Just a moment ago.
The seven-man Iwa ninja squad was swiftly making its way through the forest.
Suddenly, Han, the leader, came to a halt.
Seeing this, the others stopped as well.
"What's wrong, Han?" one of them asked.
Han raised his hand, signaling them to be quiet, then closed his eyes, carefully sensing the changes in his chakra.
A few seconds later, a wisp of dark red chakra suddenly emerged from his body. Its ominous aura caused the six surrounding ninjas to instinctively step back.
In fact, four of the special jounin had already prepared to activate the sealing techniques they had for dealing with the Five-Tails.
But to their surprise, it was a false alarm. The dark red chakra only lingered for a few seconds before disappearing entirely.
Han reopened his eyes, subtly glancing at the four who had been ready to form seals, and then spoke, "Someone was spying on me just now, which upset the beast inside."
Without further explanation, he immediately activated his Boil Release.
His chakra surged to its boiling point, using the steam to propel his armor and himself forward, rapidly closing the distance toward where Aoba was located.
Just moments ago, he had sensed the source of the spying gaze, thanks to the chakra of the Five-Tails.
Without hesitation, he bolted straight in that direction.
Watching Han charge away, the remaining six members of the squad exchanged glances and quickly followed.
Although their mission was to assist Han in preventing Aoba and his team from escaping, an even more critical task was to keep an eye on Han.
While Han's condition had stabilized considerably, and he harbored no ill will toward the village, he was still a Jinchuuriki. No matter what, he couldn't be allowed out of their control.
Thus, they kept close watch on him at all times.
...
A dozen seconds later.
Aoba observed the towering figure shrouded in steam, barreling through the forest. He muttered to himself, "So this is Boil Release? What a terrifying power!"
He quickly calculated the difference in speed between himself, Hinata Ringo, and Han, as well as the distance separating them.
Ultimately, he reached a conclusion—at their current pace, they wouldn't be able to regroup with the main force before Han caught up.
Since fleeing mindlessly wasn't an option, there was no need to keep running.
He had been eager to test Han's strength, anyway.
With that, Aoba turned to Hinata Ringo and said, "He's too fast. I'll stay here to hold him off for a bit. You should hurry back and report this to the others."
"But..." Hinata Ringo hesitated, his expression troubled. He wanted to say more, but Aoba cut him off immediately.
"Just go! Don't waste time."
Seeing Aoba's resolute attitude, Hinata Ringo glanced at the fast-approaching Han.
Finally, gritting his teeth, he said, "Alright. But don't engage in a direct fight with him. There are six more on their way. I'll bring reinforcements as soon as I can."
With that, he activated the Body Flicker Technique and swiftly left Aoba behind.
Watching him go, Aoba cracked his neck and said, "Let's see what the Five-Tails Jinchuuriki is made of."
As he spoke, he began forming hand seals, and the three tomoe in his Sharingan spun rapidly, as if preparing to cast a genjutsu.
By this time, Han had closed the distance to less than thirty meters. Seeing Aoba's actions, he immediately lowered his head, allowing his straw hat to block his line of sight.
Aoba smirked at this, abandoning his hand seals midway, and swiftly pulled out six kunai from his pouch, throwing them in two volleys toward Han.
By the time Han realized something was amiss, the first set of kunai were already upon him.
But he didn't panic. Raising his right arm, he blocked them.
A series of sharp "clang clang clang" sounds rang out as the kunai bounced harmlessly off his arm.
Aoba's eyes narrowed slightly in surprise. He hadn't expected Han's armor to be so tough. If he wasn't mistaken, he had seen sparks fly from where the kunai had struck.
'Seems like regular kunai won't work... Luckily, I came prepared.'
With a flick of his wrists, three nearly invisible steel wires connected to the second set of kunai appeared.
Aoba transmitted a force through the wires, manipulating the kunai as they narrowly grazed past Han's body.
"Huh?" Han grunted, puzzled by the strange trajectory of the kunai.
But the next moment, his expression shifted.
The three kunai behind him suddenly crossed and then tightened, trapping him where he stood.
Under normal circumstances, Han wouldn't be too concerned, as his armor could withstand the steel wires' pressure. However, Aoba had already begun forming hand seals, clearly preparing to unleash a jutsu.
Without hesitation, Han channeled his chakra, bringing it to a boil and expelling it outward.
In an instant, the steam forced his armor to expand slightly, loosening the wires. Then, he withdrew his chakra, causing the armor to shrink again, creating a gap between the wires and the armor.
In that brief moment, Han formed a hand seal and used the Substitution Technique.
Like a slippery eel, he slipped out of the wires' grasp, leaving only a stone in his place.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
And just as Han escaped, Aoba unleashed his jutsu—Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!
Three streams of fire raced along the steel wires, engulfing the area where Han had been standing.
But before the flames could fully take effect, Aoba canceled the jutsu.
The next moment, a loud "whoosh" came from the side, accompanied by a sharp gust of wind.
Out of the corner of his eye, Aoba spotted the towering red figure of Han charging directly at him, the sheer force of his attack threatening to crush him.
Had this strike landed, it would likely have killed him.
But was that possible?
Ever since Han had used the Substitution Technique to avoid the Dragon Fire Technique, Aoba had been tracking his movements.
There was no way he would be caught off guard.
With a swift motion, Aoba leaped backward just in time, leaving behind only an afterimage for Han to collide with.
As Han's massive figure brushed past, Aoba drew his short sword, his Sharingan spinning rapidly as he aimed for the gaps in Han's armor.
If this strike landed, Han would either be gravely injured or killed.
Sensing the danger, Han instinctively released a burst of Boil Release chakra, spewing steam from the gaps in his armor.
A loud hissing noise filled the air.
Clouds of steam shot out from Han's armor, racing toward Aoba's face.
Feeling the searing heat in the steam, Aoba's expression changed. He couldn't take it head-on, so he quickly retracted his sword and leaped back again.
Even so, some of the steam grazed him, instantly causing blisters to form on his face and arms.
Feeling the painful burn from the scalding steam, Aoba frowned. Han was proving to be far more difficult than expected.
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