Patrol Team, V

A Puppet Master without puppets to protect them was fish on the chopping block, at anyone's mercy.

Chizuko sent out her puppet to tear Katsuki apart, only for it to take down a Shadow Clone. She immediately sensed that something was wrong and swiftly recalled her puppet, but unfortunately, she was still too late...

Smack!

The ground beneath her feet trembled slightly. A black-and-red shadow suddenly burst from underground, a short blade crackling with blue lightning thrusting straight at Chizuko's heart.

Magnet Release: Sand Hand.

Rasa silently emerged from the quicksand as well. With a casual gesture, the flowing sand surged forth like a great river, forming an enormous hand that fiercely clenched Katsuki's body. The short blade stopped mere centimeters from Chizuko's chest, and his entire body was crushed apart into white smoke.

"Another Shadow Clone? Damn it, where did a Genin get so much chakra?" Rasa was practically cursing his mother. What kind of monster was this? A Genin spending chakra so extravagantly was simply absurd.

Among the many tangible clone techniques, the Shadow Clone Technique consumed the most chakra. If not for its ability to relay the information gathered by clones back to the original body, its practicality would have been greatly diminished. Other than spies, ordinary chunin and genin generally would not use such a chakra-intensive clone technique.

Clearly, this red-haired Konoha ninja was no ordinary ninja.

Rock Rods, the Hiding Like a Mole Technique, and the lightning crackling around that short blade—he was undoubtedly a genius born with both Lightning Release and Earth Release.

Rasa was in a foul mood. If there had only been one opponent, it would have been fine; he had ample confidence in his Magnet Release. But Katsuki's side had strength in numbers. None of the five looked easy to deal with.

Over the course of this string of battles, he had already used quite a few ninjutsu. Although Magnet Release did not consume much chakra, small amounts added up. He was still only a Genin, with limited chakra reserves, and he had already used nearly half of it.

And there was another point: since their captain had left, there had not been the slightest movement from him. That made Rasa deeply uneasy.

At that moment, deep within the forest, the middle-aged Sand ninja knelt on one knee. Hot breath puffed from his nostrils, while blood dripped from the corners of his mouth, staining the earth beneath him red.

"Wh... why? Why would a dignified... huff, huff... a dignified Jonin join a patrol team?"

The middle-aged man's face was full of unwillingness and grief. He raised his head to look at the young man standing on the treetop, helplessness rising within him.

A tiny patrol team actually hid a Jonin. He no longer knew what to say about such shameless behavior. Since when had Jonin become so common? How could he run into a Jonin just by encountering a random patrol team—and one of the best among them at that?

It made no sense!

Normally, patrol teams were composed of mixed chunin and genin. Not to mention a Jonin, they would not even have a Special Jonin—of course, that was under ordinary circumstances.

Ninomiya Hao gave the unlucky man before him a pitying glance. Running into him could only be considered the man's misfortune.

Jonin were the most precious elite of any village. Logically speaking, patrol duty should never fall to them. Especially during wartime, Jonin were often assigned strategic missions, and even when there was nothing to do, they generally remained behind to guard the village.

However, there were always exceptions.

Given Kushina's identity, assigning a Jonin specifically to protect her was not excessive in the slightest.

After all, she was the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki. This level of protection was actually somewhat lax, but worried that making too much of a spectacle would attract attention, Hiruzen considered his options before pulling the elite Ninomiya Hao back from the front lines to serve as a babysitter.

Ninomiya Hao had no complaints about this. The importance of the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki was self-evident, and the severely overstaffed squad under him was rather interesting as well. The Jinchuriki's younger brother was Lord Sakumo's disciple, while the team also included members of the Uchiha and Hyuga clans, along with that exceptionally gifted civilian boy.

It was a very interesting team.

A genius himself, Ninomiya Hao had become one of the Jonin at a young age. He handled matters seriously, and by his nature, an infiltrating spy squad like this required no pointless talk. Drawing his blade and chopping them all apart would have been the best solution.

But he was a babysitter now. The higher-ups had specifically arranged for him to lead Kushina and the others on patrol near the border. Was that not precisely to use this relatively peaceful environment to train the Nine-Tails Jinchuriki, so she would have more experience once she reached the battlefield? If he handled everything himself, there would be no point.

What he needed to do was eliminate overly dangerous threats. Ordinary chunin and genin could be left exposed for the youngsters to practice on, while he kept a Shadow Clone hidden in the dark to ensure that nothing went wrong.

On the other battlefield, Rasa and Chizuko had fallen into a bitter struggle. Their opponents had the numerical advantage, and their combined assault came like rolling waves, one after another, nearly without end.

Magnet Release was formidable!

Especially in group battles, the Gold Dust Flow moved as he willed it, its transitions between attack and defense nearly flawless. Although Rasa, the future Fourth Kazekage, was only a Genin at the moment, his strength had already more or less entered the Chunin level.

Then there was Chizuko's puppet. Her poison was extremely troublesome. At the beginning, everyone had inevitably held back in battle. Only after Katsuki and Kushina used their numerous Shadow Clones to limit the puppet's room to move did they gain the advantage.

Sizzle.

Lightning flickered beneath Katsuki's feet, while electric arcs danced wildly over the short blade in his hand. He tore apart the Sand Hand before him and advanced toward Rasa step by step.

"Is that all you can do? Weren't you shouting so arrogantly about killing us earlier? Why aren't you shouting now?" Otoha yelled loudly, a mocking smile on his face, like a buzzing fly that would not shut up.

It was not that Otoha had a foul mouth. He had simply discovered that he felt rather powerless against Rasa. He was best at Fire Release, yet his first two Fire Release techniques had already consumed a considerable amount of chakra. Furthermore, Fire Release was ineffective against the Gold Dust Flow, or at least, Fire Release at his level was not very effective.

As for close combat, he did not have Lightning Release chakra reinforcing him like Katsuki and Otome. Left with no other choice, he could only resort to verbal attacks.

Water Release: Water Whip.

Kushina flicked one hand, lashing out with the flowing water whip coiled around it. It wrapped around the puppet as it darted wildly through the air, but after only two seconds of restraint, the poison-coated blade sliced it apart. With a clattering spin on the spot, the puppet directly cut down Kushina's three clones, then lunged toward Kushina and Minato...

That was how it should have gone, yet halfway through its flight, the puppet dropped to the ground with a thud.

Chizuko blankly moved her ten fingers, only to discover that her body had gone rigid and her consciousness was beginning to fade. In her daze, she saw a golden phantom before sinking into endless darkness!