In the dense mountain forests of the Land of Grass.
The Ino-Shika-Cho team was fleeing in disarray.
After resolving to "fight to the end and take their own lives in atonement," Akimichi Dōtō and his two teammates immediately began infiltrating toward Kannabi Bridge.
But whether it was bad luck or something else, the first Iwagakure outpost they passed had a Sensory Ninja skilled in sensing.
Yamanaka Santen had wanted to sense how many ninja were inside the outpost, but his Sensory Ninjutsu immediately alerted the enemy Sensory Ninja!
There was no other choice now.
Originally, they had planned to go around it, but now they had no choice but to fight.
With Akimichi Dōtō's jōnin-level strength and the coordination of the Ino-Shika-Cho clans' Secret Techniques, dealing with the Iwagakure ninja at a single outpost shouldn't have been a problem.
But the key was that they were behind enemy lines!
When the Iwagakure ninja saw they couldn't take down the three of them and that their own side had suffered casualties, they decisively fired a flare to call for reinforcements.
Before long, the battle still hadn't ended, and ninja arriving from two other directions had surrounded the trio.
Seeing that they had alerted the Iwagakure ninja, Nara Shiosui made a quick decision: they would break through at once, fighting with everything they had, and head toward Kannabi Bridge.
"This is bad. There are more and more of them on our tail."
Akimichi Dōtō glanced back. By his rough estimate, there were already seventy or eighty Iwagakure ninja chasing them.
They probably wouldn't be able to complete the mission to blow up the bridge.
But their mission to draw fire away from the main battlefield was going very well...
"N-no, stop! We can't keep going!"
Yamanaka Santen was being carried on Nara Shiosui's back, his face pale.
During their earlier attempt to break through, an enemy Iwagakure jōnin had turned his Mind Body Switch Technique back on him, severely damaging his mind!
"We can't keep going in this direction!" Yamanaka Santen said anxiously.
This direction?
Nara Shiosui quickly understood what he meant.
Driven onward by the large group of Iwagakure ninja chasing them, they had originally been taking the right-hand route, which ran slightly north, toward Kannabi Bridge. But now they were gradually closing in on the middle route.
That was the route Uchiha Aoya's team was taking!
"Dōtō, stop!"
After his expression shifted several times, Nara Shiosui made a quick decision. "We can't complete our mission, but we can't drag Uchiha Aoya's team into this too!"
If they stopped moving forward, the middle route wouldn't be affected, and Uchiha Aoya's team might still be able to blow up the bridge.
"...I understand."
Akimichi Dōtō gritted his teeth and pulled a small box from his ninja pouch. Inside were three pills of different colors. "We'll hold them off here and fight to the end!"
Then he took out a green spinach pill and swallowed it.
It was a secret drug of the Akimichi Clan!
After taking it, a person's physical potential increased by 30% for a short time!
"Human Bullet Tank!"
Akimichi Dōtō curled into a tire-like shape and spun at high speed toward the Iwagakure ninja behind them.
The Iwagakure ninja following them were delighted.
At least they'd stopped running!
Those three bastards sure knew how to run!
Several Iwagakure ninja at the front used Earth Release together, raising one wall of earth after another to stop the plump body hurtling toward them.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"
Numerous three- to four-meter-long spikes shot up from the ground, trying to pierce straight through Akimichi Dōtō.
At the same time, Nara Shiosui's shadow rapidly stretched out from beneath his feet, reaching under Akimichi Dōtō. With a sharp tug, he pulled Dōtō back.
The slender black line then detached from the ground. Like a solid rope, it dragged Akimichi Dōtō's body and flung him straight into the middle of the Iwagakure crowd.
Boom!
His heavy body slammed into the ground, making it shake.
The slender shadow dragged Akimichi Dōtō through the Iwagakure crowd, crashing into them from every direction.
It was the combined Secret Technique of the Akimichi and Nara clans: Human Bullet Yo-Yo!
"Damn Konoha ninja! Don't get too cocky!"
An Iwagakure jōnin slammed both hands against the ground. "Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
The ground beneath Akimichi Dōtō rose as he was being dragged along. Seeing this, the Iwagakure ninja nearby also began using Earth Release techniques to attack, sending Earth Spears and earth Senbon flying toward him.
"So it really won't work..."
Nara Shiosui was slowly sinking into despair.
