bookbashuk Chapter 351 Signaling
Chapter 351 Signaling
Chapter 351 Signaling
Shikamaru's expression changed.
"They're going to charge!"
Chi Quan's eyes grew even colder: "We can't get past it."
Tianzang then pressed his hand even deeper.
"Earth Escape Technique: Earth Ridge Lock!"
Three low but hard ridges of earth suddenly rose from the ground in the latter half of the pass. They weren't high enough to form a real wall, but they disrupted the momentum that had allowed them to charge forward in one go. The two Allied Army ninjas in the back were forced to stagger, and their marching rhythm was abruptly broken.
In that instant, Chi Quan gave chase.
It's not chasing the back row, it's chasing the Wind Priest.
Shikamaru cursed from behind, "You fucking went forward again," but his shadow was faster than his mouth, catching up to cover his side first.
As soon as the Wind Priest landed on the second stone, he felt a chill behind his ear.
Chi Quan's knife was faster than he had anticipated.
Moreover, it wasn't from directly behind, but from a low, oblique angle on the side where he thought the opponent was least likely to exert force, like a white line truly cutting along the cracks in the mountain wind. The Wind Priest suddenly ducked, but the blade still grazed his left shoulder, instantly drawing a large patch of blood.
He finally frowned genuinely.
"Your speed—"
Before Chi Quan could finish speaking, his left-hand short blade followed up, aiming straight for his ribs. The Wind Priest used his slender blade to defend, barely managing to block the attack, but was forced close to the edge of the newly formed earthen ridge by the blow.
Right now.
Shikamaru's shadow, as if it had been waiting there, suddenly sprang up from the shadows behind the earthen ridge and pinned him to the ground.
"Got you?"
The Wind Priest's eyes truly changed for the first time.
The moment he paused, Chi Quan slashed down with his sword.
The Wind Priest raised his double blades to parry, the metallic clang almost shattering his eardrums. But his left shoulder had already been sliced open, slowing his momentum slightly, and the blow forced him to kneel on one knee.
Finally, one of the allied soldiers in the back couldn't hold back any longer and shouted, "Captain!"
The Wind Priest gritted his teeth, his chakra surged violently, managing to shatter half of the shadow seam slightly, while simultaneously kicking away the pebbles at the edge of the earthen ridge beneath his feet. Shikamaru's shadow threads loosened, and the Pond Spring pressed in once more.
"Don't let him get up!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Know!"
Chi Quan's shout almost brushed against the blade.
Priest Ke Feng, as expected of a Jonin leading the team, remained composed even when suppressed to this extent. He used the momentum from sliding down the rubble to roll to the side and downwards, flicking out his thin blade with a backhand. Three cold lines attacked Izumi, Shikamaru, and Tenzo, not seeking to kill, but only to force them back for a moment, so that the back row could catch their breath.
Tenzo raised his arm to block two attacks, but his sleeve was slashed open. Shikamaru rolled over, skidding across the stone surface, narrowly avoiding the most insidious blow. Ikezumi's longsword deflected the last thin blade, but instead of retreating, he advanced, once again pinning the Wind Priest back into the jaws.
"You're not leaving today," Chi Quan said.
The wind priest exhaled a chilling breath and suddenly asked, "You really think you've won?"
Chi Quan's eyes darkened.
The wind priest's smile was extremely faint, almost devoid of warmth.
"The Cloud Falcon is gone."
Upon hearing this, Shikamaru's expression changed drastically.
"Which way?!"
No one answered him.
Because at that very moment, from behind the higher ridge, a burst of extremely bright lightning suddenly erupted. It wasn't the brief flash used by lightning ninjas at close range, but rather as if someone from a far, higher place had used a special technique to illuminate half the night sky in one go. The light was so intense that it even made the rocky surfaces of the broken valley and the narrow passage appear deathly white.
Immediately afterwards, the second short whistle from the White-Eyed Scout turned into a rapid long cry.
