Kiyohara stood calmly, analyzing the ANBU, and the ANBU silently analyzed Kiyohara.
Yūgao Uzuki, wearing her signature porcelain cat mask, gazed intently at Kiyohara through the eyeholes. Counting it up, this was technically their third formal deployment meeting.
"We leave now?" Kiyohara asked, his voice steady.
He had initially assumed the squad would simply receive a written extraction notification from command and then be allowed to casually travel back to Konoha via the standard routes.
No wonder their departure had been officially delayed for a few days; it turned out the Hokage had specifically ordered elite ANBU to escort them personally across the continent.
Thinking of this political reality, Kiyohara glanced sideways at Rin. He logically guessed this maximum-security treatment was exclusively because of her new status.
The unsealed Three-Tails currently hibernating inside her abdomen was classified as an S-Rank, state secret. Absolutely all relevant military personnel involved in the valley skirmish were strictly required to keep it classified upon penalty of treason.
Just like with Kushina Uzumaki's existence, only a very microscopic, elite fraction of people currently knew she was Konoha's Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. To the vast majority of the village population, Kushina was simply known as a fiery orphan of the destroyed Uzumaki Clan who lived in heavy seclusion.
"We depart exactly in one hour," the tall ANBU captain ordered, granting Kiyohara and the others a brief window to pack their personal gear.
"I have no problem with that," Kiyohara looked at Kurenai and Rin.
The two kunoichi also quickly nodded, indicating they were ready to move.
Thus, the extraction timeline was set.
The tall ANBU captain, along with Hayate and Yūgao, stood completely silent guard at the perimeter entrance of the camp, waiting for Kiyohara's squad to finalize their preparations.
After formally notifying Genma and Kakashi of the Hokage's extraction order, Kiyohara went back to his tent to pack his gear.
He shouldered a heavy, reinforced tactical backpack.
Fortunately, with his genetically expanded chakra reserves, his raw physical endurance had also improved exponentially.
Chakra is fundamentally a biological mixture of spiritual energy and physical stamina; shinobis who natively possess massive amounts of chakra generally possess terrifyingly high physical endurance and "blunt damage resistance."
For instance, when a completely exhausted, battered Sasuke Uchiha punched a solid rock wall in frustration at the Valley of the End, he could still effortlessly punch a deep crater into the stone without breaking his hand. Yet, a monstrous punch like that landing squarely on Naruto's face would only result in a few mild bruises.
If that exact same punch hit an ordinary civilian, their skull would have been violently splattered across the rocks.
However, despite their blunt-force durability, ninjas possessed very poor resistance to sharp, piercing weapons; even a standard kunai of ordinary civilian craftsmanship could effortlessly break a Jonin's defenses and sever an artery.
'I definitely should have brought more high-capacity sealing scrolls,' Kiyohara thought to himself, adjusting the heavy straps on his shoulders.
Much of the heavy weight he was carrying was premium tactical supplies and armor scavenged from the slaughtered Kirigakure ANBU. Since his personal sealing scrolls were already at maximum volumetric capacity, he had to physically pack the remaining steel gear into the backpack on his shoulders.
There were no secure black-market transit towns nearby where Kiyohara could safely fence these items, so he had no choice but to manually carry the heavy load back to Konoha.
Fortunately, the weight would not affect his mobility in the slightest.
Arriving at the camp gate, Kiyohara was relatively early.
The last person to arrive at the extraction point was Kakashi.
Kakashi looked exhausted. He quietly mentioned to Rin that he had suffered a bizarre, vivid nightmare involving Obito last night.
Kiyohara logically estimated that this wasn't a mere psychological dream, but rather a violent biological symptom. Kakashi's transplanted Sharingan and Obito's remaining Sharingan had suffered a massive, cross-continental spatial resonance.
Though Kiyohara didn't scientifically know the exact biological principle behind the link, the result was canon fact.
Obito had awakened the Mangekyō in the dark, and Kakashi's connected Sharingan had been forcefully evolved into the Mangekyō pattern along with it. However, it seemed that due to his insufficient chakra reserves during the resonance, Kakashi's Mangekyō had immediately regressed back into a dormant Three-Tomoe state to prevent him from dying of chakra exhaustion.
Kakashi himself was currently completely unaware of this fact.
Konoha. Deep underground in the Root Headquarters.
"Danzo-sama. According to confirmed border reports, the target, Kiyohara, is already on his way back to the Village."