Even if they fought to the death and tried to hold them off as long as possible, it looked like that would be difficult.
In the middle of the fierce battle, an Iwagakure ninja suddenly sensed something. He whipped around to look south and shouted, "Who's there?!"
Someone was hiding over there!
Before the other Iwagakure ninja could react, a cold glint flashed behind a giant tree to the south. A Tachi slid free, and Uchiha Aoya's body became a blur as he charged into the Iwagakure crowd in the blink of an eye.
With a single slash, the Iwagakure ninja who had shouted was cut across the throat, blood spraying like a fountain.
"Uchiha Aoya?!"
Nara Shiosui was both shocked and frustrated.
Uchiha Aoya's arrival improved their chances, but being chased in this direction had indeed dragged his team into the fight.
"You three go on ahead! I'll hold them off as long as I can!" Nara Shiosui shouted.
Aoya frowned slightly but didn't answer. Instead, he asked Yamanaka Santen, "Are there any other Sensory Ninja on their side?"
The one who had discovered their team's tracks was clearly a Sensory Ninja.
"There shouldn't be," Yamanaka Santen replied, mustering his strength.
"Then you go on ahead. I'll take them out."
Aoya shook the blood from his Tachi as he spoke.
"What? No, you should retreat. We'll—"
"Stop wasting time!"
Aoya cut him off with a shout.
"..."
Nara Shiosui's throat bobbed. Knowing there was no time to argue, he immediately carried Yamanaka Santen and ran ahead.
Seeing the Ino-Shika-Cho team trying to leave, the Iwagakure ninja grew furious. Several broke away at once and tried to continue the chase.
"Uchiha Style: Sun Halo Dance!"
Aoya tightened his grip on his Tachi, and flames suddenly flashed along its silvery blade.
He used the Body Flicker Technique, vanishing in an instant. Almost simultaneously, several Flame Slashes cut down every Iwagakure ninja who had tried to pursue the others!
At that one strike, the remaining Iwagakure ninja who had been trying to give chase changed expressions and took several steps back in unison.
Seeing the attack, Akimichi Dōtō, who was bringing up the rear, felt a glimmer of hope. Then he didn't look back again, hurrying toward Kannabi Bridge.
He couldn't waste the opportunity Uchiha Aoya had won for them!
Behind them, Aoya charged straight into the Iwagakure crowd. Each time the flames on his Tachi flared, they claimed the lives of several Iwagakure ninja!
"Damn Konoha brat!"
Hearing the cries and wails of his comrades, the Iwagakure jōnin was enraged. He stopped holding back and unleashed a wide-area attack, firing a mass of mud Senbon at Aoya!
The Senbon rain injured plenty of his own comrades, but it also succeeded in forcing Aoya back and making him put some distance between himself and the Iwagakure ninja.
"He's too fast! Don't let him get close!"
The Iwagakure jōnin was overjoyed to see his attack work.
The other Iwagakure ninja gained confidence, but they were also furious.
They hadn't managed to take down that Ino-Shika-Cho team of three young men, and now they were being pushed around by a Konoha ninja who was barely a teenager!
One long-range Earth Release technique after another began flying toward Aoya.
"What a pain!"
Aoya dodged for a while, unable to keep from frowning.
With his current strength, he could indeed kill them all.
But with so many of them working together, it would take him some time, and reinforcements could arrive at any moment.
"...Himon!"
Aoya suddenly shouted and quickly retreated.
Hyuga Himon and Yūhi Kurenai, who had been hiding behind nearby trees, hurried after him.
"With this many of them, how are we supposed to shake them off?"
Hyuga Himon glanced at the large group of Iwagakure ninja hot on their heels, sweating profusely.
They hadn't even gotten very far along the route to the bridge, so how had they run into so many enemies already?!
What had that Ino-Shika-Cho team done to spawn so many enemies all at once?!
"Do you remember the forbidden area I told you about?"
Hyuga Himon froze. As he ran, he looked toward a spot to the south. "The forbidden area? You mean that cave?"
Come to think of it, they were now quite close to that so-called forbidden area, only two or three kilometers away.
"Check over there. See if the ground beneath that cave has been hollowed out!"
"Remember, just confirm it. Don't look any longer!"
With his two teammates, Aoya led the large group of Iwagakure ninja on a winding chase toward the cave.
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