Who was it?!
Taiseki felt a jolt of alarm.
He had just checked the surroundings. There should not have been any Konoha ninja left.
Unless someone had avoided him before he searched the area.
But in that case, only a sensory ninja could have done it.
"A sensory ninja?"
Taiseki's gaze drifted over Kiyohara, Kurenai Yuhi, and Genma Shiranui as he wondered which one of them was the sensory ninja.
""
"Kiyohara..."
Kakashi turned around. Seeing Kiyohara suddenly arrive, he felt slightly relieved.
Sure enough, compared to the dead-last Obito, Kiyohara was far more reliable.
"So that's it. Just two Chunin and some Genin?"
Taiseki formed a seal with one hand and continued refining chakra to maintain his invisibility.
Ninja Art: Camouflage!
His figure, which had just been revealed, vanished once more after he cast the jutsu again.
This jutsu could render both his body and clothing invisible, so naturally, it could hide the dust on him as well.
"No, Kiyohara. You don't have as much chakra as he does."
Kakashi tightened his grip on his short blade, his brow deeply furrowed.
Even if Kiyohara used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to blow Iwagakure Jonin Taiseki into view, he would not be able to keep it up for long.
Taiseki could recast his jutsu at any time. He could definitely use it more times than Kiyohara!
"Hmph. The White Fang's son? Since you're not the White Fang himself, there's no need to fear you."
Taiseki looked at Kakashi, who had warned Kiyohara, and a savage grin appeared on his face.
Konoha White Fang had killed many of their comrades. Killing his son now could count as revenge.
But... before that.
Taiseki shifted his gaze to Kiyohara.
This guy was a greater threat than Kakashi right now.
From his observations, Taiseki had noticed that Kurenai Yuhi and Genma Shiranui both stood half a step behind Kiyohara.
That meant Kiyohara held the most authority among them and was likely the team captain.
That exceptional sensory ability should belong to Kiyohara as well.
Or rather, it was precisely because of that sensory ability that Kiyohara qualified to be captain.
As Taiseki's thoughts raced, he began analyzing Kiyohara's information.
The next instant, the faint sound of air rubbing against itself arose!
Taiseki moved!
"He has completely eliminated his scent. We can only judge his position by the faint flow of air and sounds."
Kakashi's expression turned 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 leaned toward support. He had not expected Kiyohara to block his ambush.
When the strike failed, Taiseki took another step back and disappeared into the darkness again.
"You go save Rin. Don't worry about me."
Kiyohara spoke.
In a sense, Taiseki was easier to deal with than the other Iwagakure Jonin, Kakkō, behind them.
The ability to turn invisible was truly difficult to counter.
"Kiyohara..."
Kurenai Yuhi wanted to say something, but Kiyohara shook his head, signaling her not to worry about him.
"All right. Be careful."
Kurenai Yuhi nodded worriedly.
Then she and Genma Shiranui headed toward the rear together.
Seeing this, Kakashi and Obito also moved forward.
No matter what, their priority now was to reduce the enemy's numbers.
As long as they killed one enemy, they could focus their efforts on the other.
Now, the weight tipping the scales of victory depended on which side could eliminate someone first.
"Oh? You're actually letting your companions go?"
Taiseki acknowledged Kiyohara's resolve.
Though this guy was an enemy, he was indeed a true ninja.
Unfortunately, Taiseki was not worried about the rear.
Kakkō was highly skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu. He was one of the elite among Jonin.
A few wet-behind-the-ears children wanted to fight Kakkō?
Taiseki wanted to laugh just thinking about it.
He held back the urge.
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, flipped upside down, and clung to the ceiling of the cave, avoiding Kiyohara's Lightning Release jutsu on the ground.
"This brat's jutsu are all quite impressive."
Taiseki frowned slightly.
Kiyohara was dressed like a Genin, yet every jutsu he used was highly proficient, completely beyond the level of a Genin.
This made Taiseki put away his contempt and regard Kiyohara seriously.
"Did you avoid it? Your invisibility is certainly 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 jutsu.
Taiseki's gaze sharpened.
The Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and Lightning Release: Ground Flash Kiyohara had used earlier were both remarkably powerful. It was clear he had considerable talent for ninjutsu.
Seeing Kiyohara about to use a new jutsu, Taiseki immediately grew wary.
He widened his eyes, trying to make out Kiyohara's hand seals so he could deduce what jutsu he might use.
This was one of the techniques used in battles between Jonin.
By predicting an enemy's jutsu in advance, one could take appropriate countermeasures.
But that required sufficient knowledge to infer the enemy's jutsu from hand seals.
Kiyohara's hands overlapped, pressing the powder between his palms.
The two palms seemed to be covering each other.
It was the Monkey hand seal.
Taiseki recognized it. It was Monkey, one of the twelve basic hand seals.
"Water Release: Evil Mouth? Or some other jutsu?"
In an instant, countless jutsu that began with Monkey flashed through Taiseki's mind.
Most of them were Water Release jutsu.
But with only one hand seal, there were still far too many possibilities.
So Taiseki opened his eyes even wider, trying to see exactly what it was.
"Lime Powder Jutsu!"
Kiyohara first threw out all the lime powder, then followed it with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough before finally shouting the jutsu's name.
"Ah!"
A fierce gust carried the lime directly into Taiseki's face.
Though he reacted quickly, he had been caught off guard. Lime powder still got into his eyes, and a scorching pain swirled through them, blurring his vision.
He had never imagined Kiyohara would be this underhanded.
One second, he had been willing to sacrifice himself for his companions and fight Taiseki alone here.
The next, he had actually used such a dirty trick!
"You damned brat, you!"
Taiseki was furious and was about to use an Earth Release jutsu.
But the moment he opened his mouth, Kiyohara scattered another handful of quicklime, which landed directly in his wide-open mouth.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Taiseki choked badly. His eyes burned, and his throat burned.
"Do you have any ninja spirit at all?!"
Taiseki demanded hoarsely.
"I'm sorry, but I'm a traditional ninja."
Kiyohara smiled.
Taiseki was hilarious. A ninja who loved turning invisible and ambushing people was lecturing him about spirit.
"All right, now I'm invisible too. Let's begin a fair duel."
Kiyohara spoke slowly.
His was physical invisibility. As long as Taiseki's eyes could not see him, didn't that count as being invisible too?
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