Are Konoha Genin This Fierce?

"Hoo!"

Kyohiko panted heavily.

Whether it was the large-scale Water Wall from before or the Strength of a Hundred of this magnitude, both consumed a significant amount of chakra; currently, his chakra reserves could only sustain one more attack of a similar level.

It was a pity that no one in their team was proficient in Lightning Style or Earth Style.

If only he had known, he should have brought Kakashi along!

Kyohiko felt a surge of annoyance in his heart.

He scanned his surroundings.

Minato Namikaze had already fought off more than half of them, but...

"They're coming!"

Kurenai Yuhi's pupils constricted.

Following that...

Crack!

The ground split open, and three figures lunged toward the three of them.

She immediately formed hand seals.

Hell Clone!

In an instant, illusions and clones affected the surroundings, making it difficult for the three of them to discern the truth.

Immediately after, chakra detonated.

The clones exploded!

"Hah!"

Guy kicked away an enemy that was pouncing on him.

However.

Bang!

The opponent backhanded, steadily blocking his kick.

Immediately, several more figures crawled up from beneath the ground.

"Some of them are Earth Clones."

Kurenai Yuhi had been maintaining her strongest sensory perception and quickly relayed the intelligence.

"Guy, Kurenai, their target is us!"

Kyohiko's gaze turned solemn as he flashed to Kurenai Yuhi's side.

Just as he was thinking.

In an instant—

He sensed an unusual sound coming from the ground.

Not good!

Kyohiko placed a hand on Kurenai Yuhi's shoulder and, in a flash, leaped into the forest behind them.

Although Guy was a beat slower in his reaction, his body responded almost simultaneously with Kyohiko's; he immediately used a Body Flicker to retreat and avoid the earth spikes, while also kicking apart an Earth Clone.

However.

In that instant, three or four people lunged out from beneath Kyohiko, attacking Kyohiko and Kurenai Yuhi with extreme speed.

Kyohiko realized it in an instant—

Their target was him!!

Jonin.

He couldn't fight them head-on!

As Kyohiko was thinking, rock pillars rose up from his side, and at the same time, there were several other strange noises; it was hard to distinguish exactly what they were, but it was foreseeable—

The opponents were intent on killing him!

He had to run quickly!

"Go!"

He grabbed Kurenai Yuhi.

At this moment, Kyohiko couldn't care about anything else.

Gate of Opening, open!

And then...

Body Flicker to run away!

With the Master-level Body Flicker Technique combined with the total body control and speed boost granted by the Gate of Opening, Kyohiko carried Kurenai Yuhi a great distance in an instant.

The direction was exactly where Minato Namikaze was located.

So fast!

The three Iwa Ninja were surprised, and even more shocked.

How could a Genin be this fast?

No wonder!

Their resolve to kill him only grew firmer.

"Kyohiko, drop me and run! Their target is you!"

Kurenai Yuhi was burning with anxiety.

Facing Iwagakure Jonin, her genjutsu was completely ineffective; she was nothing but a burden.

"No need to rush."

Kyohiko whispered.

Just as the three Jonin were about to catch up to him...

Suddenly.

He released Kurenai Yuhi at a tree.

Then, he flickered, drew his blade--

Sshhh!

By the time they focused their eyes, Kyohiko was already a dozen steps away.

Among the three, one was clutching his neck, his face filled with terror and agony.

What a fast blade!

In that moment, he even thought he had seen the White Fang.

He must be killed!

Otherwise, the future of Konoha...

It was too terrifying!

He might very well become like the White Fang, dominating an era once again and becoming a blade hanging over everyone's heads!

"Haa--"

Kyohiko panted repeatedly.

The ambush and assassination of the White Fang Sword Technique were indeed highly efficient.

As long as the timing and speed were grasped correctly, winning against a stronger opponent was no miracle.

Facing Jonin, he dared not hold anything back; even if the effects of the Gate of Opening ended, he could immediately open the Gate of Healing to recover temporarily.

However.

If he could avoid opening it, it was still...

Better not to open it.

Guy was entangled by several Earth Clones and struggled to break free, but seeing Kyohiko exhausted, his speed suddenly surged as he broke away and rushed toward Kyohiko's side.

At this very instant.

"Senior Minato, if you don't come now, I'm really going to die."

