Battlefield Experience, Even the Dead Must Be Guarded Against

As Tōka and the Taijutsu Jonin were locked in a standoff, a white blur flashed and landed beside Tōka.

"White Fang? How are you... here!"

Before the Taijutsu Jonin could finish speaking, a terrifying thought suddenly surged through his mind.

Could it be...

He turned his head in shock, and a hundred meters away, lying in disarray were...

Six people!!

Two elite teams, two Jonin, six Chunin!

In just one minute, he was the only one left!

Gulp... The Taijutsu Jonin swallowed hard, staring in terror at the silver-haired figure.

Sakumo Hatake, however, didn't even spare the opponent a glance. He sized up Tōka and chuckled, "Fox, you've got two minutes left!~"

Tōka's mouth twitched. He had just used those words to taunt the Taijutsu Jonin, and now Sakumo Hatake was teasing him so quickly.

Defeat his opponent in two minutes? Tōka wasn't too confident.

Why not let the God of Slaughter handle it? It would be over in minutes.

But when Tōka turned to look, he saw Sakumo Hatake standing to the side with his arms crossed, putting on a show of absolutely not intervening.

He knew then that Sakumo Hatake truly wouldn't interfere.

Unless he died, or was about to die.

"If you win, I'll let you leave," Sakumo Hatake suddenly said, clearly addressing the Sand Ninja.

"Really?" The Taijutsu Jonin's heart, which had just calmed down, was stirred up again by Sakumo Hatake's words.

"As long as you win..." Sakumo Hatake nodded affirmatively.

The Taijutsu Jonin's survival instinct was instantly ignited. He had originally resigned himself to certain death, intending to take this brat down with him before he died.

At this moment, the Taijutsu Jonin changed his mind.

Who would want to die if they could live?

"Brat, so that I can survive..." The Taijutsu Jonin focused all his attention on Tōka, his gaze chillingly cold as he spoke.

"I'll ask you to die!"

BOOM!! A terrifying surge of Chakra erupted.

As the captain of the squad searching for Konoha's White Fang, the Taijutsu Jonin naturally had some skills.

This alone, this violent Chakra, was not something Tōka could compare to.

"I wonder how many more surprises you can give me," Sakumo Hatake grinned, standing a hundred paces away.

One hundred paces was nothing to a powerhouse like Sakumo Hatake; it was an instant.

Sensing the Taijutsu Jonin's rapidly increasing aura, Tōka cursed inwardly, his eyes beneath the fox mask growing serious.

The will to survive could infinitely stimulate a person's potential.

That guy must have done it on purpose! Tōka couldn't help but grumble, but the battle was unavoidable.

WHOOSH! WHOOSH! WHOOSH!

The Taijutsu Jonin activated his Chakra, stimulating his body's vitality, and erupted at full speed, streaking across the desert.

He moved like a phantom, appearing and disappearing, seemingly slow but actually incredibly fast!

"Too fast, I can't keep up!" Tōka's face darkened as he frantically channeled his Chakra.

Since he couldn't track the movements, he would focus on full defense!

CRACKLE! CRACKLE! CRACKLE!

Bones grew desperately.

PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!

Instantly, gray bones burst from Tōka's body surface.

He looked like a human porcupine, with gray bone spikes covering him everywhere except his head.

SCREECH!!

The Taijutsu Jonin, who was charging forward, braked hard using his hands and feet. He had personally witnessed the power of these bones.

He absolutely could not be injured, not even a scratch!

The Taijutsu Jonin frowned and retreated several steps, creating distance.

"Brat, are you just going to hide like a turtle?" he taunted in a deep voice.

Aren't all children like that? They can't stand being insulted.

However, Tōka wasn't falling for it at all.

Turtle? What's wrong with being a turtle?

Besides, his is at most like a hedgehog!

"Since you're not attacking anymore, it's my turn!" Tōka raised his arm and extended his index finger.

"All-Killing Ash Bones: Bone Bullet Barrage!"

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!

Tōka's fingers were like a Gatling gun, with his finger bones as bullets, shooting out in a line.

The Taijutsu Jonin, relying on his extreme speed, dodged several consecutive flashes.

"An attack this slow actually wants to hit me?" While dodging, the Taijutsu Jonin couldn't help but sneer.

"Heh, let's see how many minutes you can maintain your Chakra acceleration!" Tōka was unmoved, instead grinning.

The Taijutsu Jonin's speed was no less than Kai with the Five Gates opened. Such a powerful Secret Technique had surpassed the limits of the body.

The burden must be immense. Tōka didn't believe this guy could last long.

Otherwise, wouldn't it be better to just use this move to escape?

