Onix

That whip had come too fast. Bai Chi had struck in fury and shown no mercy; it was only natural that the Chunin had been hit before he could react.

Though the old farmer wore the symbol of Takigakure around his neck, he did not behave like a ninja in the slightest. His clothes were short and practical, but he wore no sandals. His hands were so thick and rough, and his fingers were certainly not the slender sort needed for frequent hand seals—everyone knew that the thicker one's fingers were, the slower one formed seals. That was why most ninjas had long, slender fingers, to improve their seal-forming speed. The faster one could form seals, the easier it was to win battles and stay alive.

This was common knowledge in the ninja world, and it was part of the homework they had done before entering it.

That old farmer clearly was not a particularly powerful ninja. Someone like Bai Chi, the weakest among them in hand-to-hand combat, was more than enough to deal with him.

The whip that should have flayed the old farmer's flesh was effortlessly caught in his hand. The old farmer grumbled in dissatisfaction, "What the heck? I just grabbed your bird. Why are you getting so worked up?"

Seeing his full-force strike so easily stopped, the proud Bai Chi's eyes widened. Noticing the mocking looks on his teammates' faces, his eyes reddened. "Pobo, use Quick Attack!"

Pobo, who had been caught in the old farmer's hand and had only just loosened up enough to catch her breath, rolled her eyes. She had launched an attack the instant she saw him, but he had grabbed her in the blink of an eye. No matter how hard she struggled now, she could not break free. This old farmer was monstrously strong!

The old farmer released both the whip and Pobo, muttering, "Fine, take it back."

The whip had been stretched taut, and when the old farmer suddenly let go, it nearly snapped back into Bai Chi's face. Bai Chi took half a step back and stared at him uncertainly. Pobo hurried back to her master's side, chirping nonstop.

Kong Zhange and the others exchanged glances. "Yun Duanyou, go kill him. There's no need to get tangled up with a Takigakure grunt."

The handsome mixed-race man with long hair nodded. He picked up a pebble from the ground and hurled it at the old farmer with all his strength.

Hearing their words, the old farmer finally realized that they were invaders. Veins bulged on his forehead, and his honest face gradually twisted into something ferocious. "So you're the invaders the Village Head said might come recently!"

"You dare come and destroy Takigakure? You've got some nerve!"

The muscles all over his body swelled. The blood vessels beneath his dark skin stood out clearly, and his ki became terrifying. Lightning suddenly burst across his body. In the next instant, the pebble in midair transformed into a massive tree that took three people to encircle, its roots still carrying the scent of fresh earth, as though someone had uprooted it and teleported it here in an instant.

An ordinary ninja would not have had time to react to something like this, and no powerful Ninjutsu could be completed within a few seconds. This move was practically comparable to an A-rank Ninjutsu.

Yet the old farmer let out a furious roar and charged straight into the wood, wrapped in Lightning Release Armor and carrying an unstoppable momentum. He blasted the entire tree to pieces, then rushed toward them without slowing.

"How is this possible?!" Bai Chi screamed. "The Third Shinobi World War era was only a six-star world! The strongest were no more than Uchiha Madara and White Zetsu, and even the Five Kage were only five-star! Our captain could defeat them too! What the hell is this Takigakure? It actually has a three-star powerhouse!"

Having gone through three battlefield worlds, they could nominally be considered three-star powerhouses themselves. They could even challenge native powerhouses above their level. But that was only in theory. If they truly encountered a three-star powerhouse who had trained and cultivated diligently, a wrong tactic could get them blasted into pieces in a single exchange!

Though they were shocked and frightened, not a single one of them moved to help Yun Duanyou.

The tree exploded apart as though it had been hit by TNT, and splinters flew in every direction like bullets. But Yun Duanyou had already vanished from where he stood. He appeared in the old farmer's blind spot behind the tree, and an Adamantium Sleeve Blade slid out from the leather bracer tied around his cuff. Like a hot knife through butter, it pierced the old farmer's chest through his Lightning Release Armor and ran through his heart.

The enraged old farmer was like a robot whose power had been cut. The Chakra throughout his body slackened, and he froze where he stood.

Yun Duanyou took two steps back, already moving outside the old farmer's attack range.

Even though the old farmer was certainly doomed, Yun Duanyou had no intention of taking any risk.

Only after Yun Duanyou had retreated several meters did the old farmer begin coughing up blood in great mouthfuls. He clutched his wound. There was not much bleeding outside, but the internal bleeding had already reached an amount his chest cavity could no longer contain.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh." Like shooting stars, countless people rushed to the scene. Aside from those out scouting, leading training, and guarding the village, ten Jonin had arrived at once. Together with Oguri Hayashi and Tsunade, these twelve people had the power to wipe out every small village other than the Five Great Ninja Villages.

"So they came after all?" Oguri Hayashi and Tsunade had arrived first. Oguri Hayashi had brought Tsunade nearby using the Flying Thunder God Technique, then they quickly rushed to the old farmer's side.

Tsunade immediately examined his wounds. Her expression changed slightly, and she looked up at Oguri Hayashi before shaking her head. "The wound is too vicious. His heart and lungs have been completely severed, and his heart has nearly been cut in half. He can't be saved."

Oguri Hayashi did not look at the Reincarnators. He knelt beside the old farmer and grasped his rough hand. Yamada had been the most passionate and talented practitioner of the Lightning Release Body Cultivation Technique. Having once suffered poverty, he had wanted a healthy body so he could farm hard for twenty years and leave a great fortune to his descendants.

But now...

"I know, Yamada. I know." Oguri Hayashi looked at him and gently patted his trembling hand. "I'll take care of your descendants. Koichi, right?"

His throat was choked with blood, and he could not utter a single word. The old farmer merely nodded heavily, then died covered in blood with a relieved smile on his face.

"Everyone, be careful. Something's wrong! This isn't the difficulty of a six-star battlefield. Why is Tsunade here?" At Kong Zhange's command, everyone on his team became serious.

Bai Chi immediately threw out his strongest Pokémon—Onix.

The eight-meter-tall Onix was a colossal creature. The instant it appeared, it intimidated everyone present.

Everyone except Oguri Hayashi.

Without Lightning Release Armor, Oguri Hayashi was still three times faster than the old farmer. In an instant, he arrived before Onix.