Tatsumi cautiously advanced through the forest, carefully surveying the surroundings.
At that moment, Choza suddenly approached, "Hey, Tatsumi."
"What's wrong?" Tatsumi turned his head. However, he felt a little awkward under the other's eager gaze.
"I'm a little concerned about what Nawaki said to you earlier. Um, are you and him... dating?"
As soon as Choza finished speaking, several pairs of eyes focused on Tatsumi.
Tatsumi was stunned, his eyes drifting towards Nawaki. Nawaki's gaze met his, and then his face began to turn red.
"No!!" Tatsumi immediately denied.
"Eh? Aren't you two in love?"
Tatsumi's eyes twitched slightly, but he still shook his head affirmatively.
Choza waved his hand, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not discriminating against homosexual relationships. True love has nothing to do with age, gender, or even species."
"What love are you talking about? You've got the wrong idea," Tatsumi said helplessly.
"Really? What a pity, I was hoping to discuss my experiences in that area with you," Choza said with some disappointment, his eyes glancing towards the blonde ponytail-wearing Inoichi.
Everyone laughed for a moment, and the oppressive atmosphere that had gathered due to fear began to dissipate.
Tatsumi, who had been a little worried, gradually relaxed.
After all, you can't control the feeling of fear. It sometimes comes inexplicably, especially when you are on a battlefield full of people and killing. And an unfamiliar environment will undoubtedly amplify this fear infinitely.
But Choza dispelled it with just a joke. Tatsumi also admired the other party.
He felt a little emotional, it seems that the Akimichi clan are all people with rough exteriors but delicate minds.
Tatsumi suppressed these thoughts and continued to lead the way.
Now that they were halfway there, there were still no traces of Iwagakure ninjas around.
Without a Jonin leading the team, they had to be cautious if they wanted to break through the enemy's defenses.
Besides the distance limitation, Big White's detection also couldn't observe the situation below the ground.
At this time, if there were ninjas using Earth Release to ambush them from underground, it would indeed be a very troublesome matter.
Tatsumi stepped on a smooth branch and then leaped forward a long distance.
A tingling sensation came from Tatsumi's neck, this was Big White's signal that he had sensed a ninja.
Tatsumi immediately issued a warning. A moment later, a red flare streaked across the sky.
The flare came from his right side, not far away. This type of flare was a Konoha ninja's SOS signal.
In just a moment, a bold idea arose in Tatsumi's mind. Therefore, he decided to save them.
"Be careful yourselves, I'll quickly take care of them, don't get surrounded."
After saying that, he rushed towards the location without hesitation.
In less than half a minute, Tatsumi arrived at the location of the SOS signal.
What appeared before him was a three-man squad. The opponents were not Iwa ninjas but Suna ninjas.
Tatsumi glanced and saw that two Suna Jonin were besieging another Jonin. And another Suna ninja was single-handedly toying with three Chunin.
The opponent didn't seem to have a Jonin leading the team...
...Or rather, they were all Suna Jonin.
In this situation, if Tatsumi hadn't come, this squad would probably have been wiped out. After all, the value of not abandoning teammates is popular now.
At this time, the three Chunin were already unable to hold on. Tatsumi directly pounced towards that Suna ninja.
The blood-red Sharingan spun wildly, Tatsumi adjusted the angle of the kunai while running.
In just a moment, the kunai shot out like a cannonball with a booming sound, heading straight for the enemy's back.
Tatsumi also drew a residual line, approaching the opponent like a black flash.
The fighting Suna ninja was also startled. He thought that Konoha's reinforcements had arrived. But when he looked closely, only a kid in his teens was rushing over.
This made his inner vigilance return.
In his opinion, rushing over without recognizing the difference in strength was extremely stupid.
What did it matter if there were three or four people? For him, it was just a massacre.
But just after a moment of distraction, the whistling kunai had already arrived in front of him.
Damn it, what the hell, is this a cheat!
This kind of fierce attack immediately reminded him of a nightmare—Konoha White Fang.
The kunai flashing with black luster gave him the same dangerous feeling as Konoha White Fang's short sword.
...There's no way, having already missed the reaction time, he can only sacrifice a puppet.
Under the control of the chakra in his hand, the puppet substitute was quickly activated!
Then, in the next instant, the puppet, made of solid wood and cast in steel on the outside, was instantly penetrated by the kunai as if it were made of paper. The kunai that penetrated the puppet did not decrease in speed and shot into the ground.
"Boom...", after the smoke cleared, a large crater was also created on the ground.
Accompanied by the shattering of the puppet, Tatsumi also exclaimed slightly. He did not expect that this kind of monster strength throwing would be so destructive to the puppet.
But thinking about it, under the blessing of this speed, coupled with the sharp tip of the kunai, what can't be penetrated with this point-to-surface contact?
The Suna ninja who escaped with the puppet replacement was also shocked. He immediately cheered up and raised the kid's danger level by several points.
The Suna ninja cursed inwardly, "Are the Anbu eating shit? Why is there no information at all."
He had already made up his mind that if he returned alive this time, he would definitely complain about the Anbu's intelligence department.
Taking advantage of the other party's distraction, Tatsumi appeared behind the Suna ninja. His kunai quickly slashed down.
The Suna ninja's chakra line shook in his hand, and another puppet blocked the kunai.
The kunai and the puppet collided. This time the puppet was not damaged at all.
The Suna ninja's face lit up with joy. It seemed that not every attack could easily destroy the puppet. The Suna ninja, who had blocked the attack, began to quickly form hand seals.
Suddenly, a shadow connected to the Suna ninja's body along the ground. The hands that were originally forming seals also stopped.
Tatsumi took a closer look and found Shikaku, who had finally arrived.
"This is not your battle alone," Shikaku said with a chuckle.
Tatsumi calmly took out a kunai and directly stabbed it into the other party's head.
————————————————————
Don't forget to review & vote if you're enjoying the story.
If you spot any errors or mistakes, feel free to tag or comment so they can be fixed.
Stay tuned for more!