Yōkō left the mountain top with a Body Flicker, choosing a random direction.
Shortly after landing, kunai, explosive tags, and other long-range attacks began to harass him.
There was a Kiri-nin unit in the surrounding thick fog. Their mission was to delay him, not to get close, only to harass from the periphery. Yōkō couldn't even find them.
A few more kunai shot towards him from a certain direction.
Yōkō raised his hand to deflect the kunai and charged towards their source.
In the thick fog with visibility less than two meters, Yōkō saw three figures huddled together back-to-back.
His copper-red fist swung towards them but stopped midway.
In front of his fist were actually three Konoha ninja.
To pull his punch, Yōkō's front foot even sank into the ground.
"What happened!"
Seeing it was an Anbu member, the Konoha ninja quickly said:
"We came to the designated area to set up an ambush as ordered by our Battalion Commander, but we were ambushed by the Kiri-nin instead! The battalion was scattered!"
Yōkō ordered, "The ambush is over! Retreat in the direction away from the coast! Don't linger here!"
"Yes!"
Hearing the Anbu member order their retreat, the three Konoha ninja were very relieved.
If they abandoned their combat position without orders, it would be considered abandoning their mission. But if a superior ordered them to retreat, then escaping was acceptable.
Yōkō was inwardly surprised. Just how many Kiri-nin had come to scatter five Konoha battalions?
After watching the three leave, Yōkō turned and entered the thick fog.
He bumped into a Kiri-nin squadron head-on. Yōkō thought, Finally, not a Konoha ninja.
The Kiri-nin Squadron Leader saw the outline of the ninja sword within the bandages and recognized it as one of the Seven Ninja Swords, the Twin Swords Hiramekarei!
He felt no fear at encountering a strong enemy, only greed for the ninja sword.
He waved his hand: "Go! Kill him!"
Greed was one thing, but he also knew his limits, so he let his subordinates test the waters first.
The Konoha Anbu carrying the Twin Swords Hiramekarei should be the Copper Fox from the intelligence.
In just one encounter, three Kiri-nin had their backs arched high, sent flying back one after another.
The Kiri-nin Chūnin Leader looked; the chest of the nearest corpse was sunken into a deep crater like a large pot.
What terrifying taijutsu.
After confirming it was indeed Copper Fox, the Squadron Leader shouted: "Don't use taijutsu or tools! Create distance and use ninjutsu!"
The advantage of Water Release was that Water Shockwaves released by any number of people could merge together.
When a sufficient number of water release users gathered, the power of the Water Shockwave they created approached that of a tsunami.
Facing the combined Water Shockwave used by over ten water release users, Yōkō formed a single hand seal.
The Water Shockwave crashed into Yōkō.
As long as the target was submerged by the large wave, the Kiri-nin had plenty of methods to use underwater.
But the Kiri-nin Squadron Leader was disappointed.
The combined Water Shockwave didn't hit its target, only washing away a puddle of human-shaped mud.
Copper Fox had used an Earth Clone.
The Kiri-nin Squadron Leader stood on the water's surface, over ten meters deep, and formed hand signs for the Summoning Technique.
His summons was over a hundred piranhas.
In sufficient numbers, a piranha swarm could easily tear a ninja into mincemeat.
Each piranha was only palm-sized, making them hard for the ninja to hit in the water.
The piranha swarm swam swiftly underwater, searching for the target.
Yōkō appeared on a large rock in the distance.
With churning waves at his feet, Yōkō hesitated about whether to use Water Body Flicker.
The opportunity wasn't good; there were too many people around.
Yōkō gathered a large amount of chakra and used a long-range Water Release: Water Cutting Wave.
A Water Cutting Wave with an effective lethal range of over fifty meters shot out, instantly piercing through the Kiri-nin Squadron Leader's chest.
The Water Cutting Wave was excellent in every way, except its power rapidly diminished with increasing distance. This was a property of water, and there was no good solution for it yet.
The Kiri-nin Squadron Leader had been staring underwater, controlling the piranha swarm to find the target.
He suddenly looked down in horror at his chest; a water beam had shot through him from behind.
Internal strife within Kirigakure was severe. He had managed to acquire the piranha summon, which was invincible in water, and had killed many skilled ninja from his own village.
Before dying, the Kiri-nin Squadron Leader felt regret.
He was better at dealing with fellow Kiri-nin from his village, not so skilled at dealing with ninja from other villages.
After killing the Kiri-nin Squadron Leader, the other Kiri-nin quickly fled.
Yōkō didn't pursue them deeply, standing on the rock waiting for the large body of water to recede.
After resting for just a few minutes, the annoying kunai and explosive tags once again targeted him.
That harassing unit had returned.
Flickering away, Yōkō continued searching within the thick fog.
As he walked, Yōkō heard the sound of explosions becoming particularly concentrated from a certain direction.
Yōkō remembered from the map that it was a low hill to the southwest.
After walking southwest for a few minutes, Yōkō heard the faint sound of waves again.
In the thick fog, he could only hear sounds, see nothing.
Yōkō prepared his hand signs, waiting for the wave.
After staring at the source of the sound for over ten seconds, a wave over ten meters high suddenly appeared just three meters away.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
An Earth-Style Wall over ten meters high, trapezoidal in shape, rose up, providing Yōkō with a foothold.
After the large wave passed and the water surface calmed slightly, dozens of figures stood vaguely in the distance.
These few dozen people were blocking him, preventing him from continuing southwest.
These few dozen were likely the Kiri-nin monitoring his movements. Their appearance now suggested that the battlefield to the southwest was very important.
The more the enemy opposed something, the more correct his course of action likely was.
Yōkō was determined to go southwest.
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander formed a one-handed seal, using the thick fog to sense Copper Fox.
The thick fog was mixed with faint chakra; any disturbance in the mist could be transmitted back to the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander.
"He disappeared! Vanished from underground! Everyone, be careful of the ground beneath you!"
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander's mission was to track and harass Copper Fox, not to fight him to the death.
After several elite Jōnin finished battles on other fronts, they would ultimately decide the ownership of the Twin Swords Hiramekarei.
Before that, no elite Jōnin was allowed to seize the Twin Swords Hiramekarei prematurely.
He had self-awareness, knowing he could not lay claim to the Twin Swords Hiramekarei.
At the same time, he also had to prevent Copper Fox from entering other main battlefields.
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander crouched down, placing both hands on the water's surface, sensing the ground beneath the water.
Directly below the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander, someone burst forth from the earth, charging upwards from the waterbed!
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander quickly formed hand signs, using the Water Prison Technique.
In a water-filled environment, the Water Prison Technique was easy to execute; a spherical water prison could quickly form anywhere in the water.
According to intelligence, capturing was the preferred method against Copper Fox.
The Water Prison Technique caught Copper Fox!
However, the next instant, the white smoke of a Shadow Clone dispersing appeared within the water prison.
The ground underwater churned, soil breaking apart into mud.
The water became extremely turbid.
Amid the turbidity, Yōkō risked using Water Body Flicker.
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander was crouching on the water's surface when a person suddenly appeared on the water behind him.
Yōkō, holding a ninja sword, used one of Kakashi's secret techniques.
"Sword Technique: One Thousand Years of Death!"
A long sword thrust into the Kiri-nin Battalion Commander from behind.
The Kiri-nin Battalion Commander only felt a tightness in his posterior as a sharp blade entered straight through it into his chest and abdomen!
***
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(End of Chapter)