The search mission was tedious and drawn out, like trying to fish a lost needle out of an endless sea of sand. Shaye's Squad had spent several days combing the designated B-7 area, finding nothing but weathered rocks and eternal dunes. Fatigue and a sense of hopelessness had begun to quietly spread through the team.
That day, they were searching along a dried-up ancient riverbed. Shaye's three "spider" puppets were scattered ahead and along the rocky walls on either side, like the most loyal sentries. Xu worked hard to expand her sensory range, while Lukado vigilantly watched the surrounding terrain. Captain Jing Liang's brow was tightly furrowed, a vague unease lingering in his heart. As an experienced Special Jonin, he possessed a beast-like instinct for danger.
Suddenly!
Shaye and Jing Liang's expressions changed almost simultaneously!
"Enemy attack! Northeast! Approaching at high speed!" Shaye was the first to issue a warning through the spiders' vision, his voice urgent.
"Everyone, prepare for battle! Maximum alert!" Jing Liang instantly drew the twin blades from his back and shouted sharply as Wind Release chakra began to surge.
Before his words had faded, four figures clad in Iwagakure Shinobi attire burst from behind the rocky hills at the flank like ghosts. Without any warning, they immediately struck to kill!
The leading Iwagakure Shinobi was tall and hard-faced, with eyes as sharp as an eagle's. The chakra fluctuations radiating from him were heavy and immense, carrying a suffocating pressure!
"An Elite Jonin!" Jing Liang's pupils constricted, and his heart sank instantly. An opponent of this caliber was far beyond what a Special Jonin like him could face head-on!
"Kill them! Leave none alive!" the Iwagakure Jonin ordered coldly, his hands rapidly forming seals.
Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!
His arms were instantly covered in hard rock, and with the force to shatter everything, he slammed straight at Jing Liang!
"You three handle the others!" Jing Liang roared at Shaye and the others. Not daring to slack off in the slightest, he coated his twin blades in Wind Release chakra and charged forward like a streak of green wind!
Wind Release: Gale Slash!
Clang! Clang! The sound of their head-on collision exploded instantly! Jing Liang was driven back again and again by the opponent's immense strength, his palms numb as he was completely suppressed. He could only barely hold on through speed, teetering on the brink of danger!
At the same time, the other three Iwagakure Chunin lunged forward. One immediately formed seals. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Stone Spear!" Sharp stone spears thrust up beneath Lukado's feet! Another brandished a kunai and rushed toward Xu, who appeared to be the weakest. The last tried to bypass the front line and attack Jing Liang from the flank as he struggled to hold out.
The situation became critical in an instant!
Once Jing Liang was defeated, the entire squad would face utter destruction!
"Lukado! Defend!" Shaye's voice was so calm that it did not sound like a teenager's. Both his hands moved at once, and one "spider" sprang down from the rock wall, precisely disrupting the Iwagakure Shinobi's hand seals as he performed Earth-Style: Earth Spear.
Lukado reacted at once and formed seals. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" An earthen wall rose up and blocked the kunai aimed at Xu, but he was also entangled by another Iwagakure Shinobi and dragged into a bitter fight.
Xu's face turned pale with fright, but she still did her best to throw shuriken to keep them occupied.
Shaye's mind raced as his gaze locked firmly onto the Iwagakure Jonin who was crushing Jing Liang. He had to help him! Otherwise, they would all die!
While controlling two "spiders" to nimbly harass and restrain the other two Iwagakure Chunin, easing the pressure on Lukado and Xu, he searched for that fleeting opportunity.
Jing Liang's situation worsened by the moment. His Wind Release attacks could barely break through the opponent's rock defenses, while every blow from the enemy was overwhelmingly heavy, jarring his internal organs and drawing blood from the corner of his mouth.
Now!
A sharp light flashed in Shaye's eyes! He noticed that in order to completely suppress Jing Liang, the Iwagakure Jonin had exposed an extremely brief opening at his rear flank!
Without the slightest hesitation, Shaye acted on a thought!
A "spider" puppet that had been lurking beneath the sand, remaining motionless all this time, sprang up like a venomous scorpion! It was tiny, its coloring identical to the grains of sand. Its abdomen opened, revealing a slender poison needle glinting with a ghostly blue light—his trump card, specially prepared with the powerful paralytic toxin Elder Chiyo had given him!
Whoosh!
The poison needle flew out without a sound, precisely targeting the gap in the Iwagakure Jonin's calf muscles! It was a weak point that the rock armor could not fully cover!
The Iwagakure Jonin was worthy of being an elite. At the last moment, he sensed the danger and twisted sharply to evade! But he was still a fraction too slow!
The poison needle grazed his calf, leaving behind a tiny streak of blood!
"Mm?!" The Iwagakure Jonin grunted, feeling intense numbness spread instantly from the wound. The movement of his entire leg immediately became sluggish! Though he tried to suppress the toxin with chakra at once, a trace of stiffness and distortion inevitably appeared in his movements!
For Jing Liang, in the midst of a high-speed clash, this was undoubtedly a heaven-sent opportunity!
"Good chance!" Jing Liang had no idea what had happened, but his battle instincts seized that fatal opening!
He poured all his chakra into his twin blades, his body surging forward like a whirlwind!
Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!
Several highly compressed wind blades, like Death's scythes, hacked wildly at the rock armor whose defenses had faltered under the toxin's effects during that instant of stiffness!
Crack! Boom!
The rock armor finally gave way and shattered with a deafening blast! The wind blades sliced directly into his body!
The Iwagakure Jonin's eyes widened as he stared in disbelief at the blood gushing from his body. Then he crashed to the ground, lifeless.
With their leader suddenly killed, the remaining three Iwagakure Chunin immediately fell into disarray, their morale collapsing.
"Kill them!" Jing Liang endured his injuries and launched a counterattack alongside Shaye, Lukado, and Xu. Having lost their backbone, the remaining Iwagakure Shinobi were quickly defeated one by one.
The battle ended, and the desert returned to its deathly silence, leaving only several cold corpses and the thick stench of blood.
Leaning on his blades, Jing Liang gasped heavily as he looked at Shaye. His gaze was incredibly complicated, filled with lingering fear, shock, and immense relief. He knew very well that without Shaye's miraculous, perfectly timed sneak attack, their squad would have been wiped out today.
"Shaye... you..." He wanted to say something, but in the end, he only said heavily, "Well done!"
Shaye nodded calmly and walked over to retrieve the poison-needle "spider" that had rendered such great service, but there was little joy in his heart. This was only one glimpse of war's cruelty. They had survived, but greater dangers still lay ahead.
(End of Chapter)
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