Swish!Akira Sato's left hand suddenly swung forward.
The Hidden Mist genin charging toward him didn't even try to dodge.But what the enemy didn't expect was that a cloud of white mist instantly spread out and engulfed him.
"Ahhh!!"The genin, thinking it was just harmless mist, suddenly clutched his eyes and let out a scream.
Thud!Before he could react to the burning pain, a kunai pierced straight through his throat.
A clean, instant kill!That's often how ninja battles go — simple and deadly.
"Hmph! To die under my Fire Mist Technique, you should count yourself lucky."Akira let out a cold snort.
Lime powder.That's what he had used — lime powder!
How could he not use such a battlefield cheat?Ninjas relied so heavily on chakra and flashy techniques that they'd never expect simple tricks like this.
Ever since Akira had stumbled across a pile of lime powder in the village, he had thought of weaponizing it.Right now, this was essentially his signature secret weapon.
He called it the Fire Mist Technique just to fool others.If enemies thought it was a real ninjutsu, they'd be watching for hand signs and chakra use.Who would have guessed it was just plain lime powder?
Frankly, Akira thought he was being merciful by not adding chili powder to the mix.After all, ninja battles weren't about fairness.Any means to survive was fair game — so why shouldn't he use underhanded tricks?
Not far away, Taiichi — the giant golden crow — seemed to notice Akira finishing his fight.With an impatient caw, it raised its right talon, now coated in flames, and stomped down hard.
BOOM!Massive gouts of fire burst up in a fan-shaped wave, tearing through the ground and igniting everything in its path.
"Ahhh!"Two Hidden Mist genin, caught off guard, were instantly incinerated.
Honestly, it was no surprise.As Taiichi's body grew larger, its power was increasing exponentially.If Taiichi had been this size during their earlier exams, even Kakashi probably wouldn't have survived.
That was the overwhelming advantage of a giant summoning beast.
Crash!At that moment, Kakashi was sent flying by a heavy kick.
"You brat, go die!"The Mist chunin roared, hurling a kunai with all his strength.
He was completely enraged.How could just a few fresh-graduated Konoha genin have killed five of his men?Even if he killed them now, it wouldn't erase his losses!
Lying on the ground, Kakashi watched as the kunai grew larger in his vision, speeding toward him.Slowly, he closed his eyes.
'Maybe this isn't so bad,' he thought.Already surrounded by darkness, Kakashi felt that dying on a mission like this would be a kind of release.
Yeah — at this point, he definitely had some self-destructive tendencies.Otherwise, he wouldn't have so easily accepted Danzo's earlier order to assassinate Akira.
But…
Several seconds passed.There was no pain.Puzzled, Kakashi opened his eyes.
A massive golden wing loomed in front of him like a curtain, shielding him.
It was Taiichi.The giant crow had blocked the kunai for him.
'Damn, if only I had a camera — I could blackmail him with this for life!'Akira walked up to Kakashi, staring down at the boy lying dazed on the ground, wishing he had a camera to capture this scene.
"Now's not the time to nap!" Akira teased with a grin.
"Hmph."Kakashi let out a cold snort and slowly stood up.
It had to be said — Kakashi was the strongest individual fighter among them, but the biggest fighting power in their squad was Taiichi.
Honestly, Akira knew this made him seem a bit overpowered.But then again, look at future Naruto.From the start, Naruto was summoning Gamabunta to go toe-to-toe with Shukaku, the One-Tail beast!By comparison, Akira was actually playing it safe.
Whoosh!Kakashi ducked low and shot forward, charging out from Taiichi's flank.
Don't be fooled by his young age — Kakashi's combat power was top-tier.At the very least, without Taiichi's help, Akira would stand no chance against him in a fight.
Taiichi didn't join the front-line melee.As a summoning beast specialized in large-scale ninjutsu, it wasn't suited for close combat.And if it fired off big techniques, it might hit Kakashi by accident.So instead, it stayed back to guard Akira — the perfect role.
With Kakashi tying up the enemy and Taiichi protecting him, Akira could focus safely on weaving hand signs and casting jutsu.
This was his battle style:Stay in the back as the "artillery."If he rushed into close combat, that'd just be suicidal.That was the domain of guys like Kakashi or Minato Namikaze — the main characters.Ordinary folks like him would just get themselves killed trying to play hero.Melee? No thanks — even dogs wouldn't play that game.
"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"Akira finished his hand signs swiftly and launched a C-rank ninjutsu.
A fireball the size of a wagon wheel shot out, slamming straight into the Mist chunin who had just been forced back by Kakashi's short blade.
BOOM!Flames and explosions engulfed the enemy's position.
But —
A shadow flickered behind Akira.A kunai stabbed out toward him.
"Gotcha!"It was the Mist chunin!
He'd used a substitution jutsu to escape the earlier fire attack.Basic as it was, the Three Body Techniques (clone, transformation, substitution) could still save lives in the hands of a prepared ninja.
But an unexpected twist awaited.
POOF!The kunai stabbed into Akira's body — which promptly turned into a cloud of smoke, revealing a wooden log.
"Crap!"The Mist chunin's face twisted in panic.He tried to retreat, but it was too late.
Thud!A kunai pierced through his heart from behind.
It was Kakashi.There was no way he'd let such a golden opportunity slip by.
He hadn't aimed for the throat — partly because of their height difference, not because he didn't want to.Once the kunai sank in, Kakashi immediately twisted his wrist, shredding the enemy's heart.
Brutal — but necessary.If he hadn't, the enemy might have pulled off a last-ditch counterattack.This kind of thing happened all too often in real combat.An inexperienced rookie genin might have hesitated and gotten themselves killed.
"That was close!"Akira stepped out from the side, having dodged with his own substitution jutsu.He'd been working hard on polishing his Three Body Techniques, and today, they'd paid off.
"…"Kakashi gave Akira a cold glance but said nothing.Honestly, he'd never seen anyone so cautious.Normally, the finisher would've been his responsibility — but Akira had completely handed it off to him.
Of course, Akira had no idea what Kakashi was thinking.If he had, he might have laughed and said, "We're only getting paid a few thousand ryo each for this job. You think I'm risking my life for that?"
This was a B-rank mission.After the village took its cut and the team's supervising jonin took his share, the leftovers split between the three genin barely came out to ten thousand ryo each.That's barely enough for a fancy dinner — not enough to gamble your life on.
"All right, let's regroup with Koji."Seeing Kakashi wasn't in the mood to talk, Akira smoothly changed the subject.
The danger wasn't over yet.Minato Namikaze hadn't appeared — which meant he was still tied up elsewhere.They needed to stay cautious.
That said…Akira wasn't too worried.
Who was Minato Namikaze?Unless the story threw a "plot-kill" at him, there was no way a future Fourth Hokage, a top-tier combat genius, would die here.If anything, it was the enemies who should be worried.
Just as they stepped out of the cave —
Whoosh!A golden flash streaked past, and their team leader appeared right in front of them.
Seeing the two of them safe and sound, Minato let out a small breath of relief."Looks like you've already taken care of the enemy here."He had just finished dealing with his own opponents before rushing over.
"Minato-sensei!"Koji Yamashina also came jogging back.
Taiichi had already eliminated a bunch of the bandits earlier, and Koji had finished off the stragglers.Now, the mission was effectively complete.
All that was left was handling the post-battle cleanup.
Akira, for his part, was curious to see how Minato would wrap things up.There was a lot of hidden complexity behind the scenes.
(End of Chapter)