Drawing his sword, channeling chakra, and launching the attack happened in one swift motion. Otonashi charged out from the rocky beach, stepping onto the water's surface. The flanking ninja squad only saw a figure crackling with electricity rushing towards them. Before they could react, their lead ninja had been pierced through.
Drip...drip...
Fresh blood trickled down the blade. Otonashi twisted the hilt and fiercely kicked the lead ninja in the abdomen, sending him crashing into the group. The enemy scattered like birds and beasts. As the corpse splashed into the river, Otonashi bit down on his steel sword and formed hand seals.
Boar - Dog - Dragon
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
Above the great river, a water dragon instantly formed. Two ninjas on the left side, who hadn't even drawn their swords, were directly hit by the water dragon and fell into the river with a splash. But the remaining Cloud ninjas weren't fools. Shuriken were thrown, swords were drawn.
Water Wall!
As the water dragon dispersed, the second jutsu was already unleashed. The river water surged, forming a transparent wall in front of Otonashi. Swords, kunai, and shuriken were instantly stopped. Both sides locked eyes across the wall. The Cloud ninjas grinned ferociously and leaped.
"Lightning Style: Lightning Storm!"
A bolt of湛藍lightning came crashing down. Water conducts electricity, and the Water Wall instantly failed. Otonashi, standing in the river, was immediately enveloped by lightning, then poofed into smoke.
"It's a Shadow Clone!!"
The three leaping Cloud ninjas instantly broke out in cold sweat. Their eyes darted around frantically. Suddenly, the river water beneath their feet erupted, and a figure charged towards them.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three streaks of cold light flashed. Thin steel needles flew at incredible speed, exploding in bloody sprays on their bodies, inflicting a familiar pain.
Numbness and trembling.
Lightning Style?!
Their bodies paralyzed, Otonashi pressed his attack. With a swing of his sword, he cleaved the head of the leading Cloud ninja, twisting his body to avoid the spray of blood.
Clang!!
Swords clashed, but Otonashi pulled back, his free left hand forming seals and pressing against the opponent's chest.
Wind Style: Wind Spear!
Splash!
Two muffled sounds of water echoed. A fist-sized hole was blasted into the flying Cloud ninja's chest. His eyes widened in shock before he fell limply into the water. Otonashi stood on the water's surface, turning to fling a handful of steel needles at the last opponent.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Several bursts of fire and blood erupted simultaneously. The Cloud ninja who had just fallen into the water tried to retreat, but as he looked up, a steel sword came slashing down with tremendous force.
No!!
How could a hastily raised ninja sword block a downward strike? Blood spurted from his shoulder. Otonashi, ignoring the kunai thrust towards his abdomen, slid across the water and reversed his grip on the sword for a horizontal slash.
Spurt!
A jet of blood arced through the moonlight. Hearing the splash behind him, he saw Minato on the riverbank. The blond ninja smiled and nodded slightly before vanishing instantly.
"Retreat!"
The two Cloud ninjas who had used Lightning Storm, seeing their comrades wiped out in a few exchanges, fearfully chose to retreat. They needed to at least report the intel.
As the lead ninja stepped onto the riverbank, a flash of gold blurred past. A bright blue orb of chakra slammed into his chest.
When...?
The sound of cracking bones echoed in his ears. The terror of being ambushed again was still in his eyes when a kunai pierced his neck, the force throwing him back into the river.
A double kill in an instant. Namikaze Minato appeared effortlessly relaxed. Sheathing his kunai, he looked up at the teenager stepping onto the riverbank and smiled:
"Otonashi, well done."
Decisive action, appropriate force. He had instantly scattered the enemy without using any earth-shattering techniques that would compromise their stealth. Even Minato couldn't find fault.
"It's not as impressive as Minato-sensei's Flying Thunder God Technique." Otonashi wasn't just flattering. This teleportation jutsu was truly eye-opening.
"You're still young. You'll learn even more powerful techniques sooner or later." As someone who also fought with his mind, Minato found himself increasingly pleased with Otonashi. He couldn't help but offer guidance: "It's good that you're not confined to a single type of ninjutsu. The more versatile you are, the harder it is for the enemy to counter."
Otonashi smiled. His taijutsu was slightly stronger, but he was an all-rounder. He could kill with any means at his disposal.
Before the two could continue their mutual praise, with a few whooshes, Hiashi and the others landed one after another. However, they didn't even see the enemy's shadow, only the bloody river and the floating corpses.
"Th-that's it? It's over??" Obito, holding his kunai, felt utterly powerless.
"Six Cloud ninjas in total. If I'm not mistaken, it should be a scout squad." Minato said seriously, then had Kakashi take out the map and glance at it. "We're still twenty miles from the rendezvous point. Let's travel through the night."
