Silent Ambush

The memory backlash from a Shadow Clone being killed was not pleasant, but it was not unbearable either. Nourished by the energy from digesting food, Umino Sasuke quickly recovered to his peak condition.

Under the keen perception of the Ultrasonic Radar Technique, everything within the mist was laid bare before him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Umino Sasuke threw a large number of kunai and shuriken with extreme precision.

Although his blade throwing was not as terrifying as that of Uchiha ninja, it surpassed that of most elite-level Chunin. Even some Special Jonin might not possess such exquisite throwing skill.

Combined with his powerful Chakra Control, every kunai and shuriken carried tremendous force and flew at incredible speed.

With a puff, another shuriken struck an enemy, grazing a Chunin's right arm and practically crippling his ability to perform ninjutsu.

If Puppet Masters had not been naturally skilled in defense, this wave of kunai and shuriken alone would have taken out several Sand ninja.

However, even though they had used Puppets to block many of the kunai and shuriken, aside from the Special Jonin, who remained unharmed, the other Sand ninja had all suffered injuries to varying degrees. Fortunately, none were Fatal Wounds.

"Hurry and take Antidote Pills. These kunai and shuriken are poisoned."

"Captain, this is bad! The Antidote Pills aren't working at all. We're unable to detoxify."

"What? Even the Antidote Pills developed by Elder Chiyo are ineffective?"

The three Chunin swallowed Antidote Pills, only to find that they had no effect whatsoever. Their wounds had already begun to go numb. If they could not suppress it with chakra, they would likely have no choice but to kill themselves to avoid being captured and leaking intelligence.

"Qing Lan, keep clearing the way. I'll handle the defense."

The scar-faced Special Jonin was extraordinarily strong. He could actually control two Puppets at once, using one of them to help the Chunin named Qing Lan defend himself.

Qing Lan formed hand seals once more, clearly intending to release Wind Release: Great Breakthrough again, disperse the Mist Technique, and carve out a visible escape route to guard against hidden attacks within the mist.

Moving quickly through mist so thick one could not see one's own hand was extremely dangerous. They had to disperse it.

Qing Lan quickly completed his hand seals. Just as he formed the final Tiger Hand Seal and was about to release Wind Release: Great Breakthrough—

Suddenly, an even fiercer barrage of kunai and shuriken rained down like scattered celestial flowers.

"Mechanical Shield: Thousand Faces Wall!"

Chakra Threads danced from the scar-faced Special Jonin's hands. The Puppet on his left immediately activated its mechanisms, breaking apart into hundreds of small shields before rapidly reforming through Chakra Threads into a defensive wall that blocked the attack.

As expected of a Special Jonin-level Puppet Master, he not only easily protected himself, but even Qing Lan remained completely unharmed.

But at that moment, Qing Lan seemed to suffer some inexplicable invisible interference. The Wind Release Ninjutsu he had been about to unleash was interrupted by an unseen force.

Although that force was not strong and did little damage to him, it was more than enough to disrupt his ninjutsu.

Suddenly—

A puff of white smoke rose before them.

A kunai on the ground ahead actually reverted to human form, and then another kunai pierced directly into Qing Lan's left eye.

The kunai sank more than halfway in, nearly piercing his skull. The force behind it was clearly immense.

"Damn it!"

Seeing his subordinate die right before his eyes due to his failure to protect him, the scar-faced Special Jonin was instantly enraged.

"Mechanical Blade: Turbulent Windmill!"

The scar-faced Special Jonin manipulated his Chakra Threads, controlling the Salamander Puppet on his right as it unleashed a killing move at the shadow ahead.

A rotating blade more than two meters long unfolded from the Salamander Puppets back, forming a whirling slash. Its powerful spinning cutting force even sliced the mist into a smooth cross-section.

Bang.

A puff of white smoke rose. Clearly, it was another Shadow Clone.

"Argh!"

As the Salamander Puppets rotating blade attacked the front, a scream suddenly came from behind.

The Chunin guarding the rear had been silently approached by Water Release: Mist Body Flicker and had his throat slit.

"Despicable!"

Having learned from his experience this time, the scar-faced Special Jonin did not use another killing move. Instead, he flung out Chakra Threads, sweeping across a large area behind him.

With the toughness of Chakra Threads, their rapid slicing was no weaker than steel wire.

"As expected, another Shadow Clone."

As the Chakra Threads swept past, the figure behind them that had slit his subordinate's throat also turned into a puff of white smoke. It was clearly another Shadow Clone.

"Red Sand, don't act rashly."

The scar-faced Special Jonin hurriedly protected his last subordinate. In just one or two seconds, he had lost two capable men. Clearly, he did not want to carelessly lose the last one as well.

The two stood back-to-back and moved slowly, while the three Puppets formed a triangular formation, constantly guarding against ambushes.

"Red Sand, don't be nervous. It'll be fine. I'll definitely get you out of here."

"Gulp!" Red Sand swallowed hard, cold sweat streaming down his forehead as he asked in terror, "Captain, could we have been ambushed by a Konoha Jonin?"

"So what if he is a Jonin? I refuse to believe he can break my defense!"

The scar-faced Special Jonin looked utterly confident in his own defense as he reassured his subordinate, who had already fallen into panic.

At that moment, a sinister voice like a ghostly wail from hell rang out.

"Gentlemen of the Sand, the Silent Killing Technique is about to begin.

Eight vital points: the throat, spine, lungs, liver, carotid artery, subclavian artery, kidneys, and heart.

Which one would you like to choose?"

At once, the surrounding mist grew even denser, until they truly could not see their hands before their faces.

Red Sand, upon hearing such terrifying words, immediately turned pale. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead, and his eyes were filled with fear.

"How about the heart?"

As soon as the words fell, two figures slammed into Red Sand from the left and right at speeds at least twice that of the basic Body Flicker Technique.

"Ah..."

Another scream rang out.

Four kunai stabbed into Red Sand's limbs, two on each side.

Since none of the wounds struck vital points, they were nowhere near fatal given a ninja's formidable vitality. They merely robbed him of the ability to move.

"Die!"

"Mechanical Storm: Myriad Blade Strangulation!"

The Chakra Threads extending from the scar-faced Special Jonin's ten fingers suddenly erupted with an eerie blue glow.

The Salamander Puppets shell automatically disintegrated and burst apart amid the piercing sound of tearing metal, transforming into thousands of poisoned crescent blade discs that poured forth like a disturbed swarm of bees.

Each crescent blade disc spun at high speed, tearing through the air with shrieks like the wailing of demons as they whirled outward in every direction.

Clearly.

They had just used themselves as bait to unleash a desperate, all-or-nothing killing counterattack.