A single Explosive Tag

A moment later, Fukuda Iharu opened his eyes again and said,

"There are two enemy squads. One is guarding the house ahead, and the other is hiding underground. Both are standard Genin squads."

As the name suggested, a Genin squad consisted of one Chunin leading three Genin.

There were also Chunin squads and Jonin squads.

A Chunin squad usually consisted of one Special Jōnin and three Chunin, or four Chunin. They generally carried out missions ranked B or above, like their current assignment.

Jonin squads were a little more complicated. Depending on the mission's difficulty, they were generally led by one or two Jonin, accompanied by several veteran Chunin.

If a mission was exceptionally difficult, the squad might even consist entirely of Jonin.

Missions like that, however, were generally handled by the village's Elite Jonin.

Back to the matter at hand: since there were only two Genin squads, there was nothing to worry about. They just had to finish this quickly.

All four shared that thought. Without hesitation, they headed straight for the central house.

They had just approached the central house when several Kunai came flying at them with a series of sharp whistles.

Yechen stepped ahead of the others, drew the long sword at his waist, and knocked the incoming Kunai away with a single horizontal slash.

"Go!"

He had taken the lead because he was the squad's only Genin. Although that was merely his rank, he still did not want to be treated differently.

That single horizontal slash expressed his determination and proved his strength.

Apart from Fukuda Iharu, neither of the other two had expected Yechen to wield a long sword, much less handle it so deftly. That was beyond an ordinary Genin, and they now understood why Captain Nakagawa had put Yechen in the Third Squad.

He was strong enough.

When their first attack failed, the Rock Ninja hiding inside the house tried to attack again, but the Third Squad was no pushover.

They quickly cleared the obstacles and darted inside.

A fight immediately erupted within the house.

The four Rock Ninja fought back against Konoha's three Chunin. Yechen swept his gaze around, confirmed that no other enemies were hiding nearby, and used the Void Flash Shield Technique, instantly vanishing from his spot.

The Iwagakure Chunin in the midst of fighting suddenly felt a chill down his spine. A shadowy figure had already appeared behind him.

His pupils contracted. So fast! The next instant, blood spurted from his neck, and he fell dead.

Fukuda Iharu was stunned by the sight. Could this guy really be a Jonin? With a Body Flicker Technique that slick, was it really fair to pose as a Genin and fool everyone?

But at the sight of his youthful face, Fukuda Iharu sighed. There really was no comparing one person to another.

Three flashes of steel swept through the house, and the three Iwagakure Genin fell dead.

Yechen's unexpected display left his three teammates sighing.

They had heard that someone had been stealing kills during the previous battles, and that the culprit was a Genin. Now they knew who it was!

Yechen paid no attention to any of that. He collected the Rock Ninja's Ninja Tool Pouches and said,

"Find the underground passage."

"Over there..." Fukuda Iharu wasted no words. By using Thermal Sensing to locate the next squad, he could also determine the general direction.

The four entered the first-floor hall, passed through the corridor, and followed Heat Perception to a particular room.

"They're right here," Fukuda Iharu said, pointing beneath his feet.

One of the squad members stepped forward and said,

"My turn."

They had no intention of searching for an entrance mechanism. Instead, they would break an opening directly above the underground chamber and charge inside.

Their mission was to wreak havoc anyway, so they had no need to worry about anything else.

Earth Release: Seismic Wave!

Bang!

An invisible wave spread from the Chunin's palm into the surrounding floor, and the ground began to shake.

The four jumped clear as the floor collapsed with a crash. When the dust settled, Yechen saw that one unlucky enemy Genin had been crushed to death beneath the rubble.

"Let's go down!" Fukuda Iharu called.

"Wait," Yechen said, stopping them.

The three looked over, wondering what he meant.

Grinning, Yechen took out a Kunai with an Explosive Tag attached.

The three immediately understood and marveled at how crafty the kid was.

They were not worried that a single Explosive Tag would collapse the passage below. Underground chambers like this were always sturdily built. If the construction had been shoddy, a few ninjutsu strikes from above would have brought the whole place down.

So the other three had no objection to Yechen's move, as long as he did not collapse the passage.

Yechen was also doing this to prevent the ninja below from ambushing them. The commotion just now had been considerable, and the Rock Ninja inside were bound to be waiting beneath the opening.

The moment they jumped down, they would be ambushed.

With a casual flick, Yechen threw the Kunai with the Explosive Tag attached.

Shouts immediately rose from the underground passage, but they could do nothing to stop the Explosive Tag from detonating.

Boom...!

A violent explosion thundered from the underground passage.

Scarlet flames then blasted out of the opening. Fortunately, Yechen and the other three had been ready and retreated into a corner. The flames did not injure them, though the searing heat stung their faces.

The room's walls also trembled relentlessly. Had they not been reinforced, most of them would probably have collapsed by now.

Even so, numerous cracks inevitably appeared in the walls.

None of that concerned Yechen.