A masked Root operative knelt in the dark, submitting the intelligence brief directly to Danzo Shimura.
Although Danzo officially only commanded a handful of recognized "Root" members on the books, relying on a vast, illegal network of external civilian spies and sleeper agents, he still commanded his own massive, autonomous intelligence network completely separate from the Hokage.
Otherwise, with just a tiny squad of official operatives, he wouldn't have been able to effectively cover up the horrific human experiments he and Orochimaru were covertly conducting in the shadows.
"This civilian brat... the blood flowing in his body is actually inherently evil..." Danzo's single eye narrowed slightly in the dark, reading the brief.
He had initially wanted to recruit Kiyohara to his side.
The more he read the terrifying military reports of Kiyohara's outstanding, brutal performance on the front lines, the more eager Danzo became for such a perfect, lethal blank slate. He thirsted for the boy's genetic talent.
He had meticulously planned to psychologically guide out the darkness in the boy's heart, traumatize him, and forge him into his absolute, unquestioning subordinate.
Who would have thought that this civilian anomaly would suddenly, spontaneously turn out to possess the cursed genetics of the Uchiha?
"No... it's hard to say whether this isolated brat will actually be on the same political page as the arrogant Uchiha elders..." Danzo stroked his chin, calculating the variables.
He deeply, pathologically despised the Uchiha, but he wouldn't mind owning a perfectly brainwashed Uchiha subordinate.
On the contrary, a fiercely loyal assassin possessing the god-tier visual power of the Sharingan and the Magnet Release was exactly the weapon his Root faction desperately lacked.
Currently, his most capable, lethal subordinates were still specialized ninjas brainwashed from the Aburame Clan and the Yamanaka Clan.
As long as he forcefully abducted the boy, subjected him to the absolute, soul-breaking Root brainwashing education, and branded his tongue with the explosive Cursed Seal, it was impossible for the boy not to be flawlessly used.
"Deploy the specialized abduction squad. Include the Yamanaka operative..." Danzo formed a cold, absolute plan in his mind.
Now was the absolute, perfect tactical window; once Kiyohara arrived in the Village and was officially recruited by Hiruzen's ANBU or heavily guarded by the Uchiha Clan, it would be impossible to make a move without starting a civil war.
A few days later. Konohagakure Main Gates.
The crisp morning sunlight shone warmly through the towering green wooden walls as Kiyohara's group, heavily escorted by the ANBU squad, finally passed safely through the massive gates.
The long journey from the Grass border had been incredibly quiet.
The ANBU operatives strictly maintained radio silence and did not converse, and the three Konoha teenagers, exhausted from the trauma, remained equally silent.
Kurenai would occasionally sneak shy, admiring looks at Kiyohara, eager to go back to the training grounds and officially begin her private genjutsu sessions with him. When staying close to Kiyohara, Kurenai always felt that the days passed incredibly quickly.
Rin kept her head down, walking silently, her hands unconsciously, nervously clasped together over her stomach.
Although the Three-Tails sealed inside her was temporarily suppressed by Kiyohara's emergency surgery and the outpost medics, that horrific, strange feeling of dense, corrosive chakra still existed beneath her skin, exactly like a live nuclear bomb permanently buried in her heart.
Immediately after entering the secure Village perimeter, the ANBU escort split seamlessly into two distinct groups.
"Rin Nohara. Please come with us immediately. Hokage-sama has arranged for you to go directly to a secure location to see Kushina-sama," the tall ANBU captain ordered.
His voice came through the porcelain mask, sounding somewhat muffled but absolute.
Rin looked back at Kiyohara and Kurenai, a distinct trace of deep unease flashing in her brown eyes.
"Go ahead," Kiyohara nodded calmly at her.
"Lady Kushina's mastery of Sealing Jutsu is the strongest in the world; you will be perfectly fine," Kiyohara stated with absolute, logical certainty.
Kushina was not someone who was difficult to get along with; with her expert intervention, Rin's unstable chakra situation would stabilize. Moreover, the Three-Tails was vastly inferior in raw power and malice compared to the Nine-Tails, so the required sealing strength to cage it would be much less demanding on Kushina's stamina.
Rin bit her pale lip nervously, glanced deeply at Kiyohara, subconsciously touched the woven bracelet on her wrist for comfort, and finally left down a side street heavily guarded by the two ANBU.
The remaining two ANBU, Yūgao and Hayate, seamlessly took the lead, guiding Kiyohara and Kurenai directly toward the towering Hokage Building in the center of the village.
