Time Domain... Onefold Speed!

"Fine!" After thinking it over briefly and realizing Samu Kokaze could afford it, Choji gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement.

Samu Kokaze, the subject of their discussion, was gazing faintly at the prepared group. He glanced toward a tree by the shore, clenched the slightly melted snowball in his hand, and walked toward the bank.

He raised his eyes to glance at the positions of the two Anbu, then lowered his eyelids.

"Since you useless fools couldn't even be bothered to search after I reminded you, then! I'll personally force him to reveal himself. But if any of you end up dead or injured, don't blame me for being ruthless."

He sidestepped the snowball Ino tossed at him with a sweet laugh. Looking at Choji, who was closest to the target's location, he suddenly threw the tightly packed snowball in his hand toward the upper branches of a tree beside Choji.

The ninja lying on the tree, concealing his presence, watched the snowball race toward him and immediately changed expression. Dodging it would have been easy, but if he made any movement, the ninja on the tree ahead would instantly discover his hiding place.

But he could not ignore it either. If the snowball struck him, it would definitely make a different sound and expose him just the same.

He had never expected such a simple mission to go wrong. And if even one person here escaped, once his identity in Konoha was exposed, he would surely die without a burial place.

Thinking of this, a vicious glint flashed through the dark-faced man's eyes as he looked down at the crowd. His hand moved slightly, and a black kunai without the slightest reflection sprang from his sleeve. Killing intent flashed through his eyes as he looked at the ninja in the tree before him.

Whoosh...

With the sound of something slicing through the air, the middle-aged ninja who had just been in the tree vanished instantly. The speeding snowball struck where he had been, making a muffled puff.

The Anbu guarding Naruto twitched his ears at the sound, but before he could react, a pitch-black blade slashed toward his neck.

The Anbu's eyes filled with shock at the incoming blade. But it was too close; there was no time to form hand seals and cast a ninjutsu. He could only barely raise an arm to block the weapon.

Slash...

The sound of a weapon piercing flesh rang out. The raised arm offered no resistance to the specially made kunai. The attacked Anbu only had time to let out a scream before clutching his neck and falling from the tree.

Samu Kokaze had been prepared from the instant he threw the snowball. When the other party attacked, panic deliberately appeared on his face, and he ran over to yank Choji, the closest person to the attacker, away.

Before Choji could ask anything, a shrill scream came from the tree, followed by a dull thud on the ground. Looking at the corpse with a severed hand, wide-open eyes, and an unwilling expression sprawled on the ground, Choji's plump body trembled slightly.

"How... how could this happen?!" Looking at the corpse that had suddenly appeared, Choji, who had been dragged away, felt his throat go dry, as though it were filled with sand.

"Shikamaru! Naruto! Protect Ino and Sakura!" Ignoring Choji's question, Samu Kokaze shouted a warning toward the others the moment the corpse fell.

At the same time, his arm shook slightly, and a finger-length carving knife shot out from his sleeve. He adopted a defensive stance and stared tensely at the tree across from him.

Whoosh...

Before the still-dazed group could respond, a black figure abruptly appeared before them. His expression could not be seen beneath his mask. He looked down at the corpse on the ground, anger flashing through his eyes, then said in a low voice to Samu Kokaze, the only one still relatively calm behind him, "Take them and leave. I'll hold him off here!"

Samu Kokaze gave the Anbu a deep look, nodded, and dragged the stunned Choji toward Naruto and the others.

"Move!" Samu Kokaze growled at the frozen group.

"Whew..." Startled awake by the shout, Shikamaru let out a long breath. His expression was complicated as he looked at the corpse on the ground. Without wasting words, he grabbed Ino and Sakura, whose bodies were stiff and trembling, and ran back the way they had come.

As Samu Kokaze ran forward, he saw Naruto still standing there blankly without moving. His brow tightened, and he shouted, "Get moving! What are you waiting for?!"

Naruto looked nervous as he stared at the two people confronting one another ahead. "I... I... I want to fight alongside him!"

