This Was the Shadow Clone Technique's Victory

Kawaki Aoba was speechless. He was only a Shadow Clone Technique sent over by his original body, but seeing his teammates so decisively leave him behind to delay the enemy's pursuit made him feel as though they did not consider him human at all.

Next, he intended to vent all his anger on this Sunagakure ninja.

Way of Destruction No. 4: White Lightning!

He could not hit an uninjured Jonin, but surely he could handle a severely wounded Jonin, right?

Did they remember how those two Hyuga Clan Chunin had been worn down to death?

Although he was only a Shadow Clone Technique, apart from shattering after a single strike and possessing only half of the original body's Chakra, he could still display the original body's full strength in its normal state.

Before his Chakra ran out, replicating a battle of attrition should not be a problem.

Kawaki Aoba met the Sunagakure ninja charging toward him.

Huh? With his kidney pulverized, the other party could still dodge White Lightning's attack. It seemed this would be a tough battle.

The two drew close. The Kunai sliced through the air and skimmed past Kawaki Aoba's neck.

With a bang, the Shadow Clone Technique exploded into a vast cloud of white smoke.

In the distance, the corner of Kawaki Keiba's mouth twitched. Damn, was this his true strength without cheating? Was he really that pathetic?

The Sunagakure ninja who had just killed Kawaki Aoba's Shadow Clone Technique had the same thought.

Was this brat really the same person as the one from earlier? How could he be as weak as a Genin? He was gone in one move, without even getting to use the Ninjutsu he had secretly prepared.

Whatever. There was no time to worry about that. He should hurry and capture one of the brats as a hostage.

He pressed one hand against the bloody hole in his waist and flung the Kunai in his other hand. Its target was one of the brats' thighs.

In his current condition, he truly was unsuited for unleashing violent movements in succession. He would genuinely start spurting blood.

After throwing the Kunai, the Sunagakure ninja reached into his ninja pouch for a Shuriken.

However, just as his fingertips touched the Shuriken, his movements froze.

What had he seen?

After the Kunai successfully struck its target, one of the two brats had also exploded into a large cloud of smoke.

Another Shadow Clone Technique. Was Konoha really that amazing? Could just any brat learn such an advanced Ninjutsu?

Two of the three brats were Shadow Clone Techniques. Then the last one...

The last one was Asuma. After seeing Yuhi Kurenai explode beside him with his own eyes, he ran even faster. Most absurdly, he had even intuitively mastered serpentine movement.

But after running for a while, Asuma glanced back. Huh? Why had that guy not caught up?

Asuma gradually slowed down and finally stopped. He locked eyes with the Sunagakure ninja, and for a moment, the world fell utterly silent.

No one knew what Asuma was thinking. After standing there blankly for a moment, he inexplicably turned around and walked back.

He charged toward the Elite Jonin who had lost all his puppets and was himself severely wounded.

Asuma formed Hand Seals before his chest. Like Kawaki Aoba before him, he wanted to use this guy to gauge his own strength.

Whoosh, whoosh...

Two Shuriken were thrown by the Sunagakure ninja and flew straight at him. Asuma was completely fearless. What were two mere Shuriken? Back when he was at the Ninja Academy, not a single Shuriken had been able to hit him. So what if they had been thrown by an Elite Jonin?

They were all the same before him. After all, he was Asu—

Bang!

The two Shuriken were simply too fast. Asuma failed to dodge even one of them and exploded into a large cloud of white smoke after being struck.

Across from him, the Sunagakure ninja took a deep breath. Although he knew it was impossible, he had still held on to the slightest bit of hope after throwing the Shuriken. But now... he no longer had even the slightest thought of turning the tables.

"Konoha Ninja, you really don't consider me human at all." The Sunagakure ninja turned to look behind him, his expression becoming exceptionally calm.

Sure enough, behind him, Yuhi Shinku had already dealt with his last two puppets. The three detestable brats from before had also appeared beside him. He simply did not know whether they were still Shadow Clone Techniques.

Shadow Clone Technique, Shadow Clone Technique. Today, he had truly been defeated by the Shadow Clone Technique.

Everyone in this group was sick. From the Jonin leading them to the female ninja who looked the weakest, every single one of them had a Shadow Clone Technique.

If he remembered correctly, Konoha's Shadow Clone Technique divided the original body's Chakra evenly, did it not? Could these people really have such an abundance of Chakra?

At this point, he knew he could no longer escape. Therefore, even if he had to die, he would die openly and honorably as a Sunagakure ninja.

"You despicable and shameless Konoha Ninja, I admit that I lost this time. But don't get smug. Our Sunagakure comrades will avenge me on the battlefield sooner or later. When that time comes, you so-called geniuses will definitely die on the cruel battlefield."

He said all this only because he wanted to preserve some dignity in death. After all, losing this way was at least somewhat more dignified.

As his opponent, Yuhi Shinku felt rather emotional as he looked at the man's bedraggled state.

This was an Elite Jonin. No matter which ninja village he came from, he was among the highest-ranking figures. When major matters arose in his village, he might even have voting rights. Yet now, he was in such a miserable state.

First, one of his teammates had been killed by his own clone.

Then he had been ambushed by an Explosive Tag trap, crippling his primary combat strength.

Then he had been ambushed by his own disciple hidden in the shadows, losing his last two teammates.

In the end, he had once again been caught off guard by his most outstanding disciple, who had crippled one of his kidneys and severely wounded him.

Finally, he had been toyed with by those three little fellows.

As for how an Elite Jonin had been played into ruin, Yuhi Shinku could not help but recall the process, his eyelids twitching violently.

He glanced sideways at Kawaki Aoba beside him. This was the true culprit.

If Kawaki Aoba had not detected the other party's presence from seven kilometers away with Sensory Ninjutsu, he would not have had so much time to prepare.

Moreover, the speed Aoba had displayed earlier and the Taijutsu he had used had given him quite a shock.

Especially at the end. Before that boy ran away, Yuhi Shinku's heart had practically risen to his throat. Fortunately, the boy had run fast enough—and had even severely wounded that man.

This really was... wonderful.

At present, Yuhi Shinku was no longer thinking about how to kill the Sunagakure ninja before him. Instead, he was wondering whether it was possible to capture him alive and take him back.

An Elite Jonin might not hold power in a village, but he could still be considered part of its upper echelon. Sunagakure had caused such a huge disturbance recently, so the man surely knew a great deal.

"Heh, you want to capture me alive? Konoha Ninja, don't get too arrogant." The Sunagakure ninja naturally understood the meaning in Yuhi Shinku's eyes.