At the outskirts of Quicksand Ravine, the Sunagakure ninja had already taken their positions.
Maki's face was pale with tension as she continuously mobilized her telekinetic sensing. Sweat streamed down her body, betraying the strain she was under.
"Relax," Shiraishi said calmly. "Release your telekinesis as naturally as possible."
Hearing his voice, Maki forced herself to steady her breathing. Chakra and mental energy synchronized, and her sensing field rapidly expanded, locking onto the entirety of Quicksand Ravine.
At the rear canyon path, Arakawa's unit was stationed in full readiness. Each of them carried a compact mechanical signaling device, capable of transmitting short-range information instantly.
With the preparatory phase complete, Shiraishi gently placed a hand on Maki's shoulder.
As their telekinetic fields overlapped, the sensing range expanded even further.
Their telekinesis was mutually compatible. Under Maki's amplification, Shiraishi felt his own telekinetic proficiency rise again—another 3%, pushing it to 99%.
When their combined telekinesis fully mapped Quicksand Ravine, four chakra signatures appeared in their perception.
One of them was vastly stronger than the other three.
"…Hm?"
Inside the hidden research base of Quicksand Ravine, Zi Ao, Sasori's envoy, immediately sensed something amiss. Drawing his chakra inward, he released a probing wave of compressed airflow.
The fluctuation swept outward, quickly pinpointing the approximate locations of the Sunagakure ninja.
With a single glance, Zi Ao gave an order.
Two of the missing-nin leaders immediately led their forces toward Arakawa's position.
Dangerous chakra signatures—two of them moving fast.
"Arakawa, prepare to retreat," Shiraishi transmitted urgently. "Two hostile chakra sources are approaching you."
Before he could finish, the two missing-nin had already arrived at the rear passage with their bandit troops.
Seeing this, Arakawa instantly shifted into combat mode.
Freshly promoted to chūnin, faced with an encirclement, he made a decisive choice—
Fight.
Kunai clashed midair.
Arakawa exhaled sharply, unleashing a powerful burst of Fire Spark, attempting to overwhelm the enemy with his newly acquired Fire Release.
But the taijutsu-specialist missing-nin stepped forward and shattered the flames with a single punch.
"Kid," the man sneered, "you greet people with fireworks?"
That opening move alone told them everything.
This chūnin with the Sand Village forehead protector had little real combat experience.
The second missing-nin immediately shifted his attention to Arakawa's two companions.
Fire Spark was rated as a C-rank technique largely due to its chakra consumption. In truth, its power could scale with training—but Arakawa's repeated use had already drained him heavily.
"You withdraw and send the distress signal," Shiraishi said decisively. "I'll support Arakawa."
Unable to accurately judge the enemy's full strength, Shiraishi chose to abandon the original plan and initiate retreat.
But as the unit commander, he could not abandon teammates already surrounded.
He moved alone.
Through the reports relayed by the two missing-nin, Zi Ao quickly understood what kind of force they were facing.
"So that's it," he murmured. "Sunagakure is really desperate enough to throw newly trained kids onto the battlefield."
At the rear of the canyon, the fighting grew brutal.
The two genin were already covered in wounds, their bodies torn by hidden weapons and explosive tags.
The taijutsu specialist's strikes carried terrifying explosive power. Although Arakawa's fundamentals were superior, his lack of true life-or-death combat experience—and his excessive chakra consumption—had pushed him into a losing position.
In pure capability, Arakawa was stronger.
In real combat, he was not.
I can't fail here…!
He forced himself to stay conscious, but his opponent grinned cruelly, chopping downward with a hand strike that carried crushing force.
Arakawa instinctively tried to form seals for Fire Spark—
But his chakra no longer responded.
"Die!"
A thunderous impact followed—
And yet, the killing blow never landed.
A silver blade appeared out of nowhere, blocking the strike.
Shiraishi stood there, dressed in white as always. The wind stirred his clothes, giving him an almost carefree, detached air.
The silver blade danced.
In an instant, it split into several Whirlwind Blades.
The taijutsu missing-nin was startled and immediately retreated, narrowly avoiding the wind slashes.
No hand seals.
Instant release.
How could a blade fire wind attacks without forming a jutsu array?
Was this kid using seal-less techniques?
Shiraishi ignored the man's confusion.
His grip tightened on the blade.
His pupils began to shift.
Circular Eyes—activated.
As the dōjutsu awakened, Shiraishi's telekinesis surged again. Every strand of mental force fused into his body, allowing him to sense every minute movement of his opponents.
His earlier hypothesis was confirmed.
Circular Eyes greatly enhanced telekinesis.
That boost was enough to push his telekinetic proficiency at 99% toward the brink of 100%.
But at this moment, numbers no longer mattered.
All of Shiraishi's attention was locked onto the battlefield.
Wind blades began to ripple around the silver sword.
"Fire Release: Dust Flame!"
The second missing-nin rapidly formed seals.
In an instant, scorching sand and ash engulfed the area, flooding toward Shiraishi's position. Though only a D-rank technique, its utility was immense.
Breathing immediately became difficult.
"Fall back to the rendezvous point," Shiraishi ordered. "I'll cover the retreat."
Arakawa didn't hesitate.
In this brief period of cooperation, he had already accepted that Shiraishi possessed the ability to hold the line.
He retreated with the two injured genin.
The logic of Quicksand Ravine's defenders was simple.
Fire Release countered Wind Release.
Against a wind-based blade user, fire would dominate.
What they didn't expect—
Was Shiraishi standing calmly within the superheated ash cloud, motionless, his pupils locked onto his enemies
The desert sands of Quicksand Ravine were rich in heavy metallic particles.
Under extreme heat, those particles would become far more… responsive.
The silver blade rotated gently in Shiraishi's hand.
With Circular Eyes amplifying his control, he activated—
Treasure-Gathering Technique.
The scorching sandstorm began to vibrate violently.
The missing-nin felt something was wrong.
The molten sand surrounding Shiraishi grew increasingly unstable.
This… what kind of technique is this?!
Shiraishi swung his blade lightly.
The high-temperature sand exploded outward in all directions.
The taijutsu specialist tried to rush in.
The other missing-nin began forming seals to suppress the sandstorm.
Then—
They realized the truth.
The sandstorm was a feint.
The real killing move lay within the heat itself.
Countless metallic particles, drawn together by Treasure-Gathering Technique, condensed rapidly—
Like innumerable bullets forming midair.
When Whirlwind Blade expanded—
Those metal bullets detonated outward.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The taijutsu specialist never reached Shiraishi.
His face was riddled with holes, instantly transformed into a grotesque honeycomb.
He collapsed without even a scream.
He wasn't the only one.
The second missing-nin—and dozens of bandits behind him—were torn apart by the rebounding metallic barrage, their bodies shredded beyond recognition.
The battlefield was cramped, far from open.
In such a semi-enclosed environment, this unorthodox, unheard-of method of attack became a massacre.
A strike utterly outside conventional shinobi understanding.
In a single exchange—
Two missing-nin were annihilated.
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