Chapter 16

Lightning shrieked and compressed in his palm, poised to strike!

Saitama focused all his attention on gathering chakra. At first, only scattered arcs of electricity slithered about, but in the blink of an eye, they had formed a blinding sphere of lightning. Its white glare seared the eyes, and its cry sounded like a thousand birds chirping at once!

"They're all illusions?!" Matthew felt a chill run down his spine. None of the three clones had been real.

"Die!" A furious roar exploded from overhead as Moonlight Zhengye came slashing down with a fatal blade!

"Slash—!" The blade, carrying his fury, cut across Matthew's neck, drawing a spray of blood. Yet this killing strike had only sliced through the skin.

"You're courting death!" Matthew's eyes widened in rage as he drove a heavy fist toward Moonlight Zhengye's abdomen.

"Pfft!" A mist of blood sprayed out as Moonlight Zhengye flew backward like a kite with its string cut, his face pale as wax.

Ignoring the blood streaming from his neck, Matthew strode after Moonlight Zhengye, determined to eliminate this Konoha ninja for good.

"Crackle—" He had barely taken half a step when a deafening thunderclap suddenly erupted behind him. A chill ran over the back of Matthew's neck. He immediately abandoned the pursuit and spun around!

"Die!" Saitama's voice was low and hard as iron. His right arm, wrapped in the piercing cry of Chidori, shot straight toward his enemy's chest. This strike would kill!

"Pfft!" Scalding blood burst forth. Under Chidori's terrifying penetrating force, Saitama's hand plunged deep into Matthew's heart.

"How... is that possible?!" Matthew's pupils shook violently as he lowered his gaze in disbelief toward the arm protruding from his chest.

"Crackle—boom!" To ensure his enemy's death, Saitama violently surged his chakra. Dazzling lightning erupted a second time within Matthew's chest cavity, utterly shredding the last of his vitality. Those eyes, frozen in terror, remained fixed on Saitama even in death.

Not far away, Moonlight Zhengye sat collapsed on the ground, utterly dumbfounded. There was no way he could mistake that technique—it was Lightning Release: Chidori, the secret technique developed by the Hatake clan's genius! But why could Uchiha Saitama use it...? Did the minds of top-tier ninjas always arrive at the same conclusion by different paths?

He shook his head, casting away the stray thoughts, then fell onto his back on the scorching sand and panted.

"Sensei!" The injured Saki staggered over and tremblingly helped Moonlight Zhengye up.

"I'm fine. Just exhausted." Moonlight Zhengye waved a hand, though relief showed through his hoarse voice.

"Saitama, how are your injuries?" With Saki's support, Moonlight Zhengye rose to his feet, his tone light.

"I'm fine." Saitama knelt on one knee before Matthew's corpse and slowly pulled out his blood-soaked arm. Bracing himself against the enemy's still-warm forehead, he panted heavily as the lightning around his fingers gradually faded.

"Move out immediately!" Moonlight Zhengye forced himself to give the order. All three of them were injured now. If they encountered another Sand Village unit, it would spell utter disaster.

"Toward the oasis." Saitama wiped the blood from his forehead and took the lead. Moonlight Zhengye and Saki followed without hesitation—this life-or-death battle had earned the youth absolute authority.

They hastily stripped the Sand Village ninjas' corpses of their ninja tools, but treated the suspicious military ration pills like venomous snakes. When the setting sun stained the sky blood-red, the three finally reached the emerald of the desert—the oasis swaying with palms.

"You two rest." Saitama glanced over Moonlight Zhengye, whose chakra was depleted, and the battered Saki. He kept his voice low. "I'll scout ahead."

Saitama's chakra had mostly recovered, and his minor injuries no longer posed a problem. He was back to roughly seventy percent of his full condition, so the scouting task naturally fell to him.

This oasis was not large, only a few hectares, but in the eyes of Sand Village, every oasis was a precious strategic resource. Under cover of night, Saitama silently approached the area that looked especially deep and shadowy in the darkness, taking a serpentine route. His footsteps were agile and unpredictable, ensuring he would not expose his trail.

Though intelligence indicated that no Sand Village ninjas were stationed here, caution was never wrong, especially when two of his teammates had yet to fully recover their fighting strength. Saitama moved soundlessly through the trees, leaping from one to the next. The trees here were nowhere near as tall as those in the Land of Fire, with the tallest reaching no more than ten meters, but their ability to grow stubbornly in the desert was already enough to make one marvel at the tenacity of life.

After swiftly scouting the entire oasis, Saitama found nothing unusual and returned to the outskirts to notify his waiting teammates.

