Among the basic criteria for evaluating a ninja's capability, there exists a fundamental—almost primitive—standard: when necessary, they must be willing to risk everything without hesitation.
Every ninja fears death, yet they inevitably face situations where death seems unavoidable.
After finalizing their plan with Haseo, the squad leader of that Konoha team quickly outlined the upcoming operation to his teammates. No one but themselves knew whether they had any complaints about this reconnaissance mission, which posed an extremely high risk of sacrifice. However, what everyone did understand was that they would follow the order regardless—including the team member already gravely injured.
Watching the Konoha squad scatter in four directions, Haseo turned toward his own team members and said, "Let's try our best to delay the enemy chasing us. Although there may be more Ame ninjas inside this barrier than just the ones currently pursuing us, at the very least, I hope these people behind won't interfere with their scouting efforts to the fullest extent."
Nagisa Nara, Chichio, and Renjiro nodded in turn. They all understood—though the two Konoha squads were now separated, they still had to work together to make it out alive.
Of course, it was impossible to completely halt all the enemies behind them; how could four people possibly hold off twenty? The pursuers weren't dumb either. After witnessing the Konoha ninjas' dispersal, the Ame pursuit squad naturally dispatched several individuals to continue tracking Konoha's reconnaissance unit. Haseo Squad's job was to hold back whoever was left. As for those who rushed forward immediately, it all depended on how strong the other Konoha squad truly was… hopefully each of them could eliminate their pursuers individually.
Behind Haseo, explosion tags continued detonating. There was no doubt about the destructive power of such devices—if critical body parts were hit, a ninja would certainly suffer torn intestines and ruptured organs. Yet its killing efficiency was relatively low, and the reason was simple: accuracy. Very few shinobi were ever killed by explosive tags lying stationary in one spot.
Thanks to his internal Lightning Release circulation system—which functioned in an orderly rather than chaotic energy emission pattern—Haseo still maintained abundant chakra even after prolonged activity in Mikage mode. That's why he could keep going.
Therefore, the Lightning Release he used now should be categorized as Ninja Taijutsu rather than standard Ninjutsu. If this had been a typical Lightning Release technique like Chidori, nobody would've been able to sustain such prolonged usage.
Precisely because of this, although Haseo and others were under pursuit, he still managed repeated counterattacks. Although the enemies had become wary of his high-speed Ninja Taijutsu and he could no longer kill them efficiently and cleanly as he did initially, he still kept disrupting their formation, constantly throwing off the rhythm of their chase.
Due to the extremely limited range of this barrier, it wasn't long before Haseo and the others had completely circled its perimeter. But precisely because of the barrier's limited scope, after Haseo had charged back in more than ten times, successfully taking down three or five enemies, the signal they were waiting for finally arrived.
This special high-pitched whistle could travel far even through the rain.
"Charge!"
Without hesitation and without a word, Haseo immediately abandoned concerns about the pursuing enemies behind him and led his squad in a fierce charge toward the direction from which the signal came.
"Oh no! They've discovered the Barrier Unit!"
As the whistle reached Haseo and his group, it naturally also reached the enemy's ears. Seeing that the Konoha squad, who had been fighting them just moments ago, suddenly abandoned their aggressive tactics and instead charged like rabid dogs toward the source of the whistle, the Amegakure team quickly deduced what had happened on the other side.
Of course, they immediately resumed their persistent pursuit of Haseo and his team. However, the earlier chase had already proven one thing—none of them were any faster or stronger than the other. In fact, to avoid being picked off one by one, the Amegakure pursuers had to carefully maintain their formation.
Compared with the fleeing Konoha squad, they ended up being more restricted and less capable of pushing their speed to the limit. So how could they possibly catch up now? If they could've caught them before, wouldn't they have done it already? ...In truth, the only person on the battlefield with an unfair speed advantage was still someone from the Konoha squad.
To avoid falling out of sync with his teammates again, Haseo wasn't even moving at his full speed. He advanced with ease and control, yet thanks to Nara and the other two sprinting desperately, they soon arrived at the location where the signal originated.
Haseo's eyes narrowed as he first spotted the Konoha squad leader—surrounded by multiple enemies, bloodied, and still fighting furiously. Then, scanning across the battlefield, he quickly noticed three enemy ninja who hadn't joined the battle at all.
In fact, these three were currently retreating in another direction, escorted by an equal number of ninja guards.
"The Barrier Unit!" Haseo gritted his teeth inwardly.
Under these circumstances, the identities of those three ninja became obvious.
Whether intentionally or not, the Konoha squad leader had actually found the predetermined target in no time. But...the signal he just sent didn't summon only Haseo's squad. According to the previously established combat plan, once someone sends a "target located" signal, all personnel must converge upon that point. Yet until now, there was no sign of the remaining three Konoha ninja arriving.
Only the captain—Konoha's most powerful fighter—was still alive… This was the unavoidable conclusion Haseo reached. And if they hadn't arrived in time, the captain, trapped within the enemy's encirclement, wouldn't have lasted much longer anyway.
The enemy, upon seeing another Konoha squad suddenly appear at the scene... although they had anticipated something like this might happen when that last remaining Konoha ninja released such a signal, they hadn't expected reinforcements to arrive this quickly. As a result, while intensifying their assault on the final survivor, the Barrier Unit simultaneously attempted to withdraw from the battlefield at an even faster pace.
Haseo merely glanced at the captain but didn't bother rescuing him, even though the man was drenched in blood. Instead, without hesitation, he charged straight toward those three barrier ninjas.
"Bad! This guy is way too fast—stop him!"
Once Haseo truly unleashed his speed, the enemy instantly recognized the deadly danger he posed. They had no choice but to abandon their already almost unstoppable assault on the Konoha captain and instead pour all their efforts into stopping Haseo.
But right now, Haseo only had eyes for those three barrier ninjas. He didn't care about the enemies closing in from all sides—because behind him, the twang of bowstrings rang out, and shadow warriors with bared fangs surged forward!
In the blink of an eye, he'd already surged past every enemy trying to intercept him, reaching right before the Barrier Unit and their personal guards.
Each of the three maintained the exact same hand seal—it was likely what kept the barrier intact. That meant none of them could fight back at this moment… so the real challenge lay solely with those three guards!
Now, these six individuals altogether had entered Haseo's attack range:
[Lightning Release · Kurigara!]
A wide blade of brilliant blue lightning, shaped like outstretched fingers, shot forward like endless rays of sunlight, piercing through space in less than a heartbeat until it reached directly in front of one barrier ninja.
"Retreat!"
Yet within that critical instant, one guard still managed to react. He burst forward, shoving the Barrier Ninja aside just as he threw himself into the path of Haseo's lightning blade—getting skewered straight through. Saving someone or protecting oneself—only one choice could be made, and he remained loyal to his duty.
Had he failed? Was it blocked? Just as both Konoha and Amegakure ninjas entertained the same thoughts inside their minds, Haseo suddenly shouted loudly: "All Konoha ninjas, fall back!"
This caused several Amegakure ninjas to look up in alarm, then turn their terrified gazes backward, only to discover another barrier ninja already bleeding heavily from half his body. Staggering slightly, he finally collapsed lifelessly into the rain-soaked ground.
Haseo's left arm still extended his blade of lightning, yet with his now-empty right hand, he retracted it… Neither enemies nor allies saw what he had done, though moments ago, he clearly thrust forward both arms simultaneously.
Chakra started dispersing from above and all around them.
One barrier ninja had died—thus the barrier was broken.
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