Fierce Battle Against the Exploding Rock Corps

Lan's gaze sharpened. That speed was far beyond his three teammates! But if this guy thought he could hurt someone right in front of him, he was still too green!

"Saiyan Ki Blast!"

Lan braced his left hand against the ground, while his right hand gathered several blue energy spheres in a flash and blasted them at Rock Demon.

Rock Demon saw it and gave a cold snort, swinging his hardened right arm in front of him.

"Earth Release: Explosive Hardening!"

The Earth Release chakra on his arm erupted in an instant, raising its hardness once again.

Bang, bang, bang!

The ki blasts slammed into his arm one after another, actually triggering a chain of small explosions! Shockwaves and smoke spread out again, temporarily blocking Rock Demon's vision.

"Interesting." Rock Demon's voice came from within the smoke, tinged with surprise. "But is that all?"

Before the smoke had even dispersed, Rock Demon's mocking voice rang out.

Lan's heart tightened. This guy's defense was seriously strong.

He had not expected the ki blasts to injure him, but they should at least have slowed him down. He had not thought Rock Demon would recover so quickly.

"Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique!"

Rock Demon's voice rang out again. Immediately after, Lan sensed an unusual chakra fluctuation.

The next second, a figure shot out of the smoke like a ghost, moving even faster than before!

It was Rock Demon! He had used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to reduce his own weight, greatly increasing his speed!

"Careful!" Yamashiro Aoba shouted anxiously.

He had just been about to form seals and cast a genjutsu against Rock Demon, but Rock Demon's ultra-high-speed movement made it impossible for him to aim.

Rock Demon was not only fast; the kunai in his hand was also attacking in coordination with Earth Release ninjutsu.

"Earth-Flow Explosive Bullets!"

He formed seals with his left hand and slapped the ground. Several chunks of earth were instantly wrapped in chakra, then shot toward Lan like cannonballs.

Those chunks of earth were also coated with explosive chakra. Once they hit, they would explode immediately!

Holding Fujii Yuta, Lan rolled rapidly across the ground to dodge.

His One-Tomoe Sharingan spun at full force, capturing Rock Demon's movements and the trajectories of the Earth-Flow Explosive Bullets.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The Earth-Flow Explosive Bullets struck the ground and exploded one after another, blasting the earth full of craters as shattered stone and dirt flew everywhere.

While dodging, Lan swept his gaze around from the corners of his eyes.

At some point, the four Hidden Stone chunin had circled behind them. They were standing on the ground, both hands pressed to the earth as they formed seals rapidly.

"Not good! It's Minefield Formation!" Yamashiro Aoba's face turned deathly pale. He saw dense patterns of explosive tags emerging across the ground. "They're trying to trap us here and kill us!"

Once the Minefield Formation activated, the entire area would be blasted into the sky!

"Shibi! Hurry and deal with the explosive tags on the left!"

Yamashiro Aoba roared. Enduring the pain in his shoulder (he had been grazed by flying stones while dodging an attack just now), his hands formed seals rapidly. "Genjutsu: Hell Viewing Technique!"

He wanted to interfere with the Hidden Stone chunin on the left who was forming seals and stop him from completing the Minefield Formation.

Sure enough, that chunin's body stiffened, and his seal-forming slowed.

But another Hidden Stone chunin reacted extremely quickly. He immediately gave up forming seals and slapped both hands onto the ground. "Earth Release: Explosive Earth Spear!"

A sharp earth spear burst out from underground, carrying a fierce whistle as it stabbed straight toward Yamashiro Aoba's shoulder!

Pshhk!

The earth spear pierced Yamashiro Aoba's shoulder with pinpoint accuracy.

Even more terrifyingly, explosive chakra was hidden at the tip of the spear!

Boom!

With a muffled blast, Yamashiro Aoba's wound exploded open in an instant! Blood mixed with shredded flesh sprayed out. He screamed miserably and fell backward.

"Captain!" Inuzuka Tsume's eyes nearly split with fury.

She could no longer care about fear. Hugging Akamaru, she charged at the chunin who had attacked Yamashiro Aoba. "Ninja Hound Assault!"

Akamaru bared his teeth as well, pouncing fiercely at the chunin's calf and biting down hard.

Inuzuka Tsume used Akamaru's restraint to launch herself at the chunin like an arrow loosed from the string.

"Get lost!" The chunin cried out in pain, kicked Akamaru away, and at the same time twisted aside to dodge Inuzuka Tsume's charge. His right hand clenched into a fist as Earth Release chakra gathered.

