Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
Shita Genichi darted along the riverbank.
Suddenly, he stopped. A short distance ahead lay a corpse.
It was an enemy.
He circled around the body and continued onward. Before long, he came upon a chaotic battlefield, marked by traces of Fire Release and two more corpses.
Shita Genichi didn't know how the three dead enemies compared to the Ice Release ninja he had fought, but Sarutobi Shinnosuke had killed three of them while facing seven. He was powerful.
And Sarutobi Shinnosuke was only twelve or thirteen.
He was at the Chunin level, but his strength was probably already that of a Jonin.
Behind a large boulder.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke gasped for breath.
There were still four enemies, and he was nearly at his limit.
If he retreated any farther, he would reach the mining area.
Genichi has probably been held up by a powerful enemy. And so has Senior Sakumo.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke thought to himself, Looks like I can only retreat into the mining area and carry out the second plan.
Just then, two Mist ninja sprang out from the left and right, throwing shuriken at the same time.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke vanished from the spot in a flash, dodging the shuriken.
Clang, clang, clang!
Sarutobi Shinnosuke wielded a Kunai in each hand, fending off the two Mist ninja's furious attacks.
After more than a dozen exchanges, Sarutobi Shinnosuke grunted as a kick sent him flying. He tumbled across the river's surface several times.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The river erupted.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke leaped into the air, bounding about like a rabbit and barely dodging the Mist ninja's attacks before landing on the bank. He pressed both hands to the ground.
Earth Release: Earth Style Wall!
A wall of earth rose with a rumble, and two streams of water slammed into it.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke kept moving and hurriedly retreated.
The four Mist ninja pursued him, advancing in shifts and launching a relentless series of attacks, forcing him step by step toward the mining area.
It wasn't that they hadn't considered leaving some men behind to hold Sarutobi Shinnosuke off while the rest went past him to destroy the mining area.
But Sarutobi Shinnosuke's strength made them afraid to try.
They had underestimated him earlier, and paid dearly for it.
Now, no matter what, they had to kill Sarutobi Shinnosuke, who was already at the end of his rope.
Boom!
Fire Release clashed with Water Release, and steam billowed everywhere.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke gritted his teeth and took the opportunity to retreat again.
But it wasn't long before he was cornered once more, this time surrounded from both sides.
I'm running low on chakra...
Sarutobi Shinnosuke panted heavily, then put a finger in his mouth.
Crunch!
Sarutobi Shinnosuke bit his finger.
Summoning Technique!
The four Mist ninja charged at him all at once.
Poof!
A huge cloud of smoke billowed up.
The Mist ninja's swords struck into the smoke, producing the clang of metal against metal.
"What?"
The Mist ninja paled.
The next moment, the smoke cleared, revealing a towering ape before them.
The ape had blocked two swords with its arms and taken the other two head-on.
Even so, its skin hadn't been broken.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was slumped over Enma's shoulder, completely spent. "Enma, I'm leaving it to you!"
"Understood!"
Enma spread his arms, and the two Mist Jonin took the opportunity to retreat.
The other two Mist ninja immediately leaped back as well, but Enma caught up with one of them and sent him flying with a punch. He didn't move again.
Enma went after the other Mist ninja, who was retreating more slowly, but a shuriken came flying at him.
With his incredible defense, Enma had nothing to fear from it. But the shuriken was headed straight for Sarutobi Shinnosuke on his shoulder, so Enma had no choice but to abandon the pursuit and dodge.
Just then, Shita Genichi arrived and immediately formed Hand Seals.
Genjutsu: Bringer-of-Darkness Technique!
In an instant, the three Mist ninja lost their sight.
"Watch out, there's someone else!"
"It's a Genjutsu!"
The three Mist ninja shouted.
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was overjoyed. "It's Genichi!"
He hurriedly raised his hand and threw a shuriken. He didn't have much strength left, but it was enough to distract the three Mist ninja. The sound of it cutting through the air forced them to abandon their Hand Seals and use their Ninja Blades to deflect it instead.
