Air Battle

In the forest, Shuichi led several Konoha Ninja in a breakout attempt in a certain direction. Everyone felt a heavy atmosphere; everything around them was too quiet, as if something bad was about to happen.

"What happened? The Rock Village Ninja have disappeared?" a Sensory Ninja reported. "Even if there were gaps in the defenses here, we should still be able to find their tracks."

Shuichi also felt something was off. Just as he was pondering this, the call of the Summoning Snake echoed in his mind, "So fast? Could something have happened to Konoha's main force?"

"Summoning Jutsu!"

After reading the intelligence the snake had spat out, Shuichi's expression changed drastically. "Damn it, I'm being watched! The Third Tsuchikage, Ōnoki, might personally intervene, which means we're still surrounded by the enemy..."

"This..."

The Konoha Ninja exchanged bewildered glances. Before they could react, Sensory Ninja suddenly shouted, "So many people! At least five teams! They're all heading straight for us, and they're not far off!"

Shuichi's expression was grave. If he hadn't come, some of his teammates might have escaped, but now, because of him, they were likely to be wiped out. Konoha hadn't expected Iwagakure to value him so highly.

"No time." He took out a large number of Scroll, "Ninja Art: Super Beast Imitation Drawing!" Multiple Ink Bird appeared directly in front of everyone.

"Right now, I can only send you away from the air, but Ōnoki is likely waiting above. Your life or death is entirely up to fate. If you trust me, go up!"

If they didn't take to the air, they would surely die if they were surrounded, but if they chose to fly, everyone's fate would be out of their control. This life-or-death choice was undoubtedly a cruel test of the ninjas' hearts.

Without further ado, the Konoha Ninja each boarded a bird and took to the air. This small air force flew through the tall trees of the Land of Grass, rising higher and higher. It was the first time the Konoha ninjas had flown so high, and as they watched the forest below shrink, they all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

However, Shuichi remained vigilant, as he controlled all the Ink Bird; the real test had only just begun.

Just when everything seemed peaceful, a powerful surge of chakra came from behind, "Dust Release: Lamentation of the World Technique!"

"Not good, scatter!" Shuichi's nerves were on edge. He immediately controlled all the Ink Bird to scatter and fly away. They were still in the chakra-filled stage, and each one was actually very fast.

"Boom!"

A terrifying circular beam of white light pierced through the center of the flock of birds, instantly obliterating the two people and two birds in the very center, even though they had moved in advance, they could not avoid the area covered by the beam.

"Such speed, such terrifying power." Shuichi gritted his teeth. Two Konoha Ninja were gone in an instant. Their souls probably wouldn't even be found in the Pure Land. They had truly vanished.

"Your reaction was indeed swift; you must be Konoha's genius, Takeda Shuichi!" A slightly aged but powerful voice rang out. "Keeping you here would be a huge threat to Iwagakure, so it would be best if you disappeared!"

"Dust Release: Lamentation of the World Technique!"

Ōnoki, who was moving through the air, changed his position and unleashed his second Dust Release.

This time, Shuichi kept his eyes fixed on the cone in his hand, anticipated its path, and controlled the Ink Bird in an arc to avoid the Dust Release. However, the birds behind him were not so agile, and several more Konoha Ninja simply disappeared.

Mitarashi Kiyohi was right at the very end of the attack range. Seeing the attack, he dodged with all his might, but Dust Release grazed past him, his arm and a small part of his shoulder disappearing completely. "Ah..."

Shuichi didn't run away. Now that the Konoha Ninja who had scattered were out of the range of Dust Release, Ōnoki's target was definitely him. So he could only buy some time for his allies.

Chakra was continuously injected into his feet, and the Ink Monster, replenished, became exceptionally agile, constantly diving, gliding sideways, and rolling in the air, making it difficult for Ōnoki to deal with him easily.

"No, Konoha wouldn't allow him to do that." Ōnoki frowned.

Every village leader understands how important a genius of this caliber is. Jonin can be trained, but a successor to the Kage is a rare find. If he were Sarutobi Hiruzen, he would have given a death order to Shuichi protect himself; how could he possibly stay behind to cover his teammates' retreat?

Seizing an opportunity to predict its flight trajectory, Ōnoki instantly accelerated and closed in, unleashing "Dust Release: Dust Release: Limit Disintegration Technique!"

"Damn it!" Shuichi sensed a figure flash past behind him and knew danger was imminent. He immediately unleashed his remaining chakra and leaped forward, "Whoosh!"

The rapidly expanding cube scraped away half of his body, and he turned around to look at Ōnoki. He found that Iwagakure vest, but his height was similar to his own, and he was clearly taller than Onoki.

