Time ticked by second by second.
While Uchiha Haruki was taking advantage of the night's cover, using the powerful insight of his Sharingan to observe the Mist Ninja's movements within the outpost and gather intelligence, a sudden crossbow bolt came flying at him.
In an instant, an intense sense of danger surged within him.
Almost instinctively, Haruki dodged to the side.
The next second, a bolt as thick as a baby's arm whizzed past his shoulder, the rushing wind from it stinging his face.
And it wasn't over!
Though he had narrowly dodged the shot, the sense of danger in his heart didn't diminish. In his mind, the image of the bolt flashed by—he had clearly seen a few tags stuck to it.
"Explosive tags!" Haruki was shocked, and immediately pushed his Wind Release: Wings of Wind to the limit, fleeing the spot at top speed.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three explosions rang out simultaneously.
The next moment, three bright crimson fireballs lit up in the air, instantly dispelling the darkness and illuminating the entire night sky.
A figure shot out from the flames, dropping several meters before rapidly ascending again.
It was none other than Uchiha Haruki.
Cough!
He spat out a mouthful of blood.
Wiping the corner of his mouth, he glanced warily at the blazing fireballs in the sky.
Just moments ago, he'd taken a walk right on death's edge. Had he been even slightly slower, he would've been blown to pieces by those three explosive tags.
It was only thanks to the fact that his Wings of Wind had been upgraded to level 3—allowing him to fly at 30 meters per second—that he managed to escape.
Even so, the shockwave from the explosions had injured him.
His internal organs felt like they'd been smashed by a sledgehammer—twisting and aching in agony. Compared to that, the light burns on his skin were nothing.
He quickly performed hand seals and activated the universal healing ninjutsu—Mystic Palm Technique—to ease the pain.
Only then did he glance back down at the outpost.
Inside the Flying Fish Town stronghold, the Mist Ninjas were clearly in a panic.
Evidently, the attack wasn't a pre-planned ambush—it had taken even them by surprise. Otherwise, they wouldn't be reacting this way.
Ironically, that's exactly why it had caught Haruki off guard.
Had the Mist Ninja shown even the slightest sign of movement, he would have noticed and prepared for it.
At the root of it, the fault still lay with his own low vigilance and underestimation of Kirigakure.
Yes, he had warned himself repeatedly that after the events of the other night, the Mist would certainly respond with countermeasures. The command center even received intel saying as much.
But deep down, he hadn't truly taken it seriously.
After all, from his past-life memories, he knew very well that while ninja villages had methods to deal with airborne targets, they were usually limited—mostly just harassment-level tactics. Few, if any, could genuinely pose a threat.
So subconsciously, he'd let his guard down.
And now, he was paying the price.
He had to admit: Kirigakure had just taught him a valuable lesson—the moment you become arrogant, you make yourself vulnerable.
Collecting his scattered thoughts, Haruki steadied himself and shifted his gaze from the panicked figures below to the rooftop where the bolt had come from.
There, on top of a building, were three figures struggling to operate a large crossbow.
Clearly, the bolt had been fired from that ballista.
Another bolt was already being loaded.
A fresh wave of danger prickled in his mind. Haruki braced himself.
The next moment, the new bolt fired—aimed straight at his chest.
But this time, Haruki was prepared. His Sharingan narrowed, tracking the projectile's path with precision.
He flapped his wings and easily dodged it.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Three more explosions erupted.
The scorching heatwave blew his hair wildly, but this time, he remained unscathed.
Before he could relax, though, three more bolts came screaming toward him.
Haruki looked sharply toward the source—another building rooftop. Three ballistae arranged in a triangle formation, surrounded by nine Mist Ninjas.
Clearly, this volley came from them.
Just a moment ago, that rooftop had appeared empty. Kirigakure must've used some concealment jutsu to hide both the ballistae and their operators.
A realization struck him.
Could there be even more hidden ballistae?
Acting quickly, Haruki scanned several other tall buildings and then soared higher into the air using his chakra wings.
Sure enough, several more bolts came shooting from newly revealed ballistae.
He dodged again, weaving through the sky.
And this was only the beginning.
From all directions, wave after wave of bolts came firing at him—either directly or strategically, cutting off his escape routes.
Each one clearly intended to kill him.
Fortunately, the higher he flew, the more time he had to react.
The danger from the bolts diminished with every meter he gained.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Explosive tags lit up the sky like fireworks, creating crimson blossoms in the night sky.
Haruki darted left and right, finally escaping the attack range.
Only then did he let out a breath of relief.
Tonight had been dangerous, but it served as a warning for future battles.
Had he not encountered this tonight, then in a future mission—suddenly caught off guard by such bolt attacks combined with Mist Ninja assaults—he might've ended up seriously injured or even dead.
It was clear now—Kirigakure had acted hastily.
But Haruki could understand why.
His altitude earlier had indeed been a bit low, and his guard was down—a rare opportunity for them.
Unfortunately for them, his reactions were too fast, and he managed to avoid the worst purely on raw skill.
"As expected, in any situation, your own strength is the most important factor. Even if you make mistakes, strength gives you room to recover."
Resolving once again to keep training harder, Haruki suppressed those thoughts and activated his Mangekyō Sharingan.
Looking down, he saw that Kirigakure had halted their attack. All ballistae were now exposed.
"One, two, three…"
He counted one by one.
Eventually, he confirmed there were twenty-one ballistae positioned throughout the town.
Based on the firing speed he'd seen earlier, if all were operated at full capacity and bolts were plentiful, they could shoot 30–40 bolts per minute.
That's one every 1.5 to 2 seconds on average.
That wouldn't be too much of an issue—if he had enough distance to dodge.
But the real threat came from the sheer speed of the bolts and the explosive tags. Even one minor mistake could cost him his life.
That, combined with the wide-range damage of the explosive tags, made these attacks incredibly dangerous.
"From now on, I have to be extremely cautious," Haruki told himself.
Then another question came to mind—how did Kirigakure manage to get so many ballistae and bolts into place?
He had only revealed his flying ability the night before last—not even 48 hours ago.
Even if Kirigakure had those supplies in reserve, transporting them to the battlefield this quickly seemed unlikely.
"No way… Did they predict this in advance?"
He scoffed at his own thought—but then paused.
Wait!
He suddenly remembered something.
In the ninja world, transporting materials didn't necessarily require marching caravans.
If they had a ninja skilled in space-time ninjutsu, they could seal the ballistae into scrolls and use Reverse Summoning to deliver them instantly.
For a major village like Kirigakure, finding two such ninja wouldn't be difficult.
"As expected, never underestimate the foundations and adaptability of the great ninja villages."
Muttering this final thought, Uchiha Haruki stopped caring about the Mist Ninjas below.
He turned and soared straight toward the direction of Black Stone Outpost.
His mission for tonight was complete, and with some unexpected gains too.
There was no need to linger any longer.