Underestimating These Sand Shinobi

Damn it, what exactly is this boy capable of?

Hearing the gunfire, the three Sand Shinobi who had emerged from the ground did not dare look back. Cursing inwardly, they ran toward a nearby large tree. It was too late to burrow back underground, so they could only find cover and hide before burrowing back down.

"Young Han! Are you all right?" The three Yueguang Clan shinobi did not stop the fleeing Sand Shinobi. Yueguang Xingye hurried to Yueguang Han's side and pulled him out of the ground, while Yueguang Long and the other shinobi guarded against the Sand Shinobi.

"I'm fine!" Yueguang Han shook his head and patted the dirt off his body. Looking at the several knife cuts in his clothes, he said with a sigh, "I still underestimated the Sand Shinobi. I never expected attacking a Sand Shinobi stronghold to be so difficult. If I had been replaced by anyone else, they would probably already be dead."

"It's good that you know." Yueguang Xingye smiled at this and asked, "Are we continuing?"

"No. I underestimated them this time. Retreat for now!" Yueguang Han shook his head. Although they were on the verge of charging into the Sand Shinobi stronghold, he had still underestimated them. He himself did not fear death, and his mechanical body could repair itself rapidly, so he was fully confident he could continue with the plan. However, Yueguang Xingye and the others were made of flesh and blood. What was more, all three of them were covered in burns and scalds. Their combat strength had been seriously affected, and they needed proper treatment.

"Fine! We're retreating!" Yueguang Xingye felt relieved at once. This stubborn boy had finally recognized reality.

The four of them then retreated from the edge of the sea of flames behind them, heading in the direction they had come from.

(Although this section is quite long, the time from when the protagonist charged down the mountain to their retreat was actually no more than five minutes.)

"Lord Luo Fei, those four enemies have retreated!" Inside the Sand Shinobi stronghold in the valley, a Sensory Shinobi reported to Luo Fei, the Elite Jonin commanding the Sand Shinobi.

"They're finally gone!" Hearing this, the Sand Shinobi Elite Jonin Luo Fei breathed a sigh of relief and emerged from behind the obstacle. Looking at the stronghold, half-destroyed by the explosions, as well as the corpses and wounded companions lying on the ground and crying out in pain, his first emotion was not anger but the inexplicable feeling of having survived a disaster.

Temporarily suppressing his emotions, Luo Fei ordered, "Quickly move the wounded to a safe place. Recall the Earth Release Shinobi immediately and have them construct targeted defenses. Take stock of the wounded and draw up a list of the dead."

"Yes!" At Luo Fei's order, the Sand Shinobi quickly sprang into action, and the stronghold immediately became busy. Even so, they remained extremely cautious. Whether moving the wounded or collecting their companions' corpses, they did their utmost to stay as close to obstacles as possible. Some even carried logs and boulders to use as cover.

"Bang, bang...!" Two grayish-yellow fireworks rose from the valley. This was their signal for the shinobi who were out to return.

"Stop!" The Konoha Shinobi who had charged down had only been moving for less than a minute when the Jonin of the Mitarashi Clan signaled for everyone to halt.

"Shika, the explosions at the Sand Shinobi stronghold have stopped!" After the group halted, the Jonin of the Kurama Clan said gravely to the Jonin of the Mitarashi Clan. The explosions had stopped, and they had stopped without achieving their objective. This likely meant that the plan of that boy from the Yueguang Clan had failed. It was simply unknown whether the four Yueguang Clan shinobi could return safely.

"There are seven shinobi approaching us from ahead. Three of them are underground, following directly behind those four," the Sensory Shinobi reported. The moment the group stopped, he had immediately sensed the surrounding area.

"Set an ambush. Spread out!" Upon hearing this, Mitarashi Shika immediately gave the order.

"Swish, swish, swish..." At Mitarashi Shika's command, the Konoha Shinobi turned into streaks of afterimages and disappeared among the surrounding trees. Some used Transformation Jutsu, while others used Genjutsu or Disguise Jutsu to conceal themselves.

