Mysterious Assassin and a Desperate Encirclement! Reinforcements Are on the Way!

At the small town market.

Shimura Danzo and Akimichi Torifu, disguised in plain clothes, quickly purchased dry rations and water.

Suddenly, a tall, burly man in a hood brushed past Danzo.

Danzo's pupils contracted, and a cold sweat instantly seeped across his back.

"Such terrifying killing intent! That man is definitely an elite ninja!" Danzo grabbed Torifu, who was stuffing his face with buns. "Move! We're in serious trouble!"

With his mouth full and greasy, Torifu complained indistinctly, "What's the rush? We've been running for our lives for two days and barely eaten anything. I'm only half full!"

"If we don't leave now, you'll never need to eat again!" Danzo lowered his voice, his tone ice-cold. "That man isn't someone the four of us can handle!"

Seeing Danzo's grave expression, Torifu put away his carefree attitude.

The two hurriedly finished buying supplies and rushed at full speed back to the forest where Lin Hai was hiding.

On a tree trunk.

Lin Hai had slept for only an hour before Uchiha Kagami woke him.

"Young master, when carrying out missions in the wilderness, you can't sleep too deeply even while resting. It's far too dangerous," Kagami reminded him softly.

Lin Hai rubbed his brow, full of guilt. "Sorry, I was too exhausted. I'll go set up traps right now."

"This subordinate has already arranged them," Kagami answered respectfully.

Just as he finished speaking, Danzo and Torifu arrived in a rush.

Torifu immediately distributed the food to the other two.

Lin Hai wolfed it down, then lay contentedly on the grass. "For the first time in my life, I feel like getting a full meal is such a blessing."

But Danzo showed no sign of relaxing. In a grave voice, he said, "An extremely terrifying wandering ninja appeared in town. If he's after us, then in our current condition, our chances of escaping are slim."

Kagami frowned deeply. "A Kage-level expert? The only person Takigakure Village can put forward is the Waterfall Shadow. Why would he personally come after us?"

"It's not the Waterfall Shadow." Danzo shook his head. "His identity is unknown, and so is his objective. That's what makes this the most troublesome."

The instant Danzo finished speaking, countless figures suddenly appeared in the surrounding treetops.

A Takigakure jonin looked down at them and sneered. "Konoha rats, you really are hard to find! You made us chase you for two whole days! If you hadn't gone into town and picked up the 'tracking incense,' you might actually have gotten away!"

At those words, the image of the burly man who had brushed past him in the market flashed through Danzo's mind.

"So that's how it is..." Danzo gritted his teeth. "That wandering ninja deliberately rubbed the tracking incense onto me. He wanted to lure Takigakure here to kill us so he could reap the rewards without lifting a finger!"

Danzo swiftly made tactical hand signals: Break through to the north! Don't get drawn into a fight! Someone is lying in ambush!

Uchiha Kagami understood at once and formed hand seals in an instant.

"Detonate!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The trees and ground around the four of them exploded violently. The hidden explosive tags instantly tore open a gap in the encirclement.

"Chase them! If they make it back to the Land of Fire, none of us will live!" the Takigakure jonin roared.

Of the thirty Takigakure ninja, more than a dozen genin had fallen. The remaining five jonin, eight chunin, and several genin gave chase like madmen.

Running at the rear, Lin Hai formed hand seals. "Shadow Clone Technique!"

Two shadow clones respectively unleashed Wind Style: Thousand Faces of Wind and Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire. The wind fed the flames, and thousands of burning wind blades swept toward the pursuers like a torrential rain.

"Water Style: Water Dragon Whip!"

A Takigakure jonin swung a long whip formed from condensed chakra, shattering the flaming wind blades in midair. Two other jonin rapidly closed in and destroyed Lin Hai's clones.

Uchiha Kagami, who was leading the breakout, abruptly halted. Kicking off the tree trunk with both legs, he shot backward.

"Boom!"

A sharp stone spike ten meters tall burst from the earth where he had just landed!

Danzo stopped beside Kagami, his face livid. "That guy has made his move! He used Earth Style to seal off our retreat and force us into a death match with Takigakure! How much longer until Konoha's reinforcements arrive?"

"The distress signal has already been sent. Based on the distance, it'll take several hours at the fastest!" Kagami replied grimly.

