One Dragon Tail Kick will shatter your Susanoo dream!

"water……"

"Water escape……"

"whispering sound……"

Kisame had no choice but to interrupt his hand seals and use Samehada to block Sakumo Hatake's sword attack. The opponent's speed was incredibly fast, and his outstanding Body Flicker Technique combined with his dazzling swordsmanship put Kisame at a disadvantage in the battle.

Whenever Kisame creates distance and prepares to use Water Release to create an environment favorable for his battle, Sakumo Hatake will close in and interrupt his hand seals.

Just as Kisame's hand seals were interrupted once again, and he was finally losing his guard, Sakumo Hatake's figure suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke and dissipated.

"Damn it, when did I use the Substitution Jutsu?"

Suddenly, Sakumo Hatake burst out from the ground behind Kisame, his hands forming the Tiger Seal, and thrust towards a certain part of his body...

If this goes all the way in, Kisame will end up having sex with a ghost...

"The ultimate martial art technique, the Thousand Years of Death!"

Kisame's face was contorted with rage. The location where his opponent had attacked cast a shadow over his heart, but in his haste to strike, he was now too slow to react...

"Damn it, it seems I'm still struggling to deal with Konoha's White Fang on my own..."

Kisame closed his eyes in despair. Death wasn't scary; what was scary was falling under such an attack and dying...

"Alright, let's end this sparring session here!"

With a loud bang, Hatake Sakumo was sent flying dozens of meters before crashing into a tall tree. The tree shook violently, and leaves began to fall.

"This wasn't mentioned in the intelligence. I didn't expect your taijutsu to be so formidable. It seems your threat level within Konoha's Anbu needs to be raised even higher..."

At the crucial moment, Sakumo Hatake used his short sword, Hakuga, to block Kusashi Shinra's kick; otherwise, it wouldn't have been as simple as just crashing into a tree!

Cao Zhi sighed as she observed the other person's reaction.

"I never expected that you could block my full-force attack..."

Konoha's White Fang rubbed his back, which was a little sore from the impact, and held the White Fang Blade in front of his chest.

"I'm sorry, Your Excellency..."

"Don't offend me, you can't beat me anyway!"

Kusashiba and Hatake Sakumo, who had been exchanging casual compliments, suddenly attacked each other in perfect unison, a flurry of flashing blades and fists.

The two made brief contact before immediately separating.

With a tearing sound, a horizontal wound appeared on Cao Zhi's chest, but as the other party calmly whistled, the injury visibly healed.

While Hatake Sakumo appeared to be unharmed, his slightly trembling hands and unconsciously hunched back suggested that things were not as simple as they seemed.

Cao Zhi did not press her advantage, but calmly crossed her arms.

"Your swordsmanship is top-notch, your ninjutsu is decent, and your taijutsu is very strong. It's understandable that Kisame is no match for you..."

"So, Sakumo Hatake, your identity has been exposed. If I reveal it to the ninja world, what consequences will it cause for Konoha to betray its ally?"

Sakumo Hatake stood upright, his chest heaving.

"What do you intend to do?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to make a bet with you!"

"I'm sorry, sir, I have no interest in gambling!"

As soon as Hatake Sakumo finished speaking, he drew his sword and stepped forward, attempting to kill Kusashi.

It's very impolite not to let others finish speaking!

"I don't know if you've ever heard of the Grass Triangle Kill..."

"During its gliding motion, the Divine Sound Wave caught up with the Iron Shirt..."

Hatake Sakumo, who had charged forward, was hit by Kusashi's punch wave while moving at high speed. He then appeared in front of his opponent in an instant and kicked him hard in the chest.

After consuming a series of herbs, Hatake Sakumo coughed up blood and collapsed to the ground like a rag doll.

Seeing this, Kusaji stopped outputting as well, and looked at Hatake Sakumo with great interest, struggling to get up from the ground.

"I will stake the honor of the Hatake clan on this; I absolutely cannot fall here!"

Suddenly, a scream came from his teammate. It turned out that he had been stabbed in the arm by a Kusanagi ninja, and his fighting ability was greatly reduced because he was unable to form hand seals...

Hatake Sakumo swung his sword, forcing back several Grass Ninja who tried to finish them off, but they didn't dare to kill them, because the Grass Shadow was watching the show from the sidelines.

"Don't worry about us, Sakumo, with your speed, you can escape!"

“That’s right, tell Misae not to wait for me…”

"We'll hold them off for you and buy you time. Sakumo, you still have children. Run!"

While offering kind advice, the teammate secretly handed over an intelligence scroll containing a map of Kusagakure's defenses and some business operations that they had discovered over the past few days.

Sakumo Hatake did not accept the scroll offered by his companion, but instead gripped the short sword in his hand tightly.

"I won't let you die here!"

Kusaji's eyes narrowed, and then he flashed, kicking the Konoha ninja who had delivered the information to the ground.

Cao Zhi tossed the scroll around, playing with it, but didn't rush to open it. Instead, he handed it to the serious-looking Kisame behind him and gave him instructions.

"I need Elder Liyan and the others to help me decipher it; I want to know what's inside!"

The Konoha ninja, kicked so hard, had blood dripping from his mouth, his face filled with resentment.

Sakumo Hatake offered words of comfort.

"It's alright, it's just that the mission failed..."

Kusashiba dismissed the rest of the men and then fought Hatake Sakumo again. Midway through the fight, he grabbed Sakumo by the neck and carried him into a distant forest. A moment later...

The two emerged from the forest one after the other. Kusashi asked Kisame to hand him the information scroll again, and then threw it to Hatake Sakumo. After Sakumo completed a series of complex hand seals, he handed it back to Kusashi, along with his own White Fang short sword.

"As agreed, we can leave now!"

"Alright, Brother Shuo Mao, take care!"

Watching the departing figures of Hatake Sakumo and the others, Kisame asked, his face full of doubt.

"Lord Kusakage, why did you let them go? Wasn't this a great opportunity to weaken Konoha...?"

Cao Zhi revealed a meaningful smile.

"Everyone wants a piece of this fat meat that is Kusagakure, but I can't give them the opportunity and hand them a reason to attack!"

"Don't worry, if nothing unexpected happens, Kusagakure will soon have another strong sage..."

Kusashiba let Sakumo Hatake leave, partly because he was familiar with the plot and knew that he wouldn't need to do anything; Sakumo would die under public scrutiny due to the mission's failure.

Another concern is Konoha's view of the increasingly powerful Kusagakure. Although the Third Hokage is a staunch advocate of peace, if Konoha's White Fang were to die in Kusagakure, Danzo, that scoundrel, might seize the opportunity to spread rumors and force Hiruzen Sarutobi to take action under the guise of avenging Konoha's heroes!

At that time, apart from Konoha, which is a fierce tiger, other major ninja villages that are envious and have a grudge against Kusagakure are very likely to launch a joint attack!

So after much deliberation, Kusashi easily defeated Hatake Sakumo in the forest. He then suggested that Sakumo open the intelligence scroll on his own so that he could destroy it on the spot. He also made a bet with Sakumo in private!

If Sakumo Hatake faces significant criticism or even persecution in Konoha because of his actions, then he should move to another village. Kusagakure and Konoha are closely connected, like fish and water; neither can live without the other. How can he be accused of betraying his village?

Just thinking about Sakumo Hatake's confident smile, even going so far as to offer his White Fang as a wager, made Kusashiba want to laugh. The other side had ultimately overestimated him; certain people in Konoha were out of the picture…