Chapter 108 — An Old Friend
Boom!
A violent explosion echoed through the forest, thick smoke billowing in all directions.
Uchiha Kei glanced at the earthen walls surrounding them, then at Kakashi, whose hands were pressed firmly against the ground. It was obvious that Kakashi had acted quickly enough to release an Earth Style technique, erecting walls to block the explosive-tagged kunai.
When Kei had heard the sound of weapons slicing through the air earlier, he had been ready to use the Body Flicker Technique. However, noticing the sudden appearance of the earth walls, he decided there was no need to move.
"Looks like your Byakugan isn't all that impressive after all," Kei taunted Hyūga Ayaka as he drew his ninja blade, a vivid blue chakra coating its edge.
Of course, Kei knew deep down that this wasn't really Ayaka's fault. In fact, he had already guessed how the enemy had slipped past their detection — by using Earth Style: Hiding in Rock Jutsu.
It was true that the Byakugan offered nearly a full 360-degree field of vision. But that didn't mean the user constantly scanned every direction with focus. Unless they had specific intelligence about enemy positions, or were performing detailed reconnaissance, a Byakugan user would naturally concentrate mainly on what was ahead of them.
Moreover, the distance they observed also depended on their chakra reserves. Staring constantly into the far distance would quickly deplete their stamina.
Back during his early encounters with Hyūga Ayaka, Kei had once evaded her Byakugan by conserving his use of the Sharingan and only activating it at critical moments.
In the midst of an intense battle, who would have the luxury of monitoring everyone's exact status?
Even if Ayaka might have caught a glimpse of Kei's strange chakra with her peripheral vision, she couldn't possibly rewind her memory like a machine to analyze it in detail, right?
It was simply a human flaw—and because Kei and Ayaka hadn't spent much time teamed up, it hadn't surfaced before.
"Hmph. Rather than blaming me, Kei-kun, perhaps you should focus on thinking about how we're going to deal with this," Ayaka replied coldly. "This time... it looks like an old friend of yours has come."
"An old friend?" Kei froze for a moment, and then realization dawned. "Kitsuchi?"
Kei almost immediately thought of that name.
During the Kannabi Bridge mission, only two people had managed to seriously challenge Kei and survive—one was Minato Namikaze, and the other was Kitsuchi.
There was no need to elaborate on Minato Namikaze. Kei had nearly lost his life to him back then.
At his most desperate, just when he was ready to risk everything in a final exchange, he awakened his Mangekyō Sharingan.
In some twisted sense, Kei owed Minato—without that life-or-death crisis, Kei might not have unlocked his Mangekyō for a very long time, if ever.
As for the other, it was Kitsuchi.
Back then, Kei had been in poor condition, having deliberately split his chakra with shadow clones to lure away the other Iwagakure defenses.
To make matters worse, Kei hadn't yet developed any real techniques capable of breaking through defenses, nor had he had time to fully explore the powers of his new Mangekyō Sharingan.
Kitsuchi had very nearly cornered him completely.
Fortunately, although Minato had arrived late, he had still shown up in time to save Kei at the most critical moment.
"Seems like Kei-kun still remembers the son of the Third Tsuchikage quite well," Ayaka sneered. But soon, her expression grew serious. "They're approaching. What now?"
"Prepare for battle," Fukuhiko Kōhei said firmly. "Kei, handle the enemies on the left. Kenta, take the right. Ayaka, watch our rear. I'll handle the front. Kakashi, protect Rin."
"And be ready to break through whenever the opportunity arises," Kōhei added. "Our mission isn't to engage them directly. Also, Kakashi, summon Captain Minato immediately."
"Understood," Kakashi responded crisply.
Uchiha Kei and the others responded in unison. The moment Kakashi's earth walls crumbled away, they each rushed toward the approaching enemies from their respective directions.
Fukuhiko Kōhei charged forward, placing himself directly between the advancing enemy force led by Kitsuchi and the rest of the team.
