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The bearded ninja near Tōka dodged the Slug's acid with a Body Flicker Technique. That stuff's corrosive properties were more terrifying than any poison.

A single drop on the skin would create a gaping hole.

Puff puff puff!!

A white mist rose. Seeing they had been discovered by the Slug, the four of them also dispelled their Transformation Jutsu.

Their Konoha ninja attire transformed instantly into Sand Ninja garb, three of them being Puppet Masters.

"One Jonin, three Chunin?" Tōka's heart sank. It was the setup of an elite four-person squad.

The Slug, only the size of an arm, couldn't possibly deal with these four fellows. And at this moment, the Slug had also drawn the attention of the enemy due to its previous actions.

"Isn't that a slug? You can kill it with salt!" the Sand Ninja Jonin said, his gaze icy, his voice deep.

"Teacher, where are we going to get salt?" a kid with long eyebrows asked, completely bewildered.

"Didn't I give each of you a bottle of Salt Poison a few days ago?" the Sand Ninja Jonin glared at the kid with long eyebrows and roared.

"Oh!!" The three Chunin immediately pulled out a bottle, which was indeed the Salt Poison the Sand Ninja Jonin had mentioned.

Splash!~

The three of them simultaneously flipped open the bottle caps and hurled the bottles directly at Tōka. The Salt Poison inside instantly spilled out.

Seeing this, the Slug quickly burrowed into Tōka's clothes.

The Salt Poison landed directly on Tōka's body, seeping into his wounds.

A sour sting, unforgettable for this lifetime, made Tōka almost jump up and curse. The feeling of salt on a wound was indescribable.

Tōka's small face turned deathly pale, a layer of cold sweat covering his forehead, even his teeth chattering.

"They used up the Salt Poison just like that?" The Sand Ninja Jonin stared blankly at the three empty bottles.

"You three idiots!" the Sand Ninja Jonin roared in exasperation. Having such students was the greatest sorrow of his life.

"Uh... Teacher, didn't you just say to use salt?" the kid with long eyebrows asked instinctively.

Veins pulsed and throbbed on the Sand Ninja Jonin's temple, suppressing the rage in his heart.

The three Chunin quickly retreated a step...

"Tōka-kun, you've been poisoned," the Slug said, poking out a small head.

"I know!" Tōka's face was shrouded in a dark cloud. If it weren't for you, would I have been poisoned? And it's Salt Poison. The feeling of salt on a wound...

Just thinking about it made his scalp tingle!

He had barely recovered some strength, but the burning pain on his wounds made Tōka's voice tremble unnaturally.

"His abilities are terrifying. For safety! You two attack with your puppets!" The Sand Ninja Jonin intended to train his two disciples.

"Yes, Teacher!" The kid with long eyebrows and the chubby teenager quickly wiggled their fingers, controlling two crows to charge at Tōka.

"Black Secret Technique: Poison Needle Barrage!"

"Black Secret Technique: Main Branch Six Blades!"

They shouted in unison. One crow opened its mouth and spat out a continuous, small-area, high-density stream of green poison needles.

The other crow, from its front, launched six curved blades—three on the left and three on the right—arranged like ribs, spinning and slashing towards Tōka.

Tōka gritted his teeth, intending to force his body to move, but was stopped by the Slug.

"Your ribs haven't fully healed yet. You can't move recklessly!"

Feeling a slight sting in his chest, Tōka knew this was a critical period for healing his ribs and immediately stopped his attempt.

The attacks from the two crows were getting closer. If he couldn't dodge, he'd have to make them miss!

Tōka's eyes turned cold; he had a plan.

"Slug, heal me with all your might. I'll hold them off!"

Tōka's words rang out, immediately drawing disdainful glances from the four enemies.

In the eyes of the four Sand Ninja squad members, Tōka was already meat on a cutting board, destined to be slaughtered!

"You, in your half-crippled state?"

"Hold us off?"

"Heh...!"

The three Chunin sneered, wearing expressions of absolute confidence.

Suddenly!

The Sand Ninja's mocking laughter abruptly ceased, like a duck whose neck had been grabbed, its voice cut off.

Tōka, lying on the ground, suddenly became blurry, twisting and disappearing from his spot like a distorted ink wash painting.

The attacks from the two crows missed entirely. The poison needles covered the ground in a dense row, while the other crow's curved blades struck a tree trunk.

"Everyone be careful, it's Genjutsu!" the Sand Ninja Jonin shouted in a deep voice.

The other three immediately drew closer together. The four of them formed hand seals in unison, their Chakra within their bodies suddenly paused, then erupted violently.

"Release!"

