"Detonating it is too dangerous—let me do it," Shibi Aburame said after a brief silence.
"Don't worry, Sensei. My Body Flicker is really fast. There won't be any issues," Uchiha Yuan replied with a smile.
Shibi didn't agree immediately. He pondered for a few minutes before asking seriously, "Yuan, are you sure you can handle it?"
"Absolutely no problem."
"Alright, then I'll leave it to you. Asana, Kagetsu, and I will retreat first. You detonate it in fifteen minutes. We'll rendezvous on the other side of the canyon, near the Konoha camp."
Yuan nodded to show he understood.
Hyuga Asana looked a bit worried, but she knew Yuan better than anyone—he would never take a risk without being sure.
So she simply turned to him and said, "Be careful," then followed Shibi down the mountain.
Yuan activated his Sharingan and watched the three descend before muttering to himself, "I wonder if Mist nin who get crushed by rocks from the explosion will count toward my kill points?
"There are at least 150 Mist nin down there—surely a third of them will get crushed, right?"
That's exactly why Yuan volunteered to detonate the explosive tags.
With his teleportation ability, it was essentially zero-risk. His physique had also improved—he could now teleport 6 or 7 times in a row without significant fatigue. His limit was about 10 consecutive times.
That was more than enough to escape safely.
And if he was already safe, why not take the opportunity to rack up some stat points?
He just wasn't sure if getting someone killed by rockslides counted as him killing them.
Time passed quickly. When the fifteen minutes were up, Yuan formed hand seals and used Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Technique to ignite the explosive tags.
Then, using teleportation six times in succession, he safely relocated and made his way to the rendezvous point.
Back in the canyon, the Mist nin patrolling below naturally noticed the firelight from the mountain.
It was nighttime, after all. In this dim setting, a Fire Style jutsu was practically a beacon.
But before they could report it, a series of explosions rang out from the mountain.
The Mist nin stationed in the canyon were all jolted awake.
BOOM! A thunderous explosion shook the entire mountain. Boulders began crashing down, some as large as ten meters in diameter.
"AAAHH!" Screams began erupting from the Mist camp.
Yuan quickly opened his system panel.
After taking out the two bloodline-limit Chūnin, he'd earned four stat points. He'd gained one more after killing the Mist Jōnin, so he should have five in total.
Now he had eleven—and the count was still rising.
"YES! The ones killed by falling rocks count as mine too!" Yuan said excitedly.
A few minutes later, Yuan arrived at the designated meeting spot.
In that short time, his stat points had risen to 37.
Unfortunately, the number stopped rising at 37, leaving Yuan a bit disappointed.
That was fewer than he expected—he was hoping for at least 50 points, but ended up with only 32 from the rockslide.
"Yuan, get over here! We're heading back to camp!" Shibi's voice pulled Yuan from his thoughts.
Yuan quickly ran over.
"The explosions have alerted the camp. The Genin stationed there have already been deployed—they're stalling the Mist's reinforcements. We need to move fast. Every second we waste means another Genin dies," Shibi said sternly.
Yuan didn't dare linger. He followed Shibi's lead and joined the retreat.
The four pushed themselves to the limit. Along the way, they encountered many more Mist nin than before—all clearly responding to orders to retreat.
Fortunately, their sensory abilities allowed them to detect enemies early and avoid engagement entirely.
One battle could have meant getting surrounded by retreating Mist reinforcements—and that would've been the end.
Under Shibi's guidance, the team spent over eight hours navigating back to the Konoha-Mist battlefield.
Bodies of shinobi from both sides littered the area. The brutality of this battle was even greater than the last time they'd seen the frontlines.
They pushed forward. Not far ahead, they met up with one of Konoha's main forces.
It was a unit led by Yūhi Shinku, with about 200 to 300 members.
"Shibi, good work!" Shinku greeted Shibi as she stepped forward.
"Lord Shinku, what's the current situation?" Shibi asked.
"To be honest, not great. Our mid-to-low-tier forces are on par with the Mist, but they brought over a dozen ANBU and some of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen.
"Thankfully, Lord Orochimaru is holding his own against the Fourth Mizukage. If the Mizukage were to join the others, this fight would already be over."
"Lord Shinku, your unit is here to…?" Shibi asked.
"I'm here on Lord Orochimaru's orders to confirm your team's safety. Once that's done, we'll go rescue the Genin who are stalling the Mist reinforcements."
"I see. Then I'll come with you," Shibi replied.
"Is your body still okay?"
"No problem."
"Alright. Let's go. I'll arrange for your students to be sent back to camp," Yuhi Shinku said.
Shibi Aburame nodded. "Yuan, Asana, Kagetsu — go back with the people Lord Shinku assigns."
"Wait! Sensei, I want to come too," Yuan said quickly.
"You're in no condition. You should go back and rest," Shibi replied.
"I already took a ration pill on the way here," Yuan countered.
"But—"
"Uchiha Yuan, why do you want to go back to the battlefield?" Shinku interrupted.
"You said the ones stalling the Mist reinforcements are Genin, right? That includes the ones who came to the camp with me?" Yuan asked.
Shinku nodded.
"Then I have to go. Some of them are my friends. I need to make sure they're safe," Yuan said seriously.
Shinku was momentarily surprised, then looked at Yuan with a hint of admiration.
"If Yuan is going, then I'm going too. We're teammates," said Asana.
"Same here!" added Kagetsu.
Shinku smiled at their response, then patted Shibi on the shoulder.
"Shibi, you've got three excellent students."
(To Be Continued...)