His subordinate's familiar face was replaced by an unfamiliar one amid the white smoke. The man before him shed his disguise, revealing the uniform of the Konoha ANBU.
He twirled the blade in his hand, tracing an elegant arc of light through the air.
With a flick of his blade before sheathing it, he flung the blood from its edge onto the ground, leaving a murderous crimson streak.
His gaze lowered, he produced a silver-white mask from somewhere and slipped it casually over his face. In the firelight, the black dragon markings on the mask looked fierce and vivid.
Ah, he was hiding in my team all this time... I've been played...
Lu Renyi's final thought vanished in an instant. The silent darkness of death flooded his vision, and he sank unwillingly into the Pure Land of the Netherworld.
The survivors of the Wind and Earth Envoy Group were stunned by the sudden turn of events. They instinctively retreated two steps, realizing their defeat was sealed.
They exchanged glances, slowly lowering their weapons, their will to fight already gone.
The nearby Konoha ninjas closed in, swiftly disarming and capturing them.
With that, both the main and flanking battlefields of the Lands of Wind and Earth had collapsed. Their [Ash] plan to suppress or even destroy Konoha had failed completely!
Not only had the Lands of Wind and Earth gained nothing from this battle, they had also lost a group of elite subordinates. They had truly suffered a double loss.
The main reason their plan failed was that Konoha had seen through it first, but discord among the senior leadership within the Lands of Wind and Earth had also played a small part.
The team sent to ambush Konoha and the team sent to assassinate the Hokage were not united in