The ninja who had faced Kaito before was now positioned on a tree, observing the other ninjas.
"Everyone attack at the same time," ordered the leader. Following the command, all of them advanced towards Kaito.
One of the ninjas exhaled a burst of wind after making some hand signs, dispersing the vapor around Kaito.
'A total of 5 ninjas, including the leader. He's keeping his distance, but I'm sure he's waiting for an opening to attack ' Kaito thought as he prepared to counter-attack.
The enemies closed in quickly, launching close-range attacks on Kaito. The four ninjas attacked from different directions, leaving no chance for Kaito to escape.
Kaito began forming hand signs again, ready to use his water barrier jutsu to trap them once more. However, at the moment he started forming the signs, one of the ninjas was already prepared, unleashing a gust of wind that carried away the sand on the ground towards Kaito.
Dust fell into his eyes, forcing Kaito to stop his jutsu and close his eyes several times to remove the sand.
The attacks finally hit Kaito, who took a kick to the leg and several punches to the chest and head.
Thinking they had succeeded, the enemies smiled. However, their smiles faded as they realized it was not Kaito but a water clone. They tried to withdraw their limbs, but the water clone turned into ice, freezing their limbs.
Kaito reappeared on a tree, already preparing an ice-style jutsu.
' Ice-style jutsu, ice bomb.' Kaito spoke in his thoughts as he shot an ice sphere towards the enemies.
The jutsu traveled quickly, reaching the enemies in seconds. However, just as it was about to hit, the four managed to free themselves and moved away. The bomb touched the ground, exploding and freezing everything around, releasing ice spikes that hit the trees and some even struck the enemies.
One ninja was hit in the leg while trying to escape, and the others were fortunate not to be hit by the spikes, although their legs and arms were slightly frozen.
"This damn kid is clever. When did he switch places with a clone?" the ninja hit in the leg cursed as he landed with difficulty on a tree.
"It must have been in the midst of that vapor, but this power was quite strong. If we had been slower, we'd be hedgehogs now," another ninja said as he landed nearby.
The others agreed while looking at Kaito, who was now at a distance.
Steam began to rise from the bodies of the four, simultaneously thawing the frozen parts.
'So, that's how they escaped before. But it's hard to tell if it's some equipment or a fuinjutsu seal.' Kaito thought, trying to figure out more. However, at that moment, he sensed movement behind him. Kaito quickly ducked as a punch swung over his head. The leader was surprised that Kaito evaded but quickly attacked again, this time with a kick.
Seeing this, Kaito placed both hands on the ground and propelled himself upward, hitting the leader's chin with his feet, leaving him disoriented. Seizing the opportunity, Kaito cut with his katana towards the now defenseless leader.
But before the blade could reach the leader, the other ninjas appeared by his side, attempting to stop Kaito's attack. Unfazed, Kaito created an ice wall around himself, preventing them from approaching.
The katana was about to cut the enemy leader's throat, but at the last second, he recovered and hastily dodged. The katana still cut his face, though not deeply.
The ninja quickly moved out of Kaito's reach, putting his hand on his face.
"You'll regret this, kid," the leader said as he distanced himself, trying to create some space.
"Hahaha, you're telling me this after attacking me and trying to capture me. Incredible, you guys seem not to think, typical villain behavior," Kaito mocked, smiling, delivering a classic villain line.
"You..." The enemy leader was at a loss for words.
Finally, the other ninjas managed to break Kaito's ice barrier and charged at him.
"I'm tired," Kaito said, placing his katana on the ground.
"Domination, second form," he uttered lightly. As he spoke, a wave of icy air spread from the katana, freezing everything in its path. The ninjas, upon seeing this, used their equipment to heat up and prevent themselves from being frozen. Nevertheless, their movements became slower than usual.
Kaito smiled, and then several hands appeared around the ninjas. Using fire and earth-style ninjutsu, Kaito created hands of ice that attacked the ninjas. However, the fire barely melted, and the earth barrier was easily destroyed.
The icy hands continued toward the ninjas in an attempt to capture them, but they were too quick. Kaito saw them trying to escape the frozen zone and formed some hand signs. Ice wolves appeared and attacked with extreme speed, leaving no chance for escape. One ninja was bitten between the ribs and couldn't resist, being fiercely defeated by the wolves. The others, witnessing this scene, were in shock and jumped to the trees in an attempt to escape.
However, at that moment, several ice eagles descended from the sky, their sharp claws cutting the ninjas who defended themselves in desperation, forcing them to return to the ground.
They began fighting against the wolves and eagles and were holding their own for a while. However, if they continued in this manner, they would be defeated sooner or later.
Their leader noticed this and decided to act again, this time not attempting a surprise attack but preparing a ninjutsu.
Kaito noticed him forming several hand signs but did not interrupt. A few seconds later, two fire dragons formed behind the enemy leader. The dragons advanced, melting a large amount of ice as they passed. Seeing this, Kaito formed his own hand signs, and two ice dragons formed around him, attacking at the same time they appeared.
Boom!
A massive impact occurred as the dragons collided, and an intense battle unfolded as they clashed body to body.
Realizing that it was under control, Kaito looked again at the three remaining ninjas, as one had already been defeated earlier, the one with the injured leg.
The ninjas felt Kaito's gaze, and as they looked in his direction, they saw an extreme coldness in his green eyes. Shortly after, they felt their bodies chilling from the inside. They tried to defend themselves with their chakra and using their equipment, but no matter how hard they tried, it was all in vain.
After no more than a few seconds, the three remaining ninjas turned into ice statues, shattered by the ice wolves.
'Finally, it took effect. This is the second form I thought of for my domination. The more they breathe the cold air within my domain, the more it accumulates in their bodies until they are frozen from the inside out. However, it takes a long time to take effect,' Kaito sighed, satisfied with the power of his ability.
Kaito returned his gaze to the leader, who was now preparing another ninjutsu. Seeing this, Kaito prepared himself, but the next moment, the leader began descending to the ground and disappeared.
This kept Kaito on alert, as the leader could appear anywhere.
Time passed, and there was no sign of the leader. However, Kaito didn't lower his guard.
He walked slowly while remaining vigilant, but it didn't take long for him to move away from that location. He felt nothing and wasn't attacked on the way, so Kaito walked towards where the others had gone earlier.
As he advanced into the forest, a massive sand mass appeared almost out of nowhere and began devastating the forest at a considerable distance.
' And now Gaara will face Naruto.' Kaito thought, recalling the anime scene.
He continued walking in that direction, and it didn't take long for Gamabunta to appear in front of Shukaku.
The fight began as before, and Kaito was already close, witnessing that epic battle.
The fight was more intense than in the anime, and Gamabunta wasn't just holding Shukaku; he was cutting with the claws of Kurama's transformation.
Meanwhile, Naruto was on top of Kurama/Gamabunta's head, attacking Gaara with various long-range ninjutsu. The power of Naruto's wind jutsu was quite high, easily cutting through the sand barrier around Gaara.
The battle was progressing well, but in the next moment, Kaito spotted his previous opponent, ready to make a move towards Naruto.
Upon realizing this, Kaito hurried without thinking twice to prevent the attack.