Knowing how urgent the situation was, Kanbei Akimichi wasted no time unleashing his full strength.
Clap!
He pressed his palms together and transformed into a towering giant over ten meters tall.
Super Multi-Size Technique!
"Little bug, let's see what you can do." Kanbei Akimichi grinned viciously, then tucked in his limbs, turning into an enormous ball of flesh.
Super Human Bullet Tank!
Few people in the entire shinobi world could guarantee they could withstand an impact of that magnitude.
Even Rei Uchiha himself would have had to avoid it, let alone Uchiha Izumi, who had yet to reach the level of an Elite Jonin.
Blocking it was out of the question.
Dodging the attack, however, was hardly difficult for her.
The lightning generated by Chidori could do more than kill enemies. It could also stimulate cellular activity to an extraordinary degree.
It felt remarkably similar to a certain family's secret technique in the Land of Lightning.
Swiftly slipping out of the Human Bullet Tank's path, Uchiha Izumi became a streak of lightning and sprinted toward her distant target.
The Jonin, Rumiko Yamanaka.
"What kind of ninjutsu is this?!" Teppei Nara hurriedly changed his hand seals. His shadow abandoned its pursuit of Kyosuke and transformed into an enormous net, attempting to intercept the incoming threat.
Shadow Gathering Technique: Black Net!
Kyosuke exhaled in relief and realized his back was drenched in cold sweat.
The Jonin-level Nara ninja had put him under terrifying pressure.
Without activating his Body Flicker Technique, simply dodging was an exhausting task.
Taking a few light breaths, Kyosuke ignored the Chunin charging toward him, swiftly formed hand seals, and unleashed his second Chidori of the day.
With his current chakra reserves, he could use Chidori only twice.
He could not waste that precious chakra on a Chunin.
Thanks to the Sharingan's enhanced motion perception, he successfully evaded the Chunin surrounding him and shot into the distance as a blurred afterimage.
His target was still Rumiko Yamanaka, who was locked in combat with Maya.
She could count herself as the first person in history to be caught between two simultaneous Chidori attacks.
Teppei Nara could stop one of them, but he could not cover Kyosuke on the other side as well.
"Stop him!" Left with no choice, he could only pin his hopes on his subordinates.
"Not a chance!" Another Akimichi Chunin leaped out.
Apparently, these fat pigs could do more than eat. They were pretty productive, too.
Otherwise, how could there be so many of them that they never ran out of clansmen to kill?
Partial Multi-Size Technique!
The ninjutsu activated, and a pair of house-sized palms came hurtling toward him.
Before the attack even reached him, the fierce wind from those palms sent Kyosuke's hair whipping wildly.
Should I dodge, or...
His gaze remained fixed on his target. He could perhaps leap out of the way, but doing so would instantly rob his Chidori of much of its killing power.
Without a long enough running start, the attack's added force would struggle to kill a Jonin in a single blow.
That was why Chidori was A-Rank, while Lightning Blade-which could unleash its power without a running start and could be silenced for assassination-was an S-Rank ninjutsu.
Both shared the same origin; they had simply been developed in different directions.
Uchiha Sasuke focused on shape transformation, developing Chidori Stream, Chidori Sharp Spear, and so on. Later, he began exploring nature transformation, still concentrating primarily on increasing its power.
Kakashi, meanwhile, prioritized assassination, developing Lightning Blade to the point where it was 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, Lightning Blade would have killed him instantly.
At present, Kyosuke had yet to delve into advanced ninjutsu training. In other words, his Chidori still required a substantial running start to build up power.
Charging straight through would certainly kill the Akimichi Chunin, but he would inevitably be struck by those enormous palms as well.
I absolutely cannot give the enemy a chance to regroup.
Once Ino-Shika-Cho joins forces, this fight will become several times harder.
I have to end this as quickly as possible!
His resolve set, Kyosuke began recklessly drawing out his chakra.
Lightning Release was not stimulating his body fast enough?
Fine. He would force himself to use the Shisui-style Body Flicker Technique while maintaining Chidori.
In theory, it was entirely possible. As for the consequences, he no longer had the luxury of worrying about them.
Pain tore through his entire body. Veins bulged on 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 burst into the air, leaving a string of bloody afterimages before the Chunin.
Clap! His enormous palms finally slammed together, but his target had already flashed past his side.
Gulp... He swallowed quietly, knowing full well that if he had been the target, his opponent could have killed him more than ten times in the instant they passed each other.
Turning his head stiffly, the Akimichi Chunin's pupils suddenly widened. He stared in disbelief at Rumiko Yamanaka, lying unconscious on the ground after being caught in genjutsu, one arm severed.
"So strong..." Even though they were enemies, he could not help feeling awed.
Compared with this boy, who barely reached his chest, he felt as though his twenty years of life had been utterly wasted.
I cannot let them leave. The Akimichi Chunin understood the consequences all too well.
The Three Clans could hold their own against the Uchiha largely because they enjoyed the advantage of familiar terrain.
Ambushes, surprise attacks, intelligence warfare-their endless tactics had become a constant nuisance to the Southern Army.
Exposing their hideouts was a minor matter. If those secret liaison posts were compromised, decades of painstaking groundwork would vanish in an instant.
Even if he had to kill the woman, he could not let the enemy abduct her.
With a clap, he pressed his palms together, intending to stake his life on the Super Multi-Size Technique to face the enemy.
But just as he prepared to act, dazzling lightning appeared behind him.
"You!" Looking at the arm thrust through his chest, he gave a bitter smile, fell to the ground, and died.
Battles between ninja could sometimes be that cruel.
Without sufficient strength, one did not even qualify to fight to the death.
After disposing of the third Chunin, Uchiha Izumi was breathing a little heavily herself.
Glancing at the captive slung over Maya's shoulder, she moved to help Kyosuke, who had fallen unconscious.
To her surprise, Teppei Nara reached him first. Clamping one hand around Kyosuke's neck, he roughly hauled him off the ground.
Kyosuke was covered in blood, his left leg bent inward at an unnatural angle-a sign that his knee had suffered an unimaginably severe injury.
Forget continuing the fight. Whether he could ever continue his career as a ninja was another question entirely.
"Impressive." Teppei Nara gave a sinister smile, his voice dark. "Sacrificing your future just to complete the mission. I'm so moved, I could cry."
"Bastard!" Uchiha Maya's brows drew tight. She had bitten her lip bloody without even realizing it.
She had never imagined Kyosuke would take such a reckless risk.
It was only a captive. There had been no need to take such an enormous risk. In her eyes, even ten of that woman's lives were not worth a single hair on Kyosuke's head.
"Come now, how about we exchange hostages?" Teppei Nara suggested with a smile.
Should they make the exchange?
Before you continue