Secret Technique

When Yuzuru confined a large amount of Natural Energy within his body, it meant that, to some extent, his "life form" had undergone a change.

Or, more precisely, it was an "evolution."

Under normal circumstances, he was by no means someone with superhuman strength who excelled at overpowering enemies with brute force... When he'd fought the Iwagakure Ninja before, his kicks hadn't even been able to move his opponent.

But now he could kick the Kazekage flying with ease.

The boost from Natural Energy was no exaggeration.

Captain Kiba Inuzuka's mouth hung open in astonishment. He was seeing stars, and couldn't help wondering if he'd lost too much blood... Could Yuzuru really be this strong?

Of course, landing a direct hit also had a lot to do with how unexpected Yuzuru's attack had been. The Kazekage's attention had clearly been focused almost entirely on Might Duy.

In his Natural Energy-saturated state, Yuzuru was a little "clumsier" than usual, but he could still use the high-speed Body Flicker Technique...

The Second Kazekage flew uncontrollably through the air from the blow. He was launched upward, then crashed down, his body plowing a deep furrow through the ground.

The Kazekage no longer looked nearly as composed as before.

Ambushing an old man and beating him up... Yuzuru seemed to have done something rather unpleasant. Judging from the impact, he was sure his attack had landed squarely.

Yuzuru could only hope the man wouldn't get back up. The Kazekage was old enough to be living in a retirement home. Why bother playing the part of a tough old man here?

Yuzuru's bold attack freed Might Duy from the Kazekage's restraint. He looked over at Yuzuru and immediately realized something was off about him.

"Yuzuru, you look..."

Of course, he'd noticed the black bands patterned across Yuzuru's body, but he didn't understand what was going on. Was he supposed to put on makeup before a fight?

"This is a normal change. You could say I'm using a Secret Technique... Senior Duy, are you all right?"

"I'm fine, Yuzuru. Thanks for your support."

Ordinarily, civilian ninja weren't qualified to use Secret Techniques. They had neither the means nor the qualifications to learn them, nor the physical constitution to withstand them.

Might Duy should have been puzzled, but he wasn't, because he was an exception himself... He was unusual, too.

Might Duy shouldn't have been able to master a technique like the Eight Gates. Call it a forbidden technique or a Secret Technique, either way it was far too advanced for someone of his background.

A more tactful way to put it was that everyone had their own peculiarities and secrets. More bluntly, people weren't all built the same.

In any case, Yuzuru was using some kind of special Secret Technique.

"Senior, now's not the time for that."

They turned their attention back to the enemy. The Kazekage hadn't gone down from Yuzuru's blow as he'd hoped. Instead, he was slowly getting back to his feet.

"Not even a scratch?"

As one of the Shinobi World's top fighters, and someone skilled at using sand for both attack and defense, it was only natural that Yuzuru couldn't defeat him with a single blow. But taking a kick without a scratch was hard to understand.

The Second Kazekage brushed the dirt off himself, then sighed. "Sigh, I couldn't even dodge a simple move like that... I really am getting old."

He didn't feel humiliated or angry at being hit by an unknown Konoha Ninja. He only regretted his own age. There was even a trace of nostalgia in his eyes, as if he were remembering the past.

Well, he still wasn't taking the Konoha Ninja here seriously.

"Keep going!"

Might Duy didn't care what the enemy was thinking. The Eight Gates wouldn't stay open for long, so after signaling for Yuzuru to follow, he charged at the Kazekage again.

Yuzuru: "..."

Weren't they supposed to be buying time? When had the mission turned into killing the enemy head-on?

Yuzuru didn't have much appetite for attacking. He knew that even transformed, he still wasn't a match for the enemy. His attempt just now had made that clear.

Unfortunately, Might Duy had already charged in, so Yuzuru had no choice but to follow.

With the Sixth Gate of the Eight Gates open, Might Duy was incredibly fast. Yuzuru wasn't slow either with the Body Flicker Technique. But this time, as they closed in on the Second Kazekage, the enemy inexplicably didn't use sand to block or defend himself.

What did that mean? Where was the sand?

In terms of fighting style, the Second Kazekage seemed more like a mage. If he wasn't using sand, did this mage have a melee fighter's heart as well?

Might Duy and Yuzuru attacked the Kazekage from both sides. He dodged Might Duy's side kick while trying to block Yuzuru's punch with one hand.

Yuzuru had already begun gathering chakra in his outstretched palm. The Rasengan was about to be unleashed, but just as he was about to do it, inspiration suddenly struck...

Yuzuru stopped his hand, changed his open palm into a fist, and hit the enemy with sheer force instead.

Thud!

The blow landed, and the Kazekage in front of him turned into a pile of sand, just as expected.

"A clone..."

The one Yuzuru had kicked at first must have been the Kazekage's real body. But by the time he got back up, he might have switched to a clone.

That raised the question: where was his real body now?

"Can the Ninja Dog find him?" Shinnosuke Kohinata asked the captain. It was clear he'd also noticed that they'd lost track of the enemy.

The Ninja Dog sniffed hard, but it wasn't much help. The Kazekage might well be hiding in the sand, and a dog's nose was useless in that situation.

Yuzuru frowned. This fight was too strange. The Kazekage hadn't even been giving it his all. What was the enemy trying to do?

If he was just buying time, wouldn't that benefit Konoha? Was the Kazekage playing the fool here, preparing to put on a show about how he was "born to be surrounded"?

"Should we deal with these clones first?"

But what would that accomplish?

"Senior Duy..."

"Sorry, I... I've reached my limit."

Might Duy's Eight Gates state ended soon after. Yuzuru reached out to support him. It seemed the older man couldn't keep fighting... At that point, only Yuzuru and Shinnosuke Kohinata were still in good shape.

More Sand Clones surrounded them.

"Captain, we've done about enough here. We should fall back..." Shinnosuke Kohinata spoke for Yuzuru, who also thought it was time for the squad to run.

But the captain remained stubborn.

"No..."

If he kept insisting on having his way, the squad would fall apart. There were limits to what people could do. What was the point of pushing on?

But Kiba Inuzuka wasn't just being stubborn. He reminded them, "Didn't you hear? Our reinforcements are here."

"..."

Don't leave us hanging like that, Captain. He'd almost wrecked the squad's unity.

As soon as Kiba Inuzuka finished speaking, Konoha's first reinforcements arrived at the battlefield.

Unexpectedly, the Second Kazekage, who'd been hiding so well, chose to show himself.

He'd looked so arrogant before, but now he seemed utterly wretched. He took one look at Konoha's main force, then turned and ran.

"..."

Yuzuru thought he understood what was going on, but by then, there was no way he could stop the Konoha Ninja from chasing after the Kazekage.