Chapter 426: Body Flicker

That night, in the heartland of Huo Zhi Guo.

Under the deep night sky, a primeval forest stood silently, all sounds hushed, only occasional wind whispers through the trees, stirring ripples.

Stars twinkled in the night sky, a campfire burned at the forest's edge, firelight gleamed in the darkness, its glow swaying in the wind, casting alternating bright and dark shadows.

"Shisui, go get some rest too!"

A companion who had teamed up with Shisui a few times, seeing him still sitting by the campfire, spoke up to remind him.

"If you keep this up, you won't be able to maintain your peak condition tomorrow."

"Don't worry, Xiao Song, this hasn't affected my condition yet."

In response to his companion's goodwill, Shisui returned a fairly cheerful smile.

"Never mind, do as you like!"

"But you still need to watch your health!"

For a ninja of Shisui's caliber, going one or two nights without sleep is hardly a problem at all.

Xiao Song merely gave a warning, said nothing more, and leapt into a distant treetop, disappearing from sight.

"The situation seems somewhat unfavorable!"

Having marched all day, even after nightfall Shisui, still on night watch, lifted his gaze to survey the silent, tranquil primeval forest around him.

Although he is not a professional sensory ninja, he cannot accurately judge whether enemies are present nearby.

However, a ninja of his level generally possesses decent intuition, and is extremely sensitive to the presence of danger.

Although the surrounding forest showed nothing unusual, combining today's odd behavior by the Mist Ninja envoys, Shisui still felt that danger was approaching.

Arriving beneath the treetop where Xiao Song was hiding, Shisui made a few hand signs, then turned into a blur and vanished from the spot.

Just as Shisui vanished into the night, a ninja squad of over thirty, taking advantage of the night's cover, stealthily approached their campsite.

"Everyone, heighten your vigilance—we have already approached the target."

Looking at the signals given by the tracking ninja leading the way ahead, Mei Terumi called out to her companions behind her.

"Qing, use your Byakugan to confirm our tracking route, and also observe those Leaf Village ninjas, especially our target for this mission."

"Yes!" After receiving the order, Qing formed hand seals with both hands: "Byakugan, activate!"

Now that we are near the target's location, with the range of his Hyuga Main House Byakugan, he can already faintly see the opponent.

"This is, little…"

"Ah!"

Before a warning could even be uttered, a Mist Ninja clearing the path in the distance suddenly let out a piercing scream, then fell straight from the tree with a thud.

"Everyone be careful, the attacker is at our nine o'clock! The attacker is…"

Veins bulged around Qing's eyes; he only had time to warn his companion before launching the Body Flicker Technique, leaving his original position.

"Swish!"

As he left, a blurry figure appeared where he had been standing.

This wasn't over; seeing his prey escape his blade, the attacker's figure blurred again.

Then, a gleaming blade of light, reflecting the moonlight, faintly emitted a cold gleam, pointing straight at Qing's throat.

"This time I'm done for!"

Through his Byakugan's view, he saw a figure suffused with blue chakra wielding a sharp dagger, slashing at his throat; Qing seemed to already see his own fate of being slit.

"I can't let you kill him!"

Just as Qing prepared to close his eyes and await death, a tall figure stepped in front of him, throwing a punch toward Shisui's left side.

"I'm saved!"

Qing, who had just thought he was doomed, looked at the figure before him and felt immense relief.

Fortunately, having worried about being ambushed by those companions, he had stayed close to Mei Terumi's side; otherwise, given the attacker's speed, no one could have saved him.

As for the view through his Byakugan, Mei Terumi's curvaceous figure… uh, Qing remarked that his Byakugan has a blind spot~

"Pfft!"

Before Qing could even catch his breath, Mei Terumi, attacking the assailant, shot straight through the figure's afterimage and shattered a piece of blue stone at the opponent's side.

"Watch out, behind you!"

No time to wonder when the opponent had cast a Phantom Clone, and without Qing's warning, Mei Terumi had already detected the threat behind her.

With a slender grip and a sudden burst of power from her waist, she pivoted on her right leg, lifted her leg and swept horizontally—a vicious Scorpion Tail strike—aimed at the figure behind her.

Her left leg, too, was driven by the tremendous force, causing the surrounding air to whoosh.

"Qing! Over there!"

The wind from her left leg spread out; Mei Terumi's long legs hadn't yet touched the opponent's body when she realized the figure before her was yet another Phantom Clone.

"Where is the opponent's real body?"

Without any thought, almost instinctively, she knew the opponent's target must be Qing.

Indeed, just as she thought, another Shisui appeared behind Qing, his ninja blade lightly raised, its tip less than ten centimeters from Qing's throat.

"Ten Fingers Piercing Bullet!"

One could say Qing's luck is quite good.

No… rather, it's because he has many teammates; just as the attacker's blade was about to pierce Qing's throat and end his life,

Ten consecutive shots, in the night, his pallid finger bones shot forth like projectiles toward the attacker's back.

Obviously, if the attacker continued to strike at Qing, he would have to endure this barrage, whose power far exceeds that of ordinary thrown weapons.

"Swish!"

"Thud thud thud!"

Following the echo of a high-speed Body Flicker, came a series of sounds like shuriken striking flesh.

"Mm… hn…"

A stifled cry of pain came from afar; Qing, who had been near death, had blood blossoms splatter across his body, and the finger bones that had attacked the assailants opened up one bloody hole after another.

He didn't blame his teammates; that's just how Mist Ninja operate. Being able to lend him a hand, he already felt very fortunate—what more could he complain about?

"The attacker is… Shisui Uchiha!"

He took a breath, and only then did Qing finish the words he had just held back.

He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, endured the pain, and with a few leaps arrived beside Zhaomei Ming.

Facing Shisui Uchiha, he felt that rather than hiding in the rear, it was safer to follow behind Zhaomei Ming.

His body flicker technique was simply too uncanny.