Iwa-nin Jōnin Yamashige stood behind the trees, his face resolute as he watched his subordinates charge towards the Land of Rain noble's large ship.
His mission was to destroy the aqueduct beneath the Yoshoka Mountain Range, weakening the Land of Wind.
Looking at the samurai on the ship, Yamashige found them laughable.
Drawing their swords? Did they think they could stop a squadron of Iwa-nin?
On the large ship, Koishi Chisa felt somewhat panicked. Seeing the ninja rushing rapidly across the water, her first thought was that they were ninja hired by the Land of Wind noble.
The Land of Wind noble was equally flustered: "Lady Chisa! I can represent the Daimyō of the Land of Wind to correct our mistakes! There's no need to resort to ninja!"
Koishi Chisa said, "They aren't ninja we hired. I'm only here for preliminary investigations, not to start a fight."
She remembered the Fox was nearby and immediately felt reassured.
No matter who these ninja were, they couldn't make waves in front of Konoha Anbu's top expert.
On the other side of the riverbank, Yōkō and the Yak Squad crouched in the bushes.
Yak felt anxious; they were about to eliminate an A-rank target from the Assassination Manual.
An A-rank mission was within their grasp.
Yōkō waved his hand and led the Yak Squad out with a Body Flicker.
Yamashige saw the Anbu ninja suddenly appear opposite him, and a trace of unease arose in his heart.
Why were there Anbu here? Which village's Anbu were they?
The Anbu, clad in white hooded robes, rushed rapidly across the water surface.
Seeing that distinctive mask, Yamashige's pupils constricted sharply.
Copper Fox!
Yamashige quickly formed hand signs, using the ninjutsu he was most proficient in.
Earth Release: Flying Rubble!
After a single hand seal, Yamashige spat Earth Attribute Chakra from his mouth, which transformed into numerous stones flying at high speed towards the Copper Fox.
Yōkō nodded repeatedly. The inspection was successful; this was the impact-type Earth Release he needed.
The stones flew through the air, emitting dense whistling sounds.
Yōkō drew his ninja sword, testing the strength of the stones.
Swinging his sword, with Yōkō's agility, he managed to shatter five stones before being forced to dodge sideways by the dense barrage.
The attack had strong continuity, estimated to be over a hundred stones.
Some stones had undergone special shape transformation, their tips sharp like stone spears.
Yōkō continuously moved laterally, but the dense stones from the Earth Release: Flying Rubble swept across, relentlessly pursuing him.
Good, it had decent flexibility.
Yōkō used the Semi-Absolute Defense: Coiling Snake to withstand the stones, then charged close to the Iwa-nin Yamashige.
Yamashige leaned backward, dodging the Copper Fox's punch.
Simultaneously, he lifted a leg, a blade springing from his foot, kicking towards Yōkō's throat at an extremely concealed angle.
Yamashige saw his hidden blade pierce the Copper Fox's throat!
Why hadn't he seen the Copper Fox's signature absolute defense secret technique?
No matter, using his trump card to kill the Copper Fox was lucky.
[Detected host has died. Mochizuki's Arc system starting...]
Yōkō's vision changed, returning to the previous full moon night when he was still inside Konoha Village.
[Mochizuki's Arc activated!
Host has only one resurrection opportunity per month, reviving at the previous full moon night upon death.
Rewarding one lottery chance...]
Yōkō chose the Mastery level Earth Release: Flying Rubble.
Thus, he finally mastered five impact-type elemental release ninjutsu, making the Five Elements Unrivalled Attack the first major trump card of his White Ghost alias.
The plot developed in the same way as in his previous life.
Yōkō encountered Yamashige by the Yoshimizu River bank, who was on a mission to destroy the diversion channel.
This time, Yōkō didn't test much, continuously moving laterally to evade Yamashige's Earth Release: Flying Rubble.
He charged close to Yamashige and saw him still leaning back to dodge his punch.
As Yamashige leaned back, he kicked up, the hidden blade on his foot springing out, stabbing towards Yōkō's throat.
