Seventh Shock Gate, Open!

The Scorch Release fireball, powerful enough to evaporate the moisture from a person's body, was cleaved in two by the man's palm.

Hiruko was surprised by the opponent's methods, and at the same time, he realized that Ai had dodged the fireball attack and was now attacking him from above.

"Earth Release · Earth Style Wall."

The Earth Style Wall, carved with dog heads, enveloped Hiruko, shielding him from Ai's hand strike.

With the Earth Style Wall cleaved open by Ai's palm strike, Hiruko had already taken the opportunity to retreat to a safe area.

"Hatake Kakashi"

A didn't need to turn his head to know that this was Kakashi's Earth Style Wall; it seemed that Pride's Earth Prison hadn't trapped this Konoha Jonin.

"Lightning Blade!"

Without a word, Kakashi charged towards A with purple lightning, his right hand aimed fiercely at A's back.

The purple lightning, like a sharp blade, tore through the Lightning Armor's defenses, splashing a splash of blood.

Although he anticipated Kakashi's actions, Ai did not expect that with the enhancement of Purple Lightning, Kakashi could instantly unleash a speed comparable to his own, causing Ai's defense to be a beat too slow.

Even so, Kakashi only managed to break through A's skin.

Inheriting the tough physique of the Third Raikage, A's ability to withstand blows far surpasses that of ordinary ninjas.

For an ordinary person, Kakashi would probably have pierced their chest by now, but if the target were A, just looking at Kakashi's grim expression would tell you just how much resistance he was facing.

"That brat who used to follow the Fifth Hokage around has grown up to this extent."

Ai tensed his muscles, preventing Kakashi from pulling his right hand away for a short time.

He marveled at Kakashi's rapid growth, but at the same time, he recalled the figure that had filled him with humiliation.

"Unfortunately, you're not qualified to kill me completely!"

Ai delivered a powerful elbow strike, aiming a hard blow at Kakashi's face.

With a single move, Kakashi's head was smashed like a watermelon, splattering red and white everywhere.

But the blood and fragments in the sky did not fall to the ground; instead, they turned into water droplets in mid-air and splashed onto Ai's body.

"Water Release Water Prison Technique"

The liquid transformed into a water prison, enveloping the mugwort.

"What?"

A sudden feeling of suffocation overwhelmed Ai, leaving her speechless for a moment.

"Hateful."

Seeing this, Pride was about to rush to his aid, but Naruto showed no sign of giving up and continued to pester him.

Having dodged Naruto's two attacks in succession, Pride had no time to fool around with the child and seized the opportunity to deliver a heavy punch to Naruto's abdomen.

But just as Pride showed his intention to attack, Naruto used the Flying Thunder God Technique to widen the distance between them again.

At that moment, Mei Terumi drew her water whip and lunged forward, intending to use the opportunity to subdue her opponent.

"Innocent."

Dodging Mei Terumi's Water Whip, Pride stomped his right foot on the ground, causing a massive stone pillar to burst forth and push away the unavoidable Mei Terumi.

"This is also Water Clone, bro."

Looking at Pride's rather attractive profile, Mei Terumi let out a soft chuckle.

The Water Whip wrapped around his body, and after confirming that she had completely bound him, Mei Terumi exhaled a corrosive gas from her Boiling Release.

That's it?

Pride stared at the curvaceous Mei Terumi before him with his dark pupils, his right hand, bound by the Water Whip, clenching tightly.

As if receiving some kind of signal, the trees on both sides of the road grew rapidly, gathered together, and pierced straight towards Mei Terumi's unsuspecting back.

"Careful!"

Karin's loud reminder caught Mei Terumi's attention. She quickly released her right hand, dropped the Water Whip, and dodged to the side.

"Earth Release? Wood Release?"

Various possibilities flashed through Mei Terumi's mind.

"Open!"

Another violent shockwave erupted. By increasing the output of his Lightning Armor, Ai endured the paralysis caused by the intertwining of lightning and water, and broke free from the water prison's restraints to Kakashi's astonishment.

Mei Terumi, whose attention was drawn to Ai's direction, only relaxed for a moment before seeing a black streak flash across her vision, followed by Pride's emotionless attack.

"Steel Release."

At the critical moment, Hiruko the opportunity and Steel Release to withstand Pride's attack.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet"

Mei Terumi took the opportunity to use Water Release.

