Where Was Yueguang Han?

Just as I expected, Rasa feared my abilities and didn't dare let the Sand Shinobi face me alone. Underground, Yueguang Han used the two DJI Drones in the sky to monitor the Sand Shinobi's every move. Seeing that only four ordinary Sand Shinobi had been left behind, he felt relieved. Rasa was deeply wary of his abilities and did not dare stay behind to investigate personally, fearing that the Sand Shinobi force without him would suffer Yueguang Han's counterattack.

Earth Style: Rising Earth!

Sand Shinobi Saito pressed both hands to the ground. Under the ninjutsu's control, the earth where Yueguang Han was hiding wriggled, squeezed, and split apart, forcing the Yueguang Han corpse hidden underground up to the surface.

"How could it be him?" When Yueguang Han's corpse was squeezed out of the ground by the shifting earth, the Sand Shinobi beside Saito widened his eyes in shock, his face full of disbelief.

"Ma Hua, have you seen him before?" Saito asked curiously. Ma Hua was a shinobi stationed at the valley outpost, one who had fought the enemy and seen his true appearance.

"Saito, he's the Konoha Young Shinobi we told you about. He's the one who killed dozens of our shinobi..." Sand Shinobi Ma Hua said with difficulty. "His abilities are extremely powerful and strange. All the shinobi we lost died at his hands."

"The Konoha Genius you spoke of was him? Why would the Konoha Shinobi turn on each other and kill him?" Saito stepped forward and carefully examined Yueguang Han's corpse, which had been forced out of the earth. Seeing that the body did not seem fake, he could not understand why the Konoha Shinobi would kill a genius from their own village, especially such a rare and exceptional one. If such a genius had appeared in Sand Hidden, they would not merely refrain from killing him—they would even hate to let him risk his life on the battlefield.

"Maybe the reason they turned on each other was to kill this genius!" a Sand Shinobi behind them suddenly said.

"So this genius wasn't completely loyal to Konoha." Saito and Ma Hua nodded, finally understanding. The most likely explanation was that this Konoha Genius was not wholly loyal to Konoha. If he had been, the Konoha Shinobi would have protected him with their lives and would never have killed him unless they had absolutely no other choice.

Though this Konoha Youngster was a genius with powerful abilities, judging by his age, his overall strength was not that great. In the current situation, while being hunted in enemy territory, he would be a burden in terms of speed. Coupled with his lack of absolute loyalty to Konoha, the Konoha Shinobi had killed him early to prevent him from falling into their hands.

"What a pity." The four Sand Shinobi sighed in unison as they looked at Yueguang Han's corpse. If they could truly capture this young genius alive, there was a good chance they could persuade him to serve Sand Hidden.

"What's there to pity? Why don't you tell me?" A cold voice rang out in front of the four Sand Shinobi. After monitoring the main Sand Shinobi force as it chased the Konoha Shinobi more than three hundred meters away, Yueguang Han finally decided to make his move.

"He's not dead!" The four Sand Shinobi were instantly horrified at the unfamiliar, icy voice. Unfortunately, it was already too late. In an instant, the Yueguang Han lying on the ground as a corpse had turned both hands and feet into Light Machine Guns aimed at them.

Rat-a-tat-tat...

Rat-a-tat-tat... The dense gunfire crackled through the forest like firecrackers, reaching both the Sand Shinobi pursuing the Konoha Shinobi and the Konoha Shinobi ahead of them.

"This is bad!" Hearing the gunfire from behind, Rasa's face became incomparably grim. He did not need to think to know that the Konoha Genius Youngster was behind them, the very corpse they had just seen. With the fleeing Konoha Shinobi ahead, they intended to pincers attack them from both sides.

"Rasa, that Konoha Genius Youngster is behind us," Luo Fei said anxiously beside Rasa after hearing the gunfire. That Konoha Genius Youngster was the greatest threat to them, and only Rasa's Gold Dust Magnet Style could restrain him.

"You deal with the Konoha Shinobi. I'll deal with him." Rasa gritted his teeth. Before the Konoha Shinobi could turn around and attack, he kept Gold Dust circling around himself, controlled it to lift him up, and rushed toward the source of the gunfire.

"That brat really pulled it off!" Ahead of the Sand Shinobi, Yueguang Xingye's face lit up with joy when he heard the gunfire behind him. He quickly gave the order, "Everyone, it's time to counterattack! Keep Rasa tied down, and Young Han can heavily injure the Sand Shinobi. We'll have a better chance of returning to Konoha. Kill!"

"Kill!" Following Yueguang Xingye's order and roar, the Konoha Shinobi immediately shouted and turned around, charging at the Sand Shinobi pursuing them from behind.

"Damn it, we fell for it again."

When Rasa reached the place where the gunfire had sounded, his expression immediately became as ugly as constipation.

The four Sand Shinobi left behind were lying on the ground, devoid of life. There was also a pit in the earth, proving that his guess had been correct. That Konoha Genius Youngster had indeed disguised himself as a corpse and buried himself underground, even fooling their Sensory Shinobi. But the Konoha Genius Youngster was no longer here. The most likely possibility was that he knew Rasa would come after him and had gone around him to attack the other Sand Shinobi—or was hiding in the shadows, ready to ambush them at any moment.

Thinking of that possibility, Rasa did not dare waste even a second. Keeping Gold Dust around his body, he hurried back toward the Sand Shinobi force.

...Elsewhere...

Elsewhere, the Sand Shinobi and Konoha Shinobi had already clashed. The Konoha Shinobi fought like madmen, battling the Sand Shinobi without fear of exhaustion or injury.

"Xingye, why hasn't Yueguang Han of your clan launched his attack yet?"

Amid the fighting, Mitarashi Shika battled the Sand Shinobi while shouting to Yueguang Xingye. He was extremely anxious. If Yueguang Han did not act soon, all of them would likely die here. What worried him even more was that Yueguang Han might flee alone. If that happened, they truly would have no chance at all.

"Rasa isn't here either. He's probably been held up by Rasa!" Yueguang Xingye said anxiously. He was just as worried, but he was more concerned for Yueguang Han's safety. Yueguang Han had said that Rasa greatly countered his Bloodline Limit. He actually hoped Yueguang Han would escape alone. Their deaths did not matter; Yueguang Han was the hope for the clan's rise. As long as Yueguang Han lived, the clan could rise and grow strong.

"Rasa is here." When Mitarashi Shika spotted the golden reflection at the edge of the battlefield, his expression turned utterly grim. It was the glint of Gold Dust beneath the setting sun.

"He's not here either? Is he hiding in the shadows, or has he already escaped?"

When Rasa hurried back to the Sand Shinobi force, he looked at the Konoha Shinobi and his own shinobi locked in battle, yet he could not see the Konoha Genius Youngster. His face immediately darkened even further. No matter which outcome it was, it was unfavorable for them.

Even if they killed every one of these Konoha Shinobi, it would not compare to killing that Konoha Genius Youngster alone. Whether in terms of his own achievements or the level of threat to the Sand Shinobi, all these Konoha Shinobi combined were far inferior to that single Konoha Genius Youngster. The number of Sand Shinobi who had died at that Konoha Genius Youngster's hands alone far exceeded the number of these Konoha Shinobi.