[Land of Fire]
In the forest five Sunagakure shinobis were fleeing madly, three people in pursuit close behind.
The Sunagakure shinobi up front had been sent by the Sunagakure to the Land of Fire to gather information.
The ones chasing behind were Kimimaro, Haku, and Gaara.
Originally there had been two squads, six people, but one was already dead when they were discovered.
Now only five remained.
They were Tanki, Kyuto, Chusuke, Yoma, and Masayuki.
"Damn it, isn't that Gaara? He actually became Konoha's lackey!", Tanki cursed as he ran, furious.
Kyuto beside him wore a grave expression.
"No matter what, escape first. Don't you think about how miserably Seiko just died?", When Tanki thought of Seiko having sand poured into his mouth.
The sand turning into a sea urchin and impaling his head like a funnel sent a chill through him.
"I don't know where Gaara learned that, it's so cruel."
"Shut up. What do you think this place is? Our movements have been exposed. Think about how to get back alive first."
"Besides Gaara, those two brats are not to be underestimated either."
Masayuki was the only jonin among them, so when he spoke, the others naturally had no room to argue.
"Yoma, do a scan immediately!"
Yoma was a wind-style expert, and he also knew a unique sensing ninjutsu, which is why he was on the team.
"Wind Release, Wind Breath Technique!"
Yoma formed the hand seals, inhaled deeply, and Chusuke grabbed his body and put him on his back.
One long breath was blown toward the rear.
Yoma's inhale was deep and the exhale lasted even longer.
A full thirty seconds before the breath ended.
When it finished, Yoma held the seals and began sensing.
The breeze he sent drifted backward, passing through one obstacle after another.
Soon it brushed past the pursuers Kimimaro, Haku, and, further back, Gaara.
The sand on Gaara reacted immediately.
He felt something stir in his heart, guessing they might have been sensed.
Gaara sped up and reached Kimimaro and Haku, "Our movements have been discovered. You two are faster. Don't wait for me, go straight ahead and chase."
"I'll circle around the side. When you make your move I'll cut off their retreat."
Kimimaro made a hand sign to indicate he understood, and he and Haku instantly increased their speed.
Gaara glanced at Kimimaro's speed; indeed he was much faster.
'Looks like I still need to work harder.'
Eleven-year-old Gaara was still developing in every way, but he was much stronger than the version who took the chunin exam in the original timeline.
Crunch! Crunch!
The sound of trees toppling came from ahead; they must have already clashed.
Gaara shifted his body and began to take the flank to block them.
At the fight ahead, Kimimaro already held two bone swords and charged at the Sunagakure.
Tanki and Kyuto drew their weapons and traded blows with Kimimaro, but they did not expect his ferocity.
In just a few seconds they were already injured, and only Chusuke's intervention helped.
Three against one, they barely held Kimimaro off.
Yoma and Masayuki chased Haku.
Haku's senbon had already inflicted significant damage on several of them.
If no one held him back, it would be very troublesome.
Water Release, Mist Hidden Technique!
Seeing the pursuers approaching, Haku spat out thick white mist that covered the entire battlefield.
This technique did not distinguish friend from foe; everyone's vision was reduced.
Only those who had learned the related ninjutsu or had special training could move like fish in this environment.
Kimimaro and Haku had trained together for years and were naturally highly adapted.
His combat instincts were extremely sharp and could quickly pick out an enemy's position in such low visibility.
"Wind Release, Great Breakthrough!"
Yoma and Masayuki both performed techniques; a huge gale blasted from their mouths.
The Sunagakure were not idiots; they too could use ninjutsu to counter, so opportunities came and went in a flash.
Haku shot senbon with one hand while forming seals with the other.
The flying senbon instantly became coated in hard ice.
The target was the three before Kimimaro; bone spikes burst from his body.
His movement was like an illusion as he charged the three, spinning, drifting like willow catkins in the wind, continuously attacking in coordination with his bones without any wasted motion.
The Willow Dance!
The three Sunagakure felt their vision blur and already had several holes stabbed into their bodies.
Pfft! Pfft!
Several muffled sounds; while the three Sunagakure were dodging Kimimaro's attacks, two of them had three senbon driven into their heads.
Only Kyuto survived by a hair.
He, sweating coldly, grabbed Tanki's corpse and hurled it at Kimimaro.
He formed hand seals with both hands and inhaled deeply.
Wind Release, Vacuum Wave!
Kyuto puffed out his chest, sending a blade-like wind edge at Kimimaro.
This wind blade was more than five meters long, compressing all of Kimimaro's dodging space.
Kimimaro's face remained calm; the bones on his body writhed, pierced through the skin, exploding outward like a blossoming lotus.
The wind blade's power was fierce; it sliced off a layer of Kimimaro's bone before dissipating.
At that moment a trickle of fine sand shot up from beneath Kyuto's feet and went straight into his mouth.
A chill ran through Kyuto's heart; the sand burst apart like sea urchins.
Pfft!
Kyuto's head was pierced with several holes like a torn sack, red and white spurted out instantly.
On the other side, Yoma who was holding Haku saw his three teammates dead and his face darkened.
After forming seals, he rubbed his hands as if sending out crescent-shaped, palm-sized wind blades continuously from his hands.
Wind Release, Chaotic Wind Blades!
An ice layer appeared in front of Haku, blocking the wind blades' assault.
Masayuki pulled a scroll from his waist pouch, bit his finger, tore open the scroll and drew it across.
With a boom a giant wind-demon shuriken appeared in his hand.
As he formed seals with both hands, the wind-demon shuriken passed through his hand, his body twisted, and he kicked off.
Wind Release, Wind Demon Wind Slice!
The giant wind-demon shuriken was thrown, spinning at high speed and buzzing.
He spun around and struck Gaara's sand.
Seeing that Haku's ice release was in grave danger.
Kimimaro barked, "Dance, Early Fern Dance!"
His figure vanished like the wind.
A thick bone spear shot out in front of Haku, directly helping Haku block the huge wind-demon shuriken.
Another bone spear pierced Yoma's lower leg.
The bone spears continued to extend, enclosing Masayuki, and Gaara was also controlling sand to attack.
Masayuki swung his blade repeatedly, but only held on for two seconds before his thigh was pierced.
With a grim face he took out a blast tag, stuck it to his head and bit the detonator.
Kimimaro had barely emerged from the bone spears; seeing this he retreated back in, then burst out from Yoma's side and with one cut killed Yoma.
BOOM!
After a muffled sound, Masayuki's head disappeared; he had blown himself up with his own tag.
He had come to check the intelligence; he could not be captured, not even leave a body behind.
Kimimaro panted and returned to human form, and Gaara walked over from nearby.
Suddenly Kimimaro's face flushed.
Pfft!
A mouthful of blood sprayed out, his vision went black and he collapsed.
Haku immediately rushed to his side, face full of anxiety, "Kimimaro! Kimimaro! Wake up!"
"Gaara, let's hurry back!"
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