A faster squad had already bypassed the group in front of them and was rushing towards Konoha from the other side of the ridge!
Shikamaru couldn't help but curse, "A feint attack!"
Ya yelled from below, "Is this a fake home team?!"
Taking advantage of this momentary opening, the Wind Priest suddenly ducked and charged, unleashing his full blade, forcing Izumi and Shikamaru to simultaneously retreat half a step to avoid the attack. The two Allied Forces Jonin in the back row, who had been suppressed and unable to gain momentum, finally seized the opportunity and pounced from the left and right, forcefully pulling their captain out of the most dangerous position by half a body length.
Chi Quan tried to give chase, but was stopped by an earthen wall.
It wasn't a high wall, just halfway up, but that was enough to make someone miss their breath.
The Wind Priest retreated to the back row, his left shoulder covered in blood, but his expression turned cold again.
"Your knives are sharp," he said. "Unfortunately, you're a little too late."
Chi Quan stared at him, her voice even colder.
"How many people did Yun Jun bring?"
The Wind Priest actually replied.
Four. That's enough.
"That's enough for your mother."
Shikamaru practically spat out those words through gritted teeth.
He flicked his wrist and turned to shout at Chi Quan, "This batch can't be delayed! It has to be distributed immediately!"
Chi Quan did not hesitate for a moment.
"Tenzo, Kiba, bite them to death! Don't let them escape from here! Shikamaru, follow me up the spine!"
"You're crazy—" Before he could finish his sentence, he realized this was the only way and immediately changed his mind, "Fine! Leave this to us!"
Tianzang only replied with one word: "Go!"
Ikezumi and Shikamaru withdrew almost simultaneously.
The Wind Priest wanted to give chase, but Ya and Akamaru pounced on him, dragging him back to the narrow pass. Tenzo pressed his palm into the ground, causing the earthen ridge to rise again, completely disrupting the rear lines. The night suddenly split into two battlefields—one still stuck in the narrow pass, and the other chasing wildly along the higher ridge towards the direction where the lightning had exploded.
The upper spine is more difficult to walk on than the lower spine.
The rocks were harder, the slope steeper, and visibility worse at night. But Ikezumi and Shikamaru couldn't care less about any of that. That bolt of lightning wasn't meant to kill; it was to guide those who had actually infiltrated. Since Cloud Falcon had already circled around, its target was definitely not some insignificant outpost in the mountains, but something far more valuable.
Shikamaru was running so hard that he was starting to feel breathless, but his voice remained steady.
"The fact that they dared to divide into main and secondary teams means that Yun Jun's side has fewer people, but is fast enough. Their goal is not to fight head-on, but to cut in and leave."
"I know."
"Then guess where it is?"
At the foot of the pool, using a protruding rock, one can climb up half a slope.
"The western warehouse outside the village, or the backup document station on the east side."
Shikamaru's heart sank.
"Damn it. They're all outside Konoha!"
"Yes, that's why we have to intercept it in the mountains."
The two chased after him for more than half a mile, and finally saw him at the bend of a higher stone ridge.
Not four, but five.
It's clear that the Wind Priest deliberately omitted one person.
The leader wasn't tall, but his movements were incredibly fast; it was almost as if he were gliding across the ground rather than running. He wore a short cloak typical of the Land of Lightning, the edges of which, when lifted by the night wind, revealed a lighter, more form-fitting suit of armor and two short, straight blades. The lightning had originated from a small light-guiding rune array in the hand of the man behind him; the array had now extinguished, leaving only a scorched white mark.
"Cloud Falcon!" Shikamaru shouted.
The leader didn't stop walking; he only revealed half of his young, expressionless face when he turned his head.
"Good job stopping them," he said. "It's a pity we were too slow."
Chi Quan's answer to him was a knife.
This cut was even more ruthless than when the jaws were clamped.