The skin on Yōkō's neck turned coppery-red, snapping the blade.
Not only that, Yōkō had already hidden a kunai in his hand, which he viciously stabbed into Yamashige's abdomen.
The same technique couldn't be used against Yōkō twice.
Just as Yōkō thought he had everything under control, Yamashige slapped one hand on the ground.
"Perish together! Earth Release: Ant Hell!"
The ground beneath Yamashige suddenly turned into quicksand, as if countless insects and ants had loosened the soil.
A quicksand vortex appeared on the ground. Yamashige grabbed Yōkō's shoulder, and they both sank underground together.
Ant Hell was Yamashige's other trump card. The moment he saw the Copper Fox, he had prepared to die together with him.
Breaching the Copper Fox's defense was impossible; he didn't have the strength for that. But trapping the Copper Fox, burying him underground to kill him, was his last hope.
His Ant Hell could create a quicksand vortex over a hundred meters deep. Anyone caught in it would sink into the vortex and eventually be suffocated by the sand.
The pressure from the surrounding quicksand grew greater and greater.
Yōkō wanted to form hand signs, but Yamashige held his arm, and the quicksand pressed down on him.
A few minutes later, White Crane was the first to arrive beside the Ant Hell.
"Squad Leader!"
Waiting another minute and seeing no movement from beneath the quicksand, White Crane took out a scroll, preparing to deliver this intelligence to Root immediately.
The Anbu's top expert had miscalculated against an Iwa-nin Jōnin, unexpectedly dying to the Iwa-nin's trump card.
The fact that Yamashige possessed such a powerful Ant Hell was never recorded in the intelligence.
Yak, having dealt with Yamashige's subordinates, also came to the edge of the Ant Hell.
Proficient in Earth Release, he quickly formed hand signs.
"Earth Release: Earth Core!"
The Ant Hell and the surrounding ground rapidly rose.
After rising over thirty meters, a square earthen pillar appeared on the riverbank.
Unexpectedly, the Ant Hell contained so much chakra, making the quicksand extremely heavy.
Lifting the ground thirty meters was already Yak's limit.
The earthen pillar collapsed, the quicksand inside bursting out like a mudslide.
Seeing no sign of Squad Leader Fox, Yak took a deep breath, pushed his chakra again, and continued using Earth Release: Earth Core.
This time, he lifted the nearby ground over twenty meters. Yak was panting heavily.
The earthen pillar collapsed, and there was still no one in the quicksand.
Yak grew anxious. Just how deep was this Ant Hell?
Ninja battles were always perilous; some ninja consciously hid their trump cards.
A clever Chūnin might be unable to evade a Jōnin's ninjutsu, but if they got close, they might trade one for one.
It was well known that Squad Leader Fox feared no physical attacks, but his steel-like body feared being trapped.
"What are you doing, White Crane!"
While the other team members searched the quicksand for Squad Leader Fox, White Crane summoned a ninja hawk.
It was one of Root's methods for transmitting intelligence. White Crane was waiting to confirm Fox's death to inform Root immediately.
If Lord Danzo obtained the intelligence first, he could likely use it to seize control of an Anbu squad, taking over the Fox Squad.
She was originally a spy sent by Root to the Anbu to gather intelligence, especially on the Anbu's top expert, Fox.
The irritable Yak suddenly quieted down.
He saw Squad Leader Fox standing unscathed in the forest behind White Crane, staring at her back.
Anyone else would have certainly died from Yamashige's desperate final strike.
Unfortunately, Yōkō had mastered the Ephemeral Technique; being over a hundred meters underground was like going home for him.
White Crane gave Yak a strange look, wondering why he had suddenly calmed down.
Then, she heard a terrifying voice.
"Write! 'Squad Leader Fox safely evaded the Iwa-nin Jōnin's final, desperate Earth Release: Ant Hell. Fox's Earth Release prowess far surpasses that of most Iwa-nin Jōnin.'"
White Crane turned her head slowly in terror, seeing Squad Leader Fox's mask and his icy gaze.
"Write it just like that. Then report this intelligence to Root."
***
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