Chapter 096: Despicable Stick

After Charles absorbed the dragon bone, he artificially caused a small earthquake.

Feeling the ground's movement, Stick surmised that Charles and the others might have dug up the dragon bone. 

Without hesitation, he didn't engage in a stalemate with Ginny and her group in the underground passage. Instead, he ordered, "Create distance, attack while retreating."

Stick began issuing orders to his subordinates to retreat towards the entrance of the passage.

Seeing the enemy starting to create distance, Ginny didn't insist on pursuing them. Instead, she kept a certain distance and continued exchanging gunfire with them.

In the narrow confines of the underground passage, Ginny couldn't unleash her full firepower, but every shot she fired successfully killed one of the enemies.

Members of the Chaste continued to suffer casualties during their retreat. Along their path, they left behind corpses at regular intervals.

After retreating a certain distance, Stick sensed the airflow in the tunnel and the wind pouring in from the entrance. He ordered, "They're below in the tunnel; seal them with poison gas."

Following Stick's command, several members of the Chaste took out canister-style grenades from their pockets, removed the pins, and threw them directly into the tunnel.

As the pins were pulled, the grenades immediately released yellow smoke, spreading rapidly and sealing off the tunnel.

The yellow smoke made it impossible for both sides to see each other's figures, completely obstructing their line of sight.

With the influx of air from the tunnel entrance, the poison gas began to spread deeper into the tunnel.

Stick's subordinates stood guard at the tunnel entrance, ready to mercilessly shoot anyone who emerged, choking them on the poisonous gas.

Seeing the spreading poison gas, Ginny realized things were taking a bad turn and attempted to lead her group out of the tunnel. However, they were forced back by the bullets that followed.

Helplessly, Ginny could only lead her group back into the underground tunnel to avoid the poison gas. Even so, some slower responders ended up inhaling the gas and collapsed, foaming at the mouth.

Just as Ginny had retreated, Sasuke and Rock Lee arrived at the scene. Seeing the disarray of the group, Sasuke questioned, "What happened, Ginny?"

Ginny, still panting heavily, nervously replied, "Something's wrong. We need to find Charles quickly; the enemy used poison gas."

Before she could finish speaking, the yellow smoke rapidly advanced toward them. Sasuke, seeing this, immediately grabbed two of the high table members and instructed Rock Lee, "Lee, take Ginny. We'll retreat inside for now."

As soon as he finished speaking, Sasuke, holding two people, sprinted deeper into the tunnel. Rock Lee had no choice but to carry Ginny and follow Sasuke to retreat.

The other high table members could only run desperately on their own. Those who were slower in their escape had the poison gas overtake them, falling to the ground in agony, their bodies convulsing.

Rock Lee and Sasuke moved swiftly and, in the blink of an eye, returned to the end of the tunnel—the location of the sealed dragon bone.

However, they weren't met with just Charles; there were also Shizune with him.

Charles had just summoned Shizune and briefly explained the situation. He hadn't said much when he saw Rock Lee and Sasuke returning with several people in tow.

Seeing this situation, Charles was filled with surprise. At this moment, Rock Lee and Sasuke put down the people they had brought back down.

Ginny was greatly surprised by the appearance of Shizune, a person she had never seen before. However, this was not the time to dwell on that. She immediately called out anxiously, "Boss, we're in trouble."

"The enemy used poison gas and sealed off the passage. Several of our people have already fallen under their poison gas."

Hearing Ginny's words, Charles's previously joyful mood due to the dragon bone harvest vanished instantly.

Using poison gas in an underground passage? They were trying to wipe us out completely. If it were ordinary people, they'd have met their doom.

Charles's face didn't show a hint of nervousness. He spoke calmly, "Ginny, don't worry. I have a solution."

"Do you have any idea which faction the enemy belongs to?"

Hearing Charles's calm tone, Ginny's anxious heart also settled at this moment. After a moment of thought, she said, "I'm not sure which faction the enemy belongs to, but it's possible they're members of the Hand."

"I saw that they had ninjas among them. The leader seemed to be an old man holding a stick, but his eyes appeared unusual."

Evidently, Stick's agile movements made it difficult for Ginny to perceive him as blind.

Charles murmured, "A stick? An old man? Ninjas?"

In the next moment, Charles seemed to recall something and said with certainty, "So, it's the leader of the Chaste, an old man with a stick."

At this point, Shizune, who was standing nearby, suddenly spoke up, "Poison gas? Let me go and check it out!"

Seeing Shizune speaking up unexpectedly, Charles contemplated for a moment and then said, "Alright, you're an expert in this field. Check the situation with the poison gas, but be careful."

"Understood!" Shizune replied and transformed into a blur, disappearing instantly.

Meanwhile, some of the high table members who had been in the rear had also returned, but their numbers had significantly dwindled. 

Out of the forty who had gone out, only half returned. The others had either died in the gunfire exchange or succumbed to the poison gas.

Sasuke and Rock Lee, witnessing Shizune's speed and movement, exclaimed in amazement, "Lord Charles, the person who just—?"

Clearly, they sensed that Shizune has a presence similar to theirs. However, since they had never seen Shizune before, they didn't know who she was.

Charles, seeing their surprised expressions, smiled and explained, "She's Shizune, a jonin, and more importantly, a medical ninja."

Hearing that Silent was a jonin, both of them were astonished. A jonin's presence was considered high-tier combat power in Konoha, especially when they were also a medical ninja, making them a rare and valuable asset.

However, due to Shizune's appearance without a ninja headband or jonin vest, they didn't recognize her immediately.

Ginny, on the other hand, was very curious. She wondered how this so-called medical ninja ended up here. After all, Charles had come down with her personally, and there were no other person with him.

Ginny glanced at the large pit behind Charles and noticed the dragon bone was no longer there. She began to speculate in her mind, could it be?

Was the woman who had just appeared the transformation of that dragon bone?

At this moment, Ginny's gaze towards Charles Doyle became peculiar.

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