Hearing that, even Samu Kokaze's composure could not stop him from drawing a sharp breath in anger. Suppressing the urge to beat Naruto senseless, he grabbed Naruto's hand and ran forward.

"Can that person hold him off?" Choji asked after running a few steps while being pulled along, having recovered some of his senses.

"He can't. But holding him back for a while shouldn't be a problem." Samu Kokaze answered without looking back as he ran.

"Why?" Choji could not help asking.

"Look ahead yourself," Samu Kokaze said in a low voice.

"What?" Choji's pupils suddenly contracted at those words. His body shook as he saw a figure appear ahead.

Letting go of Choji and Naruto's hands, Samu Kokaze looked at Shikamaru and the others, who had stopped ahead, walked over, and asked, "What's the strongest ninjutsu you can use right now?"

"Heh!" Shikamaru, who usually acted as though nothing mattered, had cold sweat on his forehead now. The biting wind made him shudder. "None of the ninjutsu I know would have any effect on him."

"Whew..." Samu Kokaze exhaled softly, rubbed his aching head, and muttered, "Good thing I didn't count your strength in."

"What did you say?" Shikamaru had not heard clearly and could not help asking.

"Nothing!" Samu Kokaze shook his head, his expression grave as he looked at the figure standing ahead.

He strode forward and stopped about five meters away. Looking at the man's dark face, he said in a deep voice, "I'm your target, right? Let them go. If you really kill everyone here, do you think you can escape Konoha's pursuit?"

"Feng!"

Hearing Samu Kokaze's words, everyone behind him cried out. Naruto, who had been trembling in fear, looked furious. If Shikamaru had not grabbed him, he would have already rushed forward.

A teasing glint flashed through the middle-aged ninja's eyes as he looked at the small figure before him. "What made you think you're my target?"

"So you intend to keep all of us here." Samu Kokaze sighed softly. Seeing the mockery in the man's eyes, he understood the man's intentions. All the Nanobugs in his body began flowing at high speed, silver light flashing repeatedly in his eyes as he said calmly, "Time Domain, Onefold Speed."

As the words fell, the Nanobugs in Samu Kokaze's body began modifying him internally.

Time slowed in his eyes, while his own speed remained as usual. Feeling the energy in his body draining rapidly, he frowned slightly. "Three minutes? That's enough."

Whoosh...

A sharp sound tore through the air. The small figure vanished instantly, and the carving knife in his right hand slashed toward the neck of the middle-aged ninja, who was stunned by his sudden burst of speed.

Time Domain was an ability Samu Kokaze had developed himself using the Nano Core. The inspiration came from an anime in his previous life about fighting over the Holy Grail. But unlike the time acceleration achieved through magecraft in that anime, Time Domain primarily relied on the Nanobugs' computational power and the strengthening of key parts of his body to extend the time he perceived.

Since obtaining the Nano Core, he had trained with his self-created Nano Training Method. By now, his physical strength was not much weaker than Rock Lee's had been when Rock Lee had just graduated from Ninja Academy.

And through the Nanobugs' complete control over his body, Samu Kokaze could fully unleash every bit of strength within it, reaching the state Rock Lee achieved after opening the first gate.

Possessing such a powerful body, Samu Kokaze naturally did not want his strength to have any shortcomings. If his talent for ninjutsu were rated a ten, then his talent for taijutsu was no worse. But taijutsu training could not be mastered as quickly as ninjutsu.

"Time Domain!"

It was an ability Samu Kokaze had developed to instantly increase his taijutsu, much like the Eight Gates Formation Guy's father had developed.

But compared to the Eight Gates Formation's side effects, Time Domain was far superior.

Only the first three gates of the Eight Gates Formation were safe. Opening the fourth gate would cause permanent damage to the body. Time Domain was different. When activated, apart from requiring more Nanobugs and higher-quality energy at greater multipliers, it had no other restrictions and would not harm the body.

With the number of Nanobugs currently in Samu Kokaze's body, he could activate the Twofold Time Domain at most. But because all his chakra was being supplied to the Nanobugs, he could only activate the Onefold Time Domain for three minutes. The low-grade bodily energy within him simply could not support activating the Twofold Time Domain.