Good Evening

Yūno Ryōma glanced around, his gaunt cheeks twitching involuntarily as his throat bobbed, forcing down a difficult swallow.

The situation had already turned disastrous!

Their team had set out with twelve people in total.

One had gone out during the day and never returned, likely already met with misfortune.

Four had been injured earlier by stepping on Exploding Tag traps hidden in the forest, then trapped in a mountain fire—by now, they were probably well-done.

Two more had gotten separated during the previous breakout attempt, their whereabouts unknown; Yūno Ryōma dared not hold out hope for their survival.

And finally, just seconds ago, Lo, a fellow Jonin, had been cut down by a single sword strike from the Rain Ninja youth right before his very eyes!

At this point, only four remained of the twelve-man Root expedition team.

And every one of them was wounded, faces blackened with soot, breathing harsh and heavy.

Before setting out, Yūno Ryōma never would have imagined that, under his own command, they would suffer such devastating losses in a small country like the Land of Rain!

Even though he thought he had taken the threat seriously enough, he now realized he had still underestimated the Rain Ninja youth from the intelligence reports.

Lord Danzo, you should be grateful he's not truly a Shimura clansman—this boy is more ruthless than you, and more capable too.

But no matter how much regret gnawed at him, Yūno Ryōma had to shoulder the responsibility of command.

"I'll hold them off. You find a chance to break out and head down the mountain! Someone must survive to bring the intelligence back to the village and deliver it to Lord Danzo!"

Yūno Ryōma intended to sacrifice only himself, but before his words even faded, Wu beside him tore off his mask and cast it aside, then quickly formed hand seals.

"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

By abandoning his mask, Wu actively broke Root's code of conduct, answering with action: he too had no intention of going back.

Root ninja might be blindly loyal, but they never lacked the courage to sacrifice. Their only mistake was following a leader who was ambitious beyond his ability and obsessed with scheming.

But that was never a choice ordinary Root members could make.

For a moment, the eyes behind Yūno Ryōma's tinted glasses grew slightly moist.

He could only turn his head and roar at the Jonin codenamed Po, "Go!"

Po dared not hesitate, grabbing the last Chunin beside him and turning to flee!

At the same time, Wu clashed wildly with Karasuba once more, while Yūno Ryōma fixed his gaze on Shiba Seika.

"Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere!"

He knew he had to stop this mysterious Rain Ninja youth now.

Because the opponent possessed not only strength and intellect, but even remarkably effective healing techniques!

Shiba Seika leaped, dodging the great wind bullet while forming hand seals, and countered with a jutsu of his own.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

Normally, this technique only stirred up a whirlwind, with no outstanding killing power.

But now, with burning branches and deadwood everywhere, Shiba Seika chose this move to maximize the environmental advantage—in an instant, the whirlwind swept up countless embers and ash, engulfing Yūno Ryōma.

"Damn it!"

Yūno Ryōma cursed under his breath, forced to abandon offense and choose defense.

"Earth Release: Earth Prison Dome of the Hiding!"

An inverted bowl-shaped earthen prison rose from the ground, enclosing Yūno Ryōma and cutting off the raging fire tornado swirling around him.

Forcing out the opponent's defensive jutsu, Shiba Seika didn't grow complacent—instead, he instantly became alert.

The Earth Prison Dome blocked line of sight, and he almost immediately predicted the enemy would seize the chance to make a move!

He quickly formed seals and executed the Body Flicker Technique, appearing beside Ajisai—the weakest in self-defense on their team—and grabbed her, leaping into the air.

The next moment, Yūno Ryōma indeed emerged from the earth, using "Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique" to teleport directly beneath Ajisai's feet, his extended arms surrounded by a dense swarm of black insects.

If Shiba Seika hadn't reacted swiftly, predicted accurately, and used the Body Flicker to intervene in time, Ajisai, caught completely off guard, would have already been devoured by the bugs.

In midair, Ajisai's heart pounded with lingering fear.

She hadn't expected these elite Jonin from the great ninja villages to still unleash such a fierce counterattack under such extreme disadvantage.

It was fortunate Shiba Seika was here, able to match them evenly and even turn the tables, driving them into a corner!

But before she could savor even a few seconds of gratitude, Shiba Seika hastily tossed out a "Watch yourself!"

Then he flung her straight out of his arms.

He threw her so abruptly that Ajisai landed on her rear, the flames on the ground singeing her pants.

This move thoroughly embodied the principle that women only slow down a man's sword-drawing speed.

Left with no choice, Ajisai could only pout, make a fierce-but-cute face at Shiba Seika, then get up and quickly retreat far away.

Seeing his ambush fail and the target already evacuated, Yūno Ryōma had no choice but to fall back and continue trading blows with Shiba Seika.

Shiba Seika, in no hurry, made full use of the surrounding environment, fighting with ease.

After several intense exchanges, Shiba Seika suddenly, without warning, flashed a gentle smile at Yūno Ryōma.

"Do you really think your comrades have already escaped?"

A single sentence instantly churned Yūno Ryōma's just-calmed heart lake, sending the heart that had already stopped twitching from its readiness to die into a violent pounding once more!

He noticed? He knew all along we were stalling? He did it on purpose?!

Meanwhile, at the foot of the mountain, the Root ninja codenamed Po and another Chunin, bearing severe burns across their bodies, rolled and stumbled all the way down the slope, finally escaping the sea of fire.

Po dared not rest even for a moment. He immediately pulled out the scroll he carried and hastily recorded the encounter and intelligence from this trip.

Then he performed a ninjutsu to replicate the scroll into three copies—one he kept on himself, one he handed to his companion, and the last he gave to a large yellow dog he summoned.

What he summoned was not a ninja dog, but it was still a very human-understanding big canine.

After feeding it two Soldier Pills, Po placed the scroll into a small pouch on the dog's flank, then pointed toward the border.

"Run in that direction! Go back to Konoha and deliver this to Lord Danzo!"

Seeing the summoned dog dash off in a flash, Po finally let out a heavy sigh, collapsed onto the ground, and said to his companion.

"Take turns keeping watch. Let's rest a while first."

The Root Chunin beside him was even more severely injured. Hearing this, he too felt a wave of relief and simply fell to the ground.

Though their clothes were tattered and their bodies still emitted hot steam, at that moment they couldn't help feeling a sense of relief, believing they had finally escaped death by a hair.

But they never expected that the very next second, Po's expression changed!

Because he sensed—his summon beast had died. Just now, without any warning, it had died!

He turned his gaze toward the border.

Then, under the moonlight, he saw a cute little cat with pure white fur, stepping gracefully and unhurriedly as it appeared from the tip of a branch. A Kunai was wrapped in its tail, and fresh bloodstains clung to its claws, tail, and the Kunai alike.

The Ninja Cat Tama, backlit by the moon, greeted the two of them playfully. "Good evening, nya~"