Danzo took a deep breath, determination flashing in his eyes. "Prepare to drink Hero Water! No matter what, we can't all die here. Kagami, protect Lin Hai. He's carrying sealing scrolls worth twenty million!"

"I swear to protect the young master to the death!" Kagami drew his short blade.

"Akimichi Style: Expansion Jutsu!"

Torifu roared, his body instantly swelling into a massive ball of flesh. He crushed trees along the way and slammed toward the pursuing Takigakure jonin with a thunderous crash!

"Earth Style: Earth Shore Return!"

"Earth Style: Earth-Flow Rampart!"

Two Takigakure jonin joined forces, raising a high wall and enormous boulders. Torifu smashed through the wall but was forced to a stop by the boulders. He immediately changed techniques. "Akimichi Style: Super Expansion Jutsu!"

Torifu instantly transformed into a thirty-meter-tall giant, his huge palm crashing down upon Takigakure like a dark cloud blotting out the sky!

Danzo leaped onto Torifu's shoulder. With Wind Style and taijutsu working in tandem, the two of them forcibly held off all five enemy jonin!

Elsewhere, Lin Hai and Kagami were surrounded by the remaining chunin and genin.

The Land of Waterfalls was rich in water, severely suppressing Lin Hai and Kagami's Fire Style. They could only hold on through taijutsu and the Sharingan.

"Young master, I'll control the field with genjutsu. You handle the killing!" Back to back, Kagami spoke in a low voice.

"Understood!"

Kagami instantly created two shadow clones, forming a triangular formation. Their three-tomoe Sharingan spun wildly.

"Genjutsu: Fox Mind!"

The powerful ocular force instantly dragged four charging chunin into an illusion.

Lin Hai moved in perfect coordination. His main body and three clones attacked at once, short blades flashing coldly as they slit the four chunin's throats in the blink of an eye.

Two chunin who had luckily broken free of the genjutsu attempted to counterattack, but Kagami's clones held them firmly in place. Lin Hai seized the chance to charge into the genin formation, like a wolf among sheep, beginning a one-sided massacre.

In less than a minute, the two had killed more than half of the sixteen chunin and genin!

At the border of the Land of Fire, within a dense primeval forest.

"Monkey! What are you doing? Danzo and the others must be in huge trouble. Hurry up and move!"

A girl with her hair in buns shouted at a boy hanging upside down from a tree while eating a peach.

Beside her, a bespectacled boy adjusted his glasses. "Homura Mitokado, stop shouting. Without a contact signal, blindly searching through the Land of Waterfalls' terrain will only get us into trouble."

"Koharu Utatane! Every time, you stay in the back using genjutsu. Easy for you to talk!" Homura Mitokado leaped onto the tree in anger and punched the upside-down boy down.

Just then, "Whoosh—bang!"

A striking red signal flare exploded in the distant sky.

"It's Konoha's highest-level distress signal!" Koharu Utatane's expression changed drastically.

Homura Mitokado calmed down as well. "Danzo is proud. Unless he's been driven into a corner, he would never send this signal."

The peach-eating boy spat out the pit, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes. "We won't wait for the main ANBU force. The three of us are going first!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane—the future trio of Konoha's upper leadership—raced at full speed toward the source of the signal.

Half an hour later, Hiruzen Sarutobi leaped onto the treetops and looked into the distance.

Far off on the horizon, a massive ball of flesh was blasted through the air and crashed heavily into the mountains and forest.

"That's Torifu after using Expansion Jutsu!" Hiruzen Sarutobi's heart shook violently. What kind of monster could send a Super Expansion Akimichi flying?

"There's no time!" Hiruzen landed on the ground. "I'll go on ahead. Catch up as quickly as you can!"

"Monkey, be careful!"

Hiruzen Sarutobi bit his finger and slammed his palm onto the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"

"Poof!" As the white smoke dispersed, a burly old ape appeared.

"Hiruzen, why did you call me out in broad daylight?" Enma grumbled as he picked at his ear.

"Enma, transform into the Ruyi Jingu Bang! My teammates can't hold out much longer!"

Enma instantly transformed into a thick black staff. Hiruzen stepped onto its tip and shouted:

"Extend! Extend! Extend!"

The Ruyi Jingu Bang carried Hiruzen Sarutobi like a black bolt of lightning, soaring into the sky and hurtling toward the battlefield!