After witnessing the successful defeat of the three Sunagakure members, Akimichi Tsuyoshi withdrew his Multi-Size Technique. Nara Yūsuke, Yuki, and Kōki Yamanaka Kenji all came to the Sunagakure and stood before the Sunagakure corpses.
The battle went very smoothly, entirely according to Nara Yūsuke's calculations. First, he used a trap to kill one person and scatter the other four. Then, he had Kōki launch a sneak attack to draw the attention of the remaining Sunagakure ninja. After that, Nara Yūsuke controlled the Sunagakure, and finally, Akimichi Tsuyoshi finished them off. One step after another, under Nara Yūsuke's scheme, the Sand Village ninja were crushed without any power to resist.
Suddenly, Kōki sensed a fluctuation of Chakra and faintly heard a hissing sound from under the corpses of Sunagakure beneath his feet, as if something was being ignited. Realizing something was wrong, Kōki alerted the three members of the Ino-Shika-Cho beside him.
"Watch out, there's Explosive Tag."
After reminding the three, without waiting for their reaction, he immediately used the Wood Release: Wood Locking Wall Technique. Several wooden poles grew from the ground to form a round shield, surrounding Kōki and the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
A loud bang rang out in front of Kōki and the others, and Kakkō flew everywhere. Sand, stones and trees flew everywhere. The violent shock wave hit the protective barrier released by the Wood Release. The four people protected by the Wood Locking Wall could clearly feel the strong tremor on the ground.
The sudden explosion startled Kōki and the others, who were drenched in cold sweat. They hadn't expected the Sunagakure people to have such a trick up their sleeve before they died; they almost ended up being buried with those Sunagakure.
"Thanks, Kōki. Luckily you reacted quickly, or we would have been finished." Yamanaka Kenji's voice trembled, clearly showing that he was still somewhat shaken.
Although Kenji was a seasoned ninja who had faced life and death many times, this battle, which started off well but almost turned the tide, still made his heart race.
"That's right, I also want to thank you Kōki." Akimichi Tsuyoshi nodded in agreement with Yamanaka Kenji's words. He had rarely experienced such a thrilling situation. This was the first time he had almost been caught off guard. In the past, their battles were either about running away when they couldn't win, or about taking down the enemy from a distance, leaving them no chance to retaliate.
"Thanks to Kōki, I really didn't expect the enemy to be able to launch a last-ditch counterattack. This gave them a chance to set up this trap that would take us all down with them."
Having recovered from the near-death experience, Nara Yūsuke thanked Kōki.
He now roughly understands when the enemy laid the trap. Or rather, the enemy had set a trap for him from the start, preparing for mutual destruction. It was also his own fault for being too careless, letting his guard down because of the favorable situation, and failing to consider the enemy's final plan.
It must be said that Nara Yūsuke's analysis of Sunagakure's actions was very thorough. When the Sunagakure squad members were being pursued multiple times, they realized that they might not be able to return to the Land of Wind alive. Therefore, before heading to the Land of Lightning, they all set up a means to take down the enemy with them. This means only requires simple operation to achieve the goal of dying together with the enemy.
In the battle between Sunagakure and Kōki and the others, when the three Sunagakure members were hit by the Akimichi Clan's secret technique, their bodies were momentarily freed from control. It was this instantaneous opportunity that allowed them to activate their backup plan of taking their enemies down with them.
Unfortunately, this plan was thwarted by Kōki's Wood Release, but the outcome is now impossible for them to know.
"It's nothing, it's nothing," Kōki said, indicating that it wasn't a big deal after being praised by the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. "We're all part of the team, it's only natural."
Kōki's nonchalant attitude earned him a slight liking and respect from the Ino-Shika-Cho trio. They were all very grateful to Kōki for saving their Kōki, but none of them showed it; they simply wanted to find an opportunity to repay him in the future.
After sensing that the commotion outside had subsided, Kōki released the Wood Locking Wall Technique. Looking around, the surrounding environment appeared in a mess under the moonlight: broken corpses, limbs and broken wood with flames, and a deep crater that was clearly left by a violent explosion.
" Nara- senpai, what should we do next?" Kōki's expression was slightly puzzled. Although the Sunagakure had been killed, he had no idea what to do next and needed guidance from the experienced Nara Yūsuke.
"Don't worry, this mission is officially complete. We just need to clean up the battlefield and see if there's anything of value left. After that, we can head straight back to the village." In response to Kōki's request for instructions, Nara Yūsuke explained the four's plans, and then gestured to Yamanaka Kenji and Akimichi Tsuyoshi.
The four of them then began to clean up the entire battlefield. However, due to the Sunagakure's final act of mutual destruction, there were not many valuable items left on the battlefield, only some hard Kunai and Shuriken, plus some scrolls that were not completely burned.
However, Kōki gained a considerable amount from the Sunagakure who was killed in the tree. Because the Sunagakure was ambushed and killed by Kōki in the tree, he was less damaged by the explosion, and his body was relatively well preserved. It can be said that the only valuable thing was on the Sunagakure's body.
Kōki searched the Sand Ninja's corpses thoroughly, finding numerous bottles and jars, as well as many scrolls containing Release Technique. The Release Technique recorded on Release Technique scrolls were not very powerful, only C-rank and B-rank.
Interspersed among these Release Technique scrolls were records of special herbs from the Land of Wind and a basic explanation of Puppet Technique. These things made Kōki realize that the Sand Ninja he had ambushed and killed was a puppeteer, but what puzzled him was why a puppeteer wouldn't carry a puppet with him.
What Kōki didn't know was that the Sunagakure puppeteer he killed originally had puppets, but he had used them all up when he escaped from the Konoha Ninja. This was one of the reasons why Kōki could easily ambush and kill this puppeteer, because most of his strength lay in his puppets; without them, he was just an ordinary Jonin.
Having finally understood, Kōki collected the spoils, sealed the corpse of the Sunagakure puppeteer into a blank scroll, and then went to Nara Yūsuke Nara Yūsuke, handing the scroll over to him to handle.
After receiving the scroll from Kōki, Nara Yūsuke glanced at Yamanaka Kenji and Akimichi Tsuyoshi, and seeing that they had almost finished cleaning, he prepared to return to the village.
" Kōki, Kenji, Tsuyoshi, let's go back to the village." After saying that, he leaped into the air and headed towards Konoha.
Seeing Nara Yūsuke's actions, Kōki and the others quickly followed and returned to Konoha.