Karot vs. A

The smoke cleared, and Karot held his hands together.

"Attacking as soon as we meet? That's a little impolite, A."

Karot spoke slowly. It seemed the reputation was well deserved—A had reached Kage Level.

A was shocked that a ten-year-old Konoha ninja had blocked his attack. Since when could just any ninja match me?

"Kid, tell me your name. I don't kill nameless nobodies."

A spoke arrogantly, as if Karot had no chance of escaping alive.

"Hatake Karot. Remember that name."

"I'll remember. I'll bury you with my own hands."

With that, A flashed forward, charging at Karot with the force of a thunderbolt. Karot advanced instead of retreating and met his fist head-on. The energy from their clashing fists blasted in every direction, felling trees and shaking the ground beneath them.

Their fists flew back and forth. Each deafening collision of flesh against flesh was exhilarating.

A threw an uppercut at Karot's head. Karot reacted at once, bracing both hands against the ground and thrusting his legs straight out at a 45-degree angle, kicking A in the chest. A dodged backward, but Karot pressed his advantage, raining punches down on him as if they cost nothing. A defended himself without leaving a single opening, taking every one of Karot's attacks.

"Kid, you've had your fun. Now it's my turn."

Lightning crackled more fiercely around A, enveloping his whole body. He became faster and stronger. In an instant, the tables had turned.

His punches came so quickly that this time Karot could see them but couldn't block them. One punch struck Karot in the stomach, sending him flying. He crashed through three trees before finally coming to a stop.

Karot clutched his stomach, coughed a few times, and got back to his feet. What incredible offense and defense. No one at Kage Level is easy to deal with.

"System, remove the weight from my body."

"Certainly, host."

The system's cold voice sounded in Karot's mind.

Karot suddenly felt as light as a feather. He bent forward, clenched both fists, and shouted.

"Ah~~!"

His aura grew stronger and stronger. Pebbles on the ground began to jump, one after another. At last, a yellow light enveloped his entire body.

Karot stared straight at A and beckoned him with his right hand, challenging him to attack.

A had never been taunted like this before. He immediately launched a frenzied assault on Karot—from the front, the right, the left, behind, and above. Every strike aimed for a vital point, yet Karot narrowly dodged every one of them.

"My turn."

A couldn't hear Karot, but from the movement of his lips, he knew it wasn't anything pleasant.

Karot grabbed A's fist, lifted it, and hurled him into the air. Then he stepped forward and caught up with A mid-flight, knocking him away with a punch. He repeated the process, batting A back and forth like a sandbag.

A used a jutsu to stimulate his body and increase his speed, finally escaping Karot's torment.

The two faced each other. One was surrounded by crackling lightning, the other shone with a yellow glow—a perfect match.

A was deeply shocked. His opponent's power wasn't Chakra; it was something entirely new. Could it be a Kekkei Genkai? But using a Kekkei Genkai consumed Chakra, and A was certain he couldn't sense even a trace of Chakra from Karot. At the same time, A resolved to keep Karot here. He couldn't let him leave alive. A genius like this would be too dangerous once he had grown stronger. He had to be eliminated before he could spread his wings.

"Hey, A, it's getting late. Let's call it a day."

Karot's mission had only been to delay the enemy. Now that it was complete, he could retreat. Besides, he wasn't entirely confident he could kill the man before him. If they both ended up badly wounded, Karot had no backup.

"Wait—"

Before A could finish, Karot vanished. Just as Karot had thought, A wasn't confident he could kill him either. He had only wanted to hold Karot there until reinforcements arrived so they could take him out.

The Cloud Ninja reinforcements arrived only after Karot had been gone for some time.

"Lord A, was the enemy eliminated?"

One of the arriving Cloud Ninja asked, searching all around for the enemy's body.

"No. They got away."

"Whoa. To escape from you, Lord A, the enemy must be something else."

A was the future of the Cloud Ninja. His strength spoke for itself, so anyone who could calmly retreat from him was clearly no ordinary opponent.

"Put a bounty out through the Bounty Hunter's Guild. Anyone who kills Hatake Karot gets thirty million."

"Ah~!"

His subordinate was stunned. Thirty million was no small sum—enough to pay for three S-rank missions. But he knew better than to say anything. The leader gave the orders; the subordinates carried them out. Besides, their superior was already furious. If he dared defy him, he could be sent straight to the front lines, with nowhere to cry about it.

"We made it through that one."

Everyone waited for Karot to return safely at the rendezvous point. When he finally arrived, they couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

"Captain, you're really strong! You managed to get away from that monster. Just watching him made my legs shake."

Akimichi had the plumpest build, yet spoke like a coward. He was full of admiration for Karot's strength.

"Captain Karot, can we report the details of the mission to Lord Orochimaru now?"

Nara asked.

"Yes."

Nara summoned a white snake. It swallowed the mission report, then vanished in a puff of white smoke. When the snake disappeared, Karot spoke.

"Now we need to figure out how to retreat. Nara, what's your plan?"

For matters that required brains, it was only natural to turn to someone quick-witted. There was no one in Konoha sharper than the Nara clan.

"We destroyed Thunder Moon Bridge, so the enemy will search for us relentlessly. Our only option is to outrun them. They outnumber us, so we'll be safe only if we break through their encirclement."

Nara's reasoning made sense at every turn. In the end, Karot agreed with his decision, and they hurried toward the Land of Fire.

Meanwhile, A was raging. His record had been tarnished.

"Pass down the order: begin a thorough search, especially for a little boy with white hair. If you find him, don't attack recklessly. Send word to me immediately. Understood?"

"Yes."

The Cloud Ninja dropped to one knee, then vanished in a flash.

A rested his chin on one hand, thinking about how to deal with Karot. A's motto was to talk less and act more, because fighting was quick and simple. If a problem could be solved with a little action, no one wanted to waste time thinking.

Karot and the others slipped past the enemy blockade and returned, dusty and exhausted, to Konoha's camp in the Land of Hot Water.

"Karot, well done. I read about what you did in the report. You held off the enemy alone and covered your teammates' retreat, then made it back unharmed. You've exceeded my expectations."

Orochimaru praised Karot without reservation. The mission had succeeded, proving that Orochimaru had a keen eye. It would also boost morale at the front.