Fleeing for One's Life

There is a difference even between elite jonin and elite jonin.

The pressure Karura brought to bear on Mo Jingxian was far less than that of Kushimaru Kuriarare and Raiga Kurosuki.

Perhaps it was the difference between a taijutsu-specialist jonin and a ninjutsu-specialist jonin.

Mo Jingxian had more room to maneuver when dealing with Karura; her taijutsu was not particularly brilliant, though she used her sand ninjutsu with divine mastery.

The Water Flood Dragon surged upward, carrying him off the ground and straight into the sky.

Countless bolts of lightning followed closely behind, looking from afar like a flood dragon undergoing its heavenly tribulation.

Wild sand, the flood dragon, and lightning—the two of them created a dazzling spectacle, a scene reminiscent of the apocalypse.

His tenacity once again exceeded Karura's expectations; she had not imagined that even this would fail to take him down.

Karura finally realized that she had encountered a genius, perhaps another ninja of Sannin caliber in the making.

Thinking of this, Karura's gaze intensified, her killing intent no longer concealed.

Her ten fingers flew, weaving eighteen seals in three seconds; the ninjutsu she was about to unleash was clearly no trivial matter.

Suddenly, The whistling sound of a sharp weapon slicing through the air rang in her ears.

When?

Karura had completely failed to notice how Mo Jingxian had managed to sneak up behind her.

The seal-weaving was not yet finished, and forcing an interruption to her ninjutsu caused the chakra within her body to churn chaotically.

A jonin is a jonin, however; at the critical moment, she leaned back and dodged her opponent's lethal strike.

The blade grazed the tip of her nose, and she could even clearly see the wind-attribute chakra dancing along the edge, a scent of blood rushing straight into her nostrils.

She retreated rapidly.

Karura looked up and met Mo Jingxian's eyes, which contained neither joy nor anger.

His pupils were very dark and exceptionally bright, as if the night sky were hidden within them.

"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

Thanks to the two illusions Minato had given him, they had now become Mo Jingxian's trump cards for turning the tide.

Although he had traded away his Sharingan, the Uchiha bloodline remained, and learning illusions had gone quite smoothly.

He finally understood what it felt like to be a genius; he had mastered both illusions in less than ten days.

After learning the illusions, he could even perceive the ocular power dormant in his eyes, as if something were gestating within.

Karura had made two fatal mistakes.

Underestimating the enemy and a lack of intelligence.

In the Ninja World, it was not uncommon for jonin to be killed by the underhanded tactics of a chunin.

Mo Jingxian's short blade, Scorching Vacuum Blade, arrived on the wind.

He seized this fleeting opportunity, the short blade slashing down toward her chest.

It was not that Mo Jingxian was lecherous, but he was only nine years old, and his body had not yet fully developed.

This angle was simply the optimal point for generating force.

The blade slashed vertically between the two peaks, drawing out a few droplets of blood.

Wrong!

The sensation transmitted from the blade did not feel like it had struck a flesh-and-blood body.

Karura's chest shattered like porcelain, falling away in pieces.

The moment the blade touched her, she had broken free from the illusion and used a sand substitute to escape the lethal blow.

But she was still a fraction of a second too slow; the cut on her chest oozed bright red blood, and her pain receptors were attacking her brain frantically.

With lingering fear, she looked up to see a blurred figure in the distance, nearly vanishing from her line of sight.

Strike once and flee a thousand miles.

Mo Jingxian's choice was very much that of a ninja; he had no intention of staying to fight to the death.

At this moment, Karura's expression was exceptionally complex—there was relief, annoyance, and, more than anything, a sense of resolve.

"What remarkable combat talent. For the future of Sunagakure, I must ask you to die!"

After briefly dressing her wounds, Karura followed his scent and gave chase once more.

The wind whistled in his ears as Mo Jingxian did not stop, changing direction and sprinting toward the target river.

