even a little more strength was good in times like these.
Using the Chakra restored from the Soldier Rations Pills, Ayane activated the Byakugan.
In such a dark environment, not much was visible, but they could determine if there were ambushes nearby by tracing the Chakra pathways.
"Someone's coming. They should be Hidden Sand Ninjas."
Ayane stopped and said.
Hakushi and Ruri just sighed slightly, saying nothing.
"How many?"
After a moment of silence, Ruri spoke.
"Eleven."
"I have a plan to take them out in one go, Ayane, find me a narrow passage. We'll annihilate them here."