"It's safe. We can go in." He arrived at the agreed meeting point and reunited with Moonlight Zhengye and Saki.

"You've worked hard." Moonlight Zhengye's tone held an apology. As the captain, it was embarrassing to be looked after by a team member who had graduated less than a year ago.

"Mm." Saitama responded quietly, then led the way forward. He had already chosen a resting place during his scouting—a clearing thick with trees, with a clear pool nearby.

The team rested there for two days. Thanks to a ninja's formidable recovery ability, Moonlight Zhengye and Saki's injuries had mostly healed, and their fighting strength had returned to its peak.

"We've rested long enough. It's time to continue the mission." Leaning against a tree, Moonlight Zhengye spoke to the two some distance away. Saki was carefully wiping down his ninja blade, while Saitama sat cross-legged atop a sandstone boulder, his long sword laid across his knees.

"The mission deadline is ten days, and five have already passed. Now that the captain has recovered, it's time we caused the Sand Village ninjas some trouble." A few Sand Village scouts had passed through the oasis over the past two days, but none had discovered them. After all, Sand Village's attention remained focused on the front lines. They could not possibly devote all their strength to hunting down Konoha ninjas who had infiltrated their rear.

"If we don't get moving soon, our bodies will rust. Let's give the mission our all over these last few days!" Moonlight Zhengye stretched his arms, the ninja blade on his back gleaming coldly beneath the sun.

"Matthew just died like that? Are Konoha's ninjas really that terrifying?!" Inside Sand Village's conference room, an elderly high-ranking official slammed the table and roared.

"This is Sand Village territory!" he emphasized furiously.

"Judging from the traces, it was likely the work of a Lightning Release ninja. Among Konoha's known ninjas, none possess this level of destructive power." A grim-faced man in his early forties spoke in a low voice.

"Find them at any cost. We cannot let them leave the desert alive!" Another elderly female voice rang out, thick with chilling killing intent.

"If they dare cause trouble on Sand Village territory, they can forget about leaving unscathed!" The middle-aged man coldly tossed out those words and strode from the room, leaving behind several high-ranking officials whose faces were obscured.

"Which group is this?" Moonlight Zhengye cut down the last enemy with a single slash, then turned toward Saitama, who stood some distance away with his foot on a Sand Village ninja's corpse.

"The third squad today. Sand Village seems determined to get rid of us." Saki pulled his long blade from an enemy's body, a faint smile appearing on his bloodstained face.

Days of continuous slaughter had allowed Saki to grow rapidly. He could now handle ordinary chunin with ease. The tempering of life and death truly pushed people to transform faster than anything else!

On the fourth day after leaving the oasis, Saitama's team decided to immediately begin their return to Konoha.

Over the past few days, relying on their formidable strength and mobility, they had freely harassed Sand Village's rear lines, causing the enemy countless problems.

Though Sand Village constantly dispatched pursuers, the disparity in strength meant they were merely walking into a trap.

In the vast desert, Sand Village could only scatter its forces to surround and intercept them. Yet their teams varied widely in strength, and against Saitama's group, which had two jonin, they had almost no chance of victory!

"It's time to withdraw. If we drag this out any longer, Sand Village may transfer its main forces from the front to wipe us out." Moonlight Zhengye looked grave, afraid that Saitama had killed so much that he would refuse to retreat.

"Fine. Let's head back and turn in the mission." Saitama agreed decisively. Continuing deeper behind enemy lines was far from wise. The time to retreat had come.

"Return by the same route! Stay alert!" Moonlight Zhengye nodded.

As the weakest link in the team, Saki had no say in this sort of decision. He could only silently follow his two teammates.

The hot wind rolled up yellow sand as the group raced through the scorching desert, sweat having long since soaked their clothes.

"The dune ahead is the one we passed on the way here. Once we cross it, we'll be out of Sand Village's sphere of influence!" Saki wiped the sweat from his brow, his tone light. The journey had gone unexpectedly smoothly; they had not encountered a single pursuer.

"Don't let your guard down, Saki." Moonlight Zhengye frowned in warning, while glancing at Saitama, who had remained vigilant all along.

"Wait!" Saitama suddenly raised a hand, stopping everyone. His keen perception of chakra allowed him to vaguely catch an energy fluctuation in the distance.

Moonlight Zhengye and Saki abruptly halted, looking solemnly at Saitama.

"There's something strange ahead. I hope it's just my imagination." Saitama met their gazes, a bitter smile touching his lips.

"Could it be a Sand Village patrol? Didn't we run into some along the way?" Saki remained optimistic as he voiced his guess.