"Please follow closely," Yūgao said professionally.
She was half a head shorter than Kiyohara, possessing a slender, athletic figure, but she stood perfectly straight, carrying the unique, lethal, capable temperament of a veteran ANBU assassin.
Hayate followed silently on the flank, his hand resting on his sword hilt, occasionally coughing twice into his collar.
The Hokage Building was heavily fortified; the three passed through a long, guarded corridor, ascended the spiraling stairs, and finally stopped precisely in front of heavy wooden double doors.
"Hokage-sama is waiting for you inside," Yūgao pushed the heavy door open smoothly and respectfully signaled for Kiyohara to enter.
Kiyohara stepped calmly into the room.
The central Hokage Office was spacious and bright; outside the massive floor-to-ceiling windows, one could commandingly see the entire sprawling view of Konoha Village.
Hiruzen Sarutobi sat heavily behind the massive, scroll-covered desk, holding his wooden pipe in his hand, looking up sharply at Kiyohara's entrance.
"Hokage-sama," Kiyohara bowed his head respectfully.
"Sit," Hiruzen pointed the stem of his pipe to the simple chair opposite him.
He put down his pipe and carefully, intensely scrutinized the civilian youth before him.
Kiyohara was noticeably taller than just a few months ago. His shoulders were broader, heavily muscled from combat. Although his face still carried the faint youthfulness of a teenager, his dark eyes were already as terrifyingly cold and steady as a veteran killer much older than his years.
Most importantly, Hiruzen could sense that the raw chakra reserves coiled inside Kiyohara were even more massive and profound than the terrifying military intelligence reports had described.
"I have already read the classified details regarding the Land of Grass border incident," Hiruzen spoke slowly, measuring his words.
"You and your squad did exceptionally well. Not only did you protect your companions from a superior force, but you also flawlessly thwarted the Kirigakure's strategic conspiracy to secure the vessel. Extremely well done, Jonin Kiyohara."
Hiruzen offered a few more warm, paternal words of comfort regarding the trauma they had faced, then outlined the administrative arrangements for the subsequent debriefings. He officially granted Kiyohara and his squad a few days of mandatory psychological R&R leave.
Finally, he dismissed Kurenai. Kiyohara was left behind entirely alone in the office with the Hokage.
Kiyohara knew with absolute political certainty that this isolation was because Hiruzen wanted to personally interrogate him about the Sharingan.
Hiruzen looked deeply at Kiyohara, analyzing the young ninja's psychology.
Generally speaking, Uchiha ninjas awakened their cursed eyes due to the agonizing, emotional pain of being about to lose a precious companion.
Kiyohara, logically, must have triggered the awakening specifically to save Rin Nohara's life.
This was completely normal. Tailed Beasts were apocalyptic, highly mysterious existences to the vast majority of normal ninjas, with extremely little data known about them. Hiruzen firmly believed that Kiyohara had mistakenly thought Rin was being permanently, painfully transformed into a monster, and the sheer psychological trauma of failing to save her had awakened his dormant genetics in a moment of pure agitation.
"Kiyohara. You contributed the most to the survival of the squad this time, and you are the operative most deserving of commendation," Hiruzen exhaled a thick puff of smoke.
He always kept his pipe lit, and the Hokage Office was gradually, suffocatingly filling with the heavy smell of secondhand tobacco.
"Hokage-sama, I was merely doing my duty as a capable Konoha Ninja. I firmly believe that every operative's heart, in desperately wanting to 'protect their companions,' is fundamentally the exact same."
Kiyohara continued smoothly, delivering his flawless, pre-planned political script:
"I still clearly remember when I was a young child at the Ninja Academy, Hokage-sama personally came to give a speech to the students. The Will of Fire you spoke of then... I finally understand it now on the battlefield. The true essence of the Will is to protect the precious companions of the Village at all costs. Wherever the leaves of Konoha dance... the fire will always burn on."
Someone of Hiruzen's political stature would occasionally visit the Ninja Academy to give propaganda speeches to check on the new students. After all, a ruler had to heavily indoctrinate the youth from a young age to ensure they knew exactly whose light they were basking in.
Listening to Kiyohara flawlessly, passionately recite his own political philosophy, a brilliant flash of genuine, profound approval crossed Hiruzen's old eyes.
He honestly did not expect Kiyohara to understand the Will of Fire so profoundly and articulately.
