Naruto: The Scientific Ninja

Chapter 49: Silent Killing

The memory feedback from the destroyed clone was unpleasant, but bearable. Nourished by the constant influx of energy from his digestion technique, Sasuke quickly recovered to his peak state. Under the perfect perception of his ultrasonic radar, everything in the mist was as clear as day.

Swish, swish, swish…

Sasuke and his clones launched a barrage of kunai and shuriken with deadly precision. His throwing skill, honed by a lifetime of practice, was better than that of most elite chūnin, and the super chakra control he possessed imbued every projectile with immense power and speed. One of the shuriken grazed a Sand chūnin's right arm, basically eliminating his ability to perform ninjutsu.

If not for the puppet masters' skill in defense, this single volley might have been enough to wipe out several of them. As it was, only the special jōnin remained completely unscathed, though the other Sand ninja all sustained minor, non-fatal injuries.

"Hurry, take the antidote pills! These kunai are poisoned!"

"Captain, it's bad! The pills are useless! There's no way to detoxify!"

"What? Not even the antidote pills developed by Elder Chiyo are working?"

The three chūnin quickly realized the wounds had begun to go numb. If they couldn't suppress the poison with their own chakra, they would have to commit suicide to avoid being captured.

"Seiran, keep opening a path! I'll defend you!" the scar-faced special jōnin ordered. He was skilled enough to control two puppets at once, using one to assist the chūnin.

Seiran began to form the seals again, intending to use the Great Breakthrough to clear the mist. Just as he was about to complete the final Tiger seal, another, more violent, volley of kunai and shuriken rained down.

"Mechanical Shield: Thousand Walls!"

The special jōnin's puppet instantly deployed, its components rearranging into a defensive wall that shielded both himself and Seiran. But at that moment, an invisible force disrupted Seiran's chakra flow, interrupting the wind-style ninjutsu he was about to release.

Suddenly, a cloud of white smoke erupted in front of him. A kunai that had been lying on the ground reverted to human form, and in the next instant, another kunai was plunged directly into Seiran's left eye.

"Dammit!" the special jōnin roared in fury, having failed to protect his subordinate. "Mechanical Blade: Random Windmill!" He activated his Salamander puppet, and a two-meter rotating blade deployed from its back, its powerful cutting force slicing through the haze. With a pop, it struck its target, which dissolved into a puff of smoke—another shadow clone.

"Ah!" At the same moment, a scream came from the rear. Another chūnin had been silently approached and had his throat cut by a clone using the Mist Body Flicker.

"Despicable!" This time, the experienced special jōnin didn't use a targeted attack, but instead swept the area behind him with a wide net of chakra threads. The figure that had killed his subordinate dissipated into smoke.

"Akasuna, don't rush!" the special jōnin warned, hastily protecting his last remaining subordinate. They moved slowly, back-to-back, their three remaining puppets forming a defensive triangle.

"Captain," Akasuna swallowed, cold sweat running down his forehead, "are we being ambushed by a Konoha jōnin?"

"So what if it is?" the scarred man said, trying to comfort his panicked subordinate. "I don't believe he can break my defense!"

At that moment, a sinister voice echoed from the mist, like a ghost from hell.

"My lords, the silent killing is about to begin. Eight vital points: throat, spine, lungs, liver, carotid artery, subclavian artery, kidney, heart. Which do you choose?"

The surrounding mist suddenly grew thicker, plunging them into total darkness.

"Why not go for the heart?" the voice whispered.

As the words were spoken, two figures slammed into Akasuna from both sides at a speed at least twice that of a basic Body Flicker. Four kunai pinned his hands and feet to the ground, immobilizing but not killing him.

"Go to hell!" the special jōnin roared, unleashing his ultimate move. "Machine Storm: Ten-Thousand Blade Strangulation!"

The chakra lines from his ten fingers glowed a dark blue. The shell of his Salamander puppet disintegrated, exploding outward in a swarm of thousands of poisoned, tempered arc blades that spun and cut in all directions, screaming through the air like wailing evil spirits. He had used his last subordinate as bait.

- - - -

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