New Reinforcements

"Naruto, hang in there!"

Kakashi carried Naruto in his left arm and Sasuke in his right, leading them away from the area where Guy and A were fighting.

"Elder brother!"

Karin, who was being met by Neji and the others, saw Naruto's miserable state and hurriedly pushed Ringo Ameyuri, running towards Kakashi.

Naruto's current state can only be described as miserable.

The occasional coughing up of fragments of internal organs, along with the severely displaced bones, moved even Kakashi, who was used to seeing scenes of war.

If it weren't for Naruto possessing the Uzumaki Bloodline, he would probably be in the Pure Land meeting the Sage of Six Paths by now.

Karin didn't hesitate and stretched out her arm, placing it in Naruto's mouth.

As Naruto's injuries healed at a visible speed, everyone present finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Sasuke also relaxed, sitting down heavily on the ground.

"That idiot, why did he have to get involved in that level of conflict?"

Sasuke but complain.

Karin gave the other person a reproachful look, gesturing for him to speak softly.

"Sorry, Kakashi-sensei, we're late."

Just as Kakashi was preparing to return to the battlefield to help Guy suppress A, Neji and the others arrived late.

Might Guy's speed after opening the six gates was too fast; they had to rush to reach the battlefield at this moment.

"You've come at the right time. Take the wounded away to the nearest stronghold. Also, if you encounter any enemies on the way, don't linger in battle; be sure to seek help from Jonin!"

Although their arrival wouldn't help the battle, they could cooperate and escape.

After giving these instructions, Kakashi turned and charged towards the battlefield.

"Day Tiger!"

Just then, Might Guy seized the opportunity and unleashed Day Tiger, creating a powerful shockwave that provided Neji with a good space to escape.

"Withdraw."

Seeing Neji didn't waste any words and ordered Rock Lee and Tenten to take Yuyuri and Naruto, the two wounded, and flee towards the base.

"Was it successful?"

After Kai, who was fighting Ai, released the Day Tiger, he searched for Ai's whereabouts in the smoke and dust.

"Liger Bomb!"

With Ai's roar, Kai finally spotted the enemy's trail.

As the distance between them closed, Ai's condition was revealed to Kai.

At this moment, Ai's Lightning Armor had been completely shattered, a bloodstain still clung to the corner of his mouth, blood flowing from his head covered his left eye, and his right hand hung limply, clearly broken.

Even so, he was able to endure the pain and launch a fatal attack on Kai.

"It can still move?"

Kai was somewhat surprised to see Ai launch an attack on him.

The power of the Day Tiger Susanoo in its second stage.

Ai's ability to survive taking a hit was already beyond Kai's expectations, let alone the fact that his opponent was still able to launch an attack.

"What a formidable opponent."

Expressing his feelings, Kai got into position, ready to take Ai's attack head-on.

"Kai, watch out behind you!"

Kakashi's sudden exclamation caught Guy's attention.

A human-shaped object was thrown from a distance and hit him squarely.

Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Mei Terumi, who was fighting against Pride!

Kai quickly jumped up and pounced to catch Mei Terumi, thus dodging Ai's attack in the process.

After launching this attack, Ai could no longer suppress her injuries and turned to pull out a potion from her waist.

"Don't even think about it!"

Kakashi controlled the Lightning Blade and charged towards A. Although he didn't know what A was holding, he knew that A must have a reason for taking it out at this moment.

Without hesitation, Ai inserted the potion into his waistband. Immediately afterward, his previously broken right arm was able to be raised again, and he used it to block Kakashi's Lightning Blade.

Kakashi's hand pierced through A's arm, but could not go any further.

"What's this?"

Kakashi withdrew his hand, quickly creating distance between himself and A.

Hearing Kakashi's question, A snorted coldly without explaining. A thunderous sound rang out, and Lightning Armor once again condensed around his body.

This is bad.

Seeing Ai's current state, Kakashi broke out in a cold sweat.

According to his perception, the guy in front of him had returned to the state when they first came into contact, which meant that all his efforts and Kai's full output had been in vain.

Especially for Kai, he probably wouldn't be able to maintain the Seventh Gate at this point, but the physical feedback when the Seventh Gate ended became his death warrant.

Should we retreat?

Kakashi hesitated; retreating would inevitably require leaving someone behind to cover their retreat.

But in the current situation, one Ai is enough to give them a headache, not to mention that guy who looks like Artificial Human not far away.

Just as Kakashi was pondering, Hiruko also let out a scream.

Without Mei Terumi's help, he faced Pride's pressure alone, having to constantly watch the ground beneath his feet and also be aware of any unusual changes in the surrounding trees.

However, there is also good news: after these rounds of contact, Hiruko has figured out the secrets of the enemy's attack.

He is harnessing Natural Energy!

This is an astonishing discovery, considering that even in Konoha, there are only a handful of ninjas who can use Senjutsu.

But now, these Artificial Human have actually mastered this technology and are using it in actual combat.

