Doesn't He Look Like a Dog?

Clang! Bang!

Kakashi took the Kumogakure ninja's slash head-on. The force was far greater than he had expected; merely blocking the blade had already taken all his strength. Then the Kumogakure ninja viciously kicked him in the stomach, sending him flying backward.

Hideki arrived in time and caught Kakashi. Even then, the two of them staggered back several steps before barely bleeding off the force.

"What do you think?" Hideki asked quickly.

"He's very strong and not slow, but his swordsmanship is average. His ninjutsu might be his specialty, though. I can't beat him head-on... We need to seize an opening."

Kakashi gritted his teeth and rubbed his stomach. That kick had not felt good at all. The enemy before them was rather strong.

"Tch!" The Kumogakure ninja spat. The fact that his slash had been blocked clearly displeased him.

The Kumogakure ninja did not waste words. With a twist of his wrist, he launched another attack!

"Take a moment to recover, Kakashi."

Hideki calmly formed hand seals at astonishing speed, chakra rapidly condensing into a ninjutsu. "Water Release: Water Chain Bullet!"

Thudthudthudthud!

Hideki currently had three standard combat ninjutsu: Rasengan, Lightning Explosion, and Water Chain Bullet.

It was a little sparse, but fortunately, he had mastered all of them well. Hideki swiftly counterattacked. Without infusing Yang Release, he made up for it with sheer quantity, unleashing wave after wave like a curtain of water.

"Oh?" The Kumogakure ninja did not slow down, but a trace of surprise appeared in his eyes. He had thought they were just two Konoha brats playing outside the village. Yet not only had they blocked his strike, they could even use ninjutsu.

So they're from major clans... This is a real score!

A cruel curve formed at the Kumogakure ninja's lips. Without slowing down, he continuously swung his long sword and charged straight through the water bullets!

Kakashi immediately assumed a stance, holding his short sword at his side behind him as he stared fixedly at the figure ahead, ready to counterattack at any moment.

Hideki, meanwhile, narrowed his eyes and continuously observed and assessed the enemy's strength.

The Kumogakure ninja before them was roughly 172.51 centimeters tall, dark-skinned but healthy-looking, and around twenty years old.

Considering the two waves of shuriken he had clearly thrown while underestimating them, along with his reckless handling of the situation now, and Hideki's general understanding of Kumogakure and the Jonin hierarchy in the ninja world—

Setting aside why this Kumogakure ninja had appeared here—

Hideki guessed that he was probably a Chunin, and one in a hurry at that. Of course, he might also be a Special Jonin.

He could not be any stronger than that. If he was, the two of them would have no chance.

But even if their opponent was only a Chunin, their odds of winning were not particularly good.

As the Kumogakure ninja drew closer and closer, Hideki made a snap decision. "Kakashi, use that move!"

That move? Kakashi froze for a moment. Which move?

Hideki reached into his ninja tool pouch with one hand, pulled out the last smoke bomb essential for a schemer, pointed at the ground, and smashed it down!

Kakashi understood at once. He tossed away his short sword and rapidly formed hand seals with both hands!

"Hm?" Seeing the smoke bomb obscure the two brats, the Kumogakure ninja decisively stopped. His gaze was contemptuous, but his body remained poised in a guarded combat stance.

"Let's see what tricks you can pull." The Kumogakure ninja muttered, brimming with confidence.

Shuriken? Or some ninjutsu that needed time to activate?

The Kumogakure ninja smirked coldly, held his sword in one hand, and drew several shuriken with the other before firing them into the smoke.

"Now!"

A voice rang out from the smoke. Then, two figures darted out in opposite directions, evading the shuriken and fleeing at top speed!

"Tch! Cunning little brats!" The Kumogakure ninja sneered disdainfully. Without another word, he drew his blade and gave chase, but after taking only a few steps, he suddenly stopped.

