Chapter 44
The wind and sand lashed against Saitama's face as he lay motionless, like a corpse buried in the desert. A scorpion had been crawling near his nose for a while before it finally scuttled off, uninterested. A thick layer of yellow sand had already covered his body, but Saitama's eyes remained fixed in one direction, unwavering.
The enemy ninja captured earlier—also named Saitama, ironically—had spilled everything he knew after his defeat. Now, this Saitama was guarding the very supply route the traitor had revealed.
The wind howled across the dunes. This area was deep in Sunagakure's territory, and danger lurked in every direction.
In the distance, several dark figures appeared, running swiftly across the sand. The storm of grit and wind didn't seem to slow them down.
Saitama narrowed his eyes, sharpening his focus on the figures, trying to gauge their strength from afar.
"Shh-shh," came the soft sound of feet against sand as the figures closed in. Saitama didn't move. He had blended so well into the terrain that he looked like part of the desert itself. There were nine figures in total. At least two of them radiated the chakra and bearing of jōnin, and Saitama knew his team likely couldn't take all of them head-on.
Looking across the dune opposite him, Saitama located Captain Moonlight Masano based on their prearranged positions.
He saw Masano subtly press a hand downward—a signal. Then he went still again.
Saitama stifled his breathing, suppressing his chakra to the minimum.
It had been two days since their infiltration began. So far, their only success was ambushing a four-man food transport squad guarded by chūnin.
Sunagakure placed high importance on supply logistics. In the past, they always sent a jōnin to escort the convoys. But after suffering repeated ambushes, they'd begun rotating in two jōnin irregularly to protect the shipments.