Haruto Saito had already anticipated this outcome. Once Suto's corpse fell into the hands of the Anbu, they would undoubtedly investigate his identity, leading to confusion. How could a mere Jonin like Haruto Saito possibly kill Suto?
Previously, Haruto would have destroyed Suto's corpse to eliminate any doubts—if no one knew who the dead man was, there would be no questions. But this time, he chose not to, because he had a perfectly legitimate reason.
"He was unlucky and triggered multiple traps." Haruto gestured toward the large crater not far away and the still-burning trees. "He was already severely injured by the explosions before I finished him off."
"You certainly have good luck," White Fang said, a hint of amusement in his voice.
He had no reason to doubt Haruto's explanation. After all, he had been drawn to the area by the sounds of battle, and he had also heard the explosion of the traps. He could sense that it was caused by a large number of explosive tags being detonated through a mechanism.
"However, you were quite reckless. This forest is filled with traps. Suto triggered them multiple times, yet you didn't get caught in a single one." White Fang's tone shifted slightly. "That's luck, but don't let it make you complacent. Be more cautious in the future—traps don't discriminate."
"Understood," Haruto immediately nodded in response. He certainly wouldn't be so careless in the future—his luck-enhancing ability only lasted for twenty-four hours.
White Fang led Haruto out of the "minefield" and rejoined the other Anbu operatives. After exchanging intelligence, they resumed their systematic search of the area.
### Deep Into the Night
The large-scale sweep lasted until the latter half of the night.
In total, eight enemy scouts were killed, while six were captured—three of whom were severely injured and on the brink of death.
As for how many had escaped, that remained uncertain. The Konoha Anbu couldn't determine exactly how many operatives Iwagakure had sent.
Haruto had participated in the entire operation, though he hadn't managed to kill anyone else—not for lack of trying, but because he hadn't gotten the opportunity. There were too few enemies, the forest was too large, and he wasn't the only one in the Anbu with sensory abilities. Managing to find and eliminate even one enemy was already considered fortunate.
Many times, even if Haruto could detect an enemy using forbidden sensory techniques, by the time he got there, they had already fled.
### 3 A.M.
In the central region of Konoha's back mountain forest, beside a small river, a signal flare shot into the sky and exploded into flames.
The Anbu swiftly converged on the location. Soon, forty to fifty operatives had gathered, including White Fang, as well as team captains like Kiriike and Oni Shin. Several of Haruto's assassination squad colleagues also arrived, though he wasn't particularly familiar with them—he merely recognized their faces.
Under White Fang's orders, those who had spotted enemy activity shared their intel, helping to roughly estimate how many foes had been discovered but managed to escape.
White Fang then issued commands: "First squad, dismissed. Second squad, continue searching until dawn. The rest, return to base!"
"Yes, Captain!" The assembled Anbu responded in unison.
The first squad had a special role—assassination teams were not required to remain on standby at all times. White Fang's order for them to "dismiss" meant they were free to go about their business. Other Anbu members, however, had designated tasks—some were to return to rest and remain on standby, while others had to continue the search.
---
Haruto didn't return to the Anbu base. Instead, he headed back to Konoha Village, making his way home.
It was summer, and the days were long. By the time Haruto arrived home, the sky was already beginning to brighten. He went straight to his indoor training area, sat cross-legged on a meditation cushion, and—despite staying up all night—felt completely energized.
Opening his item space, he reached inside multiple times, retrieving over two hundred cards.
**The rewards for killing Suto!**
Haruto felt a surge of excitement. There was a high chance he had acquired all of Suto's mastered jutsu!
"Spirit, when I killed Suto, did I achieve the maximum drop rate?" he asked mentally.
"Maximum drop rate achieved," the Card Spirit replied.
As expected!
Normally, the drop rate couldn't be disclosed to Haruto, but if it reached the max, it no longer mattered—100% drop rate!
He began sorting through the cards.
Haruto first classified the over two hundred cards based on their color and pattern. Then, he specifically counted the jutsu cards. It took him over half an hour to go through them all—164 jutsu cards in total!
In other words, Suto had mastered 164 different techniques during his lifetime. That was a reasonable number, considering he was a quasi-Kage-level ninja. After decades of training, even without special methods to acquire jutsu, sheer talent and time would allow him to master one to two hundred techniques.
There was no doubt about Suto's exceptional talent—he wouldn't have reached quasi-Kage level otherwise.
#### Breakdown of the Jutsu Cards:
- **Basic and D-rank jutsu cards:** 26
- **C-rank jutsu cards:** 92 (including 73 Earth Release jutsu, with the rest being Wind and Fire Release techniques, plus some secret arts)
- **B-rank jutsu cards:** 33 (20 Earth Release, 6 Wind Release, 4 Fire Release, and 3 secret techniques)
- **A-rank jutsu cards:** 9 (4 Earth Release, 1 Wind Release, 1 Fire Release, and 2 secret techniques—one of which was classified as a forbidden technique)
- **S-rank forbidden techniques:** 4
Suto had mastered four S-rank forbidden techniques:
1. **Earth Release: Ground Explosion Rock Storm** – An offensive forbidden technique requiring massive chakra, dealing large-scale area damage.
2. **Earth Release: Heaven's Falling Wall** – A defensive forbidden technique creating a full-surround, impenetrable barrier, but requiring enormous chakra.
3. **Secret Art: Earth Prison Coffin** – The technique Suto used in his final attempt to kill Haruto.
4. **Secret Art: Weighted Earth Armor** – The stone armor technique Suto had instantly activated to shield himself during the second massive explosion.
From these cards, it was clear—Suto specialized in Earth Release. Though he possessed Wind and Fire chakra natures, he had mastered fewer jutsu in those categories, indicating that he rarely trained in them. His focus was clearly on Earth Release techniques.
Haruto began absorbing the cards.
He quickly realized—consuming cards was exhausting. Moreover, low-level jutsu were of little value. The Third Hokage had often said, "Mastery is more important than quantity." Otherwise, with the sheer number of jutsu he had learned, he would have dominated the world long ago.
Thus, acquiring too many low-level, non-redundant jutsu wasn't very beneficial—it barely enhanced his overall combat ability.
But high-level jutsu were a different story! Especially A-rank and S-rank techniques.
Among the nine A-rank jutsu he obtained, one stood out the most to Haruto—
A secret technique classified as a forbidden jutsu: **Secret Art: Hidden Earth Burrowing!**
Suto had relied on this technique to move underground for extended periods. Though it had limitations—it couldn't go too deep, and movement speed and sensory abilities were significantly reduced—it was still incredibly useful. It could be employed for infiltration, escape, or temporary evasion during battle!
After consuming all 164 jutsu cards, Haruto processed the influx of knowledge and turned his attention to the remaining 40-50 cards.
He picked up the first one and read the text at the top—
**True Sight Upgrade Card!**
"Huh?" Haruto exclaimed in surprise.
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