Mitarashi Shika and Kurama Watanabe used Transformation Jutsu to hide in a tree. Holding their breaths and slowing their heartbeats, they stared fixedly in the direction indicated by the Sensory Shinobi.

Before long, the battered Yueguang Xingye and the other two, along with the completely unscathed Yueguang Han, appeared in everyone's sight.

"This way!" Yueguang Han said to Yueguang Xingye and the other two as he ran toward the center of the Konoha Shinobi's ambush. In Yueguang Han's Electronic Eye, a shinobi's concealment was impossible to escape unless there was a solid obstruction. Whether it was Transformation Jutsu, Disguise Jutsu, or Genjutsu, none could escape Yueguang Han's infrared-sensing Electronic Eye.

"There are Sand Shinobi underground. Find a way to deal with them!" As he passed the large tree where Mitarashi Shika and Kurama Watanabe were hiding, Yueguang Han suddenly shouted at the two in the tree. After shouting, he stood motionless.

"There are Sand Shinobi underground. Find their positions," Mitarashi Shika immediately shouted upon hearing this and seeing that the four Yueguang Clan shinobi had stopped.

"Under that tree."

"Over there!"

At Mitarashi Shika's shout, several Kunai flew toward several patches of ground more than ten meters behind Yueguang Han and the others, accompanied by several shouts.

Earth Release: Earth-Splitting Palm!

Earth Release: Earth Wave!

As the Kunai struck the ground, eight Konoha Shinobi leaped from the trees where they had been hiding. They rapidly formed hand seals and pressed their hands against the ground in unison.

"Rumble!" As the Earth Release Ninjutsu was performed, the ground began to tremble violently. The earth split apart, and clods of soil churned.

"Damn it!" Seeing this, the three Sand Shinobi hiding underground had no choice but to burst out of the earth. Stepping across the shaking ground, they rushed toward several large trees nearby, their hearts already sinking into despair.

"Rat-a-tat-tat...!" Gunfire like a string of firecrackers rang out. Before the Sand Shinobi could reach cover, a barrage of bullets tore through them, and they fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Only then did the Konoha Shinobi finally confirm the identities of Yueguang Han and the others. Mitarashi Shika jumped down from the tree where he had been hiding and asked.

"We underestimated these Sand Shinobi," Yueguang Han said.

"Young Han couldn't attack the Sand Shinobi hiding underground, and we couldn't find them either. Those underground Sand Shinobi were extremely effective at harassing us," Yueguang Xingye explained. "So we retreated first. Let's withdraw and discuss our tactics."

"Fine!" Hearing this, Mitarashi Shika and Kurama Watanabe both nodded.

Inside the Sand Shinobi stronghold in the valley, Sand Shinobi commander Luo Fei listened gravely to his subordinates' reports, feeling deeply troubled and helpless.

Under the enemy's attack, twenty-one shinobi had died in the stronghold, including deputy commander Qian Ce and a medical shinobi. Thirteen shinobi had been wounded. Even more troubling was that more than forty Earth Release Shinobi sent out had lost half their number.

According to the reports of the returning Earth Release Shinobi, he had also learned about the abilities of the enemy who had ambushed them. Against that Konoha boy's attacks, which required no hand seals and were incredibly fast, confronting him head-on was practically impossible. What was more, after retreating, the enemy probably would not charge down again so easily. From then on, that Konoha boy would surely hide in the darkness and assassinate them from an extreme distance.

"Immediately send Earth Release Shinobi out to request reinforcements. Tell the village that it must send shinobi suited to counter him. If there are no such shinobi, then send a large number of shinobi capable of using Earth Release, along with long-range Sensory Shinobi." After thinking it over, Luo Fei finally decided to request reinforcements. After all, the distance alone left him helpless. Besides, this valley was extremely important. Konoha could not have sent only four shinobi here; there had to be more Konoha Shinobi hidden in the darkness.

"Yes." Having received the order, the Earth Release Shinobi who had just returned immediately burrowed underground to deliver the message. They had no choice. Under that Konoha boy's long-range attacks, which gave them no time to react, they no longer even had the courage to walk out of their wooden huts.