"You..."
Kamiya Ki turned around to give his three subordinates some instructions, only to find that Kamimura and Natsuki had already charged ahead.
"Dammit!"
Seeing this, he nearly ground his teeth to dust.
Those two were usually reckless enough, but now that they had encountered enemies, they were still acting brainlessly.
He had just said that there should be four people on the other side. Only one had shown himself, which clearly meant he was bait, luring them into attacking and exposing their position.
Yet those two idiots were so eager to claim credit that they couldn't even see through such a simple feint. They had foolishly delivered themselves right to the enemy's doorstep.
They were the worst kind of teammates—pigs!
"Die, you Konoha bastard!" Kamimura, charging at the front, immediately threw the kunai in his hand at the Konoha ninja.
Clang, clang!
A series of crisp metallic collisions rang out, and several dark kunai scattered beside the Konoha ninja's feet.
The opponent had drawn the short blade from his back just as the kunai reached him and swiftly knocked them away.
"Die! You bastard!"
At that moment, another slightly immature voice came from above his head.
It was Natsuki. While Kamimura drew the opponent's attention, he had launched a surprise attack from above.
The two of them had devised this coordinated tactic against a single enemy long ago. They had even practiced it many times in private, until it was "perfectly polished."
They were confident that even against Teacher Kamiya Ki, they had at least some chance of victory.
Unfortunately, they hadn't encountered an enemy for half a month. They had all this ambition to make their mark, along with a "flawless" tactic, but nowhere to use either of them. It had left them deeply frustrated.
Today, they had finally encountered such an easy target, practically serving himself up on a platter. Delighted, they could no longer suppress their excitement and decisively launched their attack.
Clang, clang!
Natsuki timed it perfectly and shot three kunai down from above the opponent's head, but the enemy still deflected them with ease.
Immediately afterward, he saw the man look up and give him an amused smile. Then, in the blink of an eye, the man vanished from where he stood.
"Kid, your speed is utterly insignificant in my eyes!"
A mocking voice reached Natsuki's ears, and he sensed an unfamiliar chakra presence beside him.
"Natsuki, watch out!" Kamimura shouted a warning.
As a bystander, he saw things more clearly than his companion.
After blocking Natsuki's kunai, the man had launched himself at incredible speed onto the tree trunk above, landing beside Natsuki.
At the same time, having heard the warning and sensed the approaching abnormal chakra, Natsuki instinctively turned his head. A flash of silvery blade filled his vision.
In an instant, he felt a chill at his neck, as if something had sprayed out from inside it.
He hurriedly clutched his neck, but his whole body felt limp, as though he had lost all his strength. He fell straight down from the tree trunk, and then everything before his eyes went black. He lost all feeling.
Natsuki was dead.
"Natsuki—" Kamimura's eyes nearly split with rage.
A moment ago, he had been a perfectly healthy person, a companion who had planned to make his mark alongside Kamimura. In the span of a few breaths, they had been separated by life and death.
On the other side, Qi Shuang and Kamiya Ki were equally helpless. Their two idiot teammates had attacked too suddenly, and the enemy's counterattack had been even faster. Caught completely unprepared, they hadn't had time to intervene and could only watch Natsuki die on the spot.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique."
Just as Natsuki's corpse hit the ground, Kamiya Ki's ninjutsu finally took effect.
The moisture in the air rapidly condensed. Centered on him, a thick white mist swiftly spread in every direction, and in an instant, it enveloped everything within a ten-meter radius.
"I'm going to save him. Cover me!" After calling out to Qi Shuang beside him, Kamiya Ki immediately rushed out of the small grove.
There were four opponents. Aside from the one who had already exposed himself, the other three should be preparing surprise attacks from hiding, just like the two of them.
Kamimura and Natsuki had exposed their positions far too early. Without a doubt, they had become living targets for the enemy's other three men.
Kamiya Ki no longer had time to worry about Natsuki's corpse. The only thing he could do was try his best to save Kamimura's life.
Qi Shuang had no time to reply. He merely nodded lightly, his fingers flying as he began forming hand seals in preparation for what was about to happen.
Seeing the forest suddenly fill with thick fog and the reckless Kirigakure brat vanish from sight, the three Konoha ninjas hidden in the darkness exchanged glances. They immediately charged out of the small grove and headed straight for the spot where they remembered the boy had landed.
Without a doubt, the other two hidden Kirigakure ninjas had made their move.
If they didn't take this opportunity to kill that reckless brat, they might not get another chance!
The fog was extremely thick. The three of them could barely see two meters around themselves. To avoid being ambushed by Kirigakure ninjas, they didn't dare spread out too far, keeping their comrades within sight at all times.
As they drew closer to the target's remembered location, the three once again caught sight of the reckless fool's blurry silhouette.
"In your next life, don't become a ninja again, kid!"
One of them muttered under his breath. Then, all three drew several kunai in unison and shot them straight toward the blurry figure.
Elsewhere, Kamimura had not yet recovered from his companion's sudden death when he realized that the area around him had become a hazy expanse of fog. He couldn't see anything.
An inexplicable terror quietly climbed into his heart. The thick white fog surrounding him seemed like a ferocious beast ready to devour anyone in its path, and his heart rose into his throat.
Whoosh, whoosh!
At that moment, a dense whistle of objects cutting through the air came from within the fog.
Unfortunately, the fog was too thick. He heard the strange noise but couldn't locate its source immediately, only feeling an icy chill creep repeatedly up his spine.
He sensed danger. He wanted to run—to escape this place.
But he discovered that his legs simply wouldn't obey him. They were trembling uselessly, unable to carry their master away from this place!
"Am I going to die?" Just as he was plunged into despair, a familiar figure stepped in front of him.
It was their team leader, Kamiya Ki.
The man gripped a kunai and swept it wildly in front of him. A series of clangs rang out, and a pile of kunai fell to the ground nearby.
At the same time, that inexplicable sense of danger finally vanished.
"Teacher, Natsuki..." Kamimura burst into tears.
Only now did he finally understand that the battlefield was not a fun place, nor was it somewhere one could casually make a name for oneself.
Behind every person who killed enemies and earned glory, no one knew how much bitterness and helplessness lay hidden behind those shining achievements.
Perhaps they had never really intended to distinguish themselves. They had only wanted to return safely to Kirigakure.
Now, that cruel reality had been laid bare before him, and he finally awakened to it.
Perhaps even returning safely had become an impossible hope!
Before you continue