You've Worked Very Hard

"Whew."

"Did we... did we get him?"

The tall Stone Village Ninja stared at the street that had been leveled by the exploding pillars of earth. The swirling smoke completely obscured their vision, and the violent explosion caused the surrounding houses to totter. Faint, suppressed sobs could be heard from inside the rooms.

However, his attention remained entirely focused on what was directly in front of him.

"Harado!"

Just as he instinctively mumbled to himself, he heard Ash Soil-sama suddenly call out his name.

"Yes."

Harado turned his head and looked at Ash Soil-sama in front of him.

Then, he saw Ash Soil-sama extend his hand and point to the sealed box behind the two of them, which contained the S-rank intelligence.

Ash Soil stood before him, not even turning his head, his voice low:

"Now, don't worry about anything else."

"According to the retreat route we planned beforehand, escape."

Harado couldn't help but be stunned by the command.

Still a Chunin in his twenties, and even being sent on a mission that was practically a death sentence – this point alone showed how important he wasn't to the village.

Similarly, for the sake of the village, he had been prepared to sacrifice himself for a long time.

But precisely because of this, the first thought that popped into Harado's mind when he heard the command wasn't the relief of escaping a sure death.

It was confusion.

Immediately after, he spoke up, "Sir! You are far more important than I am!"

"Shut up! Obey the command."

Ash Soil, nearly two meters tall, stood there like a brown bear. The minor injuries on his body seemed to have no effect on him, only his breathing was slightly heavier.

Two seconds passed, and noticing that Harado still hadn't moved, Ash Soil's tone softened slightly:

"Everything is for the village."

Harado was instantly speechless.

Yes.

This was the rule of the ninja.

Neither he nor Ash Soil were sacrificing themselves solely for the other.

Upon realizing this, Harado finally cleared his head. Without another word, he turned around, picked up the box behind him, and rushed towards the predetermined route without hesitation.

However, the moment he leaped.

"Swish!"

Several Shuriken spun and flew towards the direction Harado was escaping.

Ash Soil's movements didn't pause at all. His seemingly massive body erupted with a speed no less than a galloping horse. With sweeps of the brass knuckles in his hand, he completely deflected the ninja tools with just the force of his punches.

Almost simultaneously with his action.

From within the dust and smoke, a slender figure, moving too fast for the naked eye to track, suddenly lunged towards Harado, who had picked up the box and was fleeing.

The moment he saw this scene, a ferocious grin spread across Ash Soil's face.

At the same time, he sprinted towards the other end without hesitation.

"Earth Release: Light Weight Rock Technique!"

In an instant, his body became light.

When he leaped and ran, his speed was surprisingly no slower than Sahara Mizu's in the slightest.

At the same time, tucked in his arms was a scroll with Tsunade's signature.

That's right.

Both having Harado escape with the sealed box and pretending to block Sahara Mizu's pursuit were smoke bombs released by Ash Soil.

As early as the path escaping from the Hokage Building, he had already taken out the items needed for this mission.

The reason he hadn't opened it yet was entirely because the Fuinjutsu couldn't be resolved in a short time.

The moment he engaged with Sahara Mizu, he realized.

This guy might seem young, but he was definitely not someone he could take down quickly, and his meticulous planning in using their group to set a trap should not be underestimated.

In this situation, there was only one way to complete the mission.

Use his subordinate as bait.

To achieve the name "Thousand-Faced Ash Soil," he had done such things countless times before.

As long as it was for a village mission, he could bear any kind of sacrifice and darkness completely!

"Whoosh—"

The wind howled.

His escape speed grew faster and faster. The "Light Weight Rock Technique," a secret technique even within the Hidden Stone Village, suddenly reduced his weight to about one-third of its original while his strength remained unchanged.

Thus, as he moved, his entire body seemed to be lifted by the wind, hurtling towards the Konoha city wall at an extreme speed.

Just a little faster!

A little faster!

I can escape soon!

This incredibly strong desire to survive seemed to push his entire body's Chakra to its limit.

As for Sahara Mizu and Harado, who had blocked his path earlier, he had completely put them out of his mind.

Ash Soil didn't realize it.

Every thought, every idea, was clearly centered around "for the village."

But the true driving force that propelled him to flee desperately towards the outside of the village was the extreme desire for survival deep within his heart.

"Whoosh!"

A giant foot landed, and his body followed the surging force, arcing through the air.

Not far in front of him was the escape route he had prepared long ago.

At this moment, Ash Soil's eyes were practically glowing.

However...

"Boom—"

Amidst a deafening sonic boom.

A figure suddenly appeared in the previously empty field.

"Thump."

A headless body was thrown onto the ground.

Ash Soil's steps immediately halted.

He looked at the young man in front of him, and a look of involuntary terror appeared on his weathered face. His expression as he looked at Sahara Mizu was almost one of disbelief:

"Was that... Space-Time Ninjutsu just now?!"

"Sort of."

Sahara Mizu casually tossed the S-rank sealed box aside and explained with a gentle expression, "The so-called 'Power of Stopping' is actually the ability to manipulate space, making a tiny distance 'infinitely far'."

