"Someone's here!" Kimura Taku, who was as thin as a stick, sat up and mumbled.
His voice was hoarse and questioning.
No one should be here, because this oleander forest is full of highly poisonous plants; why would anyone run into it for no reason?
Kimura Taku's face was even paler, and besides his dark eye circles, his lips had turned dark green.
The blood on the oleander beneath him was now gathering on his body.
Before, his blood was flowing out, but now it was returning to his body.
What was he doing?
Who knows what he was doing!
Inoyue turned her attention back to the Sand Ninja.
Because the antenna-like feelers on the head of this new sand worm pointed directly to the center of the oleander forest.
This action of the sand worm directly slapped the face of the leading Sand Ninja; he had just determined that the path in front of them was an illusion set up by the enemy.
With a wave of his hand, two Sand Ninja behind him immediately walked towards the center, and one of the two who had been secretly hidden also followed.
It seemed that this leading Sand Ninja was the true leader, and his strength was definitely at the Jonin level.
Not long after the two Sand Ninja entered, a scream was heard, indicating that Kimura Taku had already begun to move.
The Sand Ninja outside were about to rush in when six kunai shot out, stopping their advance.
Kimura Taku was an Elite Jonin and very formidable; but no matter how formidable he was, he hadn't reached the level of a quasi-Kage, so two fists are no match for four hands, and even a hero fears a group beating.
"Illusionary Art, Virtual Reality!" The moment the three threw their kunai, Inoyue formed a hand seal and unleashed the new Illusionary Art she had developed.
This Illusionary Art was an Instantaneous Illusion, activated instantly and ending quickly, but this short amount of time was definitely enough to disrupt the enemy from dodging the flying kunai.
Its principle was the same as the pretentious 'Descent of the Heavenly God'; the illusionary scene was almost identical to reality, only changing the flight angle of the kunai.
Such an Illusionary Art could only be used by someone with an abnormally strong mental power like Inoyue, and it was highly concealed.
"Ah!" With a scream, one of the Sand Ninja in the middle was directly pierced through the throat by a kunai, clutching the kunai in his throat and struggling a few times before falling to the ground dead.
The remaining two Sand Ninja were indeed Jonin; after a moment of surprise, the kunai flew past their faces, a close call, but they were indeed unharmed.
...
Strike and immediately retreat; this was something the three had discussed long ago.
Splitting up and fleeing was the best option, as they still had an unfinished mission: to report the strength data of the attacking Sand Ninja to the main camp.
Just as the Sand Ninja leader lifted his foot, the Sand Ninja who had been secretly hidden suddenly gave an order: "I'll pursue, you handle inside."
"Inside? Tch! Isn't it just for Uchiha's Sharingan!" Grumbling, the leading Sand Ninja reluctantly dashed towards the center of the oleander forest.
"Mind's Eye!" With a soft cry, golden light filled her eyes.
According to Inoyue's investigation, the Sand Ninja chasing from behind split into three; the main body pursued Uchiha Suien, while the clones pursued herself and Kami Kida.
This should be a Sand Clone; the reason she could so easily distinguish the main body from the clones was that in the Mind's Eye state, the main body had a thin layer of aura, like a person's soul.
Clones also had light, but it was almost negligible.
The plan to split up and escape was proposed by Uchiha Suien.
Inoyue hadn't paid much attention before, but now she understood perfectly; Uchiha Suien had inadvertently become a hero this time.
The Uchiha family's Uchiha Suien was a symbol for focused attacks.
The Sharingan was too powerful, so it was prioritized and then dealt with by concentrated fire.
However, this time was different; Uchiha Suien was a Genin, and the difference in strength amplified the opponent's greed.
The Sharingan Bloodline Limit wasn't something only Orochimaru desired.
Using Mind's Eye to distinguish based on the intensity of the light, the two clones each had about one-fifth of their original strength, with the main body retaining three-fifths.
One-fifth of a Jonin's strength was still quite strong for a Genin, let alone three-fifths of the main body.
Escape! There was no escaping.
Even one-fifth of a Jonin's strength was stronger than a Genin, so being caught was only a matter of time.
Furthermore! As a dignified adult, should she really let an eight-year-old kid be the hero? That's ridiculous!
Inoyue steeled herself, stopped, turned around, and charged towards the Sand Ninja behind her.
Ninja combat is diverse; it's not an exaggeration to say that anything goes.
