Chapter 153: The fruits of diligent labor are often not as great as those of playing tricks

Seeing the spread of the Poison Mist, Zaren's expression turned extremely ugly. During this time, their Hanzo-sama had been engaged in battles with the warriors of the Land of Iron on the northeastern border of the Land of Rain for a long time. They hadn't seen Hanzo-sama for a while, so they had taken off their gas masks.

When facing the Konoha Ninjas, Konoha's straightforward and honest way of fighting, which didn't seem like that of a ninja, made them feel completely unnecessary to wear gas masks. Even in their recent missions, few of them carried gas masks.

But they never expected to encounter Sand Ninjas today. The use of poison is one of the important tactics of the Sand Ninjas. However, the team led by Zaren had never fought against Sand Ninjas before, after all, it wasn't their mission. Therefore, they were caught off guard for a moment.

Holding their breath, they rushed out of the range covered by the Poison Mist. Zaren took a gas mask from one of the rare subordinates who carried one, put it on, and looked extremely grim as he gazed at the center of the Poison Mist.

That Sand Ninja, with half of his face covered by a scarf, seemed not to have dashed out of the Poison Mist.

This made Zaren couldn't help but wonder, whether this Katakuri wasn't afraid of the Poison Mist, or if his original intention was to die together with them, and now, after failing, he felt ashamed and wanted to commit suicide?

"You guys are indeed cautious and vigilant, but also sensitive and timid at the same time."

A voice came from within the Poison Mist, disguised as the Sand Ninja Tatsuma, walked out. There were slight traces of purplish-black stains on his clothes and on the scarf, but he showed no concern at all.

This appearance of his made Zaren observe him carefully. Soon, his expression turned even uglier. Those purplish-black mists, far from being Poison Mist, were clearly carbon powder.

They were actually scared off collectively by a few tubes of carbon powder. This made many Rain Ninjas feel a sense of humiliation and anger, including Zaren. He drew a Kunai and glared angrily at Tatsuma.

"Swoosh~"

The next moment, his figure vanished, executing an extremely skilled Body Flicker Jutsu, appearing beside Tatsuma. The Kunai thrust toward Tatsuma at lightning speed, forcing Tatsuma to slightly tilt his neck and eyes, barely keeping up with his movement.

However, his body couldn't match Zaren's speed at all. Seeing the Kunai getting closer and closer to Tatsuma's throat, Zaren even saw, just one second later, the wretched guy being killed by himself.

"I'm not dead yet, isn't it a bit too much to dare touch my subordinates?"

A deliberately deep voice sounded in Zaren's ear, even in the high-speed movement of Body Flicker, he was unable to prevent this voice from getting closer and closer to him.

Danger! Zaren wanted to retreat, but his body needed a little reaction time. However, the white-haired ninja wearing the Great Tengu mask, seemingly unwilling to give him this chance, Zaren watched helplessly as he placed his hand on Zaren's elbow.

"Rip~"

The Kunai that was supposed to pierce Tatsuma's neck only brushed past his scarf, cutting through the layers of fabric. Although aware of the dangerous enemy beside him, Zaren's gaze involuntarily focused on Tatsuma's face, about to be revealed.

Zaren knew that with his strength, it was highly unlikely that he could force the ninja beside him wearing the Great Tengu mask to take it off. The ninja with the cat-faced mask had disappeared without a trace. He could only focus on remembering the face of this ninja called Katakuri.

If he could survive, he would have a target for revenge in the future.

But when "Katakuri's" face was revealed in that instant, Zaren, who had witnessed countless scenes, still involuntarily froze for a second.

The scar on his cheek, starting from the corner of his lips and extending to the side of his ear, twisted and sinister, as if his mouth had been torn apart forcibly, and this twisted scar was stitched up with ugly thread.

Even so, one could still see the abnormality of "Katakuri's" mouth, those teeth like spikes deeply imprinted in Zaren's eyes.

Such teeth. Zaren had only seen them on one type of person—Mist Shinobi!

But the people in front of him were Sand Ninjas, right? Could they be Mist Shinobi disguised as Sand Ninjas? But there had been no reports of Mist Shinobi participating in this war.

Moreover, the Land of Water overseas in the southeast direction of the Land of Fire shouldn't come to the Land of Rain, which is located northwest of the Land of Fire, if they wanted to join the war. While a squad of Mist Shinobi might come here, the Mist Shinobi Legion wouldn't.

In other words, if the people in front of him were indeed Mist Shinobi disguised as Sand Ninjas, then they didn't come here to prepare for participation in the war in advance. So what was their purpose?

Or perhaps the person in front of him wasn't a Mist Shinobi at all, just someone who resembled certain Mist Shinobi in appearance? Or were they of the same clan, but raised and trained as ninjas in the Sand Ninja village?

In an instant, various doubts and speculations flashed through Zaren's mind. But before he could make sense of it, the ninja who had grabbed his arm moved again.

A fierce Wind Release attacked, and Zaren felt waves of coldness rushing through his body, followed by endless pain. His body was thrown backward, and most of his clothes were torn off.

On his exposed skin, there were wounds oozing fresh blood continuously.

"Boom!"

Zaren's back slammed into the trunk of a towering tree. Before he could even cry out in pain, he fell unconscious, surrounded by Rain Ninjas who began hastily treating him.

"Stop fooling around!"

Jiraiya's deliberately stern voice rang out, as if reprimanding Tatsuma. Tatsuma nodded, grabbing the scattered scarf and hastily wrapping it around his face, then several test tubes appeared in his hand once again.

