Ren's expression immediately darkened, and veins popped out on the back of the hand gripping the railing.
He finally understood where that ominous premonition came from; it wasn't a problem if it didn't come, but when it came, it was deadly!
"Thump, thump, thump!"
A rapid knocking on the door brought Ren back to his senses. He quickly went to the door and opened it, seeing Shio and the other two standing there, with Yao's hand still raised in mid-air.
"Captain, outside..."
"Alright, come in first."
Suzuki spoke haltingly, but before he could finish, Ren stepped aside and interrupted him.
"Yes!"
After entering the room, Ren glanced out the window again before returning inside and said in a deep voice to the three who were still unaware of the situation.
"Trouble. A large number of Stone Ninja are heading this way. Stay here for now, don't wander around."
It's best not to get involved in such matters. He couldn't afford to offend either of the newly arrived parties at the moment.
"Captain, we just saw some people wearing Kumogakure headbands destroying houses in that direction. Could the Stone Ninja be here because of them?"
Ren glanced at Shio, who had spoken, and did not deny it. Instead, he nodded, his tone becoming serious.
"That's right, the old man leading them is the Third Raikage."
"!!!"
The three immediately widened their eyes, staring blankly at Ren. Even Suzuki, who was usually lively, became a bit stammering.
"The, the Third Raikage?!"
None of them had expected that a simple intelligence mission would lead them to encounter a Kage of a Village. That was one of the most powerful and important figures in the entire Ninja World, just like the Hokage. If they encountered him, would they still have a chance to live?
"Get ready for battle, we..."
Before Ren could finish, he suddenly turned around, his expression turning ugly.
"Crack!"
The sound of wood splintering came, and the next moment, the wall was broken open. A lightning ball flashed out, striking towards the people inside the room.
"Prepare for battle!"
At such close range, there was no time to form hand seals. As Ren retreated, he pulled an Exploding Tag from his Ninja tool pouch and threw it. In the blink of an eye, the Exploding Tag flew into the lightning ball, then a white light shone in the air and suddenly exploded!
"Boom!"
Flames and black smoke shot out, making the already damaged house even worse. A large hole was directly blasted in the roof, and the cold wind from outside blew into the room, but the few people had no time to pay attention to these things.
They stood up from the smoke and dust, covered in a large amount of dust, looking extremely disheveled.
"Battle is battle, but destroying houses is really f-ing unethical. I..."
Ren stood up, muttering curses. Just as he was about to say something more, his voice abruptly stopped.
As the house was destroyed and the smoke dispersed, everything around them came into view. To the right was the Third Raikage in his lightning armor and several Kumogakure Ninja. To the left, a dense mass of figures stretched as far as the eye could see. The many Stone Ninja Ren had seen earlier had already arrived, filling the town's streets and houses.
Tens of thousands of eyes were focused on Ren and his group, and the atmosphere became somewhat stagnant.
"That was the sound of an Exploding Tag just now. These guys are Ninja too!"
"Hmph, they must be spies from another country. Kill them!"
Deafening shouts of killing echoed endlessly. The footsteps that had stopped were raised again, forming an overwhelming steel torrent that charged towards Ren and the Raikage's two groups.
"Damn it, what are you standing around for? Run!"
Seeing this scene, Ren's scalp immediately tingled. Just as he was about to run, he saw the three still foolishly standing still, and he immediately became furious, unable to help but curse.
"Oh... oh!"
Only then did the three react. Their faces turned pale after seeing the tens of thousands of Stone Ninja charging at them, and they immediately followed Ren and started running.
As for the intelligence, what was the point of looking for it? They were almost dead, so what use was intelligence?
"Go, enter the mountains. Let's shake off those guys first!"
"Yes!"
The four ran desperately towards the mountains, but as they ran, Ren noticed several figures suddenly appearing not far away. The old man leading them was shirtless, with a "Lightning" tattoo on his right shoulder—it was the Third Raikage and his group.
"Hey, little brats over there, which Village are you from?"
"Huh?"
Ren subconsciously turned his head, only to realize that the Third Raikage was speaking to them. Remembering the lightning ball Ninjutsu from earlier, Ren immediately felt a surge of anger, so his tone was not very good.
"You don't need to know which Village we're from, gentlemen. For now, you should worry about yourselves."
Ren's tone immediately provoked dissatisfaction among the Kumogakure Ninja following the Third Raikage, who all angrily rebuked Ren.
"What are you, daring to speak to our Lord Raikage like that?"
"Exactly, brat, hurry up and apologize to our Lord Raikage, or you will definitely regret it!"
It was better if they didn't speak. As soon as they did, Ren's anger flared instantly. With killing intent surging, he cursed loudly.
"Get lost, all of you! What are two Jonin and four Chunin shouting about here? If it weren't for you dog-things recklessly using Ninjutsu just now, I wouldn't have been exposed.
If it weren't for your Raikage and those Stone Ninja bastards behind us, I would kill you all today and take you to the exchange office for money!"
Ren's furious scolding and the surging killing intent emanating from him instantly silenced everyone present.
For a moment, besides the shouts of the Stone Ninja behind them and the whistling wind in their ears from their rapid movement, there was no other sound.
"You..."
The few Kumogakure Ninja were about to retort but were suppressed by the killing intent released by Ren. A drop of cold sweat appeared on their foreheads and ran down their cheeks.
Although Ren appeared much younger than them, the lives he had taken were no less than theirs, or even more. Coupled with the suppression in terms of strength, it directly silenced them.
"Hmm? Interesting."
Looking at the killing intent mixed with a sharp aura emanating from Ren, a hint of curiosity appeared on the Third Raikage's face.
It seemed that the three children behind him also looked to this young man as their leader. Such an aura was far stronger than that of an average Jonin. Which Village's genius was this?
Meanwhile, Shio and the other two behind Ren were stunned. Their captain was too fierce; he actually cursed at the Raikage to his face. It felt... Captain was so cool!
At this moment, the group also rushed into the mountains. Originally, Ren planned to take the three youngsters and change paths to get away from these guys, but he didn't expect the sudden appearance of a large amount of Chakra from both sides, which made Ren's face even darker. He then glared at the side; if the situation wasn't so urgent, Ren would have wanted to eat the other party alive.
Needless to say, they must all be here for these guys. They were inexplicably dragged into this, it was simply an unjust death!