I want it, I want it so badly.

Hiruko desperately needed this body before him; he wanted to dissect it himself and see how it had been created.

But in reality, he was punched hard by Pride again.

And the object that hit him was his head.

Fortunately, he used his Steel Release in time, otherwise he would have had to play the headless horseman himself.

"That's it."

Staring intently at Kakashi, A felt the surging Chakra within him, grinned, and prepared to deliver the final blow to the two before him.

But whether it was his imagination or not, Mr. Ai felt that his vision was getting increasingly blurry, as if a thin layer of fog was obscuring his view.

No, it's not an illusion, it's real dense fog!

As white filled her entire field of vision, Ai seemed to remember something and hurriedly covered her mouth and nose.

Could it be the Fifth Hokage?

Having personally experienced the opponent's Ice Release: Frozen Cloud, Ai never wanted to experience the feeling of internal organ damage a second time.

Moreover, he only has one dose of the medicine. If he suffers another serious injury this time, he will have no choice but to slink back to base in disgrace.

"Xinei!"

A loud shout rang out, Kubikiribōchō, accompanied by a whistling sound, slashed fiercely at Pride.

"Pressure Masne~ To actually be able to fight the Fourth Raikage, I am truly flattered."

At the same moment, Samehada slashed at Ai.

Zabuza and Kisame have arrived.

Both launched attacks simultaneously, yet achieved drastically different results.

The Kubikiribōchō was broken by Pride's punch, while Samehada absorbed a portion of Chakra after touching his Lightning Armor, forcing him to stagger back several steps.

Thanks to Zabuza, Hiruko the opportunity to escape Pride's attack range.

Although he didn't know the exact strength of the guy who came to his rescue, Mei Terumi's experience was a perfect example, so he could guess that the guy was at most a Jonin.

Why aren't you running now?

"He's using the power of a sage, possessing extremely strong perception!"

He silently thanked the unknown Zabuza for risking his life to save him from this chance to escape, Hiruko, true to his loyalty, explained why his first strike had missed.

Why the hell didn't you say so earlier?

Zabuza's expression beneath the bandages was extremely unpleasant.

Knowing that the dense fog would have no effect on the enemy in front of him, Zabuza wisely picked up his guillotine, which was now only half -Kubikiribōchō, and fled.

"Kai, retreat quickly!"

Kakashi's eyes lit up; wasn't this the perfect opportunity to escape he'd been dreaming of?

Thinking of this, he and Kai hurriedly helped Mei Terumi up and, like Hiruko, frantically fled outwards.

Kisame may be an honest man, but he's not stupid either. He Mei Terumi's strength very well; she possesses two Kekkei Genkai and her Chakra reserves are astonishing.

To be able to beat Mei Terumi like this, the opponent's strength must be considerable.

Not to mention that this was with Konoha technician Hatake Kakashi present.

Therefore, Kisame did not hesitate at all and followed closely behind the group. At the same time, he turned around to form hand seals and released a Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave to cover himself.

"Water Release · Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"

Once the thick fog and Water Release completely dissipated, Pride and A lost sight of the others.

"Should we pursue them or not?"

Pride asked Ai for his opinion.

"No need to pursue. Konoha and Kirigakure already know about the attack, and reinforcements should arrive soon. If we attract that damned brat, things will get complicated."

Ai's face was grim, but she also seemed somewhat relieved.

"You seem quite afraid of that Fifth Hokage."

"Afraid? Hmph, one day I'll make that brat kneel before me and wash away my humiliation."

Even so, Ai knew in her heart that even with the help of potions and other things, she probably wouldn't be a match for that brat.

Perhaps I really should accept what Amado said about human modification.

"In that case, let's retreat."

With Teuchi a spatial rift and stepped inside first.

Ai followed closely behind, and as the rift closed, the two withdrew from the battlefield.

The operation ended in failure.

Just as A had predicted, Kakashi and the others encountered a support team led by Aburame Shikuroo not long after they left.

The team has eight Jonin, so if they really fight, the outcome is indeed hard to predict.

After they were completely safe, Kakashi spoke Zabuza Kisame and Kisame, and learned why they had come to their aid.

It turned out that Yagura had sent out his two most capable lieutenants to wait for Hiruko at the port of the Land of Fire in order to show how much importance he attached to this operation and also to test whether there were any dissenting voices in the village.

While waiting, they noticed the signal flare released by Hiruko. Judging from the direction, it seemed to be the route that Hiruko and his group would definitely take. After reporting to the Konoha Ninja at the port, they rushed over to provide assistance.

However, to their surprise, their opponent was incredibly strong, and almost managed to turn the tables and kill them when surrounded by six Jonin.

This made Kisame and the others, who were encountering Artificial Human for the first time, realize the gravity of the situation.

They had previously learned everything about the Artificial Human through Konoha's announcements.

This matter must be reported to the Mizukage.

Seeing that Mei Terumi had Zabuza left first to report the operation to Kirigakure.