They really were Konoha ninja

"Feifan, little brother, if Takaichi Wanmi comes back, how are you planning to explain this to him?"

Once they had run a safer distance away, Shimura Daio could not help voicing the question that worried him.

Bieshu Feifan had not given that much thought. Right now, all he could think about was resting.

With a seven-year-old body, several straight days without sleep, and missions to carry out, he had long since been close to his limit.

"We'll deal with that later. Right now, let's rest for a while."

As he answered, Bieshu Feifan kept his Byakugan active and found a secluded corner.

"Daio, big brother, I'll sleep for a bit first."

With that, Bieshu Feifan practically fell asleep the instant his head touched the ground, as though he had passed out.

Shimura Daio had originally thought Bieshu Feifan was pretty clever.

But now, he had sold out their Chunin leader just to get some sleep.

Shimura Daio's expression gradually hardened. Looking at the sleeping Bieshu Feifan, he clenched his fists.

In the end, he let out a long sigh and lay down too. He was also a little sleepy.

As for how they would face Takaichi Wanmi afterward, that was a problem for later.

Besides, Takaichi Wanmi might not even make it back alive.

Seeing that Shimura Daio had also lain down,

Bieshu Feifan finally deactivated his Byakugan. His mind relaxed, and he instantly fell into a deep sleep.

In the forests of the Land of Rain, even lying in the grass beneath a large tree, a person could still get soaked through.

But even that could not stop Bieshu Feifan from truly falling asleep.

Only a few minutes later, a clatter of clashing weapons nearby woke Bieshu Feifan.

Although he had only slept for a short while, Bieshu Feifan felt much better.

At least his head was clear.

Bieshu Feifan had barely climbed out of the mud when he saw Shimura Daio's angry face.

"Feifan, little brother, Takaichi Wanmi is coming."

Although it was a statement, Bieshu Feifan understood that it was also a question.

After a moment's thought, Bieshu Feifan made his decision and looked up at Shimura Daio.

"He has to die."

Looking at Bieshu Feifan's solemn, serious face, Shimura Daio's heart lurched, and his expression grew even uglier.

He remained silent.

Seeing that Shimura Daio did not refuse, Bieshu Feifan knew he had the same idea.

So he pressed further.

"If he doesn't die, he'll either kill us, or we'll die a little later as cannon fodder. Besides, if we hadn't run just now, who knows whether we'd even still be alive?"

At those words, Shimura Daio finally nodded.

"What are you planning to do? He's a Chunin."

Bieshu Feifan had expected Shimura Daio to relent and smiled slightly.

"Just a Chunin running for his life. He might even be wounded already."

Bieshu Feifan had absorbed two pairs of Byakugan, along with Uchiha Kun's One-Tomoe Sharingan. His chakra reserves were not too low now, and with some of his strength recovered, killing Takaichi Wanmi in an ambush was not impossible.

Besides, even if he failed,

with his Byakugan, Bieshu Feifan was confident he could escape.

"I still have three Explosive Tags."

Once Shimura Daio made up his mind, he was even more eager than Bieshu Feifan.

Watching the direction of the fighting, he took out his entire stock.

Bieshu Feifan was much poorer, with only one Explosive Tag.

Still, that should more or less be enough.

"Leave it to me."

As he spoke, Bieshu Feifan took Shimura Daio's Explosive Tags.

Shimura Daio hesitated for a while, but did not refuse.

"What are you planning? He might not step on four Explosive Tags."

"I know. But I'll make him step on them."

As he spoke, Bieshu Feifan left the hollow where they had rested and headed toward the sounds of fighting.

Shimura Daio thought for a moment. Rather than stay close to Bieshu Feifan, he followed some distance behind.

At that moment, Takaichi Wanmi was fighting four Sand Ninja alone.

One Chunin and three Genin coordinated reasonably well, leaving him in a miserable state.

Wenshu, who had gone over to help earlier, was nowhere to be seen.

The Sunagakure Chunin controlled a puppet to fight Takaichi Wanmi while looking for opportunities to use Wind Release.

With the three Genin interfering from time to time as well, Takaichi Wanmi had no room to fight back and could barely defend himself.

"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"

An earthen wall barely large enough to shield his body blocked the incoming attacks.

But that also exhausted Takaichi Wanmi's chakra. With his injuries and poisoning on top of that, he could no longer hold on.

Without time to catch his breath, Takaichi Wanmi hurriedly turned and fled, taking a Senbon in the back to escape the battlefield.

