The battle erupted among the mountains, rain pouring down as thunder rolled across the peaks.
"Kill!"
The Konoha reinforcements, once drowning in despair, now had bloodshot eyes. Seeing the corpses of their fallen comrades beside them, their bloodlust—like that of beasts—was ignited.
In contrast, the Suna ninja were fighting under pressure; after all, they had come here to set up an ambush.
Though outnumbered by their targets, there was a huge gap between the quality of the ninja on each side.
And even more so with Elder Chiyo present—a powerful ninja whom even the Third Kazekage treated with respect.
But everything changed when Sakumo Hatake's scouting squad joined the battlefield.
Chiyo, the strongest among the Suna forces, was now locked onto by Sakumo himself—and this time, he showed no sign of taking it lightly.
She knew full well that Tsuchigawa of Iwagakure had perished just days ago at this man's hands.
Chiyo understood something about Tsuchigawa's status within Iwagakure—he had been a close aide to the Third Kazekage, Onoki, and his mastery of Earth Release jutsu was unparalleled.
Even so, he still fell beneath Sakumo Hatake's blade.
Chiyo's strength naturally surpassed Tsuchigawa's, but she hadn't expected that against Sakumo, she'd be placed temporarily into such a passive position.
Six of the ten puppets under her control were destroyed by Sakumo within a minute. This kind of skill astonished her.
Yet her shock didn't end there.
The two puppets she used specifically against Minato were swiftly annihilated by him in just several exchanges.
Minato's movements were completely incongruous with his age.
After destroying those two puppets, Minato joined the fight against the Sand Ninja unit.
As for Chiyo, though Sakumo might not necessarily defeat her, he could certainly hold her back for now.
With all six of Chiyo's puppets destroyed, Sakumo found himself forced to stop his advance.
Although the number of enemies attacking him dropped from seven to four, the threat level hadn't decreased much at all.
Chiyo controlled her puppets using ten fingers; each one in her hands equaled a capable ninja.
However, as the number of puppets decreased from ten to four, the precision with which she manipulated them increased.
This meant that while the number of opponents had gone down, the remaining ones grew ever stronger.
Sakumo was naturally much faster than any of these four puppets. Yet instead of launching attacks directly at him, Chiyo scattered the puppets around herself to form a defensive formation.
Swish!
Sakumo's gaze sharpened instantly, and his figure vanished from the spot.
His Body Flicker Technique moved at astonishing speeds. Even among peers, Ryo Yagura—who specialized in physical techniques—lagged slightly behind.
But right now, Chiyo simply wasn't operating at his level.
It was just as hard for Chiyo to spot Sakumo. Yet with a slight twitch of her fingers, the heads of two puppets positioned on either side subtly tilted toward the direction Sakumo had approached from—and their mouths opened.
Swoosh! Swoosh!
In an instant, countless kunai and shuriken shot out.
Sakumo didn't even know how the puppets had fired such powerful weapons from their mouths—but he didn't care one bit.
He swept his chakra blade outward horizontally and pressed his other hand against its flat side.
"Chi chi!"
Wild blue lightning surged from the edge of the chakra tanto, slamming into the storm of incoming weapons.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
A wave of kunai and shuriken rained down. Such basic throwing techniques were practically useless against true powerhouses.
Even if Chiyo's ninja tools were coated in potent poison, it still made no difference.
Swish! Swish!
As Sakumo deflected Chiyo's attacks, two more puppets that had been stationed at the corners of her position now emerged directly in front of him.
Front and back, each pair of puppets formed a deadly formation—just like the one that once surrounded Chiyo. Now, they encircled Sakumo...
...
On the battlefield, Minato faced off against an enemy Jonin.
Unlike Iwa Ninja, Suna Ninja specialized most in Wind Release techniques. Across the Five Great Nations, only the Jonin of Kumogakure could rival their speed.
Still, Minato's opponent could do nothing but desperately defend himself.
"What the hell is this brat?!"
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Amidst the constant clash of steel, the Jonin's shock deepened. Before him, Minato's piercing sapphire eyes remained locked in focus, as if he had cleared all distractions from his mind.
His only thought now was to kill his opponent!
As the battle closed in, the Jonin began to fall behind. With an upward flick of his custom-made kunai, Minato shattered the older ninja's defensive guard.
Seizing the opening, Minato spun around and slammed a brutal kick into his opponent's abdomen.
Boom!
Though small in stature, Minato packed incredible force from the Nine-Tails' chakra, hurling his opponent half a meter backward. His chakra surged violently inside him, and he coughed up blood.
But the Jonin seized this moment, hands flashing through seals.
[Wind Release: Vacuum Great Sphere!]
At last, just as Minato lunged in, the Jonin unleashed his technique—a massive wind bullet the size of a human head hurtling straight at him.
"You want to die?!"
Delighted, the Jonin realized Minato had charged head-on, increasing the chance of a direct hit.
At such close range, escape was nearly impossible for someone using body flicker techniques.
Yet just as the blast neared Minato's face, less than an inch away—his form burst into a golden flash... and vanished completely.
Golden light flashed beside him in the next instant, and then the specially-made Kunai pierced into his side.
That searing pain shot through his body in an instant, making him freeze up for a moment.
"Slash!"
That was more than enough. Minato tightened his grip and forcefully pulled the Kunai outward. It tore straight from the jonin's lower back through his abdomen, spilling massive amounts of blood. His internal organs were completely severed by the Kunai.
Minato's method was brutal — but when it came to the human body, it was the deadliest strike imaginable. The jonin immediately lost his ability to fight and collapsed into a pool of blood, his body convulsing violently as he howled like a wounded beast.
His desperate cries even drew the attention of nearby ninja within the combat zone. When they saw this gory scene, despite being hardened warriors themselves, they couldn't help but feel their hearts tremble.
Eventually, the jonin's screams weakened and finally disappeared altogether—he was dead.
The Kunai in Minato's hand dripped with blood, mixing with rainwater as it fell upon the ground. In one swift motion, he spun around and locked eyes on his next target.
The Suna ninja who met Minato's gaze felt his heart shiver.
At this moment, it was as if he wasn't facing merely a ten-year-old boy from an opposing nation.
It was more like confronting an Asura (a wrathful demon) risen straight from the depths of hell itself.
...
(...to be continued.)
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