Konoha's lexicon of ninjas

Fortunately.

When Kurotsuchi and the others caught up, Deidara hadn't managed to kill them all.

The first wave of bombing was sudden, causing heavy casualties to both combat squads, but not to the point of complete annihilation.

Upon discovering Deidara, the two fighting squads immediately and decisively made him their target.

Unfortunately, Deidara was in the air, making it difficult for these people to attack him.

Deidara's attack effectiveness was greatly reduced afterward because there were Lightning Release users in both teams.

Lightning Release was a perfect counter to Deidara's Explosion Release.

So when Heitu and others caught up, they did not see any corpses on the ground.

Seeing the enemy reinforcements coming, the two teams that suffered heavy losses immediately chose to retreat.

However, Deidara's constant harassment in the air greatly reduced their speed, and they were eventually caught up by Kurotsuchi and the others.

"Molten Release: Lime Condensation Technique!"

Hei Tu formed a hand seal, opened his mouth, and spat out clumps of white lime.

Although the enemy dodged it, as his companions unleashed their water-escape technique, the lime melted into liquid and quickly spread out. The enemy who stepped on it was immediately stuck to the solidified lime.

shhhhhh!

Rumble!

The kunai, combined with Deidara's booby trap, took away both squads in one fell swoop.

Kurotsuchi and Deidara's team achieved a complete victory without suffering any losses.

"Brother Deidara, we made a promise before!"

Kurotsuchi stood with his hands on his hips, looking up at Deidara in the sky.

Deidara laughed and said, "I kept my promise and only harassed them."

Heitu gritted his teeth: "Isn't your harassment a bit too much?"

Deidara said earnestly, "This is the art of explosion, hmm!"

Kurotsuchi sighed and rubbed his forehead in exasperation, saying, "One of the two teams we just faced belonged to the Iwagakure faction, just like us."

"Even though they're competitors, we can't just eliminate them like this, can we?"

The other members nodded in agreement.

Killing someone from your own faction doesn't earn you any points. While it might eliminate some competitors early on, this kind of behavior is indeed a bit... excessive.

"Okay, it's a bit of a hassle, but I'll do as you say."

After Deidara finished speaking, he continued to pursue from the air, with Kurotsuchi and the others following behind.

Less than half an hour later, they encountered another battle.

This time, Deidara didn't launch an indiscriminate bombardment, but he also didn't attack immediately. Instead, he waited for Kurotsuchi and the others to arrive.

Making a move now would be tantamount to providing support for the Iwagakure faction team below, and he's not that foolish.

However, when a ninja appeared in the air, eyeing them menacingly, the people fighting below immediately reacted.

The Cloud Ninja immediately retreated while fighting, while the Iwagakure Ninja, while keeping an eye on Deidara in the air, also intensified their attack.

However, just as a Cloud Ninja was about to be killed, a Clay Bird descended from the sky and exploded nearby.

Mud and rocks flew everywhere, startling both sides in the battle.

The Iwagakure forces' offensive faltered, while the Kumogakure forces seized the opportunity to escape the crisis.

"That bastard! He's on our side, yet he's helping the enemy!"

Someone said angrily.

A ninja from Iwagakure (Hidden Stone Village) was in the group, and he immediately shouted, "Deidara, don't interfere with our battle!"

Deidara crossed his arms and said calmly, "We're rivals, after all. Not eliminating you is already being very polite, hmm!"

The ninjas of Iwagakure were speechless.

The captain decisively said, "Sanshi, you're in charge of keeping an eye on him. This guy definitely has other companions on the way. We have to finish this quickly."

But the plans couldn't keep up with the changes.

Heitu and the others have arrived.

"Two squads..."

Everyone's expression changed, and they decisively abandoned the Cloud Ninja team.

Deidara smiled, and then little birds flew out one by one.

Boom boom boom!

The retreating Cloud Ninja were scattered in all directions by the blast, their formation was disrupted and their speed dropped rapidly, and then they were surrounded by Kurotsuchi and her men.

With the same Chunin team, the outcome of the battle was never in doubt.

Heitu and others quickly dealt with their opponents and then continued to advance in the same manner as before.

A moment later, Kurotsuchi caught up with Deidara again, only to find Deidara standing in front of several corpses.

Upon closer inspection, he frowned: "This is... that same squad from before."

Deidara nodded: "Mm!"

The corpses on the ground were none other than the Chunin squad from their own faction that they had just forced to leave.

Unexpectedly, not long after that, the entire army was wiped out here.

As one of the team members was about to step forward to check the condition of the body, Deidara immediately said, "Don't move, there's a trap."

The team members stopped immediately.

Kurotsuchi looked around: "It seems that it wasn't a Chunin squad that took them out, but the real Kumo ninja."

Or rather, they were the true targets of all their hunts: the Cloud Ninja who had been protected and retreated by the Third Raikage during the Third Shinobi World War.

These people are at least Chunin level.

After all, he was a ninja who was able to follow the Third Raikage into the Land of Earth.

Kurotsuchi looked around and saw that the battlefield had been roughly cleaned up, but there were still scorched marks from the lightning release.