Faced with a Chunin intent on fleeing, the Sand Ninja Chunin, a Chunin himself, could not stop him completely. He could only call on the three Genin to pursue him together.

As Takaichi Wanmi ran, he suddenly coughed hard, and a bloody sweetness filled his mouth.

He raised a hand to wipe the corner of his mouth and saw black blood. The poison had spread.

Takaichi Wanmi was instantly furious. Thinking of the other two Genin who had fled, he clenched his fists until they cracked.

Takaichi Wanmi swore that once he returned, he would personally slaughter those two little bastards.

For now, though, the most important thing was to avoid being caught by the Sand Ninja behind him before the poison consumed him.

Just then, Takaichi Wanmi's eyes suddenly lit up. He had spotted a secret marker left by Konoha ninja.

Takaichi Wanmi immediately grinned broadly. There had to be Konoha ninja patrolling ahead of him.

By this point, the war had become a battle of attrition, with fighting whenever enemies encountered each other.

Large-scale battles were rare.

As such, Takaichi Wanmi carried no signal flares.

This way of fighting was brutal.

If someone encountered the enemy and died, there was generally no one to help.

But Takaichi Wanmi felt he was lucky. There were Konoha ninja right ahead of him.

Not only would he survive, he would also thoroughly deal with those two brats who had disobeyed his orders.

Then, with barely any energy left to think, Takaichi Wanmi stepped on an Explosive Tag.

Boom!

A plume of smoke rose.

Takaichi Wanmi felt his waist go numb, and his field of vision began to shift.

Only when he was about to land did Takaichi Wanmi come to his senses. He had stepped on an Explosive Tag.

The spot he had just stepped on happened to be a small rise where he would plant his foot.

The rise was neither too large nor too small.

Stepping too far over it risked pulling his balls;

stepping too close felt awkward.

"What a nasty spot."

Takaichi Wanmi sighed, then crashed to the ground.

He could already see his own internal organs. There was no saving him.

The Sunagakure squad pursuing him also saw this and immediately stopped.

Looking at the fallen Konoha Chunin, the Sunagakure Chunin leading the squad considered for a moment, then immediately led his team away.

"Sir, why aren't we going over to finish him off? We should at least loot him."

One Genin did not understand why they were retreating.

The Sunagakure Chunin explained:

"That wasn't our Explosive Tag, which means we've entered another ninja village's patrol area. With the enemy situation unclear, there's no need to take risks. That Konoha Chunin is beyond saving anyway."

Watching the Sunagakure Chunin's squad leave from afar with his Byakugan, Bieshu Feifan immediately broke into a broad, silent laugh.

Then he quickly ran toward Takaichi Wanmi's position.

Farther away, Shimura Daio saw Bieshu Feifan move. Coupled with the Explosive Tag explosion earlier, he hesitated briefly, then sped up and followed.

Although he did not know what had happened ahead,

still,

with Bieshu Feifan in front, he was not worried.

The fighting had come quickly and ended just as quickly.

In the forest, amid the patter of rain, Takaichi Wanmi's gaze grew increasingly unfocused.

He knew he was going to die.

Just before his consciousness scattered, a familiar figure entered his field of vision.

Takaichi Wanmi struggled to make out who it was, then his eyes flew wide with rage.

"It's you! You, you... how dare you..."

When Bieshu Feifan arrived, he saw that Takaichi Wanmi's body had been severed in two and that he no longer had the strength to move.

Then, ignoring him, Bieshu Feifan first felt his eyeballs before quickly rummaging through his ninja tool pouch.

"You..."

Takaichi Wanmi grew even angrier.

But just then, another familiar person ran over.

It was Shimura Daio.

Takaichi Wanmi was utterly furious.

But Shimura Daio also ignored him and hurriedly started pulling off his relatively intact vest.

"Your mother..."

Beside himself with rage, Takaichi Wanmi let out his last breath and went completely still.

Before long, Bieshu Feifan and Shimura Daio had divided up everything Takaichi Wanmi left behind.

All they left was half his corpse, clad in tattered fishnet underwear.

After dividing up Lord Takaichi's belongings, Bieshu Feifan and Shimura Daio immediately left the scene of the crime.

As for Wenshu, neither had any intention of looking for him.

It went without saying that Wenshu must have taken a blow for Takaichi Wanmi.

"Where do we go next?"

Shimura Daio waited until they were farther away before asking.