Instant Kill

The sky was gradually brightening. Ye Yuexin checked the time. It was already past five.

The team members had not changed after splitting up.

He was still teamed with Might Guy and Ebisu.

But Ye Yuexin felt that this lineup was more than enough.

Based on Might Guy's performance, Ye Yuexin felt he should have the strength of a Chunin by now.

As for Ebisu, it seemed he knew a few Earth Release techniques.

They had been at the Rock Ninja's sub-base for nearly half an hour.

They had more or less figured out the positions of the hidden sentries.

All they had to do now was wait for the right time. Their operation was scheduled for five o'clock.

The period between night and day was when people were most tired. In that exhausted state, their reflexes and strength would both be somewhat diminished.

Suddenly, Ye Yuexin realized they were incredibly lucky. Just as they were about to make their move,

a Rock Ninja arrived to relieve the sentry.

That made things even better. They could take them all out at once.

Ye Yuexin and the others were hiding in a sparse patch of woods not far away.

Because they were some distance away, the sentries had not spotted them yet.

Ye Yuexin and the others kept their eyes fixed on the scene ahead.

They watched as the relief sentry approached a mound of earth. A figure emerged from beneath it.

The Rock Ninja's hidden sentry had been lying in wait beneath the mound.

Ye Yuexin and the others had noticed that spot long ago.

The instant the sentry appeared, Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode activated.

"Move!"

With a sharp shout, he flashed forward, and his body vanished in an instant.

At the same time, the two Rock Ninja spotted Ye Yuexin and the others. They turned to look.

But one of them could no longer move. A gleaming dagger was already lodged in his neck.

Ye Yuexin's control over his daggers had reached a terrifying level.

The moment he threw one, he could already tell whether it would hit.

Since they were quite far away, Ye Yuexin first used his footwork to close the distance quickly. Once Flying Dagger Mode could lock onto one of them, he launched his dagger without hesitation.

The instant the dagger flew, one life was as good as over.

By then, the Rock Ninja on the other side had reacted, but Ye Yuexin had already charged over.

Seeing Ye Yuexin move so fast that he was little more than a blur, the man panicked and immediately tried to retreat.

At the same time, he began forming Hand Seals.

But under Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode, it was all far too slow.

With a thud, the retreating Rock Ninja hadn't even finished his Hand Seals

when he toppled to the ground. Another dagger was lodged in his neck.

While moving at high speed, Ye Yuexin had used the Void Rotation Technique to recall his dagger, then immediately hurled it again.

Both men were only Genin, so Ye Yuexin found them incredibly easy to deal with.

He didn't even need to look for an opening.

With a dagger in hand, he could clearly feel that this time, he wouldn't miss.

With their level of skill, they would probably die without ever understanding why.

That was what made Ye Yuexin so terrifying. Unless someone had a special advantage, he was absolutely unbeatable among his peers.

And if he could find the right opening, Ye Yuexin felt he could kill an opponent of a higher rank with a single strike.

By then, Might Guy and the others had reached the hidden sentry on the other side of the Rock Ninja position. That sentry had noticed what was happening here, too.

The alarm was already sounding.

Might Guy immediately swept at the two ninjas with a Konoha Hurricane.

But the two men were no pushovers. Since they had spotted the team early, one of them had already begun forming Hand Seals.

Just as Might Guy was about to kick them, several earthen spikes shot up from the ground.

Still in midair, Might Guy twisted his body and used his waist to change his move at the last moment.

He turned it into a Konoha Gale—a low spinning kick.

Might Guy had an excellent grasp of the rhythm of Taijutsu combat. This let him avoid the earthen spikes and attack at the same time.

By then, the other man had finished his technique.

Once it was unleashed, it would be able to block Might Guy's attack.

But he didn't get the chance. Just as the ninja was about to use his technique, a pair of hands suddenly emerged beneath his feet.

Ye Yuexin recognized it. This had to be the Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique that Kakashi would use later.

Ebisu pulled the Rock Ninja underground. "Crack!" Both Rock Ninjas' necks were broken by the kick.

The attack had gone incredibly smoothly.

It wasn't that Might Guy and the others were too strong. These Rock Ninjas were just too weak.

After all, unlike Might Guy and the others, who were Genin, these Rock Ninjas were probably just cannon fodder.

Just think about how vast Konoha was and how many ninjas it had. Yet how many ninjas had actually appeared in the original story?

And even fewer had any real role. The elite were always the elite.

"Boom! Rumble!"

A tremendous noise rang out. Ye Yuexin and the others immediately looked toward the base.

The base had disappeared.

No—it was surrounded by a giant sphere of earth.

Chakra flowed across its surface, making it look incredibly hard.

The alarm must have alerted the Rock Ninja, who then saw how strong Ye Yuexin and the others were.

Rather than coming out to help, they had activated a defensive technique.

Ye Yuexin felt they were abandoning their comrades. But wasn't that kind of thing perfectly normal in the ninja world?

Not everyone was like Kakashi would be in the future.

To put it bluntly, they knew they were outmatched and were afraid to die.

Put more nicely, they were putting the bigger picture first.

"Ye Yuexin, what should we do now?" Might Guy asked as he came over.

After seeing Ye Yuexin's strength just now, both of them admired him.

They had never doubted his reputation as a genius.

Since he was the captain, they wanted to hear what he thought first.

"Let's take a closer look." Ye Yuexin had no solution to the problem they'd run into, so for now, they could only inspect it.

This earthen sphere was just like Gaara's Absolute Defense in the original story. The only difference was that it offered no protection underground.

But there was a problem.

Aside from Ebisu, none of them knew Earth Release.

Ye Yuexin really didn't dare send Ebisu inside.

After all, they were facing the Rock Ninja, a village where almost everyone knew Earth Release.

They wouldn't leave such a huge flaw in their defensive technique.

There might be some kind of trap underneath.

And even if there was no danger and Ebisu could get in,

Ye Yuexin still wouldn't dare risk sending him in. There were at least three people inside now.

And one of them was probably a Chunin.

The chakra spread across the Earth Release barrier was very even. A Genin didn't have enough chakra to sustain it.

He didn't think Ebisu was strong enough to deal with all of them at once.

The closer they got, the more they could feel the strength of the Earth Release defense. Up close, the surface of the earthen wall was so smooth that it almost felt like stone.