The entire sequence of events happened in the span of mere moments.
Yu Ye himself barely had time to react—yet the captain who had looked after him for over a month, Moonlight Kuren, had already died right before his eyes.
Although Moonlight Kuren had always treated Yu Ye as a burden, he had undeniably been protecting him the entire time.
This… was the cruelty of war.
In the next second, anyone could die.
Even someone like Moonlight Kuren—a special jōnin—had no power to control his own fate on the battlefield.
Yu Ye took a deep breath, forcefully calming his emotions.
Then, a cold light flashed through his eyes.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
In the next instant, more than a dozen dark figures appeared around them.
They were wearing the uniforms of Iwagakure.
With a quick glance, Yu Ye could tell—
Not a single one was below elite chūnin level, and among them were several jōnin.
They surrounded Yu Ye and the others but did not immediately attack.
One of the leading jōnin even showed a hint of disappointment.
"Tch… I thought we'd catch a big fish. Turns out it's just a few Konoha ANBU."
Another jōnin swept a cold gaze over Yu Ye's group and said flatly,
"Kill them quickly and withdraw. Konoha will notice the disturbance here soon."
After Moonlight Kuren's death, Yamanaka Hai and Asama Sana had initially tried to pull Yu Ye back and retreat.
But seeing the sheer number of enemies—an overwhelming force—they couldn't help but feel despair.
Clearly, these Iwa shinobi were not targeting them in the first place.
They might have been lying in wait for Orochimaru or Tsunade,
or perhaps someone of even higher status—like Hatake Sakumo.
Unfortunately, Yu Ye's squad had stepped straight into the trap.
"So many of them… damn it…"
Cold sweat rolled down Yamanaka Hai's forehead.
Despair crept into his heart—he could barely even muster the will to fight.
On the other side, Asama Sana had wanted to shout for Yu Ye to escape, but now it was obvious—
There was no way out.
Neither he nor Yamanaka Hai could carve a path through this encirclement.
As for Yu Ye—even if he was stronger than them, it no longer mattered.
This was a dead end.
Though Asama Sana was already manipulating his puppet, his fingers were trembling slightly.
Deep down, he had already given up hope.
The Iwagakure jōnin did not move personally.
Instead, they commanded their dozen chūnin subordinates to close in, preparing to erase Yu Ye's group completely.
But at that moment—
The silent Yu Ye, who had not spoken a single word from beginning to end, stepped forward.
His foot came down.
Rainwater mixed with blood rippled violently beneath his feet—
yet not a single drop splashed upward.
Step by step, Yu Ye walked forward.
He calmly drew the ninja sword from his back.
A faint killing intent spread through the rain-soaked air.
Seeing this, both Yamanaka Hai and Asama Sana froze.
They hadn't expected that in such a situation, the "rookie" Yu Ye would not panic—
but instead, intend to face the enemy head-on.
Yet after the brief shock, they could only smile bitterly.
What difference would it make?
At best, he could take a few enemies down with him before dying.
Survival was nearly impossible.
Then—
Yu Ye's drawn blade finally fell.
HUM—!!
At the instant the sword swung, a white radiance suddenly flared along the blade's edge.
A terrifying aura spread outward.
Yu Ye slashed forward without hesitation.
"Vibration Release: Shattered Jade!"
The white vibration force was hurled forward, surging through the rain.
The moment Yu Ye revealed his power, the enemy shinobi became alert.
Seeing the attack coming, they all retreated at once.
But under the terrifying area of effect of Shattered Jade—
escape was impossible.
CRACK—!!!
The vibration sphere detonated in midair.
In that instant, the rain froze.
Countless raindrops hung motionless in the air, as if time itself had been suspended.
The air fractured with terrifying裂痕,
space itself seeming to split apart—
Heaven and earth overturning in a single moment.
The roaring vibration waves shook all directions!
The Iwa shinobi closest to the blast let out bone-shattering sounds—
their bodies collapsing into mangled heaps of flesh and shattered bones.
Those farther away, though faster to retreat, still turned pale as a terrifying force slammed into them.
In an instant—
They all spat blood!
With a single slash, Yu Ye swept the battlefield, killing one Iwa shinobi outright and heavily injuring nearly everyone else!
Yamanaka Hai and Asama Sana—who had been preparing to fight to the death—were left utterly stunned.
Yu Ye…
Was this strong?!
The enemies were all chūnin—every single one an elite chūnin.
Yet before Yu Ye, they had been almost wiped out by a single strike!
How could this not be shocking?!
Even the Iwagakure jōnin froze in disbelief.
They stared fixedly at Yu Ye, desperate to identify the face hidden beneath the ANBU mask.
As for the wounded chūnin, they staggered backward in terror, faces filled with fear.
They had no idea what kind of power Yu Ye had just used.
No hand seals.
Just a single sword swing—
And such monstrous destructive force erupted.
It was simply unimaginable.
Still, these were elite shinobi.
Despite coughing blood, they quickly regained composure.
No one dared to underestimate him anymore.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!"
"Water Release: Exploding Water Shockwave!!"
In an instant, the elite assassination unit formed seals in unison.
Their techniques merged together—
Forming a colossal tidal wave that blotted out the sky, roaring forward as if it would swallow the earth whole!
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Shockwave!!"
Though its power couldn't compare to Kisame Hoshigaki's version—backed by tailed-beast-level chakra—
It was still overwhelmingly terrifying.
The towering wave surged in, nearly covering the heavens, as if dragging down the endless storm clouds of the Land of Rain itself.
Seeing this, Yamanaka Hai and Asama Sana—still reeling from shock—felt their hearts sink once more.
They couldn't help but look toward Yu Ye.
Facing such an attack…
Even if Yu Ye was monstrously strong—
Could he really withstand this?
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