True Blood, True Fear.

The female ninja's appearance in the valley was enough to tell the bandits that they were under attack.

Someone in the Elite Class had been careless and been discovered by the enemy.

They had thought it was just a few small fry, and the female ninja, being a Chunin, had intended to toy with them.

Unexpectedly, she capsized in a ditch.

If not for the special property of the All-Killing Ash Bones, anyone struck would surely die.

Between Tōka's group of four and the female ninja, who would win and who would lose was still impossible to determine.

At this moment, the valley was like a lit powder keg, suddenly bursting into uproar.

Clanging sounds could be heard everywhere as battles raged.

Konoha's advantage lay in the fact that they were all ninjas from the Elite Class; a ninja's strength couldn't be measured by age.

The members of the Elite Class had uneven abilities, but the Three Transformations, Shuriken, and traps were not something ordinary people could handle.

The bandits, relying on their sheer numbers and a bloody tenacity, barely held on.

Tōka, Gai, and Kurenai did not directly enter the battlefield but instead swept the edges, picking off isolated enemies.

Since, as Tōka had deduced, the strongest enemy Chunin was already dead, the only path left for the rest was defeat.

Moreover, having been forced to use a secret technique to kill the Chunin had already drawn attention to Tōka, who had wanted to keep a low profile.

So, for the rest of the fight, Tōka decided to just go through the motions and get by.

"Tōka, Gai, two isolated enemies at eight o'clock!" Kurenai, as an illusion-type ninja, had far stronger perception than Tōka and Gai.

Her words fell, and no further instruction was needed.

Tōka and Gai both leaped, dashing straight toward the eight o'clock direction Kurenai had indicated.

Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!!

"Two grown men. Should we go straight in?" The three of them hid in a large tree, and Kurenai asked.

"It's time to test our own strength." Gai clenched his right fist, slapped his left palm against it with a smack.

"Kurenai, don't use your illusions yet. Let the two of us try!" Tōka's eyes flickered; he wanted to test the results of half a year of taijutsu training.

"You two..." Kurenai's expression shifted slightly, and she was about to persuade them, but she saw that both of them were staring with a green gleam in their eyes, like young lions spotting prey.

Honestly, why did boys always have to show off?~

When she could have used her illusion support to finish things in the shortest time...

"Gai, let's go!"

"Alright!"

Both of them suddenly sank their bodies, gathering strength in their legs, and the branch they were standing on bent low under the pressure.

Swoosh!

Swoosh!

Tōka and Gai shot out one after the other, each engaging their own opponent.

"Konoha Whirlwind!"

A fierce sweeping kick instantly separated the two bandits.

Tōka and Gai each blocked one opponent, their eyes meeting, revealing a thick fighting spirit.

"Scared me for a second, just a couple of brats?"

"Hmph, don't talk nonsense, kill them!"

A man with a scar on his face brandished a cleaver and charged straight at Tōka.

In his eyes, this short kid looked easier to deal with than that green-skinned kappa.

"Charging in so carelessly?" Tōka raised an eyebrow and held up a single hand.

A trace of Chakra flickered through his body.

Thud!

The blade came down, sinking three inches into flesh, and blood flowed down the scarred man's arm.

He let out an excited, twisted laugh. "Kids like this sure are tender to cut!"

The scarred man's companion gripped a sharp longsword. He noticed that the green-skinned kappa had taken a fighting stance, showing no grief at all over his comrade's death.

Suddenly, a flicker of unease rose in the longsword-wielding man's heart.

"Watch out!" the longsword man just shouted.

A ghostly figure drifted eerily behind the scarred man.

"Judging by how decisively you swung, it seems you're used to blood." Tōka stared at the scarred man with a blank expression.

Those who kill, will be killed in turn.

As a ninja, one must be prepared to die. As a bandit, the same holds true.

"What?! A ninja!" The bandit stared in shock at the log he'd cut—it was ninjutsu!

"Ugly as it is, it'll have to do."

Pfft!!

Tōka gripped the kunai tight in his right hand, braced the base with his left, and thrust hard.

The kunai sank straight into the scarred man's throat. Blood sprayed out like a fountain.

It splattered all over Tōka's delicate little face.

"Dynamic Prelude."

Gai roared and kicked the enemy square in the jaw.

The katana-wielding man went stiff, eyes rolling white as he floated into the air.

"Konoha Strong Gale!" Gai twisted his head side to side with a strange yell.

Then he leaped up and unleashed a back spinning kick with terrifying speed and power.

Bam!

The katana man doubled over like a shrimp. His blade slipped from his grip.

It clattered to the ground.

His body shot like a cannonball into the tree stump behind him.

