Encountering an Iwagakure Elite Squad and Unhesitatingly Selling Out Teammates

Violent wind pressure rushed toward him, causing the ANBU mask on Baishi's face to vibrate intensely, its edges emitting a faint clicking sound.

The massive stone spear, condensed from high-density rock, magnified rapidly in Baishi's pupils. The tip of the spear whistled as it tore through the air, a sound that made one's scalp tingle. The rough texture of the rock shaft even retained the dim yellow shimmer of Earth Style chakra.

The Underworld Swamp's viscous, icy mud clung tightly to his knees, as if countless ghostly hands were desperately dragging him underground. The heavy sensation of the earth-attribute chakra pressed down on his chest, making it difficult to breathe, and even his inhalations carried a pungent, earthy stench.

He couldn't dodge it.

From the perspective of a standard genin or even a chunin, being bound by the legs and facing such a heavy ninjutsu was an absolute death trap.

But Baishi was no genin.

Beneath the mask, his calm eyes stared fixedly at the trajectory of the stone spear. The max-level Lightning Release chakra within his body was compressed to the limit in an instant, transforming into thousands of microscopic electrical currents that ruthlessly pierced back into the meridians of his own legs.

The excruciating pain of tearing meridians spread throughout his body, and his muscles trembled violently from the extreme stimulation.

Borrowing this violent force, Baishi's legs erupted with power that surpassed the limits of his flesh, forcing a half-inch shift within the mire.

Puchi!

The stone spear grazed his left shoulder and slammed into the rock wall behind him, the immense piercing force blasting a deep crater into the stone layer. Shrapnel flew in all directions like bullets, tearing through Baishi's black trench coat and drawing a trail of blinding blood.

"Argh—!"

Baishi let out a shrill, miserable scream, his body falling backward as he collapsed heavily into the muddy ground. He clutched his bleeding shoulder tightly, his voice beneath the mask filled with hysterical panic and despair.

He tilted his head back with extreme difficulty, his gaze piercing through the gray miasma to look at the towering, dark red boulder a hundred meters away: "Captain! Captain Venom Fang! Save me—the intel was wrong, there aren't just three people here, save me!"

Above the giant rock, the cold river wind whipped Venom Fang's gray trench coat.

Looking down from his vantage point at the bottom of the canyon, watching Baishi struggle in the swamp like a dying dog, a flash of extreme, cruel pleasure crossed the single eye visible beneath Venom Fang's mask.

Save you?

Venom Fang sneered in his heart. From the moment you, this cannon fodder, were assigned to the squad, your name was already written on the death list. Danzo's plan could not afford a single mistake; your only value was to use your life to pin the attention of Iwagakure firmly in this canyon.

Instead of drawing his ninja blade, Venom Fang decisively clasped his hands together in front of his chest, his ten fingers dancing to create a series of afterimages.

Tiger-Snake-Dog-Dragon!

"Earth Style: Earth-Splitting Palm!"

Rumble—!

The rock walls on both sides of the canyon suddenly shook violently, and immediately after, the narrow path behind Baishi collapsed with a roar. Hundreds of tons of boulders mixed with mud poured down, instantly cutting off the canyon completely and kicking up a choking cloud of dust.

The retreat was completely sealed.

"The bait has taken the hook; the Iwagakure forces are pinned down." Venom Fang turned his head coldly and gave a tactical signal to "Wild Boar," the ANBU hidden beside him. "Let's go. Head to Point C to rendezvous with Wildcat and execute the real mission: cutting off Namikaze Minato's retreat."

Without any hesitation.

Without any mercy.

Two black shadows vanished like arrows released from a bow, disappearing deep into the dense Redwood Forest, leaving Baishi behind like a pile of mud-covered trash, abandoned in this dead zone.

"Hahahaha!"

At the bottom of the canyon, the Iwagakure jonin's rough, wild laughter pierced through the flying dust.

His massive frame stepped through the swamp, his heavy boots crunching on the gravel with a suffocating, crushing sound. Every step carried the heavy, oppressive weight of Earth Style chakra.

"Konoha rat, do you see it now? This is the Will of Fire you are so proud of!" The Iwagakure jonin stopped ten meters away from Baishi, his eyes filled with condescending mockery. "How does it feel to be discarded by your comrades as a pawn?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a dense rustling sound suddenly emerged from the gray miasma all around.

Immediately after, five figures slid down from the rock walls on both sides like ghosts, landing steadily on the edge of the swamp.

All wore the deep red uniform of Iwagakure, all wore cold forehead protectors. Each of them carried the heavy scent of blood and gunpowder, clearly machines of slaughter that had long walked on the edge of life and death.

Including the two chunin who had been injured by the explosion and were now gritting their teeth to bandage their wounds, there were eight Iwagakure elites in total!

The intel Venom Fang provided wasn't about "scouting enemy spies" at all; this was clearly a secret transit station for Iwagakure hidden on the border of the Land of Fire!

"Captain, this kid's explosive tag trap earlier was a bit strange. Should we just finish him off?" A newly arrived Iwagakure chunin drew a kunai, his gaze cold as he stared at Baishi, who was collapsed in the swamp.

"Don't be in a hurry." The Iwagakure jonin raised his hand, his thick finger joints cracking. "The brains of Konoha ANBU often hide many good things. Break his limbs and take him back to the interrogation unit. I want him to know that sometimes, death is a luxury."

Eight malicious gazes, like eight sharp blades, locked firmly onto the prey on the ground.

In the swamp, the air seemed to freeze.

Baishi curled his body, blood from his shoulder dripping through his fingers into the mud, blooming into a glaring dark red. He kept his head lowered, his messy hair covering the pale mask, his body trembling slightly from "fear."

From the perspective of the Iwagakure, this Konoha cannon fodder, abandoned ruthlessly by his comrades and trapped in a desperate situation, had suffered a complete psychological collapse.

But what they couldn't see was...

Beneath the mask, Baishi's eyes, which should have been filled with despair, were now as dead and cold as an abyss.

"Finally... they're all gone."

Baishi let out a slow, heavy breath in his heart, his tense nerves finally relaxing at this moment.

Venom Fang's surveillance was like a thorn stuck in his throat, preventing him from ever using his true trump cards. All his clumsiness, all his screaming, and even taking the shoulder wound were just to finish the performance and let Venom Fang leave with peace of mind.

As long as the Konoha people were around, he would always be a low-level cannon fodder who had to hide his strength.

Now, the audience had left.

It was time for the roles of hunter and prey to be reversed.

"Hey, brat, stop playing dead. Stretch out your hands and feet, and I might give you a quick death." The Iwagakure chunin sneered as he stepped forward, the kunai in his hand glinting with a cold light.

Baishi ignored him.

With agonizing slowness, he uncurled his right hand, finger by finger, from the "wound" he had been clutching tightly on his left shoulder.

As his palm fully opened, the approaching Iwagakure chunin's pupils contracted sharply, and his feet froze in place.

In the center of his palm, there was no sign of warm blood at all.

There was only a shattered fragment of a substitution log, and an Explosive Tag soaked in blood, its cinnabar markings flickering frantically!

"What?!"

Ten meters away, the Iwagakure jonin also sensed the violent fluctuation of chakra, and an intense, primal sense of impending death pierced his nerves.

"Retreat—!"

At the very same instant the Iwagakure jonin roared, Baishi snapped his head up, and within his eyes beneath the mask, azure lightning erupted with a deafening boom!