Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
The houses trembled along with the shaking earth.
Two giant salamanders crawled wantonly down the street, churning up clouds of dust as countless street lamps, stalls, and buildings collapsed in their wake.
"Ahhhhh... I'm so bored!"
Standing atop one of the giant salamanders, Kana, her curly pink hair tied in twin tails, yawned in boredom.
Though standing on the head of a giant salamander and commanding it to wreak wanton destruction was thrilling, the path so far had been completely deserted.
After a long stretch of monotony, even the stimulating act of destruction had become dull.
"Gin-senpai, are we really going to draw out the enemy like this?"
Kana turned to look at the woman on the other salamander's head, her eyes filled with admiration.
Short silver hair, a pretty and handsome face that blended beauty with a dashing air, such a heroic figure… even as a fellow woman, she couldn't help but admire her.
Under such a gaze, Gin's brow furrowed slightly.
Since changing to a human body, many feelings she had previously understood but been unable to experience personally were now tangible to her, and her mindset had changed accordingly.
For instance, her master's commands...
When she was still an artificial body before, she would mechanically carry out her master's commands; it was a concept based on the premise of the master's orders, so they had to be executed.
But now, she actively wanted to share her master's burdens.
This subtle change represented her emotions becoming more nuanced and richer, leading to different feelings towards the same things and people than before.
Gin, who previously felt nothing towards Kana, after changing bodies, felt an inexplicable disgust upon seeing her emerge from her master's room late at night.
She usually wasn't very welcoming towards this girl either.
Although she wouldn't show this mood, and because of her master's presence, it wouldn't affect her work or attitude towards the girl.
But she still felt quite resistant towards Kana.
Especially now, being looked at with such admiring eyes, made her feel nauseated.
'I must not let emotions affect Master.'
Gin closed her eyes, reminding herself inwardly, then opened them to look at the girl. "Whether anyone comes or not, we just need to execute our mission properly."
"But if no one comes, won't it affect Ryuji-sama's side?" Kana countered, causing Gin to also fall into hesitation.
In the past, she would never have had such thoughts.
But now, out of concern for her master, she was adding unnecessary contemplation.
However, this hesitation didn't last long before being interrupted by the dense sound of whistling projectiles flying from the distance.
They were hundreds of kunai, with explosive tags attached to them.
"Quick, burrow underground!"
Kana also reacted promptly, hurriedly commanding the salamanders to evade.
But at the end of the street, five Konoha's Shinobi wearing green flak jackets, gas masks, and with spiky hairstyles appeared.
They knelt on one knee, rapidly forming hand seals and maintaining the seal posture.
Their shadows extended from under them like ropes, then merged into a thick strand in the middle, linking with the shadow of the salamander under Kana's feet.
The giant salamander, just about to execute the command to burrow away, was bound motionless by the shadow.
"Shadow Imitation Technique!"
Kana was inwardly shocked and tried to leap away, only to find her body suddenly uncontrollable.
'What's happening?'
Sensing the abnormality in her body, she traced the source of the anomaly.
On a rooftop nearby, a Konoha's Shinobi was forming hand seals, aimed at her. Beside him, two other Shinobi were aimed at Gin.
"Mind Body Disturbance Technique?"
Kana couldn't be sure.
Although Ryuji had told them about the secret techniques of several Konoha's clans and their effects, she couldn't make a judgment in such a short time.
Seeing countless kunai with explosive tags flying towards them, Kana could only close her eyes and await death.
But at the critical moment, Gin leapt out.
She landed heavily in front of the two giant salamanders like a piece of heavy machinery, smashing a cracked crater two meters in diameter into the ground.
Her eyes calmly looked straight ahead, her hands swiftly forming seals, then pressed against the ground. "Earth Release: Earth Wall Rampart!"
Losing the ability to instantly activate Ninjutsu via seals meant she couldn't cast them instantly, but it also offered more choices.
With vast Chakra as her foundation, she no longer needed to be as careful about conservation as before. Once used, it was a chain of consecutive Ninjutsu.
Walls as thick as an adult's palm rose one after another, completely blocking off the entire street.
Ding, ding, ding...
Boom, boom, boom, boom...
The sounds of kunai hitting the walls and explosive tags detonating in succession rose and fell. Thick smoke and shockwaves swept through, instantly shrouding the entire street.
Whoosh!
A sound of something cutting through the air. A figure shot out from the smoke and dust.
It was Gin.
She landed steadily in front of several members of the Yamanaka Clan. Before they could react, she smashed a fist hardened with Earth Spear into one person's face, then backhandedly punched and kicked the other two away.
The immense force sent the three flying dozens of meters, crashing through the wall of a neighboring building.
Two members of the Akimichi Clan guarding nearby transformed into Meat Tank Bullet and descended from the sky.
Gin's expression remained impassive. She formed hand seals with both hands, preparing to kill the two.
But Kana, now freed from control, shot out from the smoke and dust at that moment. From a distance, she spat white mist at the two powerful Meat Tank Bullet.
The fierce Meat Tank Bullet, before even landing, upon contact with the white mist in mid-air, were corroded and melted.
"You okay, Gin-senpai!"
Kana came to Gin's side, asking with concern.
