One vs. Seven Was Impossible

The Second Hokage had once been so powerful, yet in the end, he had merely died alone in such a primitive jungle, and even after death, his body had been left at the mercy of others... In a sense, being a ninja was a profession that allowed no mistakes throughout one's entire career.

After expressing his feelings, Yuhara decided to leave immediately. Judging by the way he had looted the corpse, he clearly lacked professional standards... He had not cleaned it out at all. If someone searched the body carefully, they might even find something good.

As for the few Six Paths Tools Yuhara had obtained, he actually did not approve of the way the Gold and Silver Brothers used them. Although sealing enemies that way was highly effective, it went against the fast-paced combat favored by ninjas.

Of the four tools, Yuhara felt that the truly useful ones were the Kōtanuki, which served as a sealing container, and the Banjō Senshi, which could unleash tremendous destructive power. Hōrin Kagami and Shichiseiken, on the other hand, were difficult to use in actual combat... In fact, when the Gold and Silver Brothers sealed an enemy, they often had to operate them together.

Moreover, Yuhara could not take out any of the tools and use them at this stage, because they were all stolen goods... Outside, they could easily draw the Cloud Hidden's pursuit, while inside, he would have no way to explain himself to Orochimaru.

In short, it was time for Yuhara to run. His journey here had gone especially smoothly, and he hoped his departure would go just as well. He would strive to go from one victory to the next.

In fact, Yuhara had not expected Konoha and the Cloud Hidden to react so strongly. They had actually decided to fight to the death without even exchanging words. Thus, he had no idea that both sides were currently sharpening their weapons, striving to smash each other's brains out within half an hour of receiving the order to attack.

The rationality of both sides was like a sphincter right before diarrhea. No matter how consciously they tried to control themselves, they would ultimately find it difficult to resist their biological impulses.

And before the floodgates opened, there was always a moment of calm before the storm. Thus, Yuhara's withdrawal proceeded smoothly.

But that smoothness would not last forever, because Yuhara was always bound to run into enemies.

The order for the Cloud Hidden personnel to pull back had been issued very hastily. Not every squad carrying out missions outside could return in time—or rather, no one could guarantee that every squad had received the order in time.

At that moment, a four-man Cloud Hidden squad that had received the recall order late for various reasons happened to be withdrawing through the area. They naturally discovered a Konoha ninja traveling alone.

"Captain, it's a Konoha ninja... What should we do?"

"A Konoha ninja operating alone? Pursue him. He might be carrying important intelligence."

The captain of this four-man squad was named Toroi. He was an Elite Jonin of the Cloud Hidden, and purely in terms of stated strength, he was stronger than the Storm Release Ninja Koto, whom Yuhara had encountered before.

A ninja like Yuhara, traveling alone and retreating from deep within enemy territory, was easy to judge as valuable. Thus, the Cloud Hidden squad chased after him without a second thought, wondering whether the two things strapped to his back were important tools.

Well, the Cloud Hidden squad's judgment was more or less correct, because Yuhara was indeed carrying the Cloud Hidden's "family heirlooms." As for the things strapped to his back, if they wanted some, they were advised to go home and make their own.

Yuhara, who had been happily retreating, heard movement behind him. He turned around and suddenly discovered that four tails had followed him.

"..."

He began to wonder whether he had just raised some kind of unlucky FLAG.

Stay calm. Whether he fled or fought, he could not afford to lose his composure.

The good news was that Yuhara had barely expended any Chakra so far. His Mana was currently above ninety percent. The bad news was that even at full Mana, his Chakra reserves were only so-so.

If it were one-on-one, Yuhara could even stop and fight immediately. But facing four opponents, he truly had no confidence.

In an instant, Yuhara made his decision. If he was forced to stop and fight, then he first had to eliminate the strongest enemy among them.

Yuhara sped through the trees, but the enemies rapidly narrowed the distance between them. Then he heard something slicing through the air behind him.

Clang!

He half-turned and lightly knocked the incoming shuriken away with his kunai. He would naturally not make a mistake while performing such a simple block. However, at the instant his kunai clashed with the shuriken, Yuhara keenly sensed a slight change taking place in his body.

"Magnetized?"

Then, a storm of shuriken flew at Yuhara from behind. No matter how he changed direction, the shuriken pursued him relentlessly... They were tracking shuriken.

The Toroi pursuing Yuhara was a Magnet Release Ninja of the Cloud Hidden, but Yuhara did not recognize him immediately. He could not remember every character from the original story. Besides, weren't Magnet Release Ninjas all minor characters?

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

The shuriken caught up, and their successive hits instantly threw Yuhara's body off balance as he moved through midair!

At the same time, another enemy wreathed in lightning suddenly appeared beside Yuhara as if he had teleported there, then kicked him toward the ground.

The forest floor below had originally been soft and damp, but at some point, countless sharp earthen spikes had risen from it!

Yuhara flung out a steel wire with one hand, bound it around the surrounding trees, and forcibly changed direction, attempting to escape the area. However, as he turned, a massive ball of orange-red fire came straight at him!

Magnet Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release, Fire Release—the enemies' attacks came down on Yuhara like a violent storm, hammering this battlefield novice from all sides.

Yuhara burst out of the Fire Release attack, covered in soot and grime. He seemed to have no obvious burns on the outside, but the searing flames had nearly scorched his lungs. Even so, he remained extremely calm, because he knew that if he lost his composure, he would die.

It was not time to counterattack yet. He still could not strike back.

Yuhara covered the side of his abdomen with his left hand, pretending to be injured, then continued fleeing without even looking back at his enemies.

More shuriken flew toward him.

By now, the battle-hardened enemies had already seen through Yuhara's true level. There was no question of him putting on an act, because he really was a novice. Thus, the enemies became even more aggressive.

The Magnet Release Ninja appeared behind Yuhara.

Yuhara stumbled, seemingly about to fall to the ground. But as he pitched forward, something unexpected happened! His body swiftly twisted around. Originally facing upward with his back to the ground, he rapidly flipped over, and the Cloud Hidden Ninja's figure appeared clearly in his sights.

He had already flicked out a silver sphere with a turn of his wrist. The object closed in on the enemy at tremendous speed, then exploded brilliantly like fireworks!

Centered on the silver sphere, countless micron-thin threads that gleamed coldly and radiated icy air shot outward in every direction. They pierced the surrounding trees, earth, and rocks.

In the blink of an eye, the mercury sphere, originally the size of an egg, had become a tiny point of convergence.

The Cloud Hidden's Magnet Release Ninja was at the center of this special metal web. Unless he could use Flying Thunder God, there was no way for him to escape its range of attack.

His body was pierced by the fine threads. Then, because of the momentum carried by his lunging body, his forward movement caused the threads—sharper and tougher than any blade—to slice through his body with ease.

The right half of his body was scattered across the ground, while the left half remained suspended.

The mercury threads were covered in countless condensed droplets of water and tiny beads of blood. Together, they scattered the faint glow of the forest, beautiful enough to seem unlike a weapon at all, but rather...

A mercury lamp.

"Secret Technique: Mercury Lamp." This was one of the foundations of Yuhara's confidence as he returned to the battlefield.

Although he was a novice, he had already grasped the essence of ninja combat: be underhanded, strike from the shadows, and kill in one blow.