By then, the smoke had thinned somewhat. Its quality looked mediocre. The Kumogakure ninja's gaze settled on one corner of the smoke, where Kakashi's short sword lay—the very sword he had thrown aside earlier to form hand seals.

The Kumogakure ninja smiled silently and glanced in Konoha's direction. Although everything was calm, lingering in battle was not a wise choice.

"You must be considered geniuses in Konoha, right? What a shame. If this were the battlefield, I'd have loved to play with you two little genius brats..."

The Kumogakure ninja mocked them, then his voice turned cold and teasing. "Come out! Your Shadow Clones are too crude. There's an extra sword—do you take me for an idiot?"

No sound came from within the smoke.

The Kumogakure ninja's eyes gradually grew impatient.

He raised his long sword, his expression turning cold, and simply charged into the smoke that had yet to disperse!

But there were no signs of the two brats inside. The short sword was indeed lying on the ground, but there was no one around it.

"Tch... Transformation Technique!" The Kumogakure ninja's expression changed as he finally vaguely guessed what had happened.

"They transformed into each other, deliberately used the sword on the ground as a flaw, then lured me in... Damn brats!"

The Kumogakure ninja sounded somewhat furious, but suddenly, his gaze turned cold and the corners of his mouth lifted. He raised his long sword high, point downward, and aimed it at the empty ground beneath his feet!

"That was what you most wanted to hear just now, wasn't it? Too green, you little brats!"

The sharp long sword plunged directly into the ground!

Whether the earth was too soft or the blade too sharp, the sword sank straight into the ground without encountering any resistance, piercing all the way in!

"Tch!" The Kumogakure ninja spat again. The sensation from his blade told him he had missed, but the hollow ground beneath him meant he had guessed right.

The Kumogakure ninja secretly let out a breath. For one brief moment, he had truly thought he had been fooled.

At that moment, another series of disturbances came from beneath the ground.

The Kumogakure ninja sneered repeatedly, raised his sword again, and began pumping it into the ground beneath his feet like a piston!

"Jeez, that's so sleazy, Kakashi. Doesn't he look like a dog?"

"Mm... He is pretty sleazy," Kakashi answered only halfway, because he did not want to prove that he understood the second half.

At that moment, Hideki and Kakashi stood far away atop a tree, watching the Kumogakure ninja repeat the motion over and over, their eyes full of disdain.

"Let's end this." Hideki pulled out a kunai with an Explosive Tag attached to its end.

His lips were somewhat pale. He did not dare hold anything back when making his Shadow Clone perform Hydrogen Release in his place.

But Obito was not here, so this was the only method he could use.

Sizzle— The Explosive Tag began to burn.

Whoosh!

The kunai tore through the air!

The Kumogakure ninja, who was busy pumping away, sensed something. Looking up, his pupils instantly constricted. He abandoned even his sword and fled at once!

His reaction had actually been very fast, but it could not overcome a schemer's precise calculations.

The Explosive Tag failed to catch up to the Kumogakure ninja. It exploded before it even reached him.

But before the Kumogakure ninja could breathe a sigh of relief, a blazing flash accompanied by a tremendous roar suddenly erupted right in front of him!

BOOM!!!!

The two explosions rang out almost one after the other. The Explosive Tag's flames were instantly swallowed up. The Kumogakure ninja would never have imagined that an Explosive Tag could be so powerful—until the shockwave blew him away and he lost consciousness, he believed that explosion had been caused by a single Explosive Tag.

"Hideki! Are you all right?!"

In the distance, Hideki nearly fell from the tree when his footing gave way, but Kakashi caught him in time.

Hideki waved a hand. "I'm fine, just a little overexerted... Hm?"

Hideki stopped midway through his sentence. His expression, along with Kakashi's, suddenly turned strange.

From the distance came a cry.

"Hideki! Kakashi!!!!!!"

The voice was so grief-stricken and hysterical that it sounded as though its owner had completely broken down!

The two hurriedly looked over. Wasn't that Obito, carrying a huge bundle of small branches?