48: On the night when poisonous fire burned the city, the Iron Scorpion Canyon underwent a tremendous change!

Tang Yan’s figure twisted and faded in the shadows, finally disappearing completely into the air.

He moved like an invisible gust of wind, slipping past several patrolling Leaf Ninja without them noticing, even as their gazes swept over the spot where he had just stood.

At the entrance of the massive armory, two elite Chunin stood like statues, their presence calm and steady.

Tang Yan’s figure rippled like water in an extreme blind spot of their vision, then he had already passed through this seemingly impenetrable defense, infiltrating the interior of the warehouse, which reeked of cold metal and gunpowder.

Inside the warehouse, mountains of neatly bundled explosive tags were piled high, boxes of kunai and shuriken gleamed with cold light, and in the corners lay several grotesque, specially made large-scale war machines, each emanating a dangerous aura.

“What a wonderful place,” Tang Yan muttered, a cold arc forming on his lips.

From the large scroll on his back, he took out several palm-sized, flat oil paper packages and a few inconspicuous small porcelain bottles.

Those were Fire-Igniting Phosphorus, specially made by the Tang Clan, igniting instantly and burning fiercely.

The porcelain bottles contained a refined Qi Poison, colorless and odorless, yet capable of generating highly toxic black smoke at high temperatures, extremely corrosive, instantly fatal upon contact, and causing decay upon touch.

His movements were unhurried, as if he were strolling in his own backyard, meticulously placing the Fire-Igniting Phosphorus and poison powder at critical load-bearing pillars, explosive storage areas, and near ventilation shafts in the warehouse.

Each location was precisely calculated to ensure the maximum chain reaction during the explosion and to maximize the effect of the poisonous smoke.

Finally, in the central area of the warehouse, beneath a wooden crate piled high with high-explosive tags, he placed a small, delayed detonation mechanism.

On the surface of the mechanism, several gears rotated rhythmically.

Ten minutes.

He set enough time for himself to retreat calmly and rendezvous with his puppet, ‘Luo,’ who was lurking outside.

Because he needed to remain stealthy, Tang Yan did not carry his large scroll, instead having ‘Luo’ hide outside.

“Done,” Tang Yan clapped his hands, then once again cast a “Phantom Body” spell, silently retracing his steps.

At the same time, dozens of miles away, on Konoha’s food supply line.

“Wind Release: Great Sickle Weasel!”

Qian Shou, holding two white-furred iron fans, shouted, and then fiercely waved them.

A violent hurricane stirred up a sky full of sand and dust, like a roaring beast, instantly engulfing a team of Leaf Ninja escorting food supplies.

Countless invisible wind blades cut through the sand and dust, and screams rose one after another.

“Damn it! It’s a sneak attack from Sunagakure!”

“Protect the food!”

“Ah—my eyes!”

On the other side, Zi Luo, like a humanoid beast, charged head-on into another Konoha defending army formation.

With the Seven Day Breathing Method pushed to its limit, his exposed muscles bulged, veins popped, and his specially made iron fist on his right hand whistled as it tore through the air; each swing was accompanied by the muffled thud of shattering bones and the sight of bodies being sent flying.

“Too weak! Is this all you’ve got?!” Zi Luo roared with laughter, smashing a Chunin who tried to resist, causing him to spit blood and his sternum to collapse.

The two coordinated perfectly, one suppressing from a distance, the other launching a close-quarters assault, and in just a few moments, they had slaughtered the guards of both massive granaries.

“Don’t be careless; this is just Konoha’s logistics transport unit, and there are no strong guards, plus we launched a sneak attack,” Qian’s voice sounded at the opportune moment, with a hint of calmness, “Light it up!”

Zi Luo grinned menacingly and threw the already prepared torch into the vehicles piled high with goods.

The firelight illuminated their murderous faces, successfully attracting the attention of all Konoha patrol units within several miles.

“Let’s go, the commotion here will quickly draw Konoha’s reinforcements.” Qian put away her iron fan and quickly disappeared into the night with Zi Luo.

Tiexie Canyon.

At the core of the armory, on the delayed detonation mechanism meticulously placed by Tang Yan, a tiny red dot flickered, each pulse like the Shinigami’s death knell, its frequency gradually quickening, faster and faster.

