Task

"Boom~"

The massive fireball exploded on the ground. The two Genin who failed to dodge died on the spot, and the smell of charred flesh filled the air. Another Chunin and Genin narrowly escaped, but both were also severely injured.

"Whoosh~ whoosh~"

Two Kunai streaked across the sky and accurately pinned the two men’s forehead protectors. Their bodies trembled before they collapsed helplessly.

"Xin-chan’s throwing is amazing!"

Gu Sheng turned and smiled at Chu Xin. After more than a year of war, the girl who had once always hidden behind him had finally grown up. Her grasp of combat timing was exceptionally precise, and with her powerful senses and accurate Kunai throws, she was practically a sniper from Naruto.

"Lord Sheng, you flatter me."

After receiving Gu Sheng’s praise, Chu Xin lowered her head bashfully. Her coy appearance left Nawaki staring blankly.

"Na, nani!"

Only when Chu Xin revealed her bashful expression did Nawaki finally understand what had happened. He shouted at Gu Sheng, "Lord Sheng, what happened? I haven’t even made a move yet!"

"Nawaki! You’re too slow. That won’t do!"

Gu Sheng’s words pierced Nawaki’s heart like a sword, making him feel even worse.

"Collect the spoils!"

Gu Sheng ordered his underling Nawaki around, then reached out and accepted the water flask Chu Xin handed him.

"Nawaki, inspect everything carefully. Don’t miss a single thing."

Gu Sheng’s call came from behind. Nawaki, who was working hard to clear away the items left behind by the Sunagakure Shinobi, turned his head and saw Chu Xin taking out a handkerchief to wipe Gu Sheng’s sweat. Caught off guard and force-fed a mouthful of lovey-dovey sweetness, he instantly turned to stone.

"How did I do just now?"

Chu Xin gently wiped the almost nonexistent beads of sweat from Gu Sheng’s forehead, eager to receive his evaluation.

"Not bad. However, in this world, hidden weapons are merely a minor path. The most powerful things are still various ninjutsu and Kekkei Genkai."

Gu Sheng nodded, then began offering Chu Xin some advice. "What you need now is to improve your ninjutsu abilities. You don’t necessarily have to limit yourself to the Hyuga Clan’s Soft Fist. Because of their physical constitution, the Hyuga Clan struggles to achieve much with ordinary elemental ninjutsu.

"But you’re different. With your Internal Fist, your physical constitution is far superior to that of ordinary Hyuga Clan members.

"Sensor Ninjas excel at minute control of ninjutsu. Your senses and control over Spiritual Energy are also far superior to those of ordinary Sensor Ninjas. Ninjutsu requiring precise control, such as the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, suits you very well."

"Is that so? I understand now."

Chu Xin nodded and smiled with narrowed eyes. Her appearance before her Byakugan had awakened was much prettier. It wasn’t that the Byakugan looked bad, but it greatly affected her looks and made her seem somewhat awkward.

"Lord Sheng, I’m done over here!"

Nawaki’s voice rang out, and only then did Gu Sheng and Chu Xin turn around.

"What did you find?"

Gu Sheng walked over and asked. At a glance, he saw quite a few Exploding Tags.

"Xin-chan! Are there any enemies nearby?"

Gu Sheng pinched his chin and pondered for a moment before asking Chu Xin.

"No, but I can sense that there should still be quite a few farther away."

Chu Xin shook her head, then stated firmly. The Byakugan’s range of vision was limited. Even combined with her special Spiritual Energy sensing ability, it could not extend her range by much. However, because she could sense good and evil, she could vaguely detect the malicious Chakra farther away.

"Nawaki, do you remember how you got taken down back then?"

Gu Sheng picked up a stack of Exploding Tags and came up with an idea.

"Rumble~"

A sudden boom startled many ninjas. This was the disturbance of a large-scale ninjutsu at least at the A-rank level.

"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~"

Figures immediately sprang into motion. As they rushed toward the source of the sound, they contacted their main forces one after another. B-rank ninjutsu could generally only be mastered by Jonin. For a ninjutsu to create such a huge disturbance meant that the battle was intense.

Jonin were precious combat power to every village, and none of them wanted their own Jonin to be injured. Thus, every village had issued strict orders: whenever a battle on the level of Jonin broke out, nearby ninjas had to go provide support. Even if they could not offer assistance, they still had to ascertain the situation and bring back intelligence.

"This is…"

This area was already close to the Sunagakure Shinobi camp. Naturally, the Sunagakure Shinobi were the first to arrive. The first thing they saw was four corpses lying on the ground, all of them Sunagakure Shinobi.

"Don’t!"

A somewhat reckless Genin actually went forward to inspect the corpses. His commanding Chunin was discussing something with several other Chunin and failed to notice his actions. By the time he realized it, it was already too late.

"Boom~ Boom~ Rumble~~ Rumble~~"

The instant the corpse was touched, the Exploding Tags detonated. Even more terrifyingly, several Shuriken carrying Exploding Tags shot out from three surrounding highlands at the same time, and explosions rang out one after another.

"Ugh~"

"Help!"

"Medical Ninja!"

After the explosions, smoke continued to billow. Several Sunagakure Shinobi survived, barely clinging to life.

"Wind Release: Expulsion Wind!"

A whirlwind descended from the sky and scattered the gray smoke, revealing three young figures before the group of ninjas.

"There isn’t even a single Jonin!"

Nawaki was somewhat dissatisfied as he looked at the thirteen ninjas before him. After joining forces with Gu Sheng to eliminate a Jonin, he had become somewhat arrogant and felt that he was already incredibly powerful.

"Fall back!"

Gu Sheng was just about to step forward and finish off the group when he suddenly sensed that something was wrong. He shouted and pulled Chu Xin backward.

"Thud thud thud thud~~~~"

The moment the three of them leaped away, a figure burst out from beneath two corpses, and four Kunai plunged into the spot where they had just stood. There was actually still a Chunin hiding there. He had narrowly escaped disaster without suffering any injuries.

"Konoha’s ninjas!"

After glaring hatefully at the three of them, the Chunin immediately turned around and ran quickly toward the Sunagakure Shinobi camp.

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage, Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere, Wind Release: Great Vacuum Sphere, Wind Release: Tornado Hurricane…"

The Sunagakure Shinobi who had been groaning on the ground also leaped up and launched a counterattack. Having completed their preparations long ago, they released their ninjutsu directly. These people knew their situation and realized they would probably not escape alive, so they no longer held back their Chakra and unleashed powerful techniques in an attempt to hinder Gu Sheng and the other two.

"You two deal with them. I’ll handle the other one."

Gu Sheng dodged several Wind Blades with a few quick steps before chasing after the Chunin ahead. Sunagakure Shinobi lived mostly in deserts, where wind and sand were abundant, so their ninjutsu also mainly consisted of Wind Release techniques.

"Wind Release: Verdant Storm Gale!"

Gu Sheng moved quickly. After catching up to the fleeing Chunin, he steadily closed the distance between them. The Chunin saw that he could not widen the gap no matter how he dodged left and right. After fleeing for a long while, he prepared an attack, then turned around and activated his ninjutsu. Countless Kunai spun toward Gu Sheng.

"Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang~~~"

The Tachi in Gu Sheng’s hand deflected the Kunai left and right, clearing a path forward. When he was less than four meters from the Chunin, he leaped into the air and brought his blade down in a slash.