Fierce Battle and Developing the Rasengan

Following the direction Taiichi pointed, everyone looked up and saw that it was no different from the other directions.

Trusting Taiichi, the team didn't ask any further questions and continued their pursuit with Taiichi.

At this moment, Taiichi also noticed that as they got closer and closer, the traces of the other party in their thermal vision became clearer and clearer. Although the other party used some other tricks to confuse the pursuing team, in Taiichi's eyes, there was only one target.

Finally, around noon, Hizashi Hyuga delivered the good news. "The spy has been spotted 8 kilometers ahead."

Everyone was startled; after chasing for so long, they had finally spotted someone.

Taiichi then deactivated his thermal vision, and his eyes returned to normal. The task of tracking was then taken over by Hizashi, since even a partial Fire Transformation Technique still consumes a lot of Chakra, let alone maintaining it for so long.

The pursuit continued, and as the distance closed, Hizashi made a hand gesture and shouted, "Watch out for an explosion!"

Before the words were even finished, an explosion rang out from the side, and a figure was immediately thrown far away by the shockwave. Judging from the direction, it was once again He Kaze Wafu who had been injured.

Taiichi Body Flicker teleported forward and caught the other person before they hit the ground. A quick check revealed that apart from a few burns, there were no other major problems.

The other members of the team gathered around and, seeing that Taiichi had only given them a simple treatment, knew that there was nothing seriously wrong.

However, the team's whereabouts have now been exposed. In Hizashi's view, the spy has clearly quickened his pace and is fleeing towards the Land of Land of Lightning at an extremely high speed.

"Take your medicine and hurry up and chase them!" Minato immediately ordered.

Without hesitation, everyone took out the Special Military Ration Pill given to them by Taiichi, ate them, and then formed a pursuit formation, chasing after them in a straight line.

"Kaze Wafu, you follow behind me!" Taiichi ordered Kaze Wafu, Taiichi having begun to doubt his abilities.

For the rest of the journey, it was truly a race against time. On the straight path, dangers that could be avoided were simply avoided, and those that couldn't be avoided were destroyed by throwing Kunai, making sure not to waste any time.

The distance was gradually closing as the pursuit continued.

5 kilometers----

4 kilometers----

3 kilometers----

2 km ----

Just as they were about to catch up, Hizashi suddenly provided an update. "Cloud Ninja have been spotted 8 kilometers ahead. They're very fast and should be able to make contact with the spy before we do."

"Damn it, we were so close to catching up," Yohei couldn't help but curse.

"How many of them are there, and how strong are they?" Minato asked calmly, clearly prepared for a fight.

"Two teams of eight people each. Judging from their Chakra Quantity, there should be two Jonin team leaders and six Chunin members. Adding the spy, that makes a total of three Jonin."

Minato glanced at his teammates. It was 9 against 6. Although they were slightly outnumbered, their team was definitely superior in terms of quality.

"Be careful, once they make contact before us, we cannot let any of them escape."

"Yes!"*5

The team began to unfold following Minato's gesture, forming an encirclement around the Cloud Ninja. However, Kaze Wafu was still being pulled behind Taiichi; they couldn't afford to let him make a mistake now.

As expected, the Cloud Village regrouped first, and the spy had already come into view of the Konoha people.

But Taiichi and the others could only watch as the spies and the Cloud Village exchanged a series of items, causing the people of Konoha to completely lose track of the Defense Map.

The only thing we can do now is to annihilate all these Cloud Village.

With this decision made, the team formation was subtly adjusted. Minato, Hizashi, Taiichi took the lead, clearly intending to confront the Cloud Village Jonin. As for the others, that was left to Yohei, Saori, and...

The three of them took over.

At this moment Cloud Ninja were not afraid at all when they saw the Konoha people catching up. Not only did they have a numerical advantage, but there were also quite a few young ninjas among the Konoha ninjas, which gave the Cloud Ninja even more confidence.

They quickly formed a battle formation and charged towards the Konoha members.

Both sides were full of confidence and did not back down in the face of each other's attacks.

Before the person even arrived, the ninjas on both sides had already attacked.

Cloud Village uses various Lightning Style, including Lightning Ball, Lightning Net, and Lightning Needle. It also incorporates one or two Wind Style and Fire Style.

On Konoha's side, the formation was noticeably weaker, but the quality was exceptionally high, with Taiichi leading the charge with Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, supported by Wind Style and Lightning Style.

