Revolution in the Ninja World

Habara only sensed the tense atmosphere pervading the battlefield, while the Konoha ninjas at the forefront were already covered in blood.

A short time earlier, just as the enemy entered the battlefield's perimeter, a Konoha ninja had already engaged them.

Without any need for communication, the two opposing ninjas rapidly closed the distance. Then, in a single exchange, the Konoha ninja lost an arm.

After the initial strike, the two separated slightly. The Konoha ninja gritted his teeth, but without even glancing at his wound, he simply drew a kunai with his other, non-dominant hand and unhesitatingly charged again at the enemy, who was clearly far stronger.

At this moment, his other teammates just watched him, showing no intention of providing support… because this was the task he was assigned.

As pale, white lightning crackled around the enemy, the Konoha ninja's chest was easily pierced, leaving a gaping hole.

Then, he collapsed to the ground, with no possibility of standing up again.

After seeing the enemy's technique, another Konoha ninja who had been observing immediately began to transmit information. He blew a specially made whistle hidden in his mouth, and the bird-like call instantly spread out:

"Target identity confirmed. Begin luring operation."

The seemingly reckless Konoha ninja who charged out to fight and subsequently died had, in fact, only been carrying out the mission of reconnaissance and confirming the enemy's identity. And strictly speaking, he wasn't a Konoha ninja, but at most, a "Konoha-affiliated ninja."

Next, the Konoha vanguard appeared to be frightened by the enemy's strength and immediately began to retreat.

The enemy pursued without hesitation, and in the process of guiding the enemy forward, several more Konoha ninjas sacrificed their lives.

There were no flashy ninjutsu, nor any outstanding physical abilities. For many ordinary ninjas, the so-called battle was simply rushing up to the enemy and engaging in a sword fight. Failure meant death.

Then, the Konoha side realized that the enemy was not a two-man squad, but a four-man squad.

But the battle had already begun. It was impossible to stop the operation at this point, and the enemy wouldn't easily allow the Konoha ninjas to disengage.

Habara, situated at the very rear, knew he couldn't remain this tense indefinitely. He had to do something… Thinking this, he reached into the ninja tool pouch on his back and pulled out several shuriken, kunai, and that stack of explosive tags.

Then, he began to tie the explosive tags to the kunai, one by one.

Seeing his actions, Nobuyoshi silently moved a little further away… This was the normal reaction when someone who didn't know what they were doing started fiddling with explosives.

But for Habara, the explosive tags were definitely the most powerful things he had. At this moment, the more potent the explosives, the safer he felt.

After making these meager preparations, he quieted down again.

Gradually, the sounds of the forest became more chaotic. Suddenly, a loud explosion came from the front. Even from this distance, Habara could feel the ground shaking.

It was likely that a trap set by Konoha had been triggered.

A large amount of dust rose in the forest, lingering among the trees and further dimming the surrounding light.

After the sound of the explosion faded, a bird call rang out near Habara.

Habara quickly turned his head to look at Nobuyoshi. His sharp gaze made the other ninja flinch slightly.

But Nobuyoshi didn't hesitate. He quickly said, "Trap failed!"

At this point, there was really no need to use code to transmit information anymore, because there was no one to respond to Daigo's signal.

"They're here!"

This time, it was Daigo who shouted.

Just as the words left her mouth, Habara sensed something rapidly approaching.

Their position had been exposed! The enemy knew where Habara and the others were. Almost in the blink of an eye, a Kumo ninja appeared before them.

Tall and muscular, with dark skin, around thirty years old, and two deep scars on his face… Habara observed this enemy from head to toe. However, when his gaze moved slightly downward, his eyes instantly froze.

The enemy was dragging something.

Seemingly noticing Habara's gaze, the man casually swung his arm, and the object in his hand rolled to a stop not far in front of Habara and Nobuyoshi…

It was Squad Leader Nindo, or rather, Squad Leader Nindo's corpse.

Although Habara wasn't familiar with this squad leader, he did know him. However, a person who had been alive and well just moments ago had suddenly become a corpse. To be honest, this wasn't something easy to accept.

