Chapter 1014

"Retreat via the backup route! Once we cross this desert we'll reach the First Line of Heaven, and that'll be enough." Ma Ji would never mistake that figure—and right now, the other's malice was swelling to the point of not even bothering to conceal it!

Here they come!

His pupils contracted in an instant. Thanks to the training he had never let slack in daily life, Ma Ji raised his weapon.

"Why, when clearly already— urgh!" Before he could finish speaking, a leg shot out from beneath the black robe and kicked viciously into Ma Ji's abdomen, left wide open because he had raised his arms to block.

Only now did the Sand shinobi beside him react, hurriedly drawing their weapons and rushing forward to cover the fallen Ma Ji.

"Didn't I tell you—did you not hear my order?" What a terrifying kick—even reinforced by chakra, it felt unbearably heavy.

That Shinobi World's one-and-only green sage art chakra—Ma Ji almost felt as if every bone in his body was being torn apart. And did these idiots still not know who they were facing?

"Ma Ji, the way all of them are watching me with that guarded look—does that mean…." The figure hidden beneath the black robe had no further action after repelling Ma Ji, the squad leader, yet the pressure bearing down on everyone grew only more pronounced.

"I could kill every last one of them."

"For what reason would you appear here to intercept us?" Even if the figure could be imitated, even if the voice could be disguised through ninjutsu, the use of that luminous green sage art chakra belonged to only one person.

Ma Ji, who had once caught a fleeting glimpse of that figure from afar during the war, would absolutely not mistake them.

"It's you—Uzumaki Young Yuanzi! Why are you here…?"

Every Sand shinobi present stiffened at once. For how many years had the other's legend endured?

No one could remember—or rather, seeking out where it all began was utterly meaningless.

Not long ago, they had witnessed that terrifying power with their own eyes in Konoha—a strength utterly beyond their current comprehension.

A single blink, and the enemy fell; a single swing of the blade, and ruins stretched in every direction.

And now, such a being was threatening their very lives!

This was no illusion—at this very moment, the other was considering how to torment them to death!

"Oh-ho!"

Even though the hood concealed most of the face, a delicate chin and pretty lips were still exposed. Upon hearing Ma Ji name his identity, the corner of that mouth curved into a smile laced with mockery.

"Who knows?"

"What kind of joke is this—how could we just sit and wait to die!" At last, one of Ma Ji's subordinates named Luo Bo could stand it no longer; he drew his weapon and charged. So what if even Captain Ma Ji couldn't win? So what if the opponent was a legend of the shinobi world? He could endure no more!

"No! Luo Bo, get back!"

"I won't let you be so smug." He charged in successfully. Whether drawing his blade or swinging it, nothing hindered him in the slightest. Not to mention his comrades—even he himself could not believe such a thing was happening. But no matter—right before him was the enemy; all he had to do was attack.

"'Sitting and waiting to death'—that phrase really does suit you lot right now." Utterly unconcerned by the blade about to take his head, Luo Bo stood stock-still in place until the cold glint of the kunai's tip touched his neck.

"I got him!" An inexpressible excitement flooded Luo Bo's chest. With such a clean, direct strike, even if the opponent was that legendary being, he absolutely would not fail!

In other words, he, Luo Bo—an utterly ordinary chunin—was about to accomplish what the elders of Sand Village had been striving to achieve for all these years!

"Poke! What? What the hell is going on?"