Encounter

"Damn~~"

Gu Sheng rubbed his aching head and stood up. All the Sunagakure Shinobi lurking nearby had gone to join the battle surrounding Orochimaru. Bursts of fire, Wind Blades, and the sound of thunder kept appearing in the surrounding forest, but Gu Sheng had no intention of paying attention to that side.

"Teacher Orochimaru!"

Just as Gu Sheng was considering his next move, a chubby boy crawled out from a pile of dead branches and fallen leaves. He turned toward the direction Gu Sheng had come from, shouted nervously, and prepared to rush out.

"Stop~"

Seeing this, Gu Sheng had no time to think. After a few quick steps, he caught up with the boy and directly grabbed the little fatty, Nawaki, forcing him to lie flat on the ground.

"Whoosh~~ Whoosh~~"

The instant they hit the ground, Senbon and Kunai flew toward them. This little fatty was like a flower in a greenhouse, far too well protected. He actually dared to shout so loudly on an ambush battlefield. Wasn’t he practically asking to die?

"Now keep quiet and listen to me."

Gu Sheng held down the constantly struggling boy as his pair of crimson eyes swept around them. Rustling sounds were already coming from ahead. The Sunagakure Shinobi from before had apparently discovered that there were still survivors behind them.

"The situation is very dangerous right now. These people should be here for Lord Orochimaru, but we can’t go over there."

Gu Sheng’s Sharingan, bearing a Single Tomoe, had already spotted the nearest enemies. "Lord Orochimaru is strong enough. He’ll have an easier time escaping alone, but if you expose yourself, you might distract him and put him in danger.

"Now, I want you to listen to me. We’ll head back and return to the camp for reinforcements, but there’ll probably be danger along the way. Do you dare?"

"I’ll listen to you. Let me go."

Nawaki was silent for only a moment before making his decision. Gu Sheng released him and tossed him a Shuriken fitted with an Exploding Tag.

"The three enemies at one o’clock, seven o’clock, and eleven o’clock will arrive first. Shoot them the moment they show themselves. I’ll set up the traps."

As Gu Sheng spoke, he went over to rummage through the corpses of the Konoha Shinobi piled together. Perhaps fearing that the Konoha Shinobi had left behind some countermeasures, the Sunagakure Shinobi had not cleared away the bodies, so quite a few ninja tools remained. Many of them had known the original Uchiha Sheng, and Gu Sheng knew they had no dangerous tricks left on them.

"Bang~ Bang~ Bang~"

Three bursts of fire erupted in succession. Nawaki truly was Lord Orochimaru’s prized disciple; his fundamentals were solid. The moment the three men showed their heads, he eliminated them with Exploding Tags.

"Here~"

Gu Sheng divided the things he had quickly gathered into two portions, then handed one to Nawaki. "There will definitely still be Sunagakure Shinobi waiting along the road to the camp. We have to be especially careful. My foot is injured, so support me as we walk."

"Okay~"

Nawaki draped Gu Sheng’s arm over his shoulder and, after glancing at the constantly rumbling battlefield behind them, decisively left. His teacher, Orochimaru, was still fighting, but after hearing Gu Sheng’s words, he decided not to go back and burden his teacher further.

"Bang~ Bang~"

Two supporting figures darted through the bushes. Gu Sheng’s luck was fairly decent. Although the heartless Lord God had dropped him onto a battlefield, he was at least an Uchiha who had awakened his eyes, so he no longer needed to find a way to awaken the Sharingan.

The only flaw was that these Sharingan were merely the lowest-level Single Tomoe. Their perceptive ability was only passable. Earlier, he had relied on observation and calculation to determine the time and location of the Shinobi’s attack, allowing Nawaki to succeed in one stroke.

"Haah~ Haah~"

The two of them leaped onto a thick tree trunk. The camp was already visible in the distance. After taking two breaths, Nawaki prepared to support Gu Sheng onward.

"Don’t move!"

Gu Sheng suddenly stopped Nawaki. He had discovered that along the nearest route from this forest to the camp, nearly invisible fine threads had sealed off the way ahead. Chakra Thread—this was the primary means by which the Sunagakure Shinobi controlled puppets.

"What’s wrong~"

Nawaki’s palm grew sweaty with nervousness. If not for Gu Sheng’s vigilance, he would have nearly died several times to the Sunagakure Shinobi’s traps along the way.

"Come out!"

Gu Sheng narrowed his eyes, looked around, and swept his gaze across the surroundings. The two of them had most likely already been exposed to the enemy’s sight.

"Whoosh~ Whoosh~ Whoosh~~"

No one answered Gu Sheng. However, the instant he finished speaking, a barrage of hidden weapons shot toward them. The two leaped aside at the same time, and Kunai and Senbon buried themselves in the treetops.

In a true ninja war, enemies rarely appeared just because someone called out and provoked them. If that happened, it meant the gap in strength was enormous and the other side was extremely confident.

Gu Sheng had never expected an enemy to jump out in response to his shout. His true purpose had merely been to lure the enemy into attacking.

The Sunagakure Shinobi sent to ambush Orochimaru this time were no weaklings. Having infiltrated the rear of the Konoha camp without making a sound, they were all highly skilled at concealment. Gu Sheng’s Sharingan was still too weak; if they did not attack, he could not discover their exact positions at all.

"Nawaki, handle the two enemies at eight and nine o’clock."

Gu Sheng shouted toward Nawaki on the other side. Then he forcefully pushed off with his uninjured right foot and charged toward the enemy he had locked onto in the bushes.

"Thunk~ Thunk~ Thunk~"

Senbon and Kunai repeatedly struck the ground behind Gu Sheng. Although one of Gu Sheng’s legs was injured, making long-distance travel somewhat inconvenient, he could still handle an ordinary Chunin in this kind of battle. He moved in a zigzag pattern, causing all the enemy’s hidden weapons to miss.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

The Sunagakure Shinobi suddenly rose and released a Wind Release technique at Gu Sheng, who was less than three meters away. A whirlwind burst from his mouth and swept toward Gu Sheng.

"Hmph~"

At that moment, Gu Sheng was on a large tree three meters away, preparing to leap. Seeing this, he reacted immediately. His right hand suddenly clawed into the tree trunk, and his whole body swung around it. Dodging the whirlwind, he launched himself toward the enemy.

"Clang~"

Gu Sheng cut through the air and clashed with the man. Two Shuriken collided, spraying sparks. Before the man could react again, a sharp pain struck just above his abdomen, and weakness instantly spread through his entire body. Before he could make another move, Gu Sheng’s right hand had already swept across his throat.

"Lord Sheng, are you all right?"

After killing one enemy, Gu Sheng braced himself against the tree trunk and tried to steady his breathing. Nawaki’s voice sounded beside him; he had already dealt with the other two enemies.

As Lord Orochimaru’s prized disciple, Nawaki was definitely no weakling. The enormous Chakra granted by the Senju Clan’s unique constitution far exceeded that of his peers, making him seem like a human artillery piece. Perhaps he lacked any particularly powerful ninjutsu, but his ability to chain together ordinary techniques was enough to make regular Shinobi cough blood.

"I’m not in trouble anymore!"

Gu Sheng leaned on Nawaki’s shoulder and pointed toward the bushes moving ahead. It seemed there were more than three enemies in this area. Killing the three had also alerted the enemy to the presence of even more combatants.