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Rain Country interior.
In the forest seven kilometers outside Ameyuri City, the White Fang of Konoha, Hatake Sakumo, along with a team of four Anbu ninjas, were cautiously advancing towards Ameyuri City.
Yahiko and the others definitely didn't expect that while they were going to find the Konoha ninjas, Konoha's Anbu had already infiltrated their base's vicinity. The key was that no one in Akatsuki had noticed.
It could only be said that Akatsuki was still too inexperienced. Most of their members were genin, there were few chūnin, and only Yahiko and the other five were jōnin level.
Besides, they didn't have as much experience in intelligence gathering, infiltration, and assassination as the ninjas of the three great nations.
That's why the current situation had arisen.
"Hmm... there's someone ahead."
Hatake Sakumo suddenly raised his hand and signaled to stop and hide. The four immediately used their respective techniques to suppress their presence and hide.
After a while, a team of ten ninjas, with their hands behind their backs, came walking towards them.
From the black coats they were wearing and the Hidden Rain Village forehead protectors on their foreheads, Hatake Sakumo quickly judged that these people were probably from Akatsuki.
"Where are these people going?"
"What are they doing?"
Hatake Sakumo's eyes flashed with a hint of doubt, but he didn't move. Their main purpose this time was to infiltrate Ameyuri City, find Akatsuki's base, and investigate whether they had any evidence of being supported by other Hidden Villages.
What Akatsuki was doing had nothing to do with them.
"Those Konoha bastards actually killed our comrades. This time, we're going to make them pay."
"Haha... with Yahiko-nii's strength, it's easy to destroy a town in a short period of time. We'll let those Konoha guys know that whoever dares to kill our Akatsuki members will pay a bloody price."
Not good!
Akatsuki is going to attack a town in the Land of Fire!
Hatake Sakumo, who had initially not cared about what these ten Akatsuki members were doing, instantly changed his expression after hearing the conversation of the ten as they passed by. He immediately abandoned his plan to continue towards Ameyuri City.
Nothing was more important than protecting the village.
After the ten passed, the four immediately gathered together.
"Usagi, you immediately return to the Land of Fire border. Find your patrol team comrades and inform them that Akatsuki might be entering the country to attack towns."
"The rest of you two come with me."
"Yes, Sakumo-sama."
Hatake Sakumo quickly assigned tasks. The four immediately split into two groups. The Anbu ninja, codenamed Usagi, went back to report, and the remaining three continued to follow the ten Akatsuki members, gathering more detailed information.
Soon.
Hatake Sakumo and the others caught up with the ten Akatsuki members and secretly followed behind them without being discovered.
But at this moment, a roar came from the direction where Usagi had left, and then black smoke billowed up.
"It's Usagi!"
"Sakumo-sama!"
Hatake Sakumo and the three immediately stopped. At this time, the battle in that direction could only be Usagi. He had encountered the enemy.
At the same time, the ten Akatsuki members in front seemed to have also noticed the battle over there and immediately turned around to chase after it.
"Go."
Hatake Sakumo didn't hesitate. Since their actions had been discovered, they had to quickly deal with the people over there, rescue their comrade, and then leave to warn the border troops.
The three immediately ran towards the direction of the battle.
Soon, they inevitably discovered by the ten Akatsuki members in front as they approached the battle site.
"It's Konoha... so fast!"
The Akatsuki member who first discovered Hatake Sakumo had just finished reminding them when a flash of white light passed before his eyes. Then, his vision suddenly spun, and he saw his own headless corpse.
But thanks to his reminder, his companions had time to react. They all jumped back to deal with it.
And their reactions were a bit abnormal. It wasn't the kind of reaction ability that Hatake Sakumo had gathered from his investigation of Akatsuki members in this period of time.
"Water Release - Explosive Flow!"
"Earth Release - Earth Spike!"
Five Water Release Explosive Flows, like a whirlwind waterfall, swept in to block Hatake Sakumo's movements. Countless earth spikes that burst from the ground further prevented Hatake Sakumo from getting closer.
They're familiar with his fighting style!
Hatake Sakumo's heart tightened instantly. They knew he was fast, so they used large-scale Water Release and Earth Release to change the terrain, preventing his rapid thrust.
"These guys aren't Akatsuki... no, they must be the mastermind behind Akatsuki. Which Hidden Village are they from?"
"Not good!"
As he thought, Hatake Sakumo suddenly realized a problem. It wasn't Akatsuki who was planning to attack the Land of Fire, but a Hidden Village from another great nation.
Iwagakure?
The Hidden Sand?
Or the Cloud Village?