Gin silently retracted her hands, her gaze calmly turning towards the end of the street.
There, besides a few members of the Nara Clan, there were people from the Hyuga, Sarutobi, Inuzuka, and other Shinobi Clans.
Around thirty in number.
And on the rooftops to the left and right, in the alleyways, an unknown number of people were also hidden.
Clearly, after suffering two consecutive losses, even with gas masks, they weren't foolish enough to cluster together again.
This disappointed Kana somewhat.
She didn't just have poisons causing physiological reactions; she also had poisons causing physical damage.
If the Konoha's Shinobi foolishly clustered together again, she could unleash another corrosive bomb for another group wipe.
Unfortunately, the enemy's positioning dashed this idea.
"Prioritize dealing with the Nara Clan. Freeing the salamanders' combat power is our only chance of winning."
Because of the Sea of Consciousness, Gin was immune to the Yamanaka Clan's secret techniques, but the Nara Clan's shadow techniques couldn't be ignored.
If they were caught off guard by them, both of them would be done for.
Moreover, facing hundreds of prepared enemies, with only their own strength, victory was simply impossible.
"Understood!"
Hearing Kana's spirited response, Gin couldn't help but glance at her.
Although she hated this woman always sneaking into her master's room at night, she had to admit her abilities were a great help to the master.
Therefore, Gin's internal resistance towards her lessened somewhat.
"Follow behind me in action."
"Of course, a weak girl like me charging ahead would get killed in seconds."
Hearing this cute and flattering tone, Gin's stern expression softened a little.
She said no more, bent her legs, and kicked off. The entire eave collapsed under her feet as she shot out like a cannonball.
"Hey, wait for me!"
Kana reacted a beat slower and quickly followed.
However, whether in speed or explosive power, she was far behind Gin, so the distance between them grew somewhat.
But this suited Gin's intention.
Her master's command was to protect Kana, thereby completing the mission of diverting enemy forces.
Her actions just now perfectly drew enemy fire.
...
Seeing Gin charging rapidly towards them, the Konoha's Shinobi remained unruffled.
An Anbu-dressed person gave an order. "The Yamanaka Clan's members failed. Execute the second plan."
Upon his words, ten members of the Sarutobi Clan stepped in front of the few Nara Clan's members.
[Fire Release: Great Flame Technique!]
The Great Flame Technique was a secret fire technique passed down through generations of the Sarutobi Clan. Its flames were astonishing; those hit would instantly turn to ash.
With ten Sarutobi Clan's members using the Ninjutsu at the same time, its power was simply overwhelming, instantly turning the entire street into a fiery inferno.
Even with Gin hardening her entire body with the Earth Spear technique, when engulfed by these towering waves of fire, she still felt heart- and bone-gnawing pain, as if her body was about to crack from the heat.
But if the high temperature lasted only an instant, it couldn't cause harm, like a bubble bursting.
Gin was currently moving at high speed. In the blink of an eye, she charged out of the sea of fire and crashed into the enemy formation.
Boom!
Like a meteorite impact, violent shockwaves scattered from the point of impact, blowing away nearby people and buildings alike.
Kana, arriving half a step later, hastily hid in a nearby alley. While rejoicing she hadn't run too fast and gotten herself killed, she also couldn't help but marvel at Gin's strength.
"Groooowl!!"
Freed from the shadow bind, the two giant poisonous salamanders, like unleashed huskies, began frenzied revenge. Their massive, two-story-tall bodies rampaged and thrashed, launching indiscriminate attacks on the surrounding buildings.
Shinobi hidden in the alleys were forced out one after another, retaliating against the giant salamanders.
These Shinobi were elites from various clans, with astonishing methods. Wearing gas masks, they weren't afraid of the giant salamanders' size.
But facing the massive, thick-skinned salamanders, their attacks had little effect.
Giant shuriken were swatted away by tails, explosive tags couldn't injure them much, and if they used Ninjutsu, the salamanders would burrow to avoid it.
They were simply troublesome.
Meanwhile, Gin, having landed amidst the enemy formation, had entered berserker mode.
Her entire body, except for joints needing movement, was hardened.
Facing attacks coming from all directions, she didn't dodge or evade, but charged forward head-on.
Her fists were hard as iron, her strength like that of a titanic beast. Every punch and kick could shake the earth.
Kana, hiding in the alley, stuck out her tongue. "Gin-senpai is so strong. I'll just hide on the side and act cute and useless."
As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly looked down.
A glint of silver light flashed by over her head, embedding into the wall.
An Anbu woman wearing a large monkey mask suddenly materialized in front of her. She let go of the sword hilt embedded in the wall with her right hand, drew a kunai from the pouch on her thigh, and stabbed at Kana, cold words accompanying the action.
"This operation is specifically targeting you, and you still think you can stay out of it?"
On the other side, an Anbu man also wearing a large monkey mask but with more severe war paint quietly appeared behind Gin, a blade of lightning in hand, striking at Gin.
—The Anbu Commander joins the fray!
…
(A/N: The Konoha's Anbu Commander is the son and daughter-in-law of the Third Hokage, also Konohamaru's parents, as recorded in the official databooks.)