"Chase!"
"You bastard from Konoha! I'll kill you!"
In the dense forest, dozens of Sand Shinobi were chasing after the figure ahead, perched atop tall trees.
The man at the very front, a large bald man with a thick beard, stared angrily at the figure ahead.
He then flicked his fingers, gathered Chakra in his mouth, compressed it into an invisible blade, and spat it out, heading towards the figure that was constantly leaping from tree to tree in front of him.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
Several invisible blades came at lightning speed, shattering and collapsing countless giant trees along their path.
Boom--
The pursuing Sand Shinobi stopped in their tracks, staring at the dust and smoke that erupted before them.
"Lord Iron Sand, did you succeed?" one of the Sand Shinobi Chunin, his voice trembling.
The bald-headed man Iron Sand, did not respond, but instead sensed everything around him.
If that Konoha ninja could be dealt with so easily, they wouldn't have needed to chase him all the way here.
"No! Disperse!"
As if sensing something, Iron Sand's pupils contracted sharply, and then he roared.
Pfft--Pfft--
Hundreds of earthen spears burst forth from the ground, Chunin piercing the hearts of several Sunagakure who couldn't dodge in time.
Even in death, his eyes still held an expression of disbelief.
Chunin the dead Chunin, Iron Sand formed hand seals towards the location where the Earth Spear had been fired, unleashing a series of sharp Wind Cutter Techniques.
The landing point was completely unpredictable, covering the entire area.
The other two Jonin rushed forward, directing the Chunin and Genin behind them to spread out in a fan shape and encircle the enemy.
Amidst the dust and smoke, Hagoromo sidestepped the Wind Cutter coming towards him, then formed a hand seal and slammed it down onto the ground.
"Earth Release · Earth Style Wall!"
With a thunderous roar, thick earthen walls instantly rose from the ground, surrounding Hagoromo Yi.
What followed was the sound of countless Shurikens and the heatwave from the exploding Explosive Tags.
The massive shockwave blasted apart the earthen walls surrounding the Hagoromo robe, and amidst the billowing dust, a sharp, eerie blue blade pierced through the air.
With a swift movement, Kunai parried the Hagoromo, then advanced towards the spot where the blade had just been.
Pfft
A cold glint Kunai, and an incredulous look appeared in the eyes of a Chunin as blood mist sprayed from his neck onto his face.
It collapsed slumped to the ground.
"Gotcha! Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel!"
A Sunagakure who had followed closely behind Jonin Hagoromo's figure and immediately pulled out a fan from behind him and swung it fiercely towards Hagoromo's location.
A hurricane with slashing properties tore through the air and hurtled towards Hagoromo's position.
Hagoromo glanced at the Sunagakure Chunin who hadn't yet managed to retreat around him.
These guys really don't care about the lives of their fellow villagers.
Rumble--
The hurricane slammed directly into the ground, encompassing the surrounding giant trees and the Sunagakure Chunin who hadn't yet managed to escape within its slashing range.
Several Sunagakure Chunin figures, enveloped in blood mist, were sent flying.
The Sunagakure Jonin, who had successfully landed a blow, frowned instead, because Hagoromo had already disappeared.
Just as he was still searching for the figure in the Hagoromo, another Jonin had rushed over unfurled a scroll, and an extremely fast black shadow enveloped the Jonin front of him.
"Secret Technique: Puppet Technique - Black Ant!"
Boom--
The next instant, a blazing flame struck the puppet directly.
The immense heat caused even the Sunagakure, protected by the puppet, to Jonin out in a sweat.
He was so close! He was almost dead!
"The response is good."
Amidst the smoke and dust, Hagoromo slowly emerged, looking at the Sand Shinobi team that had completely surrounded him.
Three Jonin, and dozens of Chunin and Genin.
He seems to have been a bit too reckless lately, actually causing the Sand Shinobi to send so many people to chase after him.
However, Asuma should also be able to take this opportunity to thoroughly investigate the location of the Sand Shinobi Village's supply lines.
"Hmph! Konoha ninja, let's see how you run now!"
The voice of the bald man Iron Sand, came through, filled with a cold laugh.
Yu Yi glanced sideways at Hagoromo and chuckled, "Did I say I was going to run away?"
Um?
Iron Sand was taken aback at first, then his anger intensified, and he waved his hand and roared, "Attack!"
Whoosh--whoosh--
They had been waiting for the other two Jonin to make their move; this time, all three of them would attack together.
The puppeteer who had just been protecting another Sand Shinobi arrived first.
A gigantic, monstrous puppet covered in blades and mechanisms lunged toward Hagoromo's location with a piercing metallic scraping sound.
As it drew near, the puppet opened its mouthparts and spewed out a cloud of highly toxic purple smoke.
Hagoromo Yi narrowed her eyes, held her breath, and gathered Chakra in her right hand, then swung it fiercely at the puppet.
Boom--
The massive collision caused the shockwave to spread outwards, and in an instant, the originally sturdy puppet shattered.
The Jonin controlling the puppet was filled with disbelief; it was a specially made puppet!
It was actually smashed to pieces by Hagoromo. Gritting his teeth, he decisively detonated the poisonous mist on the puppet fragment without thinking further.
The poisonous mist spread instantly, and Iron Sand, who followed closely behind, immediately formed hand seals. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A strong gust of wind enveloped the poisonous mist in front of him, then forced it all down onto Hagoromo.
On the outside, the Sunagakure Chunin had formed a perimeter threw Kunai and Shuriken, determined to capture Hagoromo directly.
Hagoromo's hands moved swiftly, forming hand seals as her eyes rapidly surveyed her surroundings.
His entire body sank directly into the ground, instantly enveloped in poisonous mist. Countless Shurikens and Kunai missed their mark and were embedded in the ground.
"Underground!"
The Jonin had just been controlling the puppet exclaimed in surprise.
On the other side, the Jonin who had been motionless reacted immediately, forming hand seals and unleashing a dense barrage of high-pressure air blasts towards the ground where Hagoromo had just disappeared.
Bang bang--
In an instant, craters were blasted into the ground, but Hagoromo was nowhere to be seen.
"Damn it! Is he from Konoha or Iwagakure?!"
Iron Sand watched the vanished Hagoromo, he slammed his fist into the ground and roared.
From the very beginning, Hagoromo had been using Earth Release Ninjutsu, making him so slippery that he was impossible to catch!
"You guess--"
A voice appeared directly behind Iron Sand, followed by a flurry of escape techniques.
Fire Style: Searing Migraine!
Boom--
A vast expanse of flames, so intensely hot that it distorted space itself, swept in instantly.
The target is all the Sunagakure from Chunin and those three Jonin in this area.
"Ahhh--!"
The Sunagakure, who had formed an encirclement Chunin avoid the flames and were engulfed by the sea of fire, their screams echoing throughout the area.
It then turned into charcoal and sank into the sea of fire where sand and gravel formed a torrent of magma due to the high temperature.
The three Sunagakure Jonin retreated rapidly, barely managing to escape by using Wind Release to unleash a wave of fire.
"Whoosh--whoosh--"
Iron Sand was in a terrible state. He was the first to be attacked in the Searing Migraine, and now his whole body was covered with burn marks.
Looking at the figure in the sea of fire, Hagoromo's face was already icy cold.
In just a moment, dozens of Chunin who had been brought out were killed or wounded.