The Water Dragon Bullet, with a range far exceeding that of ordinary ninjas, swept Pride upwards like a flood.

"What an enormous amount of Chakra!"

Sasuke, who had been watching from the sidelines, finally seized the opportunity to lift Ringo Ameyuri, who was lying on the side of the road, and bring her to Karin's side so that she could help Ameyuri heal her injuries.

Karin used Medical Ninjutsu while worrying about Naruto was still looking for an opportunity to attack.

"What is Naruto trying to do? This level of battle is completely beyond the capabilities of a Chunin."

In this Chunin Ninja Exams, Konoha promoted three Chunin Naruto Uzumaki, Neji Hyuga, and Shikamaru Nara.

"That idiot."

Sasuke didn't understand what the other person was thinking either; he only knew that he had to find a way to protect his comrades.

Just as he was pondering an escape plan, another strange change occurred in the sky.

The immense repulsive force spread outwards from Pride as the center, causing the dragon head of the Water Dragon Bullet to transform into countless water droplets that fell to the ground.

Before anyone could react, Pride rushed to the ground, kicked Mei Terumi away, and then reached out to grab Hiruko's neck.

"Ice Release: Glacial Kill"

Hiruko hurriedly used Ice Release, taking advantage of Mei Terumi's Water Release, to cover Pride once again.

"This guy named Hiruko actually knows how to use Kazashiro's Ice Release?"

The sudden use of Ice Release startled them, and they initially thought it was Kazashiro appearing.

Even A was affected by the Ice Release and instinctively protected his waist.

Seeing this, Kakashi unleashed a smooth, short Taijutsu.

"Tch, what a boring tactic."

Pride's voice came from deep within the ice, and with a cracking sound, the thick ice was broken open, and his hand almost grabbed Hiruko.

"This guy is too troublesome. Is he Artificial Human? But why doesn't he have Byakugan?"

Such a formidable opponent made Hiruko seriously suspicious of his identity, but since this guy didn't have the Byakugan that was a hallmark of Artificial Human, he dared not draw any conclusions rashly.

Ice Release...

Hiruko tried to struggle a bit more, but Pride clearly wasn't going to give him that chance.

A suction force emanated from Pride's palm, Hiruko directly into his hand.

"We succeeded..."

Pride grinned maliciously.

It took me a lot of effort to capture this guy.

"Bang!"

Before Pride could open the spatial rift, the Hiruko in his hand turned into a wooden stake after making a sound.

Substitution Technique.

"Water Release: Water Pillar"

"Ice Release: Freeze."

Before she could even wipe the blood from the corner of her mouth, Mei Terumi, who had gotten up from the ground, unleashed Water Pillar.

With Hiruko's help, the water column turned into an ice column, forcefully pushing Pride away.

"Earth Release without hand seals, an unknown Ninjutsu that manipulates trees, repulsion, attraction—that's all the information we have about this guy."

While the opponent was pushed away, Hiruko gathered information about Pride.

Then he took a signal flare out of his pocket and fired it into the sky.

"Hopefully there are Konoha Ninja nearby..."

Seeing the smoke bombs bloom in the sky, Hiruko a sigh of relief.

Having mastered the Chimera Technique to its fullest extent and integrated several Kekkei Genkai into his body, he thought that while he might not be able to roam freely in the Shinobi World, he should at least be able to easily deal with a Kage.

But the reality was that after fighting for a long time, they couldn't even break through the Artificial Human and were beaten to the ground the whole time.

This was even with Kakashi desperately holding off the Fourth Raikage.

However, I have a feeling that the Fourth Raikage held back...

"Why would you, bearing the name of the Shadow, help an enemy from beyond the heavens like the Ōtsutsuki?!"

Feeling he was about to fall behind A's speed, Kakashi stopped what he was doing and prepared to use his persuasive skills to buy some time.

"Hmph, it was those people who stripped me of my Shadow title, freeing me from fighting for the village. Since that's the case, it's perfectly reasonable for me to side with either side."

Ai really accepted Kakashi's invitation to talk his way out of things and started arguing with him.

"But have you considered your brother's feelings, Fourth Raikage? Your brother Killer B has wanted to leave the village to find you many times because of you, but he hasn't left because he's worried about the village's safety."

Kakashi's words made A fall into deep thought.

The only thing this former Raikage is still attached to is Killer B.

