The Hidden Sand's Assassination Mission

Since all of Chiyo's poisons had been countered, Hidden Sand Village was simply no match for Hidden Leaf in terms of raw strength.

For several days in a row, the Hidden Leaf forces at the front had won battle after battle, driving Hidden Sand Village into a steady retreat.

With victories coming from the front lines, the relief work in the rear became much easier as well.

"Phew~ There are so many fewer wounded today. I can finally take a break." Uchiha Mikoto wiped away her sweat and sat down, panting heavily.

Having worked with Indra to perform emergency surgery on an injured ninja, she was utterly exhausted.

"I think there'll be a lot of wounded tomorrow. Even Teacher Tsunade has gone to fight on the front lines."

Indra told Mikoto not to be too optimistic, though he could not hide the smile on his face.

After days of "human experiments," his Qi Transformation and Reconstruction had become increasingly proficient.

As long as it did not involve internal organs or bones, Indra could basically heal external injuries with his bare hands.

However, he had also run into a bottleneck, mainly because his knowledge base was insufficient.

He was still far too lacking in medical knowledge such as biology, cell science, and organ studies.

Fortunately, he had the Sheep Talisman.

These past few days, whenever Tsunade fell asleep at night, Indra would use the Sheep Talisman's magic to enter her dreams.

In Tsunade's dreams, Indra would ask her for medical instruction, striving to make up for his shortcomings as quickly as possible.

But every time they studied, it would often turn into a "student and teacher" game by the end.

"Tsunade is really too repressed inside. She completely lets herself go in her dreams."

Indra rubbed his forehead speechlessly, though a smile of enjoyment appeared on his face.

Even if the sensations in dreams were illusory, being able to teach his teacher Tsunade a lesson from time to time in those dreams felt pretty great!

"Besides that, I obtained three chakra natures from Tsunade: earth, water, and yang."

As he guided chakra through his meridian system, a flicker of excitement flashed through Indra's eyes.

Every additional chakra nature improved his aptitude for ninjutsu.

At the same time, Indra had sensed that if he could complete all seven chakra natures, some kind of change seemed likely to occur within him.

"Only wind is left. Mikoto has wind nature, so I'll enter her dream tonight." Indra made up his mind and rose to his feet.

Whenever he used the Sheep Talisman to send his soul out of his body, he would also scout the surrounding area.

Two days ago, Indra had taken a stroll around the Hidden Sand camp and discovered that they were planning an assassination operation against Hidden Leaf.

Hidden Sand Village had allied with Hidden Rain Village, allowing some elite Hidden Sand ninja to take a detour and attack the Hidden Leaf camp.

Although he had learned this information beforehand, Indra had not told anyone.

He could hardly tell others that he possessed a forbidden technique like Kato Dan's that allowed his soul to leave his body, which was how he had learned this intelligence.

After all, Kato Dan's Spirit Transformation Technique had extremely strict limitations on both range and duration, making long-range scouting utterly impossible.

There was no need to explain what would happen if he suddenly possessed a stronger version of the Spirit Transformation Technique.

"I can't look after everyone else. I can only protect myself first."

Indra took the Invisibility Haori and Phantom Sword from his storage scroll and handed them both to Mikoto.

"Are these ninja tools?"

Mikoto immediately noticed the unusual nature of the haori and Phantom Sword. Confused, she said, "Weren't these left to us by Grandpa...?"

"They've been passed down through my family."

Indra's single sentence instantly filled Mikoto with delight.

These were heirlooms from Indra's family, and now he was giving them to her. Could he be... confessing!?

While Mikoto's imagination ran wild, Indra drew the ominous Demon Blade Hirumaru and a chakra short sword from his storage scroll.

"I detected enemy ninja approaching the camp. We need to make some preparations in advance... Mikoto, why are you staring at me like that?"

Noticing Mikoto staring straight at him, Indra's voice unconsciously grew quieter.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about how to use these two ninja tools." Mikoto gave a delicate snort and lowered her head to look at the haori and Phantom Sword in her hands.

Indra promptly explained. The Invisibility Haori only needed to be worn, while the Phantom Sword, whose blade was forged from liquid metal, required some skill to use.

For Mikoto, who had awakened the two-tomoe Sharingan, that was clearly no difficult task.

The Phantom Sword's nimble and ever-changing nature made her love it so much that she could not put it down.

Taking the opportunity, Indra planted his foot on the ground and poured chakra into it.

"Ruyi Force!"

Strands of chakra rapidly spread outward like a spiderweb.

In an instant, Indra had clearly surveyed the terrain across the entire Hidden Leaf camp.

The disturbances caused by every ninja moving within it traveled back along the chakra force.

The Hidden Sand team sneaking in from five hundred meters outside the Hidden Leaf camp was completely exposed to Indra's senses.

"I wonder if my Demon Blade Hirumaru can steal the Hidden Sand's secret techniques!" With that thought in mind, Indra could hardly wait.

The Hidden Sand team concealed within the curtain of rain had no idea that Indra had already discovered them.

The team consisted of fifteen people in total: two elite jonin, three special jonin, and the rest were all elite chunin.

Looking toward the Hidden Leaf camp several hundred meters away, the leading male and female Hidden Sand ninja calmly directed the team forward.

"The assassination window is ten minutes. After that, regardless of the outcome, everyone returns here to regroup."

After issuing their orders, the two elite Hidden Sand ninja immediately charged toward the Hidden Leaf camp.

They were Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law, as well as two of the Hidden Sand Village's strongest puppet masters. Their core mission was to tie down the only remaining main force within the Hidden Leaf camp and buy time for the others to slaughter.

"They're here!"

Indra opened his eyes, cutting off the chakra force beneath his feet.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kunai suddenly tore through the air, flying precisely toward the ninjas inside the medical station.

"Phantom Sword: Whip Slash!"

Mikoto's two-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto the flight path of every kunai.

The instant she swung the Phantom Sword in her hand, its liquefied blade lashed out like a whip. Its slender body passed through the holes in the kunai handles like strands of silk.

The kunai all halted in midair, pulled in opposite directions by two forces.

The Hidden Sand ninja controlling those kunai had never expected his attack to be blocked in such a manner.

He immediately severed his chakra threads. Just as he was about to use another move, an invisible blade swept past in an instant.

Slash—!

A line of blood appeared across the Hidden Sand ninja's throat.

Before the elite chunin could make another move, his head rolled from his body.

The air behind the Hidden Sand ninja rippled, and Indra's figure quietly emerged.

With the Snake Talisman, his invisibility was far stronger than the Invisibility Haori!

He drove his blade downward, plunging Demon Blade Hirumaru into the Hidden Sand ninja's corpse.

The demon blade greedily sucked the corpse's blood dry, devouring every last trace of the Hidden Sand ninja's remaining chakra.

"I can feel it!"

A succession of images flashed before Indra's eyes, eventually assembling into a complete chakra circulation diagram.

"With extraordinarily refined chakra control, transform chakra into thin threads and release them from the fingertips..."

The next second, an almost invisible chakra thread emerged from Indra's index finger, swaying and shifting under his control.

He had succeeded. He had learned how to create chakra threads!