The scene shifted, and the forest flickered, seemingly unchanged.

However, Tōka's figure reappeared before everyone's eyes.

He lay pale in his original position, three poisoned needles stuck in his arm. Clearly, he hadn't completely dodged the puppet's attack.

The Genjutsu was broken!

"Teacher, he's poisoned!"

"Teacher, hurry and deliver the killing blow!"

"Brat, die!" A murderous intent flashed in the Sand Ninja Jonin's eyes. With a flick of his finger, a humanoid puppet swiftly charged towards Tōka.

The greenish blade pierced Tōka's chest with a thwack, and the blood, corrupted by poison, turned black.

Black blood oozed from the wound, emitting a sizzling sound.

"Finally took care of him!" The Sand Ninja Jonin, seeing Tōka's eyes roll back and life extinguish, let out a long sigh of relief and recalled the puppet with a flip of his palm.

Before he could celebrate, a startled cry suddenly reached his ears.

"No, Teacher, look!"

"He's gone again!"

"What?!" The Sand Ninja Jonin exclaimed, shocked and enraged, and looked up.

He saw that Tōka, who had been pierced through by the blade, was not only alive but also had a faint smile playing on his lips, as if mocking him.

Under the astonished gazes of everyone present, Tōka's body rippled like water…

and disappeared once more!!

"The Genjutsu wasn't broken?" The Sand Ninja Jonin's expression drastically changed. A mere child's Genjutsu had trapped him!

No, it was a second Genjutsu that had been cast!

The Sand Ninja Jonin refused to believe it and clapped his hands together.

He forcibly controlled the Chakra within his body to still for an instant, then unleashed it in a massive burst, disrupting the chaotic Chakra controlled by the opponent's mental power.

"Release!" the Sand Ninja Jonin roared in exasperation.

As expected!

Tōka's figure gradually became visible, still lying immobile in the same spot.

A ferocious look appeared on the Sand Ninja Jonin's face. His fingers twitched rapidly, and the humanoid puppet began to spin madly.

"Puppet Technique: Poisoned Blade Barrage!"

Pfft pfft pfft!!

The poisoned blades of the high-speed spinning puppet blurred into afterimages, slashing down an uncountable number of times.

In an instant, Tōka was torn to shreds, becoming a pulp of flesh and blood.

"Is he dead?!" The Sand Ninja Jonin narrowed his eyes, his nerves taut, staring intently at the spot.

What happened next made the four of them jump.

A gentle breeze blew, and the bloody, mangled corpse twisted and scattered in the wind!

"How is this possible!!" The Sand Ninja Jonin gritted his teeth, disbelief etched all over his face.

"Teacher…"

The three Chunin felt a chill run down their spines. Such a bizarre scene made them want to retreat.

Was this really just a seven-year-old child?

This Genjutsu alone, which had stumped their teacher, was enough to completely overwhelm the three of them!

In the forest, with the help of a Slug, Tōka leaned against a large tree stump, his hands still in a hand seal.

His small face was pale and colorless, and a sheen of cold sweat covered his forehead.

"Genjutsu: Mirror Within a Mirror!"

Finally completed! Tōka's hands drooped as if all his strength had been drained.

Mirror Within a Mirror was a Genjutsu that included two layers of illusion and one layer of reality.

When an enemy, unsure if they had broken the Genjutsu, performed the release hand seal again, they would enter the next layer of illusion.

In other words, the Sand Ninja elite squad's first hand seal had broken the Genjutsu, and the humanoid puppet's poisoned blade had indeed struck Tōka.

However, that was only the first of the two illusionary layers.

Tōka, enduring the pain of being stabbed, activated the second layer of Mirror Within a Mirror.

When the Sand Ninja elite squad members, seeing this, performed the release hand seal again, they had actually entered the illusion of Mirror Within a Mirror.

At this point, the Sand Ninja were no longer sure if they were in an illusion or the real world.

"The essence of Genjutsu: Mirror Within a Mirror is that once the technique is successful, the enemy will be trapped in an infinite loop of illusion, reality, and illusion."

"If you can't guarantee killing the caster by appearing in the real world, you'll never get out!"

Tōka muttered to himself, thinking of this genjutsu purely by chance at the time.

He classified it as a B-rank genjutsu because it wasn't perfect. The flaw lay in that layer of the real world.

If he could set up an infinite loop with three layers of illusions...

It would at least be an S-rank genjutsu!

"Young Master Tōka is amazing, to know such a powerful genjutsu!" The slug praised Tōka without any pretense.

"Slug, can you detoxify?" Tōka felt a wave of dizziness wash over him, suspecting the poison on his body had taken effect.