He silently reviewed the battle in his mind; even after exhausting all his trump cards, he had only managed to lightly wound his opponent.

Sigh, even a subpar elite jonin is not someone I can handle.

Mo Jingxian felt not a shred of guilt for having wrecked the cafeteria of the future Fifth Kazekage.

Seeing the sheer determination Karura had to kill him, Mo Jingxian felt he had been a bit too lenient with his previous strike.

If he had just slashed horizontally with that final blade, it would have been perfect!

Thinking this to himself, Mo Jingxian accelerated his pace of flight once more.

The two of them, one chasing and one fleeing, arrived at the second day in the blink of an eye.

"Damn it, there's no need to bully people like this!"

Mo Jingxian cursed bitterly.

What kind of grudge was this? Was it really necessary?

It was just one slash; there was no need to chase him for over a hundred miles.

At this moment, he looked like a refugee beggar.

His clothes were tattered, his once-neat hair was matted into clumps, and his eyes were bloodshot.

A full day and night, nearly 24 hours of fleeing, was a massive test for both his body and spirit.

Relying on his desperate desire to live, Mo Jingxian had stubbornly persisted.

Even so, he still hadn't shaken off Karura behind him.

He had been caught up to twice more during this time, with the enemy bombarding him from afar with ninjutsu, refusing to get close.

She never gave him another chance to ambush her.

It was only by utilizing the state of the Mist of Vitality and the recovery effects of the water element that he had managed to hold on until now.

Right now, the Mist of Vitality had shrunk to a range of two meters, and his chakra was pitifully low.

Throughout this long sprint, the Military Ration Pill he had prepared in advance had been completely exhausted.

The words "at the end of his rope" flashed into his mind, but he shook his head to cast them away.

No, I cannot die here.

He had no certainty that he could live a third life, so he had to give it his all.

"It is truly beyond my expectations that you have lasted until now. Give up! You know this is just a death struggle, don't you?"

Karura had caught up again, persistent as a ghost.

Mo Jingxian didn't even turn his head, having no intention of wasting energy on this crazy woman.

This madwoman was too obsessive; his Reputation points with her had reached 100, showing just how much she hated him to the bone.

Suddenly, The water elements in his perception began to grow dense.

Mo Jingxian's eyes lit up; that river was not far from here.

In Karura's line of sight, the brat who had clearly been at his limit suddenly seemed to have been injected with adrenaline, his speed increasing by a large margin.

She didn't know the reason, but she could wait no longer.

Deep behind enemy lines, accidents could happen at any moment, so she unleashed her reserved chakra in a sudden burst.

Karura's speed increased again and again, and the distance between them was rapidly closing.

That malicious gaze was locked tightly onto him; Mo Jingxian didn't need to look back to sense that the enemy was catching up.

Faster, just a little faster.

A ground beetle that had just crawled out of its hole was preparing to start a new day of life when a giant foot descended from the sky.

Fortunately, the giant's large foot landed right beside it.

The violent vibration caused it to flip into the air, landing on its back.

A stroke of luck in misfortune, its life was finally saved.

Just as it was kicking its six little legs frantically, preparing to flip back over, another large foot descended.

The ground beetle's world went black.

Crossing over a hillside, Mo Jingxian could already hear the sound of flowing water.

His heart was filled with wild joy; this miserable journey was finally coming to an end.

In the mountain stream not far ahead, a turbulent river cut through the valley, surging toward the east.

Behind him, a ten-meter-high wall of sand came crashing down like a landslide, its momentum no less than a natural disaster.

At the edge of the low cliff by the mountain stream, Mo Jingxian wore a smile as he waved goodbye to Karura, who was stepping on the sand wave.

A winding Water Flood Dragon surged up from the river, swallowed Mo Jingxian in one gulp, and carried him back into the rushing river, disappearing from sight.

Karura was one step too late; when she reached the cliff edge, there was no longer any shadow of Mo Jingxian.

