"Hey, Saitama, you okay?" Gekko Masano rested against Soma, his voice filled with delight.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" Mashu dropped to one knee in front of Saitama. His hand, which had pierced the enemy's heart, was already withdrawn. Saitama himself held onto the enemy's head, panting heavily.
"Let's move somewhere else to rest!" After a brief pause, Gekko Masano stood up and said to the other two.
Currently, all three members of the squad were somewhat injured, with Saitama probably having sustained the lightest damage. If they ran into another Suna ninja unit now, it could wipe them out completely.
"Yeah, let's head toward that oasis; there should be water over there!" Saitama nodded, taking the lead in one direction. Gekko Masano and Soma followed silently without hesitation. After the fight, Saitama's reputation was set—he proved himself strong, and now people followed him without question.
They didn't linger to clean up the battlefield. The group simply replenished their Ninja Tools from the fallen Suna ninjas before leaving. As for Military Rations Pills? Out of caution, Saitama and the others left them untouched—better not touch anything that belonged to the enemy.
Gekko Masano's injuries weren't serious, so they didn't slow the team down. Before nightfall, they reached an oasis.
"Soma, stay here with him! I'll go check things out," Saitama said quietly after glancing at Gekko Masano, who still hadn't fully recovered from exhaustion and chakra depletion, and then at Soma, who was helping support Gekko.
Most of Saitama's chakra had already been restored, and minor wounds no longer troubled him. He was operating at about seventy percent of his full strength, making him the perfect choice for reconnaissance.
The oasis wasn't large—only a few hectares—but every oasis in Sunagakure territory was like a treasure and considered a strategic resource.
Under the cover of darkness, Saitama slowly approached the darkened area. He kept shifting his path in an S-shape, moving like a snake through the dark.
From what Saitama knew, there shouldn't be any Suna ninjas here, but caution remained essential—especially since the squad currently had two comrades unable to fight effectively.
Saitama scanned the oasis with his eyes as he moved silently between the trees, leaping from branch to branch. Compared to those in the Land of Fire, these oasis trees were relatively small, none exceeding ten meters in height. Yet just surviving and growing this tall in the middle of a desert showed how tough life could be.
It didn't take long before Saitama completed his sweep of the entire oasis. Finding nothing unusual, he returned to inform the other two waiting outside.
"It's safe. Come in!" Emerging from the oasis and reaching the prearranged location, Saitama found Gekko Masano and Soma.
"Thanks for your hard work," Gekko Masano said awkwardly. As the team leader, he hated relying on his subordinates for protection—especially when one of them was still a child who had graduated from the Ninja Academy less than a year ago.
"Mm." With an almost imperceptible hum of acknowledgment, Saitama walked ahead, leading the way forward.
Earlier on the scouting route, he had already found a suitable place to rest — a lush green area with trees and not far away, a small pond.
The three-man squad stayed in this oasis for two days. No one had taken serious injuries, and both Gekko Masano and Soma were nearly back to full strength. After all, ninja do have impressive recovery abilities.
"We've stayed here long enough. It's time we prepare to head out and continue our mission!" Gekko Masano, leaning against a tree, turned to the other two several meters away and said. At this moment, Soma was carefully wiping his ninja sword while Saitama sat cross-legged atop a sandstone, his blade resting across his thighs.
"The mission period is ten days; almost five have passed already! Now that the captain has recovered, we can go back and give the Suna ninja some more trouble!" During these two days, some ninja came to scout this oasis as well, but none detected Saitama's team. Sunagakure couldn't afford to deploy all their forces searching for Konoha ninjas infiltrating their rear lines. The most important concern still lay at the frontline battles!
"Feeling rusty already. Let's push through and complete the mission goals in these last few days!" Stretching his arms and shaking his head, Gekko Masano raised his blade so it caught the light behind him.
...
"Did Mashu die just like that? Are Konoha ninja really this terrifying?" This was inside a meeting room in Sunagakure Village. Seated here were several older Suna elites; speaking now was an elderly man.
"This is still our territory!" Finally, the elder slammed his hand on the table.
"Judging from the scene, it was a Lightning Release ninja. That level of destruction isn't from any known Konoha ninja," said a relatively young man, about forty years old, his voice low and tone serious, his face very grim.
"Find them. Bury them in the desert!" Another aged female voice sounded, full of killing intent.
"No one can kill our people on Suna soil and walk away unscathed!" After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he walked out of the house, leaving behind several high-rankers whose faces remained obscured.
...
"How many has this been?" Gekko Masano asked while cutting down the last enemy, turning to look at Saitama standing a short distance away, stepping on a Suna ninja's corpse.
