"Yes, quite a few."
Kiyohara spoke.
Iwagakure ninja could be considered the ultimate masters of flooding the battlefield with troops.
They did not need any fancy tactics—just sheer numbers.
The most classic example was sending ten thousand ninja to fight the Third Raikage.
Kiyohara could not even imagine what that scene had looked like.
A valley packed with people, all ninja, running through the mountains together in pursuit of the Third Raikage—could they even fit?
"There are enemies here."
Kakashi nodded, confirming Kiyohara's words.
As they spoke, they deliberately kept their voices low and turned their backs to the Iwagakure ninja, lest they overhear the conversation or glean information by reading their lips.
"It seems only Kiyohara and Kakashi noticed them quickly this time. The others were a little slower."
Namikaze Minato nodded.
It worked out perfectly. Kakashi had one squad, and Kiyohara had one squad, so both sides had reconnaissance-type ninja.
"My path ahead will not overlap with yours for much longer, so from now on, deal with your own troubles."
Namikaze Minato intended to train the two squads.
With him here, even if something went wrong, he could use the Flying Thunder God Technique to intervene immediately.
"Yes."
Kakashi replied quietly.
Without drawing attention to himself, he tried to approach the area. But the moment he moved, shuriken came whistling out from the distant bushes.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Kakashi swiftly drew his short blade and knocked down the three shuriken.
"The enemy has already discovered us!"
Kakashi regretted missing the opportunity. It seemed they could only charge in head-on now.
"Hehe, my turn!"
Obito rapidly formed hand seals and shouted:
"Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu!"
Boom...
A tiny fireball came out of Obito's mouth.
"Cough, cough..."
In his nervousness, he had made a mistake while performing the jutsu.
"The Konoha ninja have discovered us. We can only fight to the death!"
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja frowned.
He had recognized Namikaze Minato as their leader. He had originally planned to hide here and wait until Namikaze Minato left, then see whether he could ambush any stragglers.
But he noticed those few were secretly discussing something. His thirty-plus years of experience immediately told him that they had been discovered.
So, the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja had prepared to catch the enemy off guard first. He had not expected to fail to ambush even one of them.
"Captain!"
Another, younger Iwagakure ninja threw out two more shuriken.
Just as Kakashi intended to repeat the same move and use his short blade to knock down all the shuriken, Kiyohara moved.
Kiyohara quickly formed three hand seals—Dog, Horse, Rooster—taking roughly a second and a half.
Then Kiyohara swiftly pulled two metallic shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and infused them with all the Wind Release chakra in his hand.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Carrying streams of wind, the shuriken flew faster than ordinary shuriken and became far sharper.
By absorbing part of Renegade Kiyohara's talent, Kiyohara had gained much greater control over Wind Release chakra.
For example, he could now perform moves that had once been completely impossible for him!
Clang! Clang!
Kiyohara threw the wind-wreathed shuriken, easily knocking aside the younger Iwagakure ninja's shuriken.
Then two bursts of flame erupted. With a boom, the explosion kicked up a blast that sent leaves flying backward and made the grass sway wildly.
At such close range, the younger Iwagakure ninja was blown into a bloody mess, the air filling with the smell of smoke.
"What happened?"
Genma Shiranui had not seen what had occurred clearly.
Kakashi was also puzzled, but he understood the next moment.
Explosive Tags!
The enemy had attached Explosive Tags to the handles. If he had used his short blade to knock them away, they would have exploded right in front of him!
At that thought, Kakashi could not help glancing at Kiyohara.
Without Kiyohara, he would definitely have suffered a huge loss just now.
"Thanks, future me."
Kiyohara said inwardly.
In truth, he had not noticed it either.
But beside him floated Renegade Kiyohara, whom only he could see.
Renegade Kiyohara had told Kiyohara about that detail, allowing him to act in time.
"Nicely done."
Namikaze Minato nodded slightly.
He had nearly stepped in himself, but fortunately, Kiyohara had reacted faster.
The ninja world was a world where hand speed mattered.
The faster one's hands, the faster one could cast jutsu.
"Daiguang!"
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja called the name of the younger ninja who had just been blown up. Unfortunately, the ninja named Daiguang had even had his brains blown out. He was utterly dead.
Kiyohara then gripped a kunai and prepared to enter the fray and finish them off.
Those Explosive Tags had not only killed one person. The remaining three Iwagakure ninja had also been affected to varying degrees.
Taking on an injured chunin alone would be easy, would it not?
More importantly, whoever defeated an enemy generally had the right to dispose of that enemy's belongings.
Thinking of all the loans he still owed, Kiyohara could not stop himself from swinging his kunai.
Sorry, enemies.
Turn into my gleaming silver!
Clang!
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja drew his katana and blocked Kiyohara's kunai. A shower of brilliant sparks streaked between their weapons.
He was experienced and had intended to use technique to knock Kiyohara's kunai away, but the blast had injured his arm, leaving him unable to exert his strength properly.
Kiyohara kept pressing the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja back.
Seeing this, Kakashi did not stop either and went straight to duel another enemy.
"Ninpō: Senbon Rain!"
Genma Shiranui puffed out his cheeks and spat the senbon from his mouth.
Then he formed hand seals, and the senbon instantly transformed into a dense mass of senbon afterimages that all shot toward the last Iwagakure ninja.
Nohara Rin, like Kurenai Yuhi, watched the situation at all times and prepared to provide support.
Obito clutched at his mouth. To use Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, he needed to gather Fire Release chakra in his throat. His mistake earlier had left his throat burning.
He felt as though he had developed a mouth ulcer in his throat.
"Damn it, those two Explosive Tags were too powerful."
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja felt stifled with frustration.
"I've trained in swordsmanship for twenty years! How could I possibly lose to you?!"
He roared, preparing for one final desperate gamble.
Squelch.
Kiyohara drove a kunai into the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja's abdomen and twisted it to the right, instantly mangling his internal organs.
Thud.
The middle-aged Iwagakure ninja fell with unwillingness on his face.
"You think no one should look down on a poor middle-aged man?"
Kiyohara shook his head.
Aside from the first Iwagakure ninja who had been blown to death, the Iwagakure ninja he had just fought had suffered the most severe injuries.
Sometimes, getting angry really only meant getting angry.
Just like with a math problem—after getting angry, all one could do was stare blankly at it.
At that moment, Kakashi had also defeated the remaining enemy, leaving one alive to interrogate for intelligence.
"Well done."
Namikaze Minato praised them.
Other than Obito being overly nervous, everyone had performed very well.
"Kiyohara, you do not need to search so urgently."
Namikaze Minato could not help smiling bitterly as he watched Kiyohara impatiently loot the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja's corpse.
"All right."
Kiyohara slowed down his rummaging.
But he still had to loot the pouch.
After all, ninja equipment had to be paid for out of pocket!
Before you continue