Breaking Through

Beneath the sound of sand and stone grinding, several figures quietly converged towards a low-lying area ahead.

The Sand ninja squad leader, Jōnin Shiro, suddenly raised his hand, and the six figures immediately stopped their advance.

Shiro silently calculated the distance between the two sides. 300 meters was about right.

Taking advantage of the night, the Sand ninja stealthily approached.

But Shiro did not rush forward, making a gesture to his subordinates.

Upon receiving the order, the sensory ninja in the squad placed his palm on the ground, sensed for a moment, and then nodded at him.

Shiro was not particularly happy. He knew clearly that the Konoha squad had a ninja from the Hyuuga clan.

The reputation of the Byakugan needed no further explanation; otherwise, he would not have received this mission.

His task was to drive the infiltrating Konoha squad into a designated area.

The Sand ninja higher-ups might have been targeting these Byakugan eyes for a long time, hence the elaborate plan.

As for how to solve the problem of the Caged Bird, that was not his concern.

He had come tonight intending to use a war of attrition to drive them out, exhausting their energy.

Like how the elders in the village trained hawks, he estimated that in three more days, the opponents would collapse on their own.

But it was too quiet now. Could it be that the ninja with the Byakugan had fallen asleep?

Impossible. He dismissed this absurd thought from his mind.

To be cautious, he ordered his subordinates to wait in place while he went ahead to investigate.

He moved slowly, perfectly eliminating the sound each time his foot touched the ground, getting closer and closer to the target.

Gradually, a thick fog began to rise around them.

At first, he paid it no mind; the Gobi Desert often experienced dense fog at night.

Only when the mist started to obscure his vision did he realize, belatedly, that it was too late.

"Not good!"

Shiro immediately blew a whistle.

Four consecutive whistle blasts, like the cry of an eagle, echoed out. Two locations remained completely silent.

"Enemy attack! Rally to me immediately!"

His shout carried far into the empty, silent wilderness.

"Ah—"

Immediately after, a scream was his only response.

"Tenzhi!"

There was no reply.

Shiro quickly pulled out a flare, and a burst of red light bloomed in the darkness.

The brilliant flame dyed the surrounding fog a blood-like color, and the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard not far away.

The enemy made no sound, and the team members dared not make a sound, for fear of being targeted by that demon.

Suddenly!

A rumbling sound came from not far away, followed by another scream.

As a pure Taijutsu master ninja incapable of using ninjutsu, Shiro was helpless against the enemy's sneak attack.

The opponent's targets were clear, specifically picking off his subordinates.

From beginning to end, he had not yet encountered the despicable individual hiding in the shadows.

Two figures rushed out of the thick fog, their steps clearly panicked.

Before Shiro could confirm if they were teammates, one of them was shot dead by a kunai flying out from behind the fog.

Right before his eyes, his teammate's wide-open eyes had not yet closed.

"You're asking for death!"

Shiro seized the fleeting shadow, unleashing the full power of his Jōnin Taijutsu.

He shot out like a cannonball, the mist exploding in his wake.

The enemy was cunning, but he had caught their tail, and this assassination operation would soon be over.

He swore he would tear the enemy to shreds, the pent-up rage churning in his chest like magma.

The corpse that had been lying on the ground suddenly moved, then slowly crept behind the terrified Sand ninja.

Ayako Hyuuga easily succeeded in her sneak attack. The kunai drew a bloody line, claiming the last pursuing Sand ninja.

Thanks to Mo Jingxian's jutsu, it was somewhat similar to the Hidden Mist Technique, but its effects were much more potent.

It not only obscured vision but also affected direction and perception while within the mist.

Otherwise, the two of them would not have reaped five enemies so easily.

The Transformation Technique dissipated, and under the cover of the mist, she hoisted Shinju Ishikawa onto her back and retreated toward the south.

Just as Nara Shikuta had said during their first mission, sometimes wisdom is more useful than raw strength.

Today, she and Mo Jingxian had used their wits to execute a perfect ambush.

Once Mo Jingxian had run a certain distance, he estimated that Ayako Hyuuga should be safe by now.

He suddenly turned back to launch a surprise counterattack, throwing a punch at the Sand Ninja pursuing him.

Ziluo charged over like a tank, facing Mo Jingxian's fist without dodging or evading.

He met the strike head-on with his own arm, colliding directly.

"Bang!"

Mo Jingxian was sent flying backward, the Water Scale Armor covering his right arm shattering on the spot.

Ziluo's strike, fueled by hatred, dealt Mo Jingxian a heavy blow and completely shattered his somewhat arrogant mindset.

Before he could even land, his opponent appeared before his eyes again.

"Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique!"

A flash of light crossed Mo Jingxian's eyes, and he activated the genjutsu the moment their gazes met.

This was a blind spot in intelligence he had intentionally left; ever since he infiltrated, he had never revealed his proficiency in illusions.

Sure enough, his opponent was caught off guard and took the genjutsu head-on.

"Bang!"

Just as a hint of joy emerged in Mo Jingxian, he took another heavy blow to his chest.

The Water Scale Armor shattered like a silver vase, and he was sent flying at an even greater speed.

For a split second, Mo Jingxian was stunned.

He had never expected that Ziluo would be immune to his genjutsu.

One slip-up, and his body had suffered severe damage.

Waves of sharp pain radiated from his chest.

Ziluo's speed had already exceeded the limits of a normal Jonin; before he could land, the figure appeared again.

The fist grew rapidly in his vision, and an air explosion detonated right in front of him.

