"What is Hozuki Gengetsu trying to do?"
"Who told him to charge out that fast?"
"Who told him to shout?"
Fuguki felt as if everything had instantly fallen apart.
The people who had appeared were not Pakura.
They were only ordinary Sand shinobi.
Fuguki's plan had been to have the death volunteers creep in quietly and ambush those Sand ninja. After that, with the help of the Sunagakure traitor, they would lure Pakura over.
Then the ten volunteers would entangle her.
And only then would he, Juzo, Jinin, and Kushimaru lead elite forces in and encircle her, creating a perfect kill zone with no chance of escape.
But now, with that single shout from "Hozuki Gengetsu," everything was ruined.
The Sand shinobi would become alert at once.
Even if they did not believe every word he yelled, they would definitely turn and flee.
"Hozuki Gengetsu" had charged with too much momentum.
And the Hozuki name itself carried its own intimidation.
Without proper intelligence, anyone would hesitate.
Worse, he had shouted too early.
The distance between them and the Sand shinobi was still far too great. The Sand ninja had more than enough time to turn and run, and the remaining nine death volunteers would never catch them, no matter how desperately they tried.
And just as expected, the Sand shinobi turned and fled.
"Hozuki Gengetsu" chased after them.
The other nine death volunteers chased after "Hozuki Gengetsu."
Pakura, having received word that Sand shinobi were under attack, was already hurrying this way.
The Sand traitor hidden nearby saw the shifting positions of the Sand shinobi and the Kirigakure volunteers and froze.
"What is this?"
"This isn't the right place."
"Did Kirigakure change the ambush point?"
"They don't trust me?"
Juzo Biwa approached Fuguki, his brows tightly knit.
"Fuguki, what happened?"
Fuguki's face was dark as iron.
"That Hozuki Gengetsu has something wrong with his brain. I hadn't even finished throwing the sand before he charged out."
"And he was shouting the whole time."
"He didn't listen to a single word of my orders."
"The Sand shinobi heard the commotion and ran immediately."
Jinin Akebino asked one question.
"You didn't tell them Pakura wasn't among those Sand ninja?"
The corner of Fuguki's eye twitched.
"Did I need to tell him that? He's a death volunteer. All he had to do was carry out my instructions. Did he seriously think he had a chance of killing Pakura himself and stealing that kind of credit?"
"With his strength? Is he worthy of that?"
Jinin's question irritated Fuguki.
As if this had somehow become his fault.
Jinin said blandly, "But it's pretty clear now that Hozuki Gengetsu only shouted all that because he thought Pakura was there."
Fuguki narrowed his eyes.
"Jinin. What exactly are you implying?"
Only Juzo stepping in between them stopped the argument from escalating.
The instant Rasa saw Pakura, he shouted again.
"Fuguki-sama! Jinin-sama! Juzo-sama! Come quickly—we've already caught Pakura!"
Then, in the next moment, he turned toward Pakura.
"Pakura, today I, Hozuki Gengetsu, will take your life!"
"Kill!"
The nine death volunteers beside him charged ahead without hesitation.
Rasa remained at the very back.
Pakura's expression sharpened. As she retreated, she ordered the shinobi under her command to send word back to the main Sand army immediately.
Watching from afar, Fuguki felt rage surge through him.
"This Hozuki Gengetsu really is insane!"
"Caught Pakura?"
"In what way have you caught her?"
"You think you can catch Pakura?"
If Fuguki had still held even the slightest hope of salvaging the ambush a moment ago, now he had none.
An ambush lived or died on timing.
From the very beginning, "Hozuki Gengetsu" had done nothing but hand opportunities to the Sand shinobi.
And now he had handed them another.
The original ambush point was completely unusable.
If they wanted to encircle Pakura and her people now, it would take far more time than before.
And worse still, this place was close to the Sand army—
and not close to Kirigakure's main force.
Which meant one thing.
If the Sand army arrived before Pakura was killed, then the ones in danger would become the Kirigakure force sent for the ambush.
No support from Kirigakure would reach them in time.
Could they kill Pakura before Sand reinforcements arrived?
Given the situation, Fuguki saw no chance of it.
"It's all ruined."
"My plan. The one I prepared so carefully for so long—it's all ruined."
"It was all destroyed by this Hozuki Gengetsu."
As Fuguki stared at "Hozuki Gengetsu's" back, murderous intent filled his eyes.
He wanted nothing more than to kill the boy himself.
"A member of the Hozuki Clan… can actually be this stupid?"
Juzo asked, "Fuguki, what do we do now?"
Fuguki's eyes flickered.
"Withdraw."
Juzo still wanted to try.
"Not even a little?"
Fuguki shook his head.
"There's no point. The plan has already failed. Forcing it now will only put us in danger. Pass down my orders—retreat immediately. Everyone, full speed."
Juzo pointed at "Hozuki Gengetsu" and the others.
"What about them?"
"We can't worry about them now. Besides, they were death volunteers to begin with."
Fuguki would have preferred for "Hozuki Gengetsu" to die. His only regret was that he would not die by Fuguki's own hand.
At Fuguki's command, the Kirigakure shinobi began retreating in large numbers.
But they were already too late.
Pakura's response—
and the Sand reinforcements—
came even faster than Fuguki had expected.
"Kill them!"
"After them!"
Hearing the shouts, Fuguki looked back—
and his face changed instantly.
"Run! Faster!"
Too many.
There were far too many Sand shinobi in pursuit.
Fuguki might have been one of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen, but he had no delusions that three members of the Seven Swordsmen could stand against that many Sand ninja.
Even the Third Raikage had died to Iwagakure's human-wave tactics.
No matter how strong the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were, could they compare to the Third Raikage?
That man had possessed both the ultimate spear and the ultimate shield.
In the minds of many, the strongest of the Third Kage.
Fuguki's hatred toward "Hozuki Gengetsu" deepened instantly.
"This Hozuki Gengetsu really does have something wrong with his head!"
He gritted his teeth in rage as he ran.
And as he fled, he watched Kirigakure shinobi being cut down one after another by the Sand pursuit force.
Blood sprayed into the air, staining the desert red.
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