Four hours later, Kenshin and his sons were 150 kilometers from the outpost and approaching the mountains marked on the map. As soon as they neared the base of the huge mountain, Kenshin began activating the detection formation every five minutes to catch the silhouette of any creature larger than a field mouse.
Fifteen minutes later, Kenshin stopped again to activate the formation and suddenly flinched.
"Three hundred meters at eleven o'clock, two big wolves!" he declared, and the sons instantly spread out around the perimeter.
When fifty meters remained to the target, Kenshin climbed a tree and hid. The others headed toward the two wolves, hoping to catch them off guard. Unfortunately, wild beasts were very sensitive, and when twenty meters remained, both tree-sniffing wolves flinched and leaped in different directions, dodging the flying kunai.
Suddenly, a large fireball flew to where one wolf landed, enveloping the whimpering animal. The second wolf tried to flee but was stopped by Ichiro's accurately thrown kunai, which pierced the beast through.
"Hm, easier than I thought," Ichiro muttered and yanked both fangs from one wolf. The fangs were huge and incredibly sturdy, leaving no doubt to any appraiser who they belonged to.
"Don't get cocky. If there were ten, we wouldn't get off so easy," Kenshin said, approaching.
"I know, but it feels good to be stronger than something," Ichiro replied with a smile.
Over the next few hours, Kenshin's group killed five more wolves, fully completing the plan. Everyone was unharmed thanks to the protection formation—even the distracted Fourth, whom a wolf tried to bite on the leg, stayed intact.
Kenshin was about to turn back, but a loud howl sounded, and they all rushed for the last trophy of the day. As soon as they entered the dense forest belt, eight shuriken flew at them, two per person.
Kenshin instantly activated x150 focus and began assessing the situation. He planned to take the shuriken on the formation, noting their speed didn't exceed what any older son could throw. From one tiny detail, he determined the enemies were Chunin at best.
As soon as Ichiro saw the sudden attack, he focused on protecting his father. The shuriken aimed at Kenshin vanished and reappeared to the side, embedding in nearby trees. Ichiro easily deflected his shuriken and charged.
The Third also deflected both shuriken effortlessly and jumped aside, breaking distance so they couldn't be covered by one strong technique. The Fourth couldn't deflect both, and one hit an invisible barrier.
By the time the sudden attack was repelled, Kenshin had pinpointed the attackers and formed a quick counter-plan. There were five attackers total, which worried Kenshin a bit since someone had to take two. Luckily, Ichiro, the Third, and the Fourth had already closed to melee, each intuitively picking an equal opponent based on their speed.
Ichiro took the two fastest, and the enemies didn't mind, seeing a strong foe. Kenshin was five meters away and eyed the weakest-looking one, seemingly a mid-Genin, but decided to talk first.
"Who are you?! Why did you attack us?!" Kenshin asked two questions before the battle heated up.
"The dead don't need to know!" one of Ichiro's opponents declared and lunged. His partner, using the general pause, tried to attack the nearby Third, but his kunai hit an invisible barrier, and the attacker suddenly flinched and groaned bitterly from a shuriken in his back.
Ichiro was furious and wouldn't stand by while his younger brother was attacked from behind, so he used all available "space authority" and threw a shuriken that vanished and instantly appeared ten meters away, right under the enemy's ribs.
This triggered the battle. The enemy shinobi commander tried to kill Ichiro in one strike but failed. Ichiro easily dodged and counterattacked.
The wounded shinobi returned to the commander to help take down the most dangerous fighter in his view. He was angry and wanted to tear Ichiro into a thousand pieces, but the wound hampered his virtuoso movement, making him a burden to his commander.
No one else wanted to suddenly attack another's foe, so in the ensuing battle, each shifted twenty meters aside. This was an unspoken rule of the shinobi world, followed by all. "Wall-to-wall" battles like with regular humans weren't welcome, as in battle chaos anything could happen, and the whole group of allied and enemy shinobi could die from one explosive seal or technique.
Under accelerated perception, Kenshin just tried to find enemy weak spots and relay info to his sons. However, the "weakest" shinobi who targeted Kenshin wouldn't stand idle and kicked at his head.
Kenshin blocked the kick effortlessly and threw the opponent to the ground, aiming to crush his chest with a stomp. The enemy shinobi blocked it easily, rolled, and sprang up. From Kenshin's strike, his forearms burned unbearably, but he intended to fight.
At that moment, everyone instinctively turned toward the elite fighters and stared in shock at the incredible scene. The enemy commander's partner stood motionless, blood gushing from his severed neck stump. A split second later came a dull, loud thud. His head hit the ground on a rock, then his knees buckled, and he collapsed. All clearly saw Ichiro's eyes gleaming red like rubies in the evening sun.
The enemy shinobi were shocked, and ten seconds later, the Fourth pierced his enemy's heart with a kunai. The enemy commander barely parried Ichiro's attacks and survived only because he was a peak Chunin.
The Third was evenly matched and, following his father's order, dragged it out without risk. Kenshin had it a bit harder, but he was more than confident. The suit's energy and his skills could hold two such enemies for about fifteen minutes, let alone one.
By now, Ichiro had inflicted several wounds on the enemy commander, and everyone knew how the fight would end.
"W-wait! Let's talk!" the commander yelled, understanding the situation best.
"Don't listen. Kill!" Kenshin ordered mentally, deciding talks were over.