"Naturally, if you use it in reverse, you can also make a very distant distance 'infinitely close'."

"This is the first time I've used it today."

"Pretty impressive, right?"

The moment he heard this information, Ash Soil's rich combat experience allowed him to immediately realize something, and his entire body tensed up.

The next moment, he saw Sahara Mizu suddenly take a step forward.

"Buzz!"

A violent tremor seemed to rise in the air, so much so that the ground seemed to tremble slightly.

Sahara Mizu's figure disappeared.

When he reappeared, he was already just a step away from Ash Soil, as if his entire body had drilled into his embrace.

His forward step suddenly exerted force, his seemingly slender muscles suddenly bulged, and the bursting Chakra flowed through his entire body.

Power rose from the ground, flowing through his waist and back.

The surging force, with an unstoppable momentum, wrapped around his arm and swung forward.

"Boom—"

As the heavy punch was thrown, the air rippled violently. A conical spreading wave suddenly exploded with a piercing roar at this extremely close range, completely tearing his sleeve.

It landed squarely on Ash Soil's chest and abdomen.

However, if observed from an extremely close distance, one would notice that there was still a very small distance between Sahara Mizu's fist and Ash Soil's body.

Only Ash Soil completely bore the rapid changes of this short "Power of Stopping" with his body.

Under this single punch, his massive body was completely lifted into the air. His fractured ribs and sternum completely caved in the surface of his chest, blood spurted from his mouth and nose with a 'poof' sound, and his eyeballs bulged out.

Clearly, this terrifying destructive power was also caused by the switch between "infinitely close" and "infinitely far."

Using the attraction brought by "infinitely close" to throw an extremely fast punch.

Using the repulsive force brought by "infinitely far" to protect his fragile body.

However, the consumption was as terrifying as the destruction.

With his current Dojutsu Power, he could only deliver a maximum of five strikes.

Before Ash Soil could react, Sahara Mizu's bright blue "Six Eyes" flickered. With perception rivaling the perfect Byakugan's 360-degree vision, he turned and twisted his waist without hesitation.

His long right leg swept upwards like a battleaxe.

Just as he completed this movement, the Earth Clone, which had been hidden underground for a long time, barely managed to leap out and savagely swing its rock-covered arm.

"Earth Release: Earth Golem Technique!"

The kick, which accelerated sharply mid-swing, once again burst open a pocket of air.

"BOOM!"

It swept across like a battleaxe.

With just one short kick, he managed to cleanly sever the entire rock-covered giant arm and the Earth Clone itself, which was made entirely of earth and stone, right at the waist.

A deafening sound erupted.

"Ha!"

Ash Soil, who had looked completely incapacitated a second ago, suddenly drew out the last bit of his life force the moment Sahara Mizu turned his back, converting it into Chakra and channeling it throughout his enormous body, pouring it into every corner.

"Explosion Release: Explode"

"Snap."

Before he could direct the Chakra to the corresponding meridians, his lower abdomen, responsible for refining Chakra, was suddenly dealt a heavy blow, extinguishing even the faint flame of Chakra within.

At the same time, another hand gripped his neck tightly.

Leaving him unable to make even a sound.

"Gulp"

Ash Soil's weathered face turned purple from lack of oxygen, yet his bloodshot eyes remained fixed on the young man before him.

Although he had long anticipated that he would likely not die peacefully in bed.

Still, when this day truly arrived, this legendary spy who had dominated the intelligence world of the Five Great Nations for over a decade found it difficult to accept.

He couldn't accept that the one who killed him was an unknown young Konoha ninja.

Propped up by this intense obsession, even with his throat clenched, he still managed to squeeze out a sound from his mouth.

"Who exactly, exactly are you?"

Sahara Mizu's smile was as calm as when they started.

"Do you want to know?"

"Open your mouth."

Ash Soil subconsciously froze.

Then, he saw a sphere of pure blue Chakra appear out of thin air in Sahara Mizu's palm, without any Hand Seals.

Rasengan

The next moment, it was shoved entirely into his mouth.

"BANG——!!"

His entire head was utterly pulverized.

As a spy, Sahara Mizu dared not guarantee that he hadn't shown any tells in front of this seasoned colleague.

If the Yamanaka Clan found any hint, it would be disastrous.

"Thud."

He let go.

The headless, massive body also fell to its knees on the ground with a dull thud.

Scattered blood mist filled the air, slowly drifting away with the evening breeze.

Sahara Mizu stood still and waited quietly.

After only a moment, he seemed to sense something and looked up towards the eaves.

Under the moonlight.

His bright blue eyes met Namikaze Minato's gaze, which was filled with astonishment.

He looked at the two gruesome corpses on the ground, then at the figure that was both familiar and strange, momentarily speechless.

"Good evening, Minato."

Sahara Mizu was as gentle as ever.

He said, his gaze falling on the bloodstains on the Anbu youth opposite him, and the wounds that he hadn't had time to bandage during the urgent pursuit, and praised softly:

"You... you worked very hard."