Retreating Unscathed

"Bastard!" The Sunagakure jonin flew into a rage, veins bulging on his forehead as he formed hand seals faster than ever before.

Earth Style, Flowing River Earth Style.

Earth Style, Rock Bullet.

The ground beneath Beichen Haotian suddenly turned into a river of mud, its mighty current seeking to sweep him into its depths. Dozens of fist-sized stone bullets appeared in midair, slicing through the air like solid cannonballs.

With a snap, the air trembled slightly. The Tang Saber in Beichen Haotian's hand flared with intense lightning, as though it had been forged from thunder itself. He leaped into the air and stepped on the air as if invisible stairs lay beneath his feet. Blue light flashed before him, and every stone bullet in his path was sliced apart.

Fujita, the Sunagakure jonin, stared in shock at Beichen Haotian's airborne figure, unable to believe his eyes.

Lightning Style, Lightning Illusion Flash Pillar.

Beichen Haotian, suspended in the air, erupted with an intense white glow that was blindingly bright. Fujita instinctively shut his eyes, inwardly cursing as he hastily formed hand seals and unleashed a ninjutsu.

Earth Style, Flowing Wall Earth Style.

A wall of earth had barely risen when a long blade formed from lightning slashed through it, its edge incomparably sharp.

The commotion caused by Beichen Haotian's brilliant light and Fujita's ninjutsu also drew the attention of Konoha's two chunin, who hurried over.

Just as Beichen Haotian cut through the earthen wall, a large hole suddenly melted open at its center. A hand clutching a kunai shot out, and the coldly gleaming blade ruthlessly stabbed toward Beichen Haotian's abdomen.

Iron Body!

The blood throughout Beichen Haotian's body immediately surged faster, while his muscles tightened to an incredible degree under deliberate control. The kunai struck his abdomen as if it had hit iron, producing a faint metallic clang.

Almost at the same instant he was stabbed, a kunai appeared in Beichen Haotian's left hand, with an Explosive Tag attached behind it. Lightning Chakra glimmered at the tip as he hurled it through the opening.

Shave!

Beichen Haotian immediately used Shave to pull away. Boom! Earth and stone flew everywhere, and the earthen wall collapsed from the blast. Smoke and dust filled the explosion site as Beichen Haotian panted heavily, watching the haze with vigilance.

At that moment, the Sunagakure chunin and Eto Kyosuke arrived one after the other. Beichen Haotian panted and said, "Keep him occupied."

The moment Eto Kyosuke heard that, he launched an attack on the Sunagakure chunin, leaving him no time to worry about anything else.

As the smoke dispersed, the scene within came into Beichen Haotian's view. A bloodied body lay on the ground, its chest still rising and falling faintly. It seemed to still be breathing.

Beichen Haotian did not approach carelessly. Observation Haki spread out, and a cold smile appeared on his lips. Did he use Earth Replacement Technique at the critical moment? Too bad. From that close, he must have been seriously injured even if he used it, and his combat strength would be greatly reduced. He still wanted to ambush me? Too bad he underestimated my combat experience.

Four kunai appeared in his hands, each with an Explosive Tag attached behind it. Using a few tricks he had learned at the Ninja Academy, he planted the four kunai in the ground to form a square. Boom... The four Explosive Tags detonated at once. Fujita, already severely injured, had no way to evade and was blown apart beyond saving. A faint scent of cooked meat drifted through the air.

Although the Sunagakure chunin was fighting Eto Kyosuke, he had kept part of his attention on Beichen Haotian. Seeing the jonin die threw him into panic. If this continued, he would likely die as well. Gripped by fear of death, the Sunagakure chunin no longer had any will to fight and hurried toward the battle where the other Sunagakure jonin was fighting.

"Go support the others quickly. I've used up too much stamina and Chakra, so I need some time to recover."

"Alright." Eto Kyosuke answered crisply. Though he had not seen the latter part of Beichen Haotian's battle, killing a Sunagakure jonin was enough to earn his deep admiration. Naturally, he had no objection to Beichen Haotian's suggestion, and it was what they should have done anyway.

Exhaling, Beichen Haotian sat on the ground and took a deep breath, beginning to recover his stamina and Chakra.

After a quarter of an hour, Beichen Haotian had recovered half his stamina and Chakra, then hurried off to help.

Beichen Haotian did not rush to deal with the Sunagakure jonin. Even three against two would not make it easy to finish them quickly. It would be better to free his teammates first, then surround and attack together.

The first place Beichen Haotian went was where Hyuga Hiyata was fighting. The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist Style was extremely formidable in close combat. In the Ninja World, the only clan that could likely rival the Hyuga Clan in taijutsu was Kirigakure's Kaguya Clan.

The Sunagakure chunin was clever as well. Knowing how powerful the Gentle Fist Style was, he avoided taijutsu exchanges as much as possible. Using kunai, shuriken, senbon, and ninjutsu, he steadily suppressed Hyuga Hiyata and had even wounded him.

