Heh. He took the bait so easily.
Watching Natto charge straight at him, Kaito was perfectly calm. The terrain here was treacherous; if the fight dragged on for too long, things could go wrong. So, he had already formulated a plan.
He would go all out and aim for an instant kill!
Golden energy gathered at the soles of his feet and erupted with a roar. His right hand gripped the hilt of Clear Spring, and his entire body transformed into a streak of white light. As he crossed paths with Natto, he suddenly drew his sword in a sweeping arc.
Quick Attack + Iai Slash!
Caught completely off guard, Natto was instantly sliced in two and split apart.
The feeling is wrong! Kaito abruptly turned around, only to see Natto's body crumble into broken earth.
"An Earth Clone?!"
"Hahaha, that was close. You almost got me," Natto's figure appeared on the high slope, looking down on Kaito. "Good thing I'm always cautious and use an Earth Clone before I act."
"Damn it. One step short," Kaito sighed. "Cautious enemies are the most troublesome."
"I didn't expect you to grow so fast. Maybe I'm really not your opponent anymore," Natto said with a smug smile. "But you're still going to die!"
His hands moved quickly, completing a set of hand seals in just a few seconds. "Earth Style: Tearing Earth Turning Palm!"
He slammed his hands hard onto the earth in front of him, then immediately retreated. The surging chakra shattered the soil, setting off a chain reaction. Large boulders began to roll down from the high slope.
The massive commotion immediately caught everyone's attention.
Everyone except for Tetsuren. She seized the opportunity and, like a flash of lightning, struck four times in succession, wiping out all the enemies. Only then did she look toward Kaito, who was directly under the falling rocks.
"Kaito!"
Rumble, rumble, rumble...
The spot where Kaito had been standing was completely covered by rocks. The path was also destroyed, tumbling down the cliffside along with the rockslide. A thick cloud of dust billowed up, enveloping the entire area.
"That was close..." The chubby leader, who had fallen to the ground, quickly pulled his feet back as a small rock rolled by his side. Natto's target had been Kaito, so the rockslide had been concentrated in his area, conveniently missing the caravan.
"Good? Good for nothing!" Tetsuren grabbed him by the collar, lifted him up, and said furiously, "What are you waiting for? Get your men to move those rocks!"
"Yes, yes, yes! I'll get right on it! But that enemy..."
"Leave him to me." Tetsuren took a deep breath and charged up the stone wall.
On the high slope, Natto peeked his head out, gazing at the busy figures below. He muttered to himself, "That kid should be dead. But just in case, I should probably land a few more blows."
Just as he was preparing to use another ninjutsu to bury everyone, Tetsuren suddenly appeared. Without a word, she raised her sword and slashed.
Startled, Natto rolled out of the way, simultaneously throwing more than a dozen ninja shuriken.
With a series of sharp clinks and clangs, Tetsuren deflected the shuriken, her body flickering as she pressed forward.
"Hmph. Looking for death!" Natto grabbed a kunai and, instead of retreating, advanced.
If I can't beat that kid, you think I can't beat you?
In the next second, he paid the price for his overconfidence.
When his kunai collided with her sharp sword, a dense web of lightning suddenly erupted from Tetsuren's blade. It instantly spread to Natto's body, and the electric shock made him tremble, his body paralyzed.
Crap!
That was the only thought that flashed through his mind before his world went dark.
Though she had finished Natto with a single, clean strike, Tetsuren felt no joy in her heart. Not until she heard the sound of clapping and a familiar voice.
"Not bad. You took care of him all by yourself. And you've learned to be sneaky, too. That's your biggest improvement yet." Kaito stood at the edge of the high slope, a smile on his face. Tetsuren stared at him, stunned.
"You're okay?"
"Heh. Of course I'm okay. Is that how little faith you have in me? By the way, congratulations on finally mastering your lightning nature transformation."
In truth, when the large boulders started to fall, Kaito had immediately used Dig to create a hole in the cliff face and hide inside, so he was completely unharmed. He had intended to hide and launch a surprise attack on Natto, but he never expected Tetsuren to take care of him all by herself.
"I'm still not very proficient with it." Tetsuren slowly let out a breath. "I suddenly realized..."
"Hm?"
"It's nothing. Let's go down."
"???"
Because the road had been destroyed, Kaito and the others had to take a detour, which cost them an extra day before they finally entered the Land of Hot Water.
"Haha, this is the capital of the Land of Hot Water! We've reached our destination!" The chubby leader was clearly overjoyed. He grabbed Kaito's hands and shook them. "Thank you so much, Lord Kaito!"
"If you want to thank me, please be a little more practical."
"Er, I still have business to attend to, so I won't chat any longer. Goodbye!"
Seeing the caravan hastily depart, Kaito shook his head. "I was just joking. Do you have to be so scared?"
"Were you really joking?" Tetsuren asked, surprised.
"Well, half-joking, half-serious."
"..."
"Forget about them. Let's go have some fun ourselves!"
"Where to?"
"To the world-famous hot spring street, of course!"
The Land of Hot Water's specialty was its various hot springs, most of which were concentrated in the high mountains. After conscious development, they had gradually formed a hot spring street, with inns offering hot spring baths everywhere. The one located in the capital of the Land of Hot Water was the largest and most prosperous.
With money to burn, Kaito chose a hot spring inn with a nice storefront and got a room for each of them. After dropping off his non-valuable trifles in his room, Kaito made a beeline for the inn's backyard, where the hot springs were located.
Ditching his gear and wrapping a bath towel around his waist, he eagerly submerged himself in the scalding hot spring. "Hah, this is the life!"
This was a public bath, and besides him, there were many other pot-bellied men soaking in the hot spring, chatting with each other. And when men chat, they naturally talk about sensitive topics. To hear better, Kaito couldn't help but quietly move closer.
"...I heard that the Land of Grass is on the brink of collapse."
"Ah, how can that be? Is the Land of Rain that strong?"
"And the Land of Earth and the Land of Fire aren't stepping in to stop them? This doesn't make any sense!"
"I just came from the Land of Fire. It was calm and peaceful, no sign of war at all."
"Heh. The Third Hokage is a good-for-nothing! If it were the Second, he would have twisted the head off the leader of the Village Hidden in the Rain by now."
"...Watch your words, watch your words."
"Perhaps it's just like that on the surface. Secretly, they've probably already sent troops to cut off the Land of Rain's retreat."
"Very possible."
This theory won the approval of many.
"What about the Land of Earth?"
"I know about that. The Third Tsuchikage was furious. I heard he quickly assembled his ninja forces."
"The Land of Wind is also stirring restlessly. The atmosphere is not normal at all, very oppressive."
"The most surprising thing is the Land of Iron. Even though they are the farthest away, they were actually the first to clash with the Land of Rain."
"Have they started fighting already?"
"Well, the winner will probably be decided in two days at most."
"I heard that group of samurai is very strong. The Land of Rain might suffer a defeat."
"Hard to say, hard to say."
"Sigh. I hope this war doesn't drag on and spread to the entire ninja world."
"It probably won't come to that..."
Kaito listened in silence, lost in thought.