A wisp of white smoke rose. The katana man was clearly dead as dead could be!

"This... this is really..."

Kurenai, who had been hiding in the big tree, finally showed herself, staring at Tōka and Gai in shock.

The universally acknowledged dead-last of the academy?

A dead-last with strength like this?

Kurenai's face flushed. What did that make her?

She had to admit—whether it was Gai's attack or Tōka's, she couldn't say for sure she could block them.

Just then, Tōka and Gai locked eyes. Then they both bent over.

"Ugh~~"

They clutched their stomachs and heaved up a mouthful of bile.

They thought they'd steeled themselves, but...

"Ugh~~" Tōka's face went pale as he tried to force the rising feeling back down.

Unlike the first time he'd used All-Killing Ash Bones, when the kunoichi's body had crumbled like paper.

Back then, he hadn't felt the blade bite flesh, hadn't seen blood on steel.

But just now...

"Ugh~~"

"What's this? Just a couple of kids after all."

Seeing this, Kurenai smiled gently and handed tissues to Tōka and Gai.

After two heaves, Tōka felt much better.

He wiped the corner of his mouth and straightened up, glancing coldly at the corpse lying in a pool of blood.

His first real blood...

And Gai's thick nerves were just the cure he needed to recover.

Seeing Kurenai's smug expression, Tōka couldn't help a sly grin.

"Kurenai, you're up next."

The sudden words froze the smile on her lips.

Then she pulled a bitter face and glared at Tōka with a look of grievance.

Tōka just shrugged. That look didn't work on him.

A ninja had to get through this hurdle!

"Let's go." Tōka and Gai quickly pulled themselves together. They still felt queasy.

But at least they wouldn't throw up again.

Seasick people eat, throw up, then eat again.

Until they stop throwing up—then they're not seasick anymore.

Killing was the same. See it enough, and you get used to it.

The three of them didn't need to deal with the bodies. They vanished into the depths of the Valley.

Soon enough, twenty minutes had passed.

Tōka and his two companions had been wandering aimlessly through the forest in the valley, but the surrounding silence was eerily unnatural.

"Stop!" Tōka, walking at the front, raised his hand to signal.

The three instantly concealed themselves, hiding beneath a large tree.

"Don't you find it strange?" Tōka asked.

"You noticed it too?" Kurenai's eyes flickered with a hint of gravity.

"What's wrong?" Gai looked utterly bewildered.

"Twenty minutes, and we haven't been heading toward the central area." Tōka paused, then continued, "But we haven't run into anyone!"

Neither enemies nor allies.

They hadn't encountered a single person.

With Gai's pace, he could have circled the valley in ten minutes.

Yet the three had walked for twenty minutes without seeing a soul.

Even though Tōka and Gai had slowed down to accommodate Kurenai, this was still extremely abnormal.

"Simply put, we've probably fallen into a genjutsu!" Kurenai cut in, seeing that Gai still looked utterly clueless.

"Oh, I see." Gai's face lit up with sudden understanding, and he shot Tōka a disdainful glance.

All that rambling, and Kurenai hit the nail on the head in one sentence.

Tōka's eye twitched. He wanted to beat Gai to a pulp, but he still lacked the strength for now.

"Kurenai, want to give it a try?" Tōka didn't want to look at Gai's watermelon-rind head anymore, so he turned to the cute girl and said.

"Alright." Kurenai nodded, then closed her eyes, her hands swiftly forming seals.

Chakra surged like boiling water, then suddenly sank and came to a standstill.

"Release!" Kurenai opened her eyes, a sharp glint flashing within them.

The surrounding environment wavered. The trees were still the same trees.

Only...

Directly ahead, three people had appeared.

"A Jonin vest?!"

Aside from Gai, Kurenai was a top-tier scholar.

Though Tōka had rarely attended the academy, he still had basic knowledge.

The man in the center, wrapped entirely in bandages, was clearly a Jonin.

The other two were Chunin!

Counting the female ninja that Tōka, Asuma, and the others had taken down earlier.

One Jonin, three Chunin—a standard elite squad composition!

All three wore Kirigakure forehead protectors, but a single horizontal line was carved across the center.

"Rogue ninja from Kirigakure?!" Kurenai recognized the pattern on the headbands.

"Kids, not bad, huh? Actually managing to break my genjutsu." The fat Chunin on the left let a murderous glint flash in his eyes.

Kurenai and Gai tensed up, on high alert against the enemy.

A Jonin—a realm many spent their entire lives unable to reach.

The pinnacle that everyone looked up to.

Chunin numbers determined the scale of a war, forming the backbone of a village.

