Violence

The more exceptional someone was, the grander the stage they needed to fully show what made them exceptional.

Hatake Sakumo was just a Konoha Ninja with a little renown.

In Yuzuru's mind, Hatake Sakumo was the Konoha White Fang. In reality, though, he hadn't yet earned that fearsome title.

At least, it hadn't been widely recognized.

Still, it was easy to imagine that after this battle ended, there'd be no way for Hatake Sakumo to keep being a low-profile jonin, even if he wanted to.

Of course, expecting him to kill the entire Sunagakure attacking force by himself was unrealistic. With his skill, Hatake Sakumo could take on ten opponents at once, maybe even a hundred at a stretch, but a thousand was absurd.

Hatake Sakumo was powerful and deadly on the offensive, but he fought with a blade. By nature, no matter how strong he was, he still had to kill his enemies one at a time.

Hatake Sakumo's "area damage" wasn't truly area damage. It was a collection of one "single-target attack" after another.

That was because his single-target attacks were so efficient.

Even though Hatake Sakumo was a ninja with glaring strengths and weaknesses, he was still making a huge difference.

The Sunagakure attacking force had been planning a surprise attack. With Hatake Sakumo on their flank, how could they possibly catch anyone by surprise?

Hatake Sakumo wielded his Chakra blade as he harried the side of the Sunagakure attacking force. If they ignored him, they couldn't afford the losses his killing efficiency would inflict.

If they stopped their advance and surrounded him, that would be exactly what Konoha wanted. Besides, Hatake Sakumo was as nimble as a monkey. He'd avoid their strongest attacks, then suddenly turn around and cut down a few men...

He was impossible to ignore.

The commander, Chiyo, looked grim. Her expression was even darker than the weather in the Land of Rain. She hadn't expected such a major operation to be held up by a single enemy.

The assault force was still advancing toward the Konoha camp, but its pace had slowed drastically... Hatake Sakumo was trying to draw their attention, and one man alone couldn't hold them all, but at least his harassment was working.

"Big sister, look behind us..."

Seeing Chiyo stare unblinkingly at the Konoha Ninja, Ebizo came up beside her and patted her on the shoulder.

Chiyo turned to look where Ebizo was pointing. There, she saw a sparse trail of bodies left behind by the main force.

Compared to the entire Sunagakure force, they hadn't lost many men. But it was like a grain sack with a hole in it, spilling its contents as they went. Who could put up with that?

"Come with me. We have to take him out!"

Chiyo called to her younger brother, and the two of them broke away from the main force, one behind the other, charging toward Hatake Sakumo.

"Stop!"

The shout from behind obviously couldn't make Hatake Sakumo stop. He glanced back at the two of them, giving them only an indifferent look.

Fight those two? Hatake Sakumo understood his situation perfectly. If they managed to pin him down, he'd be surrounded in an instant... His job was to whittle them down from the outskirts, not get caught in the middle of the Sunagakure Ninja's attack.

In fact, Hatake Sakumo had already succeeded. He'd bought time for several teammates to escape, which also gave the Konoha camp time to react.

He was still fighting because he wanted to add the words "plenty of" before "time to react."

And so, the lone battle to hold them back continued.

A little earlier, before the Sunagakure assault force began its operation, the battle on the Land of Rivers' side was already nearing its end.

More accurately, it was nearing its "reverse conclusion." Konoha's ninjas were struggling to withstand the Second Kazekage's assault.

Just a few minutes into the battle, only a handful of Konoha Ninja were still able to move... The enemy was simply too strong, far beyond Konoha's level.

The sand-user was extremely difficult to deal with. If this Kazekage hadn't been trying to draw them out, the Konoha Ninja would have died even faster.

More importantly, that was only the sand-user. Sunagakure also had someone who wielded Iron Sand... The "Strongest Kazekage" could have kept Sunagakure dominant for a generation. After all, at the time, aside from Iwagakure's Dust Release, there was no reliable way to break through the Third Kazekage's Magnet Release.

All the villages could do was thank Sunagakure's traitor. The "artist" had a mind no ordinary person could understand.

Among the few Konoha Ninja still capable of fighting, Kiba Inuzuka and his Ninja Dog, Kurotsume, were panting hard. The dog had been protected well and was only tired enough to have its tongue hanging out, but Kiba Inuzuka's head was covered in blood.

To his surprise, his squad was still intact, and not a single person had been lost... A close-combat squad like theirs should have been the first to suffer casualties.

The opposite had happened. He was the only one in the squad who'd been injured.

It turned out every ninja in the squad had been hiding their true abilities.

The captain watched Shinnosuke Kohinata. He hadn't seen any signs that the man had awakened or used the Byakugan, but aside from the Hyuga Clan's signature pressure-point strikes and Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, he suspected that Shinnosuke Kohinata could use other Hyuga Clan techniques.

Shinnosuke Kohinata's chakra reserves and Taijutsu skills were at the jonin level.

Then the captain turned his gaze toward Yuzuru. Yuzuru claimed to excel at Taijutsu, but he'd been serving as a "Wind Release artillery platform," stopping the enemy's sandstorms time and again.

His teammates had performed far beyond expectations, yet the squad still had no chance of defeating the enemy. Kiba Inuzuka figured they wouldn't last much longer.

"There are four people in the squad. Three of you are stronger than me, but I'm the weakest one here, and I'm your captain... Are you really all civilians?"

In the final moments, he decided to satisfy his curiosity.

"Captain, because we aren't from a ninja clan, we have to put in more effort and sweat," Yuzuru said.

That was right. He'd gained all his strength through effort and sweat. What else could he rely on?

Might Duy was proof enough, and Yuzuru was clearly the same kind of person.

"Effort and sweat..."

Could they really break through their limits with those alone? Kiba Inuzuka found it hard to believe. The Inuzuka Clan wasn't a large clan, nor was it particularly powerful, but he could still feel the gulf between clan ninjas and ordinary ninjas.

Well, Yuzuru's effort and sweat were fake, but Might Duy's were real, and the latter still hadn't given up hope of defeating his opponent.

"Sixth Gate: Gate of View, open!"

Might Duy opened the strongest state he could currently reach. His skin turned crimson, and a green glow began to rise from his body.

The Second Kazekage fixed his eyes on the green figure. He had clearly sensed a hint of danger from him.

A sandstorm swept toward Might Duy, but he kept charging ahead without a care.

Just as he was about to be swallowed up, Might Duy abruptly lowered his head. A massive blade of wind came up behind him and split the sandstorm in two.

Might Duy burst through the gap and reached his enemy for the first time.

But at that moment, the Second Kazekage abruptly clenched his fist. A massive hand made of sand shot up from beneath Might Duy and seized him.

"Your speed is impressive, but I've already gotten used to it."

But just as the Second Kazekage spoke with such confidence, the sound of something tearing through the air came from his side. He instinctively turned his head, catching sight of a sweeping kick.

Boom!

A tremendous force sent his aged body flying.

Only then did the Kazekage seem to hear another voice in his ear.

"What about my speed? Have you gotten used to that too?"

That question...

Was asked with complete sincerity.