About a hundred meters from the Tower, the Genin of Hidden Mist were still being pursued by Feng Zheng's clones.
But they soon realized that Hodaka and Mieko were missing. Sakai Yumi asked, puzzled.
"Where did they go? Are they planning a sneak attack?"
She once again focused her Chakra in her eyes to observe. However, she couldn't see anyone nearby, which worried her greatly.
She tried to sense them again and again but couldn't.
To her disadvantage, the Tower had various anti-sensing Sealing Jutsu. So she couldn't sense any Chakra signals inside the Tower.
She remained vigilant until their squad encountered another Hidden Mist squad. As soon as Sakai Yumi saw them, she immediately shouted.
"Rintaro, save us!"
Satsuma Rentaro was good friends with Sakai Yumi. He nodded and instructed his teammates.
"Clear out those clones."
At his command, all six Hidden Mist Genin attacked Feng Zheng's Wind Clones. Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone sighed, thinking.
"My Wind Clone's Chakra is almost gone. Otherwise, I could gather their information."
As the Hidden Mist Genin began their attack, Sakai Yumi shouted.
"Be careful, his two teammates are likely hiding nearby, and I can't sense them."
They immediately became vigilant.
The Wind Clones knew their Chakra was insufficient. They had already sensed that Feng Zheng had disappeared with Hodaka and Mieko. So this was just to test their skills.
Six Wind Clones suddenly retreated and disappeared, while the remaining six Wind Clones launched a frontal attack.
When the Wind Clones and Hidden Mist Genin met, Sakai Yumi, Matsushita Satoru, and Kido Kohaku were already prepared for the incoming Wind Blast Technique. But the other three Hidden Mist Genin were unaware.
When the Wind Clones were about ten meters away from them, they immediately unleashed several Wind Blast Techniques.
Sakai Yumi counterattacked with Water Bullet Technique.
Matsushita Satoru created a water wall, then used Water Shuriken Jutsu.
Kido Kohaku used Rock Shield Technique, followed by Stone Spear Technique.
Satsuma Rentaro had already drawn his sword, ready to attack with it, but he was surprised by how quickly this Ninjutsu formed and launched.
He put down his sword and made a Hand Seals gesture. Just before the Ninjutsu hit him, a water wall appeared in front of him.
However, it was a thin water wall, and the wind blew all the water towards him. The water wall did reduce the sharpness of the wind. However, a strong gust of wind still blew through, scratching Satsuma Rentaro's right forearm. He was enraged!
Satsuma Rentaro's teammates also approached Feng Zheng's Wind Clones and were hit by the Wind Blast Technique. They all suffered 4-5 small cuts.
Soon, everyone counterattacked Feng Zheng's Wind Clones. The Wind Clones no longer had any Chakra.
So they could only try to dodge, close the distance, and coordinate their actions by observing each other's positions, but all six Wind Clones were hit at the same time.
And just as the Wind Clones were hit, the six clones that had disappeared earlier suddenly reappeared, surrounding the Hidden Mist Genin and using up their Chakra to unleash Breakthrough Technique.
Unfortunately, the remaining Chakra they had was too little to be fatal.
The Hidden Mist Genin immediately gathered together, building defenses around themselves to protect themselves.
After performing the Ninjutsu, all the Wind Clones dispersed. Only Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone remained.
He looked at the defense. One side was covered by rock shields, and the other three sides by water walls.
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone sneered, flashed out, and thought.
"It's a pity I don't have destructive Wind Release Ninjutsu. I need to learn it as soon as possible."
The Shadow Clone flashed to the outside of the water wall and swung his sword with all his might.
Sakai Yumi was observing the Shadow Clone and noticed him flashing towards them.
She quickly realized that Feng Zheng was about to swing his sword at them again. She shouted.
"Everyone jump!"
She jumped up abruptly, and suddenly had an idea.
"Huh? Why did I say jump up instead of duck down?"
To avoid the incoming slash, they could either hide below it or jump above it.
