"So it failed after all."
Qian stared at the shark that had vanished without a trace and murmured under his breath.
Whoosh—
A figure appeared beside him and asked, "Qian, are you all right?"
Hearing that, Qian withdrew his gaze, looked at the newcomer, shook his head, and said, "I'm fine. Tekka, what about you?"
That was right. The newcomer was none other than Uchiha Tekka.
At that moment, he was drenched in blood from head to toe, looking exceptionally fierce.
However, Qian could sense that his life aura was still relatively steady. Clearly, he had not suffered any particularly serious injuries.
In other words, most of that blood belonged to the enemy.
And just as he was thinking that, Uchiha Tekka patted his chest and said, "Those worthless rabble? How could they possibly hurt me?"
"Mm."
Hearing this, Qian nodded, not especially surprised.
He had sparred with him many times and had a certain understanding of his strength. An ordinary Jonin really was no match for Uchiha Tekka.
And although the interception force Kirigakure had sent this time was strong, the two strongest among them had both been tied down by him, so it was only natural that Tekka had come through unscathed.
Qian's gaze swept past Uchiha Tekka and toward the others. Of the one-hundred-man unit from before, fewer than sixty percent had survived.
From that alone, it was clear that the enemy's strength had indeed been formidable.
"Hm?"
Suddenly, Qian noticed that the two Special Jonin he had forcibly required to accompany them—the ones who had faintly harbored hostility toward him—were actually nowhere to be seen.
After asking around, Qian finally learned that the two of them had died on the battlefield.
"This..."
Qian shook his head and immediately felt speechless. To think he had previously considered