"Earth Release: Rock Fist Explosion!"

The hardened fist, carrying explosive chakra, smashed viciously into Inuzuka Tsume's back.

Thud!

Inuzuka Tsume had no time to react. She was struck by the punch, spat blood, and flew backward, crashing heavily onto the ground. For a long time, she could not get back up.

Akamaru whimpered and tried to save her, but another chunin forced him back with a kunai.

"Shibi!" Yamashiro Aoba lay on the ground, watching this scene, his eyes nearly splitting with desperation.

Aburame Shibi had remained silent all this time. Now, seeing his captain and teammate badly wounded, a trace of resolve flashed through the eyes hidden beneath his mask.

He did not attack the enemy directly. Instead, he abruptly released all the remaining Parasitic Destruction Insects inside his body!

"Aburame Secret Technique: Insect Sphere Explosion!"

Densely packed Parasitic Destruction Insects formed a huge insect sphere and rushed toward the remaining two chunin who were completing the Minefield Formation.

More importantly, Aburame Shibi had injected a large amount of explosive-tag chakra into these Parasitic Destruction Insects!

"Not good! Retreat!" The two chunin's faces changed drastically, and they tried to pull back.

But it was already too late!

Boom—!!!

A violent explosion rang out, fiercer than every previous blast! The insect sphere exploded in an instant. The savage shockwave swallowed the two chunin and tore up the surrounding ground.

Aburame Shibi's body was also sent flying viciously by the aftershock of the explosion. He crashed into the rock wall, slid down to the ground, and lay there without moving.

Scattered around his body were a few charred insect corpses.

Lan stared at the tragic scene before him, completely stunned.

Yamashiro Aoba was severely wounded and unconscious. Inuzuka Tsume was on her last breath. Aburame Shibi... was dead.

All to protect that "bait"? All to complete this bullshit mission?

An indescribable fury surged up from the bottom of Lan's heart.

These people... they clearly could have used smoke to escape! They clearly could have ignored that boy and fled on their own!

Why did they do this? Knowing full well the gap in strength was too great, why had they still not retreated? Why had they used their lives to block those damned explosions?

"Why?!"

Lan kicked Rock Demon back with one leg, then fired several Saiyan ki blasts at him.

Taking advantage of the smoke filling the air, he carried Fujii Yuta and flashed several times to Yamashiro Aoba's side. Looking at him as he lay on the ground with only a thread of consciousness left, Lan almost roared the question at him.

Yamashiro Aoba opened his eyes with difficulty and looked at Lan. A miserable smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and he coughed up a mouthful of bloodied chunks of flesh.

"Because..." His voice was so weak it could barely be heard. "We are ninja. The meaning of a ninja's existence... is to complete the mission..."

After saying this, his head tilted to one side, and he went completely still.

"The meaning of a ninja's existence is to complete the mission..."

Yamashiro Aoba's words were like a hammer, smashing hard into Lan's heart.

When he had watched Naruto in his previous life, he had thought those words were pretty hype.

But when he personally saw someone throw away his life for those words, the fire of rage in his chest burned even hotter instead.

Stupid!

Utterly stupid!

In this world, failure was not shameful. What was truly unforgivable was giving up your life for the sake of a momentary victory or defeat.

As long as a person was alive, there were infinite possibilities, and those possibilities were enough to drown out every failure!

Just then, the system notification sounded in his mind again:

[Host's squad has been annihilated except for the host, matching Vegeta's experience of the Saiyan squad being annihilated except for Vegeta. Progress bar triggered +5%]

[Reward obtained: Ki Blast (Intermediate)----Can release energy bullets with chakra nature transformation. The host is currently proficient in fire nature. 'Fire Release: Saiyan Ki Blast' unlocked.]

Just then, Rock Demon's figure appeared in the smoke once again.

His eyes were even more crazed and cold.

"The pests in the way are finally dealt with." Rock Demon licked his lips, his gaze falling on Lan and Fujii Yuta. "Now it's your turn, Uchiha brat, and this tasty little 'lamb.'"

His true target had only ever been Fujii Yuta.

As long as he killed him, it would shake the Land of Fire nobles' support for the Hidden Leaf Village and deal a heavy blow to the Hidden Leaf Village's finances. When the time came, if the Land of Water wanted to invade the Land of Fire and occupy this richest land in the ninja world, it would be much easier.

"Earth Release: Explosive Earth Dragon Bullet!"