He had just searched the surrounding area—there shouldn’t be any Konoha shinobi left.
Unless someone had evaded him before he searched.
But that would require a sensory ninja.
“A sensory ninja, huh?”
Oishi’s gaze drifted across Qingyuan, Kurenai Yuhi, and Shiranui Genma, wondering which of them was the sensory ninja.
“Qingyuan…”
Kakashi turned to look at Qingyuan, who had suddenly arrived, and felt slightly relieved.
Sure enough, Qingyuan was considerably more reliable than dead-last Obito.
“I see. So it’s just two chunin and a genin?”
Oishi formed a one-handed seal and continued refining chakra to maintain his invisibility.
Ninja Art: Camouflage Concealment!
The figure that had just been revealed vanished once more as he cast the ninjutsu again.
This technique could make both his body and clothing invisible, so naturally it could hide the dust on his body as well.
“No good, Qingyuan. Your chakra reserves aren’t as large as his.”
Kakashi gripped his short blade tightly, his brow furrowed.
Even if Qingyuan used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to blow Oishi, the Iwagakure jonin, into view, he wouldn’t be able to keep it up for long.
Oishi could use the ninjutsu again at any time, and he could certainly cast it more times than Qingyuan could!
“Hmph. The White Fang’s son, are you? Since you’re not the White Fang himself, there’s no need to fear you.”
Oishi looked at Kakashi, who was warning Qingyuan, and a savage grin spread across his face.
The Konoha White Fang had killed quite a few of their comrades.
Killing his son now would count as revenge, wouldn’t it?
But…
before that.
Oishi shifted his gaze to Qingyuan.
At present, this one posed a greater threat than Kakashi.
Through observation, Oishi had noticed that both Kurenai Yuhi and Shiranui Genma stood half a step behind Qingyuan.
That meant Qingyuan had the most authority among them and was probably the captain.
That excellent sensory ability must belong to Qingyuan as well.
Indeed, it was precisely that sensory ability that qualified him to be captain.
In an instant, Oishi began analyzing what he knew about Qingyuan.
The next moment, the faint sound of air currents rubbing against one another reached him!
Oishi moved! Read this novel at g.com for the best experience.
“He’s completely erased his scent. We can only judge the enemy’s position by the subtle flow of air and sound.”
Kakashi’s expression turned grim.
Suddenly, he blurted out a warning to Qingyuan:
“Behind you, Qingyuan!”
Bang!
At the same instant, kunai clashed against kunai.
“Oh?”
Oishi raised an eyebrow slightly.
Sensory ninja generally tended toward support roles.
He hadn’t expected Qingyuan to block his surprise attack.
With the first strike unsuccessful, Oishi retreated another step and melted back into the darkness.
“You two go save Rin. Don’t worry about me.”
Qingyuan spoke.
To some extent, Oishi was even harder to deal with than Hikari, the other Iwagakure jonin farther back.
That invisibility ability was truly impossible to deal with.
“Qingyuan…”
Kurenai Yuhi wanted to say something, but Qingyuan shook his head, signaling her not to worry about him.
“All right. Be careful.”
Kurenai nodded with some concern.
She and Shiranui Genma then headed toward the rear together.
Seeing this, Kakashi and Obito also moved forward.
No matter what, the priority now was to reduce the enemy’s numbers.
As long as they killed one enemy, they could concentrate their efforts on dealing with the other.
The deciding factor in victory was which side could reduce the other’s numbers first.
“Ho, you’re actually letting your comrades go?”
Oishi acknowledged Qingyuan’s resolve.
Even though the guy was an enemy, he was indeed a shinobi.
Unfortunately, Oishi wasn’t worried about what was happening in the rear.
Hikari was extremely capable in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu—an elite among jonin.
A few wet-behind-the-ears kids wanted to take on Hikari?
The thought made Oishi want to laugh.
His laughter would reveal his position.
“Lightning Release: Earth Walk!”
Qingyuan formed hand seals with both hands, and numerous arcs of electricity spread across the ground.
Oishi leaped upward, flipped upside down, and planted himself on the ceiling of the cave, avoiding the Lightning Release technique Qingyuan had cast along the ground.
“Every one of this brat’s ninjutsu is impressive.”
Oishi frowned slightly.
Qingyuan was dressed like a genin, but every ninjutsu he used was highly proficient, wholly beyond a genin’s level.
This made Oishi put aside his contempt and regard Qingyuan seriously.
“He dodged it, did he? That invisibility ability really is impressive, but if you rely on it too heavily, it’ll get you killed…”
Qingyuan pulled a large handful of powder from the ninja-tool pouch at his waist.
“Ninja Art…!”
Qingyuan shouted, as if he were about to unleash a powerful ninjutsu.
Oishi’s gaze sharpened.
The power of both Qingyuan’s earlier Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and Lightning Release: Earth Walk had been extraordinary—it was clear that he had considerable talent for ninjutsu.
Seeing that Qingyuan was about to use a new ninjutsu, Oishi’s guard rose at once.
He widened his eyes, trying to make out Qingyuan’s hand seals so he could infer what technique he might use.
This was a skill used in battles between jonin.
Deducing the enemy’s technique in advance in order to formulate a countermeasure.
But that required a certain store of knowledge to infer an enemy’s technique from their hand seals.
Qingyuan’s hands were pressed together, the powder trapped between his palms.
His two palms seemed to cover one another.
It was the Monkey hand seal.
Oishi recognized it as the Monkey, one of the twelve basic hand seals.
“Water Release: Evil Mouth? Or some other technique?”
In an instant, many techniques that began with the Monkey seal flashed through Oishi’s mind.
Most of them were Water Release techniques.
But with only a single hand seal, there were still too many possibilities.
So Oishi widened his eyes even further, trying to see exactly what the technique was.
“Lime Powder Scattering Technique!”