Please Believe Me

"What is this?"

Kirito looked at the four Anbu ninja who had suddenly appeared before him. He did not panic, only asked in confusion.

"May I ask, Mr. Kirito, which one here is your real body?"

A female Anbu ninja wearing a Cat Mask immediately asked in return.

"So that's it."

Hearing the question, Kirito immediately understood.

Clearly, these Anbu ninja who had been secretly following him all along had no intention of splitting up to protect his Shadow Clones.

He answered generously, "It's me. I'll be going to work at the Medical Unit later, so naturally I need my real body."

The four Anbu silently watched Kirito, choosing not to let him and his Shadow Clones leave.

These Anbu are quite cautious in how they operate. Good. With them following me, my safety will be well protected.

Rather than getting angry when the four Anbu failed to believe him, Kirito was pleased.

However, he did not foolishly use some Chakra-intensive jutsu just to prove that he was the real body.

Someone who wanted him dead had their eyes on him right now, and after using the Shadow Clone Jutsu to create three Shadow Clones, he did not have much Chakra left. He could not waste any more and let his Chakra fall into a dangerous range. Thus, he said coolly, "Believe it or not."

With that, he continued forward, while the three Shadow Clones began heading off in separate directions.

Seeing this, the four Anbu looked at one another, unsure of what to do for the moment.

Their orders were to track and protect Kirito. They had not been ordered to make a move against him.

It was not until a Kunai suddenly landed at the feet of Kirito's real body that the four Anbu reacted, immediately moving to stop Kirito and his three Shadow Clones.

But just as they tried to move, they discovered that they could not.

Only then did they realize in horror that a complex Sealing Formation had suddenly appeared beneath their feet. They could only watch helplessly as Kirito's three Shadow Clones swiftly knocked them unconscious.

Sealing Jutsu: Double Lantern Array.

Completed in one second.

"Please don't use force against me. I understand why you're following me, and I know I'm not safe right now, so I'll cooperate with you. In return, please believe me as well. This is my real body."

Kirito's real body raised his head and spoke to a white-haired Anbu ninja in a tree ahead.

This Anbu ninja was the one who had just thrown the Kunai at Kirito's feet.

Judging from the amount of Chakra in the other man's body, Kirito sensed that he was probably a Jonin.

"Sorry, it was necessary for the mission. But from now on, we'll believe you."

The white-haired Anbu ninja spoke politely after hearing Kirito's words.

He had no choice but to be polite. He had originally underestimated Kirito because he was only an eight-year-old child, but the Sealing Jutsu Kirito had completed in an instant was simply too shocking.

He knew the strength of those four subordinates well. Though they were not Jonin yet, each was an Elite Chunin, and among the best of them. Yet even so, they had been instantly restrained by an unknown Sealing Jutsu from Kirito and ended up lying on the ground.

Had Kirito wanted to, his four subordinates would already have gone to report to the Pure Land.

Instantly defeating four Elite Chunin.

It had to be said that the strength Kirito had displayed truly stunned him, leaving him deeply wary.

Did someone with such astonishing strength really need protection?

As long as the enemy was not a Jonin, they would probably just be delivering themselves to their deaths. Even if a Jonin came, if they carelessly fell victim to that Sealing Jutsu from before, they might still be instantly defeated.

Take him, for example. Even he had not noticed when Kirito had used that unknown Sealing Jutsu.

If he had let his guard down and underestimated Kirito because of his age, there would probably be one more embarrassed person lying on the ground.

"Pleasure working with you."

Kirito said with a smile. Then he looked in two different directions, blinked meaningfully, and continued on his way.

At the same time, the members of another Anbu squad directly under the Hokage, as well as an Anbu squad from Root, shuddered inwardly as they realized that Kirito had discovered them long ago.

"His sensory abilities are strong too. What a terrifying little brat."

The white-haired Anbu ninja jumped down from the tree, woke his fallen teammates, then watched Kirito's departing back and sighed.

Elsewhere, in the border region between the Land of Fire and the Land of Rivers, patrol squads of four moved carefully along the Border Line.

Patrol work was tedious and exhausting, but no Konoha ninja dared relax.

Konoha was currently at war with the Sand Ninja, who could appear along the Border Line at any time.

Hisashi Ryu was a patrol captain leading a squad. He was a Special Jonin who had spent nearly two years on this Border Line and had encountered dozens of battles with the Sand Ninja here.

Because he possessed a fairly good Sensory Ninjutsu, and because both his strength and luck were decent, three waves of subordinates had already been replaced under his command, and several familiar squad captains had also been replaced, yet he remained stubbornly alive.

That day, as usual, he activated his Sensory Ninjutsu once every ten minutes, scanning everything within several hundred meters.

Only after confirming that there were no enemies nearby did he signal for his Shadow Clone and the subordinates lying in wait nearby to continue forward. He himself remained at the back of the group, keeping some distance from his Shadow Clone and three subordinates.

The reason he had survived on this perilous Border Line until now—and was doing better and better—was precisely because of this caution.

Suddenly, both Hisashi Ryu and his Shadow Clone cried out in pain and stopped.

"Captain, what's wrong? Did you find an enemy?"

Seeing this, his teammates hurriedly asked, their faces tense.

Recently, the Sand Ninja had become increasingly active along the Border Line, and there was no shortage of enemies capable of countering sensory abilities among them.

"No, my head just suddenly hurt for a moment. I probably haven't been sleeping well lately."

Hisashi Ryu's Shadow Clone shook his head with a smile, speaking somewhat awkwardly.

"Phew, that scared me to death. I thought we were going to run into some powerful enemy this time."

One of the female team members immediately let out a sigh of relief.

The other two team members were much the same, with more than half of their tension fading away.

But in the next moment, a puppet with four arms suddenly descended from the sky.

Hisashi Ryu's Shadow Clone and two team members were instantly struck by Poison Needles sprayed from the puppet's mouth.

With a bang.

Hisashi Ryu's Shadow Clone vanished, while the two team members widened their eyes and swiftly died from the poison.

The remaining team member successfully escaped disaster in time with the Substitution Technique, then quickly rushed toward Hisashi Ryu, hoping to receive his help.

"Send the signal and retreat immediately. I'll hold the enemy back."

Hisashi Ryu revealed himself and shouted.

"Yes, Captain Hisashi Ryu."

Hearing that Hisashi Ryu was willing to stay behind and cover the retreat, the team member was deeply moved.

But before that feeling could last even a moment, an Earth Wall that suddenly rose before him sent chills through his entire body.

Hisashi Ryu, whom he had just been thanking, had actually used Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall to cut off his escape route.

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