Battle with the Sand Shinobi

The next day, Su Zheng's squad and Akai Squad set out. All supplies were stored in scrolls and placed on the carriages.

Akai Squad was a Chunin squad, consisting of three Chunin. Their leader, Akai Ueyama, was a robust man whose facial burn scars indicated extensive combat experience.

When the two teams met and started on their way, although Akai Ueyama wore a smile, Su Zheng could still see the contempt deep within his eyes. Perhaps he felt that three Genin were not worthy of undertaking missions alongside them.

Su Zheng didn't mind. Ever since he'd transmigrated, he'd felt the scorn of the outside world more than once. In the eyes of others, as Hanzo's nephew, the title of "genius" was questionable!

There was silence along the way. The weather was clear when they departed that day, so the road was not difficult to travel. If nothing unexpected happened, they should reach the front-line camp by noon.

As they traveled, the further they went, the more obvious the traces of war became. There were more and more refugees on the road, most of them with their families, heading towards the heart of the Land of Rain. Upon seeing the ninja headbands, the refugees tried to avoid them as if they were plague!

This was war! The deepest suffering always affected ordinary people first. Su Zheng secretly vowed to change all of this!

As they approached Yūbu Town, it began to rain lightly for some reason. Everyone became vigilant. The closer they got to the battlefield, the more dangerous it became, especially with intelligence about enemy ninja sightings, which made them extremely cautious.

In a room in a distant town, three figures gathered before a Jonin dressed in grey.

They were Sand Ninja: one Jonin and three Chunin.

"Lord Zhencun, the items have all been collected and transported."

Another person spoke up, "My lord, the townspeople have fallen under a genjutsu, and the barrier has been set up."

Then, he asked with some confusion, "My lord, why didn't you kill those people? Why keep them alive?"

The Jonin in grey glanced at him and said with a sinister grin, "I've left them a great gift. Only those who narrowly escape death will be believed."

He paused and commanded, "Shun and Saa, deal with those three Genin. Ken and I will handle those three Chunin. Let's finish this quickly!"

"Yes!"

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The transport team entered the town. The town was bustling with people, and the trade was prosperous, showing no signs of war.

This was wrong! There had been refugees on the way. Yūbu Town was only 20 kilometers from the front-line battlefield; how could it be so peaceful!

Su Zheng and Akai were the first to notice. They exchanged glances, only to find their teammates' expressions vacant. It was clear they had fallen under a genjutsu.

The two of them joined forces, held their breath, and formed hand seals together.

Genjutsu Release!

The scene before them shattered, revealing collapsed walls and chaotic streets. No one was within sight, far from the initial peaceful scene.

"Hahaha, I didn't expect you to see through and break our genjutsu so quickly. You're quite something!" Saa licked his kunai, letting out a sinister laugh.

"Enough talk, attack!" The Jonin in grey, seeing that his genjutsu had been seen through, wasted no more words and directly signaled Ken to attack Akai Squad.

"My lord can't wait any longer, so please die!" Shun and Saa then surrounded Su Zheng's squad.

Swish swish swish swish!! A large number of kunai attached with explosive tags shot towards them.

Su Zheng's squad quickly scattered. Rumble rumble rumble rumble!

The smoke from the explosions obscured the squad's vision, and the Sand Ninja took the opportunity to split the battlefield.

The Sand Ninja Shun blocked Su Zheng, separating him from Shota and Maki.

"It seems I can't get to my teammates until I deal with this person. The situation is quite unfavorable for us. They have a Jonin, and Maki isn't skilled in combat. I need to finish this quickly!"

Su Zheng's mind raced. He threw a few shuriken at the opponent, following up with his movements.

Chunin Shun looked at Su Zheng's techniques, a smile brimming on his face. "Just a Genin, tricks to fool kids!"

Clink clink clink!

Chunin Shun blocked the shuriken with his kunai. To Su Zheng's astonishment, he thrust his kunai into Su Zheng's chest first.

But the scene he expected didn't happen. The Su Zheng pierced by the kunai turned into a splash of water and dissipated before Shun's eyes.

"What? Water Clone! Not good!" Just as Chunin Shun reacted to the surprise attack, a sudden change occurred!

"Earth Style: Earth Spear!"

Boom boom boom!!!

Several hard, thick rock spears erupted from where Chunin Shun stood, piercing his body!

Chunin Shun turned his head to look at the approaching Su Zheng with unwillingness, disbelief in his eyes. "How is this possible! You, a Genin, are this strong!"

"If you have to blame someone, blame yourself for being too careless. Goodbye!"

Su Zheng curled his lips and finished him off with a kunai thrust into his chest.