"These guys even had time to clean up the battlefield. It seems they took care of them in a very short time."

Hei Tu's expression turned serious: "They must have been attacked suddenly."

"Someone is turning around and ambushing us."

"Brother Deidara, take us to the sky."

Deidara nodded: "No problem."

Several large birds were quickly made, one for each person, and they flew into the air.

Soon, a grove of trees appeared.

The black earth behind Deidara immediately pointed to the woods below: "There's a very high chance it's hiding in there."

Deidara smiled: "Then let them try the art of explosion, hmm!"

Kurotsuchi warned, "Don't be careless. There are many Lightning Release ninjas in the Cloud Ninja, who can disable your Explosion Release."

Deidara scoffed, "The art of explosion isn't so easily deciphered!"

Before we even reached the airspace above the forest, small birds swooped out and disappeared into the woods.

"Click!"

Deidara raised one hand.

Boom boom boom!

The detonating birds exploded repeatedly in the forest, scattering wood fragments and billowing smoke.

Immediately afterwards, figures shot out from the woods.

shhhhhh!

One after another, shuriken burst forth.

Kurotsuchi and the others easily dodged.

"Three people!"

Hei Tu shouted, "They've separated, but don't split up to pursue them. Take care of one of them first."

The eight attacked from the air, throwing ninja tools and using ninjutsu, leaving the fleeing Cloud Ninja in a sorry state.

Seeing that no one was chasing them, the other two had no choice but to return and rejoin them.

"We must take them down!"

Yoshida Tsubasa, as the team leader, gave a light shout, then gestured to the other two: "Use illusion magic!"

The two Cloud Ninja nodded.

The next moment, the three of them first created clones to distract Kurotsuchi and the others in the air, and two of them took the opportunity to form hand seals after dodging the attack.

Lightning Release: Lightning Pillar!

Instantly, a burst of intense light caused Hei Tu and the others in the air to lose their sight.

Yoshida Tsubasa, however, had already pinpointed the approximate location of Kurotsuchi and the others just before the illusion was about to erupt. With both hands moving in unison, shuriken flew out with a whoosh, accurately striking the flying birds that Deidara had made from clay.

Suddenly, the eight people from Heitu fell from the air.

"Be careful!"

Hei Tu shouted a warning, and at the same time, with a wave of his hand, a large number of shuriken flew out, attempting to buy time in this way.

Deidara was right next to Kurotsuchi. Even though his vision hadn't been restored yet, he quickly created a clay bird to catch himself and Kurotsuchi, and then they took off.

However, others were not so lucky.

Before their vision returned, two people were struck by shuriken and crashed heavily to the ground with screams.

Kurotsuchi judged the enemy's location by the sound of the shuriken flying through the air, and threw two more shuriken, but both missed.

But what followed was Deidara's clay bird that exploded with a bang, forcing the Cloud Ninja to dodge.

As his vision returned and the hand seals were completed, Hei Tu spat out clumps of lime.

Yoshida Tsubasa, who had killed two people, quickly retreated to dodge.

"The Water Horn Technique!"

The black soil opened up, the water flowed, and the lime spread immediately.

Yoshida Tsubasa's expression changed, and he twisted in the air, inserting his sword into the ground while standing on the hilt to prevent himself from being solidified by the lime.

Just then, Deidara's flying bird came whistling in, and Yoshida Tsubasa's body immediately crackled with lightning, which then shot outwards, hitting the incoming clay bird and eliminating its chance of exploding.

"This guy's a Jonin!"

"However, don't underestimate us!"

Black soil fell from the sky, and he pressed his hands to the ground.

The next moment, countless sharp stone pillars emerged from the ground, piercing towards Yoshida Tsubasa.

Yoshida Tsubasa leaped and dodged repeatedly, but inevitably suffered grazes.

Just as he was dodging Kurotsuchi's attack, Deidara's Clay Bird had already gotten close.

"Crunch!"

Deidara raised one hand.

Yoshida Tsubasa noticed it, his expression changed, but it was too late.

Boom boom boom!

The clay birds exploded one after another. Although they did not explode at close range, the impact of the explosions still affected Yoshida Tsubasa.

Tearing through the billowing smoke and dust, Yoshida Tsubasa appeared disheveled.

At that moment, Black Earth appeared to his side, his right hand covered by rocks, and he blasted out fiercely.

Yoshida Tsubasa managed to twist her body and cross her arms.

Bang!

Yoshida Tsubasa was sent flying by a punch, but his body suddenly exploded and turned into a cloud of smoke.

Immediately afterwards, another Yoshida Tsubasa shot out from the smoke and dust of the explosion, holding a kunai crackling with electricity, and slashed across Kurotsuchi's neck.

Even though she used Hardening Technique at the crucial moment, Lightning Release counters Earth Release, and Kurotsuchi's neck was still cut open, with blood splattering everywhere.

However, Yoshida Tsubasa's expression changed drastically as soon as he landed. Looking down, he saw his feet sinking: "It's lime mud..."

In front, a clay man rose up and then turned into black soil.

