A sharp whistling sound cut through the air, followed by a barrage of kunai and shuriken in various forms.
Aoba suddenly accelerated, evading the attacks from behind. But three Grass ninja had already overtaken him, forming a pincer formation with another squad.
"A Konoha ninja? Why are you kidnapping our people? Are you trying to start a war?"
Hearing their accusation, Aoba couldn't help but feel a sense of absurdity. How to put it? There was a very clear implication in the Grass ninja's words: if you don't release them, we'll declare war.
But in reality, anyone with sense knew that five Grass Villages combined wouldn't stand a chance against Konoha. Even in its weakest state in history, Konoha was far beyond what a single Grass Village could challenge.
So, logically, even if Aoba had indeed kidnapped their people, the Grass Village would never dare to start a war. At most, they'd send an envoy to Konoha to complain.
In truth, the Grass ninja excelled at diplomacy. Their alliance with Konoha was built on their exceptional diplomatic skills—simply put, they knew how to suck up.
"War? You're not even qualified. To be honest, I have a perfectly legitimate and irrefutable reason for taking these two with me.""But honestly, I can't even be bothered to give you scum a reason. As long as everyone who sees me dies, there won't be any problems. So, are you ready to die?"
As he spoke, Aoba gently placed Karin on the ground and untied the rope on his back, lowering Karin's mother as well.
"Karin, take care of your mother. This will be over soon."
"Okay."
"Good girl." Aoba gently ruffled Karin's hair before standing up and drawing the Kusanagi Sword from his back.
This time, he didn't use the Exploding Tag Trap from before.
For one, he'd already employed this tactic previously, and his opponents would naturally be on guard. Moreover, their team likely had a dedicated sensor ninja. Such a crude trap would hardly deceive them.
Seeing Aoba draw his sword, several Grass ninjas seemed to realize something.
"It's you... Konoha's Wind Chasing Sword, Kamikawa Aoba."
"Heh, to think even worthless trash like you have heard of my unremarkable name. What a pity."
The moment the words left his mouth, Aoba vanished from the Grass ninjas' sight.
Though his tone was mocking, in actual combat Aoba never underestimated any opponent. Thus, he went all out from the start. Combining the Body Flicker Technique with Wind Release acceleration, his movement surpassed anything the Grass ninjas could comprehend.
In the next instant, one of the three ninjas at the front had his head sent flying. The other two, being somewhat competent, actually managed to react and dodge the subsequent Air Cutting Flash.
But that was all they could manage. The two quickly retreated, forming hand seals to perform some ninjutsu.
Before they could complete the seals, Aoba appeared before one of them, the Kusanagi Sword sweeping horizontally to cleanly slice through the ninja's throat.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!" The remaining Grass ninja finally completed his technique.
Yet Aoba didn't even glance at it, charging straight through the jutsu. Simultaneously, a whirlwind of chakra enveloped his body. Upon collision with the Great Breakthrough, the two Wind Release techniques instantly canceled each other out, generating chaotic air currents that scattered in all directions.
Through the turbulent winds, Aoba emerged before the shocked ninja's eyes.
Wind Release was Aoba's specialty. Unlike ninjas from minor villages who obsessed over high-powered techniques, he had focused from the beginning on mastering Wind Release itself. After refining his wind techniques to a certain degree, his control over basic Wind Release had reached a level comparable to wind-based superpowers in movies.
With just a thought, he could execute various relatively simple Wind Release techniques. While not particularly powerful, their practicality far surpassed those high-powered jutsu requiring hand seals. After all, ninjas were high-speed assassins - ninjutsu was merely supplementary. He could always use his sword skills to deliver the finishing blow. At least during this period, this combat style remained exceptionally lethal.
By the time the second ninja fell, the other team finally reacted and sprang into action. Their strategy was clear - rather than confronting Aoba directly, they charged straight for Karin and her mother.
Aoba changed direction at high speed, rushing toward the mother and daughter.
But visually, it already seemed too late. The other Grass ninja team was closer and had nearly reached them.
Aoba threw two kunai with his left hand, but their aim was off. The Grass ninjas easily dodged them, and the kunai embedded themselves in two trees in front of Karin and her mother.
Got them! The Grass ninja exulted inwardly. He'd recognized this Konoha ninja's strength, but also his weakness - his concern for the mother and daughter pair.
If he could capture these two, at the very least he'd survive this encounter.
But just then, his teammate behind him suddenly shouted a warning."Be careful!"
Careful? Careful of what? That Konoha ninja was still some distance away, and the kunai hadn't even hit me.
The rushing Grass ninja couldn't stop in time and charged right up to Karin and her mother. He reached out to grab Karin's mother, who was shielding her daughter.
But then, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Why did his perspective feel off, and why was he uncontrollably looking up at the sky?
No—it wasn't uncontrollable. His head... had been cut off!!!
He desperately tried to turn around, but it was impossible. Instead, as his head rolled on the ground, he caught sight of the culprit behind all this.
The tails of those two kunai were connected by an extremely thin wire. Just when he thought the attack had missed, the kunai had already set up a simple trap between two large trees.
A trap of this level could even be spotted by children at the ninja academy. But in that split second, he had been too focused on beating that Konoha ninja and seizing the mother and daughter first.
And it was precisely this desperate urgency that the opponent exploited, using a trap so simple it couldn't be simpler, to take his life in an instant.
The lead Grass ninja was dead. The one behind him barely managed to dodge, but his arm was injured. Only the last one, who seemed to be a sensor-type ninja, truly avoided the trap.
Aoba's maneuver here was textbook-worthy for traditional shinobi tactics. In just a brief moment, he had exploited the enemy's desperation to win, completely reversing the battle.
And this brief delay had given him enough time to fall back. By the time the two surviving Grass ninja regrouped, he had already successfully returned to his defensive position.
In the blink of an eye, offense and defense had switched.