Melee in the Forest

As the four members of Team 11 were engulfed by flames, Kakashi unleashed a Water Release ninjutsu.

"Water Release, Water Wall!"

Hissss...

The surging water wall collided with the roaring explosive flames, sending boundless steam billowing into the air.

In an instant, mist filled the surroundings.

Feeling the faint tremors beneath his feet, Hyuga Kagami warned, "Everyone, be careful!"

Before his words had even faded, countless sharp earth spikes burst from the ground and shot toward the four of them.

With Hyuga Kagami's warning, the four scattered and leaped onto the trunks of nearby trees, narrowly evading the silent wave of earth spikes.

Guy looked around. "Where's the enemy?"

Boom boom boom...

Another series of violent explosions answered Guy.

Caught in the blast, the four members of Team 11 were forced apart again, and the distance between them was instantly widened.

The mist surrounding them was not much of an obstruction to Hyuga Kagami and his Tenseigan, but the relentless explosions forced him to weave back and forth through the forest.

Seeing himself getting farther and farther from his companions, Hyuga Kagami vaguely guessed the attackers' objective.

Sure enough, before long, a figure blocked Hyuga Kagami's path.

Hyuga Kagami frowned slightly. "You!"

The one standing before Hyuga Kagami was none other than the captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit, the man who had previously worked with Hyuga Kagami and the others to battle the demonic creature Moryo in the Land of Demons.

Hyuga Kagami had originally considered settling the score with these Iwagakure shinobi, but he had more important matters to attend to. To avoid unnecessary complications, he had suppressed his urge for revenge.

He had not expected that before he could trouble them, they would come looking for him instead.

The captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit smiled. "What, are you surprised?"

Hyuga Kagami asked, "I'm curious. How did you discover our movements?"

From this series of ambushes, it was clear that the Iwagakure shinobi had learned Team 11's route beforehand. Otherwise, they could never have arranged their ambush so perfectly.

But Team 11 had been careful throughout their journey. On top of that, Hyuga Kagami had repeatedly scanned their surroundings with the Tenseigan, so he was certain no one had followed them.

"Squeak, squeak..."

At that moment, a small head poked out from the collar of the captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit.

Looking closely, it was an utterly ordinary-looking squirrel.

"A squirrel!?" Hyuga Kagami shook his head, then thought, No, this isn't an ordinary squirrel. It's a ninja beast!

There were all kinds of ninja beasts. Any animal capable of using chakra could be considered one, and this seemingly ordinary squirrel was no exception.

"His name is Biru. He can track any familiar scent within a radius of over ten miles." After smiling, the captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit continued, "I knew you were from the Hyuga Clan, so naturally I wouldn't follow you myself."

Hyuga Kagami was slightly surprised. "You remember me?"

From the other man's tone, Hyuga Kagami realized that he had recognized him long ago. Clearly, in that battle where Hyuga Kagami had nearly died, it was not only Hyuga Kagami who had remembered his opponent—the other man had also remembered the lucky survivor.

The captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit lost his smile and said grimly, "A year ago, you were just an ordinary brat. I never expected you to grow to this extent. Konoha truly has so many geniuses it makes one jealous!"

Hyuga Kagami said coldly, "Looks like you regret it."

The captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit gritted his teeth and said bitterly, "That's right. I deeply regret not killing you while I had the chance! So I have to correct that mistake myself. I will never allow Konoha to produce a second Yellow Flash. I have to take responsibility for my village!"

Hyuga Kagami was not yet fifteen, yet he could already intervene in battles on the level of Tailed Beasts. One could imagine that if he continued growing, he would inevitably become another Yellow Flash. That was something Iwagakure could never tolerate.

Iwagakure had never forgotten the humiliation the Yellow Flash had brought them!

Boom...

Faint explosions sounded in the distance.

Without a doubt, the other members of Team 11 had also encountered enemies and were each trapped in battle.

Seeing Hyuga Kagami become slightly distracted, the captain of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit said, "No need to worry about the others. You little brats will soon be reunited in the underworld. Remember this: my name is Iwamata, and I'm the one who will kill you!"

With that, Iwamata pressed his palms together. "Earth Release, Hiding in Earth Technique!"

As Iwamata sank underground, Hyuga Kagami worried about an attack from below and leaped onto a large tree, activating his Tenseigan to observe carefully.

However, perhaps because Iwamata had burrowed too deeply, he found nothing at all.

Just then, the sound of rushing water came from nearby.

Hyuga Kagami looked toward it and saw a massive torrent of water surging toward him like a burst dam.

"This is the Great Waterfall Technique!?"

Although the Great Waterfall Technique posed little threat to Hyuga Kagami while he was perched in a tree, he did not dare let down his guard. His opponent was a famous Elite Jonin of Iwagakure; there was no way he would waste chakra on the battlefield for no reason.

After the Great Waterfall Technique had passed, the ground around them had turned into a muddy mess.

The wet ground instinctively made Hyuga Kagami feel that something was wrong, but he could not immediately tell what it was. After all, he knew little about Earth Release.

Swish...

Swish...

Swish...

Suddenly, numerous thumb-sized mud pellets shot up from the muddy ground. Like bullets, they whistled through the air with sharp piercing sounds and streaked toward Hyuga Kagami in the tree.

Facing the dense barrage of mud pellets, Hyuga Kagami did not hesitate for even a moment and immediately used Kaiten.

Kaiten could protect Hyuga Kagami, but it could not protect the tree beneath his feet.

In the blink of an eye, the towering tree, too wide for three or four people to wrap their arms around, was riddled with countless holes by the mud pellets. Amid flying wood chips, it crashed to the ground.

With a push of his foot, Hyuga Kagami prepared to jump to another large tree nearby.

But at that moment, several long whips formed from muddy water swept toward him, wrapping around his legs and viciously dragging him down to the ground.

Thud...

With a dull crash, Hyuga Kagami fell from the air to the ground.

"Cough, cough..."

Hyuga Kagami curled up and coughed out a mouthful of blood.

The fall had left him disoriented and dizzy, and even breathing was difficult. It seemed one of the ribs in his chest had broken.

Seeing that his attack had succeeded, Iwamata rose from beneath the ground, exposing half his body as he laughed. "Looks like I overestimated you. The Byakugan isn't as strong as I imagined!"

At that moment, Hyuga Kagami, his face full of pain, suddenly curled his lips into a faint, ambiguous smile.

Iwamata immediately sensed something was wrong. But just as he prepared to sink underground again, an inexplicably enormous force of attraction yanked him violently out of the earth...