Mo Jingxian's ears rang, his vision went black, and his body burst into ten thousand lines of water.

The water lines sprayed radially behind him, the result of immense air pressure.

Ten meters away, Mo Jingxian revealed his true form, his heart pounding uncontrollably.

At the critical moment, he had used his life-saving skill: the Water Substitution Technique.

His Water Scale Armor was broken, two of his ribs were fractured, and he had just danced on the edge of a blade twice.

He had never been this close to death before.

The humanoid beast opposite him made him involuntarily think of Might Guy.

The two had too many similarities.

The same violence, the same lack of reason, perfectly demonstrating what it meant for raw power to overcome all techniques.

All of his various methods had failed in the face of such unreasonable strength!

Mo Jingxian finally experienced the taste of being crushed.

Ziluo's combat instincts were extremely sharp; the moment he landed, the man was already right in front of him, his fist striking out once again.

"Boom!"

The air was hammered into nothingness!

He dodged it by the narrowest of margins.

Mo Jingxian dared not hold anything back anymore and immediately went all out to respond.

"Ice Style: Ice Flood Dragon Seal Technique!"

He had converted this jutsu from the Water Dragon Technique, utilizing low temperatures and sealing arts to restrict his opponent's movements.

Currently, it was his strongest crowd-control skill.

This technique incorporated the activation form of sealing arts; during their brief exchange, Mo Jingxian had already left a mark on Ziluo.

This was inspired by the Flying Thunder God formula, allowing him to leave an anchor coordinate for his ninjutsu.

The instant he dodged Ziluo's attack, Mo Jingxian pressed his hands to the ground to unleash this strike.

Sealing runes spilled out like mercury, and his opponent's movements were immediately bound.

But it only lasted for a split second.

He seized the opportunity and took advantage of the momentum to retreat.

A giant maw opened beneath Ziluo's feet.

The next second!

The maw snapped shut, sealing Ziluo within.

Lines of black runes slithered across the surface of the Ice Flood Dragon; it looked like a living creature, refracting the cold moonlight.

The Ice Flood Dragon was beautiful, like a work of art.

Yet, hidden beneath that beauty was a thick, murderous intent.

This technique had nearly drained all of Mo Jingxian's chakra, so for safety's sake, he retreated several dozen meters.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

It sounded like porcelain fracturing, faint at first.

By the time Mo Jingxian had retreated to a safe enough distance, two deep fissures had burst open on the surface of the Ice Flood Dragon.

Seeing that even this technique could not control his enemy, he turned and fled.

In the silent wilderness, the "cracking" sound was like a wild dog crunching on bones.

Even from a great distance, a cold sweat broke out across Mo Jingxian's back.

This was no ninja; it was a monster wearing human skin. Mo Jingxian seriously doubted that tonight's encounter was a ninja incident—it felt more like encountering a supernatural entity.

"Bang!"

The Ice Flood Dragon was forcibly burst open from the inside by Ziluo, the scattered ice shards coating the sand and gravel in a layer of white frost.

Gazing in the direction of Mo Jingxian's departure, a flash of unwillingness crossed Ziluo's eyes.

Suddenly!

Blood surged, Ziluo's face turned a deep purple, and something seemed to be moving beneath his skin.

Across his body, his neck, and finally that thing crawled onto his face, stretching the skin as gas hissed out.

As if he were being deflated, the tall and robust Ziluo shrank and withered.

His back hunched, and a lock of white hair appeared on his forehead.

"Seven Heavens Breathing Method."

This was a body-tempering technique Ziluo had obtained from an ancient text, though unfortunately, the latter half was lost.

During his cultivation, he had slowly completed it based on his own sensations.

The technique was incredibly powerful, increasing his physical attributes exponentially every time he activated it.

But the side effects were equally obvious; after each use, he would fall into a state of weakness, requiring at least half a month of recovery.

It was a technique that overdrawn the body's potential in advance.

Mo Jingxian ran for twenty or thirty kilometers in one breath, only collapsing when he could no longer hold on.

Lying spread-eagled on the ground, staring at the canopy of stars, he suddenly began to chuckle.

The laughter grew louder and louder, eventually turning into a series of dry coughs that forced him to stop.

He was grateful that he had survived once again.

If even a monster like that couldn't kill him, what was there to fear on the road ahead?

He would just have to push through step by step; what else could he do?

Through these few days of combat, he no longer dared to underestimate the heroes of the world, and he had gained a clearer understanding of his own strength.

Ninja combat was all about intelligence; whoever revealed their trump cards first would likely be the one to end up on the ground.

Next time he encountered this Suna ninja, he reckoned he wouldn't be in such a sorry state.

A sharp pain came from his chest, and Mo Jingxian grimaced as he sat up to reset his dislocated sternum.

The Ninja Academy had taught these techniques, so he didn't feel rusty using them.

It was just agonizing.

Sweat soaked his undergarments, and the cold night wind crept in through his collar and cuffs, causing him to shiver uncontrollably.

This sensation was colder than iron.

Hypothermia in the wild could truly cost him his life, so Mo Jingxian didn't dare delay, swallowing two Military Ration Pills to recover his stamina on the spot.

Unknowingly, his breathing rhythm shifted into the "Breathing Method."

He didn't feel it at first, but as his breathing deepened, the injured area on his chest felt as if a small furnace had been ignited.

The pain gradually subsided, and warmth flowed through his entire body.

By sheer coincidence, Mo Jingxian had discovered the correct way to utilize the Breathing Method.