Suna's elite had taken to the skies.
The infamous Suna Tetsurō and his wife, accompanied by a jonin squad, mounted their Desert Giant Eagles and soared over the mist-laden forest, cutting straight toward Umino Yoru's forces.
Tracking a single shinobi like Yoru through the dense fog would've been near impossible—but locating his entire unit? That was child's play for these aerial hunters.
"They caught up, just as expected."
Yoru's lips curled as he watched the eagles circle above.
Good.
If he could eliminate Suna's air superiority, their reconnaissance would crumble. In the Land of Rivers' treacherous terrain, losing their eyes in the sky would make escape trivial.
But bringing down aerial units was notoriously difficult—especially against elite summonings like Desert Giant Eagles. Yoru's only airborne asset was Shiro, his rapidly growing falcon.
Though Shiro had reached near-adult size, facing two full-grown Desert Eagles was suicide.
No wonder Tetsurō was so confident, daring to chase ahead of his main force.
The Suna commander banked sharply, leading his eagles past Yoru's flank before looping ahead—cutting off their retreat.
He thinks we can't touch him up there.
A gamble Yoru was about to punish.
"SKREEE—!"
The eagles unleashed twin hurricane blasts toward the forest below.
"Wind Release: Thousand Blade Storm!"
Four wind-natured chunin and a Yoru shadow clone formed hand seals in unison. Their combined wind jutsu met the hurricanes head-on, scattering the attacks into harmless gusts. Only a few genin, slow to take cover, suffered minor cuts from the residual winds.
"SKREEE—!!"
Enraged, the eagles reared back, throats glowing as they gathered chakra for a deadlier assault.
This was the opening Yoru needed.
Hidden below, the real Yoru finished his seventh hand seal—Snake → Ram → Horse → Rabbit → Ram → Horse → Rabbit.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
A razor-thin high-pressure water jet shot from his mouth.
It pierced through ancient trees like paper, streaking skyward—
—and impaled the left eagle's chest.
The beam kept going, aimed straight at Tetsurō.
The Suna elite twisted mid-air, narrowly dodging.
Yoru wasn't done.
With a sharp turn of his head, the water jet sliced horizontally—
"SKREEE—!!"
The eagle's entire upper half sheared off.
Tetsurō yanked his wife Ruritama aside, barely avoiding bisection as his puppet shield split like butter.
Sacrificing his right arm, he spun violently, letting the water jet graze his shoulder instead of his torso.
Precision evasion—typical of a Kage candidate.
But the jet wasn't finished.
It arced right, slicing the second eagle's wing clean off.
"SKREEE—!!"
The maimed bird spiraled downward, its riders hurled into freefall.
Chaos in the sky:
One Suna jonin spat wind jets to slow his fall. A puppeteer lashed chakra threads to nearby trees, swinging to safety. The third crashed into branches—badly injured but alive. The fourth?
He landed right in Yoru's kill zone.
A storm of kunai turned him into a pincushion before he hit the ground.
The survivor in the trees? Surrounded within seconds.
Meanwhile, Tetsurō and Ruritama descended gracefully, her puppet-propelled "helicopter" technique cushioning their landing.
"Retreat!" Tetsurō barked as his wife frantically bandaged his stump.
"After them!"
Though drained from the S-rank jutsu, Yoru mobilized his forces.
"KEEEE—!"
Shiro, emboldened, screamed skyward and dove after the crippled eagles.
Two kilometers later:
Tetsurō's squad ran straight into Yoru's trap.
Shadow clones, lying in wait, unleashed their ambush:
"Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field!"
Sticky sugar-water rained from the canopy, ensnaring the fleeing Sand ninja.
Support me by leaving a comment, voting, and visiting myPatr-eon at belamy20
Check out another story in my profile original works