"What kind of attack was that?"
"He actually relied on taijutsu alone to..."
"As expected, we can't underestimate him."
The three Iwa shinobi looked at Duy, who had just withdrawn his fist, with shock, surprise, and solemn expressions.
They had not expected taijutsu to possess such destructive power.
That had only been taijutsu.
With their eyesight, they could tell that much.
It was just that they had never expected taijutsu to have this level of destructive force, and that left them deeply astonished.
This middle-aged man with strange looks and odd behavior was a powerful taijutsu shinobi.
Buzz buzz buzz.
At this moment.
A sudden, dense, ear-piercing electric screech rang out, like the cry of a thousand birds.
It was impossible to ignore.
The three Iwa shinobi instinctively looked over.
They saw Kakashi with lightning surging in his right hand, the blinding electric glow dazzling to the eye, his body lowered as he thrust forward.
His sharp gaze locked onto the three ahead, his speed extremely fast, and the distance between them was already closing.
"Chidori."
A cold murmur came from Kakashi's mouth.
This A-rank Lightning Release ninjutsu, developed by him alone, unleashed its fierce power at this moment.
Lightning raged and surged.
Its piercing power was immense, enough to punch straight through a human body.
A low shout of warning rang out.
The three Iwa shinobi suppressed their shock and turned serious.
As ANBU shinobi, their reactions were naturally not slow, and they had already moved.
The three of them retreated at the same time, avoiding the sharp edge of the attack for the moment, intending to evade Kakashi's charge.
Although the opponent's offensive was swift and his timing excellent, it was still not enough to threaten them.
"Bakudō #30, Shitotsu Sansen."
At that very instant, along with those words, came three streaks of golden light shooting through the air.
The three golden streaks were like locks, biting onto one of their bodies.
"A sealing jutsu?!"
His body and movements restricted, Taiseki's face changed drastically, the aura of death enveloping his heart.
He shouted in terror, "Save me, quick!!"
Buzz buzz buzz!
The electric screech drew closer and closer.
Kakashi naturally would not miss this opportunity. In his eyes, there was only one target, Taiseki, whose movements had been sealed. In his eyes, the man was already dead.
Watching Kakashi, holding lightning in hand, getting closer and closer, Taiseki was completely unable to respond in that instant, and despair replaced the look in his eyes.
In the end, he could only let out an unwilling and meaningless roar.
Slash.
It was like the sound of a blade piercing flesh, accompanied by the cry of Chidori.
Kakashi's right hand, wrapped in lightning, pierced through Taiseki's chest, his hand thrusting out from his back.
Blood instantly sprayed into the air, splattering across Kakashi's cold face.
"Taiseki?!"
"Damn it!!"
Only after leaping aside did Mahiru and Kakkō react, but it was already too late.
Their eyes were filled with rage and killing intent.
"Damn Konoha shinobi, you can die too!!"
Watching his companion die before his eyes, Kakkō was furious to the extreme.
Chakra flowed through his body, his hands began forming seals, and he shouted in a low voice, "Earth Release: Earth Stone Dragon!"
As the ninjutsu was activated.
The ground beneath his feet began to crack apart.
Chunks of mud and stone formed into a massive earthen dragon with astonishing presence.
The earthen dragon opened its mouth in a silent roar.
Its body surged forward, charging at Kakashi, who had just withdrawn his right hand.
Its force was ferocious, as if it wanted to tear Kakashi to pieces.
"Don't rush, one at a time. A family should die neatly together, he won't keep you waiting for long."
Seiryū stepped out with Shunpo, flashing in front of Kakashi.
Buzz buzz buzz.
In his hand, a high-speed rotating Planetary Rasengan pressed forward, colliding with the incoming earthen dragon.
Amid a thunderous blast.
The earthen dragon exploded and shattered under the impact of the large Rasengan.
Mud and stone shot everywhere.
"Bakudō #61, Rikujōkōrō."
After that, Seiryū raised his hand again and cast another Bakudō.
Rikujōkōrō appeared out of thin air, pinning Kakkō, who had just attacked.
Shitotsu Sansen and Rikujōkōrō looked similar.
But there was a difference.
This one was faster.
One had to be fired from Seiryū's hand, which took more time to lock onto the enemy. The other appeared out of thin air, leaving even less time to react.
Battle intelligence is extremely important in a fight between shinobi.
Unaware of Seiryū's techniques, Kakkō was caught at this moment.
"Damn it!"
His body locked in place, Kakkō's face showed fear and panic.
Taiseki's death from just moments ago was still vivid in his mind.
He did not want to end up the same way.
His hands grabbed at the six beams of light biting into his body, trying to tear them apart.
But he discovered they were far tougher than he had imagined, and he could not break them in a short time.
His face became even more terrified and anxious, and he hurriedly shouted to his remaining companion, Mahiru, "Mahiru, hurry and help me!"
"Don't even think about it, just wait obediently for death."
Seiryū curled his lips into a faint smile.
He formed seals and fired a Byakurai, interfering with Mahiru's movements and preventing him from getting close.
At the same time, he called out to Duy, "Uncle Duy, leave him to you!"
As soon as he finished speaking.
Seiryū stepped forward and charged directly at Mahiru.
"I understand!"
Duy had already dashed out through the air.
Each step caused the air to explode with a booming sound.
The chakra cloak around his body flickered like flames, turning into a streak of green light as he closed in.
"Once you meet on the battlefield, you are enemies. Showing mercy to the enemy is cruelty to your comrades."
Duy looked at Kakkō, whose movements had been sealed by Seiryū, and spoke in a calm tone, "So I won't hold back."
He did not like killing.
But he also understood one thing, on the battlefield, there was no room for even the slightest hesitation.
If his softness caused his comrades to fall into danger, that would be the one thing that should never happen.
"I can only say I'm sorry."
Letting out a slow breath, Duy's gaze turned firm, and the muscles of his battle-hardened right arm bulged like granite, veins throbbing one after another.
Then he threw a fierce punch.
The air in front of him seemed to explode beneath that single blow.
The friction of his fist against the air created flames, the fire wrapping around his fist as it smashed heavily into Kakkō's chest.
Bang! Crack!
A muffled impact sounded first, followed by the crisp sound of bones breaking.
Under Duy's punch, Kakkō's chest caved in, and he spat out a mouthful of blood with a "wah," his eyes bloodshot and bulging with veins.
His whole body was blasted away like a cannonball, and with a loud boom, he slammed heavily into a thick tree trunk.
The trunk caved inward into a pit, wood chips flying everywhere. Kakkō's body was embedded into the trunk, and by the time anyone looked again, he had already stopped breathing.
"H-How could this be..."
Watching his two companions get killed one after another in such a short span of time, the only one left, Mahiru, could no longer hide the fear in his eyes.
What was wrong with these people?
No, it was this brat charging toward him!
This guy was the key.
Those two sealing techniques had instantly locked down Taiseki and Kakkō, leaving them unable to evade the fatal attacks.
They had been killed in an instant.
He had never seen sealing techniques like these before.
Without being prepared for them, it was almost impossible to dodge.
At this moment, Mahiru had already lost any thought of resisting.
He had only one idea left, to run!
He was so flustered and terrified that he had even forgotten he still had the option to surrender.
(To be continued.)
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◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 200 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on Pat if you're interested: p-atreon.c-om/Blownleaves (Just remove the hyphen to access normally.)