Hatake Sakumo quickly thought through the possibilities. No matter what the possibility was, they had to get the intelligence out as soon as possible, otherwise, Konoha would suffer even greater losses.
An attack by a great nation's Hidden Village wasn't a joke.
"You two go to Usagi. I'll deal with this."
Hatake Sakumo made a decision instantly. With that, he charged towards the remaining nine Akatsuki ninjas. The two Anbu ninjas behind him immediately went around to support their comrade, Usagi.
"Don't try to escape!"
The enemy naturally didn't want the two Konoha Anbu ninjas to go support the front. They immediately sent four people to intercept them.
"Earth Release - Earth Wave Technique."
Hatake Sakumo suddenly pressed his hands on the ground. In an instant, starting from him, to a hundred-meter radius around the ten Akatsuki members in front, the ground surged violently like waves.
The Akatsuki members who were splitting up instantly lost their balance and fell to the ground.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, the two Anbu ninjas broke through first.
Rip!
The sound of air being torn apart suddenly rang out. A flash of white light, like lightning, quickly came before the Akatsuki members who had lost their balance.
"Damn it!"
The enemy didn't expect Hatake Sakumo to actually use the terrain to fight back against them. At this moment, they couldn't maintain their balance and didn't have time to form hand seals. They could only instinctively raise the kunai or short swords in their hands to block.
But the reason why the White Fang of Konoha was the White Fang of Konoha was because of the white lightning blade in his hand, which was covered in white lightning and didn't leak a single bit. It was incredibly sharp.
Zzzzt!
The kunai and short swords in their hands were as fragile as cheese. Hatake Sakumo's white lightning blade easily cut through the kunai and short swords, sweeping across their necks or piercing their hearts.
In an instant, four more people were killed from the nine. The remaining five tried to disperse, but they couldn't hold on for long. Hatake Sakumo killed them one by one.
The gap between a Kage and ordinary jōnin and chūnin was terrifying.
Especially for a speed-type Kage, there was little difference between jōnin and genin. Unless there were enough people to use large-scale attack jutsu together, they could only restrain a Kage.
Boom, boom... The sounds of exploding explosive tags rang out continuously.
The battle was fierce on the side of the three Anbu ninjas.
When Hatake Sakumo arrived, the three comrades who were being surrounded and attacked by twelve enemies were already injured. Usagi, who had been attacked first, had a large chunk of flesh blown off his thigh by an exploding explosive tag. If he didn't receive treatment soon, he would die from blood loss.
Zzzzt!
Hatake Sakumo used Shunshin to arrive and kill two Akatsuki members who couldn't dodge in time.
A gap instantly appeared in the twelve-person encirclement.
"You two take Usagi and go. I'll hold them back."
Hatake Sakumo, holding his lightning blade, faced the remaining ten enemies and said to the three comrades behind him. Deeply influenced by the Will of Fire, he made the decision to hold back without hesitation.
"Be careful, Sakumo-sama."
The three Anbu didn't hesitate. Two of them immediately helped the injured Usagi leave. They understood that only Sakumo-sama, who was the strongest, could hold back. They could only escape if Sakumo-sama held back. With his strength, without their burden, even if he couldn't kill the enemy, it would be easy for him to retreat.
However, it was as if they had entered the enemy's lair. Not long after they left, they were surrounded by twelve enemies again.
Boom, boom... The sounds of exploding explosive tags and Fire Release attacks echoed through the rainforest.
On this side, after Kenshi killed four more enemies, these people were a little afraid. They changed their battle strategy, focusing on restraining and keeping Hatake Sakumo there.
Sensing the explosions coming from a distance, Hatake Sakumo also instantly changed his battle strategy. He no longer sought to kill. He instead focused on breaking through and supporting his comrades.
The strength of these "Akatsuki" members was seriously abnormal. They worked together seamlessly. Their fighting style was definitely that of the Anbu of a great nation's Hidden Village.
His three comrades wouldn't be able to escape without him.
Soon, relying on his unmatched speed, Hatake Sakumo caught up with his three comrades. At this moment, the three comrades were injured again.
Ten more enemies surrounded them, and more enemies were rushing towards them from a distance.
"It's up to you to choose, kid from the Hatake clan. Do you want to save your comrades or complete the mission?"
On a clifftop overlooking the battlefield, Danzo watched the battle below. His eyes flickered, and a slight smile appeared on his face. Then, he said to his subordinates behind him, "Inform the people inside. Act in two hours."
"Yes, Danzo-sama."
The Root ninja received the order and retreated.
Two hours was the perfect amount of time. If Hatake Sakumo abandoned his comrades now, he would have just enough time to return to the border to report.
Now, it was up to Hatake Sakumo to choose.
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