Because the ridge here was more open and no longer so narrow, he no longer needed to worry about his long sword hindering close combat; instead, he could maximize both speed and reach. Yun Jun hadn't expected Chi Quan to catch up so quickly, and he raised his short blade in his right hand, taking the hit squarely. The instant sparks exploded, a lightning ninja behind him immediately moved sideways, trying to force Chi Quan back from the side so that the group could maintain its pace.
Shikamaru's shadow had already arrived.
Don't even think about it.
The dark shadows simultaneously surged up from both sides of the stone ridge, pinning the man's right foot. Another Sand Village Jonin raised a thin needle, attempting to cut the shadow thread, but Ikezumi's left-hand short blade had already been swung backhand, shattering the guard on his wrist. The man staggered back in pain, the needle veering off course and embedding itself in the stone.
The hawk finally stopped.
It wasn't because he wanted to stop, but because he knew that if he didn't push the two people away, he wouldn't be able to take the next five steps steadily.
"Konoha really thinks highly of me." He steadied himself, brandished his short blade, and crackled with lightning, tiny arcs of electricity spreading along the edge. "They actually let the two of you chase after me together."
Shikamaru hadn't even caught his breath, yet he still had time to sneer.
"You think highly of yourself."
"I always have," Yun Jun said.
Chi Quan didn't respond.
Because the better someone is at talking, the better their hands are sometimes.
The cloud falcon moved faster than the wind priest.
If the Wind Priest is meticulous, subtle, and capable of slicing away all of a person's escape routes, then the Cloud Falcon is direct, ruthless, and capable of instantly reducing speed to the point where you can barely see where the second strike will come from.
Just as Chi Quan's first strike landed, a second bolt of lightning slashed down from his left. He dodged almost entirely on instinct, ducking, but still suffered a cut on his shoulder. Shikamaru's shadow threads had just wrapped around him when they were shattered by an arc of lightning that suddenly exploded beneath Yun Jun's feet.
"Don't touch my shadow!" Shikamaru yelled.
Yun Jun glanced at him indifferently.
"Then don't reach over there."
"You fucking bastard!"
Izumi has already cut back again, shutting down Shikamaru's second half of his insult.
This time, he didn't try to outspeed Yun Jun, but instead forced him to use even shorter strikes. He pressed forward with each strike, forcing Yun Jun to change direction within his sword circle no matter how fast he went. For the first time, Yun Jun felt uncomfortable. His brow twitched slightly, and he raised his short blade, attempting to use lightning to deflect Chi Quan's sword.
Chi Quan, as if he had known all along, lowered his blade, letting the lightning glide past the back of the blade, while his other hand thrust a short blade at Yun Jun's knee from an even lower position.
Yun Jun stepped back, and Chi Quan was already pressed against his chest.
The two could almost smell each other's breath.
Yun Jun then saw clearly what was in Chi Quan's eyes.
It wasn't the kind of ruthless impulse that came from a momentary rush of anger, nor was it the brilliance born from the burning desire for battle. Rather, it was a colder, more direct determination: "Since you've gone to Konoha, I will definitely crush you in the mountains tonight."
Yun Jun suddenly smiled.
"No wonder Helian is wary of you."
Chi Quan said coldly, "You're about to die, and you still have time to mention him?"
With a swift twist of his short blade, Yun Jun abruptly widened the distance between the two by half a step, yet his voice remained steady.
"Because he's right. You really are annoying."
Shikamaru added, "Thank you for the compliment."
The back rows of both sides have already collided.
Shikamaru alone couldn't hold off four, but he could hold them off for that crucial half-breath. That was exactly what Ichizumi needed—as long as no one could release Yun Jun from the side in one fell swoop, he could continue to press the attack.
At this point in the battle, all the stones on the ridge seemed to come alive. A foot would push, and stones would roll; a clash of blades would send sparks flying; after a lightning strike, the air would smell of burning. Further away, from the other side of the pass, the faint echoes of another fierce battle could be heard, indicating that Ya and Tianzang were still locked in combat with the Wind Priest's group.
