Border patrols generally worked in teams of two or three, keeping watch along fixed routes.
This was enemy territory.
If he wanted to kill an Amegakure shinobi, he had to finish them in a single strike. He could not give his target a chance to send a signal or alert anyone else. Otherwise...
"And then there's..."
Yubi hung upside down from a tree, channeling chakra to keep the soles of his feet attached to a branch.
Before his eyes was a white thread as fine as hair, wound around the trunk.
It was clearly a trap.
If he accidentally stepped on it, it would surely trigger some sort of alarm and expose him.
Much like their own Sunagakure, their familiarity with the environment often made their traps difficult for outside enemies to spot, chiefly because those outsiders were unfamiliar with the surroundings.
Fortunately, through the original story, Yubi had some understanding of the Land of Rain, including this kind of forest combat.
Then his figure flickered and vanished.
Concealing one's tracks, camouflage, meticulous observation... these, too, were part of a ninja's strength.
They had all studied them at the Ninja Academy.
Covering the entire vast border through manpower alone was extremely difficult... With the Second Shinobi World War having dragged on this long, both Amegakure and Sunagakure were actually very short-handed.
So the best approach was to place large numbers of traps along the border, which could also effectively stop intruders.
And the Amegakure shinobi surely knew every one of those trap sites.
Soon, besides the white threads set up in the trees, Yubi also discovered well-concealed Explosive Tags stuck to the bark, along with springboards suspended in the shade that could launch large numbers of Kunai when triggered. All in all, these traps fell within Yubi's expectations.
Still, he had to be especially careful as he moved through the dense forest.
Suddenly, Yubi's ear twitched.
He had heard something.
He immediately darted into a clump of bushes beneath a tree.
Right after that, an Amegakure shinobi appeared overhead. He had not noticed Yubi and was merely making a routine inspection of the traps.
These tasks were also part of Yubi and the others' daily duties.
After confirming that the mechanism was working properly, the man leaped away.
Yubi did not strike... because he was unsure whether there were any other Amegakure shinobi nearby.
After a while, Yubi had gained a basic familiarity with one section of the forest and designated it as his hunting ground. Before hunting, he needed a preliminary understanding of his surroundings.
He then moved ahead to another trap site set up by Amegakure.
He hid in the shadows.
Sure enough, before long, the Amegakure shinobi who had been inspecting the traps appeared again.
Leaning against the back of another tree, Yubi scanned the vicinity out of the corner of his eye. Once he confirmed again that the man was alone, he quietly tightened his grip on his scalpel.
Whoosh!
In the Land of Rain's weather, things like Explosive Tags easily became damp and stopped working.
They had to be replaced regularly.
The Amegakure shinobi had just affixed a fresh Explosive Tag to its spot when, the next second, a chilling killing intent rushed toward him.
Instinctive combat reflexes and experience made him instantly raise his weapon and attempt to rise and dodge.
At the same time, he looked for the enemy's figure and position.
But... he had not expected his opponent to be so fast, and he also misjudged the path of the ambush. He thought the enemy would close in, only for the attacker to leap over his head and, taking advantage of his rising posture, sail down to the ground.
"A child?"
When the Amegakure shinobi got a clear look at his enemy, his expression shifted slightly.
He thought the boy had missed... He himself had felt neither an attack nor an injury.
"Sunagakure, huh..."
Seeing the Forehead Protector hanging around Yubi's neck, the Amegakure shinobi's gaze turned cold, and he was just about to send a signal.
Suddenly, his movements froze, and his pupils dilated.
Only now did the pain of being struck appear. It was his neck... a cut had been opened across it.
This brat's strike... had been silent and precise!
A difference of barely one body's position had already decided his life or death.
From the very beginning, this Sunagakure brat had seen through the motion and extent of his rise... It had not been a miss at all, but a perfect assassination.
With a rush of air.
The Amegakure shinobi's body toppled from the tree. Yubi immediately stepped forward to catch the corpse, hid it in the grass, and quickly erased some of the traces at the scene.
An hour later, another Amegakure shinobi appeared there.
He had come to look for his missing companion.
"Strange... Where did he go?"
The Amegakure shinobi landed on a tree trunk and straightened, frowning as he surveyed his surroundings.
There had been no sign of an enemy attack in their area. Although the two of them had put some distance between themselves, if his companion really had encountered an enemy, there should have been some noise.
He had followed his companion's tracks all the way here.
But just as he straightened with a puzzled expression.
The back of his head suddenly went cold.
Behind him, an upside-down face had descended soundlessly from overhead.
A few leaves fell along with it.
To this Amegakure shinobi's senses, the person seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. He had detected no trace of his presence beforehand.
Yubi raised his hand and brought the blade down.
The seemingly thin, small scalpel slipped effortlessly into the back of the Amegakure shinobi's head. Then, the instant his body went limp, Yubi flipped down and caught the dead enemy.
Repeating the same method, he concealed the corpse and the traces once again.
"Two people suddenly disappearing will be enough to alert the other Amegakure shinobi at the outpost... Any prey that comes afterward will probably be on guard already. They won't be so easy to kill." Yubi narrowed his eyes.
With the enemy maintaining such tight vigilance and combat readiness, even if he could kill Amegakure shinobi, the number would likely be limited.
Besides, the assignment Arai had given him and Sasori also had a time limit.
Once he put the enemy on widespread alert... the situation would become serious.
"I'll do what I can..."
Yubi smiled and leaped away in a flash.
He needed to think of some other ways to hunt.
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Two Amegakure shinobi stared in shock at two corpses hanging from a tree trunk.
Those were their comrades!
Blood continued to drip from their bodies high above and splatter onto the ground.
They had clearly only just died.
And up in the tree, a boy sat crouched... watching with a cold gaze, as though he were looking at dead men.
He looked down on them from above.
"A Sunagakure puppeteer... Hurry, notify..."
One of the Amegakure shinobi reacted and had only just spoken.
The other had already pulled a signaling device from his waist.
Yet even as they moved, they heard a strange sound.
It came from two puppets hurtling toward them under the control of Chakra Threads.
The puppets creaked as they moved.
One on either side, the two puppets suddenly transformed with a gentle tremble of Sasori's fingertips, becoming two wooden panels covered in spikes.
With a crack.
Like two walls pressing together, the puppets instantly sandwiched the two Amegakure shinobi between them.
Blood burst out as both men were pierced full of holes.
They died on the spot.
Unmoved, Sasori flicked his fingers, and the two puppets flew back.
Unlike Yubi, he did not clean up the scene. After killing them, he simply turned and left.
He had no intention whatsoever of concealing his tracks.
It was rather like killing people out in the open...