"This is the third squad today. Seems like the Suna ninja can no longer tolerate us and started dispatching teams to hunt us down." Pulling his blade from the enemy's body, Soma showed a slight smile, blood staining his face.
Days of battle had sharpened even Soma's edge. Now he could cut down regular Chunin in no time. Indeed, the battlefield is still the truest forge for a warrior's spirit. It's only when facing life and death that a person truly grows!
This was the fourth day since Saitama's squad left the oasis, and they decided to return to Konoha today.
With superior combat strength and extreme mobility, Saitama and his companions wreaked havoc behind Suna's lines for several days, giving Sunagakure plenty of headaches.
Precisely because of that, wave after wave of Suna ninja tried tracking Saitama's team. Yet due to the massive skill gap, they barely stood a chance — truly 'sheep entering a tiger's mouth' (hopeless odds — like lambs sent to face wolves).
Though the desert was vast, Sunagakure could only cast wide nets, resulting in uneven team strengths. When encountering Saitama's squad — which possessed dual Jonin-level strength — their chances were practically zero!
"Let's fall back. If we keep going like this, the Suna ninja will start diverting main forces from the frontline to chase us," Gekko Masano said seriously. He was worried Saitama might get too excited and refuse to retreat, so he reminded him.
"Then let's head back and report our findings!" Saitama replied readily. Staying behind enemy lines any longer did seem unwise — it was definitely time to withdraw.
"Back the way we came! Stay alert!" Gekko Masano nodded in agreement.
In situations like this, Soma had basically no say. As the weakest member of the squad, he could only follow his two teammates.
Fine yellow sand choked the air as blistering winds swept across the desert. The relentless heat left everyone drenched in sweat as they ran.
"We're approaching the sand dunes we passed earlier. Once we cross them, we'll be out of Sunagakure's controlled territory!" Soma wiped sweat from his forehead, his voice sounding relaxed. Throughout the journey, it seemed the Sand ninja had given up searching for their Konoha operatives, since they hadn't encountered a single Suna patrol team.
"Stay vigilant, Soma," Gekko Masano warned, noticing Soma's casual attitude and feeling somewhat displeased. Then he glanced at Saitama, who looked fully alert.
"Wait a second!" Saitama seemed not to have heard their conversation. He raised his hand, calling both of them to a halt.
His sensitivity to chakra allowed Saitama to vaguely sense some chakra signatures nearby.
Gekko Masano and Soma stopped immediately, looking seriously at Saitama.
"There's something ahead. I hope my sensor sense is off," Saitama said, offering them a wry smile.
"Could it be patrolling ninjas from Suna? Didn't we expect that possibility when we came?" Soma optimistically voiced his opinion.
Gekko Masano didn't speak, but his trust in Saitama told him that whatever abnormality Saitama detected was definitely serious. Still, he hoped it wasn't what he feared.
"Keep moving forward, stay hidden!" Gekko Masano ordered gravely as he looked into the distance. Before them lay what appeared to be ordinary sand dunes, terrain slightly higher than their current position. From here they couldn't see what waited beyond. Unfortunately, their squad lacked a scouting-type ninja.
"Right!" Saitama lowered his head, his hand half-reaching to his waist. He braced himself for the worst.
The group advanced toward their destination. By now it was about 6 PM. Nightfall was approaching, and darkness began to set in. This kind of environment was more suitable for sneaking away from behind enemy lines.
"Whoosh!" A kunai flew through the air and struck the ground at Gekko Masano's feet as he led the group forward. The ever-vigilant team instantly stopped, taking defensive stances while staring toward where the kunai had come from, their hearts sinking.
"Konoha ninja, now that you've come, don't bother leaving. Remain buried in this desert." A cold male voice rang out. Following this, several figures appeared in front of them. Under the dusk's cover, it was impossible to distinguish gender. However, based on their chakra perception, Saitama knew none of them were weak opponents.
"Break through now!" Gekko Masano turned his head to tell Saitama and Soma. They couldn't afford to stall here — the Suna frontline forces weren't far away!
"I'll take point! Captain, you've got my back, and Soma, you watch the rear!"
Saitama gripped his blade and whispered quietly. Among the group, he had the greatest destructive power and the fastest speed, making him the ideal choice to charge forward and tear through the enemy's defenses.
"Alright, let's move!" Gekko Masano also applied the polish to his ninja sword, his expression serious. Nearby, Soma understood the current situation as well, though he didn't say a word. He simply took a firm grip on his sword.
"I'm going!" A low voice came from Saitama as he sprang into action. With a flash of lightning brilliance, he shot toward the distant enemies.
