"The seventh!"
Nearly an hour later, fine beads of sweat ran down Yubi's face.
He was leaning against an Amegakure ninja's chest, gripping a scalpel in one hand, its tip plunged into the man's heart.
Not far from his feet lay another Amegakure ninja's corpse.
This two-on-one fight.
Had ended in his victory!
To keep this man from firing a signal flare, Yubi had kept disrupting his movements, focusing on close-quarters combat.
He had ambushed them from the shadows, killing one first.
Once the other noticed, he had quickly engaged him in a deadly Taijutsu fight.
As far as he was concerned, the situation had still been somewhat dangerous.
Originally, he would never have attacked a two-man team. The risk of exposure was simply too great, and if he slipped up, the consequences would be unthinkable.
So he had been looking for opportunities to find targets who were alone and did not seem particularly strong.
But for some reason, the Amegakure ninja in the forest had suddenly shown signs of moving in large numbers, rushing in one direction.
There were quite a few of them.
Yubi had immediately realized that Sasori had been exposed!
That meant he could not just stand by in the shadows, either... Every enemy he could hinder would buy Sasori a little more time.
Right now, he and Sasori were in the same boat.
Saving his own skin was not an option.
Yubi reached out to push the Amegakure ninja's corpse away, then looked toward the direction where Sasori might have been exposed.
"The Amegakure outposts in this area have around twenty to thirty people... They've probably already notified their comrades at the other nearby outposts. We have to withdraw! The longer this drags on, the more reinforcements they'll have... This is the very front line of the Land of Rain. The number and density of Amegakure outposts here are staggering."
Yubi's heart sank.
He could no longer worry about concealing his tracks. Just as he was about to set off to meet up with Sasori.
Arai appeared.
"The mission is over. Retreat."
Arai spoke gravely.
"Yes."
The two immediately raced through the forest together, encountering Amegakure ninja rushing over from other directions along the way.
But without Yubi needing to act, Arai demonstrated the might of an elite jonin, killing their enemies swiftly and cleanly.
They barely slowed their pace.
Their opponents had yet to form an effective formation and were still scattered. This was the best time to retreat.
As the two approached the battlefield, Sasori, covered in blood, had already finished fighting.
He seemed to have suffered some injuries, but they were not serious.
"Move!"
Arai wasted no words, speaking directly to Sasori.
The three-man team then swiftly withdrew from the forest.
They did not conceal themselves... They focused only on speed.
The faster they moved, the more time they could gain to escape.
Along the way, Amegakure figures darted through the trees on either side of them. Arai told Yubi and Sasori to keep running while he swiftly killed their pursuers.
Yubi and Sasori also fought several Amegakure ninja.
But in the end, thanks to Arai's formidable fighting strength and his choice of escape route, they got away safely and returned to the territory of the Land of Wind.
Once the ground beneath their feet turned to sand and gravel, the Amegakure ninja knew better than to keep pursuing them.
And soon, people from Sunagakure came to meet them.
Once their safety was confirmed, Yubi, his mouth parched, lay straight down on the ground with his limbs spread wide.
His chest heaved as he panted.
The intensity and danger of this mission had been like dancing on a knife's edge... The slightest mistake could have meant that none of the three returned.
Even an elite jonin like Arai would have been in danger of dying if Amegakure had been given enough time to gather enough people.
And during their escape, they had fought fiercely with Amegakure... All while making sure the enemy did not hold them up.
The tension of fighting like that was entirely different... from assassination.
Arai, too, looked slightly tired now. Although Sasori's face was a little pale, he wore the same indifferent expression as ever.
Several of his puppets had also been destroyed.
Arai looked at Sasori as though he wanted to say something, but stopped himself.
Because for ninja, deadly struggles like this were also commonplace... Whatever the case, Sasori and Yubi had both completed the mission outstandingly.
That was enough!
Not merely outstandingly-they could even be said to have exceeded expectations!
But their fighting styles and methods were completely different.
Yubi was meticulous, using his head to execute his battle plans perfectly... And he left no loose ends. If Sasori had not been exposed, Yubi could have continued hunting.
By comparison, Sasori had simply used his powerful puppeteering abilities to eliminate his targets... Without considering anything else.
That was Sasori's way of fighting.
It just was not particularly suited to this mission.
Sasori could have done as well as Yubi, or even better... But ultimately, it came down to his personality.
Arai had originally planned to give the mission a two-hour time limit. He had not expected it to end so soon.
"Twenty-one."
Just then, Sasori suddenly stared at Yubi, who was lying on the ground, and spoke.
"What about you?"
"Including the enemies I killed during our escape... Ten in total."
Yubi smiled.
He had no intention of blaming Sasori, either.
"I won."
Sasori emphasized.
He had killed twice as many people as Yubi.
The personnel at the outposts in that part of the Land of Rain should have been almost entirely wiped out.
"Yubi is a medical ninja... He's different from you. And judging by your performance on this mission, Sasori... I think Yubi did better than you! Although this mission was improvised, it was essentially an infiltration behind enemy lines. Under normal circumstances, if it had gone on longer, Yubi would certainly have killed more enemies than you! And if you were carrying out a mission for the village, he would also be able to accomplish more than you."
As the one who had initiated the mission, Arai assessed the two.
Sasori's gaze flickered at that. Although he still showed little reaction, they could sense that he was somewhat displeased.
"Hahahahaha!"
But then, to the surprise of Arai and the others, Yubi, still lying on the ground, suddenly burst into unrestrained laughter.
"Interesting... So interesting..."
"This feeling... It's completely different from before..."
They exchanged looks.
Even the Sunagakure ninja who had come to meet them were somewhat bewildered.
"And this was just a minor skirmish. I can hardly imagine... At the fiercest point of this Shinobi World War, what level of prowess and danger would the top fighters from the great ninja villages display on the battlefield?"
Hearing Yubi say that, everyone understood.
Several Sunagakure ninja stared at him as though he were a madman.
In their eyes, it was already unbelievable that a kid like Yubi could enter the border region of the Land of Rain, kill enemies, and return safely... Even without having experienced it themselves, they could imagine how harrowing it had been from the state of the three.
Normally, it would be perfectly understandable for a kid like Yubi to be left with some psychological scars after facing such a life-and-death situation.
Yet this fellow was not frightened in hindsight. Instead... He seemed a little excited, even enjoying it?
That was a little twisted...
"Heh."
Seeing Yubi react like that, Arai chuckled as well.
He had been worried that this incident would have some negative effects on Yubi.
Because not just newcomers, but even many experienced ninja... suffered lingering effects from the battlefield.
"Teacher Arai... Let's keep going."
Suddenly, Yubi got up from the ground and made the suggestion to Arai with a smile.
"Hm?"
Arai froze.