Naruto: Assassinating Minato Namikaze at the Start

Chapter 26 Death Match

"Clang! Clang!"

Ayako Hyuga deflected two incoming kunai, but the annoying puppet followed closely behind.

Ishikawa Araki dodged the attacking puppet from the side and stood guard by her side.

Ayako Hyuga's eyes bulged with blood vessels as she spotted the puppet's owner from dozens of meters away.

"70 meters ahead, 10 o'clock."

Two Sand Ninja squads engaged in fierce combat with Konoha ninjas in the dense forest.

After Mo Jingxian left the team, Hinata Ayako and Ishikawa Shinki temporarily joined Hayabusa's team.

Battles like this have been happening almost daily in recent days.

"Hold them off!"

In the morning, Shirokumo defeated his opponent with a single strike and charged toward the direction indicated by Hinata Ayako.

The Sand Ninjas behind him launched a surprise attack with hidden weapons, kunai bound with burning explosive tags.

"Your opponent is me."

At the crucial moment, Tekuno blocked the shot with two kunai.

Four hidden weapons collided in mid-air, followed by a series of loud explosions that engulfed the entire battlefield.

The Sand Ninja's puppeteers realized their position had been exposed and urgently withdrew their puppets for defense.

But he was clearly a beat too slow, and Baiyun appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye.

"Sword Technique: Vacuum Blade!"

The puppet chasing behind spat out more than ten senbon needles, hoping to stall for a moment.

But Baiyun ignored it in the morning, and seven or eight vacuum blades slashed out from the longsword, blocking all the enemy's retreat routes.

As the great battle fully erupted, the two sides' ninjas fought with all their might, and the intensity of the battle suddenly increased.

When enemies meet, there are no wasted words, only deadly moves aimed at killing.

The Sand Ninja's puppeteer activated the Substitution Jutsu immediately, but failed to completely evade it.

Blood splattered, and the puppet lost control, turning into a lifeless object.

The puppeteer left behind an arm and hastily retreated.

The sand ninja who attacked came quickly and left quickly, disappearing into the dense forest in a few flashes.

"Stop chasing!"

As the team leader, Baiyun issued the appropriate orders at the right time in the morning.

The team members are not in good condition; almost everyone is injured, and continuing the chase would only result in mutual destruction.

Even myself...

Thinking about this, he felt a wave of dizziness.

In the final moments, although he managed to leave the enemy with one arm, he was not completely able to evade the enemy's attack.

A needle pierced his flesh, and his right hand, which was holding the knife, felt a numbness.

"Oh no! The captain's been poisoned!"

Ishikawa Shinki rushed over to help him treat his wound.

Tearing open his clothes, he was found to have been shot in the back near his right shoulder with a senbon needle; the skin around the wound was beginning to turn black.

Ishikawa Shinki immediately began treating the wound.

Those with minor injuries were not forced to leave the front lines. The remaining team members split up to keep watch and prevent the Sand Ninja from launching a counterattack.

Hyuga Ayako hid in a tree trunk and simply bandaged the knife wound on her arm with gauze. Fortunately, the enemy's weapon was not poisoned.

She couldn't even remember how many times she had suffered such minor injuries, and thinking of this made her miss Mo Jingxian.

It would be good if he were here. I wonder how he is now?

Ayako Hinata had a dream that she had never told anyone, a dream that remained deeply hidden in her heart.

She wanted freedom, to live freely, to breathe freely, and then to die freely.

She subconsciously touched the headband on her head, beneath which was an ugly mark.

Being a member of the Hyuga clan, this dream seems more like a joke.

Ayako Hinata knew she wasn't a genius, unable to break free of her cage, and perhaps destined to live her entire life in someone else's.

But she just couldn't stop wanting it.

Just like that day, when she first heard the name Mo Jingxian, an outlier who dared to announce his departure from the Uchiha clan.

At that time, most people in the clan either mocked or despised them.

Even though I don't know him, I want him to succeed.

Hidden in the tree canopy, Ayako Hinata smiled silently.

The team leader was poisoned, and the squad was no longer fit to remain stationed there, so they retreated to the main camp.

The main camp command center.

Only Orochimaru and Shikaku were inside the tent, studying the map on the table.

Orochimaru pointed his finger at the location of the main camp, then slowly slid it until it stopped at the border between the Land of Rivers and the Land of Fire.

"What do you think of this route? Do you have any ideas?"

Shikaku stared at the route Orochimaru had planned, going over all the factors in his mind again.

Then he nodded: "I think it's fine. Retreating to the border is more advantageous for us. The supply lines of the Sand Ren will be passively extended, and we will be much more flexible in formulating our battle plans."

The Sand Ninja have now increased their forces to 12000, and their attacks are becoming increasingly intense, suggesting that the enemy's patience is about to run out.

To make matters worse, the Iwa ninja began to clash with Konoha. Although it was only a small-scale battle, it clearly strained Konoha's troop deployment.

The 1000 additional ninja reinforcements stopped at the border behind them and built defensive fortifications on the spot.

Shikaku was unaware of the ideological conflict between Orochimaru and the Hokage, nor did he want to know.

But this camp cannot be held, not only because of the difference in numbers, but also because of the disparity in high-end combat strength.

Thinking of this, Shikaku sighed, "Sigh, Jiraiya has been transferred to the Iwa ninja battlefield, which is very disadvantageous for us. Fortunately... I heard that Lady Tsunade has agreed to come and provide support, so we finally don't have to worry about the Sand Ninja's deadly poison."

The Konoha ninja suffered greatly from poison; almost all of their casualties were related to poison.

