Swish, swish, swish!
Soon, an unnatural rustling broke the stillness, the friction of bodies moving at high speed through the branches and leaves of the treetops. Three figures leaped and moved with urgency through the foliage.
Tekudō's eyes suddenly lit up, and a wild grin spread across his lips. He was about to form the Tiger seal to detonate the trap.
But Sasuke's hand closed around his wrist, stopping him cold. "Watch the foreheads!" he whispered, pointing with his chin.
The ninja who had just entered the trap zone were not enemies. They wore animal masks and the dark green tactical vests of Konoha. They were their own.
"They're ours?!" Tekudō exclaimed in a choked whisper.
His hands, still holding the shape of the seal, trembled slightly. Seeing the three ninja, his chakra almost went out of control from the shock. If it weren't for the fact that activation required a final infusion of will, the mere shock might have been enough to detonate the traps prematurely. He wiped a drop of cold sweat from his forehead, feeling a chill on the back of his neck. He was terrified. Luckily, the captain had stopped him in time; otherwise, he would have slaughtered their allies.
Judging by their attire, they didn't seem to be ANBU, but they didn't belong to the regular patrol either. Then... Tekudō's eyes widened in understanding. They were members of the Konoha Intelligence Division.
'The Sand ninja are chasing them this deep into our territory... the information they carry must be priceless,' Tekudō thought, and excitement replaced fear. This ambush was no longer just about survival. If they managed to secure that information, they could complete an A-rank mission. If it was top-secret intel, it might even be S-rank. He began to fantasize about the scene of becoming a chūnin, with the respect and security that would bring for his family's business.
'Wait a moment...' Tekudō's awareness sharpened, and he finally realized that something didn't add up. 'How did the captain know beforehand that they were from the intel team? Did he have prior information? Now that I think about it, the captain has been acting strangely... he insisted on providing support, and then he had us mark the traps with the evacuation signal. He knew. Somehow, he knew everything from the beginning.'
Before he could dwell on it further, the three Konoha ninja had already passed the center of the trap. On the bark of a tree, they found three kunai carved in a triangle: the emergency evacuation signal.
The two ninja in the rear, wearing eagle and cat masks, showed a flash of vigilance in their eyes but remained calm, continuing their run as if nothing had happened. However, the ninja in the front, wearing a monkey mask, who was the last to see the signal, reacted with visible surprise. His breathing rhythm was disturbed, and his run faltered for a fraction of a second.
"Damn it! Isn't the Intelligence Division supposed to be the elite of the elite?" Sasuke hissed to himself, feeling his blood boil. Any battlefield veteran could spot such a serious flaw. Such an amateur mistake...
The pursuing Sand ninja were experienced and cunning. They immediately noticed the anomaly. Just as they were about to enter the core of the trap, the Suna captain made a decisive gesture. The six ninja stopped dead in their tracks and retreated.
The ambush had failed.
'There's still time to mend the fold after the sheep is lost,' Sasuke thought. 'Since the ambush failed, we'll immediately implement Plan B.'
He raised two fingers, a silent tactical command.
"Detonate!"
Tekudō, understanding instantly, activated his chakra and slammed his hands together in the Tiger seal.
RUUUMBLE!
Seventy-two exploding tags roared in unison. Flames soared into the sky in a column of destruction. Tongues of fire danced like crimson pythons, and the scorching shockwave twisted the air in a hundred-meter radius. The trees caught fire and were instantly charred.
The Sand ninja, on the periphery, avoided the core of the blast, but they couldn't escape the wave of heat. It hit them hard, searing their hair and skin. If they hadn't activated their chakra to defend themselves, they would have been torn apart.
"Horrifying! We were almost annihilated!" one of them shouted, terror still in his eyes.
"To set so many exploding tags! Only Konoha ninja can be so damn arrogant!" another added.
Sasuke used his radar technique to perceive the battlefield and nodded with satisfaction. Although the ambush hadn't dealt a fatal blow, the tactical objective had been achieved. The enemy formation was broken, scattered like ants. It was impossible for them to organize an effective defense.
Seizing this opportunity, Sasuke untied one of the scrolls from Tekudō's waist. In an act of perfect, unspoken understanding, Tekudō grabbed the other end. They pulled at the same time, and the seal opened.
With a POOF!, two gigantic Fūma Shuriken appeared in their hands. They were enormous, over two meters in diameter and weighing at least a hundred kilograms.
They heaved them onto their shoulders, and the chakra beneath their feet erupted, making the thick branches under them creak. While the chaos of the explosion still reigned, they turned and threw the weapons at the same time.
SHHHIIIIING!
Under a powerful centrifugal force, the giant shuriken spun rapidly, becoming deadly windmills. The sharp whistle tore through the air, cutting down several flaming birch trees before tracing an arching trajectory toward the Sand ninja.
Such a large weapon was an effort even for Tekudō's strength, but Sasuke remained calm, as if he hadn't exerted his full power. The benefits of superior chakra control were obvious. If it weren't for the energy consumption, he might have even added a chakra rotation, mimicking the Rasengan, to create a makeshift version of the Spiral Shuriken Technique.
Through the perception of his radar, which pierced the smoke and flames, he saw the scene with perfect clarity. The two giant windmills headed with precision toward the two Suna captains.
Tekudō's Fūma Shuriken flew toward the puppeteer captain, a special jōnin whose combat power was no less than that of a regular jōnin. Just as the weapon was about to tear him apart, the puppeteer completed a rapid sequence of hand seals.
"Puppet Substitution Jutsu!"
CRACK!
The Fūma Shuriken passed through, and the substitute—a wooden puppet—exploded into a thousand pieces. The puppeteer's main body had already leaped five meters away.
As expected of a jōnin, he had used one of his precious puppets to block the fatal attack. However, for a puppeteer, losing a puppet was like losing a limb. His combat power must now be greatly reduced.