3…

2…

1!

Boom—!!!

No warning, no gradual build-up. A deafening, terrifying roar, as if to overturn the entire world, suddenly erupted from the heart of Tiexie Canyon!

The earth trembled and groaned violently, as if struck hard by an invisible giant hand; the steep rock walls on both sides of the canyon cracked in response, and countless gravel and boulders rained down, plummeting towards the bottom.

An enormous, orange-red fireball, a hundred times more blinding than the midday sun, suddenly expanded, instantly engulfing the entire massive armory.

The scorching light dispelled the night, illuminating everything within a thousand meters with a pale glow, even making the swirling dust clearly visible.

The shockwave generated by the explosion, carrying destructive power, spread wildly outwards in a circular pattern. The first few watchtowers, along with the Konoha sentries on them, were almost instantly torn to shreds, without even time to scream.

Immediately after, as the firelight slightly receded, thick, ink-like, yet eerily black-green poisonous smoke billowed out from the core of the explosion. It seemed to possess life, mixed with the lingering shockwaves from the explosion and the nauseating smell of charring and sulfur, like venomous dragons devouring all in their path, roaring as they rapidly spread throughout the entire canyon.

“What in the world is that?!” A Jonin, slightly further away, turned pale with horror. He had just regained his footing from the explosion’s impact when he saw the overwhelming black-green smoke rolling towards him.

“Quick! Hold your breath! This smoke is poisonous!” another more experienced Ninja screamed, trying to organize a defense, but his voice was immediately cut off by violent coughing.

“Ah—! My face! It hurts so much! It itches!”

“Help! Cough… cough cough… my throat…”

“Run! Run! Get out of here!”

Piercing screams, desperate pleas for help, heart-wrenching coughs, and the tuneless roars of fear instantly rose and fell throughout the canyon, weaving together into a chaotic and terrifying symphony of death.

Those Leaf Ninja who were closer to the explosion point and miraculously survived became the first victims of the poisonous smoke.

A Chunin tried to block the poisonous smoke with Water Release: Water Wall. The moment the water wall rose and touched the black-green smoke, it emitted a “sizzling” corrosive sound, then rapidly became turbid before their eyes. As water vapor evaporated, the Chunin felt a piercing pain from their hands. Looking down, the skin on their Chakra-covered hands had already begun to sprout disgusting pustules, rapidly turning black and festering.

“No! My hands!” he shrieked in terror, Chakra wildly coursing through his body, out of control, his vision rapidly blurring. Finally, in extreme pain and unwillingness, he convulsed and collapsed, his life extinguished.

Another Ninja, known for his speed, prided himself on being able to rush out of the canyon before the poisonous smoke completely enveloped him. He had barely run a few dozen meters when he stumbled and fell to the ground, his body curled into a ball, black blood foam oozing from his mouth and nose, his limbs twitching irregularly as if enduring the most extreme torture in the world. His proud speed seemed so laughable in the face of the pervasive poisonous smoke.

The poisonous smoke, wherever it passed, affected more than just living beings. Metal weapons piled outside the armory that had not yet been detonated rapidly lost their luster under the smoke's erosion, their surfaces developing pitted rust spots; the previously hard rocks in the canyon also began to become brittle, flaking off with a light touch. Even the sparse, drought-resistant plants in the canyon withered and carbonized at an alarming rate.

A clerical Ninja responsible for record-keeping wore a simple gas mask provided by Konoha, believing it would save his life. However, the black-green poisonous smoke easily penetrated the filter layer, even corroding the rubber part of the mask until it melted and deformed.

“Pfft—what kind of junk is this!” he cursed, throwing away the mask, but it was too late. A fierce burning sensation surged from his mouth and nose into his lungs. He clutched his throat, his eyes bulging, making guttural noises, and finally collapsed, his body rapidly shriveling as if all moisture had been drained from it.

Before dying, he seemed to want to complain about the procurement standards for this gas mask.

Inside the canyon, a burly Leaf Ninja was trying to drag an injured comrade out of the poisonous fog, shouting, “Hold on! We can get out!” Before he finished speaking, he stumbled, inhaled a mouthful of poisonous smoke, and the muscles on his face instantly contorted, his eyeballs rapidly became bloodshot, and the veins on his exposed arms bulged, then wriggled like earthworms, as if countless small insects were burrowing under his skin.

