Chapter 101: Skirmish
As Kael and Minato ceased hostilities, the ground behind them trembled faintly. The main forces of both sides had entered the fray.
Kael glanced over Minato's shoulder. Though his vision was slightly blurred, he could make out the figures of Konoha shinobi—roughly seven or eight hundred of them at a glance. Clearly, Konoha had significantly strengthened its defenses against the Hidden Cloud in recent years.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Immediately after, the sound of two bodies cutting through the air came from behind Kael.
He didn't need to turn around; the tingling sensation on his back told him it was Killer B and his brother.
"Is this the commander of the Konoha camp? He's surprisingly young," Killer B remarked, looking at Minato with surprise.
The Raikage's son snorted coldly. "The commander here is still that old geezer Sarutobi Tsubasa. This blond guy is Konoha's genius Jonin—Namikaze Minato!"
"Oh? Yo, yo! So it's him. I've heard of this guy. If he falls here, those old fogies in Konoha will probably be heartbroken! Every, every!"
Ignoring B's bizarre rhyme, the Raikage's son charged at Minato without a word, only shouting back at Kael, "Send all your Hidden Hot Water ninja in!"
As the leaders of both sides engaged, the Konoha and Cloud shinobi clashed.
However, the few Hidden Hot Water shinobi, having received Kael's orders long ago, were all moving toward the edge of the battlefield.
Kael stood leisurely on the side, watching the fight.
The A-B brothers were enveloped in blue lightning, a faint Lightning Release Armor forming around them. They had clearly activated the Lightning Style Chakra Mode.
This nintaijutsu released lightning chakra from every tenketsu point, cloaking the user in chakra and electricity. It revitalized the body and allowed for the use of the Body Flicker Technique. As more chakra was poured in, both speed and defense increased.
Minato, at this point, hadn't even used the Flying Thunder God Technique yet. Relying solely on his own movement speed, he was casually fending off the A-B brothers' siege with his kunai.
Kael watched the battle between the three speed-type ninja with gusto. But the Raikage's son lost his patience. During a brief lull, he turned and roared at Kael, "Kael Cross! Why aren't you attacking? Does the Hidden Hot Water Village have a death wish?!"
The relaxed smile on Kael's face vanished instantly, replaced by icy coldness.
The Hidden Hot Water Village was his home in this world, and the Hidden Cloud wanted to destroy it!
This was bullying taken too far!
Kael quickly approached the center of the battlefield, his hands forming seals.
"Ninja Art: Summoning Jutsu!"
A powerful chakra fluctuation erupted from Kael's palm. A massive black summoning formula spread rapidly beneath his feet, covering a radius of a hundred meters.
The next moment, huge, conspicuous plumes of white smoke exploded into the dark blue sky. Towering figures gradually emerged from within.
The A-B brothers and Minato, who were in the midst of a fierce battle, all froze, stopping simultaneously to look at Kael.
"This is... Summoning Jutsu? What kind of summons are this huge! Our intel on the Hidden Hot Water never mentioned their ninja had this kind of ability..."
The Raikage's son's expression changed slightly, and Minato's reaction was the same.
"Kael! So his summons really are his true strength!"
A sense of danger rose simultaneously in the hearts of all three.
The white smoke slowly dispersed, revealing five summons of varying sizes.
Violent chakra fluctuations emanated from their bodies. Two of them even radiated waves of extremely dangerous spatial energy!
Most of the chakra in Kael's body was instantly drained, but a smile appeared on his lips.
These summons were his greatest asset in the Shinobi World!
"Kael, use your summons to pin down this blond brat!" the Raikage's son shouted, his face lighting up.
Minato was too fast. Even though he and Killer B had pushed their Lightning Style Chakra Mode to the limit of what they could bear without injury, they could still barely keep up with Minato's speed!
Massive summons possessed astonishing destructive power with every movement and were excellent at restricting a ninja's mobility.
"Alright, I'm coming!"
The corner of Kael's mouth curled up. The next moment, he leaped onto the Earth Dragon's back, and the massive beast surged toward Minato.
Rumble!
The ground shook. Both Konoha and Cloud shinobi couldn't help but look over.
A giant earthworm wriggling forward on the ground, its bulky body moving as fast as a rocket. The sheer power that caused the earth to tremble and crack just by moving instilled fear in the hearts of ninja on both sides.
When the Earth Dragon carried Kael to the battlefield of the A-B brothers and Minato, Kun Kun immediately began his prepared dance performance on the dragon's back. At the same time, Goldie activated Inferiority Glare, aiming it squarely at the Raikage's son.
Compared to Killer B, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, the Raikage's son was undoubtedly more susceptible to crowd control. Kun Kun and Goldie's mental taunts should be more effective on him.
At least, that's what Kael thought.
Sure enough, the next moment, the Raikage's son charged toward Kael with a ferocious expression. Killer B's face changed drastically; he hadn't reacted in time to stop his brother.
The Raikage's son even activated his Lightning Body Flicker, moving like a streak of blue lightning. Upon arrival, he attacked Kun Kun without a word. Compared to Goldie's Inferiority Glare, Kun Kun's Iron Mountain Shoulder clearly had a stronger taunt effect.
The next moment, a gray light flashed from the Earth Dragon's mouth. A petrification beam over ten meters in diameter erupted instantly, engulfing the Raikage's son. But immediately after, blue lightning exploded from within the gray column, illuminating half the sky. His figure burst free from the Earth Dragon's attack.
Kael's pupils shook.
Although lightning counters earth in the ninja world, taking a petrification beam head-on without a scratch was a bit unreasonable.
Just then, Killer B rushed to the Raikage's son's side, looking nervous. "Brother, are you okay?"
Only he knew that his brother had just overdrawn his Lightning Style Chakra Mode. The extreme lightning chakra would cause significant damage to his body.
Seeing the attack fail, Kael stopped Kun Kun's taunt. The A-B brothers were extremely experienced ninja. After falling for it once, they would quickly realize it was Kun Kun's dance causing the effect and would subconsciously avoid looking at it.
"Goldie! Mantis! Prepare for battle!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, the lightning chakra within Goldie boiled over, turning him into a thick beam of blue light that lunged at the A-B brothers.
The expressions on the A-B brothers' faces were as if they had seen a ghost. They exchanged a quick glance and exclaimed in disbelief:
"This! Is that the old man's dog?!"