Dance of the Seedling Fern!

Just as Jiraiya had said, there were quite a few attacks along the border; by the time they reached the Land of Grass, the squad had already endured three waves of assaults.

However, bounty hunters were of no use against an elite squad like theirs; essentially, they died as quickly as they appeared.

"These bounty hunters really don't value their lives, daring to get involved in the wars between great nations."

Sarutobi Jun'suke, walking at the rear of the formation, brought it up.

"It's precisely because they value money over their lives that they are bounty hunters. In the eyes of the great nations, these people are just cannon fodder. During the friction stages of a war, every major ninja village hires bounty hunters to annoy the other villages along the border."

"By the way, you must be careful of more than just them; keep an eye out for people from the Land of Grass and Iwagakure. Small nations like the Land of Grass are fickle fence-sitters, and Iwagakure goes without saying."

Jiraiya walked in the lead, reminding the three of them while remaining vigilant of their surroundings.

Under Jiraiya's guidance, the squad used the Transformation Technique to change their appearances and arrived at the gates of a small town. After passing the guards' inspection, the squad successfully entered.

Once inside, Jiraiya led the squad to an izakaya and sat in a corner. About an hour later, a bald man walked over.

Jiraiya exchanged a glance with the man, and after making a few subtle hand gestures, they seemed to have confirmed the signal.

"There are too many people here to act conveniently. I'm going to retrieve something with him; you three must remain vigilant at all times."

With that, Jiraiya stood up and left with the bald man.

"From here on out, we just have to wait, right? This mission is actually quite easy~"

Sarutobi Jun'suke laughed happily.

"That's because we have a powerhouse leading us. I never had it this easy when I did A-rank missions in the past."

Aburame Takuma took a sip of hot water and responded calmly.

However, he frowned the next second and turned his head to look at a passerby who had just walked past them.

While he was still just looking, Akiyama Shun's reaction was much more direct. Having completed so many solo missions, he could judge the situation immediately: the passerby from just a moment ago was monitoring them.

Deploying [Haku]

Deploying [Hatake Kakashi (Youth)]

The White Fang Blade left its sheath. Akiyama Shun slashed at the passerby, cutting him in two; blood splattered everywhere.

This scene not only stunned the other diners in the vicinity but also left a bewildered Sarutobi Jun'suke completely dumbfounded.

"Move!"

Even though he was confused, Sarutobi Jun'suke moved immediately upon hearing Akiyama Shun's voice. After spending this time together, he trusted Akiyama Shun implicitly.

The three of them instantly dashed out of the izakaya.

Seeing their targets leave, the few ninjas in the izakaya stopped pretending and gave chase toward Akiyama Shun and the others.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Ball!"

"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave!"

Facing the incoming lightning ball, Akiyama Shun quickly used Wind Release to counter and retaliate.

The Vacuum Wave not only blocked the incoming lightning ball but also managed to knock back one of the pursuing ninjas.

"Stop, we're surrounded."

Aburame Takuma stood on a tree branch and spoke up.

Akiyama Shun and Sarutobi Jun'suke landed beside him.

"So, how exactly were we discovered?"

At this moment, Sarutobi Jun'suke was still completely baffled.

"If I'm not mistaken, our mole was exposed, and the enemy is using the mole to fish for us."

Akiyama Shun stated his deduction, and Aburame Takuma nodded, agreeing with his assessment.

"What? Then isn't Lord Jiraiya in danger? He's all by himself right now!"

Akiyama Shun and Aburame Takuma: "..."

Sighing, Akiyama Shun asked, "Are you saying that this group of people could pose a threat to Lord Jiraiya?"

"Oh, oh right." Sarutobi Jun'suke seemed to realize something suddenly and scratched his head in embarrassment.

"Do the people of Konoha still have the mood to chat at a time like this?"

A voice drifted over from the distance, drawing the attention of the three.

"Iwagakure ninjas, two squads of them, plus some bounty hunters."

Aburame Takuma saw the forehead protectors they were wearing and felt the pressure mounting. The lead ninjas of the five great ninja villages were at least at the Jonin level.

