At the border region between the Land of Earth and the Land of Grass, the terrain gradually shifted from dense forest into barren rocky mountains.
The place was almost devoid of human presence. Only weathered stone and dried riverbeds remained, with the occasional stubborn thornbush clinging to life.
Kyoshin's three-man squad lay hidden within the shadow of a rocky peak, waiting for two full hours.
Their mission objective was to intercept a group suspected of disguising themselves as wandering ninja.
According to intelligence, the enemy numbered eight and was entering the Land of Earth from the direction of the Land of Grass.
Kumiko's sensory abilities detected the anomaly first. "They're here. Southeast direction. Eight people. Their chakra fluctuations are deliberately suppressed, but they're well-trained. Not ordinary rogue ninja."
Nobutoshi nodded. Beneath the wolf mask, his eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. "Stay hidden. Wait until they enter the ambush zone."
Kyoshin activated his Sharingan. Crimson pupils pierced through rock and distance, clearly seeing the chakra flow within the eight figures.
Orderly. Efficient. Carrying a certain ruthless discipline.
Their equipnt was also highly uniform. Though their outward appearance looked worn down, the standardized design of their weapons and armor could still be vaguely recognized.
'Konoha's style.'
'Root, or so other branch of Konoha Anbu?'
'Whoever they are, infiltrating the Land of Earth certainly ans nothing good.'
The eight-man squad entered the valley.
They moved carefully, with two scouts in front, four in the center, and two bringing up the rear.
Every step landed in the safest possible position while their eyes constantly swept the surroundings.
Far too professional.
"Move." Nobutoshi said quietly.
Kumiko vanished from the shadows. The next second, she appeared behind the two rear guards.
The eyes beneath her owl mask were ice-cold as both kunai stabbed forward at once.
But the enemy reacted extrely quickly.
One of them twisted sideways instantly, the kunai grazing past his ribs and drawing a spray of blood.
The other drew a ninja blade in reverse grip and blocked Kumiko's second strike.
Clang! Clang!
The tallic collisions sounded especially harsh in the silent valley.
"Enemy attack!" the leading ninja barked. His voice was steady, completely unshaken.
The eight imdiately ford a defensive formation back-to-back.
Their movents were perfectly synchronized, clearly the result of long-term training together.
Nobutoshi leapt down from the rocky peak, forming hand seals midair.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Technique!"
Three massive stone pillars erupted violently from the ground, splitting the eight apart.
The lead ninja ford seals. "Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Violent gusts slamd into the rock pillars, sending shattered stone flying everywhere.
Using the montum, he jumped backward and shouted, "Groups of three! Scatter and break through!"
'Well-trained. Clear tactics.', Kyoshin appeared from the opposite side, his Sharingan locking onto the nearest enemy group.
Three n. All around chūnin level. Their chakra natures were fire, wind, and earth respectively.
The mont they saw Kyoshin, they imdiately changed direction and charged toward him, clearly intending to eliminate the one who appeared weakest first.
Kyoshin created two shadow clones. The tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly.
The original body and both clones ford hand seals simultaneously.
Having mastered fire nature, earth nature, and wind chakra shape and nature transformation, he used a pseudo-kekkei genkai technique for the first ti.
A Great Fireball burst from the original body's mouth, three ters wide, carrying rolling waves of heat.
One shadow clone raised an Earth Flow Wall directly in the fireball's path.
But the wall was not structured as solid defense.
Instead, it was made of loose, porous rock filled with holes.
BOOM!
The mont the fireball struck the wall, countless tongues of fla drilled into those pores.
The fire burned and expanded within the rock itself as the temperature skyrocketed.
The minerals within the stone heated to their limit.
Then the final shadow clone unleashed Wind Release: Great Breakthrough, scattering the burning, loosened earth wall while adding terrifying kinetic force.
And then...
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
The earth wall exploded.
Countless burning fragnts of rock blasted outward in every direction, each piece carrying scorching heat and trendous montum.
The three ninja had originally intended to attack Kyoshin, only to see him unleash a bizarre combination of techniques.
They had already tried to evade.
'Scatter. Find cover.'
But the rain of blazing stone covered an enormous area, while the Wind Release stretched the flas several ters farther outward.
Combined together, the three techniques ford sothing like an airtight fishing net.
The threads of the net were made of fire.
The knots were made of stone fragnts.
And it moved incredibly fast, even reaching behind cover.
The screams were short and shrill.
When the smoke finally cleared, only three charred corpses remained, their bodies riddled with burning stone fragnts.
"Nicely done." Nobutoshi's voice rang out.
He had already dealt with the lead ninja, his blade piercing straight through the man's chest.
Kumiko's battle had ended as well.
Several shallow wounds now marked her body, but every opponent around her had already fallen.
Silence returned to the valley, broken only by the crackling of flas burning against rock and the mournful howl of wind through stone crevices.
"Check the bodies." Nobutoshi ordered in a low voice. "Confirm their identities."
The three of them began searching.
Kyoshin walked over to one corpse and opened the ninja tool pouch.
Inside, besides standard kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags, there were several unusual items.
A weapon maintenance oil container engraved with the Konoha symbol.
A mission briefing written in Konoha Anbu cipher. Though the contents were encrypted, the format was unmistakably standard Konoha Anbu style.
And finally, a specially made kunai.
Near the handle was a tiny groove, a unique design specific to Konoha standard-issue kunai, used for attaching explosive tag trigger chanisms.
"Konoha standard weapons." Kumiko walked over, holding an identical kunai in her hand. "These people were Root."
Kyoshin's eyes narrowed slightly.
'Root... Danzo's personal forces.'
'What are they infiltrating the Land of Earth for?'
'Are they after , or is this another mission entirely?'
"Dispose of the bodies and bring back all evidence." Nobutoshi ordered. "This mission report needs to be fully explained to Lord Tsuchikage."
Kumiko nodded and began sealing the corpses into storage scrolls.
Kyoshin stared at the Konoha kunai in his hand.
Sunlight filtered down between the rocky peaks, reflecting a cold gleam off the blade.
Konoha still had not given up.
...Or rather, Danzo had not given up.
He stored the kunai in his ninja pouch and turned to help clean up the battlefield.
The wind continued blowing, sweeping dust across the ground and burying the traces of blood and battle.
———
The atmosphere inside the Tsuchikage's office was more formal than usual.
Onoki sat with both hands folded atop the desk, his expression serious.
Nobutoshi, Kumiko, and Kyoshin stood before him, having already finished delivering their detailed mission report.
Onoki listened carefully to the matter of Root disguising themselves as rogue ninja to infiltrate the Land of Earth, though he showed no particular surprise.
"I understand." After hearing the report, Onoki slowly spoke. "That old bastard Danzo really refuses to give up."
"But after losing eight Root mbers this ti, he should restrain himself for a while."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the three Anbu mbers before finally stopping on Kyoshin.
"Kintsuchi, during your ti in Anbu, your performance has been outstanding. Your growth speed has exceeded my expectations."
Kyoshin lowered his head slightly. "That's thanks to the captain and vice-captain's guidance."
Nobutoshi shook his head. "That's your own hard work. I've served in Anbu for many years, and this is the first ti I've seen soone your age perform like this."
Though Kumiko said nothing, she gave a small nod in agreent.
Onoki smiled faintly, then his expression turned serious again.
"So, I've decided. As of today, the Anbu squad is officially disbanded."
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