"Clang~"
Tatsuma frowned, looking at the rogue ninja from Hidden Cloud Village who could still block his Kunai with a Ninjato despite having his back turned.
"Clang~"
The next moment, the rogue ninja from Hidden Cloud Village turned around and swung his sword. The Ninjato and Kunai emitted a sharp sound as the blade slashed diagonally towards Tatsuma's neck.
Tatsuma reacted extremely quickly, thrusting his Kunai upward towards the enemy's armpit. His upward thrust was almost concealed by the enemy's sword swing, and the enemy only realized it half a beat later.
This is another variation of the technique where one moves their sleeve against the wind. Tatsuma is so proficient that he can do it instinctively without thinking. This time, he didn't hold back, unleashing his full Enhanced Strength.
This rogue ninja from Hidden Cloud Village had one of the highest amounts of Chakra among the group, almost comparable to Tatsuma's current level, making him a formidable opponent that Tatsuma wanted to deal with quickly.
Half of the surrounding rogue ninjas hadn't even reacted before the two began their second round of combat. The Hidden Cloud rogue ninja, seeing Tatsuma's unwavering attitude, gritted his teeth and continued to swing his sword. He rarely encountered someone like Tatsuma, who was even more proficient in trading injuries than he was.
Just as the short sword touched Tatsuma's winding hair, a golden light appeared.
"Rasengan!"
Minato suddenly appeared, one hand supporting Tatsuma's back, while the Rasengan in his other hand pressed against the side of the Ninjato. In an instant, the chaotic, turbulent Chakra disrupted the Ninjato, altering its trajectory.
"Poof~"
However, Tatsuma's Kunai did not deviate in the slightest, directly stabbing into the armpit of the Cloud Ninja. Minato, using the hand on Tatsuma's back for leverage, spun like a top and delivered a whip kick to the enemy's lower jaw.
"Bang~"
Although Minato didn't have Enhanced Strength, years of training and rapid development during puberty had significantly increased his power, sending the enemy flying.
As others realized what was happening, they launched attacks at Tatsuma and Minato. However, Minato remained calm, even as Tatsuma disappeared in an instant.
When the Shuriken reached Minato's eyes, he too vanished suddenly. The others hurriedly searched, only to find that the two had reappeared beside the corpse of the Hidden Cloud rogue ninja.
Their coordination was so seamless and fluid that it was a sight to behold. It was as if Tatsuma had known from the beginning that Minato would help him deflect the Ninjato attack, and Minato was certain that Tatsuma would move to a safe location, allowing him to do so.
Whether it was Minato's appearance or Tatsuma's transfer, if either had been even a fraction slower, they both could have been injured or even severely harmed.
Tatsuma pulled the Kunai, which had pierced the Hidden Cloud rogue ninja's heart, out from under his armpit. He couldn't help but feel the Kunai carried a slight scent of body odor, but he still said:
"This person's familiarity with the Flying Thunder God technique doesn't seem like that of a rogue ninja. I suspect he's a spy deliberately exiled by the Land of Lightning. Otherwise, he couldn't have reacted so quickly. Be cautious of the other Hidden Cloud rogue ninjas."
"I understand," Minato nodded, his expression becoming serious under his owl mask. From the moment Tatsuma used the Flying Thunder God to appear behind this person, only to have his attack blocked, Minato sensed something was off.
That's why he quickly chose to support Tatsuma, and Tatsuma trusted him enough to act accordingly. Otherwise, the Cloud Ninja's heart would have been pierced, and Tatsuma's head likely would have been cut off.
Tatsuma dared to make such a choice not only because he inherently disliked avoiding attacks but also because he trusted Minato. They both had extensive training experience in performing extreme maneuvers that "toyed" with their lives.
Their conversation was not hidden, and given the short distance, it couldn't be concealed.
As the rogue ninjas were just coming to terms with the death of one of the members, they heard this information. Instantly, several of them looked grim. If Tatsuma's speculation was correct, they had been completely used by this Cloud Ninja. What was clearly a retaliation action by Hidden Cloud Village had manipulated them into joining.
Quickly, their dissatisfied gazes not only focused on the dead Cloud Ninja but also on the other three Hidden Cloud rogue ninjas in their group. No, calling them rogue ninjas might not be entirely accurate; after all, they could still be active Hidden Cloud Village ninjas with official status.
"Don't listen to their nonsense!" Another organizer spoke up loudly. Although the Hidden Rock Village forehead protector on his head was damaged, it still made some people believe his words.
After all, Hidden Rock Village and Hidden Cloud Village didn't get along. Besides rogue ninjas, it was almost impossible for these two villages to unite.
The enmity between the two villages has a long history. It is said that during the rebellion of Kinkaku and Ginkaku in Hidden Cloud Village, which led to the death of the Second Raikage and the rise of the Third Raikage, Hidden Rock Village caused a lot of trouble.
Seeing that the temporary team's morale seemed to be stabilizing, Tatsuma suddenly spoke, "Hidden Rock Village rogue ninja Chitsuchi? As a member of the former Tsuchikage's faction, it seems you were listed as a rogue ninja because of improper dealings with Hidden Cloud Village, right?"
Chitsuchi's nostrils flared unevenly, and his mouth twisted. Although what Tatsuma said was true, saying it now was clearly meant to sow discord.
As Tatsuma's words fell, those rogue ninjas who had begun to believe that Tatsuma was talking nonsense started to look doubtful again.