He left at Yaowan's invitation because Jigen made a promise to grow Killer B Fruit without absorbing the Eight-Tails from Chakra Fruit's body.

"Further words are pointless. If you cannot even defeat me, how could you possibly defeat that lord?"

A clenched his fist, the blue light around him intensified, and his hair stood on end, clearly indicating that he had activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode at maximum power.

"Here it comes, Kakashi-sensei!"

The moment Karin called out, A's figure disappeared from Kakashi's sight.

The next second, he was struck hard in the abdomen. Just like last time, Kakashi once again transformed into liquid, trying to envelop A.

This time, however, Ai was much faster than before. In a flash, he escaped the water prison and struck the ground with his palm, forcing Kakashi, who was hiding underground, to come out.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

Karin was shocked. A's speed was too fast to be sensed. All they could do now was trust Kakashi's strength.

"Rasengan!"

Just as A was about to use his Liger Bomb to cut off Kakashi's head, Naruto, who had been looking for an opportunity on the outside, condensed Rasengan in his palm, intending to use it to help Kakashi escape the attack.

"Rasengan? I see. That hair color... you're Minato Namikaze's son!"

The humiliation of being defeated by Minato surged into his heart, and A swung his hand to strike Naruto.

"That idiot!"

Seeing this, Sasuke's body moved forward uncontrollably, rushing towards Naruto's direction.

"No wonder you were able to dodge Pride's attack just now. It seems that Minato not only taught you the Rasengan, but also the Flying Thunder God Technique."

Ai said confidently, "Let me see whether your Flying Thunder God Technique is faster or my hand chop is faster!"

"Damn it, Naruto!"

Kakashi wanted to help, but A's other hand was also busy, aiming straight for Kakashi's abdomen.

Seeing this, Kakashi steeled his resolve, determined to protect Naruto even at the risk of serious injury.

"Fierce Konoha Whirlwind!"

A green figure darted out from a distance, delivering a powerful horizontal kick that sent Ai, who was empowered by Lightning Armor, flying.

Ai, who was kicked hard, was stunned for a moment, and then tried to forcefully twist his body to cut off Naruto's head.

"Drink!"

Seeing this, the green figure threw another punch, creating a huge shockwave to get Naruto out of A's attack range.

Don't underestimate me!

Ai braced himself with both hands on the ground, dissipating the force while simultaneously sending Naruto flying with a backhand punch.

"Naruto!"

Seeing Naruto cough up blood and be sent flying by A, Sasuke ran over, his eyes wide with rage, letting out a shrill scream as the black in his pupils gradually turned red.

"Damn it, how can they be so persistent?!"

The green figure hurriedly continued to suppress A, while Kakashi rushed towards Naruto.

"This is bad, have their internal organs been displaced?"

At this moment, Kakashi had no energy to care about A's matter. After checking Naruto's injuries, he turned his attention to Karin.

Kakashi knew that Karin had the ability to heal others' injuries, so he rushed towards Karin's location immediately.

As for Ai, he believed that Kai, who had opened all six gates, could effectively suppress the opponent in his place.

"Who are you?"

Seeing Naruto severely injured by him, A finally felt satisfied and began to scrutinize the man in front of him, who possessed extraordinary Taijutsu, for the first time.

"Might Guy, the proud Blue Beast of the Hidden Leaf of Konoha. You bastard, how could you lay such a heavy hand on a child? Unforgivable!"

"Hmph, since he's taken up arms, he's a ninja, and ninjas must face the fate of battle. Even that despicable Fifth Hokage didn't spare any enemy ninja because of his age."

Ai's words were always intertwined with the Kazashiro.

"If you want to keep up with my speed, then go and summon Minato Namikaze or the Fifth Hokage."

After saying that, Ai attacked Might Guy directly.

"I will."

Without wasting words, Might Guy delivered a powerful kick, withstanding Ai's attack.

This guy can actually keep up with my speed at full power?

Ai was somewhat surprised, and the disdain in her eyes was gone.

The two exchanged blows for a few moments, Might Guy's eyes also filled with seriousness.

"As expected, the Six Gates couldn't completely defend against your attack."

Having blocked Ai's attack once again, Might Guy realized that he couldn't launch a counterattack in his sixth gate state, so he decided to open the Seventh Gate.

"Eight Gates, Seventh Shock Gate, open!"