He painfully clawed at his neck, his fingernails digging deep into his flesh, but he couldn't alleviate the pain in the slightest. Finally, he and his comrade became another pair of cold corpses beneath the poisonous fog in the canyon.

The Tiexie Canyon, once a heavily guarded and crucial military stronghold for Konoha, was transformed into a hellish landscape of widespread wailing and soaring poisonous flames within mere minutes under Tang Yan's meticulously planned 'feast'. The air was thick with the scent of despair and death.

In the distance, the puppet 'Luo', concealed behind the mountain rocks, reflected the soaring flames and poisonous smoke from the canyon's center in its emotionless eyes. It waited quietly for the return of its creator.

This dance of destruction, ignited by Fire-Igniting Phosphorus and sublimated by Qi Poison, had only just begun.

Konoha Frontline Command Post.

Hyuga Tokuma sat upright, eyes closed, listening to a routine report from a subordinate stating that 'small groups of Sunagakure scouts harassing the Tiexie Canyon's perimeter have been successfully driven away'.

Everything seemed to be under control.

Suddenly, a violent Chakra burst, far exceeding ordinary Ninjutsu, and the destructive energy fluctuation that followed, slammed into his senses like a heavy hammer!

Hyuga Tokuma's eyes snapped open, his pure Byakugan filled with fine blue veins, and his face instantly turned ashen.

"No good!" he roared, standing up abruptly, his body trembling slightly from extreme fury.

"We've been tricked! Their target was the armory!"

"Byakugan: Activate!"

His vision instantly pierced through the layers of night, clearly seeing the apocalyptic scene in the nearby Tiexie Canyon—soaring poisonous fires, corpses everywhere, and a blurred figure rapidly retreating amidst the chaos and poisonous smoke.

"Damn it!" Hyuga Tokuma yelled, his voice filled with the rage of being fooled.

"All units, pursue! My command: capture this person alive! No, kill him on sight! He absolutely cannot be allowed to escape!"

He moved in a flash, already rushing out of the command tent, personally leading a pursuit team composed of Hyuga Clan members and Anbu elites, transforming into several afterimages, rapidly heading towards the Tiexie Canyon.

The moment before the explosion, Tang Yan had already found the puppet 'Luo' at the predetermined location and retrieved the scroll.

Luo's crimson single eye flickered with an ominous light in the night, and the Aura of Hatred emanating from its body formed a subtle, invisible energy field, cleverly isolating the shockwave and some of the poisonous smoke that followed the explosion.

The man and the puppet, moving along Tang Yan's pre-planned, most concealed retreat route, traversed the rugged mountain rocks at high speed as if on level ground.

Upon reaching a fork in the road leading to another Konoha supply line, Tang Yan paused, took out several uniquely shaped kunai from his embrace, and casually threw them into the crevices of some inconspicuous rocks by the roadside.

The hilt of the kunai was engraved with a miniature mark representing him.

This was a misleading clue.

A moment later, Hyuga Tokuma's pursuit team swept into the Tiexie Canyon like a whirlwind.

Looking at the chaotic, corpse-strewn, and still smoke-filled scene before him, even a composed individual like Hyuga Tokuma couldn't help but burn with rage, his teeth grinding audibly.

Countless elite guards and an astonishing reserve of armaments had been incinerated just like that!

This was a devastating blow to Konoha's front line!

He suppressed the anger in his heart, pushing his Byakugan's perception to its limit, meticulously searching for any possible lingering clues.

He walked slowly to the core area of the armory explosion, crouched down, and carefully examined the residual energy fluctuations on the ground and the metal debris corroded beyond recognition by the poisonous fire.

"This poisonous fire...it's so bizarre, so intensely corrosive."

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

Such a method was unprecedented, something no ordinary Ninja could possess.

It was fire combined with poison, a pure... 'Poisonous Flame'.

"This person's methods are ruthless, and his mind is so meticulous; he's certainly no ordinary opponent." Hyuga Tokuma's assessment of this unseen adversary rose again in his mind.

Soon, a sharp-eyed Hyuga Clan member discovered the specially made kunai Tang Yan had deliberately left behind.

