Kira fought and retreated, being forced to the seashore.
In Captain Ling's heart, Kira was just a person with Genin strength, incapable of great responsibility.
After Purple Cat's death, Kira had far exceeded Captain Ling's expectations.
Kira arrived at the seashore and engaged in a one-on-one battle with the Cloud Ninja he had brought along.
The two competed in taijutsu, probing each other.
Kira's eyes occasionally scanned the vicinity of the exploding wooden house, taking in the full scope of the battlefield.
A Cloud Ninja squad rushed out of the wooden house; one of the Cloud Ninja was injured by an Exploding Tag, leaning against the stairs, gasping for breath.
Horned Ox's head was filthy; no wonder he was truly angry, it really flew.
A ninja must be well-rounded; theoretical knowledge is equally important. Poor Horned Ox suffered from not understanding architectural layouts.
Captain Ling and Horned Ox each dealt with one Cloud Ninja.
In the distance, the village's fishermen were startled by the explosion and rushed out, holding their fishing spears.
Against ninja, these ordinary fishermen were weak.
They dared not rush over, only hesitating from afar, blocking their houses or fishing boats, protecting their wealth.
Just then, two figures suddenly leaped up from behind the fishermen!
Oh no, Cloud Ninja were hidden among the fishermen.
The sneak attack by another Cloud Ninja squad instantly made the situation extremely unfavorable.
Kira hid far enough away, so the newly appeared Cloud Ninja were heading towards Captain Ling and Horned Ox.
Two against one, Captain Ling and Horned Ox were in danger. If they died, Kira wouldn't survive either.
Kira no longer hid, feigning a fall, turning his back to the Cloud Ninja, revealing a weakness.
The Cloud Ninja raised his ninja blade high and slashed towards Kira's head.
In reality, Kira was secretly forming hand seals beneath him.
The Cloud Ninja he was fighting stiffened, having been hit by the Self-Inflicted Curse Sealing.
In the darkness, the curse mark crawled onto the Cloud Ninja's joints, sealing him.
His ninja blade remained forever 30 centimeters from Kira's head.
Turning back to strike.
Kira's kunai pierced into the Cloud Ninja's vulnerable abdomen.
After a twist, this Cloud Ninja fell down.
He quickly rushed towards Captain Ling and Horned Ox.
His movements were still too slow; he watched helplessly as two ninja blades, one after another, cut off Captain Ling's head.
Not only Kira, but Horned Ox, who was beside him, also stiffened, almost getting hit by a blade.
The Captain is dead?
The next moment, the Captain's body and head both turned into white smoke.
It was a Shadow Clone!
It turned out Captain Ling had been using Shadow Clones to probe all along.
It could even be said that Kira and Horned Ox's infiltration were part of the Captain's probing.
The real Captain Ling leaped from the coconut grove behind, throwing Exploding Tag kunai at the fishermen.
A squad consists of 3 to 4 people; only two Cloud Ninja had appeared just now, proving that other Cloud Ninja were still lurking among the fishermen.
Captain Ling didn't bother to distinguish between fishermen and Cloud Ninja, directly using Exploding Tags.
Either the Cloud Ninja and fishermen would all be blown to death together, or those who survived would be the exposed Cloud Ninja.
Exploding Tags detonated among the fishermen; seven or eight slow-reacting fishermen were instantly blown away.
Those seven or eight people were either dead or crippled.
An Exploding Tag is equivalent to a Chunin-level Fire Release, with powerful destructive force.
Kira's gaze retracted from the explosion; the two Cloud Ninja who had just blasted Captain Ling's Shadow Clone rushed towards him.
Two against one?
Using the enemy's strength while blocking the ninja blade, Kira rolled backward, feigning defeat.
Seeing how weak the ninja wearing the fox mask was, one Cloud Ninja pursued him alone, while the other went to deal with Captain Ling.
Kira breathed a sigh of relief.
That's right, why bother with a cannon fodder like him? Captain Ling was the key to the battle.
