At this moment, Amamiya Ayane had no room to wonder why a wandering rogue ninja was deep in the heart of the Land of Rain. She only knew one thing:
She was going to kill him.
When one is filled with fury, how else can it be vented? Only through blood!
Without a flicker of warning, Ayane lunged. Stormrazor sliced through the thin veil of rain, trailing a lethal, silver glint. The rogue ninja hurriedly raised his weapon to parry.
Clang!
The impact was absolute. His kunai shattered instantly, sliced clean in two by the superior blade! Ayane didn't give him a second to breathe. She pressed forward, her footsteps relentless, her blade weaving a shimmering net of steel with every swing.
The rogue was forced back step by step until his heels hit the threshold of a thatched hut. He was cornered. But instead of panic, a smug grin spread across his face.
"Young Anbu, you fell for it!"
He hurled the broken shards of his kunai as a distraction. His hands blurred into a single seal: the Ram.
The earth groaned and surged! The soft soil beneath Ayane's feet transformed into viscous sludge, yellowish mud climbing up her ankles like sentient glue.
Earth Style: Mud Wave!
It was a pre-set trap. With a single seal, he had triggered a hidden jutsu. Among the five elements, Earth Style is the most deceptive. In a Chunin-level battle, getting caught in such a trap is usually a death sentence.
"The game ends here," the rogue ninja chuckled low. "Killing an Anbu... how satisfying."
Confident in his victory, he began to gloat. "Did you know? From the very start, this battle has been dancing to my rhythm. A grand performance needs a proper stage, after all."
He let out a sharp laugh. "Many look down on us strays, thinking we're inferior to village-bred ninja. Little do they know, in front of me, you're nothing! Hahahaha!"
Ayane's gaze remained ice-cold. She offered no rebuttal to his insults. "You're right," she said softly. "This farce should end."
She lowered her head slightly, her grip tightening on the hilt of her sword, her pale knuckles protruding. Then, she drove Stormrazor downward, plunging it deep into the mud!
"Hahaha! What are you doing? Trying to stab the earth to death?" The rogue was doubled over with laughter. Was this a joke? Even the samurai of the Land of Iron, obsessed with their ancient glory, wouldn't try something so absurd.
Ayane ignored the mockery. Using the blade as a lightning rod and her body as the source, she formed a quick one-handed seal behind the hilt.
Lightning Style: Grateful Wave!
Blue current crackled and sparked from her palm, surging down the length of the blade and into the wet mud.
Zzzzzzt!
Electricity erupted like a tidal wave from beneath her feet! The very mud meant to bind her became the perfect conductor. Arcs of pale blue lightning snaked outward in a dazzling display, like frost flowers blooming on the ground!
"Seal-less casting?!" The rogue's composure shattered. His pupils dilated as his battle-hardened muscles screamed at him to dodge, but it was too late. The conduction through the mud locked him in place, his body seizing violently.
The combination of two D-rank jutsus—Lightning and Earth—boosted by Ayane's stack of titles and traits, produced an effect remarkably similar to the Hidden Cloud's B-rank Lightning Style: Earth Flash.
"How can you... without seals..." the rogue stammered.
But the question died in his throat as a blade pierced his heart, erupting through his back. The sound of protest was replaced by the wet gurgle of blood.
Ayane, having used a Body Flicker to step effortlessly out of the mud, slowly withdrew Stormrazor. The blade remained as clear as water; the stray droplets of blood were washed away instantly by the rain.
"Did you really think a trick like that could hold me?" She slammed the sword back into its scabbard with a sharp shing. "But you were right about one thing. This battle was in my rhythm from the start."
The realization hit the dying man: Everything I saw... was only what you wanted me to see...
He wheezed, his fingers twitching as if to reach for a weapon, but life faded from his eyes. As the corpse slumped into the mud, Ayane glanced at her system panel.
[You have killed a rogue ninja (Chunin)!]
[Achievement Points +85!]
[You have obtained a new Trait!]
A new trait? Ayane's heart skipped. Traits weren't easy to come by; she'd spent years at the Academy to earn her first three. To get one from a single kill was unexpected.
Just as she was about to check the details, a frantic shout came from behind.
"Swan!" "Run! Get out of here!"
It was Woodpecker. He looked terrible—his flak jacket was shredded, blood seeped from multiple wounds, and his mask was scorched black, as if an explosive tag had gone off in his face.
"Woodpecker? What happened to—"
"Forget the talk! Move!" Woodpecker leapt onto a roof, his movements labored. "That puppeteer... it's Mashu, an Elite Jonin of the Sand! I recognized him from the negotiations! A ninja of that caliber usually requires a battalion or Lord Hanzo himself to take down. We can't handle him!"
An Elite Jonin puppeteer... Ayane's face paled. The hierarchy was simple: Genin, Chunin, Jonin, Elite Jonin, and Kage. In this era, decades before the power creep of the War Arc, an "Elite Jonin" was a monster—especially one from a Great Nation like the Sand.
She scooped up the unconscious boy, performed several Body Flickers to catch up, and asked, "Woodpecker, why is someone like that here?"
Elite Jonin were usually deputy commanders. They didn't just wander the countryside for fun.
"I don't know," Woodpecker huffed, wincing in pain. "But my guess? The Sand's front-line assault on Konoha failed, and this guy is a straggler from a broken unit. His puppet wasn't fully functional, and he seemed injured; otherwise, I never would have made it back."
Ayane caught an important detail. "The Sand is attacking Konoha, too?"
"Of course," Woodpecker said, his voice more animated now, likely due to the adrenaline. "Why else do you think Lord Hanzo diverted us to attack Konoha? We were fighting the Sand just months ago."
Konoha was the undisputed strongest. Ayane pieced it together: "So we made a temporary alliance with the Sand?"
"Hmph... 'alliance' is a strong word. Mutual exploitation. We draw Konoha's attention on the border, and the Sand sends their elite puppet brigade to strike the heart of the Land of Fire."
Ayane didn't even have to think before concluding: "Well, that's doomed. Who came up with that strategy? It sounds terrible."
Woodpecker went quiet for a moment. "Lady Chiyo of the Sand. She's the Wind Shadow's advisor."
He didn't mention that Chiyo had worked hard for this "cooperation," even gifting the Rain a specialized antidote to help Hanzo refine his poisons. The Anbu's theory was that she wanted to secure a war victory to push her son into the seat of the Fourth Kazekage.
Ah, Ayane thought. Everything fits. Who made a name for himself in this specific conflict? Kakashi's father. One blade, one puppeteer at a time. The "White Fang of the Leaf" was about to become a legend.
She looked at the fleeing Woodpecker and asked casually, "By the way, once we hit the front, when do we go pick up our extra explosive tags?"
Woodpecker blinked. Extra tags? We already— Then he realized. She was testing him to ensure he wasn't a transformed enemy.
He let out a tired, appreciative huff. "At the end-of-the-month clearance sale, obviously."
Ayane smiled and sped up, following him into the darkness.