The Hyuga Clan's taijutsu was indeed powerful, but unless one was from the main family, it was difficult to cultivate advanced Gentle Fist techniques such as Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven and Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm. When faced with a particularly clever opponent, branch family disciples had few options. The difference in treatment between the Hyuga Clan's main and branch families was enormous; one could easily see it from the proportion of their respective disciples on the battlefield and the difficulty of the missions they carried out.

Beichen Haotian had no intention of launching a sneak attack. Waiting for an opportunity would only waste time. If two people could not deal with one Sunagakure chunin, they might as well stop calling themselves ninja.

He charged out openly and attacked without a word. Caught off guard, the Sunagakure chunin was thrown into a frantic scramble. Hyuga Hiyata eagerly moved in to entangle him as well, finally venting his frustration. Under the close-range pincer attack of a taijutsu expert and a swordsmanship master, a major opening was soon seized by Hyuga Hiyata. A Gentle Fist strike landed on the Sunagakure ninja's body, stiffening him, and a blade pierced straight through his heart.

After resolving the battle here, Beichen Haotian and Hyuga Hiyata rushed off without pause to support Uchiha Mei.

With the Sharingan, Uchiha Mei had not fallen into a disadvantage and was locked in an even battle with Sunagakure's puppet master. The puppet master was decisive; after sensing the approach of the two, he immediately chose to retreat.

Later, when Beichen Haotian and the other two finally went to support their captain, Nara Shikafu, the three Sand Ninja had already withdrawn. Their figures could still faintly be seen in the distance.

"Haotian, I have to admit that you performed exceptionally well. You truly deserve your reputation as a genius. This time, you practically saved all our lives. Otherwise, our squad would have suffered heavy casualties, perhaps even total annihilation. I won't say much more. If you ever need help in the future, come find me." Nara Shikafu spoke sincerely.

"Don't say that. Everyone contributed. You held back the people you needed to hold back, otherwise I couldn't have done it either." Beichen Haotian said modestly for once.

"Alright, stop being so modest. We all know the truth. If anything comes up in the future, don't stand on ceremony."

The other three, including the proud Uchiha Mei, all nodded. Killing a jonin and a chunin was worthy of Uchiha respect.

"Alright, this isn't a place to linger. Let's withdraw quickly. We've been carrying out missions for so long; it's time we rested for a day or two."

"Retreat!"

Five figures swiftly headed toward the Konoha camp. Nara Shikafu cast what seemed like a casual glance at Beichen Haotian.

At such a young age, he already carries the bearing of a powerhouse. Given time, he will surely become a pillar of Konoha. For now, Haotian seems even stronger than Lord Jiraiya's disciple, Minato Namikaze. The two can be called the twin stars of Konoha's new generation.

The previous generation has the Third Hokage holding the fort. This generation has Lord Hatake and the Konoha Sannin, while the new generation has Minato and Haotian. Konoha is truly brimming with talent. No matter who it faces, Konoha will be invincible.

These thoughts flashed through Nara Shikafu's mind, filling him with confidence in Konoha.

Beichen Haotian and the others returned to camp to rest, but Sunagakure was furious. They immediately sent more jonin and chunin to hunt down Beichen Haotian's group. The Third Kazekage especially ordered the scouting units, assault units, and Sunagakure Anbu to kill Beichen Haotian at any cost. At the same time, he deeply felt the unfairness of heaven. Why did so many geniuses come from Konoha?

In short, Beichen Haotian had made it onto Sunagakure's blacklist and had gained a measure of fame there.

Sunagakure's ninja searched frantically for Beichen Haotian and the others, but Beichen Haotian had already returned to the Konoha camp. There would be no chance to kill him anytime soon.

Not long after returning to camp, Beichen Haotian ran into Tsunade, Jiraiya, and Minato.

"Kid, you're pretty strong. You can even take down jonin now. Minato, you need to work harder. Jiraiya, your teaching is far too poor. Look at the little brother I taught." Tsunade seemed to have forgotten the unpleasantness from that day and smiled with unmistakable pride.

Uh... did you ever teach me? Fine, I'll barely count it as teaching. Too bad I still haven't learned Monstrous Strength. Beichen Haotian complained inwardly in utter exasperation, though his face was full of smiles.

"Hmph, what are you so proud of? I admit that Haotian is indeed outstanding. But Minato is no worse. We don't know whether Minato can defeat a jonin since he hasn't fought one, but he can handle a Special Jonin from Sunagakure." Jiraiya rolled his eyes and retorted stubbornly.

Beichen Haotian and Minato Namikaze could not be bothered to get involved in the elders' affairs, nor did they take the elders' words to heart. Neither of them was narrow-minded.

The two went aside to exchange cultivation insights. In his previous life, Beichen Haotian had quite liked Minato Namikaze as a character.

Jiraiya and Tsunade bickered for a while, but Jiraiya was soon defeated beneath Tsunade's fists and had no choice but to admit that Beichen Haotian was stronger.

Thanks to Wawa Fish, How Could I Say Give Up When I'm Tired, Reading Without Knowing Fatigue, HH0857, Bookworm, Dreamlike Reunion, and Zhuhán Wàndāndàn for the recommendation votes!