"Elder Brother, the captain has been killed."
"Second Brother, the captain has been killed."
The death of the Sunagakure captain stirred a brief ripple among the attackers, but the disturbance faded almost instantly. On the battlefield, death was constant, and grief could only be swallowed and turned into strength. More often, however, grief simply meant retreat. If even their captain had fallen, what hope did the others have?
Hayashi, the cause of the captain's death, paid no attention to the murmurs. He was already moving toward the enemy's flank, his presence sweeping through the battlefield like a silent storm.
At this moment, nothing could halt his advance.
While sprinting, he hooked his right hand into the pouch at his thigh, pulling out several shuriken in one smooth motion. Without interrupting his pace or applying extra force, he let his speed turn the spinning metal into lethal projectiles.
Several enemy shinobi dropped with clean cuts across their necks before they even realized they had been hit. The Konoha genin who had been fighting them blinked in confusion as the enemies collapsed.
"This... Did I awaken some kind of powerful kekkei genkai?" the genin murmured, staring at his own hands in disbelief.
Hayashi didn't even spare him a glance. The ninja world truly had all kinds of people. Missionaries, rappers, oddballs, and now someone who mistook coincidence for enlightenment.
In chaotic combat, one rule was absolute—never stay still. In his past life, Hayashi had been in more than a few brawls, and the lesson had stuck with him. The moment he finished one opponent, he was already charging toward the next.
Ahead stood a large Sunagakure shinobi, clearly one who relied on brute strength. The man noticed Hayashi charging toward him and smiled cruelly. Raising the long blade in his hand, he swung down with violent force.
Hayashi sidestepped slightly, slipping past the arc of the blade. His right hand lifted, kunai angled upward to intercept the strike.
A sharp clang rang out. The moment their weapons met, the Sunagakure ninja felt the blade jolt unsteadily.
Hayashi curled his left middle finger and flicked it against the back of the man's weapon. The Sunagakure shinobi's eyes widened—his grip loosened involuntarily.
In the next instant, Hayashi seized the back of the blade with his left hand, stepped forward, and smoothly tore the weapon from the man's grasp.
The enemy tried to retreat. But shinobi who relied heavily on physical strength rarely excelled in speed. Only a select few in the entire world possessed both overwhelming power and incredible swiftness, like the Raikage. This man was no such rarity.
To Hayashi, his movements were painfully slow.
As Hayashi's arm swung upward, the stolen blade slashed across the Sunagakure shinobi's chest, carving deep into muscle and sending blood spraying freely. The man collapsed, choking on his own breath.
Hayashi pulled the blade free as lightning flickered along his right hand. A Chidori formed instantly.
His genjutsu wove silently into the senses of the next enemy. In the same moment, Hayashi drove the Chidori straight through the shinobi's torso. Using the corpse as a shield, he darted forward ten meters, shuriken and kunai bouncing harmlessly off the dead weight.
With the Sharingan's prediction guiding him, Hayashi locked onto a second target. Lightning still propelling his body, he crossed the distance before the enemy even reacted and pierced him cleanly with the same Chidori.
He moved across the battlefield like a force of nature, taking down three Sunagakure shinobi in quick succession.
By the time the fourth enemy realized what was happening, two dying comrades were still in the air, their bodies suspended mid-fall. Desperate, the shinobi thrust his sword straight through the two wounded allies, aiming directly for Hayashi who was behind them.
Hayashi ducked his head, dropping low. The long blade in his hand thrust through the corpses at the same time. Steel brushed steel as the two weapons clashed inside the bodies.
"Chidori Sharp Spear."
Lightning erupted through both blades, surging toward the enemy's hands. The shinobi let out a muffled groan as the current ran through him.
Suddenly, three soft impacts sounded.
Three kunai embedded themselves into the bodies Hayashi was using as shields. Hayashi recognized the danger immediately. He released his grip and leapt back without hesitation.
The kunai weren't simple projectiles. Thin wires connected them to detonating tags hidden behind the rings.
If he had taken that explosion head-on, he would have been gravely injured even if he survived.
These Sunagakure shinobi didn't hesitate to destroy their comrades' corpses just to eliminate him. This was the cruelty of a shinobi war.
"Boom!"
A violent explosion tore through the battlefield. Blood rained down and splattered across Hayashi's clothes as he was thrown backward by the shockwave.
While airborne, he twisted his body. As he emerged from the cloud of smoke, three Sunagakure ninjas lunged at him simultaneously.
"Wind Release, Vacuum Sphere."
Hayashi exhaled several high-pressure wind bullets. The force propelled his body backward, shifting him out of the trajectory of the enemy attacks while striking the airborne enemies directly.
The three Sunagakure shinobi were hit mid-jump and fell before they could land.
Hayashi winced slightly and reached for the shuriken embedded in his arm and leg, pulling them out one by one. The earlier explosion hadn't seriously wounded him, but being blasted into the sky made it impossible to avoid every projectile.
He scanned the battlefield. The more troublesome enemies were already taken care of. The remaining ones could be handled by Minato, Nawaki, Orochimaru, and the other Konoha shinobi. They were far from inexperienced, and their coordinated combat was superior to most enemies of the same rank.
There was no need for him to linger here.
Toward the rear of the formation, Sakumo Hatake was engaged with several elite jonin while protecting the wounded.
"I'm heading to support Sakumo sama!" Hayashi shouted as he broke into a sprint.