The Escape

The sudden reversal in the battle caught everyone off guard. The Iwagakure Jonin, who had been gaining the upper hand, abruptly fell face-first to the ground, distracting the Explosion Release ninja who was fighting Torifu Akimichi for a brief moment.

Torifu seized the opening and sent him flying with a single strike of his staff.

The Explosion Release ninja had taken a hit, the Earth Release ninja Doto was down and out, and the invisible ninja had also been dealt with by Hazuki Uchiha...

The Konoha squad now had the upper hand, but Torifu didn't intend to press their advantage and wipe out the enemy.

"Retreat. Don't get caught up in a fight. Don't let them engage us. Leave immediately."

It was the right call. Given their location, Iwagakure reinforcements could arrive at any moment. If they didn't seize this chance to disengage, the Konoha squad could find themselves surrounded.

After giving the order, Torifu immediately used the Expansion Jutsu to sweep through the surrounding terrain. He then used Smoke Bombs to obscure the battlefield for a short time.

The four regrouped. Contrary to expectations, the squad didn't retreat east. Instead, they continued west.

The rain grew heavier, quickly washing away the squad's trail.

After being disrupted, the Explosion Release ninja, Hiru, couldn't pursue them for the time being. He went over to Doto to examine his injuries... The bloody hole in Doto's chest left him shocked.

"What kind of wound is this?"

An attack that pulverized the organs inside someone's body had appeared on the battlefield for the first time.

After disengaging, the Konoha reconnaissance squad ran for several hours. Once they had shaken off their pursuers, they hid again.

They had fought a battle and then fled without stopping, which had taken a heavy toll on the squad. They needed to rest.

The others were fine; all they had spent was chakra. But when Yuzuru charged at the enemy, he hadn't been able to dodge in time and had been struck by a lot of flying rubble. Though his injuries were only superficial, his skin was still torn and bloody.

The squad took shelter in an underground hollow. Only then did Yuzuru have time to tend to his wounds. With his teammates' help, he was soon wrapped up like a mummy.

"Yuzuru, how are you?" Torifu asked.

He hadn't expected the first to break through in the battle to be the squad's Genin.

"I'm not in any serious danger, but... I probably won't be able to fight at full strength for a while."

He had lost a lot of blood, and he could feel that several of his bones were cracked. Even the slightest movement caused him intense pain. Keeping up with the squad during their escape had been difficult enough; expecting him to fight in consecutive battles would be asking too much.

"You've already done very well."

Torifu now understood that Yuzuru's combat ability was far beyond that of a Genin. As for why he had been hiding his strength... There were probably all sorts of reasons.

The captain had no idea that Yuzuru's strength had actually increased in a short time.

"We can confirm it now. The ones who cut off Konoha's reconnaissance channels and wiped out its forward reconnaissance posts must be Iwagakure's Explosive Unit... There are twelve members in the unit, all elite Jonin."

"There are only eleven left now. The one who could turn invisible was too weak. He probably wasn't one of them," Hazuki Uchiha said.

"..."

Well, there were indeed only eleven left, since Yuzuru had taken one of them out with some kind of special ninjutsu.

Torifu nodded, then pulled an Exploding Tag from his Ninja Tool Pouch and showed it to everyone.

"Explosion Release is a Kekkei Genkai that's been studied quite thoroughly. Its ability is straightforward but effective. Iwagakure's Explosive Unit is a force to be reckoned with."

Yuzuru wondered, The captain could've just said that. Why pull out an Exploding Tag? Is it some kind of extension of Explosion Release?

"Captain, we understand. We shouldn't confront the enemy head-on in a place like this." Kairi Omori supported his judgment and decision.

Torifu nodded, then fell silent, clearly considering what to do about their next assignment.

Though Yuzuru had defeated a powerful enemy, he was now badly injured and no longer fit to operate behind enemy lines...

Honestly, if the squad hadn't been led by someone like Torifu Akimichi, then considering the circumstances—deep behind enemy lines, a difficult retreat, and an injured Genin—the squad might well have left him behind.

But Torifu wouldn't do that. Yuzuru himself wasn't sure of it, but Torifu had never once considered abandoning a teammate.

Of the squad, only Kairi Omori had seen Yuzuru's Rasengan with her own eyes. She'd only caught a glimpse, but she could tell that it was an extremely difficult technique that required extraordinary chakra control. There was no way a Genin should have mastered it.

That technique alone had convinced her that the squad needed Yuzuru's combat ability.

The Body Flicker Technique combined with the Rasengan was nothing like the Flying Thunder God combined with the Rasengan. But the unsealed technique was so fast that Yuzuru's performance on the battlefield had, more or less, made him a low-powered version of the Fourth Hokage.

Thank goodness for the Fourth Hokage. If not for him, Yuzuru might already be dead.

At any rate, no one in this squad would easily abandon a teammate.

"Yuzuru can't move around right now. In his condition, operating under the enemy's nose would be too dangerous. So I've decided to check the remaining two forward posts by myself... I'll be more nimble on my own."

After a moment of silence, Torifu made his decision.

That last part was clearly meant to reassure his teammates. Torifu was a formidable fighter, but sneaking, infiltrating, and reconnaissance were surely not his strengths.

He was better suited to fighting head-on, preferably against an enemy who could meet him on equal terms.

Yuzuru thought the right call was to abandon the mission and head back. It was obvious that the remaining two posts had been destroyed as well. But ninjas put their missions first, and sometimes they could be quite rigid about carrying them out... Well, besides, Yuzuru wasn't in a position to speak up.

"Captain, let me go with you. I can at least support you," Kairi Omori said.

The team's Jonin and Special Jonin would be working together, and Kairi's abilities would certainly help with the reconnaissance ahead.

Torifu considered it, then nodded. "All right. We'll go as a pair. Hazuki, stay here and protect Yuzuru."

Hazuki Uchiha parted her lips. She wanted to join the mission, too, but then she realized... If three of them went out and left the injured man here alone, how would he feel?

That would amount to abandoning him.

So Hazuki Uchiha could only stay behind, both to protect her teammate and to put him at ease.

"Understood, Captain. I'll stay here and keep watch."

Just a few hours later, Torifu and Kairi set out again. After confirming there were no signs of pursuers outside, the two disappeared into the rain.

Of the two left in the underground hollow, Hazuki Uchiha kept watch while Yuzuru rested with his eyes closed.

He was adapting fairly well to fighting other ninjas, but his strength was still a problem.

The Body Flicker Technique gave him room to attack or retreat, but Yuzuru's attack options were limited. He could either stab someone with a Kunai or use the Rasengan... The former didn't hit hard enough, while the latter hit too hard and consumed too much chakra. He didn't have enough chakra to use the Rasengan repeatedly in a prolonged fight.

He lacked a combat option with moderate attack power.

His original body knew a little Fire Release, but it was weak enough that using it was practically a waste of chakra. By comparison, thanks to the Fourth Hokage's gift, he had a strong grasp of Wind Release nature transformation. So he needed to find a way to learn Wind Release Ninjutsu.

After thinking it over, he realized he'd have to rely on the "dungeon" after all... The next time he entered one, Yuzuru would have to find a way to get some Wind Release Ninjutsu.