This Round Wasn’t a Loss (First Update)

"Damn it, it looks like we’ve been discovered."

Deep within the forest, the ninjas wearing Kusagakure forehead protectors had already prepared their ambush. When they saw the convoy come to a stop, they knew their cover had been blown.

"We can’t drag this out. Most of them are wounded or Genin handling logistics. Only a few need our attention. Squads One, Three, and Six, follow me and take out their escorting ninjas. The rest of you, eliminate as much of the enemy’s manpower as possible!"

"Yes!"

With the order given, the Grass Ninja who had been lying in concealment sprang out from both sides.

Though Kusagakure was a small village, that was precisely why they devoted themselves to studying ninjutsu acquired from other nations. They had improved many widely available, mediocre techniques and were also skilled at countering conventional ninjutsu.

With their ability to hide in the woods, if their leader hadn’t been a Kage-level powerhouse like Minato Namikaze, even an ordinary Jonin might not have noticed them!

When Xu Yue saw that ten of the ambushers’ more than thirty men had broken off to attack Team Minato and his own side, he roughly understood their intentions.

"Senior Brother Minato, their target is our wounded comrades. We need to end this quickly."

"That’s right. Team Minato, prepare for Combat Plan Four!"

Minato Namikaze swiftly formed several hand signs. Kakashi and the other two immediately leaped apart in different directions, each of them holding several Kunai engraved with special formulas.

Then, they hurled them toward the enemies in all directions!

"It sure is nice having underlings."

As Xu Yue likewise began rapidly throwing Kunai in all directions, he realized that his throwing efficiency alone truly couldn’t compare to that of several people working together.

Meanwhile, the three Grass Ninja squads assigned to attack Team Minato, along with their overall commander, were continuously knocking away the incoming Kunai.

"Haha! Are Konoha’s ninjas only capable of throwing Kunai? And they think they deserve to occupy such fertile land?!"

A Grass Ninja who had knocked away a Kunai laughed wildly, trying to crush his enemies’ morale.

Yet a voice suddenly echoed beside his ear, freezing his heart.

"A small ninja village’s intelligence network really is pathetic."

That was the last voice he heard. The next moment, he could only clutch the carotid artery that had been sliced open from behind, making muffled sounds as he collapsed to the ground and rapidly lost consciousness.

In the final instant before losing consciousness, he saw the other two comrades from his squad falling at the same time.

His entire squad had been wiped out in an instant…

"One Elite Chunin and two Chunin. That’s enough for an ordinary squad to serve as a distraction, and they could even hold off a normal Jonin for a while. But unfortunately…"

Using the instant-kill power of the Flying Thunder God Technique, Xu Yue’s three opponents had not even been able to struggle.

Each of them had practically been subjected to Xu Yue’s full-power attack in a one-on-one ambush.

As long as they did not know Xu Yue’s abilities beforehand and were clearly weaker than him, he could kill them instantly.

Yet by the time Xu Yue had dealt with one squad, Minato had not only eliminated the other two squads that had come to intercept him, but had also taken out nearly half the ninjas who had split off to attack the wounded!

With his disciples helping him throw Kunai and his more proficient use of the technique, his Kage-level strength was fully displayed.

Takagi, the Kusagakure commander with Elite Jonin strength, could only stare blankly at that golden figure mowing through his men like grass.

"Y-Yellow Flash!"

Only now did he understand just what kind of terrifying obstacle they had run into, and for the first time, he understood what the words "Yellow Flash" truly represented!

Were you people out of your minds?!

You actually assigned a master of this caliber to guard an escort mission? Wasn’t Konoha supposed to be desperately short on fighting strength?!

"Yellow Flash! What kind of man are you, dodging around all the time? If you’ve got the guts, fight me head-on!"

Takagi, the Grass Ninja leader, knew that only he could barely contend with the opponent. The rest of his men would die the moment they encountered him!

But the other side wasn’t even giving him a chance to tie him down!

Watching his men, who had faithfully charged toward the wounded men’s carts, get harvested like grass, the Grass Ninja leader’s heart bled. His eyes turned bloodshot as he madly charged toward Konoha’s Genin logistics team.

If you were going to slaughter my men one-sidedly, then I’d slaughter your companions too!

