Looking at the five completely paralyzed and limp bodies, Gekko Chizan slowly revealed himself.
Still, he wanted to confirm it one more time with Chōmei.
"Chōmei, are you sure they can't see me right now?"
"Absolutely not. Don't worry. If you're unsure, just test it."
Gekko Chizan squatted in front of a Kumogakure ninja and waved his hand.
Hmm, no reaction.
But then he realized something.
"Wait, Chōmei… They're this paralyzed—Even if they could see me, they wouldn't be able to react, right?"
The situation was momentarily awkward, but Gekko Chizan chose to trust his partner.
Then, he started searching through the five Kumogakure ninja.
Money? Taken!
Ninja tools? Taken!
Hmm? What's this?
Suddenly, Gekko Chizan found a scroll on one of them.
"A mission scroll? Wonder what's written on it?"
He opened the scroll and began to read.
Oh, so it turns out Kumogakure entered the Land of Hot Water not just to earn commissions and refill their supplies...
But also to assimilate the local ninja from the Land of Hot Water.
They were poaching the more combative shinobi from the Hidden Hot Water Village and pulling them into Kumogakure.
The scroll clearly stated that this team had already recruited eight Hidden Hot Water Village ninja.
Tch. Gotta admit, this move by Kumogakure was quite clever.
The Hidden Hot Water Village had no shortage of ninja, but after the feudal lord of the Land of Hot Water slashed funding to the village, those ninja had been living in poor conditions.
Kumogakure's arrival undoubtedly offered them a brand-new opportunity.
Taking his spoils, Gekko Chizan ignored the five lying on the ground.
After all, the paralysis would take over a day to wear off. Let them fend for themselves.
He immediately used Flying Thunder God to teleport near his side's camp, then quickly rushed back.
Seeing Gekko Chizan return, Yamanaka Heichi's eyes lit up with joy as he quickly stepped forward to greet him.
"Chizan, how'd it go? Did you get any useful intel?"
Before he even finished speaking, Gekko Chizan handed over the scroll he had just read.
In an instant, the three men's expressions changed.
Especially Mizuno Kawa and Yoshimori Hiroshin. They had harbored doubts and looked down on Gekko Chizan before.
But in just a short time, not only had he gathered intel, he'd also returned safely.
Just like that, their perception of Gekko Chizan began to shift.
"Damn Kumogakure, what a grand scheme!"
Yamanaka Heichi's expression twisted as he cursed loudly after reading the scroll.
"What is it, Captain?"
"See for yourselves."
And that was all it took—Mizuno Kawa and Yoshimori Hiroshin immediately got fired up.
"Calm down, you three. This was just one squad."
"I'd bet there's no shortage of Kumogakure ninja in the Land of Hot Water right now."
"There might even be some elite Kumogakure ninja around."
Gekko Chizan remained calm. He had already digested this situation long ago.
Right now, what he was thinking about was whether they could return.
"In that case, let's head back at once and deliver this intel to Lord Hokage."
Mizuno Kawa said immediately.
But before he could even finish speaking, Yamanaka Heichi's face darkened.
"Run! We've been exposed!"
As a sensor ninja from the Yamanaka clan, he had suddenly detected many people entering his range—all converging on their location.
Damn it! How did this happen?!
Hearing Yamanaka Heichi's warning, Mizuno Kawa and Yoshimori Hiroshin turned sharply toward Gekko Chizan.
"It was you! You must've given us away!"
Gekko Chizan was speechless. He had absolute confidence in his Transparent Release.
"There's still time to argue?"
"Run already!"
With his reminder, the three said nothing more and immediately bolted the way they had come.
"Where do you think you're going!"
"Little Konoha rats!"
Suddenly, several figures launched an attack at them.
"Fire Style! Flame Bullet!!"
"Lightning Style!!"
In the blink of an eye, fireballs and lightning sealed off their escape.
"Damn! That was too fast!"
Yamanaka Heichi was shocked, but as a member of the Anbu, he reacted instantly and hurled dozens of shuriken at the incoming enemies.
Mizuno Kawa and Yoshimori Hiroshin also dodged the attacks and immediately countered.
"Wind Style! Wind Cutter Technique!"
Mizuno Kawa used Wind Style Ninjutsu, sharp blades of wind surging up instantly.
Yoshimori Hiroshin, meanwhile, charged at the enemy with kunai in both hands.
"Chizan, we have to escape. I can sense an extremely powerful chakra among the ones behind us."
"They're not here to play."
Chōmei was helping with detection using his chakra and bug eyes.
Though he didn't say it, Gekko Chizan already understood.
The squad ambushing them clearly wasn't some average unit.
They were in a completely different league from the Chūnin team he had encountered earlier.
If he wanted to escape, it would be easy. After all, he had already activated Transparent Release and completely vanished from sight.
Even sensor ninja couldn't track his location.
But what about Yamanaka Heichi and the others?
He could ignore Mizuno Kawa and Yoshimori Hiroshin—but Yamanaka Heichi was still a friend.
This situation... sigh, looks like he'd have to reveal one of his trump cards.
Just as he was about to use Flying Thunder God, Mizuno Kawa suddenly let out a miserable scream.
"Not good!"
Hearing the cry, Yamanaka Heichi and Hiroshin immediately turned back.
They saw a burly man crackling with lightning holding Mizuno Kawa up in the air by the head with one hand.
"Three little Konoha rats? Didn't you say there were four of them?"
"Where's the other one?"
The newcomer's voice was rough, full of confusion.
Next to him stood a ninja with both eyes tightly shut.
No—more like he couldn't open them.
A horizontal slash scarred his eyes. Clearly, he was blind.
But judging by the way the others treated him, he must be a sensor-type ninja.
"Sorry, A-sama. The fourth one's chakra has disappeared."
"Either he's dead, or he's escaped hundreds of meters away."
The man was none other than the son of the Third Raikage—A.
A massive frame, immense chakra—just standing there was enough to suffocate Yamanaka Heichi and Yoshimori Hiroshin.
"Damn it... Even the Raikage's son showed up..."
"Looks like this is the end."
Yamanaka Heichi let out a bitter smile. He felt death was all but certain.
Beside him, Yoshimori Hiroshin said nothing, gripping a kunai in each hand.
"I don't care who you are—let Mizuno go!"
With a roar, Hiroshin charged straight at the brawny A.
"Hmph, weak little Konoha ninja."
Boom!
Covered in his Lightning Armor, A didn't even look.
With a single punch, he sent Hiroshin flying.
Blood spurted from his mouth instantly, along with chunks of something unidentifiable—clearly, A's punch had pulverized his internal organs.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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