“Yes, there are, quite a few indeed.”
Kiyohara spoke up.
Iwagakure shinobi could be called the ultimate practitioners of swarm warfare.
No complex tactics required — just sheer numbers.
The most iconic example was when ten thousand shinobi were dispatched to fight the Third Raikage.
Kiyohara couldn’t even imagine what that scene looked like.
A valley packed with people, wall to wall, all shinobi, all sprinting through mountains and ridges to chase down the Third Raikage — how could they even fit?
“There are enemies over here.”
Kakashi nodded, partially confirming Kiyohara’s words.
As they conversed, they deliberately kept their voices low and turned their backs to the Iwagakure shinobi, to avoid their conversation being overheard or their lips being read for information.
“It seems only Kiyohara and Kakashi have detected them fastest this time.
The others will take a bit longer.”
Minato Namikaze nodded.
Conveniently enough, one squad had Kakashi, and the other had Kiyohara — that way both teams had a shinobi skilled in reconnaissance.
“The path I’m taking won’t stay aligned with yours for much longer, so from now on, handle your own problems.”
Minato Namikaze intended to test these two squads.
With him present, even if they made a mistake, the Flying Raijin Jutsu meant he could intervene at a moment’s notice.
“Yes.”
Kakashi answered in a low voice.
He discreetly tried to approach that area, but the moment he made a move, shuriken came whizzing out of the distant bushes.
Thunk thunk thunk!
Kakashi swiftly drew his short blade and knocked down three shuriken.
“The enemy has spotted us!”
Kakashi felt a hint of regret at missing his chance; it seemed a direct confrontation was inevitable.
“Heh heh, my turn to act!”
Obito rapidly formed hand signs with both hands and yelled:
“Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!”
Boom…
A small ball of flame was spat out by Obito.
“Cough, cough…”
Nervous in the heat of the moment, he made a mistake in executing his jutsu.
“The Konoha shinobi have found us.
We have no choice but to fight to the death!”
The middle-aged Iwagakure shinobi furrowed his brow.
He had recognized Minato Namikaze as the one leading the group, and had originally planned to stay hidden until Minato left, then see if he could ambush any stragglers.
But when he noticed them whispering about something, his thirty-plus years of seasoned instinct instantly told him: they’d already been discovered.
So the middle-aged Iwagakure shinobi prepared to catch the enemy off guard first — only to find that he hadn’t managed to ambush a single one.
“Captain!”
Another younger Iwagakure shinobi flung out two more shuriken.
Just as Kakashi was about to do the same as before and cut down all the shuriken with his short blade, Kiyohara moved.
Kiyohara quickly formed three hand seals — Dog, Horse, Ram — taking roughly a second and a half in total.
Then he swiftly pulled two shuriken with a metallic sheen from his ninja tool pouch, pouring all the Wind Release chakra in his hand into them.
Swoosh swoosh!
Carried by a current of wind, the shuriken flew faster than ordinary ones and were far sharper as well.
By absorbing a portion of Rogue Ninja Kiyohara’s talent, Kiyohara’s mastery over Wind Release chakra had grown considerably.
Take the kind of maneuver he could never have pulled off before!
Bang!
Bang!
Kiyohara hurled shuriken wrapped in gusts of wind, effortlessly knocking aside the young Rock shinobi’s projectiles.
Immediately after, two bursts of flame erupted.
With a thunderous explosion, the resulting blast wave sent leaves curling backward and undergrowth swaying.
At such close range, the young Rock shinobi was blasted into a bloody, unrecognizable mess, smoke wafting from his body.
“What happened?”
Genma Shiranui hadn’t managed to see what occurred.
Kakashi was equally puzzled, but he realized it the very next moment.
Explosive tags!
The enemy had attached explosive tags to the handles—if he had knocked them away with his short sword, they would have detonated right in front of him!
With that thought, Kakashi couldn’t help but glance at Kiyohara.
