The impact of a shadow clone's death wasn't pleasant, but it wasn't unbearable either. With the nourishment from digested food energy, Umino Yoru quickly recovered to his peak condition.
Under the insight of his Ultrasonic Radar Technique, everything in the mist was laid bare before him.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Umino Yoru hurled a barrage of kunai and shuriken with pinpoint accuracy.
Though his weapon-throwing skills weren't as terrifying as an Uchiha's, they surpassed most elite chūnin—even some special jōnin might not match his precision.
Combined with his exceptional chakra control, each kunai and shuriken carried tremendous force and blistering speed.
Thud!
Another shuriken struck its target, slicing through a chūnin's right arm and effectively crippling his ability to perform jutsu.
Had these Sand ninja not been skilled in defense—especially as puppeteers—this wave of attacks would have claimed several lives.
Even so, despite blocking most of the kunai with their puppets, all but the special jōnin were injured, though none fatally.
"Take the antidote pills now! These kunai are poisoned!"
"Captain! The antidotes aren't working—they can't neutralize the poison!"
"What?! Even Lady Chiyo's antidote pills are useless?"
The three chūnin swallowed the pills but found no relief. Their wounds were already numbing; if not for their ability to suppress the effects with chakra, they'd have been forced to commit suicide to avoid capture and interrogation.
"Aozora, keep clearing the path. I'll handle defense."
The scar-faced special jōnin was formidable, controlling two puppets at once—one shielding the chūnin named Aozora while the other defended.
Aozora swiftly formed hand signs, preparing to unleash Wind Release: Great Breakthrough again, hoping to disperse the Hidden Mist Jutsu and carve out a visible escape route.
Moving blindly through the thick mist was suicidal—they had to clear it.
Just as Aozora completed the final Tiger Seal, a second, even fiercer barrage of kunai and shuriken rained down like a storm of blades.
"Mechanized Shield: Thousand-Faced Wall!"
The scar-faced jōnin's chakra strings flickered as his left puppet disassembled into hundreds of small shields, rapidly reassembling into a defensive barrier.
A true elite. Not only did he protect himself effortlessly, but Aozora remained unscathed as well.
But then—
Aozora shuddered, as if struck by an invisible force. His jutsu was disrupted.
The interference wasn't strong enough to injure him, but it was more than enough to interrupt his technique.
Suddenly—
Poof!
A cloud of white smoke erupted at his feet. A kunai on the ground transformed back into a human figure—and in the next instant, a blade plunged deep into Aozora's left eye.
The kunai nearly pierced clean through his skull.
"Damn it!"
The scar-faced jōnin roared in fury, enraged at failing to protect his subordinate.
"Mechanized Blade: Whirling Windmill!"
With a flick of his chakra strings, he activated his Salamander Puppet, unleashing a deadly technique.
A two-meter-long rotating blade sprouted from the puppet's back, slicing through the mist with such precision it left a smooth, cleaved plane in the fog.
Boom!
Another puff of smoke—another shadow clone.
"Agh!"
A scream echoed from behind them.
While the Salamander's blades had been attacking the front, the rear guard had his throat slit by a silent Water Release: Mist Teleportation ambush.
"Coward!"
This time, the scar-faced jōnin didn't waste a powerful technique. Instead, he lashed out with chakra strings, sweeping them through the area like razor wires.
Yet again—
Poof!
Another clone dispersed into smoke.
"Kōsuna, stay close. Don't act recklessly."
The jōnin shielded his last remaining subordinate. In mere seconds, he'd lost two capable men—he wouldn't risk the last.
Back-to-back, they moved cautiously, their three puppets forming a triangular defense.
"Kōsuna, stay calm. I'll get us out of this."
"G-Gulp…" The chūnin named Kōsuna swallowed hard, sweat pouring down his face. "Captain… are we being ambushed by a Konoha jōnin?"
"Even if it is a jōnin, they won't break my defenses!"
The scar-faced man spoke with absolute confidence, trying to steady his panicking subordinate.
Then—
A voice, cold as the grave, slithered through the mist.
"Gentlemen of the Sand… the Silent Killing begins now."
"Eight vital points: throat, spine, lungs, liver, carotid artery, subclavian artery, kidneys, heart."
"Which will you choose?"
The mist thickened further, swallowing all light.
Kōsuna paled, his entire body trembling.
"Let's pick… the heart."
The words had barely faded when two figures blurred forward—each moving at least twice the speed of a basic Body Flicker.
"AAGH—!"
Four kunai stabbed into Kōsuna's limbs—none fatal, but enough to cripple him.
"DIE!"
"Mechanized Storm: Ten Thousand Blades!"
The scar-faced jōnin's chakra strings flared blue as his Salamander Puppet's armor exploded apart, unleashing thousands of razor-sharp, poisoned discs.
Like a swarm of enraged hornets, the blades spiraled outward, shrieking through the air like wailing ghosts.
This was their counterattack—a suicidal gambit, using themselves as bait to unleash hell.