“Another damned brat.”
Sarutobi Taro noticed the Hagoromo Clan crest on Ayato’s arm the moment he appeared: “The two of you will die right here!”
“Your boasting is suffocating, old man.
Guess how many Sarutobi people will die on the front lines without you?”
Ayato, who never took a slight, retorted without hesitation.
Although he had rarely received frontline combat missions during his two or three months of activity on the Eastern Front Battlefield, Ayato immediately recognized Sarutobi Taro the moment he saw him.
At the same time, he was secretly glad he had arrived in time, preventing the future asura of the shinobi world from dying here for nothing.
“Hmph!
Just you Hagoromo?” Sarutobi Taro scoffed disdainfully, then suddenly lunged with an incredibly swift stab straight toward Ayato’s heart.
The old man has no martial virtue?!
The sudden attack forced Ayato to awkwardly roll backward, narrowly dodging the blade.
“Clang, clang, clang, clang.”
Sarutobi Taro naturally wouldn’t miss the opportunity of Ayato being wide open.
Fierce slashes rained down on Ayato like a storm, moving so fast that only a few afterimages were visible.
Dozens of blade clashes in just a few seconds left Ayato’s hand numb, nearly causing him to lose his grip on the hilt.
I have to admit, Sarutobi Taro’s strength was far greater than that of the Rogue Ninja he encountered while previously eliminating the Mountain Bandits.
Although Ayato was also much stronger than he was back then, the age gap was significant, and his physical body was simply not as strong as his opponent’s.
But this is also an opportunity!
Although Sarutobi Taro was troublesome, Ayato was confident he could obtain a new proof of strength from him.
In short, he couldn’t continue clashing with him in Taijutsu; he needed to create distance and use Ninjutsu instead.
“Water Release: Hiding in Mist Technique.”
Ayato seized the opportunity to quickly perform the Ninjutsu, simultaneously blocking Sarutobi Taro’s vision and retreating to create distance.
“A comical death struggle.” Sarutobi Taro sneered, forming hand signs: “Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.”
The moment the dense mist was scattered by the fierce wind, four identical figures holding Kunai rushed straight toward Sarutobi Taro’s heart from the front, back, left, and right.
Sarutobi Taro remained completely calm, throwing a Kunai with his left hand, then using a spinning kick to destroy the clone behind him, while simultaneously swinging his Ninja Blade down with his right hand, instantly destroying three clones.
A bloodthirsty smile appeared at the corner of his mouth: “The remaining one must be the real body!”
Sarutobi Taro, channeling violent Chakra into his left hand, accurately grabbed the neck of Ayato, who was attacking from the front, and slammed him heavily into the ground with the speed of lightning.
“Bang—”
Appearing simultaneously with the sound of the clone vanishing was Ayato’s playful voice: “Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld.”
The ground beneath Sarutobi Taro’s feet rapidly softened into a swamp-like consistency, making it impossible to stand.
Sensing his body sinking rapidly, Sarutobi Taro was startled.
When did this happen?
This brat’s hand sign speed is too fast.
Of course it’s fast.
When Ayato broke through Level 40 to Level 41, he gained a new passive talent, [Hagoromo’s Talent], which increased his hand sign speed by 20%, reduced Chakra consumption by 20%, and increased Ninjutsu damage by 20%. Follow the newest chapters on novelping.com.
Combined with refined Ninjutsu, Ayato’s use of Ninjutsu now was almost comparable to late-stage Hashirama clapping his hands and summoning whatever he wished.
“Goodbye.” Ayato said, quickly drawing his Ninja Blade as he looked at Sarutobi Taro, whose body was half-submerged in the ground.
“What?!”
The enemy in front of him suddenly turned into a log, and Ayato could not hide the look of panic on his face.
“Go to hell filled with doubt!” Seeing Ayato’s terrified expression, the pleasure on Sarutobi Taro’s face was obvious.
As long as he could kill these two genius youngsters from rival Ninja Clans, even if the mission wasn’t completed perfectly, he would still receive rewards from the clan.
However, when he swung his blade, he didn’t get the familiar tactile feedback.
What followed instead was a surge of electric current rapidly shocking his entire body via the Ninja Blade in his hand.
Lightning Clone?
Wait, something’s wrong!
