Right? I wonder if those two know the saying about the mantis stalking the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.
Well, it didn't matter. Even if they didn't know it before, they'd soon learn.
A rush of wind whistled into the ears of the two Sunagakure Chunin.
Not good. There are more enemies.
The two Chunin reacted quickly, dodging the trajectory of the incoming hidden weapons.
Turning to glance behind them, they saw what the newly arrived enemy had thrown at them.
It was oval-shaped and about the size of a goose egg. What was it? They'd never seen anything like it.
Was it some new ninja tool developed by Konoha?
That was it? A Kunai would be more useful.
As they spotted the object, they also saw the one who had thrown it: a little kid who still looked wet behind the ears. Was he a Konoha ninja too?
That was the end of the two Chunin's thoughts, because... the Hand Grenade exploded.
After a blast even louder than an Explosive Tag, the shockwave hurled both Sunagakure Chunin away.
Each had more than a dozen bloody holes in their bodies, wounds caused by the Hand Grenade's shrapnel tearing into them.
A Hand Grenade detonating at close range was enough to kill most fragile ninja in the Shinobi World—except for a few who didn't play by the rules.
He had this trump card to use against the enemy only because of the lesson Teacher Shinku had given him earlier that day.
The Explosive Tag trap had cost far more than the reward for this mission, but Teacher Shinku had still gone ahead with it.
When you faced a powerful enemy, what use was a trump card if you were already dead? Were you supposed to leave it behind as a trophy for the enemy?
Those were Teacher Shinku's exact words.
After the Hand Grenade exploded, Kawaki Aoba admitted that losing a trump card to two nobodies stung a little, but killing enemies so easily felt incredible.
Maybe this was the joy of being a sneaky bastard.
Kawaki Aoba couldn't hide his delight after throwing the Hand Grenade. He didn't know if explosions were art, but they sure were fun.
More than ten meters behind him, around another corner, his two friends stood beside Kawaki Aoba's real body, dumbfounded.
That's right. The Kawaki Aoba who had thrown the Hand Grenade was his Shadow Clone Technique.
After all, Hand Grenades had a delay. Getting the timing just right was dangerous, and if he played around with one using his real body, it might explode in his hand. He had no idea whether he could become a Shinigami after death, even if he knew Kido, since he genuinely had no Reiatsu.
Better to play it safe.
Speaking of Reiatsu, wasn't there a Spirit Transformation Technique in the village? He wondered if he could learn it. If he could, then after sacrificing himself, he didn't know what he might be able to get from the Altar.
Figuring out how to get more high-level ninjutsu could wait. Right now, he needed to find a way to deal with the last Sunagakure ninja.
Even after losing four puppets, he'd managed to fight Teacher Shinku evenly. He was definitely an Elite Jonin.
What was that saying? Since you're here, you might as well make yourself at home.
If he dared to come after them, he'd better be prepared to be buried here.
"Damn it, what was that?"
There was no way such an astonishing noise would go unnoticed.
Not just the Sunagakure ninja—even Yuhi Shinku was startled.
Both men turned their attention toward the blast. They were very concerned about what was happening over there.
The explosion had sounded a bit like an Explosive Tag, but wasn't it far too loud? And its power was considerably greater, too.
"Cough, cough. Aoba, is this the one-use ninja tool you said you developed from Explosive Tags? This is way over the top! And weren't the three of us supposed to attack together?" As the smoke cleared, three small figures emerged from the corner.
Konoha ninja? Damn it, this was a rookie squad with kids in it.
The Sunagakure ninja's pupils narrowed. But as anger surged through him, he came up with a clever way to turn the tables.
The ambush had gone this badly; capturing Yuhi Shinku was out of the question. He might not even be able to escape.
But if he could capture the Konoha kids, there might still be a chance to turn things around.
Thinking he could pull off a comeback, the Sunagakure ninja abandoned Yuhi Shinku and charged at Kawaki Aoba and the other two.
Seeing this, Yuhi Shinku hurried to intercept him, but the Sunagakure ninja had anticipated his move. He used two puppets to hold Yuhi Shinku back, even at the risk of having them destroyed.
The Sunagakure ninja was indeed dividing his attention. With most of his focus on Kawaki Aoba and the others, his control over the puppets had clearly weakened. They could still hold Yuhi Shinku off, but it was only a matter of time before he destroyed them completely.
As for Yuhi Shinku, even though he watched an Elite Jonin charge at his three students, he showed no sign of panic.
He even focused on dealing with the two puppets in front of him.
At some point, a Fuma Shuriken had appeared in Yuhi Shinku's hand. Without a word, he began hacking at the two puppets.
The Sunagakure ninja could sense what was happening, but he gritted his teeth and ignored it. Right now, the two ordinary puppets were worth far less to him than the three kids ahead.
But halfway through his charge, the three kids he'd targeted struck back.
Way of Destruction No. 4: White Lightning!
Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!
And... three Shuriken.
Well, in this situation, Yuhi Kurenai's genjutsu really wasn't much use.
"Hmph!" With a disdainful snort, the Sunagakure ninja easily dodged the attacks from the three kids.
Whether it was Asuma's wide-area Great Fireball or Kawaki Aoba's lightning-fast White Lightning, both missed completely.
That was only natural. Even if most of a puppeteer's strength came from the quality of his puppets, a Jonin was still a Jonin. Even without relying on puppets, he was far stronger than a Chunin—let alone an Elite Jonin.
To an Elite Jonin, the White Lightning that had let Kawaki Aoba toy with two Hyuga Chunin in Konoha was merely a convenient, low-level jutsu.
Crack!
A red glow shone from the Chakra Core, now split by a crack. The hand holding it trembled slightly, revealing that its owner was far from calm.
The young man with short crimson hair glared at the Chakra Core in his hand. It had been his most successful attempt, but outside interference had caused it to fail once more. His eyes blazed with fury.
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