Baku! Baku! Baku!

Ninja sandals rustled against the fine grass, like a grasshopper hopping on everyone's frayed nerves.

Pashira's hand slowly rose.

At this distance, he wasn't confident he could kill the approaching man without alerting the enemy jonin. Rather than let the other side discover their tracks and become wary, it was better to strike first.

He was greedy, no doubt, but when even the most basic gains might go awry, he chose to secure what he had.

As the Sand Ninja drew closer, the Cloud Ninja behind the tree reversed his kunai grip, every muscle taut, waiting for the prey to enter his kill zone.

Ten meters.

Five meters.

Three meters.

"Where's Chuan Gui?"

A somewhat lazy voice made the Sand Ninja about to move forward stop in his tracks. He turned to look at Lord Hoshino Maki, who was yawning and glancing around.

The Cloud Ninja behind the tree turned his head toward Pashira. The other's hand still hung in the air.

Separated by a single tree, two different scenes.

On one side, utterly unaware. On the other, murderous intent lurking.

"What are you doing over there?"

"Lord, this tree is big. One of these can match two or three others. It'll be much sturdier for a bridge."

"Idiot! Cutting such a heavy tree, who do you expect to carry it?!"

Chuan Gui hadn't expected Lord Hoshino Maki, who was usually so approachable, to suddenly flare up like this. Startled, he quickly bowed and apologized: "I'm sorry, Lord, I didn't think it through at the time."

He had originally planned to cut it down and carry it with the others, but although his emotional intelligence wasn't high, he knew that saying that now would only cause him trouble, so he decisively chose to admit fault.

The anger on Lord Hoshino Maki's face eased slightly. He jerked his chin toward the other side: "Hurry up and help them with the transport. Just cut a few to get by for Lord Kojima's task. We're all ninjas; crossing a river shouldn't be this troublesome."

Lord Hoshino Maki muttered a few words, turned around, slid down to sit on the ground, using a tree stump to block himself from view, looking like he didn't want Lord Kojima to catch him slacking off. Then he closed his eyes and went back to sleep.

This movement exposed his entire front completely to the Cloud Ninja's line of sight, without a shred of guard.

Pashira stared hard at the face before him.

Too coincidental.

Far too coincidental.

But he couldn't put his finger on what was wrong.

A ninja's instinct was important, but as the captain of this elite force of over two hundred men, he had to be cautious.

Kumogakure's ninja force had expanded considerably in recent years, but its top combat power wasn't much greater than that of other villages.

So in this war, Kumogakure had adopted a very risky strategy:

Apart from a few jonin left behind for defense, the rest were split into two groups. Half would lie in ambush here to destroy the enemy's reinforcements, while the other half would pin down Pakura's forces.

The Ninja World didn't have the idiom "besiege the enemy to strike at the reinforcements," but similar tactics existed.

If only Pakura knew Kumogakure's troop deployment, the front lines would have suffered devastating losses!

So this ambush had to not only win but win decisively, then launch a pincer attack to crush Pakura's forces in one blow!

Pashira watched the Sand Ninja about to leave and fell into a long silence, until Samui leaped to his side.

"Lord!"

Samui, shedding her usual calm composure, urgently whispered to Pashira: "Lord, look over there!"

Pashira followed Samui's gaze. A female ninja, while doing her work, kept glancing frequently toward the forest. She would look once, then immediately lower her head, her expression full of nervousness.

"Damn it!"

The unease in his heart instantly magnified. Pashira realized in that moment that he had been played for a fool the whole time. His kunai shot out, piercing straight through Lord Hoshino Maki's chest.

Boom—!

The Lord Hoshino Maki who had been sleeping just moments ago turned into a wooden log, the kunai stabbing into a smoke bomb tied to it.

A chain of explosions followed. The log hit the ground, and the remaining smoke bombs on it detonated from the external force, engulfing the Cloud Ninja force in a haze of smoke.

"Damn it! Wind Release!"

Just as Pashira gave the order, Kumogakure's well-trained Wind Release ninjas had already finished their hand seals and were about to unleash their jutsu, when a volley of kunai, wrapped in a fierce gale, shot into their ranks.

The prepared struck the unprepared—the Sand Ninja's Wind Release arrived first!

In the sky, at their feet, countless Cloud Ninja's wide eyes were filled with half-burned Explosive Tags.

Boom—!!

Severed limbs and scattered remains.

Guts and blood everywhere.

In anime, "smoke means no harm, Explosive Tags never kill," but here, the opposite was true.

Ninjas were still human. Ordinary chunin had no chance against the chain detonation of hundreds of Explosive Tags. Their vaunted speed was utterly helpless under a blanket of firepower. Countless Cloud Ninja were blown to pieces before they could even draw their weapons. If not for the fact that many ninjas trained in Nintaijutsu, this wave of explosive art would have annihilated them all.

Pashira's entire body was wrapped in blue Lightning Release Chakra, muscles coiled like ropes.

He wasn't injured, but his nearly two-meter-tall frame trembled incessantly, his expression one of utter despair.

It's over.

Everything is over.

Because of his own greed, he had not only doomed his entire squad but also buried Kumogakure's long-cherished grand scheme. He was a sinner among the Cloud Ninja!

Beside him, a comrade who hadn't yet breathed his last twitched unconsciously—that was a mercy.

Those who had lost limbs, lost the ability to move, yet remained conscious, could only wail in agony—they were the worst off.

Kill him!

I have to kill him!!

Thanks to the explosion talismans, the thick smoke had been dispersed, and Pashira's bloodshot eyes locked onto the young man standing not far away.

At this moment, Hoshino Maki set aside his earlier casual demeanor and carefully assessed the situation before him.

The enemy had fewer than a hundred left, all wounded, but the jonin's combat strength remained relatively intact.

As a jonin, who didn't have a few life-saving tricks? Explosion talismans were hardly enough to pose a lethal threat to jonin.

Unless it was something like Mutual Explosion Talismans, which delivered precise, sustained blasts to a single point, or a wealthy specialist like Konan with her exclusive Money Release, they could only be used as ordinary weapons.

Suddenly, Hoshino Maki warily rolled to the side. Where he had been standing, a three-meter-wide crater had already been blasted open by Pashira's heavy fist, with a Suna ninja's corpse lying beside it—the jonin who had been protecting Hoshino Maki.

So fast!

He killed a jonin in an instant!

This was Hoshino Maki's first time fighting a Cloud Ninja. Though his predecessor had clashed with Cloud Ninja on the front lines, that encounter had ended with him being knocked unconscious in a single exchange and sent back to Sunagakure—utterly useless as a reference. This was truly his first real battle.

And he had to face an opponent this strong right from the start?

Hoshino Maki dared to stand on the front lines because he had his own trump cards.

Though the time had been short, he had laid down two chakra nets around him. But to his surprise, they were even flimsier than paper before this Kumogakure Elite Jonin, offering no resistance at all.

Fortunately, Hoshino Maki was alert enough to dodge the moment the nets broke.

Whoosh—!

Two massive wind blades shot crosswise toward Pashira.

"Lord Hoshino!"

Four jonin landed in front of Hoshino Maki, kunai in hand, shielding him behind them as if facing a great enemy.

Pashira stood up and threw a straight punch forward. The fierce force of the wind shattered both wind blades instantly.

"You deserve to die!"

A low, guttural roar squeezed from his throat. This bloodthirsty beast's gaze pierced through the four jonin, locking tightly onto Hoshino Maki.