Behind the white fox mask, a pair of emerald green eyes were filled with reproach.
"I've got the scroll. While they haven't gotten up yet, let's go!"
Being pulled forward by Chizhao, Sai's heart rippled like a stone thrown into still water.
"Why did she come back?" His heart was full of questions.
Since she had already obtained the scroll, the best option should have been to abandon him and complete the mission.
Why would she risk mission failure to save him?
Chizhao slightly tilted her head, looking at the dark eyes hidden behind the mask, her voice passing through the mask and carried by the breeze into Sai's ears.
"Aren't we comrades? Comrades are people who can entrust their lives to each other, right?"
"Comrades..."
Sai didn't understand.
In his worldview, comrades were meant to kill each other.
Did the Ninja Academy organization she belonged to say that?
Just as the two were fleeing, the soaked Takada suddenly leaped up, his eyes wide with rage, roaring like thunder:
"What a joke! Stop right there!"
Immediately, he formed hand signs, pressed them to the ground, and shouted:
"Earth Release! Earth Pillar Stone Spear!"
Suddenly, several earth pillars shot up from the ground, piercing the sky.
They completely blocked the path of the two, and the crumbling eaves caused them to lose their balance and fall to the ground.
Takada seized the opportunity, manipulating the earth pillars to smash down on them like heavy hammers.
Damn it!
In this critical moment, Chizhao threw out a Membrane Card, instantly absorbing the deadly earth pillars, thus avoiding a fatal blow.
The two fell heavily onto the grass and rolled a short distance.
Sai's Chakra was nearly depleted from the previous fierce battle, and he struggled to stand up from the ground.
Looking at Chizhao, who was also getting up, his black pupils were as calm as ever.
"You messed up the mission. You could have escaped with the scroll, but now it's too late."
Holding the newly received Membrane Card and gazing at the surrounding Grass Ninja, Chizhao drew her cang luan blade and stood against the wind.
Her ponytail, tied behind her head, danced in the wind, and the gradually brightening light from the horizon slowly illuminated her white fox mask.
"Don't worry! We will definitely complete the mission alive."
Inside a small, dilapidated house not far away, a red-haired girl with red glasses quietly watched everything from the window sill.
The child wearing the white fox mask, who looked about her age, was actually facing those fierce Ninja.
She's going to die, isn't she?
Just like her mother, who died in despair from painful torment.
She averted her gaze, squatted down against the wall, and covered the dense bite marks on her arms.
She buried her head deeply in her arms, feeling a gripping fear about what was to come.
You go to hell...
Don't hurt them.
That way they won't bite me with their dirty teeth...
.......
Watching the slightly brightening clouds on the horizon, Yamato stood at the agreed location, waiting for his team's return.
When he saw only Aburame Torune and Fu Yamanaka, his brow furrowed slightly.
"Torune, Fu. Did you get the scroll? Why aren't the other two back with you?"
Torune and Fu exchanged glances, then took off their masks, their expressions grave.
"The scroll isn't with us. We also retreated after seeing the insects."
Torune paused, then continued: "Before we left, it seemed a group of Grass Ninja were gathering towards the building, but we didn't stop and came back first."
Yamato's brow furrowed even deeper, and an ominous premonition arose in his heart:
"This is bad, Chizhao and Sai must have been exposed. We need to go support them immediately."
"Yes!"
The three of them flickered and instantly disappeared from their original positions. Yamato was even more anxious, standing on a treetop, his gaze sharp, searching everywhere for traces of Chizhao and Sai.
Suddenly, a "boom" echoed from beyond the edge of the distant building.
Yamato leaped from the treetop and quickly sped towards that direction.
Hold on! We're coming soon.
After a period of fighting, Sai was already exhausted and kneeling on the ground.
Chizhao subtly shielded him, holding a short blade in one hand and a Membrane Card between her fingertips in the other, vigilantly scanning the several menacing Grass Ninja before her.
Takada looked at his subordinates lying on the ground and spat.
"Useless! You can't even catch two brats! You've disgraced the Hidden Grass Village! I have to do it myself!"
Chizhao shifted her stance, intently watching Takada's every move.
He tore off his shirt, revealing his scarred skin underneath, and glared fiercely at Chizhao.
"Your Ninjutsu seems very interesting. Why don't you leave it to me, and I'll help you make it famous!"
Before his words finished, his figure gradually blurred and disappeared from his spot.
What?
"Be careful! That guy's Ninjutsu can hide himself."
"Huh?"
Before she could figure out what was happening, Chizhao's right shoulder was sliced by a sharp blade, instantly tearing flesh and splattering blood.
?!
Sai instinctively pulled her back with him, the pain making her fall to her knees. Crimson blood dripped down her arm, staining the grass on the ground, a gruesome sight.
"Are you okay?"
Sai's calm concern startled Chizhao.
But she didn't have time to fully process his emotional change, her gaze returning to Takada's gradually appearing figure, her expression grave.
Invisibility? It has indeed become tricky.
"I'm fine...."
Chizhao replied while pulling out a healing Membrane Card and placing it on her shoulder. A faint green light slowly healed the blade wound on her shoulder, and the pain also subsided significantly.
Seeing that the injury was under control, she gripped her blade and stood up again.
"Healing Ninjutsu? How interesting! Let me see what else you can do!"
Takada's figure flickered again, disappearing from sight.
"Then let me show you! Body Flicker Technique!"
Under Sai's astonished gaze, Chizhao transformed into four clones that scattered, one of them flashing in front of him, holding a blade in alert.
The other three clones then engaged in a fierce battle with Takada head-on.
Takada, with a terrifying momentum, slashed at one of the clones, but to his surprise, it passed through like air the next second.
His pupils instantly constricted, and a sharp aura attacked from behind him. He turned and blocked the short blade's attack, a confident smile on his face.
This one must be the real body!
"Take this!"
The blade in his left hand once again pierced through the body of the person in front of him. Takada was greatly alarmed and cautiously pulled back to a safe distance, staring intently at the three identical figures before him.
What kind of Ninjutsu is this?
Is it a Genjutsu?
Chizhao seized the enemy's moment of dazed, and the four clones, from different directions, swung their cang luan blades, unleashing waves of blue blade energy in a fierce attack against the Grass Ninja.
"Sword Art: Four Aerial Slashes!"
"If it's a Genjutsu, the others must all be illusions!"
The opponent's inexplicable confidence made Chizhao curl her lips into a smile: "Then why don't you try it and find out."
"What?!"
As expected, four sharp blade energies, with different strengths, accurately slashed at Takada's muscular body.
Several shocking wounds appeared prominently, like crimson thorny vines, wrapped around the surface of his seemingly indestructible body.
Seeing that her opponent had shown a disadvantage, Chizhao withdrew her Body Flicker Technique and continued to heal the wound on her shoulder.
As long as she recovered fast enough, even without Chakra, she could wear down her opponent to death.
Takada's once robust body now appeared unusually fragile, several horrifying wounds gushing like blood springs.
His forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, and his heart was filled with doubt and unwillingness.
Supported by the other Ninja, he barely stood, his gaze like a torch, fixed on Chizhao in front of him, his eyes flickering with a chilling coldness.
In terms of Taijutsu, he was clearly at a disadvantage, but he had to seize the initiative in Ninjutsu at least.
He made a snap decision and began to gather the little Chakra he had left.
"You guys, with me!" His deep and powerful voice commanded with undeniable authority.
"Yes!"
The surrounding Ninja responded in unison, quickly aligning with Takada and forming the same hand signs together.
At the same time, they all shouted: "Secret Technique! Grass Dance of the Serpent!"