Teammate A and Enemy B (4)

Hagoromo immediately undid the seal on the scroll. Then, a giant shuriken nearly as tall as he was appeared in his hands.

This was why ninja needed to earn some money. You had to restock custom ninja tools like these yourself.

This super-heavy giant shuriken was certainly no lightweight. The current Hagoromo was definitely not well suited to using it.

And that was indeed the case. Relying on physical strength alone, Hagoromo could only lift the thing with both hands. Then, standing on the branch, he spun in place several times before using centrifugal force to hurl the shuriken.

The instant the shuriken left his hands, Hagoromo rapidly formed hand seals.

Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique!

The giant shuriken soared to its apex. By then, Hagoromo had completed his seals, and the shuriken split into nearly a thousand, raining down upon the enemies below like a raging storm!

Captain Hyuga was instantly dumbfounded. What the hell was this? This kid had actually unleashed a long-range area-of-effect ninjutsu?

The enemies charging forward were equally confused. There was enemy ninjutsu in front of them, and now there was more in the air. This was bad, right?

Setting aside just how much damage Hagoromo's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique dealt, any ninja with a little skill could evade an attack like this. But anyone who failed to dodge was immediately pierced straight through the heart.

The ninjutsu threw the charging enemies into disarray.

As for Kamishiro Hagoromo, the instigator, he paid no attention at all to the results of his ninjutsu. He had already followed Hyuga toward the enemy flank.

Once the area attack ended, large numbers of Konoha ninja charged out and engaged the enemy at close quarters.

As Hagoromo ran, he hooked a finger into the Ninja World Bag at his thigh with his right hand and drew a kunai into his grip.

"Sorry. You'll be the first."

He did not slow down in the slightest, nor did he exert much strength. Empowered by his speed, the cutting force instantly slit the throat of an unlucky enemy ninja.

That ninja could not exactly be called unlucky at first. During the earlier rain of shuriken, although he had failed to evade in time, he had been extraordinarily fortunate not to get hit. But his luck ended there. Two enormous shuriken had pinned him between them like a pair of door panels, leaving him unable to move.

At that point, his luck had run out completely. Unable to move, he became a living target on the battlefield and was instantly dealt with by Hagoromo, becoming the first trophy of the day.

In this kind of melee, never stay in one place. You had to keep moving. Hagoromo had been in group fights in his previous life, so he understood that principle.

That was why he had not even paused when attacking the first target. After slitting the enemy's throat, he charged straight toward his second target.

This was an exceptionally burly Sand Ninja. At a glance, anyone could tell he was a ninja who specialized in strength.

The man did not pay any attention to the ally Hagoromo had just killed. When he noticed the masked brat rushing at him, rather than feeling afraid, he revealed a cruel smile.

The long blade in his hand cleaved viciously toward Hagoromo as he charged in.

Hagoromo shifted slightly to avoid the direct strike, then raised the kunai in his right hand, intending to block the enemy's attack.

Clang!

The disparity in age and wrist strength was obvious. The kunai in Hagoromo's hand was knocked away in a single blow.

But the enemy's long blade also stalled sharply.

Taking advantage of that brief moment, Hagoromo quickly retreated several steps, leaving the range of the enemy's blade.

The Sunagakure ninja's expression did not change. So what if his strike had been obstructed? Now that this brat had lost his weapon, the next slash would cut him in two!

He gripped his blade in reverse, took a large step forward, and pursued Hagoromo.

Ninja with builds like his who specialized in strength could generally be judged as poor at speed. After all, across the entire ninja world, how many ninja were both powerful and fast like the Raikage brothers?

This Sunagakure ninja was a disposable extra who would collect his death flag after one appearance, so he fell into that general category. And so, he really was not good at speed.

When facing him, speed became Hagoromo's domain.

As the man's arm rose, the long blade in his hand slashed viciously upward toward Hagoromo's abdomen.

If that strike landed, he would definitely be pierced clean through.

Yet he seemed to have forgotten that a ninja's greatest weapon was always ninjutsu!

Although the enemy hoped Hagoromo would become frightened and flustered, the expression on his face did not change at all. Crackling Lightning Glow had already lit up in his left hand.

Hagoromo stepped forward sideways, narrowly evading the enemy's long blade. Then he lunged, and his left hand pierced through the enemy's chest!

Blood poured freely from his chest and mouth. His death pose could be compared to that of a certain famous pirate who died at the hands of a certain Marine admiral.

Though he was still alive this second, he would not have time to leave any last words the next.

Hagoromo did not withdraw his hand. Instead, he advanced rather than retreated, driving forward with the corpse on his arm for roughly ten meters!

Thanks to his excellent dynamic vision, Hagoromo had already spotted the third and fourth targets gathered together while attacking the second.

His body remained tucked behind the enemy's corpse. The flying shuriken, kunai, and other projectiles whirling across the battlefield could not harm him.

The burst of speed granted by Lightning Release gave the third enemy no chance to react before Chidori pierced him as well.

A reminder: ordinary ninja should never imitate this sort of forcibly skewering people like candied hawthorn on the battlefield.

However, after their companions were ambushed one after another, the fourth enemy had already reacted. His straight-edged sword ignored the two companions who were not yet fully dead, pierced directly through their bodies, and stabbed toward Hagoromo behind them!

Hagoromo instinctively sensed danger and swiftly tilted his head while crouching. But with two people still hanging from his arm, his movements were slightly delayed.

The blade pierced his shoulder.

He had underestimated this enemy. Leaving aside the first unlucky bastard, the second and third enemies had been no more than Chunin level. But this one before him seemed far from simple.

Hagoromo let out a muffled grunt. He could no longer charge forward like that. He had to take a step back and pull his arm out of the human skewer.

Puff, puff, puff!

At that moment, three soft sounds suddenly rang out.

Three kunai struck the two corpses Hagoromo was using as shields. This time, Hagoromo did not ignore the attack from the projectiles. He immediately pulled back his hand and leapt away!