Gold Dust and Supplies Secured

Thud!

With a dull thud, a Sunagakure ninja took a vicious knee to the kidney.

The ruthless attack brought excruciating pain and robbed the ninja of his last chance to fight back.

Shhk!

The short sword in the Sunagakure ninja's hand was instantly snatched away, turned, and plunged into his heart.

The Konoha Anbu ninja, who had just evaded an attack with the Substitution Technique and immediately counterattacked, struck his opponent's body with a palm, sending him hurtling toward the ground.

Below, a ninja who had survived the violent explosion of the explosive tags saw the corpse falling toward him and darted aside.

But the fleeting flash of fire did not escape his notice.

"Damn it! More explosive tags!"

Explosive tags had already been attached to the enemy the Konoha Anbu ninja had knocked down.

Boom...

Another violent explosion rang out.

"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"

"Lightning Release: Falling Thunder!"

The ninja who had barely survived another explosion of explosive tags were dumbfounded.

Under the relentless attacks, they had no room to fight back.

The only one who had found an opening had been easily dispatched, his corpse even turned into a tool for the enemy.

An enormous mass of water, like a whole pool, descended from above with a terrifying impact, knocking all the ninja on the ground flying.

A thunderbolt followed immediately, striking the water directly. Arcs of electricity coursed around the ninja, making them tremble uncontrollably.

Only after a while did the highly vigilant Konoha Anbu ninja drop from the trees one after another.

Clang!

Everyone drew their weapons to guard against a surprise attack.

Bang!

The quiet ground suddenly exploded. Three figures burst out from different spots, brandishing weapons as they charged at the Konoha Anbu fighters!

Combat at such close quarters was extremely dangerous. The slightest lapse could cost a life.

Beneath the moonlight, the ninja engaged in a bloody fight to the death.

Clang-

Sparks flew as weapons collided!

As time passed, the Konoha Anbu ninja killed every enemy still standing, one by one.

After all, aside from the chakra spent casting ninjutsu, they were still in good condition.

Their enemies, however, had suffered a surprise attack and were left with barely a fraction of their strength. Winning was hardly easy.

"Where's our commander?"

"He went after the Iwagakure leader..."

"You lot, clean up here. The rest of us are going to help our commander!"

"Yes!"

Whoosh-

The ninja leading the Iwagakure team quietly landed in a thick patch of grass, doing his best to hold his breath and make himself less noticeable.

The next second, Shihōin Naraku appeared. He surveyed the surroundings, then chose a direction and dashed away.

Only after Naraku had completely vanished did the Iwa Shinobi leader let out a soft breath. He immediately rose and retreated in another direction.

He tightened the scroll strapped to his back, a smile appearing on his blood-dripping face.

Although they had been ambushed, Iwagakure's mission was complete. He had seized the scroll Sunagakure had brought during the chaotic battle!

It had to be said that the Iwagakure ninja were indeed of a higher caliber than the Sunagakure ninja.

For this exchange of supplies, Iwagakure had sent only one four-man squad and a leading ninja, while Sunagakure had brought two squads. Yet it was Iwagakure that had more survivors after the first wave of attacks.

When the Konoha Anbu ninja launched their final attack, two Iwagakure survivors were still hiding underground, ready to ambush them, and their leader, an Iwa Shinobi, had already withdrawn.

As for Sunagakure, only one ninja remained.

The gap was indeed rather large.

"Hah... hah..."

Even as he noticed his breathing becoming increasingly labored, the Iwa Shinobi leader had no intention of stopping.

He absolutely could not waste the opportunity his subordinates had sacrificed their lives to win him.

Desperately squeezing out the chakra in his body, the Iwa Shinobi leader accelerated again, flashing past tree after tree like lightning.

Blood running down his forehead soaked his eyes and blurred the Iwa Shinobi leader's vision, but he did not even have time to wipe it away.

What the Iwa Shinobi leader should really have done now was tend to his injuries. The blood dripping from him would reveal his trail, allowing the enemy to catch up quickly.

But again, there was too little time.

He blinked hard to ease the soreness in his eyes as he raced through the forest, sweeping his gaze over the terrain ahead.

Hm?

The Iwa Shinobi leader's pupils abruptly contracted. A figure had suddenly appeared in front of him.

The figure stood quietly atop a large tree. Several distinctive red markings adorned his white animal mask. He wore an Anbu vest, and his slightly tousled short black hair stirred gently in the oncoming wind.

Shihōin Naraku!

Watching the Iwa Shinobi leader approach with killing intent, Naraku remained noncommittal. He had been waiting for quite a while.

How was he so fast?

Which village's Anbu was he from?

I had already run all the way here, yet the enemy still managed to get ahead of me.

The Iwa Shinobi leader gritted his teeth slightly, pulled out several shuriken, and hurled them at Shihōin Naraku, who stood motionless opposite him.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

The shuriken sliced through the air and reached Naraku in an instant.

"They hit?"

The Iwa Shinobi leader could hardly believe he had dealt with his opponent so easily.

But the next second, the shuriken passed through Naraku's figure and embedded themselves in the tree behind him.

"What? An afterimage?"

Before the Iwa Shinobi leader could react, a figure suddenly appeared before his eyes as though it had teleported.

Bang!

Shihōin Naraku streaked through the air wreathed in firelight, appearing before the Iwa Shinobi leader. A flaming kick followed, slamming viciously into his body.

"Urgh-"

The Iwa Shinobi leader's eyes widened as he violently spat out a mouthful of blood.

The ferocious attack instantly robbed the Iwa Shinobi leader of any ability to resist. He crashed to the ground and rolled into a large tree.

Shhk!

Naraku followed close behind, drawing his sword and piercing the Iwa Shinobi leader's body, pinning him firmly to the tree.

"Hh-"

With bloody tears streaming from his wide-open eyes, the Iwa Shinobi leader still wanted to say something. But all strength had already drained from his body, and he soon sank into total darkness.

Only after confirming the enemy was dead did Shihōin Naraku step aside and pick up the enormous scroll the Iwa Shinobi leader had dropped during the fight.

"So it was gold dust!"

After opening the scroll, Naraku understood. Stored inside it was an enormous quantity of gold dust.

Sunagakure's current Kazekage was Fourth Kazekage Rasa, who specialized in manipulating gold dust with Magnet Release.

With the Daimyo of the Land of Wind continually cutting Sunagakure's ninja numbers and funding, the Fourth Kazekage, Rasa, had barely kept the village afloat by extracting and collecting gold dust from underground.

Sunagakure therefore often traded gold dust with other countries, and Konoha had received gold dust as a result as well.

Gaara's dad is in trouble this time. The gold dust he worked so hard to extract and collect is gone, and he didn't get the supplies either.

Naraku hefted the scroll in his hand, finding the thought somewhat amusing.

Compared with Konohagakure, Sunagakure really was impoverished.

"Commander!"

"Lord Dragon, are you all right?"

As Naraku held the scroll and pondered, the Konoha Anbu ninja caught up one after another, landing behind him.

"Head back!"

Naraku casually tossed the scroll to a subordinate, then led everyone away.