Black Soil leaped backward, and the lime mud quickly hardened.

Puff puff!

Kurotsuchi opened his mouth and balls of lime hit Yoshida Tsubasa's body, followed by water jutsu.

Yoshida Tsubasa was completely frozen in place.

"Deidara, my brother!"

The retreating black soil chuckled softly.

Clay birds swooped in.

"Crunch!"

Deidara in mid-air raised one hand.

Click!

The hardened lime on Yoshida Tsubasa's body cracked and lightning appeared, but almost at the same time, two clay birds arrived and exploded at close range.

Yoshida Tsubasa, a Jonin, was killed by Kurotsuchi and Deidara, two Kekkei Genkai ninjas.

After landing on the ground, Heitu gasped and looked towards the battlefield on the other side.

It's a two-on-two match over there, and they're still locked in a fierce struggle.

"As expected of a team led by a Jonin, they managed to lose four of our teammates without us even realizing it."

Hei Tu looked unwell and ate the soldier's ration pill.

Just an illusion broke their air advantage and caused the loss of four companions in an instant.

If it weren't for Deidara, Kurotsuchi knew very well that she would also be in great danger.

In the few seconds of being out of sight, facing a Jonin, one could very well be killed instantly.

After regaining some strength, Heitu immediately attacked again.

The battle ended quickly.

However, the original team of eight has now been reduced to only four.

Fortunately, Deidara's three teammates all died, while Kurotsuchi only lost one teammate.

Deidara didn't care, shouting in the air, "Hurry up and continue! I want more Cloud Ninja to witness the art of explosion. Hmm!"

Kurotsuchi said helplessly, "Let's wait until our chakra has recovered enough before we take any action."

"If we encounter a situation like this again and don't have enough chakra, we might be wiped out."

"Deidara-nii, you don't want to run out of chakra to showcase your explosive art, do you?"

His last sentence convinced Deidara.

……

Just as Heitu and his team were accumulating points, Bai on the other side began his second mission.

For this mission they still chose the C-level one, and it was a single mission.

Mission objective: Escort Mr. Tazuna back to the Land of Waves and complete the bridge construction.

There is no faction selection for this mission, as the default is Konoha ninja.

On the way, Ryo Nigami couldn't help but ask, "By the way, which period is our mission from?"

"I just noticed that there seems to be the Fourth Hokage on the Hokage Rock!"

Marusugi said, "Perhaps, like the previous mission, it will be a scene generated by itself within the illusion, unlike those major historical events."

The ever-cautious Omoi said, "In that case, we need to be even more careful; we lack additional intelligence support."

"Furthermore, based on the situation of the last mission, the mission level is not as static as we previously speculated."

"Even a C-rank mission could..."

Before Omoi could finish speaking, Nigami Ryo covered his mouth: "You'd better not say so much."

"If a Jonin appears, even if we aren't completely wiped out, we'll suffer heavy losses, right?"

Xingxia Bai, who was standing to the side, laughed and said, "Omoi is right, it's best to be cautious."

Marusugi nodded: "Don't worry, Captain, we won't be careless."

Before long, a puddle appeared on the sidewalk.

As Xingxia Bai walked at the front, Maru Sugiichi and Nigami Ryoichi seemed to casually sweep past puddles on either side.

Just as Tazna was passing by the puddle, two figures leaped out of it.

Almost simultaneously, Marusugi Ichi and Nigami Ryouchi intercepted, while Hoshino Shiro turned and pounced.

Omoi, who was at the back, grabbed Tazna and pulled him back.

Accompanied by screams, the two ninjas hiding in the puddle were easily dealt with by Xingxia Bai and his two companions.

Looking at the corpse on the ground, Ryo Nigami couldn't help but laugh, "Such a clumsy hiding method, they really underestimated us!"

The road was dry, and there was no standing water anywhere else. How could a sudden appearance of one not arouse suspicion?

Omoi said, "There shouldn't be only these two. We need to be even more careful from now on."

Xingxia Bai and the other two nodded and continued on their way.

After walking a while longer, Xingxia Bai's expression suddenly changed, and he looked at a tree by the lake: "That's...."

"Uncle Zabuza!"

Omoi and his two companions were startled and immediately shielded Tazna in the middle.

"Captain, do you know him?"

"Who is this guy?"

Faced with his companion's question, Xingxia Bai immediately replied, "Uncle Zabuza was originally a ninja from Kirigakure, skilled in water jutsu and silent assassination techniques. Later, he followed Lord Shuichi and even obtained one of the original Seven Ninja Swords of Kirigakure, Sewing Needle, from Lord Shuichi."

On the tree branch, Zabuza Momochi looked at Haku under the stars with some surprise: "Haku, I didn't expect to meet you like this."

"However, even though we know each other, I won't hold back. You'd better be prepared."

Xingxia Bai nodded solemnly after hearing this: "I understand. I will do my best to help Uncle Zabuza."

Zabuza Momochi smiled slightly, then raised one hand: "Then let's begin!"

Instantly, the thick fog spread! (End of Chapter)