In order to achieve a surprise effect, Taiichi start. Bright Gold flames instantly tore a gap in the lightning and rushed towards the Cloud Village group with unparalleled force.

The Cloud Village Ninja weren't stupid either. Even before the fire dragon got close, the terrifying heat was already unbearable, so all the Cloud Ninja chose to avoid this attack immediately.

Charging forward is easy, but dodging is not so simple.

Taiichi controlled the fire dragon and swung its tail, causing the dragon, which was originally charging straight ahead, to sweep past, dodging the Jonin in front and sweeping towards the Chunin next to it.

In the blink of an eye, the Chunin who charged to the front Chunin to dodge in time and was swept directly by the flames. He didn't even have time to utter a sound before he was burned to a crisp by the terrifyingly high temperature of the flames.

"Damn it, this flame is too powerful, I mustn't get touched."

There was no need for him to remind them; everyone could feel it, especially since a companion had already "sacrificed" his life for it.

After an exchange of Ninjutsu, Konoha gained a slight advantage. Minato, Taiichi, Hizashi seized the opportunity to close in on their respective targets.

Now you can clearly see the difference between the two sides.

Minato Kunai out a Flying Thunder God Kunai with his left hand, while simultaneously making a horizontal thrusting motion with his right hand.

The Cloud Village Jonin even glance at the flying Kunai; he simply sidestepped it and slashed at the oncoming Konoha Ninja with his Short Sword.

But in the next instant, the Konoha Ninja in front of him suddenly disappeared, and then he felt a pain in his neck as a Kunai was plunged into his neck.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the Konoha Ninja who had just been in front of him had somehow appeared behind him, Kunai in his hand was piercing his neck.

On Taiichi's side, facing the charging Cloud Village Jonin, he dealt with it even more easily. Without any probing, he ignored the opponent's attacks and immediately aimed for the vital points. Relying on the life-saving ability of the Fire Transformation Technique, he easily exchanged blows with the enemy.

However, the result was that Taiichi was paralyzed for a moment by the lightning on the enemy's sword, while the enemy had already been stabbed in the heart and collapsed to the ground, convulsing.

However, this also revealed another weakness of the Fire Transformation Technique to Taiichi: not only is it extremely energy-consuming to use under Water Style, but it can also be paralyzed by Lightning Style.

If there are still enemies around, or if someone is paralyzed by lightning before they can even Lightning Style Flame Transformation after a vital attack, then that person is doomed.

It seems we can't afford to be too reckless going forward, or we might end up crashing and burning.

Back on the battlefield, after two Jonin were killed in a single encounter, the last remaining spy Jonin immediately issued an order.

"Retreat! Retreat immediately! Stop entangled!"

But by then everyone was entangled, and it wasn't something you could just back out of as you pleased.

After Taiichi finished off his opponent, he immediately rushed towards Hizashi to help him attack the spy Jonin.

Minato was not to be outdone. He hurled five Flying Thunder God Kunai Chunin, and then a flash of yellow light appeared. The five Chunin clutched their throats and collapsed to the ground.

His speed was so fast that not only the enemy, but even his own people who knew he possessed the Flying Thunder God Technique, didn't have time to react.

At this moment, the spy was filled with despair: the rendezvous was in vain; so many people, yet they were all wiped out by Konoha ninjas in no time.

Looking at the two Konoha Ninja attacking him from the front and back, the spy knew he was doomed. Rather than being killed or captured by Konoha ninjas, he would rather die a glorious death. If he could take one of them down with him before he died, that would be even better.

Having figured everything out, the spy no longer hesitated, his fighting style completely changed, and he adopted a desperate stance.

His change had a remarkable effect. Facing the Gentle Fist that Hizashi threw, he neither dodged nor avoided it, but directly took the attack head-on with his body, with the aim of stabbing Hizashi hard with Kunai Hizashi.

As he had hoped, although Hizashi deviated slightly from his body at the last moment, the Kunai still pierced Hizashi's left shoulder.

With a painful groan, Hizashi fought back fiercely, repelling the spy in front of him. He himself retreated several steps to avoid further pursuit. Clearly, the enemy's desperate fighting style had taken him by surprise.

Just as the spy was about to give chase, Taiichi arrived, wielding his Short Sword with ferocious abandon, leaving the enemy no chance to fight back.

