Where Did This Idiot Come From?

"Hm?"

The Iwagakure Chunin on watch jolted as he saw a figure walking straight toward him without even trying to hide. His eyes widened.

W-what was going on?!

That guy was a Konoha ninja, right?

Where had this Konoha ninja come from, and why was he just walking right up to them?

Genjutsu?!

"Hahaha, you idiot! Come catch me!"

The "Konoha ninja" reached the vicinity of the outpost on the mountaintop, waved cheerfully, and even stuck out his tongue and made a face before turning and running off.

"..."

The Iwagakure Chunin was still completely bewildered.

But he soon came to his senses, shouted that they were under attack, and immediately chased after him.

Damn Konoha ninja. I'll see what kind of trick you're pulling!

"Dummy, dummy! You're a super-duper dummy who'll never catch me!"

The "Konoha ninja" kept looking back and taunting him as he ran, infuriating the Iwagakure Chunin behind him. The two of them ran all the way down the hillside.

Straight toward the spot where Qingye's squad was hiding!

The Iwagakure ninjas inside the outpost heard the lookout shout and came rushing out as well.

"?"

Qingye abruptly raised his head and listened intently.

What the hell was that noise?

"Himon!"

"Understood."

Hyuga Himon activated his Byakugan and saw a "Konoha ninja" who looked as if he had lost his mind, grinning as he sprinted down the hillside. He was already approaching their hiding place.

"???"

What was going on?

Who was that Konoha ninja?

Had the village sent other ninjas to blow up the supplies here?

"Wait... No!"

Hyuga Himon's expression changed. The "Konoha ninja" leaped high from above, then landed and trampled the vegetation covering their trench, collapsing it and falling in.

Qingye: "..."

Yūhi Kurenai: "..."

Iwagakure Chunin: "..."

"You guys?!" The "Konoha ninja" stared at Qingye and the others in shock, then seemed to suddenly realize something. "Could your mission target be here too? Damn it, I've dragged you into this!"

With that, the "Konoha ninja" abruptly turned around, pulled out an Explosive Tag, slapped it onto himself, and charged straight at the pursuing Iwagakure Chunin.

"?!"

The Iwagakure Chunin had been stunned to see Qingye and the others suddenly exposed. Now, he didn't have time to think and quickly dodged.

Boom!

The Explosive Tag's flames completely engulfed the "Konoha ninja"!

When the flames and smoke cleared, all that remained was a charred corpse.

"???"

The Iwagakure Chunin was more and more bewildered.

Why had that guy blown himself up?

Who the hell was that?! Qingye nearly cursed aloud. Where did this idiot come from?

He'd had the whole plan worked out. He would stay hidden here until Gari arrived, then find a way to ambush and take out either Gari or Sumoshi, the Tokubetsu Jonin, before blowing up the outpost.

Afterward, all he had to do was get out of there with the fifty million before the Iwagakure ninjas from the surrounding outposts arrived.

Now the whole plan had gone up in smoke!

"Die!"

A flash of steel swept past. Qingye, seething with resentment, easily dispatched the still-bewildered Iwagakure Chunin.

"Konoha ninjas?! What are you—"

Sumoshi, the Iwagakure Tokubetsu Jonin leading the mountaintop outpost, arrived, his face full of shock and anger.

"Uchiha Style: Lightning Sword!"

Now that they'd been completely exposed, Qingye simply attacked. He channeled Lightning Style Chakra into his blade and charged at Sumoshi at full speed.

Clang!

The blades clashed with a shrill, explosive ring!

"What incredible speed!"

Cold sweat trickled down Sumoshi's forehead. His short sword barely held out for a moment before being sliced in two, but it had bought him enough time to leap back.

"Fire a signal flare and call for reinforcements!" Sumoshi shouted.

In an instant, streaks of red shot into the sky.

Seeing that the signal flares had gone up, Sumoshi finally let out a breath of relief.

There were two other Iwagakure outposts within twenty miles of here. At this distance, reinforcements could arrive in just a few minutes if they hurried!

The instant the flares rose into the sky, a figure burst out of the forest in plain sight at the foot of the mountain.

"Gari!"

Sumoshi was overjoyed. He hadn't expected Gari to arrive early!

Now he was safe.

"Fuck!"

Qingye finally lost his cool.

What was going on now?

Hadn't they said Explosion Release user Gari wouldn't arrive for another half hour?

Could these people have discovered them already and deliberately lied to deceive them?

But they didn't look like they had!

Watching Gari sprint toward them from the foot of the mountain, Qingye felt a headache coming on. Where had his plan gone wrong?

Where had that inexplicable Konoha ninja come from?

Why had Gari arrived early?

If he'd known things would turn out like this, he should've taken a gamble earlier. Maybe he could've wiped out everyone on the mountaintop without giving them a chance to fire a signal flare!

But now they were in trouble!

Qingye rapidly formed Hand Seals. In an instant, a dazzling light blazed behind him, swallowing Sumoshi and the others' vision!

Genjutsu, Lightning Illusion: Lightning Pillar!

This was a Lightning Release Genjutsu popular in the Land of Lightning.

But everyone knew that the Uchiha Clan were the Shinobi World's greatest plagiarists. At least ninety percent of the standard ninjutsu and Genjutsu across the entire Shinobi World were already documented by the Uchiha Clan.

"This is... Not good, watch out for the Genjutsu!"

Sumoshi had fought Kumogakure ninjas many times and recognized the technique at once. He hurriedly tried to disrupt the Chakra inside his body to break the Genjutsu.

Rustle, rustle—

The sound of paper fluttering filled their ears.

What was that sound? Was it part of the Genjutsu too?

Just as his vision recovered from the Genjutsu, before the dazzling white light had faded, Sumoshi managed to make out dozens of Explosive Tags floating around him and the Iwagakure ninja behind him.

"Get out of—"

Before he could finish, a deafening explosion drowned out his final words.

Below, on the hillside, the Explosion Release ninja Gari finally charged up and abruptly stopped when he saw what had happened.

"Konoha ninjas?"

Gari furrowed his brow.

Had this outpost also been attacked by Konoha ninjas?

He'd been escorting a batch of medical supplies when a strange man suddenly attacked them midway. He'd left his team behind and pursued the man all the way here, but as he chased him, the strange man had simply vanished into thin air.

Instead, he'd seen a signal flare rise from the mountaintop outpost!

Even now, he had no idea what was going on!

"Sumoshi!"

When the smoke cleared, Gari saw corpses scattered everywhere. One of them was still recognizable as Sumoshi.

Shhk!

A blade plunged down through Sumoshi's heart.

Afraid the Tokubetsu Jonin might not be quite dead, Qingye struck him again, then said, "You two take care of the rest. I'll handle this guy. Let's finish this quickly."

There were still some slower Iwagakure ninjas coming up behind them. They'd been lucky enough to survive the explosion.