"Ikezumi!" Shikamaru suddenly shouted, "The hand seal on the right rear!"
Chi Quan glanced around and, sure enough, saw an earth ninja kneeling on the edge of the ridge, his hands already half-formed in a hand seal. His target was clearly not a person, but the entire ridge.
"Get out of here!"
Chi Quan kicked Yun Jun away, his blade flashing directly at the earth ninja. But Yun Jun clearly knew how crucial that man's move was; his short blade crackled with lightning, and he almost became a line, forcefully blocking Chi Quan's blade once more.
"Your opponent is me."
"You're not worthy of my attention."
As soon as Chi Quan finished speaking, Shikamaru's shadow line silently pressed against the back of the earth ninja and suddenly tightened.
"Look at me too."
The earth ninja was halfway through forming the hand seals when a shadow tugged at him, causing him to lose his balance and sway to the side. Although the seals weren't completely broken, their power was off-target. The ground didn't collapse entirely as he had expected; only a large section broke off at the outer edge of the ridge. Rocks tumbled down with a deafening roar, sounding like a small avalanche.
Yun Jun's face finally darkened.
This collapse meant the commotion could no longer be concealed. The outer defenses of Konoha and the distant outposts would be alarmed.
His original intention was to silently approach, strike once, and then silently retreat. But now, the night has been completely torn apart.
"Withdraw from the line!" Yun Jun suddenly shouted.
Upon hearing this, Chi Quan's gaze grew even colder.
"Want to back out now?"
His swordplay suddenly changed.
Just now it was pressure, coercion, preventing Yun Jun from leaving. Now it's a kill, a true kill with no room for maneuver. Yun Jun's initial intention to retreat was halted by this sudden ferocity. His short blade blocked three blows in succession, and his tiger's mouth began to go numb. To make matters worse, Shikamaru no longer thought about "dragging the whole team down," but instead pressed all his shadow lines onto Yun Jun.
"You can leave," Shikamaru said through gritted teeth, "but leave your life behind."
A lightning ninja behind Yun Jun roared, unleashing a beam of lightning to cut through the shadows for his captain. Ikezumi immediately sidestepped to shield Shikamaru from the attack, his shoulder instantly numbing and smelling burnt. Shikamaru's expression changed.
"Are you sick?!"
"Stop talking nonsense!"
With that numbing sensation still lingering, Chi Quan retaliated with an even more vicious backhand strike.
For the first time, Yun Jun finally showed his true signs of strain.
He's fast, but being fast doesn't mean he won't be dragged into a rhythm that's disadvantageous to him. That's exactly what Ichizumi did. Shikamaru, on the other hand, is like a shadow wolf that's always biting your heel, making you weigh whether you'll be entangled to death the moment you want to retreat.
Another cut.
Another cut.
The cloud falcon finally slowed down by half a line on its fourth strike.
Chi Quan was waiting for this half of the line.
The blade sliced in inch by inch along the seam where the opponent's double blades met, like a wedge embedded in bone. Yun Jun tried to pull away, but realized that Chi Quan wasn't trying to "cut open" at all, but rather to "lock" him in. In the next instant, Chi Quan's knee struck, his entire body pressed against Yun Jun's, and his left-hand short blade stabbed straight into Yun Jun's right abdomen from an extremely close and yin angle.
Yun Jun suddenly turned to the side, but still couldn't completely dodge.
The short blade didn't reach a vital spot, but it pierced very deeply.
Yun Jun grunted, staggered half a step from the impact. Shikamaru's shadow threads immediately wrapped around his calf, tightly.
"Kneel down!"
Yun Jun finally bent his knees under the weight.
The men behind him wanted to rush up to help, but suddenly another light appeared behind the ridge. It wasn't an enemy's light-guiding array, but rather the outer sentry ninja of Konoha who had been alerted by the landslide and started sending signals in this direction.