These deeply loyal words... even his own blood son, Asuma Sarutobi, absolutely might not be able to say them so thoroughly and genuinely. That rebellious, arrogant kid still completely failed to understand what a true ninja was, or what the Will of Fire meant.
If Asuma possessed even half of Kiyohara's political comprehension and loyalty, Hiruzen, as an old father, could finally rest easy.
"Incredibly well said, Kiyohara," Hiruzen stood up, his face breaking into a warm, genuine smile.
He took a highly classified, heavy scroll from his locked drawer, walked slowly around his desk, patted Kiyohara warmly on the shoulder, and handed him the scroll.
"As a personal reward for your outstanding, flawless performance this time, take this. It is a highly advanced, B-Rank Lightning Release ninjutsu titled Lightning Release: Roaring Thunder. It is terrifyingly powerful and incredibly difficult to master... but with your proven talent, you should be able to master its flow."
Kiyohara took the heavy scroll, upon which the bold, yellow kanji for 'Lightning' was elegantly written.
He clearly remembered from canon that this specific jutsu was historically one of Hiruzen Sarutobi's personal signature ninjutsu. Although officially classified as B-Rank, in terms of sheer destructive output and kinetic speed, it was effectively almost an S-Rank assassination ninjutsu.
Because this specific Lightning Release technique was functionally different from most standard Lightning jutsu (like the Chidori); it did not follow the meridian lines of the arms to coat the hands, but was released directly from the mouth—exactly like a Fire Release ninjutsu—spitting out a massive, devastating bolt of concentrated lightning.
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Kiyohara smiled respectfully, bowing his head.
The Hokage was deeply pleased with his loyalty to the Will of Fire, and Kiyohara was deeply pleased with receiving a high-level, free ninjutsu reward. Everyone had a bright, profitable political future.
"Go back to your apartment and get some much-needed rest, but do not slack off on your rigorous training," Hiruzen commanded gently. "The future security of Konoha desperately needs loyal, powerful young people exactly like you."
After bowing perfectly, Kiyohara turned and exited the office.
The exact second the heavy wooden doors clicked shut, the warm, grandfatherly smile on Hiruzen's face gradually faded into a look of profound, complex calculation.
It seems that a child's surrounding environment truly has an absolute, overriding impact on their psychological development.
Having never once received the toxic, arrogant instruction from the Uchiha Clan elders, Kiyohara had fully, flawlessly embraced the benevolent influence of Konoha's Will of Fire.
Furthermore, his predecessors were entirely ordinary civilian heroes who died loyally in battle for Konoha. Raised in such a humble, tragic environment, it was incredibly difficult for Kiyohara to ever possess the dangerous arrogance and sociopathic paranoia typical of the Uchiha Clan.
He was the perfect political weapon.
Hiruzen relit a fresh bowl of tobacco, placed it in his pipe, and took a deep, satisfied drag.
It was already late evening when Kiyohara finally left the Hokage Building complex.
He walked calmly along the main road towards his civilian apartment, clutching the heavy scroll containing Lightning Release: Roaring Thunder in his hand.
There were not many pedestrians remaining on the street due to the wartime curfews. Because Kiyohara's cheap apartment was relatively remote, situated on the extreme, impoverished edge of the Village, the crowds thinned until there were no people around.
As the streetlights flickered on overhead, casting dim, flickering circles of yellow light into the growing darkness, it signaled the quiet arrival of night.
Just as Kiyohara turned a dark street corner into an empty alleyway... four silent, cloaked silhouettes materialized flawlessly from the shadows, completely blocking his path.
"You must be Kiyohara. Danzo-sama requests your immediate presence," the lead assassin stated.
The person speaking was a Root operative codenamed Shenhou (Monkey). He wore a blank porcelain mask and was dressed in a standard, tight black combat suit. A simple, minimalist monkey pattern was painted in red on the mask.
His voice was entirely dead, devoid of any human emotion.
Kiyohara frowned slightly, halting his steps.
He rapidly, clinically observed their tactical formation and discovered that the porcelain masks of the other three silent assassins featured minimalist patterns of a Snake, an Ox, and a Horse, respectively.
Danzo Shimura's suicide squad?
Was it because this specific civilian area was too remote, and they had visually confirmed there were no civilian witnesses around? Or perhaps they had already pre-emptively set up some kind of sensory barrier in the alley to avoid being detected by the Hokage's ANBU patrols?
"Danzo? I don't know who that is," Kiyohara feigned complete, innocent ignorance.
