35: I was the sixth in the wind and sand, and the Konoha Anbu called me professional!

The smoke of the battle in Wind Sand Valley had yet to dissipate, and the Fifth Squad was already at the end of their rope.

Tang Yan needed to prepare some backup plans, and a life-saving item like the Wrath of Buddha Tang Lotus (Castrated Version) was essential, preferably several of them.

Maki looked at the three exhausted young people and granted them special permission to rest at a remote outpost—Kuhao Ancient Outpost.

The Kuhao Ancient Outpost consisted of three single wooden buildings, arranged in a straight line.

This location was behind the Sunagakure defensive line, theoretically a rare place to catch one's breath during the lulls in the sandstorms.

Kuhao Ancient Outpost, true to its name.

It stood isolated in the heart of a vast, dead Poplar forest.

During the day, these twisted trunks resembled countless gnarled ghost claws reaching towards the sky, silent and eerie.

..........

Night fell, and the sandstorm arrived as expected.

The gale, carrying sand, whistled through the dense dead branches and fallen leaves, emitting shrill screams, like countless 怨 souls wailing.

Dust permeated the air, visibility was less than three feet, and one couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

Such an environment was a natural hiding place, and also an excellent killing field.

Zi Luo almost fell asleep the moment he touched the bed, choosing a room in the rightmost outpost, and his snores quickly mingled with the wind, forming a unique symphony.

Qian's spirit, however, remained highly tense.

The brutal battle in Wind Sand Valley, Aburame Shino's strange insect swarm, and Tang Yan's earth-shattering lotus at the end, all replayed in her mind.

She forced herself to endure her exhaustion, pacing back and forth within the outpost, carefully checking every defensive fortification.

A nameless unease, like a spiderweb, entangled her heart.

Tang Yan sat cross-legged in a corner of the left outpost, a pile of tiny parts and tools spread before him as he maintained his puppets.

His movements were neither fast nor slow; every wipe, every assembly, exuded an extreme focus.

However, if anyone could perceive his subtle movements, they would notice almost invisible threads occasionally shooting from his fingertips, silently disappearing into the shadows and dead branches around the outpost.

The entire Kuhao Ancient Outpost was, in his hands, slowly being woven into a deadly net.

The sandstorm grew fiercer, and only the roar of the wind and the ravages of the sand remained between heaven and earth.

Three blurry black figures, like specters merging with the sandstorm, silently appeared on the outskirts of the Kuhao Ancient Outpost.

They wore painted masks, with simple yet ferocious beast patterns—Wood Leaf Hidden Village ANBU.

The leader, codenamed “Owl.”

His figure was like willow catkins in the wind, landing silently, each step precisely avoiding the conventional traps and 警戒 barriers set by Sunagakure.

The wind was their best cover, the sandstorm their best disguise.

Even Tang Yan's perception from his 'Observation' technique struggled to accurately pinpoint their erratic positions in the first instant, due to the violent disturbance of natural energy.

“Owl” gestured to his two subordinates behind him, and the three dispersed, forming a triangle, stealthily approaching the interior of the outpost.

They had only one target—the Sunagakure rising star, “Ghost Lotus” Tang Yan.

“Owl's” gaze pierced through the mask's holes, locking onto a slightly slender figure inside the outpost.

Qian was facing away from him, checking the seals of a lookout.

“Take out this weakest one first,” a cold voice echoed in his mind.

Eliminating her would not only remove a potential nuisance but also disrupt Tang Yan's composure.

Silent killing intent permeated the sand.

An Anbu figure wearing a Cat Face mask slid out from behind a dead Poplar tree, a poisoned kunai in his hand silently thrusting towards Qian's back.

Qian was completely unaware, still focused on her task.

The shadow of death had already descended.

Just as the tip of Cat Face's kunai was about to touch Qian's clothes.

“Chih!”

A faint tightening sound, almost completely masked by the wind.

Cat Face felt his ankle tighten, and a massive force came, suddenly halting his forward momentum.

He looked down; a nearly transparent thread had, at some unknown moment, wrapped around his ankle.

His ankle had already separated from his body.

Before he could even feel the pain.

The next second, a sudden change occurred!

The entire Kuhao Ancient Outpost seemed to be instantly activated.

“Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!”