"Leave it to me, Young Master Tōka!" the slug responded.

Another two minutes passed, and the sound of rapid air cutting came from the air.

Tōka, who had been resting with his eyes closed, immediately perked up his ears. Then, he abruptly opened his eyes, his gaze as sharp as an eagle's, staring intently in the direction of the sound.

"Don't worry, Young Master Tōka, it's someone sent by Lady Tsunade," the slug's voice rang out at the opportune moment.

As expected, four dark figures descended from the sky, clearly wearing Konoha ninja headbands and vests.

"Sand Ninja?"

"Caught in a genjutsu?"

The four ninja, an elite team consisting of one Jonin and three Chunin, saw through the Sand Ninja squad's condition at a glance.

Expressionless, eyes vacant, bodies unmoving – they were clearly under the effect of genjutsu.

And there was no one else nearby...

The four shifted their gaze to Tōka, who was leaning against a tree stump. Was this kid's genjutsu really that powerful? Even a Sand Jonin couldn't break free from it?

After a brief thought, the four exchanged glances and attacked simultaneously.

Pfft, pfft, pfft!!

The four each flashed behind a Sand Ninja. With a swift movement of their blades, the weapons sliced through the Sand Ninja's carotid arteries, and blood spurted out like a fountain.

The Sand Ninja squad was instantly annihilated, and their bodies were quickly disposed of.

A short while later, after masking the scent of blood nearby.

"How is it?" The Konoha Jonin stood about five paces in front of Tōka, not daring to approach, and asked.

"I won't die!" Tōka replied with a grim expression. Those Sand Ninja had truly angered him this time!

The Konoha Jonin nodded slightly, unbothered by Tōka's tone. He raised his hand and made a gesture, and the others instantly dispersed, hiding in the corners near Tōka.

The main battlefield between Konoha and the Sand Ninja was still on Kikyo Mountain, where the battle had entered a white-hot stage.

Shouts, screams, and explosions continued to echo.

Bodies piled up like mountains, and blood flowed like rivers.

Konoha, with careful planning and a surprise attack by its elite troops on the Sand Ninja encampment, held an absolute advantage.

Although the Sand Ninja were numerous, their casualties were also increasing.

More than seventy percent of the bodies lying on the ground were Sand Ninja, only about twenty percent were Konoha shinobi, and the remaining ten percent were gruesome remains, with severed limbs and broken bodies making them unrecognizable.

"This can't go on! We need to find a way to turn the tide!" Ebizo said in a deep voice.

"Genin are cannon fodder on the battlefield, and although their numbers are vast, they can't withstand Konoha's slaughter!" Chiyo also frowned. The Genin who survived the battlefield would be the foundation of Sunagakure in the future.

She didn't oppose natural selection, eliminating the weak through bloody death.

However, the casualties this time were truly too great, and Konoha's entire army consisted of elite troops of Chunin level or higher.

"Do you have any ideas?" Rasa's face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. His eyelids twitched with every ninja who fell, but he had grown numb by now.

"Let's make our move! The victory or defeat of a battle ultimately depends on the victory or defeat of the highest combat power," Chiyo's eyes turned cold, her withered hands already gripping two puppet scrolls.

A gust of wind swept across Kikyo Mountain, carrying away the brief silence.

"Then let's make our move!" Rasa pursed his lips and said coldly.

A powerful battle intent erupted, and golden sand swirled, lifting him into the sky...

As the Kazekage of Sunagakure, Rasa's movements had always been closely watched by Konoha.

"Lady Tsunade, Rasa and Chiyo are making their move," Shikaku Nara said with a grave expression.

"No need to worry about them. Jiraiya and Orochimaru are already prepared!" Tsunade observed the situation. Konoha had already gained the upper hand over the Sand Ninja on all fronts.

As long as Jiraiya and Orochimaru defeated Rasa and Chiyo, this battle would be over!

In the forest on the edge of the battlefield, Tōka sat cross-legged under a tree, gathering chakra in his hands and covering his chest.

While the slug detoxified him, he was healing his internal injuries himself.

Being far from the main battlefield, the occasional wandering Sand Ninja in the forest were also dealt with by Konoha's elite squads. Tōka's injuries had already healed more than halfway.

He had safely passed through his weakest period without any major incidents.

All that remained was for the slug to finish detoxifying him, and he would be free to act.

"I didn't want to do this, but if the Sand Ninja don't truly feel pain once, it will probably be more troublesome later!" In Tōka's eyes, a chilling coldness ran deep.

Another power, which had been dormant within his body, began to stir with Tōka's anger. (To be continued)