But Jonin numbers were the key to victory, the hidden cards each village held!

"Why are Kirigakure ninja in the Land of Fire?" Tōka stepped forward, his voice cold.

"Hey hey hey, look closely—we're not from Kirigakure anymore." The middle-aged man on the right pointed at his forehead protector, deliberately reminding them.

"Oh, is that so?" Tōka grinned at the sight, a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"What's wrong?" Kurenai asked, confused.

An entire elite squad going rogue together?

Kirigakure must think everyone's an idiot.

In Tōka's view, these people weren't rogue ninja at all.

They were disguised as rogue ninja, infiltrating the Land of Fire to cause trouble!

Konoha had already officially declared war on Sunagakure, and while Kirigakure was still in the throes of internal chaos, they wanted to get a piece of the action too.

As the head of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, Konoha's foundation was formidable.

Everyone knew deep down that Sunagakure alone was no match for Konoha.

Kirigakure's true hope, however, was that Konoha and the Sunagakure Shinobi would grind each other down.

A single elite squad of one Jonin and three Chunin could accomplish little on the front lines.

But infiltrating the enemy's rear was a different matter entirely.

Ambushing supply routes, striking medical units, and so on.

By harassing Konoha's rear logistics, the Sunagakure Shinobi would gain a chance to catch their breath.

As long as the war dragged on, the consumption of both Konoha and the Sunagakure Shinobi would reach astronomical figures.

When the two great nations were exhausted enough, Ōnoki of the Land of Earth would surely be unable to sit still.

And in the end, Kumogakure of the Land of Lightning might even join the fray.

That was Kirigakure's plan...

Or rather, that man's plan.

Tōka narrowed his eyes, sorting through all the connections in his mind—this was the advantage of being a shut-in!

"It seems he really has seen through something?" the middle-aged man said in a low voice, his expression darkening.

"Relax, dead men tell no tales!" The bandaged man curled his lips into a cruel smile, sending a chill through the three of them.

Sensing that overwhelming killing intent, Kurenai couldn't help but shrink back.

Seeing this, Tōka stepped forward in a single stride, placing himself in front of Kurenai to block that oppressive murderous aura.

Even though a thin layer of cold sweat had broken out on his own forehead, this was exactly the kind of moment where retreat was not an option.

A Jonin really was terrifyingly strong!

Just their presence alone made it impossible for him to fight back.

"This can't go on. I have to think of something." Tōka's face was taut, anxiety rising in his heart.

The bandaged man was suppressing them with sheer pressure; they didn't even have the courage to make a move.

Before long, the three of them would lose the ability to act, and then they'd be easily killed!

"Finish this quickly!" A frigid gleam flashed in the bandaged man's eyes.

The two Chunin, hearing this, suddenly dropped their stances, then burst forth with Chakra concentrated at their feet.

Their speed spiked abruptly, and their bodies turned into two black streaks charging toward Tōka's group.

"Gai!" Tōka shouted, charging out first.

And Gai didn't hesitate, sprinting right after him.

How could a man be afraid of battle!

His youth would never fade!

"Hmph, a couple of brats who don't know their place!" The middle-aged Chunin sneered contemptuously, flipping his palm to send a Kunai flying.

At the same time, he formed hand seals: Boar—Ox—Dog—Rooster—Dog—Ram.

"Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique."

Though it was only a C-rank technique, it all depended on the user!

In the dense forest, a mass of clear water visible to the naked eye coalesced into a water shark, baring its fangs as it charged at Tōka.

Tōka had just leaped to dodge the incoming Kunai, his body midair with no foothold.

Caught off guard, he was forced into a passive position—should he take the hit head-on?

Tōka hesitated, raising his arms crossed in front of him.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Suddenly, a booming voice rang through the forest.

On a nearby tree, an Anbu wearing an animal mask rapidly formed hand seals, spitting out a massive fireball from his mouth.

Water and fire collided, producing a sizzling hiss.

The Water Shark Bullet Technique evaporated into steam, while the Great Fireball Technique vanished along with it.

"Finally decided to show yourself?" Tōka landed safely, casting a silent glance at the Anbu's back.

If he hadn't known someone was tailing them from the shadows, Tōka would have chosen to flee the moment he saw the Jonin.

No, not flee.

In Tōka's view, it was called a tactical retreat.

"Get out of here. I'll handle them." The Anbu was blunt, speaking in a low voice.

"You take the mummy; we'll handle the other two!"

Tōka shook his head in refusal—he preferred to take his revenge personally!

Without the Jonin's oppressive pressure weighing on him, Tōka was confident he could take down that middle-aged man. (To be continued)