After completing the Bringer-of-Darkness Technique, Shita Genichi continued forming Hand Seals.
Water Release: Water Colliding Wave!
Moisture condensed, droplets gathered into a stream, and the stream spun rapidly as it surged upward. Then, like a flood, it swept toward the three Mist ninja.
Hearing the sound, the three Mist ninja had no choice but to act despite their blindness.
Relying on the visual memory they had formed before losing their sight, they all leaped into the air.
All three dodged the oncoming wave.
But while they were focused on evading it, Enma seized his chance.
Thud!
Before one of them could even land, Enma punched him flying.
Shita Genichi rode the wave forward, leaped into the air, and formed a Rasengan in his right hand.
Water Release: Rasengan!
That's right, he had added Water Release nature transformation to the Rasengan.
Shita Genichi's target was the other Mist Jonin.
The Jonin was in midair. Hearing the rush of air, he swung his sword down and struck the Rasengan in Shita Genichi's hand with uncanny precision.
The two hung suspended in midair for an instant. The Rasengan burst, and a vortex of water enveloped the Mist ninja, carrying him down from the air and slamming him into a tree trunk with a thud.
Shita Genichi followed close behind and drove his knee precisely into the Mist ninja's neck.
With a crack, the Mist ninja's head lolled limply to the side.
By then, the last Mist ninja had finally broken free of the Genjutsu and hurriedly turned to flee.
"Leave him to me!"
Shita Genichi shouted, leaping into the air as he formed Hand Seals with both hands and used the Soldier Mantra.
In an instant, his speed skyrocketed, startling Sarutobi Shinnosuke on Enma's shoulder.
Watching Shita Genichi use Water Release against Water Release to take down the fleeing Mist ninja with ease, even Enma couldn't help saying, "That kid's something else!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke smiled and nodded. "Genichi really is incredible. His Water Release is unmatched in the village. There's probably no one better than him."
Shita Genichi returned and said, "Senior, I'm going to help the others!"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke nodded and was about to speak when a voice came from nearby. "No need!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~~
Hatake Sakumo, Akimichi Dozō, Yamanaka Jing, and Nara Kakuto appeared one after another.
"Sensei!"
Shita Genichi smiled, letting out a sigh of relief as well.
It looked like they had made it through this without incident.
"Shinnosuke, are you all right?"
Akimichi Dozō and the others asked one after another.
Enma turned into a cloud of smoke and vanished, ending the Summoning. Sarutobi Shinnosuke smiled. "I'm fine. I just used up a lot of chakra."
"Genichi, Langyi is injured. Go treat him."
Hatake Sakumo spoke to Shita Genichi.
"Understood!"
Shita Genichi immediately left the camp outside the mine.
Shita Genichi arrived at Uchiha Namiichi's room and saw him lying down with a bandage wrapped around his waist.
"Genichi."
Uchiha Namiichi forced a smile. "Sorry for the trouble again."
Shita Genichi stepped forward, untied the bandage, and examined the wound. He smiled. "It's all right. It's only a flesh wound. None of your internal organs were injured."
"We're comrades who trust each other with our backs. You don't need to be so polite."
"Wait here. I'll go get my supplies. Your wound needs to be cleaned before I treat it."
With that, Shita Genichi went back to his room to get his pack.
Elsewhere.
As soon as Shita Genichi's real body left, his clone arrived to meet up with Hatake Sakumo and the others, carrying the unconscious Mist ninja.
"Sensei, this guy's an Ice Release ninja with a Kekkei Genkai from the Yuki Clan."
Shita Genichi dropped the captive.
"A Kekkei Genkai ninja!"
Nara Kakuto and the others exclaimed.
"This guy..."
Looking at the captive on the ground, Akimichi Dozō said, "He must be a Jonin, right?"
Sarutobi Shinnosuke was secretly astonished. "There aren't many members of Kirigakure's Yuki Clan. At his age, he must be quite strong. So Genichi really was held up by a powerful enemy."
"But he actually managed to capture him alive. Genichi keeps finding new ways to amaze me."
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