No emotions, no feelings.
No detectable chakra fluctuations.
Like lifeless plants.
In this state, Araki perfectly blended with his surroundings, making it difficult for even sensory ninja to detect him here.
Unless...
They truly saw him with their own eyes.
Araki's figure moved rapidly within the forest area, not deliberately slowing down to hide his presence.
Sometimes, moving fast was harder to be noticed than moving slowly.
Slower movements could often lead to being inadvertently discovered.
"One."
"Two."
"Three."
"..."
"Twelve."
After carefully counting, Araki confirmed the presence of twelve Hidden Cloud Village ninjas waiting patiently outside the barrier, ready to provide support for the team responsible for potentially kidnapping Kushina at any moment.
After observing them, Araki had a rough idea of their mission plan.
Mission Objective: Kidnap the Jinchuriki of Konoha!
Mission Process: A small team covertly infiltrates to abduct Kushina, while the rest provide outside support, ready to open the barrier for a quick retreat.
Such a mission might seem simple, but two pieces of intelligence were crucial: the identity and location of the Jinchuriki and the method to open the barrier.
After mentally organizing his thoughts, Araki became more certain that someone from within Konoha was involved in this matter.
Facing these Hidden Cloud Village ninjas, direct confrontation was an option but not a necessity.
Though not yet an official ninja, Araki had extensively read the books at the ninja school and had a fairly thorough understanding of many concepts. He believed in avoiding direct confrontation and aiming for assassination whenever possible. The goal was to achieve maximum results with minimal risk.
If one fought openly in battle, they were not acting as a ninja but as a warrior. Ninja were mainly tasked with covert operations, sabotage, assassination, and intelligence gathering, all tasks hidden in the shadows.
Especially the four basic rules of being a ninja as written in the books: "Do not misuse ninjutsu," "Abandon all self-respect," "Guard your words as if they were a bottle," and "Never reveal your identity." These rules turned ninja into emotionless killing machines.
Araki wasn't brainwashed by these ninja rules, but he took the essence and discarded the rest, filtering out the manipulative aspects.
Using strategy to win was his approach.
Araki raised his hand, producing a wooden ball in his palm. Inside was the same inhalable poison as the one he gave Kushina. Its lethality was limited, but its paralyzing effect was strong. Inhaling it silently would at least reduce combat effectiveness significantly, acting as a potent debuff.
Next...
A determined glint flashed in Araki's eyes. He picked up a green pill, swallowed it to counteract the poison's effects on himself, and then quickly formed hand seals. Chakra surged from within him, flowing into the ground as he injected it throughout his body. Strong vitality filled the environment.
"Wood Release: Tree Bind Flourishing Burial"
Araki immediately performed Wood Release ninjutsu, which was one of the few he had used in the ninja world. After all, he was currently outside the barrier of Konoha Village, and he had thoroughly explored the surrounding environment.
Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!
In that fleeting moment, Araki felt his heart pounding forcefully. Waves of terrifying vitality-infused green chakra overflowed rapidly, continuously flowing into his limbs. The meridians that channeled the chakra exhibited a thriving demeanor, as if everything was reviving, replenishing the chakra he had expended.
Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!
Vines emerged from the ground, as if imbued with life, winding and twining around each of the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas lurking there.
"???"
A barrage of question marks flooded the minds of the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas on the scene. Immediately after sensing the chakra on the vines, they realized that a ninja had launched an attack against them.
"Enemy attack!"
One of the middle-ranking ninja captains bellowed immediately. Then, with a swift movement, he leaped to avoid the entanglement of the vines.
At the moment, they weren't clear about the nature of these vines.
But one thing was certain: they must not get entangled.
Otherwise, they could be restrained.
And that would be dangerous!
The speed of the vines wasn't fast, or rather, it was quite slow. They grew faster only at the beginning, resembling snakes, which startled them.
However, as they realized what was happening, they found that the growth of these vines had become unusually sluggish. The vines twisted and changed shape, as if ropes attempting to entangle them.
This... It's like a playful prank!
Would such an attack really be effective?
The three ninja in the small team began to evade the vines while searching for the person controlling them. In this situation, their attention was divided between finding the person and dealing with the vines. They didn't think too much about it; they found the phenomenon strange but didn't pay it much heed.
Gradually...
This state continued for about ten seconds.
The vines seemed to lose their life force, falling to the ground one by one, and they ceased to move any further.
"?????"