This was Su Zheng's first kill. He felt no fear. In this cruel ninja world, blood should be the norm, right? Before the plan began, Su Zheng had already prepared himself for blood-stained hands!

He shook his head and ran towards Shota.

"Hahaha, you two are quite a match! The man has feelings, and the woman reciprocates!"

"It's a shame he can't protect you! Why don't you come with me? Maybe I'll let you live." As he spoke, Chunin Saa lewdly licked his tongue.

"You're shameless!" Maki said, protectively shielding Shota with some anxiety.

It had only been three minutes. The opponent was only using ninjutsu and shuriken, attacking like a cat playing with a mouse, constantly striking and inflicting damage on them.

The opponents didn't give them a chance for close-quarters combat. Whenever they got close, they would immediately create distance, and the two's ninjutsu attacks had too long of a wind-up, making them easy to interrupt. Naturally, they kept falling into a disadvantage!

Shota was in a very weak state, with multiple wounds on his body. Although none were fatal, continuous bleeding like this could still be life-threatening.

Maki had brought a medical kit, but in this situation, the opponent wouldn't give her any opportunity to treat him.

"Have you decided? I'm going to..." Chunin Saa hadn't finished speaking when he saw a figure within his line of sight.

It was Chunin Shun.

"Impossible! A Zheng can't be defeated!" Maki couldn't quite believe it.

Saa's face lit up with excitement. "What? I wanted to play a bit longer. Then, die!" He formed hand seals.

But at this moment, several kunai flew towards Saa.

Clang, clang, clang!

Saa blocked three kunai, but before he could even see what was happening.

Poof! A kunai pierced through his chest.

Body Flicker Technique!

Saa looked at Chunin Shun in shock, his unfocused pupils reflecting Su Zheng's appearance!

"A Zheng." It was Su Zheng. Maki's worried heart immediately relaxed. She opened a scroll, took out the medical kit, and first stopped Shota's bleeding.

Su Zheng walked over, looking at Shota's somewhat pale face, and teased, "Are you okay? Let's see if you dare to slack off again."

Shota forced a weak smile. "I won't dare. I'll train properly when we get back."

They didn't exchange words of thanks. Their bond was forged in the face of death; no words were needed!

Su Zheng nodded. Although he had many wounds, none were deep or fatal. He should be fine.

Even though they had dealt with two Chunin, the most troublesome one was still the Jonin. If he wasn't dealt with, everyone would die!

Su Zheng told the two to stay put and went to help the Akai Squad himself.

On the street, scattered supplies and scrolls were everywhere, the result of ninjutsu clashes.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!" Jonin Lord Zhencun and Chunin Ken jointly unleashed a ninjutsu with unparalleled momentum, attacking the Akai Squad.

The water covering the ground began to gather, forming a ferocious water dragon that roared and charged at the Akai Squad.

The three of the Akai Squad had no choice but to form hand seals together and use the defensive ninjutsu "Water Style: Water Formation Wall." However, compared to the several-zhang-long water dragon, their water formation wall was too small.

Boom!

The water dragon directly broke through the water formation wall and struck the three, sending the Akai Squad flying!

Their already insufficient chakra was pushed to the brink of exhaustion. After barely blocking the impact, they suddenly saw Zhencun and Ken Shun appear!

At the critical moment, a voice rang out: "Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A sky-blue water dragon charged straight ahead, colliding directly with the two.

This level of technique couldn't harm them, but it was enough to delay them.

The two struggled to break free from the water flow, only to suddenly find themselves sinking into a constantly deepening mud swamp.

"Earth Style: Mud Wall!"

Seeing the mud swamp getting deeper and deeper, Jonin Zhencun used Ken beside him as a stepping stone, jumping out of the mud swamp's range before he was completely submerged.

As soon as he landed, Zhencun felt a bone-chilling sharpness at his back. At this moment, a hand wrapped in Chidori stabbed towards Zhencun's back.

Splat! Blood splattered. Zhencun's figure appeared more than ten meters away, with a gruesome wound under his armpit that hadn't penetrated.

In that critical moment, Zhencun's body reflexively shifted to the left and he used Body Flicker Technique to teleport more than ten meters away.

Zhencun took a deep look at Su Zheng. He understood how Su Zheng had used Water Style from their direct forward path, followed by Earth Style to restrict his movement, and finally hid his main body at the rear to use Lightning Style for a fatal blow.

It was a perfectly coordinated sequence, deliberately attacking when he was caught off guard. He had anticipated that Zhencun would be able to dodge and calculated the precise landing spot for the next move. Truly a genius!

Zhencun clutched his wound and used Body Flicker Technique, his figure disappearing into the rain