### Chapter 11: Turn Into My Shiny Silver!
"Yes, there are, and quite a few."
Kyouko spoke up.
The Iwagakure ninja were arguably the ultimate practitioners of the "zerg rush" strategy.
No complex maneuvers needed, just pile on the numbers.
The most typical battle was sending ten thousand ninja to fight the Third Raikage.
Kyouko couldn't even imagine what that scene looked like.
A valley filled with a sea of people, all ninja, running together through the mountains chasing the Third Raikage—would they even fit?
"There are enemies here."
Kakashi nodded, corroborating Kyouko's words.
As they conversed, they deliberately kept their voices low and turned their backs to the Iwagakure ninja to avoid being overheard or having their lips read.
"It seems only Kyouko and Kakashi discovered them the fastest this time; the others were slower."
Minato Namikaze nodded.
It worked out well: Kakashi's team and Kyouko's team each had a sensory-type ninja.
"My path ahead won't coincide with yours for much longer, so from now on, you'll have to solve troubles on your own."
Minato Namikaze intended to train these two squads.
With him here now, even if there were any mistakes, he could stop them instantly with the Flying Thunder God Technique.
"Yes."
Kakashi responded in a low voice.
He tried to approach the area quietly, but just as he moved, shuriken flew out from the distant bushes with whooshing sounds.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Kakashi quickly drew his tantō (short sword) and deflected the three shuriken.
"The enemy has already discovered us!"
Kakashi felt a bit regretful that he hadn't seized the opportunity; it seemed they had to fight head-on.
"Hehe, my turn to shine!"
Obito quickly formed hand seals and shouted:
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Poof...
A tiny fireball was spat out by Obito.
"Cough, cough..."
In his nervousness, he made a mistake in releasing the ninjutsu.
"The Konoha ninja have discovered us; we can only fight to the death!"
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja frowned.
He recognized Minato Namikaze as the leader. He had originally planned to hide here and wait for Minato to leave before seeing if they could ambush any stragglers.
But realizing the group was whispering secretly, his thirty-plus years of veteran experience instantly told him they had been discovered.
So the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja prepared to catch the enemy off guard, but unexpectedly, he failed to ambush a single person.
"Captain!"
Another younger Iwagakure ninja threw two more shuriken.
Just as Kakashi was about to use his tantō to knock them down as he did before, Kyouko moved.
Kyouko quickly formed three hand seals: Dog, Horse, Bird, taking about one and a half seconds in total.
Then Kyouko swiftly pulled out two metallic shuriken from his ninja tool pouch, infusing the Wind Release chakra in his hand into them.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
The wind-infused shuriken flew faster than ordinary ones, and their sharpness was greatly increased.
By integrating part of the Missing-nin Kyouko's talent, Kyouko's mastery of Wind Release chakra had strengthened significantly.
For example, this kind of manipulation was something he couldn't accomplish in the past!
Clang! Clang!
Kyouko threw the wind-wrapped shuriken, easily knocking away the young Iwagakure ninja's shuriken.
Immediately after, two fireballs erupted. With a booming explosion, the resulting blast wave blew the leaves backward and swayed the grass.
At such close range, the young Iwagakure ninja was directly blasted into a bloody mess, emitting a smell of smoke.
"What happened?"
Genma Shiranui couldn't see clearly what had happened.
Kakashi was also puzzled, but he realized it in the next moment.
Explosive tags!
The enemy had attached explosive tags to the handles. If he had used his tantō to knock them away, they would have exploded right in front of him!
Thinking of this, Kakashi couldn't help but glance at Kyouko.
Without Kyouko, he would have definitely suffered a big loss just now.
"Thanks, future me."
Kyouko said in his heart.
Actually, he hadn't discovered it either.
But he had the Missing-nin Kyouko, whom only he could see, floating beside him.
The Missing-nin Kyouko told Kyouko this detail, allowing Kyouko to act.
"Beautiful."
Minato Namikaze nodded slightly.
He was just about to intervene, but luckily Kyouko's reaction speed was faster.
The ninja world is a world dependent on hand speed.
The faster the hand speed, the faster the ninjutsu release.
"Daiko!"
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja shouted the name of the young ninja who had just been blown up. Unfortunately, the ninja named Daiko had his brains blown out and was as dead as could be.
Then Kyouko held his kunai, ready to enter the fray and harvest.
Just now, the explosive tags not only killed one but also affected the remaining three Iwagakure ninja to varying degrees.
Fighting a wounded Chunin? That should be a piece of cake.
More importantly, generally, whoever defeats the enemy has the right to dispose of the enemy's belongings.
Thinking of his massive loan, Kyouko couldn't help but swing his kunai.
Sorry, enemies.
Turn into my shiny silver!
Clang!
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja drew his katana and blocked Kyouko's kunai, sparks flying from the clash of weapons.
He was experienced and intended to use technique to flick Kyouko's kunai away, but his arm had been affected by the explosion, making it difficult to execute.
Kyouko kept pressing the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja.
Seeing this, Kakashi didn't stop either and went straight to duel another enemy.
"Ninja Art: Senbon Rain!"
Genma Shiranui puffed out his cheeks and spat the senbon from his mouth.
Then he formed hand seals, and the senbon instantly turned into dense phantom shadows, all stabbing towards the last Iwagakure ninja.
Rin Nohara, like Kurenai Yuhi, observed the situation, ready to provide support.
Obito picked at his mouth. Releasing the "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique" required gathering Fire Release chakra in the throat. Because of the mistake just now, his throat was burning.
He had the illusion that a canker sore was growing in his throat.
"Damn it, the power of two explosive tags was too great."
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja felt aggrieved.
"I've practiced swordsmanship for twenty years; how could I lose to you!"
He roared, planning to make a final desperate stand.
Squelch.
Kyouko stabbed a kunai into the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja's abdomen and twisted it to the right, instantly shredding his internal organs.
Thud.
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja fell down with a look of unwillingness.
"Did you think this was 'Don't bully the middle-aged poor'?"
Kyouko shook his head.
Aside from the first Iwagakure ninja who was blown up, the one he just fought had the heaviest injuries.
Sometimes, rage is just rage.
Just like a math problem—even if you get angry, you can only stare at it helplessly.
At this moment, Kakashi also defeated the remaining enemy, leaving one alive to interrogate for intelligence.
"Good job."
Minato Namikaze praised the group.
Except for Obito being overly nervous, everyone performed well.
"Kyouko, you don't need to search so urgently."
Minato Namikaze watched Kyouko impatiently looting the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja's corpse and couldn't help but smile wryly.
"Okay."
Kyouko slowed down his looting speed.
But loot still had to be looted.
After all, ninja equipment had to be paid for out of pocket