Ambush

"So, after disappearing for several months, we found traces of Akatsuki again in the Land of Wind?" Sakura asked.

The pink-haired girl held a cup of hot tea in both hands, her bright eyes sparkling in the rising steam as she gazed eagerly at the man before her.

This is an izakaya in a major city in the Land of Wind. The three members of Team Fourteen are sitting cross-legged around a low tea table in the store.

Sitting opposite Sakura, Shino held a scroll in his hand, which contained the latest mission report. He glanced at Sakura and said, "That's right, but the problem isn't that simple."

Shino's expression was nothing like that of a young girl; after reading the entire scroll, he felt a heavy weight in his heart.

So troublesome...

After glancing at Sakura, who was completely clueless, and Terumi, who was a fresh-faced newcomer, the man nearing thirty uttered Shikamaru- esque sigh.

They did discover an outer member of Akatsuki, but actually... Kakashi's Genjutsu didn't extract much information. The person's brain was sealed by Akatsuki's Sealing Jutsu, preventing it from leaking to the outside world.

Kakashi and Hotaru Hyuga personally led a team to escort him back to Konoha, handing him over to the Yamanaka Clan in an attempt to uncover the information buried deep within his mind.

But an accident happened.

The scroll that Shino urgently sent over contained information about what happened next—the sealing restrictions set up by Akatsuki were far more sophisticated than Konoha had imagined; the Yamanaka Clan's Secret Technique, while infiltrating the spies' minds to gather intelligence, inadvertently triggered the restrictions.

As a result, the man's head was instantly destroyed by the Sealing Jutsu, and even the Yamanaka tribesmen who cast the Secret Technique were affected, suffering severe mental damage.

Next, the Sealing Jutsu transmitted the last scene the spy witnessed to a distant location using some kind of long-range Ninjutsu.

"So, in reality, all we know is that he's a subordinate of 'Sasori' from Akatsuki, and he might have other comrades here," Shino picked up a glass of sake from the table, took a sip, shook his head, and continued, "We don't know anything else..."

"This operation might have alerted them. Xiao already knows that some of their subordinates have been captured, so the information we obtained from him might not be effective anymore."

"See for yourselves." He put down his wine glass and handed the scroll on the table to Sakura Haruno.

Sakura took the scroll and quickly began to read. Having read hundreds of millions of words of online novels in her previous life, she had developed a natural skill of reading ten lines at a glance, which allowed her to quickly skip over the meaningless parts of the text and focus her attention on the most crucial parts.

As she watched, the bright smile in her eyes gradually faded, and her gaze became serious and solemn.

"Therefore, we must act before 'Scorpion' relocates his intelligence personnel and departments..." Sakura lowered her eyes and said calmly, "... capture them all first!"

"Yes, we can't wait for Kakashi and Hotaru Hyuga to come back here." Shino held his wine glass to his lips, staring intently at the Ice Release ninja before him. "Sakura, listen up, with the Second Squad absent, our Fourteenth Squad is the highest-ranking and strongest squad among the Anbu currently on a mission in the Land of Wind..."

"Captain, I understand what you mean. Only we are truly confident in completing this mission," Sakura interjected.

Shino nodded and drank the sake in his cup in one gulp.

"Right now, you're the only one among us who's confident enough to face a 'Kage' level opponent head-on!" Shino slammed his glass down on the table and said in a deep voice, "If we encounter members of 'Akatsuki' during a mission, only you can cover our escape unscathed. That's why this mission can only be entrusted to us."

Just then, the waiter came over with a tray to serve the food. Shino's serious expression vanished instantly. He glanced at the waiter, smiled, and said, "That's exactly why I chose to eat here!"

His smile, while bold, held a deeper meaning.

Upon receiving the intelligence, he didn't even have time to explain before leading his team directly here.

Clearly, it wasn't about eating.

Sakura Haruno smiled knowingly, her smile carrying a hint of coldness compared to Shino's boldness, and said meaningfully, "Hmm, the food came out quickly, and the main courses were delicious. Captain, you have good taste; this is indeed a good choice..."

The gaze in her beautiful, jewel-like eyes gradually sharpened, and her eyes inadvertently swept over Shino's shoulder, lightly glancing at the other people in the shop.

Indeed, everyone else here seems to have a faint sense of Chakra about them.

They weren't ordinary people... but Scorpion's subordinates, spies who gathered intelligence for him!

This information was obtained from interrogating the man on the scroll. And this place is one of Scorpion's intelligence outposts!

"Then we should eat our vegetables too." Terumi smiled faintly, clasping her hands together in front of her chest, her words carrying a pointed meaning.

She had by then finished reading the scroll that Shino had handed her and understood why Shino had brought them here.

--Take this stronghold before the enemy realizes the intelligence has been leaked and withdraws!

The three exchanged glances in mid-air and nodded almost imperceptibly.

The main course of lunch for the Fourteenth Squad... was these spies disguised as izakaya staff!