The existence of the Hokage's ANBU Black-Ops was already classified as highly confidential to the general public.
And the existence of the "Root" subdivision was confidential among the confidential. The vast majority of standard Konoha ninjas didn't even know of the existence of the Root organization.
As the absolute dictator of Root, Danzo Shimura naturally resembled the literal roots of a massive tree—buried deep, rotting in the earth, completely unknown and invisible to others.
"Hmph. It is entirely normal that a low-ranking operative like you does not know Danzo-sama's name," Mihebi (Snake), wearing the snake mask, spoke up coldly.
"Danzo-sama is a supreme, high-ranking military official of Konoha Command, and we officially belong to a major, highly classified department of the ANBU," Wuma (Horse) added impatiently.
"Danzo Shimura-sama requests your immediate presence," Ushi (Ox) repeated like a broken, emotionless machine.
"I don't know any politician named Danzo. If you want to officially summon me for an interrogation, please bring a signed, sealed execution order directly from Hokage-sama. Otherwise... I will consider this an illegal act of espionage and kidnapping," Kiyohara's expression turned absolutely, murderously cold.
Go peacefully to Danzo Shimura's underground torture chamber?
Are you joking?
Waiting patiently to have Danzo's paralyzing Cursed Seal violently branded under his tongue to enslave his mind? How was that any different from being branded with cattle iron and becoming a slave?
You have to logically understand, Danzo Shimura was a sociopath who dared to ambush his own village's hero, Shisui Uchiha, in broad daylight to gouge out his eyes, even though Shisui possessed the legendary Mangekyō Sharingan and was completely loyal.
Danzo completely, utterly disregarded what the reaction of the Uchiha Clan would be, or the catastrophic civil war consequences that would inevitably follow. He was used to acting first with extreme violence and reporting fake news later.
Kiyohara dared not test the risk of cooperating with a psychopath.
"How dare you call Danzo-sama an illegal spy?!" Wuma's flat tone suddenly carried a spike of genuine, fanatical anger.
These brainwashed Root Ninjas had long been tortured into regarding Danzo-sama as an infallible, flawless god. Seeing a pathetic civilian brat dare to verbally slander his authority caused a wave of violent anger to rise in their conditioned hearts.
At the exact same time, this flash of human anger came quickly and was violently suppressed just as quickly.
Wuma instantly regained his robotic composure.
Having undergone years of brutal "Self-Elimination" torture training, they were fundamentally emotionally detached from humanity. In their broken hearts, there was absolutely only the single, absolute obedience to flawlessly execute Danzo's orders.
"Danzo-sama's command must be executed immediately," Wuma stepped forward aggressively and reached out a gloved hand to physically grab Kiyohara's shoulder and force him to move.
Kiyohara casually, smoothly sidestepped to avoid the physical contact.
"I said: without Hokage-sama's explicit, signed order, you are legally committing an act of espionage," Kiyohara secretly, rapidly refined massive amounts of chakra, already prepared to strike lethally at any microsecond.
Kiyohara did not hold these four assassins in any regard at all.
They were just a bunch of brainwashed, pathetic cowards hiding their faces and acting like lapdogs.
Danzo could not possibly dare to cause any major, explosive commotion in the Village limits without alerting the Hokage's patrols. This paranoid old man, exactly like his pathetic Root faction, only liked executing quiet, shady operations in the dark.
"Then... that is not up to you," Wuma stated coldly.
The four Root Ninja moved flawlessly, simultaneously.
Their tactical coordination was terrifyingly, perfectly tacit; two operatives immediately body-flickered to block Kiyohara's physical retreat path down the alley, one attacked violently with a kunai from the absolute front, and the final operative rapidly formed a complex sequence of hand seals from the flank.
Mind Transfer Jutsu!
That was the terrifying, highly classified secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan, capable of violently invading another person's biological mind and hijacking their nervous system.
Kiyohara's Sharingan instantly, violently activated.
In the sudden scarlet field of vision, the supersonic movements of the assassins slowed down to a sluggish crawl.
He flawlessly saw the exact aerodynamic trajectory of the Yamanaka Ninja's chakra flow, and the microscopic traces of Yin chakra gathering violently in the man's hands to launch the mental attack.
The exact next microsecond, Kiyohara's physical figure completely disappeared from the spot.
The secret technique of the Yamanaka Clan was indeed incredibly troublesome... but as long as the invisible mental vector didn't physically lock onto the target's coordinates, it had absolutely no mathematical meaning at all.