Habara didn't know how to describe his feelings at this moment, but then he had an epiphany… So, this was war.

Actually, when the trap set by Konoha didn't work, it could already be declared that this operation had completely failed. How could ordinary Chunin and Genin-level ninjas possibly defeat an elite Jonin?

No matter how ingenious the tactics and plans, if they couldn't balance the gap in hard power, they would be meaningless.

Just as Habara was having some random thoughts, Nobuyoshi beside him suddenly moved… Not to attack the enemy out of a lack of self-awareness, but to rush towards Nindo's corpse.

However, just as Nobuyoshi was about to retrieve the body, a short sword slashed towards him. He was forced to make a sudden stop and change direction, narrowly avoiding a fatal wound.

The enemy's weapon sliced down Nobuyoshi's left arm, leaving a long and deep wound… like a scallion split by a kitchen knife.

"Nobuyoshi, Habara, you two provide cover! Leave this to me!"

As Izayo's voice rang out, a scorching fireball was already hurtling towards the enemy.

Habara was jolted awake by the squad leader's voice. He gritted his teeth and could only charge forward with Nobuyoshi.

Although the Kumo enemy was large, he was also incredibly fast. He easily dodged Izayo's Fire Release, and by this time, Nobuyoshi and Habara had surrounded him from both sides.

With one arm injured, Nobuyoshi was already unable to perform jutsu. So, in reality, Habara, who was in full condition, became the main attacker. However, the problem was…

He didn't know any jutsu.

Without hesitation, Habara pulled out the kunai he had prepared and, without a second thought, threw them all at the enemy in a flurry.

At this close range, if the explosive tags detonated, the attack would certainly be indiscriminate.

Seeing a barrage of explosive tags flying towards him, the enemy couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. At this moment, he could only quickly retreat to avoid them.

He thought he had encountered a die-hard Konoha ninja who was willing to launch a suicide bombing attack.

However, the kunai with the explosive tags didn't explode. After flying a short distance, they all clattered to the ground.

"…"

Huh?

"Sorry, how do you detonate these things again?" Habara scratched the back of his head, seemingly a little embarrassed.

Just now, both the enemy and Habara were fully in the moment. The large enemy was alert and swift. At this moment, a cunning and disdainful expression lingered on his face... If the explosive tags had detonated, his expression would have been perfect. The problem was, the explosive tags didn't detonate.

What a waste of everyone's emotions.

The Kumo ninja's gaze locked onto Habara. He had been mistaken just now. This person wasn't a die-hard, but an idiot.

And just as he was thinking this, a kunai that had fallen to the ground suddenly sprang up like a rabbit startled from the grass. It rushed towards the enemy with lightning speed, and then the explosive tag attached to the kunai began to glow red. And then…

Boom!

With a loud explosion, orange flames instantly engulfed the enemy.

At the same time, Izayo had already reached Nindo's side.

Because the one who died in battle was her older brother, Habara thought that Izayo was going to retrieve and take away her brother's body. However, that wasn't the case.

Izayo held a kunai in her hand. Although her fingertips trembled slightly, the next moment, she unhesitatingly thrust the kunai into her brother's eye socket.

Then, she exerted force with her arm, driving the kunai deep into Nindo's brain.

"…" Habara, who caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye, was a little confused about what was happening.

However, this was the absolutely correct way to handle a teammate's body.

From small-scale battle plans to large-scale campaign strategies, from detailed information about personnel capabilities to the macroscopic expansion and contraction of a country's front lines… Squad leader-level ninjas held all sorts of information in their heads, and this information absolutely couldn't be leaked to the enemy.

And as long as the brain remained intact, even in death, the enemy could potentially extract this information from the corpse's brain.

That was why Nobuyoshi had rushed towards the squad leader's body first.

Izayo had neither the strength to protect her brother's life nor the ability to take away his body. All she could do, as a Konoha ninja, was to help her dead brother maintain his stance as a Konoha ninja.

So…

Given that, there was no need to hesitate.