Incomplete Intelligence

Watching the companion who chose to stay behind and cover their retreat, Ohno and the other Sand Shinobi clenched their teeth. But they also knew their teammate could not escape. Only this way could Ohno get out alive and bring back intelligence on this terrifying enemy.

Although the enemy's speed was only at the level of a Genin, his attacks were far too dangerous and his range far too great. Even over this short distance of escape, they had repeatedly come close to disaster.

Covering their retreat! He's throwing his life away! The Sand Shinobi who had suddenly stopped did not escape Yueguang Han's notice. Unfortunately, the Earth Wall blocked his view, and he did not see what the man did next. Yueguang Han became more cautious and jumped directly onto a tree trunk, continuing the pursuit through the trees.

"Rat-a-tat-tat...!" Gunfire continued to ring out. From the trees, Yueguang Han could once again see the other two fleeing Sand Shinobi. The shots continued, while his other arm, transformed into a Light Machine Gun, remained trained behind the Earth Wall.

He climbed up into the trees! I only have one chance! Behind the Earth Wall, the Sand Shinobi prepared himself. He was one of the two Sensory Ninjas in this squad.

"Die!" Five seconds later, just as Yueguang Han was about to pass over the Earth Wall, the Sand Shinobi suddenly leaped out from behind it. With a roar, he lunged at Yueguang Han, the Explosive Tags clutched in his hand already lit.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat...!" The prepared muzzle immediately spat flames, bullets ceaselessly piercing through the chest of the Sand Shinobi charging at him.

"BOOM...!" The next instant, a terrifying explosion erupted from the Sand Shinobi's hand, swallowing the forest within a thirty-meter radius.

The shockwave and blast from the close-range explosion also sent Yueguang Han flying fiercely, hurling him diagonally more than a hundred meters into the air.

"Damn it!" Yueguang Han cursed. Although the explosion had not harmed him, it had widened the distance between him and the fleeing Sand Shinobi even further. The heatwave also severely interfered with his Infrared Electronic Eye, turning his vision completely red.

"Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat-tat...!" In midair, after the waves of fire had dispersed somewhat and he could barely make out the fleeing Sand Shinobi's heat signatures, Yueguang Han estimated their positions and fired wildly, pouring out bullets.

He could no longer catch up. Though being in the air allowed him to barely see them, at a distance of over three hundred meters, the Light Machine Gun could no longer fire accurately in sustained bursts. The Sand Shinobi were fast, and countless trees blocked his view. Now, he could only hope that Lady Luck was standing at his side.

"Next time, I definitely need armor-piercing rounds in this kind of terrain." After landing, Yueguang Han gritted his teeth and snorted to himself. After finding the self-destructing Sand Shinobi's forehead protector, he turned and headed back the way he had come.

Even after emptying two hundred bullets from the air, Yueguang Han had not seen the result he wanted.

"Pah pah pah... thud thud thud...!"

Ohno ran desperately as scattered bullets rained down without pause, striking the trees and dirt around him and even grazing past his body with sharp thuds and cracks. Several bullets struck the companion on his back, passing through that man's body before hitting his own. The companion on his back had already stopped breathing.

I can't stop. If I stop, he'll catch up! I can't let everyone die for nothing. He kept repeating the warning to himself. Enduring the pain and grief, Ohno ran wildly with his injured companion on his back. With his companion's body serving as a buffer, the bullets fired from the sky behind him had lost much of their power. They no longer fully penetrated his body and inflicted catastrophic damage, but they still lodged inside him, leaving serious wounds.

In the forest, now restored to its dim and silent state, Yueguang Han first collected the forehead protector of a dead Sand Shinobi. Then he stripped off the ordinary clothes beneath the Sand Shinobi's ninja flak jacket and put them on. That Sand Shinobi's Wind Style: Pressure Damage had left him chasing them through the forest bare-assed.

After getting dressed, Yueguang Han slowly gathered the useful items and food from the dead Sand Shinobi before heading toward where the previous dead Sand Shinobi lay.

I still have 757 points! As he collected his spoils, Yueguang Han calculated the expenditure from this battle.

The intense battle itself—physical exertion—as well as repeatedly changing weapons and materializing bullets had not consumed many Energy Points, around 200 in total. Most of that had been spent materializing machine-gun bullets.

Repairing the Tech Templates installed in his body had consumed a huge amount of Energy Points. Repairing the T800 robot template alone had cost over 200 Energy Points. The Sand Shinobi's Gale Palm and Wind Style: Pressure Damage had both caused significant damage to his alloy skeleton.

The nanomachines repairing his body had consumed the most Energy Points, over 600 in total. Although the enemy's Explosive Tags had replenished some of his reserves, after adding everything up, this battle had still cost him nearly a thousand Energy Points.

A thousand Energy Points was equivalent to casting Lightning Release: Earth Run a hundred times.

"Damn it, how could someone with this kind of strength be used as a sentry? He could clearly be of far greater use on the front lines." Ohno, weakened by excessive blood loss, staggered dazedly through the forest with his companion's corpse on his back. Thinking of how the elite squad of twenty he had led had been reduced to himself alone in just a few minutes—and how he had only escaped under the desperate cover of his comrades—Sand Shinobi Ohno could not stop his whole body from trembling. Those had been twenty elite comrades, including two Jonin.

Anger, resentment, hatred, fear, helplessness, and despair filled him. Yet all his severely wounded body could do was report the intelligence from this place.

But he probably would not make it back to camp. He was going to disappoint his companions' expectations.

Although his companion's corpse had absorbed most of the bullets' power and kept him from dying on the spot, those bullets had still inflicted severe injuries. Two bullets remained lodged in his lung and liver. Together with the blood loss and internal bleeding, he was already close to his limit.

Staggering forward, Ohno fell to the ground once more. This time, he no longer had the strength to stand back up. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and at last, even his willpower could no longer hold on.

A new Kekkei Genkai has appeared among the Konoha Ninja. Its abilities are extremely powerful. The 6th Harassment Squad has been completely wiped out... Lying weakly on the ground, knowing he could no longer bring the intelligence back alive, Ohno could only tremble as he used all his remaining strength to carve the information deeply into the earth with his fingers. He only hoped his comrades would find his corpse sooner and bring this vital intelligence back.

Unfortunately, even until his death, he could not endure long enough to write down all the information.