"It seems Kekkei Tōta takes a lot of stress on the body. You wretched old man, I hope you get shorter and shorter with each repair!"

"BOOM!"

"Shadow Clone?" Although Ōnoki had guessed something beforehand, he was still quite angry. His red nose seemed to turn even redder. "You cunning brat, if you're not in the air, you must be on the ground. How dare you!"

Below in the forest, Shuichi's true form is hidden underground, monitoring the surroundings through an ink-based camera.

Two teams of Iwagakure had already arrived nearby, and leading them were two Ōnoki.

"Stone Clone? What a grand gesture!" Shuichi could only mentally rant. "I bet the other three teams have them too. They really think highly of me."

Clearly, his decision to escape by air was correct. Ōnoki himself commanded multiple teams to surround the area from the air, and once the encirclement was tightened on land and in the air, a single Dust Release might allow only him to escape.

"Hmm? The Shadow Clone died, even faster than I planned. The Third Tsuchikage, who is more than ten years younger, actually has such a large amount of chakra."

Sensing the Shadow Clone's presence, Shuichi immediately prepared to flee. Knowing the power of Dust Release, he knew he wouldn't easily fly; he could only utilize his advantages on the ground.

"Run! Ōnoki has definitely caught up."

Shortly after the operation began, a figure appeared above the two Iwagakure teams. "Investigate the underground; Takeda Shuichi very likely hiding down there."

Although the Iwagakure members were somewhat surprised, they immediately followed the Iwagakure's orders, with several ninjas placing their hands directly on the ground to begin sensing.

"Splash..."

The moment the movement began, a dark figure burst from the ground and appeared amidst the many Iwagakure, followed immediately by a Smoke Bomb exploding, "BOOM!"

The area exceeding 30 meters was completely covered by thick smoke, followed by the sounds of thunder and the screams of ninjas. Within seconds, a large number of Iwagakure were killed.

"You wretched brat!"

Ōnoki was so angry that his face turned pale. He couldn't use Dust Release right now, so he immediately Hand Seals and blew out a gust of wind. But before the smoke dissipated, three figures rushed out, each one extremely fast.

"Chase!"

Two Stone Clone were created, and several surviving Jonin were picked off. The Iwagakure members frantically chased after Shuichi in the direction he had fled. How could the Kage of one of the five great ninja villages and so many Jonin be outwitted by a child like this? What face would they have left?

Ōnoki was chasing Shuichi alone. His flying speed was extremely fast, but Shuichi, who was very good at using the Body Flicker Technique, was not slow either. Running on the ground actually saves far more chakra than flying, and the two were evenly matched for a time.

Soon, Shuichi was fleeing ahead, seemed to run out of strength. Ōnoki's single fist turned into a rock as he swooped down, and Shuichi could only narrowly dodge to the side. "Boom!"

After getting up, the two faced each other on the ground for a moment. Shuichi, who didn't have much chakra, didn't resist. Instead, he stuck his butt out towards Ōnoki, patting him while turning his head to laugh, "Stupid Iwagakure, you want to catch me? You'll have to wait another ten thousand years..."

"Boom!"

The massive rock pillar pierced him from below, smashing him to pieces! "BOOM!"

"Ouch..." Somewhere underground, Shuichi felt a slight pain in his anus. Fortunately, the Shadow Clone transmitted limited experiences based on the remaining chakra, so the excruciating pain that should have been excruciating turned into a mild ache. "Old man, no wonder I made a fool of you."

A few minutes later, the Iwagakure members returned to their original spot, their faces as black as ink. Several ninjas examined the ground before surfacing to report, "Iwagakure, these are newly formed traces of Ninjutsu. That Takeda Shuichi didn't escape in the smoke; his true form must have burrowed underground."

After hearing this, Ōnoki didn't get angry anymore. When he caught up from three directions and found that they were all Shadow Clone, he guessed that the other party had chosen a blind spot that everyone had overlooked. It was very unlikely that Iwagakure would check the underground again in such a short time. This psychological bias was immediately taken advantage of by Shuichi.

Once he calmed down, he could only helplessly accept the fact that it was almost impossible to catch this Konoha brat again.

"A terrifying genius, outstanding ninja skills, astonishing chakra reserves, and calm decision-making under pressure—there will never be another opportunity like this. This is a huge problem!"

"Call..."

As if things weren't going to go wrong, one misfortune after another was likely to happen. A faint, distant sound reached Ōnoki's ears.

He quickly flew into the sky and looked down. A small red dot appeared on the horizon, seemingly trembling slightly in his eyes. "Damn it, how did Konoha discover my departure so quickly..."