At this very moment, not far from the Hidden Rain Village, in a secluded location—
"Lord Tianlei, the Konoha ANBU have already been completely tracked by our Hidden Rain ninja. The moment they make a move, what awaits them will be an onslaught like a violent storm!"
"The basic intelligence on those ninja has already been distributed to every Hidden Rain operative present. However… we're still missing information on one of them."
Before Salamander Tianlei, one of the trump cards of the Hidden Rain Village, a Hidden Rain ninja knelt respectfully. As he reported, he handed over the intelligence he had gathered.
It was easy to see that on the scroll in Tianlei's hands, there was clearly recorded information on Kakashi, Uchiha Itachi, and the others—Inuzuka Hana included.
Only one name was left blank.
Uchiha Feng.
As one of the Hidden Rain Village's elite trump cards, Salamander Tianlei had already purchased intelligence on Kakashi and his group from the black market before they infiltrated the village—just in case.
After all, when armies clash, what they fight over is intelligence.
Not to mention that their opponent included the Copy Ninja Kakashi, who had shaken the entire shinobi world during the Third Shinobi World War!
Although the title of Yellow Flash had shone even brighter in that war, no one dared underestimate the man known as the Copy Ninja.
"Hmph. Since they dared to infiltrate our Hidden Rain Village this time, we'll make sure they pay the price!" Salamander Tianlei chuckled coldly, a frigid glint flashing through his eyes.
"Lord Tianlei," one of the Hidden Rain ninja asked hesitantly, "there are four Konoha ANBU infiltrators this time, but we only have intelligence on three of them. Could this be a problem…?"
"The remaining one just joined Konoha's ANBU," Tianlei said dismissively. "He's only five years old. He can't stir up any real trouble—no need to worry."
"The ones we truly need to be wary of are Copy Ninja Kakashi and the prodigy Uchiha Itachi. Both possess the Uchiha clan's Sharingan!"
Salamander Tianlei's gaze grew dark.
On the shinobi black market, any intelligence could be bought—it was just a matter of price.
"Yes, Lord Tianlei!"
Although the Hidden Rain ninja felt something was slightly off, he also thought that a child who had just joined ANBU couldn't possibly cause much trouble.
Just as they were speaking, another Hidden Rain ninja rushed over.
"Lord Tianlei! Our sensory ninja have detected four figures suddenly moving at high speed, charging straight toward our surrounding forces!"
"Their directions are exactly to the east, south, west, and north!"
"A sensory-type ninja? So they've finally made their move!"
A cold smile tugged at Salamander Tianlei's lips.
In battles between forces, the most critical support units were sensory-type ninja. Without them, it was like being blind and deaf.
Those people were heading straight for the sensory ninja—exactly as he had anticipated. They had walked right into the net Tianlei had prepared.
"Very good, very good! Today, I'll make sure they never return!" Salamander Tianlei said excitedly, striding toward the map to examine the surrounding terrain.
But the instant he looked up—
A streak of lightning tore through the dim sky, turning it blindingly bright. A Chidori pierced straight through Salamander Tianlei's heart, without the slightest warning.
The owner of the Chidori—Kakashi—spoke coldly, his eye glinting with frost.
"The ones running around everywhere were nothing but our shadow clones. Salamander Tianlei—you fell for it!"
Just as Salamander Tianlei seemed about to die, his body suddenly went poof, transforming into a dense cloud of poisonous mist and vanishing without a trace.
It was nothing more than a decoy shadow clone.
Seeing this, Kakashi's eyes widened in shock. He inadvertently inhaled the poisonous mist, and his body collapsed to the ground.
"Hmph. I predicted this long ago."
Having played a perfect shell game, the real Salamander Tianlei slowly walked into the room. Looking at Kakashi, who seemed on the verge of being poisoned to death, the smile on his face grew even wider.
He had long since laid down a dragnet here, waiting for Kakashi and the others to attempt a capture-the-leader maneuver—so he could end it in one decisive stroke.
But in the next moment, Salamander Tianlei's smile froze.
The Kakashi who had been invaded by poison suddenly went poof as well, disappearing without a trace.
"A shadow clone!?"
Salamander Tianlei's expression changed.
Only now did he realize something was wrong.
And just as he was thinking this through, a flash of light illuminated the poisonous mist in the distance, stabbing straight toward him—clearly the real ANBU ninja, Kakashi!
His expression shifting, Salamander Tianlei had no time to think further. He hastily formed seals.
"Ninjutsu: Salamander Poison!"
According to the intelligence he possessed, both Kakashi and Uchiha Itachi could only use ordinary shadow clones. That meant the one before him had to be the real body!
What's more, the figures that had drawn away the sensory ninja earlier had also relied on a limited number of shadow clones.
In the next instant, Salamander Tianlei tore off the helmet on his head. Under the control of his chakra, the massive amount of poison stored in the air sacs within his body erupted violently, instantly covering an area several meters wide.
Back then, his clansman—the top-tier expert Hanzō the Salamander—had slaughtered countless Konoha ninja with this very technique!
The poisonous mist was thick and overwhelming. Yet the charging figure once again went poof, dissolving into nothingness, as if it had never existed.
"M-Multiple Shadow Clones!?"
"Someone actually knows the Multiple Shadow Clone Technique?!"
Salamander Tianlei's expression changed completely, his heart skipping a beat.
According to all the intelligence he had gathered, no one among them should have been capable of using Multiple Shadow Clones!
Only now did he finally realize—
From beginning to end, a single person had been using Multiple Shadow Clones to secretly whittle him down.
His seemingly invincible poisonous mist was like punching cotton—utterly useless.
At that moment, several Hidden Rain ninja wearing gas masks rushed over, appearing at Salamander Tianlei's side.
"You've arrived just in time!"
Salamander Tianlei secretly let out a sigh of relief.
The Salamander clan's secret techniques all revolved around salamander poison. As long as he had five minutes to replenish it, no one would be able to stand against him.
But just as he relaxed—
Salamander Tianlei suddenly noticed that one of them had crimson Sharingan eyes that snapped into motion.
Hisssss—!
The sound of Chidori rang out once more.
In the next instant, Ning Feng, wearing a gas mask, pierced straight through Salamander Tianlei's heart!
With a dull thud, the dignified Hidden Rain jōnin—the trump card of the Hidden Rain Village, Salamander Tianlei—collapsed to the ground.
His body dissolved into dazzling golden light, scattering materials and equipment everywhere.
🌟 The story is already written… waiting to be unleashed.
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