Chapter 38
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"Lord Hokage!" Haneda said to the Third Hokage, as he had to rely on him to do something.
"I can hold off three people at most," the Hokage said, picking up a kunai and assuming a combat stance.
He was just a shadow clone, and he had already been attacked, so he couldn't do much.
"Damn it!"
"Let's fight, Kakashi!" Haneda activated his Sharingan, his expression becoming serious.
"Okay!" Kakashi leaned beside Hatake, drawing a silver short sword from his back.
"Don't look at the Uchiha's eyes!!" Muramasa warned.
His expression was serious, showing no signs of underestimating the two children as his opponents.
As his words fell, the three Chūnin beside him charged at the Third Hokage, while Haneda and Kakashi were left to deal with their captain.
The Root Jonin had the advantage over the two children!
In that instant, battle erupted!
"Give up, Hatake Kakashi and Uchiha Haneda!"
"You don't want to bleed, do you?"
"That lord doesn't want you dead, but I can't distinguish the severity of the situation, so it might be different."
Muramasa tried to make Haneda and Kakashi surrender, but what came next was a flurry of shurikens.
"Is that your answer? Just wasting a little more time."
Muramasa dodged several shurikens with a sidestep, while the shurikens controlled by Haneda couldn't be dodged and were easily pinched between his fingers.
"What do we do, Haneda? The shurikens aren't working."
Kakashi asked, habitually centering around Hatake.
"Delay! Try to hold them off for ten minutes!"
Haneda felt a bit guilty about the Root Jonin.
These people were trained through brutal training, true ninjas who had crawled out of heaps of corpses.
Their combat experience and instincts were incredibly rich; they were up against formidable opponents!
He could only hope the Third Hokage's plan would succeed and that Jiraiya would arrive on time.
"Team One, go, Kakashi!"
Haneda charged straight at Muramasa. What he was best at now were Taijutsu and genjutsu; he needed to get him to face his own eyes.
"Just what I wanted, Uchiha brat!" Muramasa said excitedly, not expecting Hatake to come to him.
"Don't get too close!" the Third Hokage shouted nearby.
Just as Muramasa thought he was about to secure Haneda, something surprising happened.
"Konoha Great Whirlwind!!!"
A horizontal kick flashed before his eyes, so fast and powerful that he had to step back to dodge.
The whirlwind kick struck the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Kakashi also moved immediately, continuously throwing shurikens from his waist pouch.
Using the dust to obscure his vision, he charged at Muramasa.
"I told you, these little tricks are useless." Muramasa casually sidestepped a few shurikens.
But at that moment, a shuriken bound with an explosive tag flew past his eyes.
Without hesitation, he quickly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release—Mud Wall!!"
A thick earthen wall rose from the ground, completely blocking him.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Violent explosions came in succession from the front.
"Interesting."
Muramasa chuckled lightly, and suddenly, several shurikens flew from his side.
"Uchiha-style Shuriken Throwing Technique!"
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The sound of wind-filled shurikens whistled in his ears.
Muramasa instinctively used his kunai to block them, and the shurikens spun, sparking brightly against his kunai.
As the sparks flew, the explosive tags stuck to the shurikens were triggered!
"Damn it, where does this Uchiha brat get so much money to buy explosive tags!!"
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Dust was thrown up again, filling the area.
Under the watchful eye of the Sharingan, a mound of earth formed, wrapping around Muramasa.
Just as the mound began to crack open, revealing a figure, Kakashi, hidden in the dust, moved to launch a surprise attack from Muramasa's back.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!
The short sword and kunai exchanged blows, creating a dizzying flurry of afterimages.
At this moment, Haneda charged in again from a distance.
"Konoha Strong Whirlwind!!"
The immense force shattered the ground, producing a crisp sound of splintering wood.
"Are you done playing, you two brats? It's over!"
A hand shot up from the ground, grabbing Haneda's leg and twisting hard. Haneda cried out in pain and quickly used his kunai to sever the arm.
But at that moment, Muramasa, hidden in the earth, dissipated into smoke.
His true body had hidden itself in the mound of dirt he had previously used to evade the explosive tags!
When both Haneda and Kakashi thought he would emerge, he lay concealed beneath their very eyes!
Now hidden in the dust, Muramasa seized the opportunity while Haneda was distracted and instantly controlled him.
One hand pressed against Haneda's throat, while the other gripped Haneda's right hand, which held the kunai.
The battlefield situation changed in an instant!
After succeeding, Muramasa coldly looked at Kakashi and said:
"If you don't want your friend to die, just obediently follow me."
"He's just one of the targets; he can die."
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and asked, "What do you want me to do?"
"I said to follow me!"
Suddenly, a reflection from a mirror caught his attention, and Muramasa realized something. He quickly averted his gaze.
But at that moment, his left hand was seized by Haneda!
"Let me borrow your hand, is that alright?"
The Haneda who was held at the throat transformed into a wooden board, while the real Haneda appeared next to Kakashi.
"Mirror… brat, you're just stalling for time?"
Muramasa was enraged; he hadn't expected the captured prey to slip away so easily.
Kakashi pretended to negotiate with Muramasa to buy time, seizing the opportunity to take out the mirror hidden in his hand.
Under Haneda's Sharingan, Muramasa had to look away.
At the moment he averted his gaze, Haneda used the opportunity to complete his hand seals and switch places.
He had intended to completely control Haneda's movements, but it turned out to be a mistake!
This process was completed at incredible speed. By the time he noticed, it was already done!!
Kakashi ignored Muramasa's furious rage and asked Haneda:
"What do we do next?"
"Look into my eyes."
Haneda's Sharingan locked onto Kakashi's, and in that moment, Kakashi understood what to do.
On the other side, Muramasa glanced at the chaotic battlefield.
The numerically superior Root ninjas were scattered by Might Guy alone, and the Anbu began to counterattack.
His three subordinates were being held back by the Third Hokage, unable to break free for a while.
Muramasa's eyes narrowed as he contemplated his next move.
This Uchiha Haneda brat was particularly troublesome, but he lacked combat experience and could be taken down with a little trick.
Hatake Kakashi's combat intelligence was not low; he understood how to cooperate with Haneda to create opportunities, but his strength was concerning.
As long as one of the two died, this battle would quickly end.
With this thought, Muramasa made up his mind.
'Kill that naturally evil Uchiha brat and capture Hatake Kakashi alive!'
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Haneda created two shadow clones and tossed two windmill shurikens to Kakashi.
"Catch these and use that technique."
"Got it."
Kakashi gripped the two windmill shurikens tightly, and at the moment when Muramasa's gaze was most serious, he threw them out.
At the moment he threw the windmill shurikens, both Kakashi and Haneda simultaneously dashed back.
At that moment, the two shadow clones of Haneda charged at Muramasa, attempting to delay for time.
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