"Lord Tokuma, look!"

Hyuga Tokuma took the kunai, his gaze sweeping over the faint 'Tang' character mark, a cold sneer appearing at the corner of his mouth.

"Hmph, trying to feint an attack? Luring us to pursue another supply line?"

"Sunagakure brat, you underestimate the Hyuga Clan far too much!"

However, to the subordinate's surprise, Hyuga Tokuma did not immediately order a pursuit in the direction indicated by the kunai.

Hyuga Tokuma gazed at the 'Tang' character on the kunai, slightly scorched by fire but still clearly visible, his brow furrowing tighter and tighter. Initially, he dismissed it as a clumsy misdirection, pointing to another insignificant supply line, a shallow trick to fool the pursuers. But that 'Tang' character... he chewed on it repeatedly, a strange sense of familiarity and unease quietly growing.

"Lord Tokuma, could this be a special mark of a Sunagakure squad?" A Hyuga Clan member, seeing his prolonged silence, cautiously spoke, trying to break the momentary quiet.

Hyuga Tokuma ignored him, his gaze still fixed on the kunai. Sunagakure... 'Tang'... his mind rapidly sifted through all recent intelligence concerning the Land of Wind.

He hadn't paid much attention to the sporadic reports from the front lines, only vaguely aware that a Ninja had appeared in Sunagakure, employing an unprecedented combat style.

Furthermore, rumors spoke of a young Ninja, ghost-like, who had single-handedly disrupted Konoha's deployments multiple times, his methods cunning and his strength unfathomable.

The rumors said this person was not only proficient in puppet manipulation but also skilled in using... extremely potent poisons.

Poisonous fire burning the city... and this irritating 'Tang' character before him.

Clues rapidly connected in his mind, pointing to a name he had not deeply investigated before due to vague intelligence, even considering it an exaggeration.

Now, that name, carrying a heart-stopping chill, appeared with chilling clarity.

The talented junior mentioned multiple times in high-level meetings, yet spoken of with such secrecy, codenamed 'Ghost Lotus'?—Tang Yan!

If it truly was this person... Hyuga Tokuma felt a chill subtly creep up his spine.

This opponent was not only ruthless in his methods but also meticulously cunning to a terrifying degree.

Deliberately leaving this kunai engraved with 'Tang' seemingly pointed to another supply line, but in reality, it could be a more sophisticated psychological tactic, both mocking Konoha's incompetence and testing their tracking abilities and judgment.

He suddenly looked up, his Byakugan sweeping again in the direction Tang Yan had disappeared. Where did that rugged and treacherous mountain terrain lead?

Given that person's cunning, he would never choose a common scout's escape route.

He would undoubtedly choose a more hidden, more unexpected, and perhaps... more perilous dead-end.

Raiming Valley!

That area had dangerous terrain; ordinary Ninja avoided it like the plague.

But for a strong individual eager to shake off pursuers and confident in their abilities, it was undoubtedly an ideal perilous path.

More importantly, passing through Raiming Valley, though not a straight line, could still lead circuitously to the Land of Wind's border.

"My command!" Hyuga Tokuma's voice was colder than when the armory was destroyed, carrying an undeniable resolve, his eyes sharp and devoid of warmth, "Abandon any search for that so-called 'supply line'.

Concentrate all mobile squads, immediately! Full speed! Block all paths, large and small, leading to Raiming Valley! Set up multiple traps and high-density reconnaissance outposts along the way; not even a fly should be able to pass under our noses!"

He paused briefly, his tone growing heavier: "At the same time, immediately send the highest-level alert to command, requesting urgent reinforcements! Target... extremely dangerous! Repeat, extremely dangerous!"

The Hyuga Clan member who had spoken earlier opened his mouth, full of questions—Why Raiming Valley? Wasn't that kunai a crucial clue?—but upon meeting Hyuga Tokuma's Byakugan, which seemed to pierce through everything, and the more condensed and intimidating aura emanating from him than during his previous rage, he wisely swallowed all his questions.

He vaguely sensed that Lord Tokuma's state of mind at that moment was no longer simple anger, but the extreme focus and... chilling killing intent of a hunter who had finally locked onto a true formidable enemy.