Without Kiyohara, he would definitely have suffered a serious loss just now.
“Thanks, future me.”
Kiyohara said silently.
Truth be told, he hadn’t spotted it either.
But he had the advantage of a Rogue Ninja Kiyohara drifting beside him, visible only to himself.
Rogue Ninja Kiyohara had pointed out that detail, which was the only reason Kiyohara had been able to act.
“Nice work.”
Minato Namikaze nodded slightly.
He had been a hair’s breadth away from stepping in himself.
Fortunately, Kiyohara had reacted even faster.
In the shinobi world, speed of hand ruled all.
The faster your hands, the faster you could unleash your techniques.
“Daiko!”
The middle-aged Rock shinobi cried out the name of the young Rock shinobi who had just been blown apart.
Sadly, that shinobi named Daiko had even had his brains blasted out—there was no reviving him.
Following that, Kiyohara gripped a kunai and prepared to enter the fray and clean up.
The explosive tag had not only killed one, but the remaining three Rock shinobi had each suffered varying degrees of damage.
Taking down one injured Chunin—that would be child’s play, wouldn’t it?
More importantly, whoever defeated an enemy had the right to dispose of that enemy’s belongings.
Thinking about how many loans he still had to pay off, Kiyohara couldn’t resist swinging his kunai forward.
Sorry about this, enemies.
Turn into cold hard cash for me!
Bang!
The middle-aged Rock shinobi drew his tachi and blocked Kiyohara’s kunai, a shower of bright sparks flying between the weapons.
His experience was deep—he intended to use technique to flick Kiyohara’s kunai aside—but his arm had been caught in the blast, and for the moment he couldn’t muster the strength.
Kiyohara kept pressing the attack against the middle-aged Rock shinobi.
Seeing this, Kakashi didn’t pause either, moving directly to duel another enemy one-on-one.
“Ninja Art: Senbon Rain!”
Genma Shiranui puffed out his cheeks and spat the senbon from his mouth.
Then he wove hand seals, and the senbon instantly transformed into a dense phantom swarm of needles, all stabbing toward the last Rock shinobi.
Rin Nohara, like Kurenai Yuhi, stayed alert to the situation at all times, ready to provide support.
Obito smacked his lips.
Releasing the Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique required concentrating Fire Release chakra in the throat, and he’d fumbled it just now—his throat was burning badly.
He had the illusion of a canker sore growing at the back of his throat.
“Damn it, those two explosive tags packed too much punch.”
The middle-aged Rock shinobi was fuming inside.
“I’ve trained my swordsmanship for twenty years—there’s no way I’d lose to the likes of you!”
He let out a roar, intending to stake everything on one final gambit.
Schlick.
Kiyohara drove a kunai straight into the middle-aged Rock shinobi’s abdomen, twisted it to the right, and instantly shredded his internal organs.
Thud.
The middle-aged Rock shinobi collapsed, resentment written all over his face.
“Thinking ‘don’t bully the middle-aged and poor,’ are we?”
Kiyohara shook his head.
Of everyone here, aside from the first Rock shinobi who’d been blown to pieces, the one he’d just fought had been the most badly wounded.
Sometimes, when you get angry, that’s all it amounts to—just being angry.
Like a math problem: rage all you want, and you’ll still end up staring at it helplessly.
Right about then, Kakashi finished off the remaining enemies as well, keeping one alive to interrogate for information.
“Good work.”
Minato Namikaze praised the group.
Everyone had performed well, except for Obito, who had been a bit too tense.
“Kiyohara, no need to search so frantically.”
Minato Namikaze watched Kiyohara eagerly rifling through the middle-aged Rock shinobi’s corpse and couldn’t help but give a wry smile.
“Got it.”
Kiyohara slowed down his rummaging.
A bag was still a bag—it had to be searched.
After all, shinobi had to pay for their own gear!
(End of Chapter)