"'A' retreated?!"
"This..."
"Should we pursue them?"
Watching the Akatsuki Organization's 'A' and 'E' turn and leave, everyone in Tsunade's squad exchanged glances.
They had all been prepared for a fight to the death against 'A'. They never expected that 'A', whom the Intelligence Squad had rated as extremely dangerous, would be driven off just like that by Shinji.
Shinji's Shadow Clone let out a quiet breath, then said to Tsunade, "I'm sorry. I got a little carried away just now!"
Tsunade gave Shinji a complicated look. "Forget it. We'll talk when we get back!"
If Tsunade had still been somewhat resentful of Shinji's recklessness and impulsiveness before, it was hard to voice any blame after he'd first killed Upper Moon Two, then driven off the Akatsuki Organization's 'A' and 'E'.
The other members of the squad also looked at Shinji differently.
Until now, they'd only thought of him as a genius from the Ninja Academy, and figured that given time, he'd grow into an excellent ninja.
But after this battle, they began to see Shinji as a fellow shinobi. The condescension of elders toward a younger person had vanished from their eyes!
Yakumo eagerly hurried over to Shinji. After looking him up and down, she complained, "Shinji, that was 'A' from the Akatsuki Organization! Charging in just now was way too reckless!"
Shinji smiled.
No one present would have guessed that the battle that had just set both sides on edge had been staged by Shinji himself.
His Shadow Clone didn't have enough Chakra to sustain so many Fire Release Ninjutsu. In truth, Shinji had been transmitting Chakra to the clone with Magatsu while having it bombard him with Fire Release, creating the illusion of a fierce battle.
He'd done it to draw in the Joint Force and create