Never Underestimate the Third Person

Welcome Senju was the signature ninjutsu of Chiriku, the abbot of the Fire Temple. It turned the user's chakra into a Buddha statue that could attack and defend. This was a true all-in-one offensive and defensive technique. For one thing, once the statue appeared, ordinary attacks couldn't easily harm its user. What's more, it could attack under the user's control. Its strength depended on the user's chakra and Taijutsu.

For a Taijutsu-type ninja like Kaoru, this technique's power was even greater. Yashui's instincts told her that Kaoru was now only a little weaker than Choza in his ordinary state!

Perhaps this level still wasn't enough to defeat Choza. But! But Kaoru was only a twelve-year-old Genin! To be able to do this at twelve, Kaoru was truly a genius!

Choza had never expected that Kaoru, who was born at the Fire Temple, could use Welcome Senju. Had Chiriku really let a little girl study such a dangerous ninjutsu because he meant to make Kaoru the Fire Temple's first female abbot?

Kaoru seized this opportunity well. She leaped into the air, then unleashed a flurry of blows at Choza's stomach.

For a moment, Choza froze under the assault. It took him a while to react, and by then, the armor over his abdomen had already cracked from Kaoru's blows!

Choza was stunned. He hadn't expected the team he was leading to be this strong. With just two people working together, they had managed to stand against a Jonin for an instant.

But... it had only been an instant... Once that moment passed, both of them immediately lost their ability to fight. On a real mission, Yashui and Kaoru would already have been captured by an enemy nation.

Choza couldn't let a team like this pass so easily!

Kaoru's Welcome Senju lasted only ten short seconds, using up all the chakra she had stored beforehand. With her chakra gone, she was weak all over and could only land for now. At her current rate of chakra recovery, even maintaining Welcome Senju's mode was difficult.

She felt terrible for Yashui. Yashui had already risked so much to create an opening for her, but Choza's defense was too strong for even Welcome Senju to break through. It was the strongest ninjutsu Kaoru could use at this stage!

Choza glanced at the exhausted Kaoru. He touched the armor around his waist, then walked straight toward Yashui.

Yashui was in even worse shape than Kaoru, and for some reason, she had stopped using the Crow Substitution Technique. In this state, even a three-year-old could kill her.

As Choza slowly approached, Yashui formed the hand seals for the Crow Substitution Technique once more. Whatever reason had kept her from using it before, she had no choice now that her life was in danger!

Choza clenched his fist, took aim at Yashui, and sent it hurtling toward her like a bullet!

That punch would be fatal!

"Thud!" A punch like that should have met soft flesh when it struck a frail body. But Choza felt something hard beneath his fist. It wasn't flesh. Even the hardest muscles didn't feel like that.

Choza slowly pulled back his fist. A dark shape shot out from beneath it, and there was no one left where Yashui had been. Watching the shadow fly away, Choza felt his first twinge of compassion during the test.

"Why did you save me?" Yashui asked the person in front of her.

They said heroes saved beautiful women, but with Yashui and Kaoru, it seemed to have happened the other way around. Someone raced through the forest at lightning speed, carrying another in her arms. The one carrying the other was Kaoru Hinoji; the one being carried was Sarutobi Yashui.

"Cough... without you... the battle ahead will be much harder... I still need you to support me." Kaoru