Hatani's logic wasn't all that different from Aburame Shikuro's.
From Shikuro's perspective, Hatani's refusal to launch a preemptive Wind Style strike was a sign of fatal arrogance. But from Hatani's perspective, Shikuro's decision to rely on the Insect Jar—attempting to capture him alive rather than crushing him with raw power—was nothing short of a death wish.
The Kikaichū could indeed devour chakra, but the swirling currents of wind surrounding Hatani's body didn't contain a single drop of it.
This was pure wind—natural wind.
This technique, which barely qualified as a "jutsu" in the traditional sense, was—much like his Powershot—derived from the Windranger's skill set. Its name: Windrun.
It was the first ability he had managed to manifest after unlocking the hero. Initially, his control over the element was so rudimentary that he could only channel the wind into his legs to boost his movement speed.
But as his mastery over wind grew more refined and precise, he had finally evolved the skill. By enveloping his entire body in a gale, he not only became as light as a feather, but the surrounding wind served as a perfect barrier against incoming attacks.
Specifically, physical attacks.
The wind acted as a powerful repellent, shoving away any object that tried to touch his skin. If he were faced with a heavy strike—like a broadsword or a heavy spear—the wind would work in tandem with the strike to deflect the weapon, sliding it harmlessly past his side.
Against tiny insects like the Kikaichū, which were smaller than a fingernail, the defense was absolute.
In a way, Aburame Shikuro had encountered his perfect natural counter.
Through a lack of intelligence or perhaps just a surplus of overconfidence, Shikuro had played right into Hatani's hands. Or rather, he had outplayed himself. It was a classic "congratulations, you played yourself" moment—an ironic suicide by proxy.
Technically, even with the wind protecting him, it wasn't easy to launch a counterattack while buried under such a massive swarm of insects. A broad movement would have triggered a swarm frenzy, potentially alerting Shikuro to the fact that his trap hadn't actually closed.
However, Hatani's only piece of equipment—the Phase Boots—solved that final hurdle.
While the boots couldn't help him "tear through the void" as the flavor text suggested, activating them for three seconds allowed him to enter a Phase state, letting him walk right through the physical mass of the bugs.
While he hadn't yet fully mastered the limits of the Phase state, he could now officially add "Kikaichū" to the list of things he could simply phase through.
Under this perfect alignment of timing, geography, and skill, Aburame Shikuro—a ninja significantly more powerful than Hatani—had died a pathetic, confused death at the tip of a kunai. Once again, it proved the old adage that in the shinobi world, the humble shuriken remains the most efficient killing tool.
Hatani used a gust of wind to fling the kunai he'd used as far away as possible. After a moment's thought, he also yanked the cursed necklace off Dan Kato's corpse and let the wind carry it deep into the wilderness.
With that done, he looked down at the two bodies on the ground and felt a wave of helpless frustration.
Konoha possessed strength that surpassed the other four Great Nations combined, yet for the sake of fame and profit, countless ninjas didn't die at the hands of their enemies. They died at the hands of their own comrades—or worse, at the hands of their own internal politics. Truly, the Hidden Leaf was the undisputed master of self-sabotage.
Hatani didn't linger. He dealt with Shikuro's remains and the now-leaderless insects before racing back toward the main battlefield.
The internal friction was handled. Now, he could finally stand shoulder-to-shoulder with his allies and face the enemies from the outside world.
As Hatani crested the hill, the first sight to hit him was Minato and Choza, both bloodied and struggling to hold their ground.
His heart did a painful somersault. Nearby, Nawaki and Yamanaka Inoichi lay on the ground, unconscious and their status unknown.
The only silver lining was that the enemy had also lost a man. Only Fumikawa—missing his left calf—and Kyu—still sporting a kunai in his shoulder—remained standing.
It was only because both Iwa Jonin were injured that Minato and Choza were able to hold on at all. Minato and Choza were both visibly wounded, blood trickling from the corners of their mouths.
Fumikawa's mobility was severely hampered by his missing limb, forcing Kyu to play defensively to cover for his captain. Many times, Kyu had to abandon a perfect opening just to pull Fumikawa out of a counter-strike.
Conversely, given the state of their enemies, Minato and Choza could have easily fled. But with the unconscious Nawaki and Inoichi to protect, they were anchored to the spot. They had no choice but to tank the high-level ninjutsu thrown their way.
If it weren't for those two dead weights, Minato's speed and intellect would never have allowed the situation to become this desperate.
Both sides were dancing in shackles, but Minato and Choza's chains were much heavier.
"Phew."
Hatani let out a long breath.
His kill on the Jonin Kyusan had relied on the man's arrogance. His kill on Aburame Shikuro had relied on a specific skill-counter and a total lack of intel. Because of that, his chakra reserves were still relatively healthy.
But now, with Kyusan's death as a warning, Fumikawa and Kyu wouldn't underestimate him for a second.
Furthermore, his Windrun ability would be far less effective against two ninjutsu specialists like these. That left him with only one viable path.
"Tiger!"
He wove the familiar hand sign, but this time, he didn't follow it with the Dragon sign. Instead, he snapped through a rapid sequence: "Rat," "Ox," "Dog."
These were the seals for Vacuum Wave. After mastering the B-rank jutsu, he had spent days experimenting with ways to integrate its properties into his self-created Wind Style: Powershot.
As he formed the "Dragon" seal, a gust of wind erupted from his mouth. It looked like his previous arrow, but it now carried the surgically sharp, Kamaitachi-like edge of the Vacuum Wave.
As the arrow manifested, the surrounding wind—both his own chakra and the natural air—was drawn toward it like iron filings to a magnet. Under Hatani's absolute focus, the arrow began to rotate at a terrifying, high-velocity frequency.
"Wind Style: Powershot!"
With a roar, the pale green arrow of wind shrieked through the air like a bolt of lightning. Its target: the stationary, one-legged Fumikawa.
"Earth Style: Multi-Layer Mud Wall!"
Kyu, who had been on high alert since Hatani reappeared, felt his internal alarms screaming. He didn't hesitate.
As the rotating arrow shrieked toward them with a silent, vacuum-driven howl, Kyu slammed his hands onto the ground. He poured the last of his chakra into the earth, manifesting three consecutive reinforced walls of stone just in time.
BOOM!WHIRRRRRRR! The impact of the Powershot against the first wall created a deafening explosion, followed immediately by the high-pitched drone of the wind drill.
The first wall was instantly pierced, a finger-sized hole appearing through its center. The second wall didn't hold much longer; it shattered, leaving a gaping hole the size of a man's arm.
Fumikawa's eyes went wide. He realized the sheer, "broken" lethality of this jutsu—a technique he had never seen before. Seeing that even the third wall was unlikely to stop the projectile, he abandoned all thoughts of an offensive and wove a desperate string of signs.
SHING! The wind arrow punched through the final stone barrier, leaving a hole the size of a bowl, and—carrying the dregs of its terrifying momentum—it shrieked directly toward Fumikawa's chest.