"Roar~"
A deafening beast's roar thundered through the sky. In an instant, the animals in the forest fled in terror. At the center of the roar stood a massive yellow-furred ape.
Yet at that moment, its body was firmly immobilized by some unknown force. It struggled with all its might, the force so great that bright red blood was already seeping from the bound areas.
"Ninja Art: Mutual Multiplication Explosive Tag!"
As a young yet steady voice rang out, a paper talisman bearing the character for "explode" appeared from nowhere and slapped onto the giant ape's body like a gust of wind. It rapidly spread at an astonishing speed until it covered its entire body.
"Boom!" A series of earth-shaking explosions erupted one after another.
Massive flames and thick smoke suddenly billowed from the center of the explosions, forming an enormous mushroom cloud in the air that lingered for a long time.
"It's over! This time, you've won again, Yūske."
Yūske turned to look at Enshin and Sarutobi, who had appeared at some point. Sarutobi was covered in wounds and stared at him resentfully. It felt that Yūske had put a little personal grudge into this.
"Elder Enshin, thank you for coming all this way to help."
At the very instant of the explosion, Enshin had used the Summoning Technique at the critical moment and successfully rescued Sarutobi from the pile of Explosive Tags.
The ten Anbu surrounding Yūske in the distance were also staring at the enormous mushroom cloud with cold sweat running down their backs. If they had not set up such a large barrier, the village would likely have sounded the alarm by now.
With a Body Flicker, Yūske instantly appeared beside Sarutobi and said apologetically, "Sarutobi, I'm sorry! I'll take you to the hospital to get