"Alright, let's continue moving forward. We're not far from the hideout of the Akatsuki members."
Kakashi spoke.
"Okay."
Even though they were rushing at full speed, it was not until the next day at noon that they reached their destination.
"Have we finally arrived?"
Naruto looked at the huge rock sealing the entrance, unable to contain his emotions. Gaara was inside, and he had to rescue him.
"Great Ball Rasengan."
Although Naruto also saw a sealing talisman on the rock, now was not the time to think about these things.
Naruto created a shadow clone, and both used a Rasengan, which was more than twice the size of a normal Rasengan and much more powerful.
"Great Ball Rasengan?"
Kakashi watched Naruto's technique and muttered to himself.
Kakashi was familiar with the Great Ball Rasengan; after all, the Fourth Hokage was also constantly developing new techniques based on the Rasengan, and he had seen the Great Ball Rasengan before.
Seeing Naruto use the Great Ball Rasengan, Sakura and Sasuke also felt a threat from this technique.
"Just from the momentum, it feels very powerful."
Sakura thought to herself.
Although Naruto's Great Ball Rasengan was powerful, Sakura and Sasuke did not feel discouraged because they both had techniques comparable to the Great Ball Rasengan.
The Great Ball Rasengan hit the huge rock, and instead of the expected explosion, the power of the Rasengan seemed to be absorbed by something, only causing ripples.
"What's going on?"
Naruto widened his eyes in disbelief. It was the first time he had used this technique in front of everyone, and it had no effect.
"It's a barrier."
Kakashi explained beside Naruto.
"To break this barrier, we must know what kind of barrier it is."
"What kind of barrier do you think it is?"
At that moment, Chiyo walked up to Kakashi and asked.
"I think it should be the Five-Seal Barrier."
"Agreed."
Chiyo nodded in agreement.
"The Five-Seal Barrier?"
Naruto asked with a puzzled voice, and Sakura and Sasuke also looked over with confused expressions.
"This Five-Seal Barrier is formed by placing talismans with forbidden characters at five locations around the perimeter. Besides the prohibition talisman in front of us, there are four others."
Kakashi began to explain.
"How can we break it?"
Sasuke asked.
"The barrier can only be lifted by removing the talismans at all five locations simultaneously."
"It has to be done at the same time, right?"
Sakura asked for confirmation.
"That's right, if they can't be removed at the same time, then the barrier cannot be broken."
"Then where are the other four talismans?"
Naruto immediately asked.
"I don't know that either, but the range of this Five-Seal Barrier is limited, so the four talismans can't be too far from this one."
"Damn, do we have to waste time looking for talismans again?"
Naruto said with a hint of frustration.
"Any strong barrier has one thing in common: when a force greater than what the barrier can withstand is used, the barrier will naturally break."
Hatake Satoru, who had been silent until now, spoke up.
"But the Five-Seal Barrier is a very strong one. It won't be easy to exceed the force it can withstand."
Chiyo glanced at Hatake Satoru and said, clearly not believing anyone present had the ability to do so.
"It seems you've underestimated my nickname as the 'White Demon' in the ninja world."
Hatake Satoru smirked, then slowly approached the barrier.
"Please, brother."
Following that, Kakashi also spoke, clearly indicating his belief in Hatake Satoru's strength.
"Black Flash."
A black aura emanated from Hatake Satoru's fist. With a squint, he punched directly at the rock in front of him, and instantly, an explosion sounded. The huge rock was shattered into small pieces by the immense force.
Everyone except Kakashi was stunned by this scene.
Chiyo felt as if her old face had been slapped, her earlier implication that none of them had the power to forcefully break the barrier now proven wrong.
In the next second, such a person appeared right before her.
Naruto and the others were shocked by Hatake Satoru's power. Although Naruto had been with Satoru for over two years, Satoru rarely took action, and even when he did, it didn't show how powerful he really was, as no one could withstand a single hit from him.
"Such immense power, stronger than my monstrous strength, no, even stronger than my master's."
Sakura thought in shock. She had believed her master Tsunade was the strongest in terms of physical power in the ninja world, but she had not expected someone to surpass that.
And Sasuke, who had activated his Sharingan the moment Hatake Satoru made his move, found that even with the Sharingan, he couldn't discern the principle behind the technique and was unable to copy it.
"Is this the strength of the 'White Demon'?"
Chiyo said aloud, her tone undisguisedly shocked.
"This is less than one percent of his strength. If he wanted, even if the five great ninja villages joined forces, they wouldn't be able to stop him."
Kakashi spoke again. Even though Satoru was his brother, Kakashi realized he knew very little about Satoru's strength now.
As a child, Kakashi could still see Satoru's back, but as time passed and they grew older, the gap between Kakashi and Satoru had grown ever wider.
Even if Satoru stood still, the gap between him and Kakashi might be something Kakashi could never catch up to.
"I heard a rumor during my seclusion that the 'White Demon' of Konohagakure not only killed the Four-Tails of Iwagakure Village but also severely injured the Third Tsuchikage and leveled Iwagakure Village to the ground."
"Let me correct that; it's not a rumor. Currently, when facing Satoru, the Third Tsuchikage has ordered that one must take a detour upon seeing Satoru. Any mission involving Satoru should be abandoned without any penalty. The last one to receive such treatment from Iwagakure Village was my master, the Fourth Hokage."
(End of this chapter)
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