Crisis, An Unavoidable Powerful Enemy

"Dodge, quickly!"

The leading Mist chunin barked a sharp command, leaping out of the gray mist in a flash, while the remaining Mist ninja scrambled to scatter in all directions.

Crack.

Asuma gritted his teeth hard, sparks flying as the high-temperature ash was instantly ignited, turning into a vast sea of fire in an instant.

"Burn!" Asuma shouted with a dramatic flair.

"Arghhh!"

One unlucky Mist ninja failed to leap clear of the gray mist's range and was swallowed by the explosive flames, screaming as he was burned to a crisp.

This was the only Fire Style in the ninja world capable of burning people to death—Ash Pile Burning.

"Gentle Fist: Double!"

Just as one Mist ninja was celebrating his narrow escape, a massive force suddenly struck from behind, piercing straight through his heart.

Bang!

The Mist ninja's internal organs were shattered, and he spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes filled with shock and resentment.

"How is this possible...!!"

He had been keeping a close watch on his back the entire time; there hadn't been a single trace of an enemy in that direction!

As the Mist ninja slowly collapsed to the ground, Yuhi Kurenai, hidden in the trees, let out a quiet breath.

Illusion: Mirage!

Illusion was, by nature, a technique that deceived an enemy's five senses. After such a flashy explosion, tricking the perception of a genin was as easy as turning over one's hand.

"Hey, wasn't it agreed that you'd handle that chunin?" Asuma asked, looking toward Genye.

"That guy was too vigilant, making it hard to strike. I had to pick the low-hanging fruit first," Genye said casually.

Seeing Asuma and Genye chatting as if no one else were around, the Mist chunin was instantly enraged.

"You two brats, stop looking down on me! Hei, come with me and kill them!"

He drew the long blade from his waist and, leading his subordinate, charged toward Genye and Asuma.

"Hmph!"

Genye let out a cold snort, and an invisible Eight Trigrams Formation suddenly spread out, enveloping both Mist ninja.

"Eight Trigrams—Palm Bottom!"

Genye struck out with a sphere of chakra from a distance, and the Mist ninja named Hei collapsed to the ground, clutching his chest in agony.

"Hey, hey, hey, leave one for me!"

Before Genye could strike again, Asuma rushed out impatiently, wielding his trench knives to meet the last remaining Mist chunin.

"Damn it!"

The Mist chunin was both shocked and furious; shocked that these two brats were so strong, and furious that he was being completely looked down upon!

"Sword Technique: Water Flow Splatter!"

The Mist chunin swung his long blade rapidly, the shimmering edge seemingly surging with water as he used the rotational force to slash fiercely at Asuma.

"Sword Technique: Twin Stars Chasing the Moon!"

Asuma ducked low, his trench knives striking simultaneously. The moment his left blade parried the long sword, his right blade thrust toward the man's throat.

Squelch.

The Mist chunin's artery was severed, blood sprayed out, and he fell limply to the ground.

Asuma: "..."

He turned around, speechless, to look at Yuhi Kurenai as she descended from the trees.

"Sorry, I just wanted to test out a newly mastered illusion. I didn't expect it to work so well." Kurenai stuck out her tongue playfully.

"Bullshit, you were clearly doing it on purpose," Asuma said, glancing at her with annoyance.

"Alright, let's clean up and get out of here. We still have to make it to the next location," Genye urged.

The group quickly cleared the scene.

As Asuma wiped his trench knives, he suddenly wore a suspicious expression.

"I think I smell something strange..."

As he spoke, he sniffed around like a ninja hound, but found nothing unusual.

Seeing Genye and Kurenai staring at him with blank expressions, Asuma scratched his head, looking somewhat embarrassed.

"Forget it, it was probably just my imagination. Let's go."

In the middle of a quiet forest.

A man with long, fluffy yellow hair and a Mist Anbu mask slowly pulled his blade from the head of a Konoha ninja.