Dozens of nearly invisible Hidden Threads tightened from all directions, crisscrossing like spider silk, instantly slicing the small outpost into countless fragmented areas.

Even more terrifyingly, each Hidden Thread was covered with dense, glowing steel needles radiating a faint blue light!

As the threads tightened, these steel needles, like arrows released from a bowstring, shot from all angles, overwhelming the three intruding Konoha Anbu!

“No good! An ambush!”

“Ah!”

The two Anbu subordinates were caught off guard; their stealth techniques appeared pale and powerless in the face of such indiscriminate, widespread attack.

Their shrill screams were torn apart by the wind.

Their bodies were instantly pierced by dozens of poisoned needles, stiffening like puppets controlled by invisible threads, and their exposed skin rapidly blackened and rotted at a visible rate.

Without even a grunt, they silently collapsed to the ground, quickly covered by the swirling sand.

Only “Owl,” as expected of an elite Anbu captain.

The moment the Hidden Thread triggered, he forcibly twisted his body, avoiding most of the converging poisoned needles at an incredible angle, while simultaneously performing hand seals with lightning speed.

“Bang!”

A section of dead wood replaced his body, shot into a porcupine by countless poisoned needles.

Body Replacement Technique!

Qian was startled out of her wits by this sudden turn of events; she spun around, only seeing the lingering images of the two Anbu falling and poisoned needles flying everywhere.

A warm hand grabbed her arm, pulling her sharply backward.

She crashed into a firm embrace, her nose filled with the faint scent of herbs.

Tang Yan's voice sounded in her ear, calm and without a ripple, yet carrying a reassuring strength: “Welcome to my hunting ground.”

He waved his other hand through the air.

The dead branches and fallen leaves around the outpost, which he had secretly coated with special powder, instantly raised large clouds of dark green smoke as the strong wind swirled them.

Poison Barrier!

These powders dispersed upon contact with the wind, mixing with the pervasive sand to form a deadly poisonous mist area, rapidly enveloping the entire outpost.

The wind howled, and every bush seemed to be a soldier.

At this moment, the Kuhao Ancient Outpost had transformed into a meticulously arranged Asura field by Tang Yan.

“Owl's” figure appeared at the other end of the outpost; he looked at his two subordinates, instantly killed, and then at the pervasive poisonous mist and the faintly visible deadly threads around him, his face beneath the mask icy cold.

He knew he had underestimated this young Sunagakure boy.

This was not a simple trap; this was a killing formation meticulously calculated!

“A good method.” “Owl's” voice was hoarse, like sandpaper rubbing, “But it won't trap me.”

He swayed, moving like a ghost through the crisscrossing Hidden Threads and the swirling Poison Barrier.

His superb taijutsu and keen perception allowed him to still find a glimmer of life in this murderous environment.

His target remained locked on Tang Yan.

He could see that Tang Yan, in order to protect the girl behind him, was acting with restraint, unable to unleash the full power of this killing formation.

This was his chance!

“Owl's” speed grew faster and faster, his kunai cutting lines of cold light through the poisonous mist, constantly closing in on Tang Yan.

Tang Yan controlled the Hidden Threads, on one hand intercepting “Owl's” offensive, and on the other, protecting Qian as he continuously retreated, looking for an opening to counterattack.

His brow furrowed slightly.

This “Owl” was more troublesome than expected.

His 'Observation' technique could perceive “Owl's” movements, but the opponent's speed and combat experience made it difficult for him to find an opportunity for a fatal blow at once.

Qian tightly pursed her lips; she knew she had become a burden to Tang Yan.

Watching Tang Yan being constrained to protect her, a strong sense of self-reproach and unwillingness surged in her heart.

But she overlooked that they were facing a Konoha Anbu Jonin.

“We can't go on like this!”

Just as “Owl” once again broke through the Hidden Thread's blockade, and his kunai was about to stab into the opening Tang Yan exposed.

Qian, who had been protected behind Tang Yan, suddenly flashed a determined light in her eyes.

She abruptly broke free from Tang Yan's hand, preparing to use an overloaded genjutsu, disregarding the danger of her Chakra exhaustion, and rapidly formed hand seals.

“Cactus Genjutsu: Sand Mirage!”

A delicate shout, exceptionally clear in the strong wind.

