Arai and the other two arrived at another area near the Land of Rain.
It was far enough from the territory they had raided before.
They also made contact with the Sunagakure ninja stationed there and learned a little about "the other side" from them.
Then they rested for the day.
Late that night, Arai once again led the two into the Land of Rain.
Everything went as before.
Arai hid in the shadows, observing their performance on the mission while keeping them safe.
Yubi and Sasori, meanwhile, operated separately.
With one mission already under their belts, the two were noticeably more familiar with the routine this time.
"This time... if you lose again, you'll have nothing left to say."
Before they split up, Sasori folded his arms and stared impassively at Yubi, speaking with a touch of swagger.
Sasori apparently had no intention of being so brazen that he caused the mission to end early, either.
"I couldn't match you to begin with... you're a genius puppeteer. I'm just a medical ninja..."
Yubi scratched his head and replied with a chuckle.
Compared with Sasori's confrontational attitude, he seemed much more relaxed and easygoing.
He did not care about this contest, either.
His words made Sasori frown, a little displeased.
But he said nothing and simply darted away.
Yubi hid himself as well.
A short while later, a pair of eyes watched two patrolling Amegakure ninja through a gap in the foliage.
The two moved very slowly, chatting as they ran through the woods.
They showed no sign of tension and seemed completely relaxed.
Much less did they notice the danger lurking in the shadows.
Yubi twitched the piano wire wrapped around his hand... a swish rang out.
The two Amegakure ninja had only just landed on a tree, and the moment one of them set his foot on the trunk, a silver gleam flashed past. His head flew straight up, severed clean off.
"What was that?!"
The other Amegakure ninja's pupils contracted, and he braced himself for a formidable enemy.
All he had seen was a flash of some sort of light before his teammate died.
There was not even a figure in sight.
This left him completely unaware of an enemy's presence.
Swish!
Another faint sound came. This time, with his guard up, the Amegakure ninja finally saw the weapon.
It was a light, compact throwing knife speeding through the air. Despite its speed, it made almost no unusual noise and was extremely difficult to detect.
By the time he saw the throwing knife, it was already too late to dodge.
Because... it was too fast.
Had he noticed the knife's position from the start, he could still have dodged it.
But precisely because this method of killing was so insidious, the Amegakure ninja could not anticipate its attack path.
Almost in the blink of an eye, his head followed his companion's, flying into the air amid a spray of blood.
A swish sounded.
Drawn by some force, the airborne throwing knife flew back into the treetop where Yubi hid.
At the same time, Yubi's wires wrapped around the two Amegakure ninja's bodies and dragged them into the weeds.
Everything was so silent... and over in an instant.
"Not bad at all... but since I'm not controlling it by hand, the force and cutting angle still aren't quite precise enough... it leaves bloodstains. A bit of a nuisance." Yubi had given his new ninjutsu a little test. The results were pleasing, but in his eyes, there were still some shortcomings.
What should I call this ninjutsu...? After all, Arai might be somewhere in the shadows. I need an explanation for this ability of mine.
I'll call it Blade Intent Manipulation.
I'll say the inspiration came from Sasori's Chakra Threads, that it's related to puppeteers...
In fact, fighting with wires as he did was a common sight on the battlefield.
But his ability had been redeemed from the system, after all, and did not originate in this world. Thus, after being assimilated into ninjutsu, its power and effects were about the same as those of the original character, beyond what ordinary ninja could achieve.
Uchiha Sasuke, for instance, had also used wires like these against Orochimaru, relying on his Sharingan.
Combining them with concealed weapons and Fire Release, for example.
But Yubi's piano wire was specially made... nothing like it existed in this world, and it was very difficult to spot with the naked eye during combat.
It looked... as though the throwing knife he controlled were dancing through the air on its own.
And in fact...
Arai really was hiding not far from him.
After all, compared with Sasori, Arai was mainly a little more "concerned" about Yubi.
He was afraid Yubi would run into danger.
But when he saw Yubi's display, Arai's eyelid could not help twitching.
He was relatively far away, and everything from Yubi's attack to the kill had ended so quickly... that he had not seen it clearly at all.
Was that his scalpel?
What kind of ninjutsu is this?
Arai was not quite sure.
The shock he felt at that moment was considerable.
After all, during their previous incursion into the Land of Rain, Yubi had always killed the Amegakure ninja in close combat.
He had never revealed a method like this!
Soon... the disappearance of the patrol brought other Amegakure ninja over.
This time, Arai moved closer and watched intently, finally getting a clear look.
A wire guided the scalpel, somewhat like the way puppeteers controlled their puppets, allowing the throwing knife to be maneuvered nimbly from a distance.
What surprised Arai was that, even at such a distance, Yubi could not only control the small knife with perfect ease... its power and speed were impressive as well.
The most frightening thing was how stealthy the method was.
The wire's material was clearly unusual, and coupled with the scalpel's distinctive qualities...
There's a bit of ninja-tool technique mixed in... and something of concealed weapons, but more than anything, it feels like a puppeteer's Chakra Threads... Arai found it exceedingly strange.
This was a ninjutsu he had never seen before.
I could handle it myself, but a person's condition and state of mind vary under particular circumstances... with this ninjutsu's unpredictability and effectiveness in assassination, even someone at Jonin level would be in danger if they let their guard slip...
Arai drew in a slight, sharp breath.
This junior, Yubi... had been keeping this trick hidden, too?
He had not used it even in those dangerous circumstances on their previous mission...
What other abilities was this brat hiding?
At that moment, Arai suddenly felt that he could not quite make sense of Yubi.
The little fellow was rather mysterious.
He had clearly said before that he had no intention of becoming a puppeteer...
Yet looking at him now... why did Arai feel that Yubi had already made quite a few preparations to become one?
Little bastard says one thing and means another.
Arai let out a breath, inwardly cursing him with a laugh.
Elsewhere, Sasori had also begun his hunt.
This time, he did not make a big spectacle of it, instead working just as stealthily.
Using a puppeteer's control techniques, he employed his own puppet to eliminate his targets without anyone noticing.
His hunting method was the same as Yubi's.
Only this time, Sasori worked cleanly and efficiently... demonstrating a puppeteer's capabilities in assassination to absolute perfection.
He also did an excellent job of erasing the traces at the scene.
Time passed little by little, and soon... the loss of contact with large numbers of personnel at Amegakure outposts caused unrest along Amegakure's defensive line.
Many Amegakure ninja began appearing in the woods, and the sense of danger rose sharply.
This time, however... Arai and the other two were not as hard-pressed as before.
They had also reached a full two hours on the mission, and the three slipped away quietly amid the Amegakure ninja's large-scale search and movements.