Patrol Team, II

"Who's there? Get the hell out here! What kind of coward hides in the shadows?"

The man shouted angrily, gripping the kunai in his hand as his gaze swept the area, trying to locate the enemy. Their plan to infiltrate Konoha had already failed halfway through; at the very least, their team had been exposed.

Since that was the case, they might as well fight, take out this Konoha patrol team that had ruined their plans, and then retreat. It would not make this trip entirely pointless.

"Hiding in the shadows? Heh heh, aren't you sand-eating trash the ones too scared to show your faces? Sneaking into our Land of Fire and still daring to spout such nonsense!"

Otoha was deeply displeased. They were just three Sunagakure spies, yet they were this arrogant.

Just like his old man had said, these turban-wearing fools were all reckless idiots who did not know their own limits. Only fists and kunai could teach these bastards what it meant to know better.

Seeing Otoha leap onto a treetop, the man revealed a savage grin. He looked at Otoha as though he were looking at someone already dead. "So it's just a little brat, playing tricks. I'll send you to hell right now."

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

Otoha acted the moment he spoke, without the slightest hesitation. His hands flew through a series of seals, and he instantly exhaled an enormous orange-red fireball that streaked toward the middle-aged man with a long flaming tail.

What fast hand seals. Though he had spoken harshly, the middle-aged man did not let down his guard at all. Being sent on such an infiltration mission meant that not only was he strong, but he was also clever, unlike those brainless colleagues of his.

Seeing the speed of Otoha's hand seals, the middle-aged man silently praised him. For a child that young, he was impressive.

Unfortunately, he had met him today.

Wind Release: Wind Suck.

The middle-aged man formed hand seals so quickly that his hands became a blur. His abdomen caved inward deeply, then he opened his mouth wide and forcefully inhaled. In an instant, he sucked all the air from before him. The Great Fireball struck what seemed like an invisible barrier and split down the middle, sliding past the three Sunagakure shinobi on either side. Its scorching heat plowed two black trenches into the ground.

Fire overcame wind.

It was a principle passed down for countless years, but that did not mean it was truly invincible. Generations of Sunagakure shinobi had developed methods to counter Fire Release. After all, six or seven out of every ten Sand shinobi used Wind Release. To avoid getting utterly beaten whenever they encountered a ninja skilled in Fire Release, the Sand shinobi had put in tremendous effort researching it.

And they really had developed quite a few new ninjutsu. Wind Suck was one of them. It instantly emptied the air within a certain area, creating a vacuum and preventing flames from burning.

Of course, that was only in theory. If anyone truly believed that learning this move meant they could turn around and crush Fire Release users, then all anyone could say was good luck.

Wind Suck had very low practical value because air naturally flowed extremely quickly. The so-called vacuum zone could only last for an instant. Therefore, the user needed exceptionally sharp judgment to release Wind Suck at precisely the right moment and extinguish the flames. Too early or too late, there was only one outcome: getting burned into charcoal!

The requirements were harsh. Ordinary Chunin could hardly achieve such precision. As for Jonin, once they reached that level, they generally developed a second elemental nature, greatly reducing Wind Suck's usefulness. It was only useful for bullying chunin and genin. Using such a trick against an expert of the same level was simply courting death.

But Otoha was a Genin. More accurately, he was still a Ninja Academy student, and even his forehead protector had only been issued temporarily.

The middle-aged man was, after all, a Special Jonin. Naturally, he had broken Otoha's Great Fireball with ease.

"Tch, that move's troublesome. Come out and help!" Otoha howled.

"Let your companions come out too. You alone are no match for me." The middle-aged man sneered. What difference would a few more Genin or Chunin make? Though he was only a Special Jonin, he believed that with a few more years, he would definitely step into the ranks of Jonin. Taking care of a small patrol team—

What difficulty was there in that?

"This old guy's pretty good. Using Wind Release to put out a Great Fireball? He's got some skill!" Hyuga Tenzan stepped out, using his Byakugan to examine the middle-aged man, as well as the woman and boy beside him.

"Byakugan?"

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes. No wonder they had been discovered. He had not expected to run into a team with a Hyuga clansman. What rotten luck!

But were this little bastard's eyes blind? He was only thirty-two, all right? How had he become an old guy? Rage flared in his heart, but he held himself back because someone else emerged.

"His Wind Release is good. Later, we should leave his head intact. Maybe we can get that ninjutsu from it." Minato pushed aside the branches before him and stared at the middle-aged man. He was very interested in the technique from earlier.

"Minato, you're really ruthless. Killing someone is one thing, but at least leave him a whole corpse!" Katsuki played with the short blade in his hand, standing atop a branch as thick as an arm and swaying unsteadily up and down.

Katsuki was already ten years old. He had grown quite a bit taller, and his crimson hair stood up like a lion's mane. His brows and eyes had gained distinct angles, revealing traces of firmness. Dark blue pants, a white T-shirt, and a black jacket over it made for an extremely flashy outfit, though he was quite satisfied with it—especially his hairstyle. At last, he no longer had to let it hang down like thin willow branches.

Over nearly two years, he had not merely grown taller. His strength had steadily increased as well.

"I can learn Wind Release too," Kushina added.

"Kill this old guy and leave his head behind." Katsuki waved his short blade, his tone abruptly changing as he glared fiercely at the middle-aged man, clearly treating the man's head like a ball.

The middle-aged man was furious. Were all these little bastards blind? He was only thirty-two. He was not old yet!

Katsuki's sudden change in attitude made Otoha's mouth twitch. This guy really was shameless. His sister-complex tendencies could not have been more obvious.

"If we could awaken the Sharingan, we could just copy his ninjutsu directly."

Otome sighed regretfully. Awakening the Sharingan was a difficult process. More than a year had passed, yet neither he nor Otoha had managed to awaken theirs. Quite a few Uchiha never awakened it in their entire lives. It was not common, but neither was it rare.

That was one of the reasons Otome had joined Katsuki's group and left the Ninja Academy. There was no fixed rule for awakening the Sharingan; they had only roughly identified a few methods. Awakening it in battle was the method with the highest probability. At least seventy percent of clan members who awakened it had done so during combat.

That was why the two siblings had joined the team together, taking on some Genin-level missions. At the very least, they could get a taste of blood.