With a swift sequence of hand signs, a massive Earth Dragon erupted from the ground, roaring toward Kitsuchi's group and preventing them from advancing further toward Kei and the others.
There were over thirty Iwagakure ninja in this assault, while Kei's group numbered only six.
The numerical disadvantage was obvious—but they weren't easy targets.
Although Kōhei had managed to stall Kitsuchi and his elite, other enemy ninjas still broke through and charged at the rest of the team.
Uchiha Kei watched calmly as one of the Iwa-nin rushed toward him. In an instant, his eyes turned blood-red, and the enemy suddenly froze mid-stride.
Seizing the moment, Kei's blade flashed across the ninja's throat.
Without stopping, Kei took a step forward, his Sharingan scanning rapidly. Every move of the incoming enemies was laid bare before his crimson gaze.
Ducking under a kunai aimed at him, Kei swung his blade upwards, severing the arm of the attacker.
Moving fluidly, he stepped again, his blade shimmering with a cold light as it slashed backward, while his left hand snatched the wrist of another enemy thrusting a kunai at him.
The captured enemy was forcefully dragged sideways, colliding hard with the blade of the previous attacker.
In the next second, both ninjas felt a sharp pain at their necks, blood gushing from their wounds. Without even understanding what had happened, they collapsed to the ground.
Kei's Sharingan spun once again—the three-tomoe pattern radiating a sinister energy.
In the distance, an Iwa-nin preparing to cast a jutsu suddenly froze on the spot.
Kei didn't hesitate.
While the enemy was stunned, he formed hand seals at lightning speed and unleashed a roaring Fire Style jutsu.
Although the enemy regained awareness at the last moment, it was too late. Caught in the flames, he let out a miserable scream before collapsing to the ground, the fire quickly spreading toward others nearby.
Kei took a deep breath.
Even though it had only taken moments to eliminate five Iwa-nin, he knew that these enemies were merely at the level of average Chūnin.
This puzzled Kei slightly—why was Kitsuchi's squad composed of such weaklings?
Tilting his head slightly, he quickly realized the likely reason.
Either by luck or design, the stronger enemies hadn't targeted his position.
More likely, it was Fukuhiko Kōhei's deliberate arrangement—Kōhei had personally intercepted three enemy elites, each of whom had strong chakra signatures, and was currently holding off Kitsuchi as well.
However, Kōhei's situation was not looking good.
Facing Kitsuchi one-on-one would already have been difficult for him, and now he had to handle multiple strong enemies at once.
Meanwhile, the others were faring relatively well.
Aside from Kakashi, who seemed to be struggling a bit, Hyūga Ayaka was about to finish her opponent, and Imai Kenta was still locked in combat but managing.
Boom!
Suddenly, Kōhei was kicked hard by Kitsuchi and sent flying, vomiting blood along the way.
Yet even mid-flight, Kōhei didn't panic. His hands moved rapidly through hand seals, and just as he hit the ground, he slammed both palms down.
"Earth Style: Rock Lodging Destruction!"
With an explosive surge of chakra, the ground split open instantly, a massive crevice racing toward Kitsuchi's group.
Kōhei was going all out.
This jutsu had a huge area of effect, and because he had crashed down amid Kei's team, it didn't threaten his own allies.
Seeing the approaching danger, the Iwa-nin immediately retreated, while Kitsuchi began forming hand seals of his own.
But Kōhei didn't stop there.
Even as blood ran down from the corner of his mouth, he gritted his teeth and formed another series of seals.
Though clearly in pain, he forced himself to complete the jutsu — Earth Style: Mud Flow!
Channeling his remaining chakra, Kōhei smashed his fist into the ground.
The fractured soil, loosened by his earlier jutsu, instantly transformed into a tide of sand-like debris, surging toward the group of Iwa-nin like a roaring wave.
For a moment, the battlefield was engulfed in smoke and dust.
The ground trembled violently under the force of the attack.
"Move!" Kōhei shouted hoarsely, spitting out another mouthful of blood. "We don't have much time—get out of here!"