Overwhelming Strength

The two squads of Stone Ninja gradually advanced toward Karot and the others, trying to surround them. They clearly meant trouble.

"Stone Ninja, what are you doing in our Land of Fire?"

Matsushita Hokuto asked warily.

"How foolish can Konoha ninja be? Isn't it obvious? We're here to send you on your way."

The Stone Ninja's leader spoke, his final words dripping with murderous intent.

"How did you know our route in advance?"

The route for this delivery had been kept highly secret, yet the Stone Ninja seemed to have known he would be here and had set an ambush ahead of time. Fortunately, Karot had warned them; otherwise, their losses would have been incalculable.

"Your brain hasn't completely rotted, at least. Be sensible and put down the supplies you're carrying. I'll let you leave safely."

The Stone Ninja leader was clever. He wanted the others to lower their guard. If their lives weren't at stake, ninja would put up far less resistance. Everyone understood that cornered beasts fought back. He didn't want anyone dragging him down with them.

"Impossible,"

Matsushita Hokuto said firmly.

"Then there's no other way. You'll have to leave your lives here!"

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld Technique!"

After the enemy completed the jutsu, the ground beneath Karot and the others quickly turned into a swamp.

"Damn it!"

Matsushita Hokuto felt himself slowly sinking and grew anxious.

Karot used the Flight Technique to hover above the ground, keeping himself from being swallowed by the swamp. He concealed his ability to fly, making it look as though he were sprinting across the swamp.

He yanked his teammates out one by one, like pulling up radishes, then tossed them beyond the swamp's edge.

Once back on solid ground, Matsushita turned to the students.

"First, stay alive. Then protect the supplies behind us. I'll handle their Jonin. Karot, leave the rest to you."

No wonder he was a ninja trained by Hatake Sakumo. His comrades' lives always came first.

"Yes, Teacher Nakajima. I'll protect Sanada and Kazumi."

Karot flashed a confident smile.

"Tch, I can handle myself. You'd better watch your own back!"

With that, Hyuga Sanada activated his Byakugan and charged at two Stone Ninja. Each of the others was taking on two opponents. Sanada was strong even among the Chunin, so handling two Stone Ninja was no problem. But defeating them would take a long time, and time was exactly what they didn't have. The key to victory was taking down the two Stone Ninja Jonin.

Of the four Stone Ninja remaining, Karot would keep three occupied, leaving the last one for Kazumi to practice against.

Karot faced three Stone Ninja Chunin alone.

"Kid, you're pretty arrogant, taking on all three of us by yourself."

One of the Stone Ninja taunted Karot.

"No, no. I'm going to take all of you down."

Karot wagged his index finger at him.

The Stone Ninja felt insulted.

"I won't kill you. I'll make you suffer until you regret ever being born!"

With that, he charged at Karot first, intending to punch him square in the face. Karot shifted his right foot back and bent slightly at the waist, then clenched his right hand into a fist and swung.

"Thump!"

Karot's fist collided with the Stone Ninja's. A sharp crack rang out. Karot had broken the man's arm cleanly, the bone jutting through the skin, smeared with blood. Even the best Medical Ninja in the Ninja World couldn't have healed it. The arm was ruined.

"I told you, but you wouldn't believe me. Do you believe me now?"

Karot wore an expression that said, See? I told you so.

The Stone Ninja stared at Karot as if he were a demon. One punch had robbed him of a third of his strength.

"I don't have time to play with you."

As soon as Karot said this, the two Stone Ninja felt an intense sense of danger, though they had no idea where it was coming from.

Karot raised a hand, and a yellow Light Orb gathered in his palm.

With two sharp zips, the two Stone Ninja Chunin were blown up before they could react. Karot lamented,

"If I weren't on a mission, I'd have liked to play with you. You can blame your bad timing."

Karot had inherited the Saiyan tendency to get carried away when things were going well perfectly. Just as he was about to leave, he heard a groan from above. He turned and looked.

"Oh, I almost forgot about you. The road to the afterlife isn't far. You can still catch up with them."

A blast of energy sent the man on his way.

Thanks a lot. "The road to the afterlife isn't far"? Who wanted to die if they could stay alive? You didn't even ask what I wanted before sending me off! Did the Ninja World have no human rights or laws? That was the Stone Ninja's final thought, though Karot never got to hear it.

The fight had lasted less than three minutes. The fastest man in the Ninja World had been born. For Hyuga Sanada and Kazumi, though, the battle had only just begun.

Karot instantly appeared on Kazumi's battlefield. She was the team's healer, and she was the one who opened his food scrolls. He couldn't let her get hurt. As for Sanada, as long as he didn't die, he'd be fine. How could a real man be a real man without a few scars?

Kazumi had practically no combat experience. They were both Chunin, and a Medical Ninja's control of Chakra should have been even better than her opponent's. Yet she was being beaten badly and had sustained several wounds. Without help, the enemy would surely wear her down. He'd protected her too much before.

Just as the opponent was about to stab Kazumi with a kunai, Karot flashed in and caught it securely between two fingers, Naruto-style—a "Finger of Understanding."

"What?"

The Chunin's eyes widened, as if he couldn't believe what he was seeing.

"Karot!"

Kazumi cried out in delight when she saw him appear. Would the classic hero-saves-the-beauty moment happen now?

"Disappear!"

An energy ball struck the Stone Ninja. After the explosion, nothing remained.

"What is this?"

Kazumi stared at the scene in front of her in horror. What had just happened was beyond belief.

"This is the ability of my Kekkei Genkai. I developed it recently."

Karot repeated the excuse his father had come up with for him.

"Mm."

Kazumi nodded, showing she would keep the secret. It was a powerful jutsu that could blast someone to dust. If other villages found out, they would definitely do everything they could to eliminate him.

If Karot had known what Kazumi was thinking, he would have told her there was no need to worry.

"Hide for now. I'll go check on Sanada."

"All right."

Kazumi knew that, in her current condition, following Karot would only hold him back.

Sanada was already lying on the ground, exhausted. Neither Stone Ninja had come out unscathed: one was dead, one was injured, and all three were sprawled on the ground.

Karot went over to Sanada and checked his wounds. He patted one of them and said,

"You're fine. You won't die."

Sanada sucked in a sharp breath.

"Shh!"

Then he cursed Karot.

"Damn you, Karot! You're taking this chance to get back at me!"

Faced with Sanada's verbal protests, Karot made him shut up with actions, threatening to slap his wound again. It worked at once. After dealing with the Stone Ninja, Karot carried the injured Sanada back to Kazumi for treatment, then went to support Matsushita Hokuto.