"In the bamboo grove, there are seven ninja total. Three are patrolling around the secret base, and four are hiding with the Hiding with Camouflage, maintaining the damaged barrier."
Gojo Yoru and Tsunade lay prone atop a huge boulder, their bodies concealed under a camo cloth the same color as the rock—this was the most basic form of the Hiding with Camouflage.
They were watching the bamboo grove ahead while Katsuyu-sama's voice came through.
Under Katsuyu's sensing, the grove's setup might as well not exist.
Tsunade analyzed in a low voice, "There's a barrier, but there's no chakra 'energy wall,' so it's not a defensive barrier like the Four Violet Flames Formation or a three-way sealing barrier. It's a sensory barrier."
"A barrier like this doesn't just cover the surface—it also extends underground. Even Earth Body Flicker can't evade its detection. Even if you successfully infiltrate, your chakra fluctuations will be exposed."
"So silent infiltration is impossible."
Tsunade turned her head and fixed Yoru with a serious stare as she laid out her plan:
"In a moment, we strike together. We eliminate those seven as fast as possible, then search their bodies for antidote. If the secret base below really is a pharmaceutical workshop, we go in and ignore everything else—quickly gather anything related to medicine and formulas and have Katsuyu-sama take it back to Shikkotsu Forest."
Yoru didn't nod. He proposed instead, "If time is tight, leave the seven to me. I'm not great with medical knowledge—better for me to buy you time."
"Ninja assigned to guard work like this are at least chūnin," Tsunade said, her gaze doubtful. "Can you handle it?"
"Don't worry." Yoru grinned. "I'll win."
That confidence made Tsunade pause.
Thinking of Katsuyu's evaluation of him, and then of Flying Thunder God and the Body Flicker speed that even outpaced her, Tsunade finally nodded and warned, "Fine—those seven are yours! If you can't win, don't force it. We still don't know whether the base below is truly a workshop. Even if this plan fails, we have other ways to get the antidote."
"Understood." Yoru made an OK sign.
"Let's move!"
Tsunade's fighting spirit rose as well.
As the words fell, Yoru and Tsunade both turned into afterimages and shot toward the bamboo grove.
Yoru was fastest. In a blink, he left Tsunade far behind—like a crooked bolt of lightning—piercing into the grove.
Because he wasn't in full-body intangibility, Yoru's chakra was immediately detected by the four Rain ninja maintaining the sensory barrier.
"Attention—an intruder has entered."
A Rain ninja disguised as a stone in the bamboo grove spoke into a communicator, informing the patrolling Rain ninja.
The three patrolling Rain ninja tensed instantly, reaching for signal flares to call for reinforcements.
Then the communicator crackled again—and the next line made them relax, abandoning the idea.
"There's only one intruder. Chakra level… veteran chūnin."
"Probably a scout. Capture him—or leave a complete head for Hanzō-sama…"
One of the Rain ninja maintaining the barrier was about to issue orders, but his voice cut off mid-sentence.
Because a figure had appeared in front of him without warning—waving through the camouflage of the Hiding with Camouflage.
"Hello."
"Ene—"
The Rain ninja got only one syllable out before a hand clamped onto his face. A tremendous force yanked him out of the fake stone.
He instinctively tried to struggle—only to find his limbs wouldn't move.
With one person no longer maintaining it, the sensory barrier instantly returned to its damaged state.
"Call them!"
The other three Rain ninja maintaining the barrier shouted at once.
Near the secret base entrance, one of the three patrol Rain ninja immediately went to pull out a flare and fire it into the sky for support.
Whoosh-whoosh-whoosh—
Three sharp tearing sounds reached their ears.
Three kunai flew in a triangular formation—one in front, two behind.
That Rain ninja only spared the kunai a glance and kept pulling out the flare.
Shhk—!
Before the kunai could even reach, a figure Body Flickered in front of them, drew a ninja blade, and swung—intending to block the incoming tools for his teammate.
But the blade striking the lead kunai didn't produce a metallic clang, nor a crack of breaking metal.
Instead, it made the sound of cloth tearing… and flesh splitting.
The Rain ninja's eyes widened. Shock filled his gaze as his brain stalled.
Because the "kunai" in front of him had become the teammate who'd just been warning them.
Why was he here?
Why was he blocking a kunai with his body?
In the split second of that stunned hesitation, the other two kunai had already flown past his left and right.
Flash—
A black streak laced with dazzling gold flickered across his vision and vanished.
Darkness and heaviness flooded his sight and consciousness.
His head dropped to the ground, while his body remained frozen in the same sword-swing posture.
He didn't even know he was dead.
Compared to the two behind him, his death was almost merciful.
The sudden appearance of that teammate also made the other two patrol Rain ninja freeze.
But the incoming kunai snapped them awake.
They forgot the flares and Body Flickered instinctively—leaping into the air, one left and one right.
As they rose and retreated, they watched their teammate die with their own eyes:
A black figure appeared out of nowhere. From his hand shot a brilliant golden beam, sweeping across the man's neck.
That golden beam carried an unstoppable edge—instantly severing head from body.
The impossible sight stunned them.
"Watch behind you!"
Suddenly, a warning crackled through their earpieces—from a sensor.
Both of them reflexively looked behind each other and their pupils shrank.
In the bamboo grove behind them, a figure was standing there, still in a throwing posture—like he'd just tossed something.
They hadn't felt a blade pierce flesh, and there was no sound of armor blocking impact.
Before they could guess what had been thrown, a kunai came into view—crossing between their lines of sight.
Then that familiar black flash, streaked with dazzling gold, began flickering back and forth in front of their eyes.
Shhk-shhk-shhk…
With a rapid chain of cloth-ripping sounds, the image of limbs and body parts flying through the air appeared.
They once again watched their comrades be cut in half, torn apart—arms, legs, heads separating.
The dismemberment was so fast that by the time the pain reached them, they'd already lost the ability to scream.
Only the Rain ninja who had been sealed—who hadn't been cut down by his own teammate—remained conscious.
His pupils trembled, terror in his eyes as he stared at the figure who had landed with his back to him:
A golden light sword in hand, blood rain pouring down, chunks of flesh dropping all around.
In that Rain ninja's eyes, this figure was without question the most terrifying devil in the shinobi world.
~~~
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