"Enemies?!" Kakashi's eyes sharpened.
Sen Chisato nodded and pointed toward the forest ahead. "About thirty. Our 'Clearing Operation' must have driven all of them here."
"Are they all the stragglers?" Kakashi asked.
"More or less. Jiraiya-sensei and Shikaku should have finished up a while ago. If any Sand Ninja slipped through, they'd all end up here!" Namikaze Minato said with certainty.
After all, they had to guide Kakashi and the others, which inevitably slowed them down. Before they arrived, this was the safest place for the Sand Ninja.
As for crossing the border into the Land of Fire... They'd have to be idiots.
"So, thirty of them. Want to give it a try?" Sen Chisato asked with a grin.
"Of course!" Obito replied excitedly. Kakashi and Nohara Rin nodded along.
Thirty opponents would be difficult for them to handle. Taking them all down was almost impossible; they'd be lucky to escape safely after making contact. But this was a rare opportunity, so of course they wouldn't refuse.
"In that case, you three..."
Sen Chisato had just started to agree and offer some instructions when Namikaze Minato interrupted.
"Wait!"
Namikaze Minato sensed something. He formed hand seals and slapped his palm against the ground. "Summoning Jutsu!"
Poof!
A cloud of smoke rose, and a toad about half a man's height appeared.
"Minato, Jiraiya has some intel for you." The toad opened its mouth and spat out a scroll.
Namikaze Minato took it at once and unrolled it. His brow furrowed.
"What is it?" Sen Chisato asked. The members of Team Minato looked curious, too.
"Under the Fourth Kazekage's command, Sand Hidden launched a large-scale attack on Konoha last night," Namikaze Minato said gravely.
Sen Chisato's expression darkened. He immediately pressed for more details. "What were the casualties on both sides?"
"Over a hundred of our ninja were killed. Sand Hidden suffered similar losses."
"More than two hundred..." Sen Chisato ground out, fury written across his face.
Damn you, Rasa! What are you doing?!
More than two hundred people, wasted just like that!
If he'd been there, he could've buried every last one of them. How many rewards would that have earned him?
Even if Konoha had to bring its dead back to the village for burial, there were still more than a hundred others.
Couldn't they have waited until he got back before starting a war? What was the rush?!
A sense of urgency welled up within him. Sen Chisato spoke in a low voice. "Minato, the two of us will take action. I need to get back to the front line immediately!"
After last night, a large-scale battle was inevitable. The clashes would grow more frequent until the final war decided the victor.
Sen Chisato had already missed one chance. He couldn't afford to miss another!
"Agreed." Namikaze Minato didn't object. He also planned to speed up the clearing mission, then return to Konoha Base Camp to see what was happening.
"Hey! You said we'd get to fight!" Obito protested, his lips sticking out in a pout.
"Idiot, shut up!" Kakashi scolded him.
He was disappointed to miss such a good chance for real combat, too, but he knew what mattered most.
Sen Chisato was in a foul mood, his face cold. The smiles he'd worn these past few days were gone.
And now Uchiha Obito was getting on his nerves. If it wouldn't waste time, he'd have strung the kid up and given him a beating.
Even so, Sen Chisato had no intention of letting him off. He'd use this chance to knock some sense into him—and, preferably, shatter his confidence!
"You don't like being told you're weak? Then I'll show you what a true powerhouse looks like. Keep your eyes wide open and watch closely. We're only showing you this once!"
After glaring at Uchiha Obito and delivering his warning, Sen Chisato turned to Namikaze Minato. "Give me some of your special kunai. I'll make the first move and create an opening for you to join the fight."
"Sure."
Namikaze Minato pulled out a scroll, formed hand seals, and took out thirty special kunai.
These kunai had an unusual design. They were heavier than ordinary kunai and had two extra blades, making them look like tridents. Each handle bore the seal of the Sword of Ninja Love—the formula used to activate Flying Thunder God.
Sen Chisato formed hand seals and created nine Shadow Clones. Counting his original, there were ten of him. After splitting the thirty special kunai among them, they immediately scattered using the Body Flicker Technique.
The entire sequence was so smooth that the three members of Team Minato stared in stunned silence.
Only after Sen Chisato and all his Shadow Clones had vanished did Uchiha Obito come to his senses. He gaped and gestured with his hands. "N-nine Shadow Clones!"
Kakashi was just as shocked.
The Shadow Clone Technique created physical copies by evenly dividing the user's chakra. The more Shadow Clones one made, the more chakra it consumed.
For instance, Kakashi could make about six Shadow Clones at most. But if he wanted to retain some combat ability afterward, he could only make two.
Even a grown Jonin wouldn't dare make nine Shadow Clones like Sen Chisato had.
How much chakra could Sen Chisato have left after making so many? Was he planning to abandon ninjutsu and rely entirely on Taijutsu for this battle?
Or was he only planning a feint, leaving Minato-sensei to launch the main attack?
As Kakashi was thinking it over, Namikaze Minato said, "It's about to begin. Watch carefully. You won't get many chances like this."
At his words, the three of them focused their attention on the forest below.
Meanwhile, Sen Chisato had already taken up position, about fifty meters from the nearest Sand Ninja.
The Sand Ninja were gathered together, every one of them looking exhausted. They had stationed a few guards, but that was useless against Sen Chisato.
Before creating his Shadow Clones, Sen Chisato had already planned everything. All ten of them, including the original, would move together and secretly surround the Sand Ninja. Once the Shadow Clone that had taken the longest route was in position, they would all attack at once, blanketing the area with ninjutsu!
Before long, powerful chakra erupted from the forest all around the gathered Sand Ninja.
Several of them sensed it immediately. They rose to their feet and shouted a warning. "We're under attack! Defend yourselves!"
Before they could react, the attack was already upon them.
Boom!
A terrifying torrent of fire swept toward them like a storm. Ten Great Fireballs of extraordinary power came flying in from every direction. Trees shattered and burned in their wake.
Screams rang out. The Sand Ninja tried desperately to flee, but the flames swallowed them in an instant.
The ten enormous Great Fireballs finally converged. The moment they collided, the scorching heat drove the flames outward, forming a massive mushroom cloud at the center.
Sen Chisato cut off the chakra sustaining the Great Fireballs, swiftly formed hand seals, and spat out a high-pressure wind sphere.
"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"
The wind sphere crashed to the ground and became a hurricane. The earth peeled away in layers, and rocks and dirt were swept up and hurled through the air. The flames that had yet to die out surged higher, then were instantly extinguished by the rapidly flowing vacuum pressure.
Boom!
The ten high-pressure wind spheres collided, triggering yet another massive explosion in the forest. Its reach extended for several kilometers.
A second before the shock wave arrived, Sen Chisato used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat.
As the aftershocks gradually died down, a stone was flipped aside, and a Sand Ninja crawled out from underneath.
Crack!
A tree, almost reduced to charcoal, split down the middle, revealing a badly burned figure...
The few Sand Ninja who had miraculously survived stared at what lay before them, dazed and hollow-eyed, their smiles miserable.
As the smoke cleared, nearly a kilometer of wasteland came into view. The center resembled a meteor crater, and for hundreds of meters around it, the trees had all been blown outward.
A scene of utter devastation!
With a clatter, the Ninja Blade fell from a Sand Ninja's hand.
Another Sand Ninja dropped to his knees, feeling as if all strength had left his body. "You've got to be kidding me... Is this divine punishment?"
Before you continue