Wind Release: Vacuum Arrow!

How does a weak, solitary young lion hunt?

A physically frail lioness, separated from her pride and without a mother to teach her hunting, would be a meal for even a hyena on the vast, desolate savanna.

And the legendary lion Engralarick did it like this—

He joined a new pride, displaying an extremely humble demeanor when a large number of adult lions threatened the lone cub with their fangs and claws.

By acting submissive and pitiful, he gained the pride's sympathy and earned a chance to survive. He quietly observed and learned while the pride hunted, and was driven away during meals, only managing to snatch scraps from the edges to eat alone in a corner.

He poured all his effort into learning, growing, and strengthening himself in solitude.

This situation continued until Engralarick was four years old, when he began to display a hunting style unsuited to his age—

Solitary, brave, cunning, and ferocious!

He started taking down elephants far stronger than himself alone, toying with and slaughtering seemingly fierce rhinos like mice. His diet expanded to include elephants, rhinos, hippos, giraffes, and adult buffalo.

He even had over ten methods for hunting just an adult buffalo!

Biting through its legs, snapping its spine, covering its snout with his jaws to suffocate it, sliding underneath its belly from the side, catching up to its rear and digging his claws into its anus...

But no matter the method, the core element was always one way of approaching the prey—

A quiet, silent gait, whose steps, when the prey finally noticed, had already sealed its fate.

Hyuga Yu calmly observed the scene in the forest ahead—

About a kilometer ahead, was a squad of three Kirigakure ninja.

Upon receiving the signal, they were steadily closing in on the location of the Konoha forces who were being cornered.

Three figures ran through the forest with their hands behind their backs, weaving around large trees.

Next, about three kilometers away, Three Kirigakure ninja and a Red Eye youth separated from Ao's squad were fiercely clashing with Hyuga Hideki's shadow clone. No, it couldn't be called a fierce clash; it was more like a pack of hyenas surrounding a blind lion, wearing down its stamina in waves, seeking to deliver a fatal blow.

Further behind them, stood Hyuga Tetsu, looking somewhat helpless, and another anxious Konoha Chunin. The Chunin, under the rapidly changing circumstances, seemed to be on the verge of losing his mind.

He shouted a few words at Hyuga Tetsu before gripping a kunai, steeling his resolve, and charging into the battlefield.

He might not have known that Hyuga Hideki was just a shadow clone, but he likely understood that if Hyuga Hideki died, he wouldn't survive either, so he risked charging in to assist.

It was a pity, though. This was a ninja battle.

Intervening in a battle that was clearly at a disadvantage and lacked the means to counter the enemy's Ninjutsu advantage, without sufficient intel, The result was:

Before the rational Hyuga Tetsu could even stop him, the Chunin rushed into the dense fog, and then, about tens of seconds later, all sound of him ceased.

Hyuga Yu closed his eyes.

The veins bulging around his eyes gradually receded.

He began to move.

His entire body, like a roc spreading its wings, leaped from the treetops to the branches ahead.

The moment his toes touched the tree trunk, he twisted at an odd angle. Before the branch could bend under his weight and inertia, he had already completed his leverage and sprang forward.

With an almost imperceptible sound, Hyuga Yu stepped on a path formed by trees, moving rapidly.

Using Chakra and the repulsive force of the tree trunks for aerial movement was a specialty of Konoha ninja. The Kirigakure squad ahead had clearly not undergone such training; they were more adept at walking on water, traveling across lakes and seas. This resulted in—

Hyuga Yu was approaching them at more than twice their speed.

800 meters, 600 meters, 400 meters.

When the distance between them closed to less than two hundred meters, Hyuga Yu abruptly stopped, coming to a halt on a thick tree trunk. His hand, drawn back on the bowstring, pointed backward.

Simultaneously, Streams of sharp Chakra surged rapidly from the meridians in his hand, spreading to the arrow.

Mastering Wind Release: Vacuum Blade meant mastering the technique of attaching Wind Release Chakra to Ninja Tools. If Wind Release: Vacuum Blade was attached to an arrow, then this Ninjutsu could reduce air resistance for the fired arrow, increasing its speed, range, penetration, and sharpness, transforming it into another mid-range Ninjutsu—

"Wind Release: Vacuum Arrow!"

The Kirigakure squad ahead finally sensed something was wrong. The leader, a purple-haired squad captain, abruptly made a hand sign, signaling his teammates to stop.

"Wait, I think I hear something!"

The brown-haired Kirigakure ninja looked around confused, not hearing any sound.

"What sound?"

"Like the sound of a tree trunk being stepped on."

The brown-haired Kirigakure ninja blinked, "Captain, are you sure? Could it be the wind?"

And in the next moment, BOOM!

Right behind the Kirigakure squad, The wind suddenly surged, pulling out a spiral-shaped ribbon!

An arrow over a meter long, trailing a yellow flame, instantly crossed 200 meters and pierced directly through the back of the head of the leading purple-haired Kirigakure ninja!

Beside him, the brown-haired Kirigakure ninja's pupils suddenly constricted. Before he could react, And just two seconds later, BOOM!

The same violent gust of wind exploded!

Beside him, the head of another Kirigakure ninja, also in shock, exploded like a watermelon.

His teammate fell.

"So fast!"

The brown-haired Kirigakure ninja snapped back to reality. Without time to mourn his teammate's death, he became completely vigilant, turned around, formed hand seals for the Body Flicker Technique, and stared intently at the silent forest behind him, ready to flicker away at any moment.

However, The more he observed, the more uneasy he felt.

For some reason, he felt as if someone was standing right behind him, staring at the back of his head with cold, emotionless eyes, appraising him as if he were a "can," seemingly wondering what shape his brain would be after being opened...

The brown-haired ninja's heart trembled, and he suddenly turned his head.

Then, he saw--

A sword slashed towards him as he turned!

It was an invisible sword of wind, composed entirely of dense, pale yellow wind blades.

In a moment of desperation, the brown-haired Kirigakure ninja instinctively gripped the hilt of the Ninja Sword at his waist and drew it to parry.

The swords met!

Clang!

It wasn't the sound of steel clashing, but a smooth slicing sound, like a fast knife cutting through iron.

The excellent Ninja Sword, made of fine steel, in front of this pure wind sword composed of countless tiny, sharp, friction-generating, silently whistling wind blades, was like butter cut by a red-hot knife, Cut in two.

Reflecting the broken, flying blade, the brown-haired Kirigakure ninja finally saw the eyes of his attacker.

They were pure white pupils, so calm they were chilling.

The brown-haired Kirigakure ninja's eyes widened abruptly. Clutching his own throat, now split in two, he choked out his last question, "Who... who are you!?"

Hyuga Yu replied without hesitation:

"Sarutobi Asuma."