Ambush

In the silent, dark night, a killing intent was brewing, slowly surfacing as time passed.

Kushina closed her eyes, focusing on the flow of chakra feedback. Not far from her, Bei Xingye was listening intently to something. After a moment, he turned his gaze and shook his head at Orochimaru.

Beneath the seemingly calm forest, it was far from silent. On the contrary, the constant barrage of sounds severely interfered with Bei Xingye's listening.

Orochimaru nodded slightly, looking at Kushina in silence, patiently awaiting the results.

After a long while, Kushina slowly opened her eyes. She had pinpointed the location of the sentries and nodded at Orochimaru.

The mission... begins.

The killing intent lurking in the dark night was unknown to anyone.

The occasional hoot of an owl echoed through the night sky. The sentry hidden in the bushes instinctively turned their head and perked up their ears, only to habitually dismiss the brief, cheap alarm a second later.

They were accustomed to the owl's lonely hoots, and also accustomed to the momentary lapse in vigilance, lasting less than a breath, between transmissions.

A gentle breeze carrying a faint fragrance brushed past their side. In that instant of laxity, even if they sensed something was wrong, the well-hidden sentry didn't even have time to turn their head. They didn't feel any pain before realizing their entire body was unresponsive. They couldn't even lift a finger, nor could they open their mouth even a sliver.

"..."

The sentry's eyes widened in terror, their eyeballs desperately rolling. They had clearly commanded themselves to shout, yet the night sky remained as silent as ever.

Soon, they felt their breathing becoming increasingly difficult, the faint fragrance in their nostrils growing weaker, as if it were receding. Darkness instantly enveloped them.

Kotoha, supporting the body, slowly and carefully placed it down before silently moving towards the next sentry.

For the first time, Orochimaru and his group, who were silently observing from not far below, witnessed the terrifying side of the lively young girl.

"Such a terrifying poison," Bei Xingye said with a timid voice.

He had clearly seen Kotoha stab a needle-like object into the target's nape. In less than ten seconds, the target had died quietly, without making a sound.

Kushina was also amazed by the potent poison and decided to report this matter to Tsunade upon their return to Konoha.

Only Ye Zi's expression turned grim. The object that caused the sentry's death was none other than the senbon Kotoha had thrown at him last night. He hadn't expected that senbon to contain such potent venom.

Shen Mu, who had initially felt a slight sense of pride watching everyone's surprise, felt a pang of unease when he saw Ye Zi's grim expression. After all, Kotoha had attacked Ye Zi with this very weapon last night.

"This is troublesome now," Shen Mu gently rubbed his forehead, a bitter expression on his face.

Under everyone's watchful eyes, Kotoha, with her superb skills, silently eliminated the sentries one by one. Although the effect of the unknown poison was significant, it still required Kotoha's exceptional close-combat abilities.

"I didn't expect there to be such talent among the Grass ninja," Orochimaru's eyes gleamed with intense interest. In his opinion, Kotoha, with her proficient skills at such a young age, was a natural-born assassination genius. Given time, once she reached her peak, she would undoubtedly be feared and hunted by all.

What a shame...

Orochimaru's lips curled into a smile. In this era, such a person was simply not suited for survival.

After eliminating the sentries, the group proceeded towards the city of the Land of Ash at their fastest speed, ensuring they remained undetected.

Unbeknownst to them, dark clouds covered the moon, and the temperature suddenly dropped.

Ye Zi, hurrying along, looked up at the night sky, a familiar glint appearing in his eyes. It seemed that after they began killing, only the oppressive sky just before a downpour was memorable, a reminder of the moments when palms were stained with blood.

Human life... so fragile...

After stealthily advancing and eliminating those who stood in their way, the group finally arrived at the residence of the Lord of the Land of Ash. Everything had gone remarkably smoothly.

Upon reaching the outside of the residence, the group exchanged glances before nimbly scaling the wall and leaping into the courtyard. Just as they landed, a considerable number of kunai, whistling through the air, suddenly attacked Ye Zi and the others.

"We've been discovered?" Before he could even react in surprise, Ye Zi agilely dodged the rain-like kunai.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

As soon as they landed, several cold voices rang out. The ground in the courtyard instantly turned muddy, like a swamp. In just a moment, the legs of the group, who had just dodged the kunai, were already sinking into the mire.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

As if it were a pre-arranged plan, kunai with several Explosive Tags attached rained down upon their landing spots. The flames and white smoke rising from their tails were like the countdown of the Grim Reaper.

Ye Zi had no time to attend to anything else and quickly formed hand seals.

Boom, boom, boom...

A series of violent explosions instantly engulfed the entire courtyard.

Such a massive commotion attracted everyone in the Land of Ash.

The once silent city suddenly erupted.

"Enemy attack?" The elite soldiers on night duty looked towards the direction of the explosions, their faces suddenly filled with terror. That was, unmistakably, the Lord's mansion.

The ninja responsible for the warning network, seeing the commotion caused by the explosions behind them, turned ashen.

Inside the Lord's mansion.

On the upper floor, a middle-aged man in a tight combat outfit coldly stared at the courtyard below, covered in thick smoke.

This person was the Lord of the Land of Ash, Haihara.

"Konoha ninja..."

Beside him, a middle-aged man with rugged features spoke with a grave expression, "It's one of Konoha's Sannin, Orochimaru."

This person wore a Stone ninja headband on his forehead. Standing quietly beside him were three boys and girls, approximately eleven or twelve years old.

Haihara had judged the intruders to be Konoha ninja based on their attire, but this Stone ninja saw more clearly. Upon hearing it was Orochimaru, even the most composed person couldn't help but show a trace of shock at this moment.

"Are you confident?" Haihara's voice trembled slightly, after all, their opponent was one of the renowned Sannin.

Tsuchiya Sanzo's expression remained unchanged, and he said in a deep voice, "As long as it's not Konoha's White Fang, I'm confident I can protect you. Daiyan, Dick, Unohana, the three of you protect him."

"Yes." The three youths responded in unison, surrounding Haihara in a defensive formation, their expressions extremely serious.

Tsuchiya Sanzo leaped down from the attic, his heart feeling exceptionally heavy. Despite having the advantage of initiative, his opponent was Orochimaru, and he feared this mission wouldn't be simple.

Faintly, a sliver of regret began to form in his heart. He shouldn't have brought his students on this mission, especially considering those three students...

Soon, the regret in his heart was swept away. All factors that could affect the battle were cast aside by him.

The thick smoke generated by the lingering explosion gradually dissipated.

The ambushing ninja intently watched the courtyard.

Not a single corpse