"What the— Lightning?!" The leader of the Suna ninja narrowed his eyes. Their intelligence report specifically mentioned a ninja wielding lightning-based chakra; they were warned to pay extra attention to him and ensure he didn't escape.
"So that's the one in the report? Still just a brat, huh?" Tawara said to Hyakujin and Nagare who stood at either side of him. Their team possessed three jonin and four chunin—there was no way he believed those Konoha ninja could get away.
"It should be him. The mission was clear — take him dead or alive. Either way, we can't let him escape!" Replied Hyakujin standing on the left, his gaze cruel as he watched Saitama rushing their way.
"I'll handle this kid. As for the others, deal with them however you like!" With that, Tawara leapt, propelling himself off the sand dune directly at Saitama. The rest followed behind, heading straight toward him and his companions.
[Fire Release - Phoenix Bloom Jutsu!] Saitama expelled scorching chakra from his throat while simultaneously pulling nearly ten shuriken from near his thighs. Combined with the technique, the fire-coated shuriken flew toward the Sand ninja in an eerie formation.
"Scatter!" Tawara stomped down, his figure vanishing from directly in front of Saitama and landing to the left. The other ninja reacted swiftly too, dodging aside. However, some failed to react quickly enough—one pair of chunin at the back managed to avoid the direct flames but were struck by the shuriken hidden within the fire. They were immediately wounded severely.
Saitama eliminated several enemies in one swift strike and kept moving forward without hesitation. Meanwhile, Tawara frowned slightly, glancing briefly at his comrades who had been hit.
Learning from this incident, the Suna ninja started shifting positions, scattering out to surround Saitama's group.
Clang! Saitama's sword landed against a kunai held up by an enemy ninja. Electricity surged instantly along the weapon, threatening to travel its length—but his opponent quickly disengaged, avoiding further contact.
"You Konoha punks ain't fooling me that easy!" Tawara spat coldly, holding his kunai which gleamed with a faint blue glow.
Saitama narrowed his eyes — it surprised him how quickly these Sand ninja had adapted to his fighting style.
Meanwhile, Gekko Masano blocked two attacking Suna ninja but was struggling to keep up under their pressure. Similarly, Soma found himself in a tight spot as well, facing two opponents who were just as skilled as he was. Forced backward step by step, he barely managed to hold his ground.
"Boy, better watch yourself too!" A sharp rush of air heralded another attack aimed at Saitama. Abandoning his kunai, Tawara threw a punch right at him, his fist speeding straight toward Saitama's face.
Swish! Saitama swung his sword upward and stepped back. Forced to withdraw his punch, Tawara countered immediately by launching a rapid kick.
Boom! Distracted mid-battle, Saitama took the full impact of the kick straight to the chest.
Dragged backward across the sand leaving a long mark behind him, Saitama slid away, propelled by the powerful blow.
"What, is that all?" Tawara tried to provoke Saitama with his words. After all, Saitama was just a half-grown kid.
"Hmph!" Saitama wiped his hand across his chest. He narrowed his eyes and revealed the two-tomoe Sharingan.
"A brat from the Uchiha. So you're nothing special after all!" Seeing the Sharingan, Tawara recognized it immediately. He'd fought the Uchiha before, so he knew what he was seeing. The intelligence reports hadn't mentioned this kid being part of the Uchiha family. Looks like I can't afford to be careless! His thoughts weren't as bold as his words—he silently decided to stay on guard.
"Boom!" Chakra flared beneath his feet, propelling Saitama forward with a burst of speed. He rushed toward the nearby enemy, planning to finish this quickly so he could go help his companions—otherwise, this mission would become dangerous.
"Ding!" Even at such high speed, the enemy still managed to block Saitama's attack. Saitama narrowed his eyes—he seemed to have met his match.
The enemy was also an extremely fast ninja. The previous speed Saitama used represented an instantaneous peak burst. Yet even so, the enemy kept up and successfully parried his slash.
As the kunai blocked the blade, a kick came flying in again. Saitama's expression shifted; arcs of electricity flickered over his body as chakra further stimulated his cells, forcing him to retreat a step.
His face looked somewhat strained. Saitama knew this would turn into a tough battle. All he could do now was hope Captain Masano Gekko and Soma could hold out longer or perhaps unleash some hidden potential.
Crackling arcs of lightning surged along the blade as Saitama's expression turned grim. If the enemy could display such extreme speed, then he'd increase his chakra stimulation further. Let's see if he could keep up—even if he could, without the Sharingan, Tawara probably wouldn't be able to predict attacks made under those conditions.
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