Perilous Escape

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Hinata Tianyi jolted upright in bed, instantly awakened by the explosions.

"Enemy attack!!!" An alarm rang out from outside the tent!

The medical camp was under attack?! Tianyi's heart sank.

How had the enemy located and attacked the relatively weakly defended medical area so precisely?

And judging by the commotion, this was no small infiltration force—it was a planned surprise assault!

He had no time to ponder the suspicious circumstances. He rapidly formed hand seals and shouted, "Byakugan, activate!"

The veins around his eyes bulged as his vision turned into a black-and-white world of X-ray sight.

The tent's barriers instantly vanished from his view, and the battle outside became clear.

Countless enemies clad in the dark uniforms of the Hidden Rain Village moved between the barracks like ghosts, slaughtering everyone in their path.

Leaf Village guards fought desperately, but they had clearly been caught off guard, their formation scattered to pieces by the assault.

Chakra lights constantly winked out amid the clashes.

"Damn it! Something's wrong!" Tianyi gritted his teeth, but this was not the time to investigate.

Staying alive was the top priority! At this rate, it was only a matter of time before the camp's defenses collapsed.

He quickly checked himself. He had his flak vest on, with grenades, Kunai, smoke bombs, and bandages in his waist pouch.

Then his gaze instinctively swept toward where Mitarai Aoi should have been.

The tent where she was on night duty lay farther back in the medical area.

Within his Byakugan's field of vision, he saw two distinctly hostile chakra lights pinning her down, one in front and one behind.

Aoi was trying to shake them off and move toward a safer area, but the two enemies coordinated flawlessly.

Their attacks did not aim to kill her immediately, yet they clung to her like leeches, clearly trying to delay her.

They were probably waiting for a stronger nearby Chunin to take over!

Should he abandon her and flee alone?!

"But she saved me..." Her calm, focused face from last night flashed through his mind.

Her slightly cool fingers as she checked his temperature, along with her words, "Your task is to recover as quickly as possible."

Tianyi's heart clenched painfully.

If he immediately fled toward the edge of the camp amid the chaos, his chances of survival might be greatest, but...

I can't just stand by and watch her die! Besides, if the medical unit gets singled out for slaughter...

We scattered wounded will be next! And without someone familiar with the area to lead me, escaping won't be safe either.

After a moment of struggle, he made up his mind. He had received nine years of compulsory education.

He was no saint, but both basic morality and reason told him—

Helping Mitarai Aoi escape might give him a better chance of survival, as well as someone who understood the camp's situation.

There were two Genin, and they intended to stall him. A frontal attack? He was injured and low on chakra.

Rushing in alone to fight two opponents was far too risky.

Should he use a grenade? The thought flashed through his mind, then was immediately dismissed.

"No, no, no. That's my trump card, and it'd make too much noise.

Using it in this chaos could cause friendly fire, and it could easily draw even more enemy attention.

I have to save it for the most critical moment, to keep myself alive."

What was his advantage? The Byakugan! Unmatched perception, so...

Then I'll blind them first!!

His thoughts clear, he swiftly pulled a smoke bomb from the corner of his ninja tool pouch.

He took a deep breath, spun the Kunai in his right hand, and quickly tied the smoke bomb to its handle with the loose end of a bandage.

Then he quietly approached Mitarai Aoi.

His Byakugan remained locked onto the two enemies fighting her as he calculated the angle and distance.

Now!

With a forceful swing of his arm, he hurled the Kunai with the smoke bomb—not at the enemies' bodies.

Instead, he sent it precisely toward an empty patch of ground behind and to the side of their fight with Aoi!

"Hidden weapon!" One Hidden Rain Village Genin noticed the whistling projectile and instinctively swung his Kunai to block it.

Clang! The Kunai was knocked away, but the smoke bomb tied to it was struck as well and instantly detonated!

Pfft—!

Thick smoke erupted and rapidly spread, completely shrouding Aoi and the two enemies!

"Watch out for the smoke! It's cover! She might be trying to escape!" The two enemies immediately stood back-to-back in the smoke, alert.

With their vision obstructed, their movements inevitably stalled.

This was the moment!

"Clone Technique!" Tianyi shouted, creating a chakra phantom.

Without hesitation, the clone rushed into the smoke from the side, deliberately making hurried footsteps and ragged breathing.

"Over there!" The enemies in the smoke were indeed drawn in by the clone and instinctively turned toward where it had charged.

Meanwhile, Tianyi's real body regarded the smoke as if it did not exist under the Byakugan's vision!

He silently circled behind the two enemies. Drawn in by the clone, they had left their backs completely exposed!

He was close enough! Tianyi raised both palms and rapidly gathered chakra in them!

Gentle Fist: Vacuum Palm!

He struck through the air! Two invisible yet solid chakra shockwaves burst from his palms.

Under his precise guidance, they split apart and struck the vital points in the two enemies' backs!

"Urgh!"

"Argh!"

Two muffled groans sounded almost simultaneously as the two Hidden Rain Village Genin took the heavy blows and lurched forward.

Blood sprayed from their mouths, their chakra instantly thrown into disarray. They lost all combat ability and collapsed weakly to the ground.

The wind scattered some of the smoke, revealing Mitarai Aoi standing in a tense defensive stance.

A Chakra Scalpel had already formed at her fingertips.

When she saw the enemies suddenly collapse and Tianyi slowly emerge from the other side of the smoke, she visibly froze.

She swiftly glanced at the obvious chakra bruises on the fallen enemies' backs, marks left by a ranged Gentle Fist strike.

Then she looked at the still-fading veins around Tianyi's Byakugan and immediately understood everything that had just happened.

"...It was you!" Mitarai Aoi's voice remained steady, but a trace of gratitude flashed through her light brown eyes.

"Thank you."

Without wasting words, she immediately crouched to inspect the two immobilized enemies.

She swiftly used her Chakra Scalpel to sever the tendons in their hands and feet, preparing to finish them off directly.

Tianyi acted first, driving a Kunai through each of their throats.

It was not because he enjoyed killing; he mainly wanted to test the matter of skill points.

After seeing Tianyi kill them both, she turned to him, nodded, and spoke faster.

"Your arm's all right?"

"We can't hold this place. The enemy must have an insider. Their targets are the medical unit and the wounded.

"We have to break through toward the main camp immediately. Defenses are stronger there. Follow me and watch the flank!"

Tianyi nodded, suppressing the waves of pain from his left shoulder after exerting himself, and tightened his grip on his Kunai.

"Understood, Sister Aoi."

The two swiftly exchanged a look. Mitarai Aoi took the lead, while Tianyi used his Byakugan to keep watch and cover their rear.

One ahead and one behind, they melted into the chaotic night and firelight, retreating toward the main camp, where the cries of battle were thickest—

and where the Leaf Village's core forces were stationed.