No, it was less of a sword and more of an elongated sewing needle, with a steel wire trailing from its end like a thin thread.

The man had morbidly "sewn" four Konoha ninja together, dragging the four corpses behind him as he walked toward his companion.

His companion, carrying a massive cleaver, was using the blood of the Konoha ninja to repair the notches on his blade; the great sword was soon as good as new.

"Kushimaru, you're as much of a pervert as ever," the companion holding the great sword said coldly, glancing at the corpses trailing behind the man.

Kuriarare Kushimaru!

One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist Village, and the wielder of the Longsword: Sewing Needle!

"Juzo, you cold-blooded guy, you're hardly in a position to judge me," Kuriarare Kushimaru said flippantly.

Juzo Biwa.

One of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, and the wielder of the Severing Sword: Executioner's Blade!

Juzo ignored Kushimaru, shouldered his great sword, and turned to walk in another direction.

"What a cold guy," Kuriarare Kushimaru muttered, suddenly feeling bored.

He dropped the corpses behind him, hurried to catch up with Juzo, and struck up a conversation with a grin.

"Tsk, using genin from our own village as bait to track a Konoha squad—Juzo, why do you think the Mizukage is so heartless?"

Juzo shot Kushimaru a sidelong glance and said expressionlessly:

"Born in the Village of the Bloody Mist, there's nothing strange about such things. You and I should have gotten used to it long ago."

Kuriarare Kushimaru was left speechless; that guy Juzo always knew how to kill a conversation.

"Koji Fortress!"

Kushimaru stopped paying attention to Juzo, bit his finger, performed a blood seal, and summoned a ninja beast that looked like a weasel.

The small beast climbed onto his shoulder and whispered a few things into his ear, causing Kushimaru to let out an exaggerated gasp.

"Oh my, there's a Konoha squad to the east and another to the south? My, oh my, whatever shall we do!"

"I don't want to be separated from Juzo; being alone is so boring."

Juzo couldn't be bothered to deal with this drama queen; he roughly grabbed the ninja beast off his shoulder and turned to head east.

"I'm going east. We'll meet at the usual spot later."

"Tsk."

Watching Juzo's retreating figure, Kushimaru summoned another beast and hummed a little tune as he headed the other way.

In the forest to the east, Genye and his two companions had just finished dealing with the second Mist Village squad.

Just as the three were catching their breath, Genye's expression suddenly shifted.

"Asuma, Kurenai, we need to move, now!"

Hearing this, Asuma and Kurenai didn't ask questions and immediately began to retreat alongside Genye.

"What is it, Genye? Is there someone troublesome behind us?" Asuma asked while running.

"It's Juzo Biwa of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen!" Genye said with a grim face.

"The Seven Ninja Swordsmen? Juzo Biwa? How could he possibly be here?!" Yuhi Kurenai exclaimed in horror.

The Seven Ninja Swordsmen were the terrifying human weapons of the Mist Village, and without exception, they were all elite jonin.

It was said that if the seven of them joined forces, they could conquer a small nation in a single night.

Among them, Juzo Biwa was the most brutal, his reputation for cruelty and bloodshed known across all the nations.

They absolutely could not afford to face him!

The three of them ran headlong, and after a while, Asuma asked, "Genye, did we shake that guy off?"

"No." Genye's expression grew even darker.

Not only had they failed to shake off Juzo Biwa, but with the enemy in full pursuit, the distance between them was actually closing.

"The enemy must have some way to track us," Genye said bitterly. "I'm afraid... we can't hide."

Although he had the strength to go head-to-head with a jonin, the man behind them was a battle-hardened elite jonin who treated Tailed Beast Bombs like ping-pong balls!

Was the demigod Salamander Hanzo impressive?

This guy behind them was worth twenty of him!

Facing an opponent like that, there wasn't a shred of hope for victory!

But they... couldn't run; they had no choice but to fight!

Genye looked at his teammates beside him, took a deep breath, and said, "Everyone, prepare for battle!"

"In a moment..."