Triple Arrow Shot

"Just as we expected, the Sand Shinobi really are here to intercept the Stone Shinobi," Aburame Shibi murmured.

"Yeah, who would have thought that this so-called massive material trade was actually self-directed and performed by Sunagakure?"

Hyuga Satoru raised an eyebrow and said helplessly.

After using his method to gather intelligence, the result shocked everyone.

That mysterious seller dumping massive amounts of supplies on the Black Market was actually Sunagakure, one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages.

This trade was like bait on a fishing line, luring innocent fish to take the bite. When the right moment came, they would emerge from the shadows and grab both the money and the goods!

Hyuga Satoru couldn't help but complain inwardly: This kind of thing should only be done at noon, because sooner or later something bad is going to happen!

Sunagakure ranked at the bottom of the Five Great Shinobi Villages in terms of strength, yet they possessed such audacity that Hyuga Satoru couldn't help but be amazed.

Still, thinking about it carefully, in the original story the Third Shinobi World War seemed to happen because the Third Kazekage of Sunagakure went missing, and with sheer stubbornness they declared war on the big brother Leaf Village, ending up beaten to a pulp and forced to cede territory and beg for mercy.

Now that they were pulling a stunt like this, it didn't seem so surprising after all.

"Satoru, Sunagakure has dispatched Scorch Release Pakura and Magnet Release Rasa. If we rashly interfere, our chances of winning probably won't be very high."

Aburame Shibi's expression was somewhat solemn. If there were only one Bloodline Limit shinobi, he would be confident in blocking the opponent, but if there were two, the outcome would be hard to predict.

"Don't worry, Shibi-sensei." Hyuga Satoru smiled at him. "We don't necessarily have to fight them, as long as we ruin their plans."

As if thinking of something, Aburame Shibi suddenly smiled and scratched his head.

"I almost forgot you had that!"

Deep in the forest, the battle continued.

Yet the rout of the Stone Shinobi side was already inevitable. Under the joint slaughter of the two Bloodline Limit shinobi, the remaining Stone Shinobi had simply no way to resist, dying miserably one after another.

Seeing his comrades continuously dying before his eyes, Yamato's eyes were bloodshot and split at the corners.

"Bastards! Even if I die, I'll make you pay a price!"

He quickly formed hand seals with both hands and slammed them fiercely into the ground, his body's chakra crazily surging through his hands and into the earth.

"Earth Release! Yamato Technique!"

The ground beneath his feet abruptly split apart to both sides, turning into two massive hemispherical walls that continuously closed inward. That fierce sense of oppression felt as though it would grind all the Sand Shinobi into dust.

"Useless."

Rasa spoke indifferently as he slowly raised both hands. Countless grains of gold dust surged up from beneath his feet, instantly filling the split ground. Several golden tentacles stretched out from the wave of gold dust, desperately bracing against the closing walls on both sides.

Amidst the roaring vibrations...

The two began a bitter contest!

Debris constantly fell from the massive walls, and at the spots where the gold dust tentacles braced, cracks spread out like spiderwebs.

Yamato still had quite a bit of chakra remaining, allowing him to continue stalemating with Rasa, but after all this wasn't a one-man battle. He glanced back behind him.

In just a few brief breaths, under the joint slaughter of Pakura and the Sand Shinobi, his Stone Shinobi comrades were practically wiped out.

Until the last Stone Shinobi collapsed beside him, a blood-stained palm clutching tightly at his trouser leg, his pupils trembling as he stared and his Adam's apple bobbed.

"Lord Yamato, run..."

"Damn it all!"

As if something had shattered within him, a massive surge of power erupted from his body. Yamato roared toward the sky, a stream of bloody tears flowing from the corners of his eyes.

That massive wall, desperately braced by Rasa, actually trembled violently and rapidly closed inward.

"Damn it! Is he still making a dying struggle?"

Seeing that he could no longer withstand Yamato's dying counterattack, Rasa spat out a curse, leaped backward fiercely, and tried to jump out of Yamato's attack range.

"Fall back! This jutsu has massive power, don't take it head-on!"

Lacking Rasa's maintenance, the gold dust tentacles merely trembled a few times before shattering violently. The massive circular wall crashed shut, swallowing up the Sand Shinobi who hadn't managed to escape in time like a giant tomb.

