Edge of the battlefield, the other side of the jungle.
The Konoha four-person team hid their tracks, carefully approaching Tsunade's location.
In the team, Hyuga Hizashi used his Byakugan to its fullest extent, narrowing his vision to a range of a dozen meters around him, leading the team to avoid any factors that could cause exposure.
Kakashi held his breath and focused, staring intently at Tsunade's constantly changing position.
His whole body tensed up, as if a single unit. It seemed he held back a roaring thunder, ready to explode in the next instant.
Actually, they had arrived at the battlefield long ago, only a step slower than the Kumogakure side. If the Byakugan hadn't spotted the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki attacking, Kakashi would have used the extreme speed granted by his breathing technique to help Tsunade avoid the attack.
Now, their plan was still to do this. But if they attacked now, the bounty hunters and Kumogakure, who lost their prey, would surely join forces to attack them.
Judging from the strength the enemies had shown so far, that would be suicide.
Kakashi knew his strengths and weaknesses well. His burst of speed was fast, but not long-lasting, and he could only move in a straight line. He wouldn't crash into a tree, but he couldn't fully control his direction.
While ensuring Tsunade's safety, the Konoha side wanted to delay the rescue time as much as possible, giving Orochimaru-sama more time behind the scenes.
Of course, it would be even better if the two sides could fight to the point where everyone was hurt.
But reality often went against wishes. Whether it was the old man Kakuzu, the Eight-Tails Jinchuriki, or Sasori hiding in Hiruko, although their attack power wasn't great, their defense, stamina, and survival ability were much higher than other strong people at the same level, and they were becoming stronger as they fought.
Kakashi and the others wanted to hide and be the last ones standing, but that was just a daydream.
Also, after a Kumogakure Jonin died in the hands of a puppet, Tsunade's situation began to become dangerous.
Attacks from the puppets around her would often hit Tsunade. If not for her own resistance to poison and excellent recovery ability, Sasori might have succeeded already.
"We have to act."
Kakashi exchanged glances with the three members of the team. Thinking of the box Orochimaru had given him, he felt a glimmer of hope in his heart.
They couldn't handle the enemy's siege with just the few of them. But if Tsunade could use her strength, even if she couldn't defeat the enemies, she could at least retreat safely.
After deciding on a plan, Kakashi stayed where he was, while Hyuga Hizashi and the others went around in a big circle to the other side of the battlefield.
At this time, Kakashi, Tsunade, and the Konoha ninja were roughly on a straight line.
Kakashi was waiting for this moment. He said the name of the move in his mind, "Thunder Flash!"
He took a deep breath, lowered his body slightly, stomped hard on the ground with his feet, and shot out like a streak of blue light.
Everyone there only heard a rumbling sound of thunder. Tsunade, who was originally in the center of the battlefield, had disappeared.
The Kumogakure side was shocked and angry, "Who is it?"
But little did they know that Sasori, hiding in Hiruko, was even more furious. He had set up layers of traps, and with just a little more time, he could have cut off Tsunade's head. How could he not be angry when the duck that was about to be cooked flew away?
The entire battlefield paused for a moment, everyone looked in the direction where the electric light had disappeared. Several puppets raised their hands, the mechanisms opened, and countless needles and kunai were shot out.
"Eight Trigrams Palms: Heavenly Spin!"
A blue barrier rose from the jungle. Countless shuriken hit it, but were bounced off and flew in all directions.
Along with the shuriken, vines and bushes were also thrown aside, and the four-person team was exposed to everyone's sight.
"Konoha ninja?"
When the Kumogakure ninja saw the familiar headband, anger rose in their hearts. They abandoned the puppets and rushed towards the Konoha ninja.
On the other side, Kakuzu and Killer Bee also stopped fighting and stood on either side.
They were all experienced strong people and wouldn't fight blindly, allowing others to benefit.
The center of the battlefield began to shift.
Both the Kumogakure side and the bounty hunters surrounded the Konoha ninja team, wanting to ensure that the duck named Tsunade stayed in the pot.
Kakashi and his team didn't take the opportunity to escape. Hyuga Hizashi and the others formed a defensive formation, responsible for delaying time. Kakashi took out the box from his arms and handed it to Tsunade.
"Orochimaru-sama asked me to give this to you. Please put it on your eyes as soon as possible."
Kakashi spoke very quickly. Tsunade only heard the general idea, but when she opened the box and saw the pair of green lenses, she immediately knew what they were for.
"That guy Orochimaru actually has such thoughts."
Tsunade felt a mix of emotions, but her hands didn't stop. She neatly pressed the lenses onto her corneas.
After overcoming the initial discomfort, the world in front of her eyes suddenly changed.
Everything was covered with a layer of light green, whether it was the brown tree trunks or Kakashi's white hair.
Tsunade turned her head to look at the Kumogakure ninja rushing over, a mixture of fear and expectation in her heart.
But soon, she was disappointed.
Even if she could trick her vision, she couldn't trick her nose, her ears... Her usually sharp senses were now like the assistants of a nightmare, stirring up the fear in her heart.
Before Tsunade could say anything, Kakashi had already read the answer from Tsunade's face, and his heart sank.
The previous estimates were too optimistic. Orochimaru's glasses weren't as effective as they thought, and Tsunade's nightmare was heavier than they thought.
The failure of both 'Sannin' instantly increased the difficulty of this mission to a nearly impossible level.
What should I do?
Kakashi's mind turned quickly. He thought of a plan. While Hyuga Hizashi and the other two Jonin defended against the enemy's angry attacks, he spoke his plan.
They would resist the enemy, while he would take Tsunade to break through the encirclement.
With his speed, he could create distance from the enemy in a short time. At that point, without the fear of blood, Tsunade could escape on her own.
The plan was surprisingly simple. The only difficulties were blocking the enemy for a while and Kakashi bursting out with extreme speed. Everyone there even felt a strange sense of why they hadn't thought of this method before.
Tsunade opposed it, "No, I don't agree."
The reason they hadn't thought of such an effective method before wasn't because they were stupid.
It was because this method was exchanging lives for lives.
Using their lives to exchange for her own life, how could Tsunade accept that?
If she were such a heartless person, she could have left Shizune long ago and escaped on her own.
Kakuzu and Sasori of the Red Sand wouldn't have been able to catch up to her.
The reason she had come to this point was that she hadn't given up on a way to make things good for everyone.
Faced with Tsunade's opposition, Kakashi didn't respond. He just silently took out a kunai and cut a wound on his arm.
This took Tsunade by surprise. Kakashi was obviously going to use the enemy's method against her. She was shocked and angry, wanting to resist, but smelling the oncoming scent of blood, her body went limp again.
Kakashi stepped forward, hoisted Tsunade up, glanced at Hyuga Hizashi and the others, then looked away, his eyes cold and still.
The enemies were quickly closing in. He couldn't stop here. Every second wasted was wasting a bit of the lives they were giving.
There was never a way to make things good for everyone in the world. There was only choosing the lesser of two evils.
This wasn't the first time he had made a choice.
---
You can read 50 Chapters ahead on my
pat reon.com/GMadman
Free member can read 3 chapters ahead