"Yes!"
Perhaps the blood in the air made them tense, and the group vanished instantly.
.....
"There's something on the river, go and see."
"It's the corpses of Cloud ninjas."
Not long after the Konoha ninjas left, somewhere downstream, the bodies of the slain Cloud ninjas had been pulled ashore.
Coincidentally, this hundred-man unit was preparing to flank when someone noticed something unusual in the water while crossing the river. It turned out to be Cloud ninjas trying to fish in troubled waters.
"What's the specific situation?" A burly man with a simple face and in red clothing strode over, his muscular body almost bursting out of his vest.
"Lord Kitsuchi, we found the bodies of Cloud ninjas. Judging from the wounds, they shouldn't have been dead for long."
The young man named Kitsuchi knelt on one knee, touching the still-warm bodies, and stood up abruptly.
"Bring that Darui here!"
Not long after, a middle-aged man with white hair and dark skin came over. He rubbed his neck as if he hadn't woken up yet, and didn't care about the disgusted gazes of the surrounding Iwa ninjas.
Both sides were mortal enemies, but facing the weakest Konoha in history, they had reached a certain agreement. The Land of Fire had already won the Great Ninja War twice, and it was time to be the defeated nation in the third.
"What happened again? Don't delay my reunion with my son."
However, when he walked onto the riverbank and saw the bodies on the ground, he paused, but instantly arrived beside the bodies, his expression immediately turning serious.
"It's Karui and the others. I didn't expect them to die so quickly."
Kitsuchi really wanted to ask what the Cloud ninjas meant by secretly sending a unit to cross the river upstream, but thinking about the great cause of occupying the empty Konoha after defeating the blocking force, he endured it.
"So, Konoha sent a small team to cross the river upstream. Humph, I'd like to see what use it is to send a few flies behind us."
"No, look at this body." Darui instantly stood up and went to another body. Compared to the wounds from swords and hidden weapons, this body had no clothes on its chest, and even its sternum was completely caved in.
"It's the Rasengan!" The man's lazy demeanor vanished, and he instantly looked up: "It's one of the Sannin, Jiraiya, or Namikaze Minato!"
Everyone's hearts trembled. Although the ANBU of various villages had long since learned that Tsunade and Jiraiya had left the village, no one dared to say for sure whether it was Konoha's tactic to lure the enemy. Even the Yellow Flash was difficult to deal with.
The infiltration of such experts was not as simple as a few flies. Everyone immediately magnified the problem infinitely.
"Could they be trying to destroy our main camp?!"
"It's possible, and they have a chance of succeeding." Darui didn't dare to underestimate it. Looking at the constantly rumbling battlefield, he suddenly felt that Konoha wanted to switch homes.
Kitsuchi's expression was solemn. Every decision now could change the course of the war. After thinking for a moment, he still felt that he couldn't let a powerful person mess around behind him.
"Bring the Kirigakure people too!"
"Yes!"
After a while, several people came up from behind the team. Because Kirigakure was participating in the war secretly, they didn't wear forehead protectors. The leader was a tall young man, about seventeen or eighteen years old, with a ninja sword on his back and half of his face wrapped in bandages.
He seemed to have a chill about him, so that even his Kirigakure companions didn't dare to stand behind him.
"Z, you and Darui-sama's Cloud ninjas will deal with the enemy behind us." Kitsuchi didn't know the other party's name, only the code name of Kirigakure's assassination unit.
"Killing?"
"Yes, the team led by the Yellow Flash."
"That's a bit interesting." The young man sneered, not even afraid of Minato's reputation.
"Wait, you have to give me a few more people. I still want to see my son again." Darui didn't trust these Kirigakure ninjas at all, and took out a photo from his arms. "Here, my son, Darui, an unprecedented genius."
He was showing off again. Kitsuchi had seen that boy, who looked almost identical to him, countless times. He quickly turned his head away and ignored him.
This guy was too confident. Wasn't he afraid that they, the Iwa ninjas, would kill his genius son after the war? Hmph, he didn't even say what kind of genius he was, he must be trying to trick them into wasting time.
Kitsuchi cursed the old fox in his heart, but his face was very serious as he ordered: "Hikari, Oishi, Sumazaki! Your squad will go with Darui-sama. If it's really not possible, just drive away that Yellow Flash!"
"Yes!" Several Jonin or special Jonin stepped forward. Together with the Kirigakure assassination unit and the Cloud ninjas, the entire unit was reduced by more than half.
"Let's go, disperse!"
With a few whooshes, the figures disappeared. Kitsuchi looked at the flanking force, which had shrunk by more than half, and felt worried.
We have to hurry up!