On the Brink of Death

"Boom—!"

Blue flames and a water dragon fiercely collided in the narrow alley. The instantaneous high temperature vaporized the rainwater, and thick white steam, like a solid wall, instantly enveloped both sides' vision.

"Scatter! Don't bunch up!"

Uchiha Fugaku roared, retreating rapidly.

However, the opponents were clearly more accustomed to this environment.

"Too slow."

The voice of the captain of the guard unit seemed to come from all directions, carrying a chilling tone.

"Water Style: Hidden Mist Technique."

Into the already obscured steam, a dense fog created by Chakra was mixed.

Even the Three Tomoe Sharingan's field of vision was greatly compressed at this moment.

"Swish!"

A cold glint pierced through the mist without warning, heading straight for Fugaku's throat.

Fugaku, relying on his combat instincts, abruptly turned his head, but the sharp kunai still grazed his shoulder, drawing a string of blood beads.

"Damn it."

Fugaku clutched his wound, leaning against the wall, cold sweat beading on his forehead.

These six people coordinated too well.

Two used Water Style to suppress, two used Lightning Style for paralysis and restraint, and the remaining two conducted silent assassination in the mist.

"Ah!"

A muffled groan came from the flank.

Namikaze Minato's figure flew backward out of the mist, crashing heavily onto a trash can.

A electrified senbon was lodged in his left leg, and the intense numbness severely hampered his pride-inducing speed.

"Minato!" Nishikawa Tetsu tried to support him, but two bolts of lightning instantly sealed off his movement.

"Worry about yourself first!"

Two Rain Ninjas charged from the center, their long swords wrapped in Lightning Style Chakra, crisscrossing toward Nishikawa Tetsu.

Nishikawa Tetsu gritted his teeth and didn't meet the attack head-on. Instead, he threw a smoke bomb backward, using the recoil from the explosion to narrowly escape, but the fabric on his chest was still torn by the blade's aura, revealing a bloodstain.

In just one exchange, all members of Team Five were injured.

This was the guard unit led by an elite Jonin, a world apart from a regular ninja squad.

"It's not just a difference in Chakra quantity, but also environmental suppression."

Nishikawa Tetsu leaned against Fugaku, panting, his mind racing. "The rainwater conducts electricity, expanding the range of their Lightning Style several times. And in the mist, our vision is limited, and Minato's speed advantage can't be utilized."

"Stop the nonsense, any ideas?" Fugaku stared intently at the flickering shadows in the mist, gripping his tanto so tightly his knuckles turned white.

"The enemy captain is a master of Lightning Style. He's standing in the deepest puddle, using the water to conduct electricity and block our movements."

Nishikawa Tetsu pulled a roll of extremely fine copper wire from his ninja pouch, his eyes hardening.

"Since he likes playing with electricity, let's let him play to his heart's content."

"Minato! Can you still move?" Nishikawa Tetsu called out softly.

"My leg is a bit numb, but I can still burst out for a moment." Minato pulled out the senbon from his leg, his azure eyes showing no trace of retreat.

"Good." Nishikawa Tetsu threw one end of the copper wire to Minato and wrapped the other end around one of his specially made kunai.

"Fugaku-senpai, use Fire Style to blast the ground under the captain's feet! You don't need to hurt him, just dry up the water for an instant!"

"Move out!"

As Nishikawa Tetsu gave the order, the three of them moved out simultaneously.

"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"

Uchiha Fugaku ignored his injuries, channeling Chakra madly. Blue flames roared out again, heading straight for the spot where the guard captain was standing.

"Hmph, foolish. The same move won't work on me!"

The guard captain sneered, forming hand seals. "Water Style: Water Wall Jutsu!"

A wall of water rose, blocking the fireball.

"Now! Minato!" Nishikawa Tetsu shouted.

Minato, enduring the sharp pain in his leg, transformed into a golden lightning bolt.

He didn't attack the captain but used the Body Flicker Technique to instantly circle behind the two Rain Ninjas responsible for flank cover.

In his rapid movement, he stretched the copper wire into an invisible net, entangling the ankles of the two Rain Ninjas.

The other end of the copper wire was held in Nishikawa Tetsu's hand.

"Lightning Style: Earth Run!"

The Captain of the Guard launched his counterattack just then. Violent lightning spread across the accumulated water on the ground, attempting to eliminate both Fugaku and Nishikawa Tetsu.

However, the moment the lightning was released...

Nishikawa Tetsu sharply thrust the wire in his hand into the puddle beneath the captain's feet, simultaneously driving an "Induction Needle" into the ground.

"Zzzzz--!!!"

The lightning, which had been spreading indiscriminately, suddenly surged wildly along the copper wire, as if drawn by a magnet. It bypassed Fugaku and Nishikawa Tetsu entirely, pouring into the two Rain Shinobi entangled by the wire!

"Ahhhhhhh!"

The two Rain Shinobi never expected the attack to come from below, and from their own captain's Lightning Style, no less.

The high-voltage current instantly coursed through their bodies. Before they could even scream, they were charred black and collapsed, frothing at the mouth.

"What?!"

The Captain of the Guard's pupils constricted.

His pride and joy, his Lightning Style, had been "borrowed" by that kid with no Chakra?

"Good opportunity!"

Namikaze Minato didn't let this fleeting opening pass.

The moment the two enemies fell, his figure returned.

The Kunai in his hand precisely sliced across one of their throats.

"Squelch."

Blood splattered.

At the same time, Uchiha Fugaku moved. He ignored the powerful captain and lunged at the other Rain Shinobi, who was paralyzed by the electricity.

"Sharingan! Genjutsu!"

The Rain Ninja tried to resist, but his movements froze as he was locked onto by the scarlet pupils.

The next second, Fugaku's short sword pierced his heart.

"Two down."

Fugaku pulled out his short sword and retreated to Nishikawa Tetsu's side, his expression still grim.

Although they had used the enemy's own lightning to kill two of them, the situation remained perilous.

Four enemies remained.

Especially the Captain of the Guard. While the previous move of borrowing strength had cost him subordinates, he himself was unharmed and was now exuding a suffocating killing intent.

"G-Good..."

The captain stared at the two bodies on the ground, his voice distorted and frantic from beneath his mask.

"To kill my subordinates... it seems you're not ordinary rats."

He slowly raised the long sword in his hand, terrifying Chakra gathering on the blade. The surrounding rain actually began to levitate due to static electricity.

"But the game is over."

"Lightning Style: Lightning Fang!"

A beam of lightning several times thicker than before struck down instantly, so fast that even Minato couldn't react.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"

Nishikawa Tetsu poured all his strength into raising an earth wall, but before the violent lightning, the wall was torn apart like paper.

"Boom!"

The immense impact sent all three of them flying, crashing heavily against the wall at the end of the alley.

"Cough... cough..."

Nishikawa Tetsu spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if his internal organs had shifted.

The gap was too great.

This captain's strength was a notch above Kazama Sousuke's, his Lightning Style countered Earth Style, and his speed was not inferior to Minato's.

"Still not dead?"

The captain approached step by step, while the three remaining team members behind him blocked all possible escape routes.

"Send them to hell."