"Damn it!" Chitsuchi stomped his foot in anger, then hugged a partially exposed piece of the ground beside him. With Chakra flowing, he exerted force with his arms.
"Earth Release! Earth Mausoleum Dumpling!"
A giant boulder, the size of a house, was pulled from the ground. Chitsuchi hurled it towards where Tatsuma and Minato stood. However, such an attack was far too slow.
As the giant boulder descended above them, Tatsuma crouched down and grabbed the shoulder of the Hidden Cloud rogue ninja's corpse.
With a flash of gold and silver, the two of them and the corpse disappeared, returning to their initial position. Tatsuma threw the Cloud Ninja's body towards Vulture and said, "Preserve it."
"Got it." Vulture quickly took out a scroll and sealed the Cloud Ninja's body clumsily, possibly out of nervousness but still efficiently.
"Earth Release! Earth Flow Wave!"
At this moment, Chitsuchi launched a second attack. The rocks on the ground combined to form a giant hand, reaching towards Tatsuma and the others. However, such a cumbersome Earth Release technique was of limited use against elite Konoha ANBU members.
Not only Tatsuma and Minato, but even Vulture and Caterpillar could easily evade it.
Tatsuma and Minato didn't even consider fleeing the range of the Earth Flow Wave. Instead, they gathered Chakra at their feet and dashed directly on the giant rock hand, heading straight for Chitsuchi.
"Fire Release! Blazing Meteors!"
At this moment, a rogue ninja quickly spat out consecutive fireballs towards Tatsuma and Minato. Minato was about to form hand signs when he noticed Tatsuma had already moved in front of him.
He was slightly stunned, not expecting Tatsuma, who had been slower than him, to suddenly seem faster.
Minato thought he must have been slacking off recently. Reflecting on how long it had been since he conducted special training to increase his speed after discovering he was faster than Tatsuma, he realized he had been too lazy.
However, this thought only flashed briefly in his mind, and Minato, who could easily multitask, did not lose focus. He watched Tatsuma, who, with just an explosion of Enhanced Strength and the technique of Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm, shattered the fireballs with his bare hands.
Although it wasn't the first time Minato had seen such a scene, he was still somewhat amazed and envious. However, this was not something he could emulate. Enhanced Strength was a skill but also a talent.
Why was Tsunade's Enhanced Strength Taijutsu so renowned? Besides the advanced Enhanced Strength techniques brought by superior Chakra Control, she inherently possessed strength far beyond ordinary people. The combination of both was the true power of Senju's Enhanced Strength.
Tatsuma undeniably replicated the Senju's Enhanced Strength. Moreover, with his mastery of the Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm technique, it became extremely easy for him to shatter small-scale Ninjutsu with his bare hands.
Even Minato had to admit that being able to break Ninjutsu with one's bare hands was indeed impressive.
Despite his envy, Minato's hands didn't stop moving as he began forming hand signs. When he completed them, Tatsuma stepped aside just in time.
"Fire Release! Flame Bullet!"
Minato spat a stream of oil from his mouth, igniting it into a fireball that shot towards the cluster of rogue ninjas.
Seeing this, Tatsuma also formed hand signs. He noticed that there were no enemies along the path of Minato's Fire Release, but he didn't think it was a miss. Instead, he saw it as a signal for collaboration.
"Wind Release! Vacuum Great Sphere!"
Unlike Minato, Tatsuma didn't need to deliberately conserve Chakra. He exhaled an invisible but powerful wind sphere capable of stirring up an entire forest. As the fireball and wind sphere drew closer to the enemy group, they suddenly converged.
"Bang! Boom, boom, boom~"
The wind sphere collided with the fireball, instantly igniting the entire forest. Not only did the flames leap wildly, but the explosion also created invisible, razor-sharp blades slicing through the air.
Tatsuma and Minato both formed one-handed seals with their left hands, intertwining their thumbs and ring fingers while extending the other three fingers, and dove into the sea of flames.
The firelight robbed everyone of their sight but did not affect Tatsuma and Minato's sensing abilities. The technique for sensing within the flames was detailed in Tobirama's notes, and the mudra they used was the fire seal.
Within the fire, their sensing ability replaced their vision, allowing them to quickly locate enemies for a lethal strike amidst the inferno.
The blaze lasted only two to three seconds. The oil, atomized by the wind, spread widely, increasing the contact area between the oil and the fire, making the combustion more complete and quicker.
When the blaze subsided, only six of the original thirteen rogue ninjas remained. Minato discreetly signaled "three" towards Tatsuma. This wasn't a combat command gesture, but rather...
Minato indicated he had killed three enemies, while Tatsuma silently raised four fingers. Although his face was hidden by a mask, Minato was sure Tatsuma was feeling quite smug at that moment.
"Watch out!"
Just then, Minato noticed an enemy falling towards Tatsuma from above. The recent blaze had evaporated part of the surrounding mist, making it harder for enemies to launch surprise attacks. Any movement was almost immediately caught by Minato's sharp eyes.
"Earth Release! Rock Fist!"
"Earth Release! Added-Weight Rock!"
Chitsuchi, who was falling, heard Minato's belated warning and flashed a sinister grin as he delivered a powerful punch.
"Bang! Boom~"
The loud noise reverberated as the ground collapsed. Despite the thick rock gauntlet, the sensation of impact made Chitsuchi involuntarily smile.
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