A mound of earth rose from the ground.

Her summon, the Sand Scorpion, crawled out, searched the bank once, and finally could only let out anxious "chi-chi" cries toward the river water.

"The scent has vanished, hasn't it?"

Sand Scorpion could not answer, but his volatile emotions made everything clear.

"He still managed to escape; I wonder what the future holds..."

Further words were useless. Karura searched along the river for a long time, eventually forced to accept the reality of the situation.

The Konoha frontline base was situated atop a mountain ridge, stretching for several miles like a giant beast blocking the path of the advancing Sand Ninja.

The camp walls were 20 meters high and five meters wide, with anti-cavalry stakes standing outside, their sharp points piercing the sky.

The base was structured in a ring; the outermost perimeter consisted of patrolling walkways, followed inward by barracks, tool sheds, medical stations, and the command center.

When the war first began, the Sand Ninja had advanced like a hot knife through butter, capturing a significant amount of territory.

Gradually, Orochimaru stabilized the situation. After several failed frontal assaults, the Sand Ninja gained little advantage, and the two sides fell into a stalemate.

Outside the main gate of the Konoha camp, several squads of ninjas took turns standing guard, while dozens of smaller teams patrolled the further perimeter.

A figure moved stealthily through the mountain forest, an arm wrapped with a Konoha forehead protector.

"Halt! Who goes there?"

A standard ninja squad surrounded the newcomer, their vigilance not diminished by his Konoha attire.

The person was none other than Mo Jingxian, who had successfully escaped Karura's pursuit.

After shaking off his pursuers, it had taken him three more days to finally locate the frontline base.

"Konoha Fifth Transport Team escorting Genin Mo Jingxian. This is my mission scroll; I have vital intelligence that requires an audience with Commander Orochimaru."

The squad leader took the scroll.

After a careful inspection, the ninjas put away their weapons, finding everything in order.

"Follow me."

Mo Jingxian followed the squad back to the main camp, enduring two more interrogations along the way before finally being let inside.

He was placed in an isolated tent, surrounded by a barren, empty space as if it were a specially designated area.

The mission scroll had been reported, the patrol squad had withdrawn, and he was left there all alone.

The hardships of his journey back to the base went without saying; exhausted and famished, Mo Jingxian took the opportunity to rest for a while.

The wait lasted several hours until the sun began to dip in the west, when a messenger ninja arrived at the entrance.

"Come with me."

Mo Jingxian followed him, winding through various paths toward the central command center.

As he walked, he took the chance to observe the camp; rows of green tents stood side by side, and the ninjas passing by wore expressions of normalcy.

It seemed different from what he had imagined.

Ten minutes later, he was led to the front of the command tent and stood obediently at the entrance to wait.

The person who had gone in to report soon emerged, giving him a once-over.

"You may enter."

Mo Jingxian nodded and stepped into the command tent.

The interior of the command tent was sparsely furnished, with a main desk facing the entrance and two rows of tables and chairs on either side.

Orochimaru sat behind the main desk, a simple map spread out before him, staring at the newly arrived Mo Jingxian with keen interest.

Sitting below the main desk was a man with a pineapple-shaped hairstyle—none other than Shikaku Nara.

"Konoha Genin Mo Jingxian greets Commander Orochimaru and Lord Shikaku."

"So, you are Mo Jingxian?"

Orochimaru spoke, his voice slightly raspy.

"I am."

After entering, Mo Jingxian stole a glance at Orochimaru before quickly answering honestly.

Orochimaru was not quite what he had imagined; he did not give off a cold or sinister vibe, but rather possessed the commanding presence of a formidable expert.

His skin was slightly pale, his long hair draped casually behind him, and his vertical pupils were enough to strike awe into anyone.

Just as Mo Jingxian was secretly evaluating him, Orochimaru spoke again:

"You said you had vital intelligence that needed to be reported urgently?"