While strength is key to victory, it doesn't represent everything.
Therefore, a Genin can still defeat a Jonin.
...
"Ninja Art, Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!" With a soft cry, the three shuriken Inoyue threw instantly multiplied into hundreds, forming a rain of blades that shot towards the pursuing Sand Ninja.
The pursuing Sand Ninja was about to praise the courage of the eight-year-old loli in front of him, but he didn't expect her to use such an A-rank Ninjutsu in the blink of an eye.
Looking at the overwhelming shuriken in front of him, the Sand Ninja felt his scalp tingle.
He had been careless!
Although the opponent was just a loli, she was a Jonin loli.
This was an A-rank Ninjutsu at the Jonin level; could Inoyue really use it?
NO!
She couldn't at all; what she shouted and the hand seals she formed were completely different things; this was just an Instantaneous Illusion.
"Quicksand Shield!" The Sand Ninja quickly performed a defensive Ninjutsu, and a stream of quicksand rapidly rose from the ground, forming a semicircular defensive wall that firmly encased him.
After throwing the shuriken and using the Instantaneous Illusion, Inoyue didn't even look at the result and had already charged towards the Sand Ninja.
As the Sand Ninja was just performing his defensive Ninjutsu, Inoyue had already leaped high into the air, hands raised high, countless thread-like Chakra gathering in a rotating manner in her hands.
"Great Ball Rasengan!" With a loud shout, Inoyue pressed down hard with both hands, and the Rasengan, the size of a basketball, pressed down accordingly, directly into the ground one meter in front of the defensive sand shield.
Immediately, dirt flew, and a muffled groan suddenly came from underground.
The head of the moving Sand Ninja below was twisted into fine mud by the spinning Rasengan.
The Sand Clone was completely defeated, turning directly into a pile of fine sand.
The battle was very short, lasting only about ten seconds in total, but it was extremely perilous.
Inoyue first used an Instantaneous Illusion to mimic an A-rank 'Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique' to surprise the Sand Ninja and prevent him from underestimating her, so in the first step, he could only defend head-on.
This was the desired effect: using his own move to block his own vision, while Inoyue, without knowing the outcome, leaped into the air, gathered Chakra into a 'Great Ball Rasengan,' and used her own falling gravity and the strength of her hands to press down the Rasengan, deciding the victory in one move.
Inoyue had to be quick; if the opponent realized that the A-rank Ninjutsu was actually an Illusionary Art, her chances of winning would plummet.
Originally, Inoyue had wanted to use the Rasengan to directly break through the opponent's sand shield and kill him.
But she didn't expect the opponent to be foolish; taking advantage of the opportunity to obscure his vision with the sand shield, he actually used Earth Release to go underground, intending to flank Inoyue from behind.
However, it was very unfortunate; if it were anyone else, perhaps they wouldn't have discovered him.
But Inoyue's Mind's Eye had been active, and at such a close distance, how could he escape Inoyue's eyes?
So the Rasengan was directly pressed into the ground one meter in front of the sand shield, hitting the Sand Clone's head perfectly.
...
Having quickly and perilously resolved the battle, Inoyue had almost exhausted all of her Chakra.
The basketball-sized Rasengan just now was all of Inoyue's Chakra; compared to the Great Ball Rasengan, it was countless times smaller, but it was indeed the largest Rasengan she could use at the moment.
Inoyue's mental power was super strong, and Chakra control was like her instinct, so an S-rank Ninjutsu, the pure Chakra form-changing 'Rasengan,' was not difficult for her to complete.
It wasn't difficult to complete, but the hard part was that this Great Ball Rasengan was only the size of a basketball, which really didn't live up to its name; it lost a lot of fans!
With her body's Chakra depleted, Inoyue took out a military ration pill from her Ninja pouch to replenish Chakra, and after a slight recovery, she continued on her way.
Kami Kida should be fine.
Although Black Charcoal Head was honest, he wasn't stupid; the direction he fled was the direction where he had set traps, so she believed that if he could reach the trap's location, surviving shouldn't be a big problem.
Inoyue had to go help Uchiha Suien; that kid was facing the true Jonin.
Also, she really wanted to punch Uchiha Suien.
This Uchiha Suien always wanted to be a hero; where would that leave her, an adult?
Little brat, you're a little devil; how dare you scheme against me?
This time, even if you don't die, I'll make you shed a layer of skin!
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