As expected!

As Tōka's words fell, the Taijutsu Jonin's expression changed multiple times.

"You actually saw through it!"

"Any Secret Technique that surpasses limits will have considerable side effects."

"You really don't seem like a six or seven-year-old brat."

"Heh, just take it as you praising me."

The two were not only exchanging blows physically, but their verbal sparring was also fierce.

The Taijutsu Jonin didn't dare to attack Tōka up close, while Tōka couldn't keep up with the opponent's speed at all.

Both were gathering the Chakra within their bodies, searching for an opportunity for a killing blow.

The battle, which appeared evenly matched, with Tōka even at a disadvantage, had actually reversed.

Tōka didn't need to expend a large amount of Chakra to activate his body. That speed, comparable to the Five Gates of the Eight Inner Gates, would certainly consume an astonishing amount.

Even a Jonin specializing in Taijutsu couldn't maintain it for too long.

Suddenly!

Sensing that his physical limits were about to be reached, the Taijutsu Jonin stomped on the ground, sending large amounts of yellow sand churning and scattering.

His body stopped. Tōka gave him no chance, directly firing ten bone bullets.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!

The Taijutsu Jonin seemed to ignore the sound of the whistling wind, as if he hadn't heard it. A thin layer of blue aura appeared around him.

He was frantically condensing Chakra, unleashing all the Chakra within his body.

A tidal wave of Chakra flowed through the meridians of his body, eventually converging at one point.

"Wind Style: Raging Fire Air Blade!"

The Taijutsu Jonin formed his hand into a blade, and on his palm, the wind nature transformation hummed.

He used his hand as the blade and his body as the blade's body.

Bang!

He stomped and shattered the sandy ground, his body, transformed into a wind blade, shooting out like a cannonball.

The speed was so fast that the naked eye couldn't follow.

The Taijutsu Jonin's body generated fiery red light from friction with the air.

"No wonder, Wind Style: Raging Fire Air Blade?"

Due to the extreme speed, the intense friction with the atmosphere caused the temperature to rise rapidly, igniting the skin.

A move that kills one thousand enemies while sacrificing eight hundred of your own!

Tōka's voice seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere, as if present throughout space, yet also as if it didn't exist at all.

Pfft!!

The palm blade pierced his body, and blood flowed down his fiery red arm.

The Taijutsu Jonin paid no mind to the burns on his skin, his eyes filled with surprise, even showing a look of relief after escaping death.

He believed that a powerful figure like Konoha's White Fang would definitely keep his word.

"I succeeded!" The Taijutsu Jonin's technique was released, and waves of dizziness washed over him.

With a thump, his legs gave out, and he knelt on the ground.

Before he could even rejoice, a familiar feeling suddenly came from behind him.

The aura of death, a chilling aura.

The aura that only appeared when that brat used his Secret Technique!

The Taijutsu Jonin turned his head in terror, only to see Tōka pointing a finger at his eyeball. The dark eyes beneath the fox mask were deep and captivating.

"All-Killing Ash Bones - Bone Bullet!"

Poof!

The breath of life decayed along with the bones. The Taijutsu Jonin died without understanding why he was the one who lost...

Tōka, looking exhausted, deactivated his full-body bone spike state and muttered, "He was just a Jonin, and he almost wore me out!"

With a whoosh, Sakumo Hatake appeared beside Tōka.

He patted Tōka's shoulder and said with a half-joking tone, "If you say that, shouldn't everyone else just go kill themselves?"

A seven-year-old brat, taking down a Jonin solo!

No one would believe such a record if it were told.

Although the main reasons were Tōka's abilities, the fatal characteristic upon being hit, and his counter against Taijutsu users.

Undoubtedly, Tōka was a genius.

Sakumo Hatake shook his head. When he was seven, he should have still been practicing his swordsmanship.

Tōka rolled his eyes and pouted without a word.

Sakumo Hatake spoke again, praising him without reservation, "Your Genjutsu was well-used."

Indeed, the moment Tōka first used Bone Bullet, it was also the moment Genjutsu was activated.

He knew that when his speed couldn't possibly match the Taijutsu Jonin, there were only two ways to win.

One was to defend, waiting for the Taijutsu Jonin's Chakra to deplete and his speed to slow down.

However, Tōka was not someone who liked to be passively beaten.

That left only one option: Genjutsu!

The Taijutsu Jonin's final move, the only high-damaging Ninjutsu he knew, did not hit Tōka.

Tōka being hit, bleeding, and dying were all illusions seen by the Taijutsu Jonin.

The battle ended, and Sakumo Hatake personally taught Tōka how to clean up the battlefield.