This has been giving Shikaku a lot of headaches lately, but now, as long as Tsunade arrives, all these problems will be solved.

A master who can fight, heal, and detoxify can completely change the course of a war.

Orochimaru, knowing his old friend's condition, was not too optimistic about the matter.

However, there's no need to spread it outside.

"Let's put Tsunade aside for now. Since we're going to retreat, let's be bolder."

Orochimaru pressed his finger on the map, which pointed to the location of the main camp.

"I will leave a great gift for the Sand Ninja, and I need Advisor Shikaku to help me fill in the details and minimize any oversights."

Orochimaru revealed his true thoughts.

Shikaku was horrified upon hearing this. Orochimaru had a huge appetite; he wanted to take a big bite out of the Sand Ninja before he left.

But the plan was also cruel, targeting not only the enemy but also their own people.

Regardless of whether the plan succeeds or not, once it is implemented, he will be nailed to the pillar of shame.

Thinking of this, Shikaku broke out in a cold sweat and felt his mouth go dry.

He shifted his gaze from the map to Orochimaru's face and advised, "Is this alright? If we really do this, we won't be able to explain it to the village. Please reconsider, Commander."

"Staff Officer Shikaku, this is war."

Orochimaru straightened up, leaned back in his chair, and his eyes revealed no emotion.

"What we need to do is to use all means to eliminate the enemy's manpower."

His hoarse voice held a chilling undertone as he turned to stare at Lu Jiu, saying each word clearly:

"I'll say it again, this is war, and war means death."

As decision-makers on the battlefield, our job is to achieve victory. The rest is not our concern. Do you understand?

Under the dual pressure of power and authority, Shikaku had no choice.

"Yes! I understand, Commander."

It seemed as if he didn't hear Shikaku's dissatisfaction, or perhaps he simply didn't care.

After Orochimaru and Shikaku discussed the details for a while, Shikaku took his leave.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

Just as Shikaku was about to leave the command center, Orochimaru called him back.

"Add that ninja named Mo Jingxian to the behind-enemy-lines spy team as well. You'll be in charge of assigning him missions."

"Oh... okay, I understand."

After Shikaku left, only Orochimaru remained in the tent.

For some unknown reason, he opened Mo Jingxian's mission log again.

"Interesting kid, what secret are you hiding...?"

-

Inside the Box of Bliss.

Mo Jingxian stared wide-eyed at the feathers covering her arm, her heart churning violently.

"You just realized? Hahaha... Interesting. Knowing what it feels like to become the monster you're talking about."

Long Yunzhi completely dropped his pretense and felt very pleased to see the enemy at a loss.

Mo Jingxian automatically filtered out the boring information and quickly searched her memory to find out how she had fallen for it.

He mentally replayed his experience of entering the Box of Ecstasy.

It seems that the moment I entered, I unconsciously began to "awaken".

Each successful completion of a level, along with the reward rule, further accelerates the process.

It's laughable that I took it as a reward back then, and worked hard to clear the game in order to unlock the chakra limit.

What a brilliant change in understanding.

It's not that I didn't see the changes, but rather that my perception was distorted by the rules, and my consciousness actively erased the information about the changes.

In terms of perception, the rules of "awareness" within the body are not yet perfect, just a little bit short.

Mo Jingxian looked at her opponent, and seeing that Long Yunzhi's awakening was even more complete, she understood the cause and effect.

Is he the final test of his own "awakening"?

This is the final challenge set by the Box of Bliss, where one of the two must be chosen as the true "Awakener".

Then, with too little information, he couldn't deduce the ultimate purpose of the Box of Bliss.

Seeing that Long Yunzhi had no intention of making a move, he decided to try to extract more information.

"Long Yunzhi, look... we've both turned into monsters, doesn't that mean we're actually in cahoots?"

"Put away your cleverness. I might as well tell you: there can only be one 'Jue' in this world."

Long Yunzhi glanced at him disdainfully and said sarcastically:

"Just as there can only be one king in this world, are you ready?"

Seizing the moment of Mo Jingxian's astonishment, Long Yunzhi uttered the last word and vanished from the spot.

When it reappeared, it was less than half a meter away from him.

His right palm, covered in scales, with fingers like a knife, stabbed straight at Mo Jingxian's chest.

The opponent was experienced and chose the perfect timing.

As the hand passed through his body, Long Yunzhi's expression tightened solemnly; the sensation transmitted back from his arm felt wrong.

That's not a feeling a flesh-and-blood body should have.

Mo Jingxian's body turned into water droplets, which immediately split into two whirlpools, fixing him in place.

Water Release: Tidal Whirlpool

Not only that, but three explosive tags, about to detonate, were left behind where Mo Jingxian had just stood.

The offense and defense on the field reversed in an instant.

"Boom boom boom!"

A dark figure darted out of the smoke and caught up with him again.

Long Yunzhi seized the brief moment of weakness after her opponent used a substitute and delivered a fatal chop to the neck.

The detonating tag only caused minor damage to Long Yunzhi, who relied on his superior defense to withstand the attack.

High damage, fast speed, strong defense, and keen combat sense.

Long Yunzhi's combat skills were flawless; if one had to nitpick, one could only say that he was not good at ninjutsu.

The palm strike sliced ​​across Mo Jingxian's throat, but nothing happened.

It was as if they had made a mistake.

Mo Jingxian's timing was equally sharp; four water dragons attacked from behind.

By taking advantage of the enemy's preconceived notions, we can unexpectedly immobilize their limbs.

The tip of the short sword was only one centimeter away from Long Yunzhi's right eye.

A deadly threat lurking in the shadows suddenly descends...