Land of Fire.
Deep within the forest near the border.
Mirai Uchiha led Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi through the trees at high speed.
In recent days, casualties among Konoha ninja had been gradually increasing. Many patrol teams had mysteriously vanished.
According to intelligence reports, a Chunin squad had been attacked northwest of the campsite. They were rushing toward their location.
They traveled in silence.
Arriving near the target location, Mirai Uchiha silently raised her arm.
Kurenai and Asuma immediately stopped without a sound.
"Mirai, what's wrong?" Kurenai whispered.
"There's something off here. If anything happens, you two evacuate immediately."
After hearing Mirai Uchiha's command, both Kurenai and Asuma Sarutobi nodded simultaneously.
Since their last encounter with a Sunagakure Jonin, Asuma had become much more cautious and no longer sought to take unnecessary risks.
The group cautiously crept forward. Suddenly, a faint groaning sound reached their ears.
The trio exchanged glances and moved forward several steps.
Then they saw three Konoha ninjas lying in pools of blood. The groaning came from one of them.
"These are ninjas from our village!"
Seeing the seriously injured ninja, Asuma Sarutobi gasped softly and immediately tried to step forward to rescue his comrades.
However, just as he began to move, Mirai firmly placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Asuma, tell me—what's the first thing you should do after defeating your enemy?"
Hearing Mirai Uchiha's words, Asuma's heart pounded.
On the battlefield, finishing off an opponent was crucial.
Ninjas were usually very cunning—pretending to be dead and then ambushing was quite common.
Therefore... unless it was an extremely urgent situation, the first thing to do after defeating an enemy was to confirm they were truly dead.
But now, there were no traces of enemies anywhere. Obviously, the attackers hadn't taken any damage at all.
Under such circumstances, only one ninja had "luckily" survived.
Only newly minted genin could make such a mistake.
Yet the probability of having three genin in the same squad was practically zero.
Moreover... if they really were three genin, the enemy wouldn't have been able to reduce this Konoha Chunin team to its current state.
Based on these observations, there was only one possible explanation.
This was an enemy trap, carefully set!
After reaching this conclusion, Asuma looked at Mirai Uchiha beside him in astonishment.
Had she figured out the truth the moment they arrived?
Not only is he powerful, but his mind is sharp too... Truly monstrous!
"Retreat!"
Mirai Uchiha whispered the order.
Surrounding the enemy to cut off reinforcements—a simple, yet highly effective tactic.
Since he had already realized this was an ambush set by the enemy, of course he wouldn't recklessly charge straight in.
"Mirai, if we leave like this now, what about him..."
Asuma Sarutobi looked at their wounded comrade groaning before them, his expression conflicted.
Even knowing it was a trap laid by the enemy, abandoning a still-living teammate made him feel deeply uneasy.
"Hesitating will get us all killed."
"If it's bothering you, just kill more enemies to avenge them."
Mirai Uchiha said indifferently.
Just then, three figures appeared behind them.
"What a cold-hearted guy you are. Do your comrades' lives really mean that little to you?"
Leading the group, Rasa carelessly glanced at the three from Mirai Uchiha's team: "In that case..."
Suddenly beneath the seriously wounded Konoha chunin, large amounts of golden sand surged forth, instantly swallowing him whole.
Pfft!
As the golden sand dispersed, only sticky blood and shredded flesh remained on the ground.
Seeing this scene, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi both clenched their fists tightly: "Damn bastard!"
"Don't fall for such an obvious trick."
Mirai Uchiha drew his long katana, eyes alert.
From the enemy's techniques just now, he had already deduced the identity of this ninja.
The Fourth Kazekage—the future Wind Shadow—Rasa!
Possessing the Magnet Release kekkei genkai, his power was terrifyingly formidable.
To Mirai right now, this was definitely a very troublesome opponent.
"It seems my luck is pretty good today, actually getting to meet such an interesting young fellow."
After seeing Mirai Uchiha's reaction, Rasa showed a surprised expression on his face.
Maintaining such calmness under these circumstances wasn't something everyone could achieve.
"This enemy won't be easy to handle. Both of you should look for an opening to fall back."
"No way. We're a team—we move together, fight together."
"Kurenai! If you stay here I'll have to waste energy protecting you instead of focusing, whereas going to the camp for help would be better use of your time."
"But..."
"This is an order!"
"Y-Yeah… understood."
Seeing Mirai Uchiha's serious expression, Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi dared not argue further.
This was the first time they had ever seen Mirai Uchiha looking so serious.
The enemy facing them must indeed be terrifyingly powerful.
"Run!"
Mirai Uchiha shouted lowly while throwing several shuriken.
[Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!]
In midair, the shuriken multiplied—one became two, two became four… In the blink of an eye, they became countless, raining down densely from all directions toward Rasa's group.
Witnessing this scene, Rasa snorted lightly. Endless gold dust erupted from underground, blocking every single shuriken.
Seizing the moment, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai Yuhi quickly retreated in opposite directions.
[Baki, Daishan, you two—chase after the other two.]
"Yes!"
Upon hearing the order, the two Jonin accompanying Rasa immediately gave chase in the direction Kurenai Yuhi and Asuma Sarutobi had fled.
Meanwhile, Rasa manipulated his gold dust to sweep toward Mirai Uchiha.
[Shadow Clone Jutsu!]
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!]
[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]
Mirai Uchiha and her Shadow Clone attacked simultaneously, the wind-fueled flames instantly engulfing Rasa.
[It's useless.]
Rasa hid behind the gold dust, unaffected by Mirai Uchiha's attack, and continued advancing toward her.
[Eight Gates: Sixth Gate, View Gate—Open!]
Rather than continuing battle with Rasa, Mirai Uchiha directly unlocked the first six gates of the Eight Gates.
Baki and the other named Daishan were both Jonin. She had to stop them—otherwise, Kurenai and Asuma would be in grave danger.
After opening the Eight Gates, Mirai Uchiha was enveloped in green steam, her speed multiplied several times over. In an instant, she disappeared in a blur.
As she moved, the air itself lifted the ground.
"Die!"
She suddenly appeared beside Daishan. As Mirai swung her long katana downward, Daishan barely ducked.
A strand of hair was severed—but before Daishan could even sigh in relief, Mirai's palm had already slammed into his chest. [Rasengan!]
Boom!
Under the Rasengan's impact, Daishan spun backward through the air, knocking down several thick trees before crashing heavily onto the ground.
Witnessing this, both Rasa and Baki were shocked beyond belief.
Daishan was an elite Jonin hardened by countless battles—how could he be instantly killed by just a brat?
What the hell just happened?
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