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The Land of Wind was almost entirely desert, and the winds were fierce. If you opened your mouth, you might end up with a mouthful of sand.

In an environment like this, it was no wonder Sunagakure was desperate to attack Konoha. Living in such conditions, ninjas were nothing more than mindless tools for killing. Other than starting a war to seize territory, there really seemed to be no other way.

The Land of Wind struggled even to feed itself, with much of its food purchased from the River Country and other small countries. Konoha, meanwhile, not only had ample farmland but could even export grain.

After entering the desert, Hyuga Mirai and the two girls concealed themselves, using sand to blend their colors into the surroundings. Even if sharp-eyed Sunagakure ninjas spotted their direction from afar, they would not be able to tell that three people were hiding there as long as they stayed still.

"Sunagakure has three supply routes in total. We'll use Exploding Tags to set an ambush along this route. As long as there are no more than ten of them, the moment they enter the trap, we strike."

Hyuga Mirai spoke to the two girls. He had made an extremely detailed plan. As long as Sunagakure ninjas stepped into the trap he had laid, even Jonin would find it difficult to escape alive.

The main feature of his trap was concealment—it was hard to detect. Besides, this was the Land of Wind's territory, behind Sandstorm Town. Back then, only the Konoha White Fang could lead a squad like a sharp blade, launching surprise attacks throughout enemy territory.

After the Konoha White Fang's death, Konoha had almost no one left to carry out missions like this.

Moreover, the two countries had not officially gone to war yet. Sunagakure had merely massed troops at the border. Given Konoha's nature, they should have sent envoys to advocate peace. There was no way they would send people deep into the Land of Wind to cause trouble.

Hyuga Mirai could not guarantee that anyone would pass along the outermost of these three routes, so all they could do was wait patiently.

It was also possible that no Sunagakure ninjas would pass by before the mission deadline. If that happened, Hyuga Mirai could only declare the mission a failure and return the way they had come.

Fortunately, Hyuga Mirai's luck was fairly good. After waiting for only half a day, three squads approached from the distance.

Ten people. Three of them are quite young, probably Genin who just graduated. The rest are all Chunin!

Hyuga Mirai's Byakugan could now see activity eight kilometers away. The moment those Sunagakure ninjas entered his field of vision, he saw them clearly.

Not long after, once the group drew closer, Hyuga Kiyomi also issued a warning.

"People are coming. Ten in total. Three have slightly weaker Chakra, while the rest should all be Chunin."

After hearing Hyuga Kiyomi's words, Hyuga Mirai immediately gave the order. "We can take them. Once the trap activates, strike immediately!"

The three of them then dispersed to their assigned positions and lay motionless on the ground. Sand and gravel concealed their bodies, making it difficult to notice that three people were hidden there even from within a hundred meters.

"Senior Sugiki, we're almost at Sandstorm Town anyway. Why don't you tell us about the war?"

A Genin who had just graduated and been assigned under the Sunagakure ninja Sugiki asked his squad leader with a curious expression.

They had graduated only a few months ago, yet they were about to take part in the first war of their lives.

But these fledglings were not afraid. Instead, they dreamed of bringing honor to their families and becoming Sunagakure heroes.

Furthermore, many of Sunagakure's Genin believed their village was powerful at this time. The Third Kazekage had been the strongest Kazekage in history. Though he had been poisoned to death by Konoha's despicable methods, the Fourth Kazekage was a powerful man who had repelled the Third Raikage.

Under the Fourth Kazekage's leadership, most Sunagakure ninjas believed they could crush Konoha in one stroke and seize land more suitable for habitation.

Seeing that these three subordinates had asked several times along the way and that they were nearing Sandstorm Town, Sugiki decided to tell them something about war in advance. It would also fulfill his duty as their senior.

"You brats, don't ever underestimate war. Once you step onto the battlefield, you have to face danger from every direction at every moment. Even now, we could run into an ambush!"

Sugiki did not want these three subordinates to die the moment they reached the battlefield, so he warned the Genin with a hint of intimidation.

The female Genin waved her hand and laughed. "We know, Senior Sugiki. You're trying to scare us again. How could there possibly be an ambush here?"

Sugiki knew an ambush was unlikely here as well, but his pride as a senior would not allow him to back down, so he stubbornly continued, "You were just born too late. If you'd gone to war a few years earlier, you would have encountered the ninja known as the Konoha White Fang. Back then, the Konoha White Fang and I—"

Boom!

Rumble!

Before Sugiki could finish, the Exploding Tags beneath his feet suddenly detonated. Violent explosions and scorching flames instantly swallowed him whole.

Then, as though setting off a chain reaction, the sounds of Exploding Tags exploding rang out one after another throughout dozens of meters nearby.

The three Genin of Sunagakure did not even have time to react. The smiles had yet to leave their faces when they were swallowed by the flames unleashed by the Exploding Tags.

Of the ten Sunagakure ninjas, only the three in the rear leaped away in an instant, raising their arms in front of them and avoiding the damage from the Exploding Tags.

An ambush! It's the enemy!

This thought flashed through the minds of the three surviving Sunagakure ninjas. They immediately reached for their ninja tool pouches, preparing to take out Puppet Scrolls or Kunai to deal with the enemy, but the next attack came too quickly.

Throwing sounds came from behind them. When they turned around, the Exploding Tags that were about to ignite and detonate made their hearts tremble.

Six Kunai with Exploding Tags tied to them sealed off three directions around the three Sunagakure ninjas, leaving them no choice but to flee forward. But in that direction, Hyuga Mirai's teammates were already waiting to strike.

Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!

Demonic Illusion: Tree Binding Death!

Hyuga Kiyomi and Yuhi Kurenai both possessed Chunin-level strength, and the moment they attacked, they used their signature techniques. Of the three Sunagakure ninjas, two were Puppet Masters, but they did not even have time to open their Puppet Scrolls.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Hyuga Kiyomi's Eight Trigrams Palm domain directly enveloped two people. Under her rapid Pressure Point Strikes against their internal organs, the two Sunagakure ninjas managed to block only the first few moves. Soon, they could no longer withstand Hyuga Kiyomi's increasingly swift attacks. In less than a moment, their internal organs and Meridians throughout their bodies had been struck, leaving them heavily wounded and collapsed on the ground.

The other Sunagakure ninja, after falling under Yuhi Kurenai's Illusion Technique, simply stood there blankly. Hyuga Mirai swept his Byakugan over the man and saw that the Chakra throughout his body had been disrupted by Yuhi Kurenai's Chakra. Without someone to release him from it, he likely would not regain consciousness for an entire day.

"Clean this up. Retreat immediately!"

Hyuga Mirai flung out ten Shuriken. Whether they were dead or only temporarily alive, every Sunagakure ninja was struck in a vital spot by Hyuga Mirai's Shuriken and died instantly.

He then took out three Sealing Scrolls and swiftly sealed all ten corpses inside them.

After collecting the bodies, Hyuga Mirai called out, "Kiyomi, Kurenai!"

"Got it."

After the two women acknowledged, they immediately withdrew in another direction. Although this place was still some distance from Sandstorm Town, the sound of the explosion just now could very likely have alerted a Suna-nin patrol.

About ten minutes after Hyuga Mirai's group of three left, a Suna-nin patrol squad finally arrived. By then, however, there were very few clues left. They only knew that a fierce battle had taken place here, and that someone had used a large number of Exploding Tags or Fire Style ninjutsu.

"Return and report this!"

After receiving a signal, the captain of the Suna-nin patrol squad quickly headed back to camp.

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