The Extraction

Sunagakure.

The villagers had all moved to the shelter, and the huge village was empty and lifeless. The figures coming and going were all Sand Ninja with murderous intent. The village was filled with the lonely barking of dogs and crowing of roosters. The livestock howled helplessly, also terrified by the endless thunder and explosions.

However, in the cellar of a house near the village entrance, a middle-aged man was sitting listlessly on a wooden box.

"Squeak!"

The sound of the door opening came down, and the man's eyes suddenly lit up, but he remained sitting blankly on the wooden box, only his sharp, hawk-like eyes fixed on the entrance to the cellar stairs, his right hand reaching into his robes and gripping Kunai.

A dozen seconds later, the cellar lid was lifted, and someone came down.

"Hello, Mister Xiuyi."

The newcomer was dressed as Konoha Ninja, with fiery red hair and a bright smile on his face. He was none other than Katsuki. Seeing the man who stood motionless like a statue, he gave a helpless, bitter smile.

"Don't be nervous, put down the Kunai you're holding. I'm here to take you back to the village, Mister Xiuyi. This is a token given to me by Lord Sakumo." Katsuki took out half of a broken Konoha forehead protector from his bosom and tossed it to the middle-aged man sitting on the wooden box.

Looking at the jagged edges of the Forehead Protector, the middle-aged man took out half of the Konoha forehead protector from his pocket and pieced it back together perfectly.

"Are you all alone? When did Lord Sakumo become so reckless? Sending a brat like you to pick me up." The middle-aged man spoke up, and immediately began to complain.

"Hehe, don't worry, the teacher sent me here because he's confident," Katsuki said with a smile, or rather, a clone of herself.

"Smack!"

With a snap of his fingers, nine clones burst forth from the surrounding walls.

"We will take you away safely, please rest assured." The clone descended the stairs, made way, and gestured for them to come with them. "Sir, please come with us."

The middle-aged man was stunned, and asked in a dry voice, "You mean to walk out like this, openly and honestly?"

"That's right. The Sand Village's top ninja are either being held up by our main body or guarding the shelter. Most of the people patrolling the village are just Chunin, who pose no threat at all. If we walk out openly, our main body will naturally meet us at the village entrance."

Just then, a muffled explosion drifted into the cellar.

The middle-aged man looked around at Katsuki's many clones, remained silent for a few breaths, and then, without further hesitation, walked directly down the stairs out of the cellar.

Pushing open the door, the once bustling street was deserted. Only a few Sand Ninja could be seen leaping across the rooftops in the distance. The appearance of the middle-aged man also attracted the attention of the patrolling Sand Ninja, and a small team rushed over.

"Why didn't you go to the shelter? Why are you still staying here..."

Before he could finish speaking, three silver bolts of lightning flashed, and sharp Kunai had already severed the throats of the Sand Ninja. The three clones gently placed the bodies on the ground and wiped the blood off the Kunai from the corpses' clothes.

"Let's go! They'll handle these guys. We just need to focus on our journey." The clone who had first negotiated with the man stood at the doorway and pointed to the scattered Shadow Clone around him.

"Understood."

The middle-aged man nodded. Although he was only Chunin- level ninja, he was confident in his eyesight, having been able to infiltrate Sunagakure as a spy for several years. He hadn't even seen how the three clones had acted; in the blink of an eye, the entire Sunagakure squad had their throats slit.

That's impressive. If these Shadow Clones are this powerful, it shows how extraordinary their original selves must be.

Without questioning the abilities of the Katsuki clones any further, the middle-aged man, just as he had said before, buried his head and rushed toward the village entrance.

"Halt! Who are you...?"

"Who goes there? Making a ruckus in the village..."

One squad after another was slaughtered by the clones. Even though some Sand Ninja sent out distress signals, the elders of the shelter chose to remain still. Compared to the empty village, the villagers in the shelter were the most valuable resource. War is all about resources and population, a rule that has been established since the Warring States period.

As for the Jonin the village entrance, they had no time to spare at the moment. Katsuki alone kept the group of Jonin bound, and none of them dared to break away.

"Arrive!"

The huge gaping hole blasted open in the rock wall at the village entrance was right in front of us. The fierce battle raged in the sky, with howling winds, swirling sand, and lightning flashing back and forth.

The middle-aged man watched the fierce battle at the village entrance, his heart pounding with anxiety.

"Wait a moment."

Of the ten Shadow Clones of Katsuki, not one of them disappeared along the way, leaving Sunagakure feeling more empty than ever before.

To reclaim the One-Tail, the Third Kazekage took a large number of top-tier ninja with him. To defend against Konoha's attacks, a large number of ninja were deployed across various oases. The high-level forces remaining in the village split into two groups: one at the village entrance and the other in the shelters. This Genin and genin who were not strong enough to fight effectively against Katsuki's Shadow Clone. After losing nearly a hundred ninja, the Chunin dared not sacrifice their lives recklessly anymore.

"Bang!"

One of Katsuki's clones suddenly dispelled the spell, turning into white smoke and dissipating.

At the same moment, Katsuki Yue, who was entangled with the puppet, suddenly brightened up as she replayed the information transmitted back by the Shadow Clone in her mind.

"Finally got it done."

He breathed a sigh of relief. His mission this time was not only to teach the Sand Ninja a lesson, but also to safely bring back the spies he had planted in Sunagakure. To be honest, in his eyes, the first mission was much simpler than the second. He himself was not afraid of the Sand Ninja's siege, but he was not so sure about protecting others.

"Something big is about to happen."

With a kick, Katsuki sent the charging puppet flying. Her right hand curled up like an eagle's claw, with dazzling lightning crackling between her fingers. She charged towards the densely packed sand ninja at top speed, enduring the attacks one after another. Wind blades and sand spears tore through Katsuki's hardened skin, causing bloody wounds.

"Hey! Electric Execution."

With a stomp of his feet, Katsuki shot into the sky like a cannonball. His lightning-wrapped palm swung down, unleashing a torrent of accumulated lightning. Bolts of lightning rained down like a storm, mercilessly ravaging the earth below. The Sand Ninja who hadn't had time to dodge were instantly doomed.

The power of the thunderstorm was terrifying. The raging and unrestrained lightning instantly shattered the Sand Ninja's defenses. One after another, endless bolts of lightning engulfed the Sand Ninja in the blink of an eye, and a full thirteen Chakra fluctuations disappeared.

The other Sand Ninja were also stunned by the deafening thunder, and the chaotic Chakra fluctuations severely interfered with their senses, so much so that no one noticed that someone had used the thunderstorm as cover to cross the rock wall and quickly leave the Sunagakure.