A Desperate Fight with Their Lives on the Line

Knowing the situation was urgent, Akimichi Kanbei decisively brought out his full strength.

Clap! Pressing his palms together, he transformed directly into a colossal giant over ten meters tall.

Super Expansion Jutsu!

"Little bug, let me see what you're capable of." Akimichi Kanbei grinned savagely. Then his limbs contracted, turning him into a massive ball of flesh.

Super Human Bullet Tank! Against an impact of this magnitude, there were only a handful of people in the entire ninja world who could guarantee they could withstand it.

Even Uchiha Rei himself would have had to avoid its edge, let alone Uchiha Izumi, who had yet to reach the rank of Elite Jonin.

Blocking it was definitely impossible.

But for him, dodging the attack was no difficult task.

The lightning generated by Chidori could not only kill enemies, but also greatly stimulate cellular activity.

In that sense, it was very similar to the secret technique of a certain clan from the Land of Lightning.

Swiftly evading the Human Bullet Tank's path, Uchiha Izumi became a streak of lightning and charged toward his distant target.

The Jonin, Yamanaka Rumiko.

"What kind of ninjutsu is this?!" Nara Teppei hurriedly changed his hand signs. His shadow gave up its pursuit of Kyosuke and instead transformed into a massive shadow net, attempting to intercept the incoming threat.

Shadow Gathering Jutsu: Black Net! Kyosuke let out a breath of relief, only to realize his back was drenched in cold sweat.

A Jonin-level Nara ninja had placed terrifying pressure on him.

Without activating the Body Flicker Technique, merely evading attacks was already an exhausting task.

After taking a few light breaths, Kyosuke ignored the Chunin charging toward him, rapidly formed hand seals, and unleashed his second Chidori of the day.

With his current Chakra reserves, he could only use Chidori twice at most.

He could not waste precious Chakra on a Chunin.

Relying on the dynamic vision granted by the Sharingan, he successfully avoided the Chunin's encirclement and rushed into the distance as a blurred afterimage.

His target was still Yamanaka Rumiko, who was entangled with Mayo.

To be caught between two Chidoris at once, she could be considered the first person in history to receive such treatment.

Nara Teppei could stop one of them, but he had no way to deal with Kyosuke at the same time.

"Stop him!" Left with no other choice, he could only place his hopes on his subordinates.

"Don't think you'll get away with it." Another Akimichi Chunin stepped forward.

It seemed these fat pigs could do more than eat. They were rather capable too.

Otherwise, how could there be so many of them that they could not be killed off?

Partial Expansion Jutsu! As the ninjutsu activated, a pair of giant palms the size of houses came crashing toward him.

Before the attack even reached him, the violent gust from the palms sent Kyosuke's hair and beard whipping wildly.

"Should I dodge, or..."

His gaze remained fixed on his target. He could jump aside to evade it, but if he did, Chidori's killing power would instantly drop by a huge margin.

Without enough distance to build up speed, the added power of the attack would struggle to deliver a killing blow against a Jonin.

That was why Chidori was an A-rank technique, while Lightning Blade, which could unleash its power without a running start and could even silence its sound for assassination, was an S-rank ninjutsu.

The two had originally shared the same source; they had merely been developed in different directions.

Uchiha Sasuke focused on shape transformation—Chidori Current, Chidori Senbon, and so on. Later, he began studying nature transformation as well, with his main focus being amplifying power.

Kakashi, on the other hand, prioritized assassination. He had developed Lightning Blade to the point of being completely silent.

Even Kakuzu, with decades of combat experience, had been unable to evade Kakashi's assassination strike from behind.

Without Earth Grudge Fear to keep him alive, he would have been instantly killed by Lightning Blade.

At present, Kyosuke had yet to delve into advanced ninjutsu training. In other words, his Chidori required a long sprint to build up power.

Charging straight through would certainly kill the Akimichi Chunin, but he himself would inevitably be struck by those giant palms.

"I absolutely can't give the enemy a chance to gather."

"Once Ino–Shika–Cho joins forces, the difficulty of the battle will immediately increase several times over."

"I have to end this quickly!"

Having made up his mind, Kyosuke began desperately drawing in Chakra.

Was Lightning Release's stimulation of his body not fast enough?

Fine. Then he would forcefully use the Shisui-style Body Flicker Technique while maintaining Chidori.

It was theoretically possible. As for the consequences, he could no longer afford to care.

Feeling agonizing pain tearing through his entire body, veins bulged across Kyosuke's forehead as he roared, "Get the hell out of my way!"

Shisui-style Body Flicker Technique, activate! In an instant, a cloud of blood mist exploded out of nowhere, leaving a string of bloody afterimages before the Chunin.

Clap! His giant palms finally slammed together, but the target had long since flashed past his side.

He quietly swallowed. He knew perfectly well that if he had been the target, the opponent could have killed him more than ten times in the instant they passed each other.

Stiffly turning his head, the Akimichi Chunin's pupils suddenly contracted as he stared in disbelief at Yamanaka Rumiko lying on the ground, one arm severed and unconscious after falling under a genjutsu.

"So powerful..." Even though they belonged to opposing camps, he could not help feeling impressed.

Compared to that young man, who had only reached his chest in height, he felt as though he had lived his twenty years of life like a dog.

"I can't let them leave." The Akimichi Chunin understood the consequences very clearly.

The reason the Three Clans could contend with the Uchiha Clan was largely because they possessed the advantage of terrain.

Ambushes, surprise attacks, intelligence warfare—every method imaginable had kept the Southern Legion constantly on edge.

The exposure of their hiding place was a minor issue. If something happened to those secret contact points, decades of painstaking work would vanish in an instant.

Even if it meant killing the woman, he could not allow the enemy to take her away.

With a clap, he pressed his palms together, intending to stake his life on using the Super Expansion Jutsu against the enemy.

But just as he was about to act, dazzling lightning appeared behind him.

"You!" Looking down at the arm that had pierced through his chest, he smiled bitterly and collapsed to the ground, dead.

Ninja battles were sometimes this cruel.

Without sufficient strength, one did not even have the right to fight to the death.

After dealing with the third Chunin, Uchiha Izumi could not help but gasp for breath as well.

Glancing at the captive slung over Mayo's shoulder, he moved to help the unconscious Kyosuke.

Unexpectedly, Nara Teppei arrived first. With one hand around Kyosuke's throat, he brutally lifted him off the ground.

At that moment, Kyosuke was covered in blood. His left leg bent inward at a grotesque angle, showing that his knee had suffered unimaginable damage.

Forget continuing the fight—even whether he could continue his ninja career in the future was uncertain.

"Not bad." Nara Teppei gave a dark, sinister grin. "You were willing to ruin your own future just to complete the mission. I'm almost moved to tears."

"Bastard!" Uchiha Maya furrowed her brows tightly. She had bitten her lips hard enough to draw blood without even realizing it.

She had never imagined that Kyosuke would take such a risk.

It was only for a captive. There had been no need to take such an enormous risk. In her eyes, even ten lives of that woman were not worth a single hair on Kyosuke's head.

"Come on, how about we exchange hostages?" Nara Teppei suggested with a smile.

Should they make the exchange?