Ninja Art: Lime Powder Technique!

"Who is it!"

Taiseki felt a jolt of horror in his heart.

He had just scouted the surrounding area, and there shouldn't have been any Konoha ninja left.

Unless someone had managed to evade his detection beforehand.

But for that to happen, only a sensory ninja could pull it off.

"A sensory ninja?"

Taiseki's gaze wandered between Kiyohara, Kurenai Yuhi, and Genma Shiranui, wondering which one of them was the sensory type.

"Kiyohara..."

Kakashi turned his head, looking at Kiyohara who had suddenly arrived, and felt a slight sense of relief.

Sure enough, compared to the dead weight Obito, Kiyohara was much more reliable.

"So that's how it is, just two chūnin and a genin?"

Taiseki formed seals with one hand, continuing to refine his chakra to maintain his invisibility.

Ninja Art: Camouflage!

The figure that had just been revealed vanished once more as he released the jutsu again.

This jutsu could render his body and clothing invisible, and naturally, it could hide the dust on his person as well.

"It's no use, Kiyohara, your chakra reserves aren't as vast as his."

Kakashi gripped his short blade tightly, his brow furrowed.

Even if Kiyohara used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to blow the Iwagakure jōnin Taiseki out of hiding, he wouldn't be able to keep it up for long.

Taiseki could continue to release the jutsu at any time, and the number of times he could cast it was surely higher than Kiyohara's!

"Hmph, the son of the White Fang, eh? Since it's not the White Fang himself, there's no need to be afraid."

Taiseki looked at Kakashi, who was warning Kiyohara, and a ferocious grin appeared on his face.

Konoha White Fang had killed many of their comrades; killing his son now could be considered revenge.

However... before that.

Taiseki shifted his gaze toward Kiyohara.

This guy was currently a bigger threat than Kakashi.

Through observation, Taiseki noticed that Kurenai Yuhi and Genma Shiranui were both standing half a step behind Kiyohara.

This indicated that among them, Kiyohara had the most authority and was likely the team leader.

That excellent sensory ability must also belong to Kiyohara.

Or rather, it was precisely because of this sensory ability that Kiyohara was qualified to be the leader.

As these thoughts crossed his mind, Taiseki began to analyze the intelligence on Kiyohara.

The next moment, there was a faint sound of air friction!

Taiseki moved!

"He has completely eliminated his scent; I can only judge the enemy's position based on subtle air currents and sound."

Kakashi's expression was grave.

Suddenly, he blurted out a warning to Kiyohara:

"Behind you, Kiyohara!"

Bang!

At the same time, kunai clashed against kunai.

"Oh?"

Taiseki raised an eyebrow slightly.

Sensory ninja generally tended to be support-oriented; he hadn't expected Kiyohara to be able to block his sneak attack.

Failing the first strike, Taiseki retreated a step, fading back into the darkness.

"Go save Rin, don't worry about me."

Kiyohara spoke.

In a sense, Taiseki was even more troublesome than the other Iwagakure jōnin, Kakkō, who was behind them.

The ability to turn invisible was truly unsolvable.

"Kiyohara..."

Kurenai Yuhi wanted to say something, but Kiyohara shook his head, signaling for her not to worry about him.

"Alright, be careful."

Kurenai Yuhi nodded, looking somewhat worried.

Immediately, she and Genma Shiranui headed toward the rear.

Seeing this, Kakashi and Obito also moved forward.

Regardless of the circumstances, the priority now was to reduce the enemy's numbers.

As long as they could kill one enemy, they could focus their energy on dealing with the other.

Right now, the balance of victory tipped based on which side could eliminate a member first.

"Hoh, so you actually let your companions leave?"

Taiseki felt a sense of approval for Kiyohara's resolve.

Even though this guy was an enemy, he was truly a ninja.

Unfortunately, Taiseki wasn't worried about the rear at all.

Kakkō was extremely strong in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu; he could be considered an elite among jōnin.

Relying on just a few wet-behind-the-ears kids to take down Kakkō?

Taiseki wanted to laugh at the thought.

He suppressed the urge to chuckle.

Laughter would reveal his position.

"Lightning Release: Ground Flash!"

Kiyohara formed hand seals, and trails of electric arcs spread across the ground.

Taiseki leaped upward, flipping to stand upside down on the ceiling of the cave, avoiding the lightning ninjutsu Kiyohara had released on the floor.

"This brat's ninjutsu are no simple matter."

Taiseki frowned slightly.

Kiyohara was dressed like a genin, yet the ninjutsu he used were highly proficient, completely transcending the level of a genin.

This made Taiseki cast aside his contempt and look at Kiyohara with seriousness.

"You dodged it? Your invisibility ability is indeed impressive, but if you rely on it too much, you'll die because of it..."

Kiyohara grabbed a large handful of powder from the ninja tool pouch at his waist.

"Ninja Art...!"

Kiyohara shouted, as if he were about to unleash some powerful ninjutsu.

Taiseki's gaze sharpened.

The power of Kiyohara's previous Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and Lightning Release: Ground Flash had been extraordinary; it was clear he was very talented in ninjutsu.

Seeing that Kiyohara was about to use a new technique, Taiseki became instantly vigilant.

He widened his eyes, trying to see Kiyohara's hand seals clearly so he could deduce what technique he might use.

This was a technique used in battles between jōnin.

Predicting the enemy's jutsu in advance allowed one to take countermeasures.

However, this required a certain reserve of knowledge to deduce the enemy's jutsu from their hand seals.

He saw that Kiyohara's hands were overlapped, with the powder pressed between his palms.

The two palms seemed to be covering each other.

It was the "Monkey" hand seal.

Taiseki recognized it; it was the "Monkey" seal among the twelve basic hand signs.

"Water Release: Mouth of Evil? Or some other technique?"

In an instant, many types of ninjutsu starting with the "Monkey" seal flashed through Taiseki's mind.

Most of them were Water Release ninjutsu.

But with only one hand seal, there were still too many possibilities.

So, Taiseki widened his eyes even further, attempting to see exactly what it was.

"Lime Powder Jutsu!"

Kiyohara first threw all the lime powder out, then followed up with a Wind Release: Great Breakthrough before shouting the name of this technique.

"Ah!"

A fierce wind carrying lime powder hit Taiseki square in the face.

Although his reflexes were fast, he was caught off guard, and lime powder got into his eyes. A searing, burning sensation swirled in his vision, blurring his sight.

He never expected Kiyohara to be so insidious.

One second, he was willing to sacrifice himself for his companions and fight him one-on-one.

The next second, he actually used such a dirty trick!

"Damn brat, you!"

Taiseki was furious, already intending to use an Earth Style ninjutsu.

But just as he opened his mouth, Kiyohara threw another handful of quicklime, which landed perfectly inside his wide-open maw.

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Taiseki was choking uncontrollably, his eyes stinging and his throat burning.

"Do you have any shred of ninja spirit left!"

Taiseki demanded in a hoarse voice.

"I apologize, but I am a traditionalist ninja."

Kiyohara chuckled.

Taiseki was truly ridiculous; a ninja who loved to use invisibility and specialized in backstabbing others was actually lecturing him about spirit.

"Alright, now that I am invisible too, let us begin a fair duel."

Kiyohara spoke slowly.

It was just that his invisibility was physical; as long as Taiseki's eyes couldn't see him, didn't that count as being invisible?