Escape and Borrowed Blades

Iwagakure jōnin Fujino fled to a safe area in the distance with his three chūnin disciples.

He looked at his disciples gravely and said, "Qingyan and Daishi, take Sanhuxu back to the outpost for treatment. Bring the intelligence from here back with you as well, and have them send another jōnin to provide support. I'll continue pursuing that Uchiha ninja. This mission is of utmost importance; there can be no mistakes!"

Iwagakure chūnin Daishi frowned slightly and asked doubtfully, "Sensei, from what I observed, he should only be sixteen or seventeen. Is he really that strong? Do we need another jōnin to support us?"

Iwagakure jōnin Fujino explained solemnly, "That Two Heads, Four Arms ninjutsu he used just now lets him easily perform combination ninjutsu. More troublesome still, he can activate two Sharingan: Genjutsu at the same time, which is equivalent to casting four ninjutsu simultaneously. The power and strategic value of that technique are beyond imagination. Besides, Konoha geniuses like him are already priority targets for us."

Hearing this, Iwagakure chūnin Qingyan nodded and said, "Understood, Sensei. We'll take Sanhuxu back for treatment right away and bring the intelligence back!"

Iwagakure jōnin Fujino nodded slightly, then used the Body Flicker Technique and vanished from the spot.

Watching his teacher leave, Iwagakure chūnin Qingyan turned to his two companions and said sternly, "Daishi, carry Sanhuxu. We need to get back to the outpost as quickly as possible."

Iwagakure chūnin Daishi patted his chest and said, "Sorry, Sanhuxu. Bear with the pain. I'll carry you back for treatment right now!"

With that, he crouched down, carefully hoisted Sanhuxu onto his back, and hurried north.

Iwagakure Ninja

Elsewhere, Uchiha Sanpo had only been fleeing for a little over ten minutes when he sensed someone pursuing him.

The pursuer was naturally Iwagakure jōnin Fujino. Rather than concealing himself, Fujino clung to him like an impossible-to-shake bandage, launching attacks from time to time to disrupt him. Whenever he encountered a counterattack, he swiftly burrowed underground and escaped at incredible speed, making him endlessly irritating.

Faced with such a slippery opponent, Uchiha Sanpo felt somewhat annoyed, but he could only calculate his options carefully.

"The enemy is an experienced veteran jōnin, and we're at the border of the Land of Earth. Their reinforcements should catch up soon. His attacks are nothing more than an attempt to disrupt my escape rhythm... If this keeps up, I'll die... I'll die!"

The wind blowing against his face gave him an idea, and his furrowed brow relaxed somewhat.

He thought of a way: cut straight through the heart of the Land of Grass. Though doing so would invite attacks from large numbers of Kusagakure ninja, at least there was still a chance of survival.

During the Third Shinobi World War, the main battlefield between Konoha and Iwagakure had actually been in the Land of Grass. Such was the helplessness of a small nation.

On the surface, Kusagakure's ninja were deeply respectful toward both Konoha and Iwagakure. In secret, however, they were fence-sitters. They sold Iwagakure intelligence to Konoha, then sold Konoha intelligence to Iwagakure. Whenever they encountered lone Konoha or Iwagakure ninja, they would also ambush, kill, or kidnap them.

When Fujino saw Uchiha Sanpo change direction and rush toward Kusagakure, he guessed his intention. His expression darkened at once. After leaving several secret signals on the ground, he pursued him.

At the border of the Land of Grass, all kinds of grass grew everywhere. Even the scattered trees were not particularly tall, leaving few places to hide.

As he raced forward, Uchiha Sanpo glanced sideways at the pursuer behind him. The Iwagakure jōnin was extremely cautious. Sharingan: Genjutsu required the eyes of both sides to meet before it could be activated successfully, but despite being pursued for more than two hours, he had not found a chance to use it.

Seeing that he was about to enter Kusagakure's patrol range and that Fujino still had no intention of giving up, he took out a Military Ration Pill and swallowed it to restore some of his stamina and chakra.

Before long, three Kusagakure ninja appeared not far ahead. Holding kunai and taking defensive stances, they shouted, "This is Kusagakure territory! Leave immediately!"

Uchiha Sanpo activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan and saw that they were merely three genin. He took out six shuriken and threw them. "Clang... clang... clang!" Several metallic collisions rang out, and the three Kusagakure genin clutched their throats as they convulsed and collapsed. They clearly would not live much longer.

After dealing with the Kusagakure genin, he glanced at the pursuer behind him. Fujino still showed no sign of giving up, so he could only grit his teeth and continue deeper into Kusagakure territory.

The Sharingan's scouting ability was not as strong as the Byakugan's, but it was far from weak. After a while, Uchiha Sanpo discovered nine Kusagakure ninja in the distance.

"Three chūnin and six genin. Maybe this will work!"

Having said that, he ignored the six genin and directly concealed himself as he approached the three Kusagakure chūnin.

120 meters... 50 meters... 30 meters... The distance grew closer and closer...

Uchiha Sanpo hid in the shadows and used the God-Demon Transformation: Two-Headed Four-Armed Technique, then suddenly charged at the three Kusagakure chūnin.

A monster with two heads and four arms suddenly appeared and rushed toward them. The three Kusagakure chūnin froze for a moment, then inwardly cried, "Not good!"

Genjutsu: Sharingan! Genjutsu: Sharingan!

Two of the Kusagakure chūnin raised their kunai and stabbed the ninja standing between them. In an instant, that Kusagakure chūnin clutched his lower back and fell. As he collapsed, he struggled to shout, "Enemy attack!"

The shout quickly caught the attention of the surrounding Kusagakure ninja, while Uchiha Sanpo hid himself away.

Then, he controlled one of the genjutsu-stricken Kusagakure chūnin and had him shout, "At the four o'clock direction, there's a lone Iwagakure jōnin! He killed chūnin Cang'er! I'll avenge him!"

Unable to keep watching from the sidelines, Iwagakure jōnin Fujino formed hand seals and slapped the ground. "Ram-Ox-Tiger... Earth Style: Earth Stone Dragon!"

A dirt dragon over ten meters long burst from the earth. Fujino swiftly leaped onto its head and shouted down from above, "I didn't kill anyone. I'm pursuing an Uchiha. If you know what's good for you, get out of my way!"

The two Kusagakure chūnin controlled by genjutsu ignored his words and continued charging at the Iwagakure jōnin.

As the distance between them narrowed, Fujino naturally noticed something was wrong. The eyes of those two Kusagakure chūnin had already taken on the shape of the Sharingan, a sign that they were controlled by Sharingan: Genjutsu.

Knowing that persuasion was useless, he could only attack with ninjutsu. "Ram-Horse-Dragon-Tiger... Earth Style: Earth Dragon Bullet!"

The great earth dragon opened its mouth and continuously fired chunks of earth. In an instant, one Kusagakure chūnin was struck by several chunks and collapsed motionlessly to the ground, blood quickly staining his clothes red.

Seeing this, the other Kusagakure chūnin shouted, "Damn it! Chūnin Daisy was killed by him too! I'll avenge her!"

With that, the Kusagakure chūnin rushed forward and detonated the Explosive Tags on his body. "Boom... boom boom... boom..." Explosions rang out without end.

Seeing such a brutal death, the surrounding Kusagakure ninja felt their blood boil. They no longer concealed themselves, quickly surrounded the Iwagakure jōnin, and drew their ninja tools to attack.

Although the plan had succeeded, six Kusagakure genin could not delay him for long. Fortunately, the continuous explosions had already caused a stir, and more Kusagakure ninja kept rushing toward the blast zone...

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