Instant Kill

"He's so fast... Watch out! He's coming!"

Cold sweat ran down the leader of the four-man squad's forehead, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes. He was only a Special Jonin, while the subordinates beside him were merely ordinary Chunin. Such a lineup already counted as elite in Sunagakure.

Yet the ninja charging at them left only an afterimage like a flash of lightning on his retina before rushing from afar to right in front of him. Judging by speed alone, he was certainly no ordinary Jonin.

"Damn it, he's already here! Prepare to defend!"

The Sand Shinobi at the front formed hand seals and immediately unleashed Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique. A violent whirlwind became invisible, formless blades of wind, shredding the ground and bushes ahead into pieces.

However, though the invisible wind blades were incredibly swift, they were still far too slow against Uchiha Feiyu's extreme speed. The charging streak of lightning traced a Z-shaped arc through the air, evading the Special Jonin's ninjutsu. Then a gleaming white slash of blade light cleaved straight toward his forehead.

With a crack, the Special Jonin was split in two, only for his body to turn into two halves of a Substitution Log. His figure reappeared in the trees overhead.

Blood streamed down from his forehead, and the Special Jonin's body trembled slightly. If he had been even 0.01 seconds slower just now, it would not have been a mere flesh wound—his skull would have been split open.

The miserable screams immediately jolted the tense Special Jonin awake. Turning his head, he saw that two of his three Chunin subordinates were already dead. The last puppeteer had only survived because he had stayed farther away, but even the puppet he had displayed openly had been chopped into several pieces.

"Konoha... White Fang!?"

As though some old memory had been awakened, the Special Jonin's eyes filled with terror. Only when he saw Uchiha Feiyu standing still beneath the tree opposite him did he regain a little composure.

His trembling hands gradually steadied. The Sunagakure Special Jonin forced a smile, trying to reassure himself and calm down.

"It's fine. He's just a fourteen- or fifteen-year-old ninja... Even if he's talented, his combat experience definitely can't compare to mine..."

While the Special Jonin was still muttering to himself, he suddenly saw the young ninja below him undergo a change in his eyes. They turned blood-red, with two black Tomoe spinning in his pupils, and the world immediately began to spin around him.

Damn it... he's actually an Uchiha!

That was the only thought that flashed through the Special Jonin's mind before his vision went dark. When he came back to himself, he felt an icy chill in his chest. Numbness spread from his chest to his limbs, and his body went limp as he fell from the tree.

The short blade embedded in his chest came free as the Special Jonin fell. Blood gushed from his heart, and his body gradually grew cold. The pitiful Special Jonin died without a sound, never even getting the chance to state his name.

"Why was that guy spacing out on the battlefield? Didn't they say the Sand Shinobi followed an elite policy?"

Uchiha Feiyu wiped the blood from his short blade against the Sand Shinobi's body, finding the man's performance strange. Though he did not know what rank the ninja he had killed was, spacing out directly on the battlefield was just absurd, wasn't it?!

"Hmm... I seem to have a little impression of this guy. He probably saw me before, either on the battlefield or during a mission."

"Perhaps seeing your swordsmanship reminded him of something, causing him to lose focus all of a sudden."

Hatake Sakumo's voice drifted over, letting Uchiha Feiyu understand what had happened. As for whether things were truly as Hatake Sakumo said, he could simply ask the ninja's soul directly.

With a casual wave of his hand, the ability Spirit Summons and Subjugation activated. The souls of the three ninjas Uchiha Feiyu had killed immediately returned to his hand. Under the control of Spirit Summons and Subjugation, he would have plenty of chances to question these ninjas for intelligence later.

Although these souls could not compare to Hatake Sakumo's soul, and Uchiha Feiyu would not use the Spirit Binding Method to consume souls of his own kind, every ninja had something they excelled at. He could certainly learn some unique ninjutsu and combat techniques from them.

Not to mention anything else, over the past few months, with the help of Hatake Sakumo and that Pangolin soul, Uchiha Feiyu had successively cultivated Chakra transformations of the wind and earth natures. Of the five elemental Chakra transformations, he now lacked only the water nature.

If Uchiha Feiyu had cultivated two Chakra nature transformations on his own, it would have taken at least three to five years to see results. This showed just how effective possessed training was.

"Feiyu, are you all right? Wait... did you take down all these ninjas?"

Asuma and Kurenai entered the battlefield, both nervous and excited. They then discovered three ninja corpses and fragments of puppets scattered across the ground. Clearly, the battle here had already ended completely.

Hizashi Hyuga, who had been following at the rear, also walked over, with a trace of shock still in his eyes. Just moments ago, he had witnessed Uchiha Feiyu cut down three ninjas as easily as slicing vegetables. It had looked as effortless as cutting grass.

Thinking back on Uchiha Feiyu's impressive display, Hizashi Hyuga sadly realized that even if he faced Uchiha Feiyu himself, he would likely lose more often than win. That was even taking into account his Byakugan, which somewhat countered high-speed ninjas. Otherwise, he would probably be cut down in just a few moves as well.

A few months ago, he had still been able to defeat Uchiha Feiyu with ease. The other's rate of progress was simply too fast, wasn't it?

Unaware of Hatake Sakumo's existence, Hizashi Hyuga somewhat overestimated Uchiha Feiyu's strength. However, even without relying on Hatake Sakumo, Uchiha Feiyu's strength was now not far behind Hizashi Hyuga's. Moreover, in a sense, Spirit Summons and Subjugation itself truly counted as part of Uchiha Feiyu's strength.

"I did take them all down. Oh, right, one puppeteer got away."

"Don't worry. He won't escape. We'll catch him now."

Hizashi Hyuga spoke casually. Against the Hyuga Clan's Byakugan, a mere Chunin-level puppeteer naturally had nowhere to hide.

"Let Asuma and Kurenai get some practice this time. Feiyu, don't make a move."

Sand Shinobi puppeteers could be considered an elite branch. Although traditional puppeteers lacked staying power and performed poorly at the Kage-level, puppeteers truly held a significant advantage at the Chunin stage. Basically, anyone who earned the Chunin title was an elite Chunin.

If Asuma and Kurenai faced a Chunin puppeteer at full strength, they would likely lose more often than win. But against a Chunin puppeteer whose puppet had already been destroyed, they held a huge advantage.