Clone Tactics!

"Crackle..."

The sound of flickering electricity came from his chest. Chiba strained to twist his stiff neck backward, his pupils nearly disappearing into the corners of his eyes. Yet all he could see was a lock of soft white hair and an aged forehead with faintly bulging veins.

When...?

Chiba twisted his neck, his gaze shifting downward bit by bit. His rigid neck could not move, so he could only roll his eyes little by little, painfully redirecting his line of sight until he saw the fist that flashed with electricity from time to time, piercing straight through his chest. "It's over, kid!"

Behind him, Maki, whose fist had pierced through the boy before him, moved his lips slightly as a sharp glint flashed through his eyes.

I'm old, after all. My Chakra is nowhere near what it used to be, and the number of Lightning Clones I can make is limited. I have to end this quickly. If I can't kill this kid, there will be too many variables in Dodai's mission to recover the intelligence.

This kid accurately intercepted both me and that Iwa ninja the instant we made our move. He's very likely a sensory ninja.

Although sensory ninja were generally stationed in the rear and had to be protected even while carrying out missions, with this kid's strength, he did not need protection at all.

It was even possible that he was carrying out a mission alone—a secret mission for Konoha.

But no matter what, Konoha was now an enemy, not a friend. Whatever Konoha's secret mission was, it would never benefit us.

Whether it was Dodai's intelligence recovery or Konoha's secret mission, I have to finish him here! That was the resolute thought in his heart.

"Is that so?"

However, at that very moment, the