- Who are you⁈⁈⁈ - Ai asked, clearly wanting to stall for time and give Nii time to recover⁈ -I don't remember there being any monks in Konoha.
I smirked - the change of image, along with the lack of a permanent mask, was confusing to even a shinobi who had met me before - and moved to the side, transforming my sword into a dart and aiming for a direct line of fire at the kunoichi.
Naturally, the jonin didn't let that happen, closing in on the kunoichi curled up on the ground, except he was in no hurry to rush in to attack.
This allowed me to fold a few hand seals, and the four-meter chakra samurai around me began to shrink rapidly, turning into a kind of cover-aura-armor and removing the possibility of attacking me from below.
The only vulnerability of the initial stage of Goriate no Kouchikubutsu disappeared without having to go into the final stage of the technique, which consumed an obscene amount of chakra.
The idea for this modification came after Kushina's performance on the exam, and despite the increased cost, this form provided more protection while maintaining excellent mobility, which was what I needed for my battle with Junior Ai.
The only drawback was still a slight impairment in visibility through the chakra layer and a dulling of sensor sense, though not as severe as in the final stage.
Pushing myself off the ground and leaving a small fountain of earth behind me, I rushed forward - it was time to assess my strength against Kumogakure's elite, and if I could get to the jinchuriki in the process, that would be great.
But even if I didn't, it was no big deal - the Uchiha were coming, and given the sorry state of the rest of the guards, they had a good chance of finishing off or even capturing Nii Yugito.
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