Revolution in the Ninja World

The once mighty Second Hokage met his end alone, in this primitive forest, and even in death, he was at the mercy of others... In a way, being a ninja was a career that allowed for absolutely no mistakes throughout its entire span.

After indulging in a moment of reflection, Habara decided to retreat immediately. Judging by his looting technique, he clearly lacked professionalism... He hadn't even cleaned up properly; a thorough search might have yielded even more valuable items.

As for the Treasured Tools of the Sage of Six Paths that Habara had acquired, he didn't particularly appreciate Kinkaku and Ginkaku's method of using them. Although that method of sealing enemies was very effective, it went against the fast-paced combat that ninjas favored.

Of the four tools, Habara believed the truly useful ones were the Crimson Gourd, as a sealing container, and the Banana Palm Fan, which could unleash powerful attacks. The Golden Canopy Rope and the Seven-Star Sword, on the other hand, weren't particularly practical in actual combat... In fact, when Kinkaku and Ginkaku sealed enemies, they often had to work together.

Furthermore, Habara couldn't use any of the tools at this stage, because they were stolen goods... Using them outside would easily attract the pursuit of the Cloud Village, and inside Konoha, he couldn't explain them to Orochimaru.

In short, it was time for Habara to get out of dodge. His arrival had been exceptionally smooth; he hoped his departure would be the same, going from victory to victory.

In reality, Habara hadn't anticipated that Konoha and the Cloud would react so drastically, to the point of an immediate declaration of all-out war. So, he was completely unaware that both sides were furiously preparing, striving to, upon receiving the order to attack, smash the other side's brains out within half an hour.

The rationality of both sides was like the sphincter before a bout of diarrhea – no matter how consciously you tried to control it, it was ultimately difficult to resist the physiological urge.

And in the moments before the "floodgates opened," there was the calm before the storm, so Habara's retreat proceeded smoothly.

But this smoothness wouldn't last forever, because Habara was bound to encounter enemies eventually.

The Cloud Village's order to recall personnel had been issued in a great hurry. Not every squad on a mission could return in time, or rather, no one could guarantee that every squad would receive the order in time.

Right now, a four-man Cloud squad, which for various reasons had received the recall order very late, was retreating to this area. And naturally, they discovered a Konoha ninja moving alone.

"Captain, it's a Konoha ninja... What do we do?"

"A lone Konoha ninja? Pursue him. He might have some important intel."

This four-man squad's captain was named Toroi, an elite jonin of the Cloud. On paper, he was even stronger than the Lightning Release user, "I," whom Habara had encountered before.

A lone ninja like Habara, retreating from deep within enemy territory, easily led to the conclusion that he was valuable. Therefore, the Cloud squad pursued without a second thought, wondering if the two things on his back were some kind of important items.

Well, it could be said that the Cloud squad's judgment was mostly correct, because Habara was indeed carrying the Cloud's "family heirlooms." As for the things on Habara's back, if they wanted them, they were welcome to make their own.

Habara, who was happily retreating, heard a noise behind him. He turned his head and suddenly discovered that he had four tails following him.

"..."

He started to suspect he'd just jinxed himself.

Stay calm. Whether he fled or fought, he couldn't lose his composure.

The good news was that Habara hadn't used much chakra so far; his "mana" was at over ninety percent. The bad news was that even at full mana, his chakra level was just so-so.

If it were one-on-one, Habara could even stop and fight right now. But in a one-on-four situation, he really wasn't confident.

In an instant, Habara made his decision. If he was forced to stop and fight, he had to eliminate the strongest enemy first.

Habara moved at high speed through the trees, but the enemy was rapidly closing the distance. Then, Habara heard the sound of something cutting through the air behind him.

Clang!

He half-turned his body and used a kunai to deflect the incoming shuriken. Of course, he wouldn't make any mistakes with such a simple block. However, at the very moment his kunai made contact with the shuriken, Habara keenly sensed a slight change in his body.

"Magnetization?"

Then, a hail of shuriken rained down on Habara from behind. No matter how he changed direction, the shuriken followed him relentlessly... These were tracking shuriken.

The one pursuing Habara, Toroi, was a Magnet Release ninja from the Cloud, but Habara didn't recognize him at first. He couldn't remember every single character from the original series, and weren't Magnet Release users usually minor characters?

Thud, thud, thud!

The shuriken caught up, and the successive hits instantly threw Habara off balance in mid-air!

At the same time, another enemy, flashing with lightning, suddenly appeared beside Habara as if teleporting, and kicked him towards the ground.

Below was originally soft, damp forest floor, but at some point, sharp earth spikes had risen there!

Habara threw out a steel wire with one hand, wrapping it around a nearby tree and forcefully changing his direction, trying to escape that area. However, just as he turned, he was met with a large ball of orange-red fire!

Magnet Release, Lightning Release, Earth Release, Fire Release – the enemy's attacks came like a storm, smashing down on the battlefield rookie, Habara.

Habara emerged from the Fire Release technique looking disheveled. He didn't seem to have any obvious burns on his body, but the scorching flames had nearly scorched his lungs just now. However, he still appeared very calm, because he knew that if he lost his composure, he was dead.

Now was not the time to counterattack. He couldn't counterattack yet.

Habara clutched his side with his left hand, pretending to be injured, and without even looking at the enemy, turned and continued to flee.

More shuriken flew towards him.

By now, the battle-hardened enemy had seen through Habara's true skill level. There was no issue of disguise, because Habara was a rookie, so the enemy's actions became even more aggressive.

The Magnet Release ninja appeared behind Habara.

Habara stumbled, seeming about to fall to the ground. But in the process of his forward lunge, a sudden change occurred! He quickly flipped his body, turning from facing down to facing up. Thus, the Cloud ninja's figure was clearly reflected in his eyes.

A silver ball had already been flung out from his wrist, and this object approached the enemy at an extremely high speed. Then, it burst open like fireworks, spectacularly!

From the silver ball as the center point, countless micron-sized, shimmering, chilling threads shot out. They pierced the surrounding trees, earth, and rocks.

In an instant, the mercury ball, originally the size of an egg, had become a small nexus.

The Cloud's Magnet Release ninja was at the center of this special metal net. Unless he could use the Flying Thunder God Technique, he couldn't escape this attack range.

His body was pierced by the dense threads. Then, due to the inertia of his forward-moving body, as he moved forward, those threads, sharper and tougher than any blade, easily sliced through his body.

His right half shattered on the ground, while his left half was left hanging.

Countless condensed water droplets and tiny blood droplets hung on the mercury threads, collectively scattering the shimmering light of the forest. It was so beautiful that it didn't look like a weapon, but more like...

A mercury lamp.

Secret Technique: Mercury Lamp. This was one of the sources of Habara's confidence in returning to the battlefield.

Although he was a rookie, he had already grasped the essence of ninja combat: being insidious, ambushing, and killing with a single strike.