Under the massive, apocalyptic enhancement of the Sharingan's kinetic dynamic vision, the amount of magnetic repulsive force Kiyohara could precisely use to accelerate himself could also be flawlessly stacked without losing balance.
SWOOSH!
The mental jutsu released by Wuma missed completely and directly struck the brick wall behind where Kiyohara had just been standing.
They did not expect the civilian brat's physical speed to be so terrifyingly fast.
Just as Wuma frantically adjusted his posture, desperately intending to re-aim his mental vector at Kiyohara's blurred figure... Kiyohara's large, calloused hand had already violently covered the assassin's face.
"I gave you a legal chance to walk away. But you are useless," Kiyohara's voice whispered coldly in his ear.
BANG!
A single, devastating palm strike.
At point-blank range, a deafening, crisp sound of shattering bone exploded in the silent alley.
Wuma's head completely, physically disappeared from his shoulders.
It was not blown apart or knocked away into the sky by Kiyohara.
It was directly, brutally driven downward by the sheer kinetic force of the palm strike, violently crushing his cervical spine and driving his entire skull directly down into his own chest cavity!
Kiyohara had flawlessly avoided pulverizing the critical brain stem areas, technically leaving the assassin with a faint, gurgling breath of biological life.
Of course, whether the assassin would survive as a braindead vegetable or be permanently, entirely paralyzed from the neck down afterwards... that was Wuma's own medical problem.
For those who arrogantly dared to attack him in the dark, Kiyohara would absolutely never, ever show an ounce of human mercy.
"AUDACIOUS!"
The remaining assassins—Ushi, Mihebi, and Shenhou—could not help but have their heavily conditioned, indifferent emotions violently churn with shock.
This Kiyohara brat was truly, insanely audacious!
It was politically true that very few ninjas officially knew about Danzo-sama's existence; often, only the political leaders of the major ninja clans and highly connected veteran Jonin knew the old man's name.
But when they aggressively performed abduction tasks in the past, even if the targets didn't fully know who sent them, they were all very terrified and cooperative with the "ANBU's" work.
Where the absolute hell did an existence like Kiyohara come from?! A teenager who violently resisted an ANBU arrest without saying a word, and brutally slaughtered an elite operative with a single, barehanded palm strike?!
He really did not hold their terrifying Root faction in any political regard whatsoever.
This was absolute, unforgivable blasphemy against their beloved god, Danzo-sama!
"Deploy secret techni—"
Just as Ushi desperately wanted to release a lethal, clan-specific secret technique, Kiyohara's physical body disappeared again into a blur, and he smoothly drew the heavy ninja sword from his waist.
CLANG!
A dense, hyper-compressed layer of chakra flowed violently over the steel ninja sword; that enchanted chakra was a razor-sharp, aerodynamic wind current!
It flowed completely translucent, whistling at high speed, making the physical length of the blade incredibly hard to visually discern!
Wind Release was statistically the most lethal, commonly used element paired with Kenjutsu, its armor-piercing ratio even exceeding Lightning Release combined with swordsmanship.
Kiyohara's current, microscopic mastery of Wind Release was extraordinary.
Ushi had only just barely managed to form the first hand seal of his jutsu... when both of his hands were cleanly, effortlessly severed at the wrists, floating uselessly in the air while still maintaining the first hand-seal posture.
SPLAT!
Arterial blood flew everywhere, painting the alley walls red. Ushi collapsed, screaming.
The remaining two terrified Root Ninja, Mihebi and Shenhou, finally seized the microscopic opportunity to desperately form their hand seals while Kiyohara was executing Ushi.
"Damn it! This monster's baseline speed is too fast! Coordinate with me to use a massive, large-scale area-of-effect Ninjutsu!" Mihebi yelled to his companion, panicking.
With this kind of speed, he knew clearly in his tactical heart that the boy was not an existence that he and Shenhou could physically catch or defeat in close-quarters combat.
The absolute best way to deal with an overwhelming speed-type ninja was to use massive, blinding firepower suppression. Just force the ninja backward so they cannot physically close the distance.
"Okay!"
At the critical microsecond, Shenhou chose exactly the same tactical method as his companion.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
In an instant, a massive, violent gale of hurricane-force wind was spat violently from Mihebi's mouth.
Because the highly compressed chakra was mathematically gathered entirely outside the oral cavity along the physical gaps of the porcelain mask, even though the violent gale was blown outward with apocalyptic force, his mask remained securely attached to his face.
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