Battle Again! The Spy, Kabuto Yakushi

"What on earth is going on?"

Neji thought to himself. After hurriedly bidding farewell to Gaara, he only wanted to vanish into the night as quickly as possible.

Yet, right ahead, three Jonin-level ninjas were locked in combat!

It looked incredibly intense. After hesitating repeatedly, Neji decided to rush over anyway.

"It's a good thing I wore this outfit."

When Neji had left, he had donned it to hide his identity in case he was spotted while interacting with Gaara.

He never expected it to come in handy at a time like this.

Baki let out a cold snort, the corner of his mouth curling up as he tilted his head back, brimming with arrogance.

"I never imagined that Sunagakure would actually join forces with the Sound Ninja to strike at Konoha!"

Hayate Gekko gritted his teeth, his gaze sharp and resolute as he looked down.

He gripped his sword with both hands and glanced backward.

A sinister, white-haired youth stepped out. Kabuto Yakushi pushed up his glasses, a murderous intent surfacing in the eyes behind the lenses.

"Brother Baki, I think we should both attack together and end this quickly. If we let this guy leak our intelligence, all our hard work will have been for nothing!"

Baki sneered, "A Sunagakure Jonin isn't that weak! I'll finish him with the next move!"

"Wind!"

Baki extended his hand and formed a seal with one hand!

Seeing this, Hayate widened his eyes.

"This is... nature transformation?"

Nature transformation was something only Jonin-level ninjas could master with ease. Between Kabuto and Hayate, Baki was clearly the most seasoned ninja.

"Whirlwind Technique!"

As Baki spoke, he charged forward. A breeze whipped up around his body, but it was saturated with a massive amount of wind-style nature-transformed chakra!

"Secret Sword: Moon Shadow!"

Hayate quickly formed seals and gripped his sword; two afterimages appeared on his left and right, identical to himself.

"Shadow clones, a feint?"

Baki narrowed his eyes slightly as Hayate pressed the attack.

Baki manipulated the whirlwind like a blade, but Hayate's three blades—though they were clones—all struck with real force, hacking through the wind blades.

"So that's it, a specialized blade? It can even cut through wind!"

Baki was knocked back a few steps by the strike, while Hayate landed and glanced behind him.

Kabuto Yakushi was waiting in the shadows, ready to strike at any moment. He had to end this battle as quickly as possible.

"Sun-Moon Style Swordsmanship: Dance of the Crescent Moon!"

As Hayate swung his sword, the light from the blades of his two afterimages began to shimmer; under the moonlight, it looked like a sword dance.

"Oh?"

Baki's mouth curled into a smirk.

"Ha!"

Amidst the confusion of the moonlight and shadows, dozens of afterimages leaped through the night in an instant, finally converging from three directions in a rapid assault!

"Hmph!"

Baki quickly formed a seal, and the wind wove itself into a net, pushing all those afterimages outward.

But Hayate's true body broke through the layers of obstacles, his chakra-infused blade slashing down directly toward the back of Baki's neck.

"Oh? You want to kill me just like that?"

Hayate's eyes widened; this strike had only managed to tear through his ninja vest.

The man before him had hardened his entire body!

"What? Is your blade rusty? Now it's my turn. Wind Blade!"

A wind blade, sharper than any steel, formed rapidly in the air.

With a single strike, Hayate was knocked back. His ninja vest was shredded, and a deep, grievous wound was carved into his ribs.

Blood immediately soaked his clothes. Hayate clutched the wound tightly, adjusted his breathing, and stood tall.

It was two against one now, but he had already steeled himself for death!

"Then, I shall send you on your way now."

Baki walked forward, forming seals as he moved.

"Wind Blade!"

Dozens of Wind Blades, sharper than before, descended; this strike would likely be fatal.

"Pshhhhhhh!"

Suddenly, a figure dropped down, and those wind blades were all disrupted as if by a new whirlwind, gathering together into a single point.

Then, the Anbu youth who had suddenly appeared caught them with a single palm, and they vanished into his palm.

"Using Lightning-style chakra to counter Wind-style... this guy!"

Baki's eyes widened, his gaze turning grim.

Kabuto, standing behind him, was also startled. Looking at the figure who had suddenly appeared, he exclaimed, "It's you again, kid?"

Hayate said, "You are..."

Neji glanced back, ignoring Hayate.

His mask was actually the mask of Hayate's girlfriend, Yugao; in a way, the two of them shared a bit of fate.

This was the reason Neji had rushed out to rescue him without hesitation, though, of course, that wasn't the only reason.

"Another one?"

Baki's expression shifted. This attack on Konoha was a grand plan, and being overheard was already an unexpected variable; if reinforcements kept arriving, things would turn dire.

He exerted force with both hands, wanting to end the battle quickly.

Over there, Kabuto couldn't sit still either; he stepped forward and flicked his hand out.

"Mr. Baki, this guy is quite strong, but with your level and my assistance, we should be able to take them both out."

On Kabuto's hand, the wrapped chakra formed a sharp, scalpel-like shape, as if it could slice through the very air.

"Be careful, don't let this guy get close. He excels at taijutsu. Furthermore, his speed is high, and his movement technique is extremely bizarre."

Neji glanced at Kabuto out of the corner of his eye.

This guy was truly a strategist; being able to serve as a confidant by Orochimaru's side meant he was no simple character.

They had only exchanged blows briefly last time, yet he had already analyzed him so thoroughly. It seemed this would be a bitter struggle.

After all, even fighting Baki alone, his odds of winning weren't high, and now he had to fight two-on-one while being fully analyzed.

"Wind Style: Hurricane!"

Baki stepped back, quickly forming hand seals, and thrust his hands forward.

As chakra was extracted, a vortex storm centered on two points was released from Baki's palms. The two storms merged and slowly expanded, blowing toward Neji.

At this moment, Hayate also stood up, but both of their movements were trapped by this gale.

Neji lowered his arms, which had been blocking, only then realizing that this technique was merely intended to restrict their mobility.

On the other side, Kabuto had already proactively closed the distance.

"Fuuuu!"

The sound of the chakra blade cutting through the storm was heavy and ominous.

"Oops, missed by a bit."

Kabuto murmured, immediately switching to his other hand.

"Watch out!"

Hayate jumped up, blocking in front of Neji, and parried Kabuto's attack with his sword.

"In the way!"

With a single kick, Kabuto sent Hayate flying, and the blow landed right on Hayate's wound.

Hayate was immediately knocked out of the storm, falling to the ground and rolling in agony, clutching his injury.

Neji tilted his head, listening to the sound of air being torn apart beside him.

Kabuto's attacks were frequent, but his movements seemed restricted. Within the vision of the Byakugan, the amount of chakra on Kabuto's body, especially in his palms, was immense!

"In that case... Eight Trigrams: Body Strike!"

Kabuto's final blade struck home!

However, it had no effect; it was enveloped by a more intense burst of chakra, and that power erupted outward!

A massive force repelled Kabuto, and Neji immediately used that chakra to break free.

"Swish, swish!"

Two kunai flew, and Neji used the Gentle Fist to knock them to the ground with two "claps."

"I'll deal with them. Find a chance to leave and notify the Third Hokage about today's events." Neji stood over the fallen Hayate and said calmly.

Hayate merely clutched his wound, struggling to endure the pain, and nodded heavily.

By now, Baki had stopped his technique.

"Hoh, knowing the weakness of the technique just by looking at Kabuto once, and then using my own technique to escape?"

He looked at Neji with great appreciation, feeling even more that this youth was a massive threat!

"This guy must be killed!"