"Whoo!"
Kyohiko panted hard.
Both the large-scale Water Wall from earlier and Strength of a Hundred at this level took a considerable amount of chakra. He only had enough chakra left for one more attack of similar magnitude.
Unfortunately, no one on their team was skilled in Lightning Style or Earth Style.
If only he'd brought Kakashi along!
Kyohiko chided himself inwardly.
He glanced around.
Minato Namikaze had already driven off most of the enemies, but...
"They're coming!"
Kurenai Yuhi's pupils contracted.
Then...
Crack!
The ground split open, and three figures lunged at them.
She immediately formed Hand Seals.
Hell Clone!
In an instant, genjutsu and clones distorted their surroundings, making it difficult for the three to tell what was real.
Then chakra detonated.
The clones exploded!
"Hah!"
Guy kicked one of the attackers away.
However—
Thud!
The enemy turned and firmly blocked his kick.
At the same time, several more figures climbed out of the ground.
"Some of them are Earth Clones."
Kurenai had kept her senses at their sharpest and quickly relayed the information.
"Guy, Kurenai, they're targeting us!"
Kyohiko's expression turned grave as he used the Body Flicker Technique to appear beside Kurenai.
As he thought—
In an instant—
He sensed a strange rumbling beneath the ground.
Not good!
Kyohiko grabbed Kurenai by the shoulder and, in a flash, used the Body Flicker Technique to leap toward the woods behind them.
Guy reacted a beat slower, but his body moved almost simultaneously with Kyohiko's. He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat from the earth spikes, then kicked an Earth Clone apart.
But—
In that instant, three or four people burst out from beneath Kyohiko and attacked him and Kurenai at incredible speed.
Kyohiko realized at once—
He was their target!!
Jonin.
He couldn't fight them head-on!
As Kyohiko considered his options, stone pillars rose up around him. Several other strange sounds rang out, and he couldn't tell exactly what was making them, but one thing was clear—
His opponents intended to kill him!
He had to get away, fast!
"Move!"
He grabbed Kurenai.
At that moment, Kyohiko couldn't afford to worry about anything else.
Gate of Opening, open!
Then—
He fled with the Body Flicker Technique!
With his Grandmaster Body Flicker Technique, combined with the complete control and enhanced speed that came from opening the Gate of Opening, Kyohiko carried Kurenai a great distance in a single instant.
He headed straight for Minato Namikaze.
So fast!
The three Iwa Ninja were astonished, and then utterly shocked.
How could a Genin move that fast?
No wonder!
Their determination to kill him only grew stronger.
"Kyohiko, leave me and run! They're after you!"
Kurenai was frantic with worry.
Her genjutsu was completely ineffective against Jonin from Iwagakure. She was nothing but a burden.
"Don't worry."
Kyohiko lowered his voice.
Just as the three Jonin were about to catch up with him...
Suddenly—
He released Kurenai on a tree.
Then, in a flash, he drew his sword—
Slice!
By the time they focused their eyes, Kyohiko was already more than a dozen steps away.
One of the three clutched his throat, his face twisted with fear and pain.
What a fast blade!
For an instant, he thought he'd seen White Fang.
He had to be killed!
Otherwise, Konoha's future...
Terrifying!
He might become just like White Fang, dominating another era and becoming a blade hanging over everyone's heads!
"Whoo—"
Kyohiko panted hard.
The White Fang Sword Technique's ambushes and assassinations were indeed highly effective.
As long as he judged the timing and speed well, overcoming a stronger opponent was no miracle.
Facing Jonin, he hadn't dared hold back. Even after the effects of the Gate of Opening wore off, he could immediately open the Gate of Healing to recover temporarily.
But—
If he could avoid opening another gate, then...
It was better not to.
Guy was tangled up with several Earth Clones and couldn't break free. But when he saw Kyohiko tiring, his speed suddenly surged, allowing him to escape and charge over.
At that very moment—
"Minato-senpai, if you don't get here soon, I'm really going to die."
"Sorry, dealing with the enemies took a little while."