And here, the highest-ranking among them was only himself, a Special Jonin.

"We have to drag this out as long as possible until Lord Jiraiya comes to support us."

This was the best solution Aburame Takuma could think of.

Determining that the numbers were too high, Akiyama Shun decisively deployed [Haku].

"Secret Technique: Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals!"

As the ninjutsu was released, ice mirrors appeared one after another, surrounding Akiyama Shun in a circle.

"Ice Release?"

Upon seeing the Ice Release, the Iwagakure jonin was startled for a moment, then broke into a smile, his eyes even glinting with a hint of excitement.

"Hahahaha! I didn't expect this; I've caught a big fish. Your name is Akiyama Shun, right?"

Akiyama Shun did not answer him, instead slipping into one of the ice mirrors.

The next moment, Akiyama Shun appeared beside the Iwagakure jonin, firing ice needles, though the opponent managed to dodge them.

"Kid, do you really take me for one of your Chunin Exams opponents? You still want to use these little tricks to attack me?"

The Iwagakure jonin laughed, but a second later, a cry of pain came from beside him. He turned his head to see that one of his team members had been taken out by Akiyama Shun, and he caught the look in Akiyama Shun's eyes before he slipped back into a mirror—a gaze that looked at him as if he were an idiot.

"..."

The Iwagakure jonin was enraged.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow!"

As the Iwagakure jonin slammed his palm against the ground, the entire earth began to tremble, the ground shattering into countless fine grains of sand that surged toward Akiyama Shun like a tidal wave.

Some of the ice mirrors near the ground were shattered by this landslide.

Akiyama Shun shifted to a higher ice mirror, and Chidori instantly pierced through an Iwagakure chunin.

"This kid... smash the mirrors! This kid relies on the mirrors for rapid movement; once the mirrors are shattered, he won't be able to move. The mirrors are fragile!"

The Iwagakure jonin realized the principle behind Akiyama Shun's mirrors and hurriedly warned the other ninjas nearby, while simultaneously throwing an "Earth Release: Rock Stealing Staff" at Akiyama Shun.

However, after dodging the attack, Akiyama Shun still ignored him. It wasn't that he couldn't win, but there was no need to fight him now; Akiyama Shun intended to clear out the others first before focusing on the jonin.

While the battle raged on Akiyama Shun's side, Aburame Takuma and Sarutobi Jun'suke were entangled with another jonin from Iwagakure.

"Wait a minute, aren't there more and more enemies?"

Sarutobi Jun'suke clutched the wound on his chest and swallowed hard.

"Indeed, there are more and more. Iwagakure really did hire quite a few bounty hunters. We can only hope Lord Jiraiya arrives to support us soon."

After Aburame Takuma finished speaking, he looked at Akiyama Shun with a complex expression. He truly hadn't expected Akiyama Shun's combat power to be this strong!

Up to this point, Akiyama Shun alone had taken out over a dozen of the enemy's ninjas and had even successfully kept an Iwagakure jonin occupied.

Wait!

Aburame Takuma's pupils contracted as if he had seen something incredible, his eyes fixed tightly on Akiyama Shun.

What was he seeing?

What were those white things on Akiyama Shun's body? Bones?

What was this?

A Kekkei Genkai?

Aburame Takuma had heard that the Kaguya Clan of Kirigakure possessed a legendary Kekkei Genkai known as the Shikotsumyaku, but the Kaguya Clan, like the Yuki Clan, had already been wiped out!

Why did Akiyama Shun possess both Ice Release and the Shikotsumyaku?

Under Aburame Takuma's gaze, Akiyama Shun sighed.

He really didn't want to use the Cursed Seal; the burden it placed on the body was too great. In the original story, it had literally killed Kimimaro. Akiyama Shun cherished his own body, but it seemed there was no other way now.

There were too many enemies; he could no longer clear them out one by one.

He needed a large-scale technique to wipe them all out in one go!

Cursed Seal Second State!

"Dance of the Seedling Fern!"