The earth shook and dust filled the air.

Rasa narrowed his eyes, staring intently at Yamato's location.

"After using this jutsu, he has completely lost the ability to resist."

Being cautious, he weighed the situation and chose not to strike personally. Instead, just as the dust was about to dissipate, he looked toward a Sand Shinobi in the squad.

"Cang, go kill him!"

"Yes!"

The Sand Shinobi named Cang drew a kunai from his bosom, cautiously approaching Yamato.

As he drew closer, he indeed saw that in front of the giant hemispherical tomb, Yamato was kneeling on one side, breathing heavily and weakly, evidently having lost the capacity to fight back.

"Die!"

A ferocious glint flashed in his eyes as he fiercely thrust the kunai toward the back of Yamato's head.

A sudden change occurred!

Before the kunai in his hand could descend, goosebumps erupted all over Cang's body. A chill exploded from his tailbone, shooting straight up his spine toward the back of his head. Before he had time to make any reaction, a flash of blue light swept past, and his skull directly burst apart, brains spattering everywhere.

This tragic scene shocked everyone.

The Sand Shinobi stood frozen in place.

In the blink of an eye, they hadn't even managed to see what had happened.

After a brief blank moment, Yamato's eyes shrank. He immediately formed hand seals, mobilizing a tiny trace of newly recovered chakra to tunnel underground.

"Damn it! Don't let him escape!" Rasa's heart chilled.

The Sand Shinobi immediately reacted, dashing toward Yamato's location.

Yet...

The second arrow arrived!

The power of this arrow was even more terrifying, shooting straight into the unprepared group of Sand Shinobi.

Accompanied by the shattering of flesh and shrill screams, this arrow first pierced through the chest of one Sand Shinobi, then sliced open the abdomen of a second.

Finally, it impaled the upper thigh of a third Sand Shinobi, pinning him firmly to the ground.

A triple arrow shot!

"Who is it?!"

Rasa's pupils abruptly constricted as he roared madly.

At the very same time his roar escaped, the hairs all over his body suddenly stood on end. That terrifying chill had appeared right behind him!

A strong desire for survival forced him to halt his advancing steps, frantically mobilizing his gold dust for defense.

A blue light flashed past him, blowing the lower limbs of a nearby Sand Shinobi into dust while internal organs and intestines spilled all over the ground.

The air was dead silent, broken only by the screams of the Sand Shinobi on the ground who hadn't died instantly.

Not a single person dared to act rashly. The sound of bobbing Adam's apples swallowing saliva echoed continuously.

That intense chill still enveloped them, fearing that in the next second, the blue light of death would descend upon their own heads. They could only watch helplessly as Yamato escaped right under their noses.

Only after a long while, when the blue light still failed to appear, did they finally heave a sigh of relief.

"I... it should be gone now..."

A Sand Shinobi swallowed hard and spoke stuttering.

"I don't know." A Sand Shinobi had a terrified expression, cautiously wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Rasa dispersed the gold dust defense wrapped around him and coldly instructed, "Go investigate the situation. The enemy should have already left."

"Yes." Seeing that even Rasa had given up his defense, the remaining Sand Shinobi could only brace their scalps and walk over to investigate.

"It's a bow and arrow!"

A Sand Shinobi lifted up what he had discovered: it was a slender metal arrow with a flat shaft, slightly different from regular arrows.

A bow and arrow???

Rasa narrowed his eyes. What kind of ninjutsu could give a bow and arrow such immense power? Moreover, throughout the battle they had been observing the changes in the surroundings; there were no shinobi present within at least a one-kilometer radius.

Could the attack have been launched from outside a one-kilometer range?

How was that possible?

"Rasa, I think you need to seriously consider how to explain this to Lord Kazekage. This mission has completely failed!"

Beside him, Pakura looked at him coldly. The two of them had always been on bad terms, and if not for the Kazekage's order for Rasa to lead the team, she would never have followed his command.

Rasa's complexion was extremely ugly. Yamato had escaped, which meant the Tsuchikage would definitely learn of what they had done today. Sunagakure was likely going to suffer a heavy blow.

"Who on earth is it?" He gritted his teeth fiercely.

On a giant tree a kilometer away, Hyuga Satoru lowered the metal crossbow in his hand, the corner of his mouth curving into a slight arc.