Sand Ninja Attack

At dusk, the city lights had just begun to glow.

Sōji returned from outside the city with Hotaru. The moment they reached the inn's entrance, he sensed something was wrong.

The Six Eyes lifted a corner of the black cloth and swept across the entire street.

A man crouched on the rooftop opposite the inn, wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector and a gray robe, with a ninja tool pouch hanging from his waist.

His presence was steady, his breathing even, like an owl perched in a tree.

And... there was more than one.

Sōji's gaze continued onward. At the corner grocery store stood an old man pretending to buy water.

In the shadows deep within the alley was someone leaning against a wall, while in the inn's backyard, two ninja were inspecting sealing scrolls...

Ten people.

Sōji recognized them. Four of them were the patrol squad that had questioned him on the Gobi that night—not one was missing.

He lowered the black cloth, his expression unchanged.

"Hotaru."

"Yeah?"

"Go back to the room first and pack our things."

Hotaru froze for a moment. But when she saw Sōji's expression, she asked nothing and obediently ran upstairs.

Sōji remained where he was, Ugly Treasure coiled around his waist. Both of them looked toward the rooftop across the street.

"Come out!"

The Sunagakure captain glanced around, then leaped down from the roof and landed lightly five steps in front of Sōji.

"Traveler, we meet again!"

His voice was low, carrying the distinctive rasp of the Land of Wind. "Where did that girl beside you come from?"

Faced with the interrogation, Sōji stood casually and replied calmly, "Found her on the road. Is there a problem?"

The Sand ninja narrowed his eyes, a flicker of anger flashing through them. "I don't care where you're from, ninja, but do you know who she is?"

"Just a lost child." Sōji smiled faintly.

"She is from the Tsuchigumo Clan. The Tsuchigumo Clan has already issued search missions in both Konoha and Sunagakure. I had no wish to come into conflict with you."

He paused, lowering his voice. "But now... Lord Kazekage is very interested in that forbidden technique."

Sōji looked at him, his expression calm. "So?"

"Hand that girl over to us, and you'll receive a generous reward. Unless you wish to make an enemy of all Sunagakure."

Sōji said nothing. He merely gave a contemptuous smile, faint as the wind over the Gobi, gone with a single gust.

"Traveler, I can tell you're strong, but..."

As he spoke, he raised a hand and pointed around them.

From the corner grocery store, the depths of the alley, and the inn's backyard, figures emerged from the shadows.

"These are all elite Hidden Sand ANBU. How many do you think you can hold off?"

The Sand ninja's tone carried the confidence and arrogance of a great nation's ninja. The way he looked at Yamada Soji was as if he were looking at fish on a chopping block.

Sōji ignored him. With a single sweep of his eyes, he took in every movement of the Sand ninja present.

There were ten people. Aside from the four-man patrol squad, the other six wore masks, and each possessed chakra at the level of a Jonin.

Yet in the next second, without a word of nonsense, Sōji moved first.

Whoosh—

The ground cracked and the air shrieked. Sōji vanished from where he stood, leaving only an afterimage behind.

At that moment, the Six Eyes beneath the black cloth opened fully. Azure points of light shone in his eyes like stars, and the entire world became crystal clear within his vision.

Four directions, ten targets—the flow of chakra, the paths of their meridians, the contraction of their muscles, the rhythm of their breathing. Everything was as clear as if it had been written on paper.

The first target was the corner grocery store.

Sōji's body carved an arc through the air, evading the kunai instinctively thrown by the leading Jonin.

His toes tapped against the wall, and he shot toward the ANBU disguised as an old man buying water like an arrow loosed from a bowstring.

That ANBU reacted quickly as well.

As he released his Transformation Technique, his body had already swept backward two meters, his hands coming together before his chest.

"Earth Style..."

Unfortunately, it was too late.

Sōji formed a hand seal for a Body Flicker and instantly appeared before him. He kicked off the ground, twisted his waist and hips, and drove a fist into the ANBU's hastily crossed arms.

Crack—

The sound of splintering bone exploded across the silent street, crisp as a dry branch snapping.

At the same time, the ANBU's body was struck as though by a battering ram. His feet left the ground, and he flew away like a kite with its string cut.

Boom—

The adobe wall crumbled into dust. The old man's body kept flying, smashing through a second wall, then a third, before disappearing amid a cloud of dust and shattered bricks.

"Move together!"

Seeing this, the ANBU leader was both shocked and enraged, immediately shouting at the top of his lungs.

After dealing with the first man, Sōji did not pause. The Six Eyes caught the movement behind him in an instant, and he flipped aside to evade a rain of kunai.

Then he darted into a nearby dark alley. At the same time, his right hand pulled a thumb-thick length of chain from Ugly Treasure's mouth.

The triangular iron spike at its end resembled a venomous snake's head, gleaming with cold light. With a forceful flick of his wrist, the chain slithered along the ground into the shadows at the end of the alley.

Inside the alley, two ANBU were rushing out one behind the other.

The one in front had already completed his hand seals. His chest swelled as he prepared to unleash a blast toward Sōji.

"Wind Style..."

At that very instant, the chain wrapped around his ankle like a hunting python.

Hook, lock, pull—the Sand ninja instantly lost his balance. His hand seals were torn apart, and the chakra in his mouth was interrupted before it could become a ninjutsu.

"Arghhh..."

The next moment, he was dragged screaming to Sōji's side, the back of his head striking the stone pavement with a dull thud.

Without the slightest hesitation, Sōji stomped apart his heart meridians just as more than ten kunai flew toward him.

Swish, swish, swish—

The remaining ninja in the alley was clearly highly skilled at throwing kunai. The blades formed a net that sealed off Sōji's avenues of escape.

Earth Style: Earth-Style Wall!

Sōji rapidly formed hand seals, then bent down and slapped the ground. A solid earthen wall three meters high rose from the earth.

Sōji did not linger, immediately leaping backward to widen the distance. The next second, several cold flashes sliced through the earthen wall.

A Hidden Sand ANBU appeared before Sōji with a short blade in hand. Wild wind condensed around the blade, producing a piercing shriek like a snake's hiss.

"Fine blade!"

Sōji chuckled in praise. It was forged entirely from chakra metal and was probably worth quite a bit.

"Its name is Snakebite!"

The ANBU cooperatively revealed the name of his short blade. Knowing he was no match for Sōji alone, he flickered backward before his words had even faded.

Unfortunately, he was already dead.

Just as the ANBU attempted to retreat and wait for the others to regroup, Sōji raised his right hand and made a finger-gun gesture.

Bang—

The next instant, a bone bullet wrapped in Cursed Energy and chakra pierced through the ANBU's forehead.

With Sōji's current control over the Shikotsumyaku, he needed only a tenth of a blink to fire the Ten-Finger Bullet Barrage through any prey within five meters of him.

With a flicker, Sōji arrived beside the dead-eyed ANBU's corpse. In high spirits, he bent down and picked up the short blade named Snakebite.

Less than a minute had passed since Yamada Soji had suddenly begun killing, yet three Hidden Sand ANBU had already met their bitter end.