The moment the waiter puts the dish down.

A sudden change occurred!

"Attack!" Suddenly, the waiter shouted, and under the cover of the tray, he pulled out a Kunai from somewhere. As he shouted, he sprang up!

In a flash, the Kunai's cold blade had already closed in on Shino!

Shino remained calm and composed, a half-smile playing on his lips. After all, his opponent was merely a spy tasked with gathering intelligence, and his skills were certainly no threat to someone of his Elite Jonin level.

Moreover, he had already anticipated this.

Shino immediately took a step back, avoiding the Kunai.

He had been sitting cross-legged on the soft cushion, but as he stepped back, he straightened up, and his agile and tall figure instantly loomed over the attacking waiter.

"Not poisoned?" The Konoha Ninja seemed completely unaffected by the hidden poison in the wine, his still agile movements astonishing the attacker!

"Hmph!" Shino sneered, and with a sudden kick of his left foot, he overturned the table.

BOOM!

A fierce kick sent a gust of wind through the air, slamming the waiter, along with the table and the freshly served dish, onto him. The powerful force sent him flying dozens of meters away, smashing through tables and wooden railings along the way, before he finally crashed into a wall with a dull thud.

The waiter's body went limp and he collapsed to the ground, unable to rise again.

Shino didn't even glance at him. His eyes darted around, and the instant he kicked the waiter away, his cold gaze had already turned to the other people in the shop.

While the waiter launched the attack--

The customers sitting in the corner of the store, the waiters coming and going, and the bartenders behind the bar all dropped their disguises, drew their weapons, and charged at them!

Meanwhile, Sakura was also moving just as quickly.

As the waiter launched his surprise attack, she had already completed the hand Hand Seals for her Ninjutsu.

"Water Release - uh, it's Ninjutsu I created on the spot, so Sakura Haruno hasn't thought of a name yet."

Sakura suddenly spat out the tea she was holding in her mouth. The green tea liquid, manipulated by her Chakra, transformed into two water snakes that bypassed the waiter who had been dealt with by Shino, heading towards the enemy who was lurking not far away.

A long, emerald-green snake shot out from the girl's palm like an arrow, slicing through the air with a sharp whistling sound, and charging towards the enemy with unstoppable momentum!

"Don't kill them!" Seeing that Sakura's Ninjutsu was about to create several holes in the enemies, Shino quickly warned her.

"Hmm!" Sakura Haruno nodded, her slender fingers fluttering like butterflies, instantly changing the Hand Seals, and her Ninjutsu also changed nimbly; the water snake, which was originally aiming at a vital point, suddenly shook its head and changed direction, its sharp teeth retracting into its mouth, changing its attack to a coiling motion.

Whoosh—the water snake moved with incredible speed, darting across the battlefield in the blink of an eye, coiling around the feet of unsuspecting enemies, and instantly binding them tightly.

In an instant, Sakura had completely subdued all the enemies in front of her.

To prevent them from biting their tongues to commit suicide or rupturing the venom sacs in their mouths, Sakura also controlled the snake's head to specifically jam their mouths, and with a pull and tug, she dislocated the enemy's jaw.

Incidentally, this pose was inspired by Kakuzu's tentacles...

Yuzuki Terumi wasn't idle either. She unleashed the Genjutsu she was preparing, stunning an enemy who was about to use Ninjutsu not far to the side. Then, Shino added a Fire Style, and with Ryūichi, the remaining survivors were also eliminated, and the world became completely quiet.

In just a few seconds, the three men completely cleared out this spy hideout disguised as an izakaya.

Using the combat strength of the Fourteenth Squad to deal with this group of missing-nin spies who were not good at fighting was like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut.

Sakura Haruno had only used one Ninjutsu, not even a warm-up, and the battle was over, leaving her feeling a little unsatisfied.

Next, they used water snakes to knock out the defeated enemies, tied them up, and hung them upside down on the ceiling.

I plan to use Genjutsu to interrogate them one by one.

Terumi was about to perform the technique, someone suddenly woke up.

"Uh..." The waiter, who had been kicked unconscious by Shino, woke up with a start. He was awakened by Sakura's rough Ninjutsu. He opened his eyes with difficulty, and the figure standing in front of him gradually became clearer.

"You..." he groaned weakly, quickly realizing his predicament, and asked unwillingly, "Why weren't you poisoned?"

The three Fourteenth Squad exchanged a glance, and a faint smile appeared on Sakura's lips.

This person... waking up so quickly means he's probably the strongest among them. Let's try to get him to talk and gather information!

(Guaranteed minimum/, Bonus chapter 1/1.)

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(This is an extra chapter for [Cat-Eared Alice], she's a female game streamer on Bilibili.)

(Sorry, only three chapters today. I need to organize the remaining chapters. I'll update four more tomorrow! Also, some unfortunate news: due to writer's block these past two days, my drafts are almost exhausted!)