Escaping

Four Sand Ninja, wearing the headbands of the Land of Wind, blocked the path of Zhou Duan and his three companions. One ninja held a long sword, another gripped two kunai in both hands, a third had his hands full of shuriken, and the leader of the four wielded a battle scythe!

Their appearances and weapons differed, but what they had in common were their blood-stained weapons and their savage, bloodthirsty expressions!

"Southwest, retreat!"

Zhou Duan threw an explosive tag to the ground and, without any further words, roared out the order. Although the enemy only had four people, the aura emanating from their leader clearly indicated Chunin-level strength!

"No, why should we run..."

Nawaki let out a roar of unwillingness:

"There are only four of them, so why don't we fight them? Zhou Duan, Minato, Hyakusho, you three quickly take care of those three weaklings. I'll keep the leader with the battle scythe busy. After the recent life-or-death battle, I feel my strength has significantly improved. Under my leadership, we can definitely turn the tables!"

"Hey, hey, hey!!!"

Hyuga Hyakusho grabbed Senju Nawaki's collar while running, utterly exasperated:

"Please, Nawaki, you couldn't even beat that Genin just now. Where do you get the confidence to face this Sand Ninja who looks incredibly strong even among Chunin? Not to mention, you couldn't even react when I grabbed you earlier. If you fought him, you'd be killed in one exchange! Damn it, don't move!"

"Hyakusho, I misjudged you. You actually doubt your comrade's strength..."

Hearing Hyuga Hyakusho's words of distrust, Senju Nawaki's anger flared. He grabbed Hyuga Hyakusho's hand and struggled:

"I'll show you my strength right now!"

"Nawaki, it seems you've forgotten my existence, haven't you?"

Zhou Duan casually set up an explosive tag and a smoke bomb behind him, once again blocking the approaching Sand Ninja squad, his tone icy:

"I told you I'd let you show off your 'tree-hugging' behavior in front of the entire village, and I wasn't just joking!"

"Although, in my opinion, the opponents are just a bunch of guys who can be defeated with a little effort..."

Senju Nawaki broke free from Hyuga Hyakusho's grasp. Hearing Zhou Duan's words, he immediately abandoned the idea of turning back to fight, a fawning smile appearing on his face:

"But regarding the captain's authority, I must resolutely uphold it!"

"Wind Style - Great Breakthrough!"

The casually placed explosive tag was easily dodged by the Sand Ninja. Then, a large-scale ninjutsu was unleashed by the Sand Ninja captain. It not only dispersed the smoke from the smoke bomb but also sent a barrage of wind blades, still full of momentum, directly towards Zhou Duan and his three companions!

"Wind Style - Violent Tornado!"

A large amount of wind was blown from Namikaze Minato's mouth, condensing and refusing to dissipate. It then rapidly expanded in volume, and a tornado immediately formed behind the four of them. However, it was still a ninjutsu released by a Chunin. Even though it was a C-rank ninjutsu of the same level, it couldn't completely block the attack. After the two ninjutsu clashed, four or five wind blades still pursued them. One of them even grazed Namikaze Minato's shoulder, leaving a wound!

"Zhou Duan!"

Ignoring the wound on his shoulder, Namikaze Minato asked Zhou Duan:

"Do you have something in mind? Traps set so casually, smoke bombs thrown so randomly, it doesn't seem like your style!"

"Of course, I have something in mind!"

Zhou Duan threw another smoke bomb:

"I'm fishing!"

"Fishing?"

Namikaze Minato glanced at the few smoke bombs in Zhou Duan's hand and a bottle of gray potion, and immediately guessed something:

"You're waiting for them to rush out directly into the smoke, not bothering to avoid it?"

"Exactly!"

Zhou Duan revealed a cunning smile:

"That's right. I deliberately placed the smoke bombs and other traps, explosive tags, separately. This is to make the pursuing Sand Ninja think that we are either novices who don't know how to set up a second layer of traps in a smoke bomb, or we are idiots who forgot to do so in a moment of panic!

They are currently within Konoha's territory. While they are eager to kill Konoha ninja, they also need to conserve their stamina and chakra.

The smoke bomb has a large range. If they don't want to extend the pursuit time by going around the smoke, they must use ninjutsu to investigate. Neither of these is something he wants, so when he believes there are no traps inside the smoke bombs we've thrown, that's when they'll fall into our trap!"

"Setting a secondary trap inside a smoke bomb, you can do that?"

Hearing Zhou Duan's words, Nawaki, who was running beside Zhou Duan, widened his eyes in surprise:

"Zhou Duan, you know so much. I never thought traps and smoke bombs could be combined like this!"

"Hiss!"

Hyakusho, on the other side, heard Nawaki's words and couldn't help but gasp:

"Nawaki, I know your mind is only focused on unleashing high-level ninjutsu, but setting traps is the absolute basics of our school. This is something mentioned in almost every trap class. What did you even learn in class?"

"Tch!"

Nawaki dismissed Hyakusho's words with disdain:

"Traps are for the weak. The strong only need the most top-tier ninjutsu!"

"Alright, enough nonsense!"

Too lazy to deal with Nawaki's comments, which made him want to punch him, Zhou Duan glanced at the three of them:

"My smoke bombs are running low. Let's take stock. How many smoke bombs does everyone have left?"

"Hyuga Hyakusho, ten remaining!"

"Namikaze Minato, eight more!"

"Senju Nawaki, not a single one!"

As soon as this guy finished speaking, Minato and Hundred Palms both turned their heads to look, and even Zhou Duan, who had always been strong-willed, couldn't help but twitch the corners of his mouth.

"What are you looking at me for?"

Nawaki's face flushed slightly:

"Powerful ninjas don't need these sneaky, self-concealing techniques!"

"Alright, it seems I'm a bit too serious with this guy!"

Zhou Duan sighed:

"Minato, Hundred Palms, you two and I will take turns using smoke bombs. I estimate that after at most five or six more smoke bombs, this squad of Sand Ninja will be unable to resist and will charge through the smoke to pursue us. Remember, do not add anything extra to the smoke bombs without my orders!"

"Understood!"

"Understood!"

Minato and Hundred Palms replied in unison and threw smoke bombs behind them. Just as Zhou Duan had predicted, after Zhou Duan threw the fourth smoke bomb, the Sand Ninja from the Land of Wind finally let down their guard and couldn't help but charge straight into the smoke!

Zhou Duan tied the potion to the smoke bomb and hurled it behind him. Seeing the Sand Ninja charging headlong into the smoke, and noticing their speed significantly increased when they emerged, he revealed a smile with an unreadable expression:

"The potion is taking effect!"