Taiichi gave him no more chances. Seeing that the Chakra in his Kunai had become faint, it was clear that the attack from Hizashi had affected his Chakra circulation.

Instantly, the longsword in his hand was enveloped in bright golden flames. Taiichi abandoned all skillful attacks and Kunai- on.

As expected, after three clashes, the opponent's Chakra stalled again, Kunai longer withstand Taiichi's slash. It was instantly split in two, along with the hand that was holding it.

The scream was cut short halfway through.

After swinging his sword, Taiichi took advantage of the opponent's open space, stepped close, and unleashed a Chakra Enhanced Strength with his left fist.

"Crack," a clear sound of bone breaking rang out.

The spy Jonin was blasted into the air by a punch, spraying a red mist of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs. After landing, he could only twitch.

Taiyi stepped forward instantly, glanced at him, and knew he wouldn't survive. So, he kindly delivered the final blow, saving him from further suffering.

The battle ended, and everyone gathered together.

"Taiichi, heal Hizashi. Everyone else, quickly find the Defense Map!" Minato ordered immediately.

Examining corpses is no easy task, especially the corpses of Jonin. No one knows where there are traps or deadly poisons hidden on their bodies.

On the contrary, healing is what Taiichi is better at.

Removing his outer garment to reveal the injured area, Taiichi's hand glowed green as he carefully covered the wound, sensing its internal condition.

"Fortunately, there's no serious injury, just some superficial wounds," Taiichi said reassuringly after the examination.

The green light in his hand intensified, Taiichi began to use his Mystical Palm Technique to help stop the bleeding and begin the initial healing of the wound.

"Sigh, I've actually dragged you down. I have to trouble Taiichi to help me out." Hizashi said with shame. Minato and Taiichi had both successfully dealt with the enemy, but he not only failed to kill the enemy, he was almost killed by the enemy in return.

"Hizashi- Senior, there's no need to belittle yourself. Senior Disciple Brother Minato and I only managed to defeat our opponents by taking them by surprise with our Ninjutsu. If they had been on guard, winning wouldn't have been so easy," Taiichi comforted Hizashi while treating him.

At this moment, Minato also came over and, having overheard their conversation, agreed, saying, "Information is very important in ninja battles. My Flying Thunder God Technique relies on surprise attacks; if there are defenders, the effectiveness of the battle will be greatly reduced."

Minato was clearly being modest. His Flying Thunder God Technique is something that even a prepared ninja wouldn't be able to react to.

But everyone understands Minato's good intentions.

Taiichi changed the subject. "Senior Disciple Brother Minato, your Flying Thunder God Technique has improved a lot. Last year you couldn't move continuously, right? Now you can kill so many ninjas instantly."

Hearing Taiichi's praise, Minato smiled and touched his blond hair, clearly very satisfied with his own progress.

Just then, Saori's voice from afar interrupted their conversation, "Found it!"

Seeing that Saori had managed to retrieve the Defense Map from the spy, everyone breathed a sigh of relief; the mission was considered to be initially completed.

Minato took the Defense Map, examined the subtle patterns on it, and knew it was indeed genuine.

"Alright, everyone, clean up the battlefield. Next, we'll head to the frontline Camp over here and hand over the Defense Map to them. That will complete our mission."

At this time, Taiichi also finished treating Hizashi and joined in.

As night deepened and the bright moon hung high in the sky, the chirping of insects wove a melodious background sound through the woods. The journey to the front-line Camp was indeed much easier; there was no need for a desperate pursuit, and the six-man squad's pace became much lighter.

They found a clearing in the woods beside a stream and lit a small campfire. The flickering Kakkou illuminated the relaxed expressions on everyone's faces.

Thanks to Taiichi's effective treatment, Hizashi's shoulder is now mostly healed, though his movements are still slightly sluggish. The fatigue accumulated from days of travel has surfaced in this safe environment, but the joy of completing the mission has overshadowed this weariness.

After catching several big fish, everyone enjoyed a meal prepared by Taiichi's superb culinary skills. He managed to turn a simple barbecue into a top-notch dish.

After dinner, the conversation naturally turned to the fierce battle that had taken place during the day.

As Yohei poked at the fire with a twig, he exclaimed, "Minato- Senior's Flying Thunder God Technique is truly amazing! In the blink of an eye—tsk tsk, those Chunin couldn't even react! With that speed, no one could defend against it, right?"