Moonlight Zhengye said nothing. Because he trusted Saitama, he knew this so-called anomaly was anything but ordinary. Still, he silently prayed the situation was not what he feared.

"Keep moving. Stay concealed!" After quietly issuing the command, Moonlight Zhengye stared into the distance. The seemingly ordinary dunes were slightly elevated, blocking the team's view, and they lacked a sensory-type ninja.

"Understood." Saitama lowered his head, his right hand resting on the ninja tool pouch at his waist as he prepared for the worst.

Dusk deepened, and at six in the evening, darkness began swallowing the desert. Such an environment should have been more favorable for their stealthy retreat.

"Whoosh!" A sharp sound split the air as a kunai embedded itself at Moonlight Zhengye's feet. Everyone instantly entered combat readiness, their eyes locking onto the direction from which the weapon had come. Their hearts grew heavier.

"Since you've come, stay in this desert forever." A cold male voice sounded as several figures emerged from the twilight. Though it was difficult to distinguish their genders, Saitama's chakra perception confirmed that they were all powerful enemies.

"Break through!" Moonlight Zhengye growled to the side. The situation was dire. Sand Village's frontline forces were close by, and any delay would only lead them into a hopeless situation.

"I'll lead the charge. Captain, cover us. Saki, bring up the rear!" Saitama gripped his sword hilt and made the deployment in a low voice. As the team's strongest and fastest member, he was best suited to breaking through the enemy line.

"Prepare to move!" Moonlight Zhengye's ninja blade was already drawn. Saki silently took up a fighting stance, weapon in hand.

"Going in!" With a low battle cry, Saitama shot forward, lightning coiling around his body as he charged straight toward the enemy formation.

"Lightning Release?" The Sand Village leader narrowed his eyes. The lightning-natured ninja specially noted in the intelligence was actually just a youth.

"This is the target? A brat still wet behind the ears?" Fujiwara sneered at Hundred Blades and Flow Sever beside him. With three jonin and four chunin, he had absolute confidence that they could annihilate their opponents.

"Dead or alive, he must be buried in this desert." Hundred Blades licked his lips, his cruel gaze fixed on the rapidly approaching Saitama.

Fujiwara leaped from the top of the dune and dove straight at Saitama. The other Sand Village ninjas followed close behind, closing in from all sides in a fan-shaped formation.

Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Claw Red! Scorching chakra surged from his throat as more than ten shuriken wrapped in blazing flames traced strange arcs through the air, streaking straight toward the Sand Village formation.

"Scatter!" Fujiwara blurred, instantly flashing from Saitama's front to his left. Most of the Sand Village ninjas dodged in time, but the last two chunin could not evade the flaming shuriken. They were struck and instantly mangled into bloody pulp.

Having landed the first blow, Saitama did not slow down and continued his advance. Fujiwara caught sight of his injured companions and frowned slightly.

The Sand Village ninjas immediately shifted formation and pressed forward in an encirclement.

"Clang!" The tachi collided with a kunai. Before the lightning could conduct through the weapon, the enemy had already pulled away.

"Uchiha tricks are useless against me." Fujiwara sneered, spinning the faintly glinting kunai in his hand.

Saitama's heart tightened. He had not expected the intelligence to leak so quickly.

Not far away, Moonlight Zhengye was being forced back step by step by two Sand Village ninjas. Saki had likewise fallen into a bitter struggle, barely holding on against the combined assault of his opponents.

"Focus on the fight!" Fujiwara suddenly abandoned his kunai and launched an iron fist straight at Saitama's face.

Saitama raised his blade and retreated sharply. Fujiwara changed moves with astonishing speed, whipping out a kick that struck Saitama squarely in the chest.

"Slash—" Saitama carved a long trail through the sand.

"Is that all you've got?" Fujiwara deliberately taunted him.

Saitama wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. His eyes abruptly changed—the Two-Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to spin.

"So you're an Uchiha brat." Fujiwara sneered on the surface, but inwardly he became vigilant. He had to deal carefully with this ability that had not appeared in the intelligence.

"Bang!" Chakra burst beneath his feet as Saitama turned into an afterimage and charged forward. He had to end this quickly and support his companions, or the situation would become critical.

"Clang!" His blade was blocked again. Saitama's pupils contracted slightly as he realized he had encountered a formidable opponent.

His adversary likewise excelled in swift movement. That surprise attack had been at Saitama's top speed, yet his opponent had still successfully intercepted it.

The instant their weapons collided, the enemy followed up with a vicious kick. Saitama's pupils shrank sharply. Lightning suddenly flashed around his body as chakra surged through his meridians once more, and he hastily stepped back half a pace to steady himself.