Inside the Kumogakure encampment.
The overall commander of the Kumo-nin, Samda, stared at the charred corpse in front of him, his eyes burning with fury.
"Despicable Konoha shinobi... to use such lowly tactics!"
Behind Samda, the young A clenched his fists, veins bulging on his forehead as he looked at the scorched and unrecognizable corpse. With a roar, he struck a nearby tree, smashing it to the ground.
"Brother..."
Killer Bee stood to the side, watching his enraged elder brother. He wanted to speak and calm him down, but no words came to mind.
"Samda, let me track down those damned Konoha rats!"
Sparks of lightning crackled across his body as the young A turned to Samda.
"Calm down. It's been too long since the attack—those bastards could be anywhere by now!"
Stopping A in his tracks, Samda's expression darkened.
"The enemy commander is none other than Orochimaru, one of the Three Legendary Sannin. Among the Sannin, he's infamous for his cunning and ruthlessness. Against an opponent like him, we must be extremely cautious. One careless move and we'll fall right into the trap he's meticulously laid."
To Samda, the repeated ambushes on isolated Kumo-nin were clearly part of Orochimaru's scheme—meant to throw their forces into chaos.
"With my speed, I can quickly scan all the potential escape routes!"
Young A stared at Samda with determination, fists clenched so tightly they creaked.
"Yeah, Samda-sama, just let bro go, yeah~"
Killer Bee stepped up to vouch for A.
Samda fell into silence.
"Let's go, Bee!"
Seeing that Samda said nothing more, young A took it as tacit approval and was about to set off with Killer Bee to chase after the Konoha squad.
"Wait!"
Just as the two were about to move out, Samda suddenly spoke again, stopping them in their tracks.
"Samda!"
A's patience snapped. He was ready to explode with his trademark temper—until Samda spoke again.
"Take Toroi with you. Just running around blindly won't get you anywhere."
...
In the forest along the border, Yamanaka Akira, following in Takeshi's footsteps toward the Konoha main camp, suddenly stopped. He gave Shimura Ikku a look.
Ikku immediately moved behind Akira to support his leaning body.
Seeing this, Takeshi knew that Akira's Mind Transfer Puppet Curse Jutsu had activated—meaning the enemy had already begun pursuing them.
But what kind of enemy would it be...?
Takeshi drew out his senbon and prepared for battle.
"Cough!"
With a disturbing cough, Yamanaka Akira snapped his eyes open. Beneath his mask, his expression had turned grim.
"There are three enemies. One is the Magnet Release shinobi, Toroi. Another is the son of the Third Raikage. The third... identity unknown. They're fast—ten minutes and they'll reach us..."
"I don't think we have even ten minutes..." Takeshi muttered, watching the approaching blue lightning and swallowing nervously to ease his tension.
Though Akira had said the third enemy was unknown, based on experience, Takeshi guessed it had to be that so-called rapping "genius," Killer Bee.
Just dealing with the young A alone was already a nightmare!
That's A, for god's sake—second fastest in the whole Naruto world, and the most enduring in... other kinds of literature—ahem, anyway, he's both fast and tenacious.
And we're up against an elite combo of Kumo's top jōnin plus a Jinchūriki?
Where's a pen and paper? I need to write my will.
"They're here!" Akira's voice echoed in his ears.
Before Takeshi could even start drafting his will, the young A had already blitzed into range, the crackling of lightning from his body ringing in his ears.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Facing the charging A, Takeshi opted for a wide-range jutsu to try and force a "crash landing."
The massive air bullet gave A no room to dodge—he had to ramp up his Lightning Armor output to tank it head-on.
"Wind Style of this level... hmph..."
After the massive explosion, A emerged completely unharmed, standing before Takeshi and the others with a grim face.
As expected, a hastily-cast Wind Style jutsu couldn't break through Lightning Armor.
Takeshi didn't wait to see what A would do next. Instead, he decided to capitalize on the time before A's teammates arrived to take him out directly.
"Wind Style: Vacuum Sphere."
Sensing Takeshi's intent, Shimura Ikku quickly formed hand signs to fake an attack, creating an opening for Takeshi.
The next second, A punched Ikku straight into the air at full speed—so fast even Yamanaka Akira didn't react in time.
"Ikku!"
Akira couldn't even aim properly for a Mind Transfer Jutsu as he watched Ikku go flying.
Two exquisitely formed female busts made of ice appeared at Takeshi's sides, exhaling a breath of frigid air.
Under the freezing mist, A's blinding speed slowed slightly. His movements, previously too fast to track, now left visible trails.
"Ice Release user?"
Originally planning to slaughter all Konoha shinobi on sight, young A changed his mind upon seeing Takeshi's technique. He now decided to take him alive.
Ignoring A completely, Takeshi expelled a cloud of mist laced with ice crystals.
No matter how tough your body is, your organs are still soft.
Let's see if your lungs are as indestructible as your armor.
"A cheap trick to obscure vision!"
Failing to sense the deadly intent hidden within the fog, A dismissed it as nothing but a smokescreen.
But almost instantly, searing pain erupted in his lungs, and he realized the fog was far more lethal than it appeared.
"Damn it... cough!" A cursed under his breath as he prepared to break out of the mist. But the two snow maidens continued spraying their freezing breath, slowly encasing his body in a layer of frost. Ice crystals began forming on his body, even creeping up his legs.
Faced with this, A had no choice but to further increase his Lightning Armor output and forcefully shatter the binding ice.
"Water Style: Water Surge!"
Sensing that A was about to break free, Takeshi fired a Water Style jutsu at him.
The torrent collided with the cold mist, instantly freezing into an avalanche of sharp ice crystals that rained down on A.
"That should settle it! I think?"
Just as Takeshi was about to proclaim victory, a sudden whooshing sound made him dodge to the side.
A barrage of square-shaped shuriken flew in from the distance, several striking the snow maidens, producing crisp metallic clangs.
"Strange weapons..."
Dodging the projectiles, Takeshi looked toward the source. A moment later, even larger square shuriken—many times the size of the previous ones—came crashing down like they were guided by sensors, smashing into the snow maidens and shattering them completely.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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