No!

Deep in the night, atop a watchtower at the Iwagakure outpost.

Two Iwagakure Ninja stood on the high platform, gazing into the distance as they performed their sentry duty.

"I heard one of our patrol squads went out and never came back?"

Suddenly, one of the Iwagakure Ninja asked out of curiosity.

"Not sure. People are always coming and going from this outpost, who knows?"

The other Iwagakure Ninja shook his head, though he still offered a word of caution.

"But we should still be careful. Konoha is currently in Kirigakure. Who's there?"

Before the Iwagakure Ninja could finish his sentence, he suddenly seemed to sense something.

However, they didn't even have time to cry out before a dark shadow suddenly lunged toward them.

The long blade looked exceptionally cold under the moonlight; they only caught a glimpse of a pair of scarlet eyes before they collapsed to the ground.

After reaching out to check their heartbeats and confirming they were truly dead, the dark shadow slowly stood up.

The moonlight spilled down, landing on the shadow and revealing his appearance.

This shadow was none other than Haori!

He cautiously checked his surroundings once more before nodding toward a crow beside him.

The crow immediately took flight, disappearing into the night sky from the watchtower.

"What a pain."

Watching the crow fly away, Haori cursed under his breath.

Iwagakure had clearly learned from the lessons of Kirigakure; on the way here, they had encountered several patrol squads and various inconspicuous traps.

If not for the crow's early warnings and the help of the Sharingan, it wouldn't have been easy for them to get here without making a sound.

"Besides, there seem to be more people in this outpost than I imagined."

Standing on the high platform, Haori had a wide field of vision, and he could see the figures flickering within the camp.

A rough estimate, including the patrol squads outside that hadn't been taken out, meant there were at least fifty or sixty people here!

"It seems there are quite a lot of supplies stored here."

This gave Haori a headache; the enemy had so many people, and there were only three of them.

Calling this a surprise attack was optimistic at best, and delusional at worst.

If they could get away, that would be fine, but if they failed, even if they performed the highest military etiquette of the French army, they would likely face some intense interrogation afterward.

If they were unlucky, they might even be used as a sacrifice to boost morale.

"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"

However, before he could think too much, a series of shouts suddenly erupted from outside the outpost!

Mixed into these shouts were the sounds of intense fighting and exploding paper bombs, which sounded particularly jarring in the quiet night.

Clearly, Might Guy and the others had made their move!

The plan for Haori and his team was simple: Might Guy was responsible for drawing fire.

He wasn't good at stealth missions, but his taijutsu was excellent and his body was durable, so he could draw fire and lead them to a pre-set ambush point to make an escape.

Haori was responsible for infiltrating the outpost directly to destroy the supplies; after all, he was skilled in Fire Release and fast on his feet.

As the only support in the squad, and given his constant high energy consumption, Yamashiro Aoba had no combat role.

He was primarily there to provide intelligence and offer necessary cover when it was time to retreat, regardless of whether the mission succeeded or failed.

"Hope everything goes smoothly."

Watching the Iwagakure Ninja in the outpost move quickly, Haori could only grit his teeth.

He looked at one of the Iwagakure Ninja lying on the ground, then folded his hands into a seal; with a puff of smoke, he transformed into the appearance of that guy.

He then adjusted his voice and immediately shouted in the same tone as the man: "To the north, it's Konoha! Hurry and provide support!"

The Iwagakure Ninja below didn't harbor much suspicion upon hearing his words, and a large number of them rushed out.

Haori immediately leaped down, feigning injury as he quickly headed toward the warehouse.

"Maeda, why are you—"

The Iwagakure Ninja remaining in the outpost looked at him with confusion as he approached.

But the next moment, they all stopped abruptly as several kunai wrapped in exploding paper bombs flew straight toward them!

Boom, boom, boom—

Suddenly, a series of explosions rang out within the Iwagakure outpost.

Taking advantage of the night and the dust raised by the explosions, Haori gripped his long blade and charged forward.

