36: The messenger on the eve of the storm, promotion or sacrifice?

Outside the tent, the piercing wind, as if blocked by something, abruptly ceased.

The silence was more unsettling than the howling sandstorm.

A sweet, metallic scent, mixed with rust, rudely invaded Zi Luo’s nostrils. He abruptly opened his eyes, threw open the tent flap, and froze in place.

The temporary outpost next door could no longer be called an outpost.

Three Konoha Anbu corpses lay scattered on the sand, twisted into grotesque poses.

One had only a tiny blood-hole in their throat, another’s eyes were wide open, face blue-purple, clearly poisoned. The worst off had their chest pierced by some sharp weapon, and the flesh around the wound showed signs of charring and carbonization.

The slaughter must have been silent and swift.

“What happened?!” Zi Luo’s voice was dry.

Tang Yan stood not far away, as if he had been waiting there all along.

In his hand, he held an encrypted scroll found on one of the bodies, its sealing technique so complex it made one’s scalp tingle. But at this moment, the patterns on the scroll were rapidly dissolving and being analyzed in his eyes, like ice and snow.

“Konoha is about to make a move.” Tang Yan handed the analyzed scroll to Qian, who had arrived upon hearing the commotion.

Qian took it, her gaze sweeping quickly over the scroll’s contents, her face gradually darkening.

“Large-scale attack… targeting our entire front-line defense… Kuhao Ancient Outpost is one of their breakthroughs?” Her voice held unconcealed astonishment.

The intelligence clearly indicated that Konoha had assembled its main forces and would launch a full-scale assault on the Sunagakure defense line within a day at the fastest.

“Konoha!” Zi Luo’s grotesque iron hand slammed hard onto a half-human-high rock beside him, letting out a muffled thud. Spiderweb-like cracks quickly spread across the rock’s surface. “These bastards, playing dirty!”

He glared at Tang Yan, fire practically spewing from his eyes: “We must notify headquarters immediately! We’ll hold this place and buy time for Maki-sensei and the others!”

“Just the three of us?” Qian put away the scroll, forcing a grim smile. “Zi Luo, use that muscle-filled brain of yours. We just finished a battle, our Chakra is at rock bottom, and Tang Yan is injured. To face Konoha’s main force in this state? Do you think this is a dinner invitation? We’d just be delivering ourselves to them quickly.”

Tang Yan shook his head, directly rejecting Zi Luo’s impulsiveness.

“Qian is right; holding out to the death is what idiots do.” His voice was calm, without a ripple. “Accurate intelligence is worth far more than the lives of the three of us. Right now, our only mission is to send it out.”

He bit his fingertip, knelt on one knee, and slapped his palm to the ground.

“Summoning Technique!”

“Boom!”

As the thick white smoke dispersed, a half-human-high creature squatted before the three of them. Its body was sandy-brown, yet its skin was unusually smooth. It wore a well-fitted black Ninja uniform, and a forehead protector was meticulously tied to its forehead, with a vermilion “Tang” character in the center.

It had a small Tang sword, less than a foot long, strapped to its waist, its scabbard ancient, its hilt wrapped in dark silk threads. Its black, bean-like eyes showed a cunning and steady demeanor that belied its size.

“Yan.” The Ninja Toad spoke, its voice clear. It bowed slightly to Tang Yan, its Tang sword swaying at its waist.

Tang Yan handed over the scroll, wrapped in special oilcloth: “Ninja Toad, deliver this to Lord Maki as quickly as possible. It’s an emergency.”

The Ninja Toad took the scroll, carefully tucking it into a hidden pouch on its chest, its hind legs slightly bent, poised to spring.

Zi Luo watched from the side, clicking his tongue in wonder: “This little guy, its strength seems to have increased again.”

Tang Yan’s lips curved into an arc, his tone tinged with satisfaction: “It’s progressing very quickly. It can handle a few Genin now, and in a while, it’ll be able to formally fight alongside us.”

He then shifted his focus, asking the Ninja Toad: “By the way, how’s the herb garden I asked you to cultivate near its dwelling in Mount Myōboku last time?”

The Ninja Toad immediately replied, clearly and concisely: “Ribbit! Yan, rest assured, all those precious plants you wanted have been planted and are growing well. A few saplings have also been transplanted to a more secluded mountain spring, as per your instructions.”

