The Source

"Damn it, let go!" Uchiha Tai grew increasingly anxious as he sensed something abnormal about the explosive tags.

Unfortunately, no matter how he struggled, the dying Mist Ninja Chunin seemed welded to him, impossible to shake off or escape.

BOOM!

The few explosive tags stuck to Kamiya Ki's back detonated completely.

A small red sun engulfed both their figures, followed closely by a massive shockwave that, carrying a murky yellow air current, sent Qi Shuang flying several meters away.

When the explosion subsided, he leaned against a nearby tree trunk and slowly got to his feet.

Although he hadn't been directly hit by the blast, he was already exhausted from the previous battles. Now, after being thrown, he felt too tired to even move a finger.

"Ptooey!"

Spitting out the leaves and dirt from his mouth, he began searching for the two of them.

Where Kamiya Ki and the other had just been struggling, a shallow pit nearly two meters in diameter had been left behind. Scattered around were a few scraps of clothing, and at the bottom of the pit lay a charred figure.

Without a doubt, that was Kamiya Ki.

Kamiya Ki was already severely wounded, and after being blown up by the explosive tags, there was no way he could have survived.

Furthermore, since the explosive tags were placed on his back, from a force perspective, his remains could only be pressed into the ground by the explosion's impact, not blown away.

Therefore, the remains could only be Kamiya Ki's.

However, this wasn't Qi Shuang's main concern at the moment.

What he was looking for was any trace of Uchiha Tai.

Uchiha Tai's current whereabouts were directly related to his own survival.

"How can there be nothing?" Qi Shuang looked in the direction the person had been standing, but saw no bodies anywhere around.

Normally, being bombed by five or six explosive tags at such close range, no one could withstand the explosion without a special defensive jutsu.

If Uchiha Tai had survived the explosion, albeit heavily injured, he could barely accept it. But now, not only was there no body, there wasn't even a sign of him. This was too unbelievable.

"Could it be that guy isn't dead at all, or even heavily injured, but instead hid himself, preparing to strike me?" Based on the situation before him, Qi Shuang arrived at a startling conclusion.

"Die, brat!"

At the same time, a ferocious voice came from above.

He looked up and saw Uchiha Tai, clad in rags, standing on a treetop. Something was hanging from his leg; he could vaguely make out a severed arm. Uchiha Tai cupped his left hand before his mouth, puffed out his cheeks, and blew out forcefully.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique"

A small flame shot from Uchiha Tai's mouth, and through his cupped left hand, it suddenly transformed into a large fireball over two meters in diameter, pressing down on the detestable brat below.

He wouldn't make the same mistake again!

It was precisely his carelessness and underestimation earlier, wanting to finish the opponent with a short sword, that led him into the trap set by the two of them, nearly getting himself killed in a mutual destruction attempt by that Mist Ninja Chunin.

To prevent any further surprises this time, he decided to use ninjutsu to finish the opponent in one blow.

"This is bad!"

Seeing this, Qi Shuang's heart sank.

Due to his exhaustion and lack of chakra, his perception and agility had significantly decreased.

He had discovered it too late. With his current physical condition, he didn't have time to dodge.

Or rather, if a Jonin intended to ambush a Genin, even if he were in perfect condition, there would be no possibility of dodging.

Nevertheless, he still tried desperately to flee, wanting to evade the overwhelming fireball descending upon him and buy himself a sliver of hope.

But as the heatwave approached from behind, his spirits sank to the bottom.

"Could it be... I'm going to die here?"

"I'm not reconciled!"

Just as he was filled with despair, a slightly childish shout came from the dense forest opposite him.

"Get down!"

At this moment, the voice was like heavenly music to Qi Shuang's ears.

From this location, this sudden voice could only mean that reinforcements from the Mist Village had arrived.

If it were Konoha's support, there would be no need for such a shout; they would have simply attacked from both sides.

Without hesitation, he immediately dropped down, landing flat on the ground.

Then, he saw three figures burst out from the forest opposite: two children and one adult, all wearing headbands with the Four Ripple Markings, confirming his guess – these were three Mist Ninja.

"Water Release: Water Pillar"

"Water Release: Water Pillar"

Two children, about ten years old, a boy and a girl, puffed out their cheeks and spewed two streams of water directly towards the unstoppable red fireball behind him.

With every inch the water pillars advanced, their size increased by an inch. By the time they shot over Qi Shuang's head, each one was over a meter in diameter.

Sizzle--

The instant the two water pillars collided with the fireball, he lay prostrate on the ground, immediately hearing the sound of cold water boiling and evaporating from the intense heat.

Even though there was still more than two meters between him and the fireball, he could feel the heat contained within the steam, burning his skin uncomfortably.

"Tch! Reinforcements have arrived?" On the other side, Uchiha Tai frowned upon seeing his Fire Release blocked.

This location was far too close to Kirigakure's front-line camp. Although this wave of reinforcements only consisted of three people, he wasn't foolish enough to believe that this was the entirety of the forces at the Kirigakure front-line camp.

It was clear this was an exploration team sent ahead to assess the situation.

Now that they had discovered the battle here, follow-up reinforcements would arrive soon.

Furthermore, while he had narrowly escaped danger just now, he wasn't unscathed.

The close-range explosion had injured him significantly, reducing his combat power by half. Dealing with this newly arrived Mist Ninja Chunin and two Genin would be a struggle.

He had to retreat!

With that thought, he unhesitatingly canceled his jutsu, abandoning the plan to clash with the two Mist Ninja Genin. He quickly turned and retreated the way he came.

Sensing the opponent canceling his jutsu, the two Mist Ninja Genin also stopped releasing their jutsu, avoiding a wasteful expenditure of Chakra.

"Are you alright?" Among the two, the young girl struggled to help Qi Shuang up, asking with concern.

"I'm fine!" Qi Shuang shook his head, offering a strained smile.

Compared to the three teammates who had died alongside him, he had only sustained minor injuries. He was already incredibly fortunate, so of course he was fine.

"Who was it that attacked you? And whose remains are those over there?" The leading Mist Ninja Chunin walked up to Qi Shuang, pointing at the dark remains in the shallow crater.

Qi Shuang glanced at the remains and slowly said, "That was our captain, Chunin Kamiya Ki!"

Just then, he suddenly noticed that Chunin Kamiya Ki's remains were missing a significant portion of their right arm.

It was clearly incomplete.