With a dull thud.
The sound of a Sunagakure ninja hitting the ground was not particularly loud amid the chaotic battlefield.
Yet at that moment, in that particular corner, it seemed exceptionally piercing.
For an instant, the Kong around them froze. The few Sunagakure elites who had been carrying out a one-sided slaughter all stopped at once.
They turned toward the Hidden Leaf genin sitting on the ground, his face covered in blood. The corpse beside him was still spurting hot blood, its death gruesome.
In mid-Kong, Rasa, standing atop a Gold Dust Disc, lowered his head slightly. His gaze passed over the wrecked supply carts and locked precisely onto Qian Ye.
No one had expected such a turn of events. A civilian genin with no presence to speak of, whose Chakra fluctuations were pitifully weak.
Yet in an instant, he had erupted with such bizarre speed. Not only had he dodged a fatal blow, but he had also casually killed a Sunagakure chunin in one strike.
It defied all reason. The surviving Hidden Leaf genin were dumbfounded, forgetting even to run.
Less than ten meters from Qian Ye, Jiro was being forced back again and again by two Sunagakure ninjas.
Blood continued to seep from the wound in his thigh, and he had barely any Chakra left.
Jiro had already prepared himself to die in battle.
But when he caught a glimpse of Qian Ye's counterattack from the corner of his eye, a fanatical light suddenly burst from his ash-gray eyes.
Jiro rapidly assessed the hopeless situation before him.
The supplies were definitely lost, and the annihilation of this transport squad was only a matter of time.
But the intelligence had to get out! The Kikyo Pass front line had to know that the supply route had been cut off by Sunagakure elites.
If this news did not reach No. 3 Outpost, the main Hidden Leaf force at the front would keep foolishly waiting for supplies.
When the defensive line collapsed, it would not be just dozens of people dying. Looking at the explosive speed Qian Ye had displayed, Jiro made his decision.
This cannon-fodder genin he had always despised was now the only person in the entire squad who had a chance of escaping alive!
As long as Qian Ye could get away, Konoha could respond in advance. That was the only value this squad could still create.
"Get lost!" Jiro let out a furious roar.
Ignoring the bone-deep wound in his thigh, he forcibly squeezed out the last bit of Chakra in his body. His hand seals were even faster than his usual limit.
His fingers exerted so much force that his joints cracked. The instant he completed the seals, Jiro's face turned deathly pale.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
This Great Fireball Technique was larger than any he had unleashed before.
The scorching flames glowed an almost blinding yellow, carrying savage heat. The surrounding Kong heated up, and the distorted field of vision was filled with rolling waves of fire.
The two Sunagakure ninjas besieging Jiro were startled by his suicidal momentum and hurriedly leaped back to evade it.
The massive sea of flames forcibly burned a gap through the airtight encirclement. The gap led directly toward Konoha's Third Outpost.
Jiro turned around, veins bulging in his neck, and roared at Qian Ye with bloodshot eyes.
"Run! Forget the supplies! Run through the gap to the outpost!"
"Take the intelligence back! Get the hell out of here!"
Jiro had already shouted his voice hoarse, blood frothing from his mouth.
Qian Ye sat sprawled in the mud, looking at the man drenched in blood. Jiro had not chosen to flee through the gap himself.
Instead, he used his battered body to block the front of the gap, stopping the Sunagakure ninjas who wanted to pursue.
Qian Ye was deeply shaken.
Jiro was truly using his life to live up to what he had said before.
The mission came before everything else. For the greater good, he was willing to sacrifice himself without the slightest hesitation.
Looking at Jiro's blood-soaked figure, not a single thought of living and dying alongside him crossed Qian Ye's mind.
What a joke. He was just a fragile office worker who had only recently transmigrated here.
That hot-blooded anime nonsense about weeping and insisting on staying behind to die with one's companions simply did not work on him.
"Captain Jiro, rest easy! I guarantee I'll get the intelligence there!"
Qian Ye howled at the top of his lungs, turned, and bolted.
There was not the slightest hesitation. His movements were so clean and decisive that they made one's heart ache.
He put every ounce of strength into it, Chakra flooding desperately into his legs.
Dull booms burst across the muddy ground. Qian Ye became a blur and shot straight into the gap Jiro had burned open with the Great Fireball Technique.
Watching Qian Ye flee, Jiro pulled a grim smile.
That kid really ran fucking fast.
At least the front line still had a chance.
Jiro turned back, holding his kunai across his chest as he stared at the charging Sunagakure ninjas.
"Come on, you Land of Wind scum!"
Jiro's furious roar sounded behind him, followed by the shrill clash of weapons and screams.
Qian Ye did not dare look back.
He was afraid that if he did, the courage he had painstakingly built up to flee would drain away completely.
The wind howled past his ears, while the trees on either side rushed backward.
Branches tore his clothes and left several bloody cuts across his face.
But he could not spare any attention for that. It was as if even his sense of pain had been shut off.
There was only one thought in Qian Ye's mind now: run.
The farther, the better. Ideally, he wanted to run straight back to a warm bed in Konoha.
But he knew that was impossible. No. 3 Outpost was his only path to survival right now.
In mid-Kong, Rasa stood on his Gold Dust Disc and sneered as he watched Qian Ye flee.
"Trying to run? Are Hidden Leaf genin all this naive now?"
Rasa raised a hand, and several strands of Gold Dust transformed into sharp senbon that shot toward Qian Ye's back.
Though Qian Ye was sprinting wildly, every hair on his back suddenly stood on end.
It was instinctive danger sense. Without even thinking, he dove forward.
With several sharp whistles, the Gold Dust senbon skimmed past his scalp and slammed viciously into the tree trunks ahead.
Wood chips flew everywhere, and several clean holes were punched through the trunks.
Qian Ye's heart pounded as he scrambled to his feet and kept running.
Was Rasa fucking insane? Why was a rising star of Sunagakure targeting a mere genin like me?!
Go fight Jiro! Go seize the supplies!
"Go after him. Don't let him reach the outpost alive."
Rasa issued the order to a Sunagakure elite below.
He did not personally pursue a genin. The most important thing now was confirming that this batch of Explosive Tags was destroyed and could not reach the Hidden Leaf front line.
Since his earlier strike had missed, he could not be bothered to waste more time.
Upon receiving the order, the Sunagakure elite immediately turned into a black shadow and chased after Qian Ye.
Qian Ye raced through the forest, his legs beginning to ache from the excessive use of Chakra.
This brutal method of using Chakra had made his thigh muscles start protesting.
As he ran, he called out to the Cross-Border Mutual Aid Group in his mind.
[Qian Ye]: "Old Zhao! Old Zhao! Help! Your son is about to get hacked to death!"
[Qian Ye]: "See if you've got anything over there that can save my life!"
The chat window was silent for two seconds before Zhao Hai's message popped up.
[Zhao Hai]: "Holy shit? Weren't you delivering supplies? How did you start fighting so fast?"
[Zhao Hai]: "I just finished my work using Chakra and got temporarily called over to move weapons crates. Captain Nezumi is still checking the accounts right beside me!"
[Zhao Hai]: "But I can get my hands on way more things now than I could this morning!"
[Qian Ye]: "Cut the crap! A Sunagakure elite is chasing me, and I'm almost out of Chakra!"
[Qian Ye]: "If you don't think of something, you'll be burning paper offerings for me this time next year!"
[Zhao Hai]: "Hang in there! I'll look!"
[Zhao Hai]: "Give me one minute!"
Before you continue