To be precise, it was about disposing of bodies and collecting useful intelligence and combat resources.

Normally, ninjas would set up tripwires in their ninja tool pouches and pockets, or other storage places.

These were traps set to prevent enemies from stealing important items.

"Genin usually don't set traps because they don't have anything important in their ninja tool pouches," Sakumo Hatake said, leading Tōka to another battlefield.

Six people lay scattered, all killed with a single blow!

There wasn't even much evidence of a fight on the battlefield, which was enough to show Sakumo Hatake's terrifying power.

Tōka felt a chill run down his spine. If Sakumo Hatake had attacked him by surprise, it would have been an instant kill.

Tōka would have had no chance to react.

At this moment, Sakumo Hatake's voice echoed in his ears, snapping Tōka out of his wild thoughts.

"As for the traps set by Chunin, most of them are Explosive Tags and poisons."

As Sakumo Hatake finished speaking, he flicked his White Fang short sword, taking down a ninja tool pouch from a Chunin corpse.

Sizzle sizzle...

A pungent smell of burning immediately wafted out.

"It's an Explosive Tag!" Tōka's expression changed, and he was about to dodge.

But Sakumo Hatake's movements were faster. He flipped his palm, removed the activated Explosive Tag, wrapped it around a Kunai, and threw it.

Bang!

A buzzing explosion sounded from a sand dune not far away.

Yellow sand rained down with a pitter-patter.

Tōka took a deep breath, his heart still pounding. Being killed by a teammate instead of an enemy was the most frustrating way to die.

"See? That was a negative example!" Sakumo Hatake said, his face unfazed and his breathing steady, showing no guilt for his earlier recklessness.

Tōka: "..."

"If your hand speed is fast enough, you can throw it out like that," Sakumo Hatake said, looking down at the fox mask, a hint of pride in his voice.

Tōka's mouth twitched. Why did those words sound so strange?

After taking out and storing the useful items from the ninja tool pouch, Sakumo Hatake led Tōka to the side of the Ninjutsu Jonin.

"The traps set by Jonin are much more varied. Unless absolutely necessary, don't easily touch a Jonin's ninja tool pouch," Sakumo Hatake's voice was unusually serious.

Even he wouldn't casually touch a Jonin's ninja tool pouch. Who knew if they had set up some terrifying sealing jutsu?

However, today was Tōka's first lesson.

Sakumo Hatake couldn't tarnish his reputation. He flipped his palm and took out a Kunai.

With a whoosh, a kunai flew through the air.

It struck the ninja tool pouch on the Jonin's waist and landed on the sand ten steps away.

There was no smell of burning, nor any sizzling sounds.

Seeing this, Sakumo Hatake shot another shuriken, opening the ninja tool pouch.

Still no reaction...

"Let's wait another minute and see," Sakumo Hatake said, prioritizing caution. Tōka silently nodded.

The two stared at the opened ninja tool pouch not far away.

One minute later...

Sakumo Hatake held the ninja tool pouch in one hand, occasionally pulling out an item from it with the other.

He didn't forget to say to Tōka with a serious expression, "See? Sometimes a Jonin's ninja tool pouch doesn't have traps."

Tōka: "..."

The two quickly cleaned up the battlefield. Tōka's mental power was incredibly strong; he could even extract information from the brains of the dead.

Upon learning that eight elite squads were surrounding their group, the two immediately departed, heading deeper into the Land of Wind.

This was because the two squads had already transmitted the information when they discovered them.

In at most ten minutes, they would encounter a Sand Ninja squad.

The battle had taken nearly four minutes. Although it exceeded the three minutes White Fang had set for Tōka, it was still very good.

Before long, several black shadows rapidly approached from the west.

Leading them was a highly respected elder of Sunagakure, a Kage-level powerhouse—the Puppet Master Chiyo.

Behind her was her brother, Ebizo.

Both were powerful figures in Sunagakure, and their prestige was extremely high. Not only the past Kazekages, but even the Daimyo of the Land of Wind showed them respect.

"It seems this is the place," Ebizo said, arriving beside a Sand Ninja and examining the wound.

He then nodded to Chiyo, confirming it was indeed caused by White Fang's short blade.

And it was a one-hit kill!

"Are you done yet? Damn Konoha's White Fang!" Chiyo gritted her teeth, her eyes completely consumed by rage.

"Wait, why are there only six corpses here?" Ebizo suddenly spoke.

"Two elite squads, shouldn't that be eight people?" Chiyo regained her senses and said in surprise.

"Search the vicinity and see if you can find any clues," Ebizo said in a deep voice.

"Yes!"

The Sand Ninjas quickly dispersed... (To be continued)