The question marks in the minds of these Hidden Cloud Village ninjas multiplied. Their confusion grew as they tried to make sense of the current scene.
"Is this Wood Release ninjutsu?" Suddenly, among the Hidden Cloud Village team, a middle-ranking ninja frowned and spoke. His gaze remained fixed on the vines, his expression contemplative.
"How is that possible!" Another middle-ranking ninja shook his head and said, "As it's widely known, the only person who could master Wood Release was the First Hokage of Konoha, Hashirama Senju. Since his death, there hasn't been another ninja capable of Wood Release."
"Then what's with these vines?" The last middle-ranking ninja was suddenly caught in thought. If the first middle-ranking ninja hadn't spoken up, he wouldn't have considered this possibility.
"Could there really be a Wood Release ninja?" Even the middle-ranking ninja who had just denied the possibility found himself doubting now.
"Now we are in the vicinity of Konoha Village. If Konoha has hidden Wood Release ninjas, this could be very crucial information!" The first middle-ranking ninja spoke again, his tone serious, immediately enveloping everyone around in a solemn atmosphere.
"But... this is too weak!" The second middle-ranking ninja's mouth twitched as he stared at the vines on the ground that had stopped moving.
"Perhaps the strength of that Wood Release ninja isn't formidable!" The third middle-ranking ninja speculated, stroking his chin. He surveyed his surroundings without sensing anyone, yet a strong feeling persisted, as if that person was right there. He continued, "We can't find the caster right now, but one thing is certain: we've been exposed. The front-line team might already be casualties. We should retreat immediately and report the Wood Release ninja matter to the Raikage."
"Agreed!"
"Agreed!"
The other two middle-ranking ninjas both nodded in unison.
Suddenly.
These three middle-ranking ninjas intended to lead their respective teams back to the Land of Lightning.
But at that moment.
A strong feeling of drowsiness surged into their minds, making their eyelids feel incredibly heavy. Even opening their eyes became extremely difficult.
It seemed that no matter how much effort they exerted, they couldn't keep their eyelids open.
Their consciousness also began to blur.
"Not good!"
These three middle-ranking ninjas immediately realized something was wrong. They heard the sounds of thuds as they fell. The lower-ranking ninjas who had come with them were completely overwhelmed by the paralysis of the poison, all collapsing to the ground.
"Who's there?"
"Who?"
"Who's plotting against us?"
These three middle-ranking ninjas wanted to voice their suspicions, but they found that their throats had lost sensation due to the paralysis, rendering them unable to say anything.
Amid their fading consciousness, they faintly glimpsed a figure approaching them slowly.
The features were completely indistinct.
They could only make out a silhouette.
Soon after.
Consciousness faded away.
They were completely submerged in a state of slumber.
...
Araki stared at the fallen Hidden Cloud Village ninjas, a total of twelve people—three middle-ranking and nine lower-ranking ninjas. None were missing.
"No wonder the Hidden Sand Village ninjas like to use poison. It's indeed very convenient. It's just that the method of using Puppet Jutsu is a bit outdated. I will gradually devise more suitable methods."
Through this assassination of the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas, Araki gained rich experience and underwent significant training.
At least two key points could be summarized from the current situation:
First, more poison is better. He must accelerate his money-making efforts and procure a variety of different types of poison. The effects should not be limited to paralysis alone; he needed poisons with more diverse effects.
Second, his current method of poisoning was somewhat lacking. He needed to administer poison from close range. He couldn't always rely on the risky method of using Wood Clones. He required a technique similar to Puppet Jutsu for administering poison, but he had no intention of learning Puppet Jutsu and no access to such training anyway.
"Seal the deal first!"
Araki had long developed the habit of sealing the deal, and he never overlooked such crucial matters at any time.
Any kindness to enemies is cruelty to oneself!
This time, he rarely used Wood Release Jutsu, so he couldn't afford to leave anyone alive. As for why the vines from earlier didn't bind the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas and instead wilted one by one— the fundamental reason is...
In Araki's central strategy for this battle, he utilized poison.
The vines produced by Wood Release Jutsu were merely to divert the attention of the Hidden Cloud Village ninjas.
As they evaded the vines and searched for the caster, a seemingly inconspicuous vine with a wooden ball wrapped around it was situated right in the midst of their group.
Taking advantage of the moment when nobody was paying attention, it was discreetly crushed, releasing poisonous gas in an instant.