Because of the sudden encounter, the Reincarnators who had been transferred from the cannon fodder camp to logistics immediately hid far away, lest they be caught up in the surprise attackers targeting the wounded.

Their task was only transportation; protection was not their responsibility, so they had no qualms about hiding.

But because they had moved farther away from the wounded, there were no Flying Thunder God formula Kunai nearby. In the midst of Minato Namikaze’s full-force slaughter, he had not been able to attend to them in time.

Now, as they watched the Grass Ninja leader charge toward them with such shocking killing intent that most of the Genin could not move from the pressure alone, everyone, including Chu Yingxiong, felt as though they had been violated by a husky.

What the hell?!

The people killing you are over there, over there!

Why are you taking your anger out on us?!

Chu Yingxiong, who had been directly locked onto by that killing intent, felt especially bitter. Eunuch Gao and Bao Ji had already had guilty consciences and had gone off to carry out other missions after the battlefield mission ended.

Now he was the only miserable bastard left leading this bunch of kids.

He had thought that after finally withdrawing from the front lines, he could peacefully spend his days on escort missions.

Who would have thought something like this would happen?!

As the strongest Chunin in the cannon fodder camp, he had somehow become the first target.

What the hell do their deaths have to do with me? Why are you staring at me?!

"Everyone, work together. We—"

Just as he was about to say something to raise morale and use the cannon fodder as cover to buy time, Chu Yingxiong turned around and discovered that the Reincarnators around him, under that terrifying killing intent, had scattered like a pack of dogs invaded by a lion.

In the blink of an eye, aside from Xiao Mei, who had curled up and crawled into the nearby grass, only the newcomer Xu Yue, who could not run, remained!

Was heaven trying to kill him?

With his Kunai trembling in his hand, Chu Yingxiong felt the killing intent of an Elite Jonin and had no courage whatsoever to face it head-on.

But at that moment, several Kunai shot toward the Elite Jonin from another direction.

Worried that they might be Minato Namikaze’s Kunai, the Elite Jonin did not block them. Instead, he leaped aside and dodged the Kunai skimming low through the air.

Yet just as the three Kunai passed beneath him, they collided due to their angles. In an instant, one of them ricocheted upward in the direction he had dodged!

By its trajectory, it was heading straight for a vital spot.

"Seeking death!"

Faced with the sudden attack, Takagi, the Grass Ninja Elite Jonin, flared with rage but also breathed a sigh of relief. So it really was just a Kunai attack. That meant the Yellow Flash wasn’t focusing all his attention elsewhere.

However, just as he prepared to knock his feet together and use his flexibility to twist his body midair and evade the strike, a figure suddenly appeared out of thin air. The Rasengan in his hand slammed directly toward him.

Not good!

Because he had never fully let down his guard against the Yellow Flash, even in his shock, he displayed the terrifying reaction speed of an Elite Jonin.

He raised his tachi and slashed toward Xu Yue.

He actually intended to use the tachi’s reach to strike first, forcing his enemy to save himself!

But Xu Yue had no intention of withdrawing at all. He merely avoided a vital area, allowing a bone-deep gash to be cut into him before forcibly pressing the Rasengan onto his opponent!

Although the earlier strike had affected his aim, the Rasengan’s explosive force still sent Takagi, who possessed Elite Jonin strength, flying backward!

However, since he had been knocked flying, much of the Rasengan’s force had been deliberately dispersed through his backward flight, reducing the actual damage considerably.

"Idiot! You launched a sneak attack, yet your injuries are worse than mine. You… urgh, how is that possible?!"

Takagi landed awkwardly and staggered back several steps. When he looked up, he saw that figure appearing directly before him again, without any intention of treating his wound.

That terrifying, bone-deep wound had already stopped bleeding. Fuck, what are you trying to do…

(/TДT)/

Thank you all for your support. This is the bonus chapter for reaching 1,500 average subscriptions. There are still two regular chapters today, plus bonus chapters for reaching 1,600 and 1,700 average subscriptions~

Brothers, it’s not that Integrity Fungus isn’t trying hard enough! This time, there was only a month between releasing books, so I had practically no backlog. There had been a whole year between this book and the last one…

Enough talk. I’m going back to writing. No idea how much longer I can keep this up—I feel like I’m about to go soft~