Mission Failed?

Aoba was almost certain that if Kumogakure knew he was in the squad, they would charge over without a moment's hesitation. Even the mission objective to destroy the supplies might not rank higher than killing him.

And he had no doubt that Danzo, that bastard, might well have leaked his whereabouts to the enemy.

Therefore, from the moment he left Konoha, Aoba entered a state of high alert. This left Anko beside him deeply confused.

"I have to say, Aoba, you're being way too dramatic. We've only been out of Konoha for a day. No matter how formidable Kumogakure is, there's no way they'll ambush us in the heartland of the Land of Fire. Relax a little, will you?"

However, what Anko failed to notice was that Aoba's expression had already begun to turn exceptionally solemn.

He turned to face Anko, then pulled out a metal cylinder the size of a syringe.

"This is a recovery potion I made. It can rapidly heal external injuries and restore a portion of stamina, and it has zero side effects. If you get heavily injured later, remember to drink it right away."

"That's amazing, I didn't even know you had this trick up your sleeve. Wait, what do you mean by getting heavily injured later?"

"Literally. They're already here."

As Aoba spoke, he directly drew the Kusanagi Sword from his back. This sword made Anko's gaze shift slightly. She was far too familiar with this weapon because it was her teacher Orochimaru's signature sword.

Right then, however, there was no time to discuss the matter, for Anko too noticed the wrongness in the surroundings.

"Stay alert! Enemy attack!"

She shouted at the top of her lungs. The next second, countless kunai and shuriken flew in from all directions.

Thanks to Anko's warning, most of the Konoha ninja managed to put up defenses. A few Earth Release ninjutsu blocked the majority of the incoming attacks.

Following right after, though, were the figures of over a hundred Kumogakure ninja.

Furthermore, those Kumogakure ninja at the very front had clear flashes of lightning flickering across their bodies. They were nintaijutsu users who had practiced Kumogakure's unique secret art, the Lightning Release Body Tempering Technique.

Kumogakure's nintaijutsu differed somewhat from Aoba's Wind Release Nintaijutsu. They used lightning to reinforce themselves, boosting their speed, strength, and resistance to damage.

It literally turned a group of high-agility assassins into heavily armored warriors. This also caused most ninja to feel entirely at a loss when facing these Kumogakure forces.

Faced with the overwhelming onslaught, Aoba stood completely motionless in the spot. A swirling vortex of wind that refused to disperse surrounded his entire body. Every single kunai and shuriken had its trajectory altered by the vortex the moment it drew within a meter of his front.

The entire scene looked as though all attacks were simply bypassing him, giving off a silent, eerie vibe.

All the attackers formed up for the assault and charged at the supply squad.

Among them, three ninjas with the most prominent lightning on their bodies locked their targets onto Aoba immediately.

Nearly all of Aoba's speculations had come true. Not only were they bait, but he was the most crucial piece of bait among them.

The problem now was when Konoha's reinforcements would arrive. After all, since they were bait, reinforcements ought to exist. Hopefully, those reinforcements wouldn't show up only after everyone was dead.

Aoba swung his blade horizontally. A Vacuum Flash sliced through the air. Yet the ninja at the very front actually raised his arm and directly blocked the strike.

Aoba noticed that the man wore a special metal bracer on his arm, which seemed designed specifically to counter this move of his.

The Vacuum Flash was blocked, and the next second, the three ninjas accelerated by Lightning Release had already closed in right in front of Aoba.

Aoba could even see the triumphant look on the face of the leading ninja. At this close range, engaging in close combat with a Kumogakure ninja reinforced by Lightning Release was an extremely disadvantageous situation, and the opponent fully believed he had already been cooked.

The three incoming ninjas were at least at the Special Jonin level. With the three of them joining forces and engaging in close-quarters combat, even an elite Jonin from Konoha might not be able to hold out.

Instead of retreating, Aoba advanced, thrusting the Kusanagi Sword straight at the opponent's throat.

With a clang, the enemy actually used the metal gauntlet on his hand to grab the blade directly, preventing the Kusanagi Sword from pushing forward.

"Die!" shouted the Cloud Shinobi. His other hand, flashing with lightning, stabbed straight at Aoba's chest. The other two Cloud Shinobi also sealed off Aoba's paths of survival from other angles.

At that moment, however, the corners of Aoba's mouth twitched slightly. The blade of the Kusanagi Sword suddenly extended, piercing straight through the opponent's throat.

Following closely, Aoba twisted the Kusanagi Sword, instantly shredding the man's throat, and then pressed further forward, crashing right into his embrace.

He killed one person in a single stroke while simultaneously dodging the blockade of the other two. The two opponents moved extremely fast; failing to land their first hit, they showed no intention of retreating and lunged forward once more, eager to seize the initiative, because the threat posed by the Kusanagi Sword in Aoba's hand was simply too massive.

Fast as they were, though, Aoba was no slower. The extended blade slashed out again. The ninja on the right tried to block with his bracer, but the moment he raised his hand, he realized there was no sensation of clashing steel.

Instead, he saw the Kusanagi Sword in Aoba's hand suddenly retract to dodge his bracer, then extend again to repeat the exact same trick, piercing straight through his throat.

Afterward, Aoba whirled around and sliced open the final Cloud Shinobi's throat with a single sword stroke. The enemy failed to react in time because at that very moment, swarms of snakes had him entangled.

Aoba had already seen Anko providing support from the side out of the corner of his eye, which was why he dared to deal with the enemy on the right with peace of mind.

The entire exchange added up to no more than ten seconds or so. All three Special Jonin-level Cloud Shinobi were already dead at Aoba's hands.

Fights between conventional ninja were always like this; life and death often boiled down to a single split second.

Only, right after killing the three of them, Anko collapsed directly to her knees before Aoba. She then pulled out the potion Aoba had given her and drank it straight down.

At that point, Aoba noticed a massive wound on her abdomen. It looked as though someone had blown her belly open with a single punch, and her intestines were practically spilling out.

Yet such a severe injury rapidly healed under the effects of the Life Potion. In less than ten seconds, the wound vanished completely without a trace.

Anko found it somewhat unbelievable herself. She touched her belly and spoke with lingering disbelief.

"Aoba, this potion of yours is simply..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the two of them plunged into a fierce battle once more. There were far more enemies than imagined. At least a hundred Cloud Shinobi participated in this raid.

Their strength was at least Chunin level, forming an absolute elite force.

Anko's expression turned somewhat unsightly as she fell into the bitter struggle.

"How is this possible? To encounter so many enemies in this location... Aoba, our mission is likely going to fail."

"No, actually, we've completed the mission quite brilliantly. In fact, I feel like we've completed it a bit too well."