Jiraiya's figure dashed out again, finding the other four Rain Ninja Jonin, engaging them in combat. Although they were all Jonin, Jiraiya was clearly much stronger than these Rain Ninja Jonin.

Therefore, even in a four-on-one situation, he could handle it well, even restricting their movements.

At this moment, Minato, disguised as Kira Yoshikage, who had been wandering aroud the Rain Ninjas, also returned to Tatsuma's side. The two exchanged a high-five, as if passing on the baton.

However, the test tubes in Tatsuma's hand suddenly flew into the air at this moment, dancing around in the sky, evading the Rain Ninjas' attempts to catch them.

"It's Chakra Threads! It's the technique of the Sand Ninja Puppetry masters!"

A quick-witted Rain Ninja loudly reminded the others. Tatsuma let out a restrained laugh. Of course, he truly wanted to laugh, as the more convinced the Rain Ninjas were, the more successful their operation would be.

As for why Tatsuma would use Chakra Threads? He wouldn't, nor would Minato. After all, this was an advanced technique that was difficult to learn even among the Sand Ninja.

Just now, Minato had merely played the role of a facilitator, covering the area of the rainforest where the Rain Ninjas were located with the finest steel wires.

This type of steel wire is already difficult to detect with the naked eye. Even in bright light, enemies can only detect it with the help of specific angles of light, let alone in the dim rainforest.

Furthermore, this kind of steel wire is extremely difficult to produce even in a large country like the Land of Fire. Not all of Konoha's ninjas have seen it, let alone ninjas trained in the Land of Rain, which specializes in such effects.

To complement the call-out by the ninja just now, Tatsuma intentionally raised his hands, waving and flicking his fingers, making the movement of the test tubes even more unpredictable.

Finally, under Tatsuma's strange gestures—one hand forming a six "六", the other a seven "七"—the test tubes reached the positions he desired. Then, several test tubes fell from the sky, plummeting towards the ground.

In an instant, almost all of the Rain Ninjas chose to stay away from the test tubes. Only a few Rain Ninjas wearing gas masks, risking their lives, rushed towards the test tubes.

This was an extremely rational approach. A few individuals attempted to protect the test tubes, preventing the poison from leaking, while the majority quickly distanced themselves to avoid being harmed by the poison.

Of course, the premise was that Tatsuma couldn't control these test tubes. He formed the necessary seals and chose to detonate the Explosive Tags wrapped around the test tube stoppers.

"Boom~"

After producing a large number of Explosive Tags to test Nawaki, Tatsuma's mastery of the explosive tag's power might not have increased, but when it came to reducing its power, he was undoubtedly the most skilled in controlling it.

At the moment of the Explosive Tag explosion, the test tubes burst open. The poison inside them was rapidly atomized by the shockwave generated by the Explosive Tags. Those Rain Ninjas wearing gas masks could only watch helplessly as the Poison Mist engulfed them.

However, they didn't panic too much, knowing they had gas masks. After all, these were precision masks capable of filtering out Hanzo-sama's poison gas!

"Sizzle~"

However, the sound of clothes tearing and the unique pain of glass shards embedding into flesh made them realize that things were not going well. At the moment when the Poison Mist appeared on their wounds, it infiltrated them, following the flow of their blood, infecting them.

Moreover, the spread of the Poison Mist far exceeded the calculations of the other Rain Ninjas. After all, Tatsuma's recent use of Wind Release ninjutsu combined with carbon powder had given them a false assumption about the speed of Poison Mist dispersion.

Under the upheaval of the shockwave, the Poison Mist engulfed most of the Rain Ninjas. They weren't foolish enough to inhale the Poison Mist and instead held their breath, trying to escape. But Tatsuma, standing in place, lowered his hands, signaling like a conductor's final bow.

The pulled steel wires tightened completely in that instant. As a result, the Rain Ninjas collided with the wires.

The extremely fine steel wires couldn't withstand the force of the Rain Ninjas' impact and instantly snapped, but it was enough. Although the Rain Ninjas broke the wires, they were also lacerated by them.

Between the snapping steel wires, numerous Rain Ninjas were cut.

"Thud~"

"Thud~"

"Snap~"

One by one, Rain Ninjas invaded by the Poison Mist could no longer control their bodies, collapsing onto the damp, sticky ground. The few remaining ninjas who hadn't been poisoned dispersed the Poison Mist covering their comrades using various means.

A small amount of Wind Release, shockwaves from detonated Explosive Tags, and some special ninja tools brought winds that continuously dispersed the Poison Mist. However, seeing hundreds of comrades lying on the ground with their skin turning purplish-black, their expressions became extremely grim.

At this moment, Jiraiya timely withdrew. The four Jonin exchanged glances, knowing that the Sand Ninja before them seemed to have no intention of finishing them off. They promptly ordered, "Retreat!"

The remaining Rain Ninjas who were still mobile quickly helped their poisoned comrades and headed towards their own camp. Rain Ninjas excelled in using poison, so naturally, they were also skilled in antidotes. As long as they returned to the camp, there was still hope.

Jiraiya and the other two didn't stop their retreat because their mission had already been a great success.

"Ding~ [Stamina+463], [Speed+376], [Wisdom+886], [Ninjutsu+476], [Seals+268]. Would you like to claim?"

"Claim."

After answering in his mind, Tatsuma glanced at his own system panel. Seeing his Ninjutsu about to reach nine thousand points, and his Wisdom and Seals nearing eight thousand points, he couldn't help but feel amazed. Indeed, the gains from playing tricks were much greater than those from honest labor.

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