Chapter 7 — Incomplete Intelligence
Watching the comrade who had chosen to stay behind and cover their retreat, Arano and the other Sand ninja clenched their teeth. They both knew their teammate was already doomed. Only by doing this could Arano escape—only then could he bring back intelligence about this terrifying enemy.
Although the enemy's speed was merely at the level of a genin, his attacks were far too dangerous, and their range far too great. Even this short stretch of escape had put them in mortal peril several times.
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'Staying behind to cover the rear?!'
The Sand ninja who had suddenly stopped did not escape Tsukigami Ren's notice. Unfortunately, with the earthen wall blocking his view, he couldn't see what the ninja was doing next. Growing cautious, Tsukigami Ren leapt directly onto a tree trunk and began pursuing from above.
"Da-da-da…!" Gunfire rang out again. From the treetops, Tsukigami Ren could once more see the two fleeing Sand ninja. He continued firing, while his other arm—transformed into a light machine gun—remained trained on the earthen wall.
'He's gone up into the trees! I'll only have one chance!'
Behind the wall, the Sand ninja thought to himself as he prepared. He was one of the two sensory ninja in the squad.
"Die!"
Five seconds later, just as Tsukigami Ren was about to pass over the earthen wall, the Sand ninja suddenly leapt out from behind it, roaring as he lunged toward him. The explosive tags clutched in his hand were already ignited.
"Da-da-da-da-da-da…!"
The prepared muzzle instantly spat fire. Bullets tore relentlessly through the Sand ninja's chest as he charged forward.
"Boom—!"
In the next instant, a terrifying explosion erupted from the explosive tags in his hand, engulfing a thirty-meter radius of forest.
The violent shockwave and blast at such close range sent Tsukigami Ren flying, blasting him diagonally more than a hundred meters into the air.
"Damn it!" Tsukigami Ren cursed. Though the explosion hadn't harmed him, it had widened the distance between him and the fleeing Sand ninja even further. The intense heat from the blast severely interfered with his infrared electronic eyes, turning his entire field of vision a blinding red.
"Da-da-da-da-da-da…!"
Still midair, once the flames subsided enough for him to barely make out the fleeing ninja's heat signatures, Tsukigami Ren estimated their positions and fired wildly, pouring out bullets in a frenzy.
He wouldn't be able to catch up now. Although being airborne allowed him to barely track them, at a distance of over three hundred meters, the light machine gun could no longer sustain precise fire. The Sand ninja were fast, and dense trees provided heavy cover. Now, all he could do was hope Lady Luck stood at his side.
"Next time in terrain like this, I'll switch to armor-piercing rounds."
After landing, Tsukigami Ren gritted his teeth and snorted coldly to himself. Retrieving the forehead protector of the self-detonated Sand ninja, he turned and headed back the way he had come.
After emptying two hundred bullets midair, he had still not seen the result he wanted.
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"Pa-pa-pa…! Pfft, pfft, pfft…!"
Arano ran desperately. Scattered bullets rained down like a storm, striking the trees around him, the soil beneath his feet, even grazing past his body with sharp popping sounds. A few bullets struck the comrade on his back, piercing through his body before hitting Arano. The companion on his back had already stopped breathing.
'Don't stop. If I stop, he'll catch up! I can't let everyone's sacrifice be in vain.'
He repeated this to himself over and over. Suppressing the pain and grief, Arano ran frantically with his fallen comrade on his back. The body shielded him from most of the bullets fired from the sky behind him. Their power had diminished enough that they no longer completely pierced through him to cause catastrophic damage—but several still lodged in his body, and the injuries were severe nonetheless.
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In the forest, which gradually returned to its dim and silent state, Tsukigami Ren first collected the forehead protector of a fallen Sand ninja, then stripped off the ordinary clothes beneath the Sand flak vest and put them on. The Wind Release: Pressure Damage had left him chasing them naked through the forest.
After dressing, he calmly gathered useful items and food from the corpse before moving on to the previous fallen Sand ninja.
'757 points remaining.'
As he collected his spoils, Tsukigami Ren calculated the energy expenditure from this battle.
The energy consumed during intense combat (physical activity), multiple weapon transformations, and manifesting bullets wasn't much—around 200 energy points, most of which had gone into materializing machine-gun ammunition.
Repairing the installed technology templates had consumed far more energy. Restoring the T-800 Terminator template alone had cost over 200 energy points. Earlier, the Sand ninja's Gale Palm and Pressure Damage had inflicted considerable damage on his alloy skeleton.
The nanomachines repairing his body consumed the most—over 600 energy points in total. Although the enemy's explosive tags had provided him with some replenishment, after accounting for everything, he had still expended nearly a thousand energy points in this battle.
A thousand energy points—equivalent to casting Lightning Release: Earth Walk a hundred times.
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"Damn it… With that kind of strength, how could he possibly be used as a mere sentry? On the main battlefield, he could have created far greater value."
Arano staggered through the forest, blood loss leaving him dizzy as he carried his comrade's corpse. Thinking of how his elite squad of twenty had been reduced to him alone within mere minutes—how he had only escaped under his comrades' desperate protection—he couldn't stop trembling.
Twenty elite comrades. Including two jōnin.
Anger, unwillingness, resentment, fear, helplessness—overwhelmed and gravely wounded, the only thing he could do now was deliver this intelligence back.
But he likely wouldn't make it to camp. He would fail his comrades' expectations.
Though the body on his back had absorbed most of the bullets' power and prevented him from dying instantly, the remaining shots had still inflicted grievous injuries. Two bullets remained lodged in his lung and liver. Combined with massive blood loss and internal bleeding, he was nearing his limit.
Staggering forward, Arano collapsed once more. This time, he no longer had the strength to rise. His eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and at last, his will could no longer hold on.
'A new kekkei genkai has appeared among the Konoha ninja. Extremely powerful. The Sixth Harassment Squad has been completely annihilated…'
Lying weakly on the ground, knowing he could no longer return alive with the intelligence, Arano trembled as he used the last of his strength to carve the message deep into the earth.
He could only hope that his comrades would find his body soon—and bring this crucial intelligence back.
Unfortunately, until the moment of his death, he was unable to finish writing it.