“Sizzle…”
This was the sound of the exploding tag fuse being lit, and the battle-hardened Sarutobi Taro reacted instantly.
Recalling the mockery in Ayato’s clone’s eyes just before it vanished, a chill instantly shot up from his tailbone to the top of his head.
“Boom—”
Looking at the art of explosion before him, Ayato nodded in satisfaction.
Although he had used his last exploding tag, obtaining the proof of strength made it worthwhile…
Wait, why didn’t the proof of strength drop?
Sensing a burst of Chakra rushing toward him like lightning from the dust cloud stirred up by the explosion, Ayato quickly fled the spot.
With a loud “thud!” a thick tree that would require five people to hug crashed to the ground.
The blood-soaked Sarutobi Taro appeared where Ayato had just stood, holding a Ninja Blade glowing with lightning in his left hand.
With bloodshot eyes, he roared up at the sky: “I’ll kill that Uchiha brat first, then I’ll come back for you!”
Damn it!
Ayato had intentionally and unintentionally been pulling their battlefield away from Madara, precisely because he was afraid this old man would casually kill Madara.
But now, seeing that he couldn’t defeat Ayato, the old man was preparing to attack Madara in a fit of rage.
If he had known this, he wouldn’t have held back and would have attacked directly with the Rasengan.
Although Ayato had much more Chakra than an average Ninja, the Chakra consumption of the Rasengan was also much higher than ordinary Ninjutsu.
Even at full strength, he couldn’t use the Rasengan many times.
Therefore, he had always treated the Rasengan as his trump card, avoiding its use unless absolutely necessary.
Moreover, he was afraid that if he missed the attack, it would alert Sarutobi Taro, and then he’d be finished.
But this was no time for regret.
Ayato quickly used Chakra to stimulate the muscle cells in his legs to their maximum capacity, surging forward in pursuit.
In the nick of time, Ayato leaped forward and dove over Madara, shielding him from the fatal attack while simultaneously slamming the Rasengan in his hand fiercely into Sarutobi Taro’s abdomen.
[Congratulations on obtaining proof of strength *1]
“Ugh—”
Looking at Sarutobi Taro, who had been twisted into two halves by the Rasengan, Ayato grunted, struggled to his feet, and kicked the corpse twice in frustration.
The old man’s desperate counterattack before death had landed squarely on his back, and the wound was now excruciatingly painful.
Exhausted, he leaned against the large tree.
After confirming that Madara was merely unconscious and had not suffered secondary injuries, he began tallying his gains.
He had obtained the most important proof of strength.
Other than that, Ayato only found a piece of ‘graffiti’ identical to the previous one on Sarutobi Taro’s corpse.
Poor and weak!
He rolled his eyes at Sarutobi Taro’s lifeless corpse.
If this old man hadn’t gone crazy at the end, using his last bit of Chakra to sprint over and try to kill Madara, Ayato wouldn’t have been in such a sorry state.
After resting for a while and briefly bandaging his and Madara’s wounds, Ayato thought carefully and decided to fire a distress signal flare.
Although the signal flare might attract other Sarutobi Ninja, they couldn’t afford to delay any longer; their injuries needed immediate treatment.
Madara’s condition was very bad, and his own situation wasn’t optimistic either.
The sharp pain in his back made him realize that Sarutobi Taro’s final strike before death was not simple.
Taking a deep breath, Ayato hoisted Madara onto his back.
Even this simple movement caused cold sweat to pour down his face from the pain.
This kid has great luck; unlike me, I’m destined for a hard life.
Ayato gritted his teeth and quickly left the battlefield with Madara on his back.
Before long, Ninja attracted by the signal flare would appear here.
Whether friend or foe, he had to hide Madara and himself first to maintain the initiative.
On the other side, Masashi had just finished a battle.
He had run into a four-person Sarutobi squad.
Fortunately, there were no powerful Ninja in the opposing team, and the battle concluded after some effort.
Just as he was relaxing, he suddenly heard a sharp explosion.
Following the sound, he realized it was a signal flare from the Hagoromo Clan.
Is that…
Ayato?
Masashi’s expression changed, and he rushed toward the location of the signal flare without the slightest delay.
Whether you found Uchiha Madara or encountered some difficult situation, please don’t let anything happen to you, Ayato.