Mission Failed
Konoha Base!
Sensing the fluctuation just now, Jiraiya, rushed out quickly and saw Orochimaru gazing at the thick smoke rising in the distance.
Seeing Orochimaru's grim expression, Jiraiya asked, "What's wrong, Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru shook his head and replied, "I'm not sure either. For some reason, I have a bad feeling. Could it be that something happened to Yemo?"
Upon hearing this, Jiraiya smiled and comforted him, "How could that be, Orochimaru? You're definitely overthinking it. That place seems to be the border between two countries' mountain streams. How could that little guy, Yemo, have run off there?"
After thinking it over carefully, Orochimaru shook his head and said, "No, I know that kid Yemo. He always does things unexpectedly. Just in case, we should send a team to check it out."
Meanwhile, the gathering place of the Kumogakure!
Looking at the billowing smoke in the distance, Kumogakure was not as calm as Konoha, because the smoke was coming from the Land of Land of Lightning. Most importantly, it seemed that one of their intelligence ninjas had gone to great lengths to escape from the Land of Fire, and the route seemed to be in that vicinity.
Blue B gazed into the distance, then turned to a ninja behind her and asked, "Has the team sent to meet the intelligence operatives been dispatched today?"
The ninja behind him was taken aback, then quickly replied, "Reporting to Blue B, they've already been dispatched. Judging from the timing, they should have made contact by now."
Upon hearing this, Blue B's expression grew even more worried, thinking to herself, "Could it be that Konoha discovered this and sent powerful ninjas to attack, causing such a commotion?"
After some thought, Blue B his mind and turned around to order, "Bring Killer B over here. Doesn't he always say he's bored here? I'm sending him out today."
At this moment, the thick smoke that had shot into the sky slowly dissipated. When everything settled, the very center of the forest had been replaced by a huge black crater. Most of the forest had been destroyed, and some flames were still burning. The landscape was filled with huge, spiderweb-like cracks, and the once vibrant forest had been turned into a wasteland.
At the edge of that dark pit, in a wide crack, came a sound. Suddenly, a small black hand appeared at the edge of the crack, and then a black figure crawled out of the pit.
This person was Yemo, but Yemo felt extremely miserable at the moment. His whole body was pitch black, his face was black, and only his eyes and mouth could be seen. Even his nose was gone. As for his clothes, they were almost gone, with only tattered pieces of cloth covering him. Although it could not be called streaking, it was not much better than streaking.
Yemo, who had just climbed out of the crack, collapsed to the ground with a thud, panting heavily. He secretly rejoiced, "Luckily, my understanding of Yin-Yang Release deepened at the last moment, and I didn't use all my Chakra to control those vines. I used all my Chakra on myself, using Yin-Yang Release to strengthen my Sage Body, which allowed me to withstand this explosion. Otherwise, I would really be finished this time."
At the last moment, the flames from the explosion destroyed Yemo's body. In this life-or-death situation, Yemo -Yin-Yang Release deepened, and he used it on himself to prevent his destroyed body from recovering—or rather, to create it.
Creation constantly emerged from destruction. Fortunately, Yemo had enough Chakra in the end, and creation triumphed over destruction, allowing him to survive. Otherwise, Yemo would have truly died inside. Now, all of Yemo's Chakra has been exhausted.
Thinking about it, Yemo's anger surged up, and he cursed, "That Kumo Ninja is a madman! He actually tried to take everyone down with him and even detonated thousands of Explosive Tag! If it weren't for some trump card he had up his sleeve, he would have been killed."
After a pause, Yemo muttered to himself, "It seems I can't treat the ninjas in the Hokage world the way they are in the manga. Jonin aren't that weak, easily defeated by the protagonists. Jonin are very strong. Even sensory-type Jonin are so difficult to deal with; I almost got killed. Not to mention the combat-type Jonin and the powerful Elite Jonin, they will be even more troublesome."