Invisible genjutsu fluctuations, centered on Qian, suddenly spread out!

The scenery of the entire Kuhao Ancient Outpost instantly underwent a drastic distortion in “Owl's” eyes!

The dead Poplar trees seemed to come alive, transforming into giant venomous snakes with ferocious heads, opening their gaping mouths to bite him.

The yellow sand beneath his feet turned into constantly sinking quicksand, threatening to drag him into an endless abyss.

The crisscrossing Hidden Threads around him transformed into countless blood-colored tentacles that sought to devour him.

“Genjutsu?!” “Owl's” heart tightened.

He hadn't expected this seemingly weakest girl to possess such powerful genjutsu.

This sudden and drastic change in environment instantly caused significant interference to his proud speed and perception.

His movements inevitably showed a slight delay.

And this momentary delay was enough for Tang Yan!

Tang Clan Secret Technique: Instant Strike!

Tang Yan's figure left a blurry afterimage in place; the next moment, he appeared behind “Owl” as if teleporting.

Silently.

What he held tightly in his hand was no longer an ordinary kunai, but a strangely shaped, pitch-black hand dagger, glowing with a faint dark light.

On the surface of the dagger, a dark green airflow subtly swirled.

Qi Poison!

“Puff!”

The hand dagger, imbued with Qi Poison, precisely and mercilessly plunged into “Owl's” heart.

“Uh…” “Owl's” body stiffened abruptly, his eyes beneath the mask instantly widening, filled with disbelief.

He could feel a cold, domineering force madly destroying all his vitality from his heart.

His Chakra, his life force, were rapidly draining away.

He, the mighty Konoha Anbu Ninja “Owl,” was actually dying at the hands of two Genin.

“You…”

“Owl” used his last ounce of strength, suddenly turning, the glowing kunai in his hand, filled with the resolve to take his opponent with him, slashed towards Tang Yan's throat.

Tang Yan dodged the vital point by turning his body, but the poisoned kunai still cut a deep, bone-visible wound on his left arm.

Dark blood instantly gushed out.

“Owl's” body swayed, finally collapsing unwillingly, his mask rolling to the side, revealing a young yet ferocious face.

Tang Yan's expression remained unchanged; he quickly pulled out special medicinal powder from his 懷 and sprinkled it on the wound, simultaneously using the Tang Clan's unique acupoint sealing method to stop the bleeding and force out the toxins that had entered his body.

Despite this, his face became somewhat pale.

Qian stumbled to Tang Yan's side, and seeing the hideous wound on his arm, her eyes instantly reddened.

“Tang Yan… your hand!”

She disregarded her own weakness from Chakra exhaustion, trembling as she stretched out her hands, carefully covering Tang Yan's wound with her remaining Chakra.

The Chakra stimulated the Tang Clan's secret medicine to fully merge with the wound.

Tang Yan looked down at the girl's focused and worried face, feeling the faint warmth and slight tingling from his arm.

His usually cold and calm heart, as if a small stone had been tossed into it, rippled.

He neither refused nor spoke.

The sandstorm still raged, but the atmosphere within the outpost subtly changed at this moment.

Tang Yan rummaged through “Owl's” Ninja tool pouch.

Soon, he found an instruction scroll encrypted in a special way.

The auxiliary soul-sense of the Myriad Celestial Crafts Box stirred slightly, and the complex password was rapidly deciphered in his mind.

The content on the scroll made Tang Yan's pupils suddenly contract.

Konoha had not only dispatched this assassination squad.

A large-scale general offensive targeting the entire Sunagakure front line was secretly being planned.

And the Kuhao Ancient Outpost, where they were currently located, was actually on a crucial breakthrough point of Konoha's planned general offensive route!

The new crisis arrived faster and more fiercely than imagined.

They arrived at the outpost building where Zi Luo was resting.

Zi Luo's snores, in this tense atmosphere, seemed somewhat out of place.

Qian looked up at Tang Yan's suddenly grave profile, and the unease in her heart was once again infinitely magnified.

Tang Yan put away the scroll, his gaze fixed on the distant, sand-swept horizon, the direction from which Konoha's main army might appear.

He slowly spoke, his voice slightly hoarse: “Qian, wake up Zi Luo.”

“We're in big trouble.”