"Sorry, it took some time to deal with the enemies."

Minato Namikaze, covered in blood, appeared beside him, the kunai in his hand dripping with blood.

His gaze swept toward the remaining two.

"Do the Iwa Ninja want to start a war with Konoha?"

"..."

The two wanted to flee, but the next moment, Minato Namikaze had already appeared beside them, while the one guarding Kyohiko's side was merely a Shadow Clone.

A massive sphere of chakra appeared in his hand.

Big Ball Rasengan!

BOOM!

A loud explosion rang out.

The two were forced to scramble away.

Minato Namikaze moved like lightning, flickering a few times, leaving the two men shocked and incredulous.

So fast!

Why are the ninjas of Konoha all so strong?

Blood splattered.

The two men slowly collapsed.

After the continuous slaughter, even Minato Namikaze could not hide his exhaustion, yet he still kept the scene Kyohiko had just created in his mind.

That kind of speed...

It was too fast!

It almost exceeded the limits of what a human body could achieve.

Could it be a forbidden technique?

He remained deep in thought.

Kyohiko stood up, exhausted.

He had moved past the initial stage of the Gate of Opening.

Might Guy was also panting heavily beside him.

Although he hadn't had the chance to fight after opening the Gate of Opening, his stamina and physical strength had still been significantly drained, requiring a period of rest.

Minato Namikaze looked at the two of them.

"Are you two practicing the same forbidden technique?"

"Forbidden technique?"

Kurenai Yuhi was slightly stunned, looking at Kyohiko and Might Guy.

Did they...

Use some kind of forbidden technique?

"In order to solve the problem of being unable to control my speed, I read quite a few books in the archives. The Second Hokage's writings mentioned a hypothesis regarding unlocking the brain's limitations, noting that it pointed toward the Gate of Opening among the Eight Gates of the human body."

Kyohiko replied.

He was telling the truth.

The research notes that Tsunade had retrieved did indeed mention the connection between the human Eight Gates and the brain's limitations; the Second Hokage had made the conjecture, but he had not conducted any deeper research.

As for how Kyohiko had managed to master it, that fell into the category of "things that cannot be spoken of."

"Gate of Opening?"

Minato Namikaze's gaze sharpened as he said, "To rashly research such a dangerous ninjutsu—you are being far too reckless! And you, Guy?"

"Uh, my father taught me. He's been researching it for over a decade. It seems he can open quite a few gates now, though I'm not entirely sure of the specifics."

"!!!"

Minato Namikaze no longer knew what to say.

He vaguely remembered that Might Guy's father was named Might Duy, a genin who had failed to be promoted for many years.

And then there was Kyohiko, who was at most eight years old, yet had successfully mastered the method to open the Gate of Opening on his own, relying only on partial notes from the Second Hokage.

Are the genin of our Konoha really all this fierce?

However.

Minato would not forget to provide the necessary warnings.

"This is a forbidden technique."

"My father instructed me that it should only be used when there is a need to protect others," Might Guy replied.

"I understand the drawbacks and will not use it casually."

Kyohiko steered the conversation away, "Senior, could these people be ninjas from Iwagakure?"

"It's hard to say."

Minato Namikaze looked around.

His Shadow Clone was using a Sealing Scroll to clean up the scene and had discovered quite a few traces, but for now, he dared not easily conclude that these people were Iwa Ninja.

Earth Style ninjutsu was not the exclusive patent of Iwagakure.

What if other ninja villages had dispatched personnel to carry out an assassination, hoping to ignite a conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure...

"Collect as much evidence as possible and clear away the traces of the battle. We'll let the teacher judge the rest later."

Minato Namikaze stopped overthinking it.

Kyohiko nodded.

He helped collect items from the surroundings and clear the traces, but in his heart, he was thinking—

These people had struck in the Land of Hot Water, and their target was him; it was indeed not necessarily the work of Iwagakure.

However.

On the eve of the Chunin Exams, with many ninja villages gathered together due to the neutrality of the Land of Waves, one side sending people to ambush and assassinate a Konoha squad...

Pinning the label of "Iwagakure attempting to sabotage the cooperation" on them would not be an exaggeration at all; it might even escalate directly into a serious diplomatic incident.

I'll discuss it with the teacher later!