Minato Namikaze appeared beside him, covered in blood. Blood dripped steadily from the Kunai in his hand.
He looked at the two remaining enemies.
"Does Iwagakure want to go to war with Konoha?"
"..."
The two tried to run, but in the next instant, Minato Namikaze appeared beside them. The one guarding Kyohiko was merely a Shadow Clone.
A huge ball of chakra appeared in his hand.
Big Ball Rasengan!
Boom!
A thunderous crash rang out.
The two were forced to leap away.
Minato Namikaze moved like lightning. After a few Body Flickers, the two stared at him in shock and disbelief.
So fast!
Why were Konoha's ninja all so strong?
Blood sprayed through the air.
The two fell slowly to the ground.
After fighting continuously, even Minato Namikaze couldn't hide his exhaustion. But he still remembered what Kyohiko had just done.
That speed...
It was too fast!
It had nearly surpassed the limits of what a body could achieve.
Could it be a forbidden technique?
He was still thinking it over.
Kyohiko wearily got to his feet.
He had recovered from the initial effects of opening the Gate of Opening.
Guy was panting heavily beside him, too.
Although he'd opened the Gate of Opening but hadn't had a chance to fight, he'd still expended a great deal of stamina and strength. He needed some time to rest.
Minato Namikaze looked at the two of them.
"Did you train in the same forbidden technique?"
"A forbidden technique?"
Kurenai Yuhi blinked and looked at Kyohiko and Guy.
Had they...
Used some kind of forbidden technique?
"To solve the problem of being unable to control my speed, I read a lot of books in the archives. The Second Hokage mentioned the idea of removing the brain's restrictions in one of his books, and said it might be connected to the Gate of Opening among the body's Eight Gates."
Kyohiko answered.
What he said was true.
The research notes Tsunade had retrieved did mention a connection between the body's Gate of Opening and the brain's restrictions. The Second Hokage had made a conjecture, but hadn't pursued it any further.
As for how Kyohiko had learned to do it, that was something he couldn't talk about.
"The Gate of Opening?"
Minato Namikaze's gaze sharpened. "Researching such a dangerous technique on your own was far too reckless! What about you, Guy?"
"Uh, my father taught me. He's been researching it for more than ten years, and now he can apparently open a lot of the gates. I'm not quite sure about the details."
"!!!"
Minato Namikaze no longer knew what to say.
Might Guy's father, he vaguely recalled, was named Might Duy, a Genin who had been unable to advance for many years.
And then there was Kyohiko, at most eight years old, who had managed to figure out how to open the Gate of Opening on his own using a few notes from the Second Hokage.
Were all the Genin in Konoha this strong?
Still—
Minato didn't forget to give them the necessary warning.
"This is a forbidden technique."
"My father told me to use it only when I have someone to protect."
Might Guy answered.
"I understand its drawbacks. I won't use it casually."
Kyohiko changed the subject. "Senpai, could these people be ninja from Iwagakure?"
"It's hard to say."
Minato Namikaze looked around.
His Shadow Clone was using a Sealing Scroll to clean up the scene. They'd found quite a few traces, but for now, he didn't dare conclude that these people were Iwa Ninja.
Earth Style ninjutsu wasn't exclusive to Iwagakure.
If another village had sent people to assassinate them in the hope of igniting a conflict between Konoha and Iwagakure...
"Gather as much evidence as possible and erase the traces of the battle. We'll let Teacher judge the rest later."
Minato Namikaze put the matter aside.
Kyohiko nodded.
He helped gather the surrounding items and clean up the traces, but inwardly, he thought—
They'd attacked in the Land of Hot Water, but he was their target. It really wasn't certain that Iwagakure was behind it.
But—
With the Chunin Ninja Exams coming up, and various villages gathered because of the Land of Waves' neutrality, one side had sent people to ambush and assassinate a Konoha squad...
It wouldn't be unreasonable to accuse Iwagakure of trying to sabotage the cooperation. It might even escalate into a serious diplomatic incident.
He'd discuss it with Teacher later!
Before you continue