Chapter 158: Astonishment

Three figures appeared.

The one in the middle is the team leader Jonin, a fashionable young girl only sixteen or seventeen years old.

This is a standard three-person team, consisting of one team leader Jonin and two Chunin subordinates.

"Kenichi! Observe the enemy's landing point, let's go take a look!" While speaking to the comrade responsible for observing the situation, he also turned to the puppeteer named Shacheng and ordered: "Pack up this specially made ballista, and act with us—this time you and it will both have rendered great merit……"

Among the three, one is the team captain, one is the observer responsible for searching the target, and the other is the puppeteer in charge of operating the ballista.

Besides the team leader Jonin, the other two are elite Chunin. Units like theirs number over ten in the rear of the Sand Ninja Hill Camp.

All are squads dispatched by the Sand Ninja specifically to ambush Dong Shilang.

Also blame Dong Shilang; these days have been too smooth, inevitably a bit careless, giving the opponent a chance to launch this attack.

At this moment, Dong Shilang, in a perilous situation high in the sky, also made his own choice.

"Spirit Summoning Technique—Release!"

While forming a seal with one hand to release the Spirit Summoning Technique, the other hand reached toward his rear waist, pulling out a Bitter Thingless which he waved in front of himself to protect himself.

Boom!

With a blast, a large amount of white smoke exploded in the air, and the Mountain Eagle was sent back early to the Island of Forgetfulness!

Meanwhile, Dong Shilang himself was enveloped by the spreading white smoke, his entire figure instantly becoming blurry.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

From this exploding white smoke came the crisp sound of metal striking metal—exactly the noise made when his Bitter Thingless collided with the steel needle in his hand.

That is, Dong Shilang, thanks to the advantage of his Sharingan, had already observed the trajectories of the incoming steel needles; otherwise, an ordinary ninja in such an environment could only await death.

Even so, without the Mountain Eagle's presence, he was now in danger at this moment.

As the high-altitude strong wind blew, the exploding white smoke quickly dissipated, leaving no trace of Dong Shilang's figure at the original spot.

At this moment, he began to plummet toward the ground under gravity; if nothing unexpected happened midway, his fate would be……

And re-summoning a spirit beast at this point was already impossible.

According to the rules of the Ninja World, the same spirit beast cannot be summoned again in a short time; there is a cooldown period.

This cooldown period usually lasts a day!

Moreover, the duration for which a summoned spirit beast can remain varies. For example, the spirit beasts of the Three Great Holy Lands—such as Wonderful Tree Mountain, Dragon Earth Cave, and Wet Bone Forest—have limited summoning times.

Generally, once summoned into the real world, they can last no more than two hours before they must return to their respective holy lands.

However, spirit beasts like Dong Shilang's or Kakashi's have far fewer restrictions; once summoned, they can remain for a long time to assist their masters in completing missions.

According to Dong Shilang's speculation, this should be because the two reside in different planes. The 'Mountain Eagle' and Kakashi's 'Pake' are both spirit beasts native to the Ninja World, whereas the Three Great Holy Lands lie in locations somewhat akin to the 'blessed caverns' mentioned in old novels—essentially demi-planes.

This creates the difference in how long they can stay after being summoned!

……

"Captain, the situation has changed!"

"What?!"

Upon hearing this, the distracted captain, after noticing the explosion near the ballista bolt's target, hastily lifted her head and stared intently.

At her current distance from Dong Shilang, with nothing obstructing between them, she no longer needed a telescope to assist her vision and could see his figure directly.

However, because the distance is too great, what she sees is rather blurry.

"This is……"

It seems she feels this way, unable to clearly observe the opponent's condition. The young captain then picked up her telescope again, placed it over her eyes, and observed carefully.

With a slight movement of her arm, the long-tube telescope focused. At that moment, the figure in the sky was fully presented before her eyes.

All that could be seen was the figure plummeting at high speed, at that moment pulling out a scroll from his backpack, unfolding it, and beginning to form a seal with one hand.

It seems the scroll seals something that could save his life, and he is urgently trying to take it out.

But in her view, all of this seemed utterly futile.

The Ninja World does have some special tools that can slow a person's descent when falling from the air, and then, relying on the ninja's superhuman physique, allow a safe landing.

However, their effect is quite limited, working at most at altitudes over a hundred meters. Meanwhile, the opponent is now at nearly two thousand meters in the sky—is this a desperate struggle?

Although doubts filled her heart, her gaze never left the opponent's figure, constantly monitoring his every move.

As the opponent completed his hand seals, a backpack appeared from the scroll; he violently opened it, pulled out a strange-looking 'thing', and then put on that set of odd equipment.

What happened next was so shocking to her understanding that she momentarily forgot the purpose of this mission.

"Originally! Humans can truly fly freely by themselves……"

Watching everything unfold in the telescope, this female Jonin murmured in amazement; not only her, but her two subordinates beside her also exclaimed in astonishment.

"Captain, quick look! Target……"

All that could be seen in the telescope's view was that, after donning that strange item, the opponent suddenly spread his limbs and glided through the air like a bat.

"It really took off! Ye Cang captain……quick look, the opponent really took off!"

Originally, this female team leader! She is Ye Cang, the newly promoted Jonin of the Sand Ninja Village and holder of the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai.

At this moment, having just turned sixteen, she had successfully manifested the Scorch Release Kekkei Genkai, was promoted to Jonin by the Sand Ninja Village's higher-ups, and appointed as team leader to carry out this ambush mission.

At this time, she showed none of her usual aloof and arrogant demeanor from the village; instead, she held a telescope in one hand, her lips slightly parted, presenting a dazed appearance.

The Ninja World does have ninjutsu that enables normal flight, but those rely solely on chakra power.

But this person is clearly different……