The two fought from the beach into the water; to prevent the Cloud Ninja from releasing Lightning Release in the seawater, Kira formed hand seals underwater, using Self-Inflicted Curse Sealing to briefly control the Cloud Ninja.
After killing the Cloud Ninja, Kira thrashed in the water. He held the Cloud Ninja's wrists with both hands, thrashing with the Cloud Ninja's corpse, pretending to be fighting in the seawater.
The battle was intense.
This duo dance was performed by Kira and a corpse.
Only when the battle on shore ceased did Kira crawl out of the seawater.
That night, he killed two Cloud Ninja, exceeding his quota.
At Captain Ling's feet were the corpses of several Cloud Ninja.
Captain Ling was injured, with a penetrating knife wound to his abdomen, a very serious injury.
As for Horned Ox, he was already dead.
This made Kira feel very bad.
Without Horned Ox, would the Captain constantly pay attention to him from now on?
Would the things he had learned be exposed?
If he inexplicably learned ninjutsu, he would definitely be identified as a spy by Anbu, investigated, and dealt with. Ninjutsu is Konoha Village's second most valuable resource, second only to missions, and extremely precious.
"Captain! Let's go quickly! The fishermen are closing in!"
Kira rushed to Captain Ling's side, confirming Captain Ling's injury.
A real injury, not a fake one.
The fishermen saw one ninja clutching his abdomen, blood flowing between his fingers, and another ninja emerging from the sea, soaking wet and disheveled.
They bravely rushed over with their fishing spears, seeking revenge for their relatives who had just been blown up.
Kira put Captain Ling's arm over his shoulder and leaped up.
After several leaps, the two left the fishing village and disappeared into the depths of the coconut grove by the sea.
"Fox, your choice was wrong. You should have killed all the armed fishermen instead of fleeing in a hurry."
Kira explained, "Captain, I was afraid there were still Cloud Ninja among the fishermen."
Between two coconut trees were large-leafed plants Kira didn't recognize.
The leaves of the plants were so dense that it was completely dark there.
Kira supported Captain Ling and leaped towards the large-leafed plants.
Before he even landed, Kira suddenly drew his kunai and fiercely stabbed Captain Ling's side ribs!
Beneath the mask, Kira's eyes gleamed.
Always guarding against Captain Ling was not a solution; every time he used Self-Inflicted Curse Sealing, he had to do it secretly.
Captain Ling would sooner or later discover his little tricks and know that he had learned ninjutsu through channels Anbu did not control.
Anbu dislikes surprises and must control everything.
Vortex Yuka would mistakenly believe him to be a Senju Clan spy because of a sealing ninjutsu; wouldn't Captain Ling?
With kunai in hand, kill the Captain, betray Konoha!
If not now, when?
Even if you are an Elite Chunin, what then? After a serious injury, a kunai can still take your life.
Captain Ling grunted.
"Hm?"
Kira felt his fingers covered in sticky, warm blood.
However, the amount of bleeding was less than expected.
The Captain's ribs were so hard.
His kunai was so dull.
Captain Ling was a ruthless person and immediately counterattacked.
His right arm, draped over the fox's shoulder, bent back forcefully, locking the fox's neck.
He raised his left hand and formed hand seals with his hooked right hand.
Fire Release: Fireball!
A fireball shot out from Captain Ling's mouth.
Kira felt a burning sensation by his ear.
At such close range, it directly engulfed the fox's head, and also engulfed Captain Ling's own right arm.
Before Captain Ling was seriously injured and near death, he exchanged his right arm for the fox's life.
Kira, caught in Captain Ling's arm, didn't even have time to use Self-Inflicted Curse Sealing.
The kunai was clamped by Captain Ling's muscles and stuck by his ribs.
Too cunning; he only knew that Captain Ling was good at Shadow Clone, he never said he could also use Fire Release.
He hides so much from his own teammates!
Looking at the hand seal speed, Fire Release was definitely his trump card.
Kira's head was engulfed by the fireball, and he felt a bit feverish.