Tang Yan nodded contentedly, then added: “Remember to give more of the spirit insects I’ve cultivated for you to the great toads of Mount Myōboku. Whether human or toad, everyone values personal connections, and the necessary relationships shouldn’t be neglected.”

“Now, depart!”

“Ribbit!” The Ninja Toad affirmed again, carefully patting the scroll on its chest with its small paw, and bowed to the three once more.

The next instant, its figure transformed into a faint greenish-black afterimage, silently merging into the sandstorm, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

The three quickly cleaned up the aftermath, and a sharp whooshing sound approached from afar.

A Sunagakure messenger falcon, its feathers roughened by the sandstorm, pierced through the raging winds and circled precisely above their heads.

Tied to its leg was a jet-black, icy-cold metal tube.

On the surface of the tube, the emblem of the Sunagakure Council of Elders was clearly engraved.

“A message from the Council of Elders?” Qian was somewhat surprised.

Tang Yan extended his hand, and the falcon obediently landed on his arm.

He removed the metal tube, opened it, and inside was a high-quality parchment scroll.

The handwriting on the scroll was strong and vigorous.

“Fifth Squad, Tang Yan, Qian, Zi Luo, in the battle of Wind Sand Valley, turned the tide, defeated Konoha’s elite, and achieved distinguished military service…” Zi Luo leaned over, reading word by word, his face gradually filling with excitement and joy. “…Hereby commended! Fifth Squad is ordered to immediately conclude its current front-line mission, bypass the front-line command, and return directly to the Village to prepare for the Chunin promotion examination and Village commendation!”

“Chunin! Hahaha! I’m going to be a Chunin!” Zi Luo excitedly waved his grotesque iron hand. “Tang Yan, Qian, did you hear? We’ve earned merit! The Kazekage and the Council of Elders are going to personally commend us! When we go back, barbecue! It has to be the highest quality!”

In his view, this was an immense honor, the highest affirmation of their bloody struggle.

Qian, however, was not as optimistic as Zi Luo.

She carefully pondered the wording on the scroll, especially the phrases “bypass the front-line command” and “return directly to the Village.” Her white-flocked iron fan unconsciously tapped her palm, emitting a dull, soft sound. This was illogical.

For front-line troop movements, the commander was the first to know, yet now they were being told to bypass Maki.

She seemed to see the Kazekage’s profound and unfathomable gaze, and the expressions of the Elders, hidden beneath their stern faces, scrutinizing and evaluating something, devoid of any human warmth.

Tang Yan’s attention, however, was focused on the messenger falcon’s talons.

The falcon’s talons were stained with an extremely subtle, almost imperceptible, faint metallic powder.

This powder, under the sunlight, reflected a peculiar, dull luster.

His pupils slightly contracted.

This feeling… was extremely similar to a special mineral dust he had sensed earlier, after the battle in Wind Sand Valley, from the remnants of the Aburame clan’s parasitic insects, torn apart by the Wrath of Buddha Tang Lotus.

Such powder could only escape when a puppeteer was making certain precise components, or when the core of a puppet made of special materials was destroyed.

Why would the messenger falcon be stained with this?

Had the falcon been to the Wind Sand Valley battlefield?

Zi Luo was still excitedly planning how to celebrate upon returning to the Village, completely unaware of the subtle shift in atmosphere.

He scratched his head, asking somewhat puzzled: “But why do we have to bypass Maki-sensei and go straight back to the Village? That’s not according to regulations, is it?”

Tang Yan slowly tightened the parchment scroll in his hand, making a faint “creaking” sound.

He looked up, his black eyes deep as night, unruffled, yet seemingly able to pierce through all illusions.

He looked in the direction of Sunagakure in the distance, his voice calm, yet carrying a chilling undertone that made one’s heart palpitate.

“This isn’t about not following regulations.”

“This is an ‘escort’.”

Upon hearing this, Qian’s face instantly turned pale.

Tang Yan continued, a hint of faint sarcasm in his tone: “I, I’m afraid, am not some triumphant hero.”

He paused, his gaze finally resting on Qian’s eyes, slightly widened in shock, speaking each word clearly and distinctly.

“I am a weapon that needs to be ‘examined’. What they want is not my military service, nor my life.”

“What they want is the secret of that lotus’s bloom.”

“And… me, the person who can make it bloom again.”