Minato smiled gently, the Kakkou reflecting off his golden hair. "While the speed is fast, as Taiichi said during the day, intelligence is crucial. Once the enemy is prepared, especially ninjas with absolute defense or extremely strong predictive abilities, the threat of the Flying Thunder God Technique will be greatly reduced."

As he spoke, Minato pulled out his Flying Thunder God Kunai. "After all, teleportation itself doesn't enhance the power of an attack, and the lethality of Kunai is sometimes indeed a bit insufficient against skilled opponents."

Taiichi, who was carefully maintaining his Short Sword, nodded upon hearing this. "Indeed, speed and attack power need to complement each other. Pure speed, if it cannot defeat the enemy in one strike, may instead put oneself in danger."

As he spoke, he recalled being paralyzed by lightning earlier that day, which was the same principle. Meanwhile, Minato should already be developing the Rasengan, though he wondered how far he had progressed.

As expected, Minato's next words confirmed Taiichi's suspicions. "I've also noticed this weakness, so I've been trying to develop a new technique to compensate for this deficiency."

"Oh?" Hizashi and Yohei immediately perked up, and even the usually quiet Saori focused her attention on Minato.

"I want to create a Ninjutsu that doesn't require Hand Seals, but can cause massive destruction using only Chakra itself, and I've already got some inspiration."

Minato extended his right hand, palm up, and a ball of Chakra gathered in his hand at a visible speed, forming a bright blue Chakra sphere in the blink of an eye.

Taiichi stared at the Chakra ball in surprise. Was it already finished? But upon closer inspection, Taiichi noticed something was wrong. This Chakra ball was rotating in an orderly, unidirectional manner, which was different from the Rasengan he remembered.

"It's only at this stage of development so far. In my vision, it can easily break through the enemy's defenses with its high-speed rotation and compressed energy. Combined with the speed of the Flying Thunder God Technique, it can form a truly unstoppable attack."

As he Minato, Minato slammed the Chakra ball into the ground beside him. Due to the increased pressure, the originally stable Chakra ball instantly shattered and scattered. Even so, the spinning Chakra still created a half-meter crater in the ground.

Others may not understand the difficulty involved, but the real-world example is right here. This is still incomplete; imagine the destructive power it would have on a person if it were a complete Ninjutsu, let alone the fact that it's a Ninjutsu without hand seals.

"By the way, Taiichi, you're also good at developing Ninjutsu. Help me think of a way to stabilize it?" Minato suddenly looked at Taiichi and asked expectantly.

Taiichi was taken aback by the question, clearly not expecting Minato to ask him for advice. However, recalling the training process of the Rasengan in the original work, Taiichi did not hesitate.

He also extended his right hand, and a large amount of Chakra gathered in his palm, forming a similar azure Kara ball.

A collective gasp rippled through the crowd; they were all amazed that someone had learned it after just one look.

Yohei and Xu even raised their hands to try it themselves. They managed to gather Chakra, but that was it. They blushed and quickly withdrew their hands.

In fact, with Taiichi's Chakra Control, achieving this step would be incredibly easy.

Holding Light Sphere Chakra in his palm, Taiichi closed his eyes and began to ponder. Of course, this was just for show; he couldn't actually create one right away, that would be too discouraging.

Everyone held their breath, not daring to make the slightest sound, for fear of disturbing Taiichi's thoughts.

After a long while, when everyone noticed that Taiichi had reopened his eyes, their expressions froze and they focused their attention on Taiichi's hand.

The Chakra sphere, which had been rotating steadily, began to fluctuate violently, as if it were about to shatter. This was Taiichi altering the flow of Chakra within it.

But as Taiichi continued his work, the Chakra ball gradually became stable again, and became brighter and brighter, emitting a deep humming sound.

At this point, no one else realized anything, since the current Chakra ball wasn't much different from the one before.

But Minato became unusually excited and immediately got up, pulling Taiichi and urging him to try it right away.

Taiichi readily agreed, got up, walked to the side, and pressed the Chakra ball in his hand down onto a large tree.

With a "whoosh," the Chakra ball was pressed into the tree seed without any resistance. Everyone was still wondering why there was no reaction? Was this the end?

The tree collapsed with a crash, and a large section of the trunk was shredded to dust, centered on the spot where the Chakra ball had been pressed in!