Ice Needles

"Let's go!"

Blocking the opponent's ninja tool projectiles, Kamiya Ki grabbed Kamimura's hand and was about to leave.

"Trying to leave? You two should stay behind together!"

A mocking voice came from the dense fog. Three Konoha ninja were already less than three meters away from the two.

Although they couldn't see very clearly through the dense fog, they could still vaguely make out that someone who suddenly appeared had blocked a fatal round of attacks for the Kirigakure kid.

They figured it must be that kid's Kirigakure partner.

"Ice Release: Needle Rain Technique!"

Just as the three were about to cast their jutsu and capture both Kirigakure ninja, a chakra fluctuation suddenly came from the dense fog overhead.

It was Qi Shuang activating a long-prepared jutsu.

Although he wasn't the caster and couldn't see the specific situation within Kamiya Ki's great fog, the three opponents weren't casters either.

They couldn't use the great fog to conceal their voices and chakra signatures like Kamiya Ki could.

That mocking voice, combined with the aura they had revealed to kill Kamimura and the other, exposed their general location within the dense fog.

Therefore, Qi Shuang didn't hesitate to activate his jutsu.

He controlled the abundant water vapor in the dense fog to rapidly condense, forming inch-long crystalline ice needles in mid-air. Then, he aimed at the general direction of the three Konoha ninja and unleashed a cover-wide barrage.

Within the dense fog, the Konoha ninja, who were preparing to capture Kamiya Ki and the other, immediately abandoned their idea of casting jutsu upon realizing they had lost the initiative. They all retreated, preparing to defend against the enemy's attack.

Unfortunately, Qi Shuang had prepared for a long time and was using an area-of-effect attack jutsu. They had no chance to dodge. Even after retreating two steps, they didn't feel like they had escaped the range of the jutsu.

Immediately after, a strange sense of palpitations came from above. Looking up, they saw a rain of needles formed by inch-long, semi-transparent sharp needles.

Seeing that escape was impossible, the three immediately protected their vital head area with one hand while desperately wielding their kunai with the other, hoping to block some of the sharp needles and reduce the damage from the opponent's jutsu.

Clink, clink, clink!

Accompanied by the strange sound of kunai colliding with those sharp needles, the three felt as if they had been stung by a swarm of hornets. Where the sharp needles pierced them, there was not only intense pain but also a feeling of extreme cold.

Before long, their hands and feet felt cold, their muscles stiffened, and their movements became much slower.

On the other side, taking advantage of the Konoha ninja being temporarily repelled, Kamiya Ki immediately pulled the still sobbing Kamimura and retreated in a hurry.

Calling for Qi Shuang, who was hiding in the bushes, the three retraced their steps and prepared to retreat.

Currently, due to two useless teammates, they had lost the initiative in the fight. Moreover, with Natsuki dead, Kamimura had lost all will to fight and had become a complete burden.

Only Qi Shuang and Kamiya Ki still had the strength to fight.

If they continued to entangle themselves, they would be fighting two against four while also having to take care of Kamimura. The situation could be described as extremely dire. If it dragged on, it was likely none of the three would survive.

Although being chased was also a terrible situation, it was still better than fighting two against four, a situation where survival was not in sight.

As the three retreated, the dense fog in the forest quickly dissipated, and the needle rain attack in the air immediately stopped.

Only then, after being attacked by a rain of sharp needles, did the three Konoha ninja, in a sorry state, escape their predicament.

"It seems they have another Ice Release Kekkei Genkai ninja!" One of them pulled out a blood-stained sharp needle and discovered it was a needle formed from condensed water ice.

They finally understood why they had felt that icy coldness after being pricked by the needles and why their body temperature had dropped so quickly.

"Killing that Kekkei Genkai user would surely pain Kirigakure Village greatly!" another Konoha ninja added.

"What are you guys muttering about!"

Just then, the Konoha ninja who had killed Natsuki earlier walked over, his tone full of displeasure.

He then glanced at the three of them, covered in bloodstains, and frowned, "You couldn't even take down a kid, you're too useless!"

"If it weren't for..."

Upon hearing this, one of them immediately showed a look of indignation, but before he could finish speaking, another companion beside him quickly pulled him and gave him a look.

Then, as if he had thought of something, he immediately suppressed the dissatisfaction in his heart and could only glare quietly at the red and white fan emblem on the other person's body.

"Quickly treat your injuries, and then we'll chase them down and kill them!"

Seeing that all three were a bit moody, that person couldn't scold them further and could only gruffly say this before turning back to inspect the body of the Kirigakure kid.

Hoping to find some useful intelligence from it.

On the other side, after that person left, the three began to mutter while treating their injuries.

"Just because they were born into a good family, what's there to be so arrogant about! Bossing us around every day!"

"You know, with those eyes of theirs, they're really worth being arrogant about!"

"Yeah, without those eyes of his, we would have died several times already!"

After a sigh, the three fell into a brief silence.

Before long, they had finished cleaning up their injuries.

That ice needle attack looked dense and terrifying, but in reality, it was nothing special.

Without sufficient speed or power, they only managed to pierce the skin about an inch deep, not enough to kill immediately. Besides leaving them with some frightening-looking flesh wounds, there were basically no major issues.

At this point, they even felt a little regretful.

If I had understood this at the time and endured that round of attacks to launch my own offense, perhaps I could have taken both of them down.

On the other side, the person searching for Natsuki's body also shook his head helplessly.

Children are, after all, just children. It's impossible for them to know much about Kirigakure or leave behind any useful clues.

As a result, he found nothing.

Afterward, seeing the three regroup, he immediately led his companions along the trail left by Qi Shuang and the others as they retreated.

Along the way, he solemnly said to the three, "From my observations, among the remaining three, only one is slightly older and estimated to have the strength of a Chunin. The other two are young and likely were the same-age partners of the brat who died earlier! They're two Genin rookies!"

"With those two slowing them down, that Chunin won't be able to run fast!"

"I think it's best we split into two groups. One group will rush ahead to intercept, while the other will continue tracking from behind to prevent them from changing their route!"

"Mm! That's a good idea!" one person immediately nodded.

The other two remained silent, offering no objection.

Seeing this, the four immediately split into two groups of two.

After some discussion, the group containing the person who had killed Natsuki sped ahead to set up an ambush, while the other group stayed behind to track them.