"Go, send a few people to test him. If he really has that kind of strength, I wouldn't mind showing up in person to give him a little...'special' reward." Mei Terumi's lips curved into a seductive smile, a foxlike cunning gleaming in her emerald-green eyes.
Ao nodded gravely, his single eye covered by a black eye patch narrowing slightly. He swiftly formed several hand seals with one hand, then signaled an attack to several trusted ANBU hidden deep in the thick mist.
The instant the order went out, several ghostlike black figures shot out of the canopy, vanishing completely into the thick mist that shrouded the Land of Water year-round.
Meanwhile, Shengu Xuan was strolling leisurely along the muddy path with both hands in his pockets. The white mist around him grew thicker, reducing visibility to less than five meters, while the nauseating smell of blood and rust in the air grew increasingly pungent.
Suddenly, Shengu Xuan stopped.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!"
Without warning, three sharp kunai with explosive tags attached came screaming through the air from three completely different blind spots, aimed with unerring precision at the back of Shengu Xuan's head, his throat, and his heart!
The three kunai were incredibly fast and approached at exceptionally tricky angles, clearly thrown by experienced assassination experts.
Yet faced with this certain death, Shengu Xuan did not even turn his head. He merely raised his right hand with utter nonchalance and lightly pinched his index and middle fingers together in midair, as casually as if he were taking a leisurely stroll.
"Clink!"
A crisp metallic clash rang out through the deathly still mist. The kunai that had been aimed at Shengu Xuan's throat was caught firmly between his fingers! Before the explosive tag tied to its tail could even ignite, a faint