Originally, Yemo believed that ordinary Jonin were weak and could be easily defeated by Orochi, Jiraiya, based on the manga. However, after today's battle, Yemo realized that he could no longer have that kind of thinking. The manga was just highlighting the main characters. If Jonin were really that weak, why would it be so difficult to become one, and why would many Chunin complete numerous missions and still be given the title of Special Jōnin?
Yemo felt that his luck was extremely bad. He encountered Jonin on his first mission. Who else could be as lucky as him? Moreover, he encountered a rich Jonin bombarded him with thousands of Explosive Tag.
It's important to know that Explosive Tag are incredibly powerful, comparable to advanced Fire Release Ninjutsu used by Jonin. They are also extremely expensive; a thousand Explosive Tag represent a formidable fortune.
Whew...
Panting heavily, Yemo didn't want to move at all. His whole body was sore and weak, and most importantly, his Chakra was depleted, making him unable to do anything. However, he still forced himself to stand up. The commotion caused by this battle was so great that the Cloud Ninja would probably Kumo Ninja soon. He had to leave as soon as possible and find a safe place to recover from his injuries and Chakra.
At this moment, Yemo staggered, walking unsteadily like a drunkard, barely managing to take a few steps. Yemo slowly walked towards the deep pit and eventually disappeared into the bushes.
However, no sooner had Yemo left than a group of Kumo Ninja arrived. There were three ninjas in total, all of whom were Jonin. These three Jonin were there to meet Daruka.
However, as soon as they arrived at the forest, Daruka detonated thousands of Explosive Tag, so the three of them experienced the power of the explosion. Once the aftershocks subsided, the three of them rushed over. If they had been any earlier, they would have found Yemo who had left.
The three arrived at the edge of the pit and were immediately awestruck by the scene before them. After the initial shock, they plunged into the pit and split up to search, but after a long search, they found nothing.
It's normal that they couldn't find it; Daruka had long since vanished. However, they still found Yemo's footprints.
The three met, and the leading Jonin analyzed, "Nothing was found at the scene, and Daruka was nowhere to be seen. He has most likely been murdered. Such a fierce battle breaking out at our rendezvous point is definitely not a coincidence. Moreover, what we found at the crime scene is very likely the one who killed Karuda and fled."
"So what should we do? Chase after them, or..." a Jonin asked.
Shaking his head, the leading Jonin, "We'll both go at the same time. Daru and I will go track down the guy who left. Wanda, you go back and report the situation here. The battle just ended, and the guy who killed Karuda shouldn't have gone far. If we both chase after him now, we can still catch up."
"As for Wanda, you must return as soon as possible. Since Konoha Ninja have entered the borders of our Land of Lightning, it means that Konoha may have some special route to infiltrate our Land of Lightning. We must report this to our superiors. I'm afraid there are probably quite a few ninjas who have infiltrated the Land of Lightning."
The other two Jonin had no objection to the arrangement of the leading Jonin, and the ninja named Wanda left without saying a word.
After that ninja left, the other two ninjas vanished into the dense forest in a flash, chasing after Yemo's footprints.
The entire conversation between the three entered Yemo's ears without him missing a single detail. Yemo did not leave; no, it should be said that he was just about to leave when he sensed the arrival of the three Kumo Ninja. So he quickly hid inside the trunk of a large tree and concealed his Chakra fluctuations.
"It's over, it's over before it even started," Yemo muttered to himself. The key to this mission was secrecy; if they were discovered, it was practically a failure.
Yemo could imagine that the Kumogakure's higher-ups would send even more ninjas to search for him. At this point, no one wanted enemy ninjas to appear behind them. Continuing to stay alone in the Land of Lightning would only make Yemo more and more dangerous as time went on.
Moreover, Yemo has no reinforcements or companions. If the Cloud Kumo Ninja discovers his whereabouts, he will surely die. The best course of action for Yemo now is to leave as soon as possible before the Kumogakure takes action, escape the Land of Lightning and return to the Land of Fire, or run towards the heart of the Land of Lightning. In any case, he cannot stay on the border.