Normally, hiding below was the best option, as it allowed for continued mobility. But for some reason, she instinctively chose to jump up.
The other five Hidden Mist Genin followed her advice, jumping as high as they could.
In the air, Sakai Yumi and Satsuma Rentaro both unleashed Water Bullet Technique towards Feng Zheng's position.
Feng Zheng easily cut through the water wall with a single sword strike. The accompanying wind from the slash destroyed the water wall.
All six Hidden Mist Ninja jumped out of the range of the slash. They jumped high enough to avoid a direct hit.
However, the strong wind accompanying the slash still hit them. Sakai Yumi and Satsuma Rentaro's Water Bullets were blocked by the wind. The strong wind caused deep cuts on all of them.
Seeing the extent of the damage, Sakai Yumi was terrified, thinking.
"If we had ducked down instead of jumping, we would all be dead!"
Although these injuries were not fatal, they still terrified them. To their horror, Feng Zheng came with another sword strike like that.
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone thought.
"Will this kill them, or will they survive again?"
Suddenly, Satsuma Rentaro's Chakra erupted. He quickly formed several Hand Seals and spewed out a large amount of water.
At the same time, one of his teammates also quickly made Hand Seals. The water released by Satsuma Rentaro quickly froze into ice.
The slash initially hit the water, easily splitting it. But soon, the water began to freeze. The slash hit the ice. The slash still passed through the ice, cracking it. However, it slowed down. It cut through 80% of the ice before losing momentum.
The Hidden Mist Genin were horrified to see that even the ice was cut. But when they saw the slash stop, they finally breathed a sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
The wind accompanying this slash was also blocked. Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone was greatly surprised.
"Ice Release Kekkei Genkai? Isn't Hidden Mist hunting Bloodline Limit families? Could these guys be from Mei Terumī's faction?"
He quickly analyzed as he watched them.
"Is Mei Terumī trying to get some help from Hiruzen Sarutobi? Also, has she started to rebel so quickly? No, since she has a Bloodline Limit, she should have already started to rebel. But until she wins, it's a long war."
"But I don't think Hiruzen should help. This wasn't mentioned in the Hokage series. And Konoha is suffering from a shortage of manpower. So participating in the war would be a foolish decision. What's more, the Uchiha and the Hokage Faction are vying for power. So Konoha should not have any extra resources."
While he was analyzing, the Hidden Mist Genin finally returned to the ground. Satsuma Rentaro's face was grim. He said.
"I didn't expect Konoha to have such strong Genin!"
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone responded.
"I didn't expect Hidden Mist to send a Ninja with an Ice Release Kekkei Genkai. I wonder if any of you also have a Bloodline Limit."
Saying that, he looked at Sakai Yumi and continued.
"I also didn't expect that despite going through multiple crises, you all managed to survive. You are also very strong."
Sakai Yumi asked.
"Do you want a truce? As long as you don't attack us, we won't attack you in the second phase. That way, we all have a good chance of advancing to the next round. Otherwise, we'll only harm each other."
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone replied.
Satsuma Rentaro frowned upon hearing this. Feng Zheng was also surprised, thinking.
"Not only are they excellent at survival, but she's also smart enough to ask for a truce. I'm curious if they've already participated in some wars."
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone's analysis was spot on. All six of them had been in multiple conflicts with the Fourth Mizukage's faction.
They had real war experience and were seasoned. That's why they were able to survive the onslaught.
Sakai Yumi was the one they were grooming to be a leader.
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone chuckled and said.
"My teammates want to confront all six of you head-on, so a truce is impossible."
Upon hearing this, Sakai Yumi sighed, thinking.
"I'm worried they'll ambush us again and again. Also, where are his two teammates?"
Feng Zheng's Shadow Clone continued.
"Anyway, my Chakra is also gone, goodbye."
With that, the Shadow Clone dispersed itself.
The Hidden Mist Genin were then surprised to find that they had been fighting a Shadow Clone all along!