The Sharingan Gamer

As the Sand ninja unit descended into chaos, Kyosuke and his team had successfully withdrawn from the valley.

Kyosuke had used a summoned beast to relay the news of their success to Orochimaru and request a unit to provide support. He knew that once the enemy recovered, they would undoubtedly send a pursuit team to intercept them. After all, having inflicted such a massive loss on the Sand ninja, it would be unthinkable for them not to retaliate.

That was why Kyosuke had requested backup from Orochimaru at the first opportunity, to ensure their safety.

"Sir, we've found the enemy's tracks," a chunin reported, rushing into the tent.

"Excellent," the Sand ninja commander said with a vicious smile, then grabbed his ninja pouch and walked out of the tent.

Instantly, four figures appeared around him. These were all the jounin in the valley, aside from himself.

"Select a few of the faster chunin and let's go. We're going to slaughter those damn rats," the Sand ninja commander said to them.

The others nodded. After a quick selection, they chose three relatively skilled chunin.

The Sand ninja commander's sharp gaze swept over the three of them, then he waved his hand and said coldly, "Move out."

The group of four jounin, including himself, and three chunin, quickly set off in pursuit of Kyosuke's retreating team.

Battlefield Mission: Destroy the Armory (Completed)

Mission Description: The Sand ninja have stockpiled a large amount of weapons and resources in a valley. Your task is to find a way to destroy them.

Mission Difficulty: A.

Completion Reward: 120 Experience Points.

This system notification had sounded in Kyosuke's ear the moment he withdrew from the valley.

To be honest, 120 experience points was not a lot for a mission of this difficulty. It was only because of Kyosuke's unique abilities that the mission had been completed so smoothly. If it had been anyone else, they would have been lucky to achieve half of what he had. Even so, the mission was only worth 120 experience points. This just went to show how strict the system's conditions for mission completion were.

At least, compared to the rewards from "killing enemies," it was indeed much less.

Putting that thought aside, Kyosuke began to consider how to use these experience points.

With the 120 points he had just gained, Kyosuke's total experience had reached 180. To prepare for the battle that might occur, he had to strengthen himself first.

He first spent 64 experience points on his "Hand Seal Training," raising it to Level 7.

Then, he spent another 58 points to raise his "Chakra Control" to Level 6.

Finally, he used the remaining 28 points to raise his "Summoning Technique" to Level 4.

With that, Kyosuke's experience points were completely depleted, and his strength had improved slightly.

As Kyosuke was silently assessing the changes in his strength, Hyuga Saori, who was beside him, suddenly spoke. "The enemy is catching up. They're very fast."

"So soon?" Kyosuke muttered to himself, then looked at Saori and asked, "How far are they?"

Saori estimated for a moment, then said without hesitation, "We're about twenty minutes from the outpost, and the Sand ninja will catch up to us in about three minutes."

"Three minutes..." Kyosuke repeated to himself.

He knew that the reason they had been caught so quickly was because his own speed had slowed the team down. Although he had used his speed to great effect in the Chunin Exams, that was all thanks to the "Body Flicker Technique." His actual speed was still quite slow, at least compared to a jounin. He couldn't possibly use the Body Flicker Technique to travel long distances; not even a body of steel could withstand that.

As Kyosuke was thinking about how to shake the enemy, Seven, one of the clan shinobi, suddenly spoke. "Sir, let me stay behind and cover our retreat."

His tone was calm, as if he was talking about what to have for dinner, not a life-or-death rear-guard action.

Hearing Seven's words, before Kyosuke could react, Thirteen also spoke up. "I'll stay too."

The two of them exchanged a look, then turned their gaze to Kyosuke, waiting for his decision.

However, Kyosuke directly shook his head and rejected their proposal. "It hasn't come to that yet. Besides, even if we fight them head-on, we might not necessarily lose."

He then ignored their hesitant expressions, erupted his chakra, and sped forward again.

Behind him, the two clan shinobi exchanged a look, and then, for now, they could only choose to follow Kyosuke. From their expressions, it was clear they hadn't given up on the idea of a rear-guard action. If the situation were to change, they would likely use some "forceful" means to cover Kyosuke's retreat.

This was the full extent of their value as clan shinobi.

A few kilometers away from Kyosuke's team, a seven-person squad was rapidly advancing through the forest.

"Captain, those little rats have sped up again. They must have spotted us," a jounin with his hands in a seal suddenly said.

"Hmph, then we'll just speed up too," the Sand ninja commander snorted, then increased his pursuit speed.

The other three jounin also sped up to keep pace. The remaining three chunin, however, could only maintain their original "slow" pace.

And so, the distance between the two teams rapidly closed again.

A few minutes later, the sight of Kyosuke's team fleeing in disarray appeared before them.

"Little rats, keep running," the Sand ninja commander shouted at them.

He then turned and gave a subtle look to one of his comrades.

His comrade was a cold-faced, middle-aged man.

The man met the commander's gaze, nodded, and then his hands began to quickly form a series of hand seals.

Then, he puffed out his cheeks and blew a fierce gust of wind toward Kyosuke and the others.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough."

Hyuga Saori was the first to notice the enemy's attack, and she screamed, "Watch out!"

Hearing her shout, Kyosuke and the others quickly looked back.

A fierce gust of wind, carrying countless splinters of wood, was rushing toward them.

If it hadn't been for Saori's early detection with her Byakugan, even if Kyosuke and the others weren't defeated outright, they would have been in a difficult situation. Most importantly, the Sand ninja would have seized the initiative. For a team that was already at a numerical disadvantage, losing the initiative would have sealed their fate.

This just went to show how important it was to have a sensory-type ninja on the team.

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