"Damn it, an ambush!"

"Watch out, there's a disguise!"

"Someone has snuck in, reinforcements!"

"Protect the warehouse, don't let the fire spread!"

Blade light flickered as Haori lunged at the Iwagakure Ninja like a ghost amidst the smoke.

The smoke did indeed obstruct vision, but this was not the Hidden Mist Technique; it lacked chakra interference, so his eyes could still perceive the silhouettes within the haze.

Besides, even the Hidden Mist Technique had levels to it, otherwise, back in the Land of Whirlpools years ago, the grass on his grave would have been several feet high by now.

"Scatter! Earth Style: Earth Dragon Spear!"

Just then, an Iwagakure Ninja let out a sudden shout, immediately forming hand seals.

A massive number of stone spikes erupted from the ground, forcing Haori, who had been hiding in the dust, to dash out quickly.

He didn't mind, however; such dust couldn't last long, and his eyes couldn't help but drift toward the warehouse not far away.

He had just heard someone shouting 'don't let the fire spread,' which likely meant there were quite a few interesting things inside that warehouse.

"Uchiha?"

The Iwagakure Ninja stared at Haori and said coldly, and Haori turned his gaze toward him.

"Sumashi?"

Haori had already recognized this guy; he was the Special Jonin stationed here!

"You've got guts, daring to come here all by yourself."

Sumashi snorted coldly, his eyes filled with coldness and amusement.

"Is Konoha out of people, or are you just too arrogant?"

"Call it arrogance, or call it a lack of manpower in Konoha, but at least I don't attack my own teammates."

Haori had never been afraid of a war of words. He glanced down at the corpses pierced by the spikes and the injured Iwagakure Ninja, then revealed a smile.

"Though, I really do have to thank you."

"I—"

Haori's words left Sumashi stunned for a moment, and then his expression turned incredibly ugly.

His Earth Style earlier was meant to force Haori out; while the intention was good, he had indeed harmed his own men.

He had tried to control it so that even if they were pierced by the Earth Dragon Spear, they would only be corpses, but he had no time to explain before Haori struck first.

Xiu, xiu, xiu.

A dense barrage of senbon shot from Haori's hands, and he immediately formed hand seals.

"Ninja Art: Senbon Rain!"

If Shiranui Genma were here, the senbon in his mouth would likely have dropped to the ground, as this was his signature move!

In an instant, the already dense senbon became like a violent storm, covering everyone in front of him.

"Bastard, Earth Style: Earth Wall!"

Sumashi knew he had no chance to explain, so he immediately released his ninjutsu, hoping to save more people.

The damage from the senbon wasn't fatal, but Sumashi had already determined that this Haori brat was a cold-hearted person.

His method of framing others was exceptionally professional; heaven knows if such a person would coat his senbon in poison!

"Isn't it a bit late to be thinking about saving people now?"

Just as the earth wall rose, Haori's voice came again.

At the same time, a blue light flickered in the sky, followed by the crackling sound of electric arcs permeating the air!

"Lightning Style: Swift!"

"Oh no, it's Lightning Style!"

Sumashi's face turned incredibly ugly; the suppression of Earth Style by Lightning Style was immense.

"Scatter, quickly!"

Sumashi shouted again, leaping to the side first, while the remaining ninjas, as long as they could still breathe, scrambled to crawl away as fast as they could.

The electrified senbon pierced through the earth wall, simultaneously clearing a path, which was exactly what Haori had intended.

He leaped backward quickly, but aimed his hands at the warehouse and formed seals once more.

Before long, a massive fireball, three meters in height, was unleashed by him.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

"No!"

Sumashi roared, but he was powerless to stop it; he could only watch helplessly as the fireball plunged into the warehouse.

In an instant, everyone felt a surge of power gathering.

The next second, a violent roar accompanied by flames shooting into the sky pierced the heavens.

New book, please add to your library and keep reading, I'm begging you all! Onz