"Are you Sarutobi Asuma?"
A Sand Ninja, standing on a branch with a katana, spoke up.
He recognized Sarutobi Asuma.
Primarily, there weren't many strong individuals in Konoha who were also young.
And Sarutobi Asuma was particularly famous. After all, he had a bounty of thirty million, and many had seen his wanted poster.
It was just that Sarutobi Asuma had developed so rapidly in the past year or two, which was why he hadn't been recognized immediately.
Sarutobi Asuma didn't reply and reached out to draw his sword.
The moment his hand landed on the hilt, three Wind Style Ninjutsu techniques erupted from three different directions, sweeping towards him.
All angles were sealed off, except for the ground.
But just before the Wind Style Ninjutsu arrived, Sarutobi Asuma had already activated Lightning Style Chakra Mode.
As blue electricity flashed through the dark forest, screams rang out.
The Sand Ninja who had used Wind Style, standing to the left of Sarutobi Asuma's previous position, had his jutsu broken through head-on, and he was then cut down with a single strike.
Before the scream had even fully faded, Sarutobi Asuma's figure disappeared again.
In less than a second, a second head rolled.
"So fast!"
"Block his movement!"
A leading Jonin shouted, rapidly forming hand seals.
As soon as he finished speaking, the third Sand Ninja, without even a scream, was bisected.
Boom!
Wind Style erupted.
Along with numerous shuriken, kunai with explosive tags, and needles carrying potent poison fired by puppets, covering a wide area, and other hidden weapons from all directions, Sarutobi Asuma was barraged.
Blue electricity flashed, Sarutobi Asuma sliced through the Wind Style Ninjutsu with his sword, letting the various hidden weapons hit him and bounce off, but his body didn't stop as he charged toward the leading Jonin who had just given the order.
Clang!
The two swords collided. Lightning Style against Wind Style. The Sand Ninja's sword snapped.
Immediately after, their bodies crossed paths, and the Sand Ninja fell with wide eyes.
Sarutobi Asuma's body didn't stop. His figure flickered continuously, dodging powerful attacks. In the blink of an eye, he arrived before a puppeteer. With a boom, the puppet exploded, blue light flashed, and the puppeteer's head rolled, without any pause.
His speed was too great.
Furthermore, under Lightning Style Chakra Mode, his defense was greatly enhanced. Ordinary kunai, shuriken, even those with explosive tags, couldn't harm him.
And while Wind Style countered Lightning Style, it was only at an equal or stronger intensity.
Moreover, under Lightning Style Chakra Mode, Sarutobi Asuma's speed was too fast. Each stop lasted no more than 2 seconds, making small-scale Wind Style techniques completely ineffective.
"Scatter!"
"Use large-scale Wind Style to seal the area!"
Shouts continued.
In the blink of an eye, four or five had already died, causing extreme shock among the many Sand Ninja.
Wind Style: Net!
Wind Style: Wind Cutting Technique!
Wind Style: Sickle Weasel Technique!
After scattering, large-scale Wind Style techniques swept out. The vegetation was instantly cleared, and the rapidly moving Sarutobi Asuma finally had no choice but to stop.
However.
Even after being hit by the Wind Style, he was not injured.
His gaze swept across, and there were five Sand Ninja remaining.
He deactivated Lightning Style Chakra Mode, and under the gaze of the few Sand Ninja, Sarutobi Asuma clapped his hands together with a snap.
"Kill!"
The Sand Ninja shouted and attacked one after another.
Scorch Release Chakra Mode!
Blue and white flames covered his entire body from the inside out. Immediately after, a high-temperature storm erupted from him, forming a terrifying tornado that expanded outwards at high speed.
The Sand Ninja's Wind Style clashed against it but did not break through.
The Sand Ninja engaging in close combat with swords were sent flying, and even the attacking puppets were instantly shredded into pieces by the storm.
Following that, two chakra arms extended from under each of Sarutobi Asuma's armpits, and a small Scorch Release Rasenshuriken condensed in each hand.
Suddenly.
Sarutobi Asuma raised an eyebrow, stomped his foot, and with a boom, the ground beneath him sank, then exploded. Screams echoed from underground.
Sand Ninja weren't just skilled in Wind Style.
The next moment.
Four Scorch Release Rasenshurikens shot out, and Sarutobi Asuma's figure vanished from his spot.
BOOM!
The four small Scorch Release Rasenshurikens fully unleashed their power, covering an area of about 20 meters. Beyond that, a high-temperature storm significantly weakened their lethality.
Within the 20-meter radius, there weren't just the dense chakra needles of the Wind Style Rasenshuriken, but also extremely high temperatures that could instantly turn a person into a desiccated corpse.
The dense chakra needles might not be fatal, but they could completely immobilize a person, allowing the high temperatures to turn them into a desiccated corpse.
Coupled with Sarutobi Asuma finishing them off.
Three seconds later, no one who had surrounded him was left alive.
This battle hadn't even lasted two minutes.
Over a dozen Sand Ninja, including at least three Jonin, had all met their demise.
But Sarutobi Asuma didn't dare to pause for a moment. He dispelled the Scorch Release Chakra Mode, switched to Lightning Style Chakra Mode, and sprinted towards the third defensive line.
One minute later.
The memory of a Shadow Clone returned.
Yūhi Kurenai and the others were surrounded!
Aside from his location, the other two defensive lines had been completely breached by the Sand Ninja.
One and a half minutes.
Sarutobi Asuma arrived, and before he even reached them, intense electricity erupted from his body.
Lightning Style: False Darkness!
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune, who were surrounded, immediately and decisively interfered with the Sand Ninja facing away from Sarutobi Asuma's main body.
Meanwhile, the Shadow Clone was responsible for blocking the attacks from the other Sand Ninja.
Although it was only interference from poison needles and minor Genjutsu, the Genjutsu was dispelled in less than a second, and the poison needles didn't hit vital spots.
In that brief moment, Sarutobi Asuma's terrifying lightning spears had already enveloped them.
Two Sand Ninja turned into charred corpses amidst screams.
Drawing his sword, he charged into the encirclement!
"Ah!"
"So fast!"
"Scatter!"
Screams, roars, and terrified shouts followed one after another.
But they quickly disappeared, replaced by a ground full of corpses.
"Asuma, the defensive line has been broken. What do we do now?" Yūhi Kurenai asked nervously.
She had never encountered such a situation before.
They were, at this moment, completely surrounded by the enemy.
The Sand Ninja's vanguard was in front of them and to their sides, while the main force from behind would undoubtedly be sweeping in from their rear.
This was effectively being surrounded by the enemy!
"Was the message sent out?" Sarutobi Asuma asked.
"Yes, it has been sent!"
"We used a Shadow Clone, and it just returned with the information."
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune nodded in unison.
"Then we'll use the Transformation Technique to infiltrate the Sand Ninja and create chaos when they engage with the border defense forces!" Sarutobi Asuma decided. "If we're discovered midway, we'll immediately break through their defenses and rendezvous with the border defense forces."
"According to the original plan, I'll cover the rear, you two retreat first!"
Yūhi Kurenai and Shizune immediately nodded: "Understood!"
The three of them immediately used the Transformation Technique, turning into the Sand Ninja they had just killed, and then moved out.
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