Fierce Battle

In another battlefield, Minato, who held the upper hand, pressed his opponent while observing Kakashi's situation.

Seeing Kakashi instantly kill an opponent, he couldn't help but praise him.

"Good job, Kakashi!"

Upon seeing that their three Chunin could not handle a novice who had just graduated from the Ninja Academy, the enemy hidden in the shadows flew into a rage.

The original plan was for the three Chunin to besiege Kakashi, preferably capturing or severely injuring him. That way, they could force Namikaze Minato to surrender or compromise. After all, he was a tough nut to crack.

Never had he expected that in the plan, his relative strong point would be broken by the enemy's weak point.

What had happened had happened, and anger was useless. Wanting to wait for a better chance, he couldn't help but show himself; otherwise, once Kakashi finished off those three Chunin and came to back up Minato, he and his people would have even less chance of winning.

"Ninja Art: Leaf Thousand Kills!"

Emerging from his hiding spot, he moved rapidly toward Kakashi's position. Once he entered ninjutsu attack range,

the ninja named Ryuran had barely cast his ninjutsu when Minato recognized his background.

"Leaf-Killing Style! You're a ninja from Kusagakure!"

Having been exposed, Ryuran spoke some conventional rhetoric.

"Konoha ninja, hand Oda over to us, and we'll withdraw. How about it!"

Yet his words didn't affect his actions in the slightest.

The ninjutsu he cast whipped up the fallen leaves all around him and quite a few leaves from the trees, shooting them at the enemy at extreme speed. With a wide coverage area and taking advantage of local materials, it consumed little chakra. It was the signature ninjutsu of Kusa's Leaf-Killing Style.

Locked in battle with an enemy, Kakashi had to stop his continuous assault as Ryuran's indiscriminate area-of-effect attack bore down on him. Meanwhile, the enemy previously suppressed by him seized the opportunity to escape the ninjutsu attack range.

Kōsei, caught within the range, could not fully evade the damage due to his bulky figure, so Kakashi simply crouched and hid behind him. The single-target attack power wasn't very strong, but it was too dense. After helping Kakashi bear this wave of attacks, Kōsei had his summoning undone and returned to Ryūchi Cave.

Looking at his two subordinates who had come to his side with wounds continuously oozing blood, Ryuran knew now was not the time for anger.

"You two go chase the other two brats. The moment you catch up, slaughter Oda directly. Then break those two brats' limbs and bring them here."

To pressure Minato and Kakashi, Ryuran intentionally spoke his combat deployment out loud.

In this situation, two combat-impaired Chunin staying here would only be dead weight. Namikaze Minato's mastery of the Body Flicker Technique might kill them both in an instant. Better to assign them elsewhere.

Minato also approached at that moment, standing side by side with Kakashi.

"Kusagakure ninja. Is this your personal action, or the will of your leader! Attacking allies, ninja of Konoha Village!" Minato looked at Ryuran with a solemn expression.

"I don't know what you're talking about. I'm just carrying out a mission, Namikaze Minato."

"A ninja of your strength could never be unknown in Kusagakure. Yet I've never seen you. Who on earth are you!" Seeing that the other party was determined not to give a direct response, Minato had to shift to another topic.

"Hehe, what use is a ninja being famous? Just like you, Namikaze Minato, skilled in the Body Flicker Technique, Wind Release, and self-created seal-less ninjutsu—those intel reports are all thanks to your fame."

Still dodging the question, Minato had no choice but to defeat the opponent first, then interrogate him.

"Teacher, leave that person to me."

Kakashi pointed at an opponent whose right arm had been injured by Minato.

"Kakashi, are you sure? A Jonin is different from a Chunin." Minato asked with a trace of worry.

"It's fine, at least I can protect myself. You just need to make sure the other three don't sneak-attack me."

"You can rest assured of that. If they still want to split their focus to sneak-attack you while fighting me, they'll be the first to die."

As one of Konoha's strongest new generation, although Minato was a civilian ninja, even the geniuses from Konoha's major ninja clans of the same age were overshadowed by him.

A genius had his own pride.

"Really, courting death." The Kusa Jonin singled out by Kakashi for a duel spat out a breath of stale air.

"You really are being looked down upon, Fox." Without shouting his comrade's real name and using only a codename, Ryuran was more than happy to see such a combat assignment.

Moonlight spilled down from the sky, passing through the gaps in the leaves and sprinkling sparsely over everyone. Seeing a clump of dark clouds driven by the wind, the moment it obscured the moonlight, a great battle erupted in the clearing.

The battlefield split left and right, dozens of meters apart.

"Brat, with that summoning beast gone, what confidence do you have to fight me one-on-one?"

Fox, whose opponent's rank had plummeted, moved with ease and employed verbal attacks amidst his assaults, attempting to inflict greater mental pressure on Kakashi.

Turning a deaf ear, Kakashi concentrated on familiarizing himself with the opponent's strength and combat style.

The opponent's attacks were heavy and powerful, with leeway for recovery between every move to prevent him from suddenly unleashing a fatal strike. This was an opponent with rich combat experience.

In terms of strength, Kakashi was at a complete disadvantage. Fortunately, he was supported by a better weapon.

Although Kusagakure claimed to be the sixth hidden village, the registered strength of its ninja was clearly weaker than that of the Five Great Hidden Villages.

By now, Kakashi had a fairly accurate assessment of his own combat power: in terms of sheer quantity, his Senjutsu energy approached the level of an Elite Chunin; his taijutsu strength was inferior to a Jonin, but with the Senjutsu bonus, his overall combat power approached that of a Jonin.

The Jonin here referred to ordinary Jonin from the Five Great Hidden Villages, not rogue ninja or Jonin from small ninja villages.

Fox and the others could come to execute this mission—although their role was to pin down the enemy, and the object being pinned down was Namikaze Minato, who was just a step away from Kage Level strength—they undoubtedly had to be senior Jonin of Kusagakure.

After getting familiar for a while, seeing that Fox's strength was indeed consistent with his judgment—the gap between the two wasn't large—Kakashi prepared to find an opportunity to finish off the opponent and go rescue Inuzuka Kawa and the other two.

Fox, unable to break through after prolonged attacks, grew a bit anxious, because the injury on his right arm had never been treated, and the pain was increasingly affecting his state. Dragging it out would only make his combat power worse and worse.

He had originally wanted to save some chakra to use later in besieging Namikaze Minato, but it seemed there was no help for it.

Putting some distance between them to weave hand seals for an attack, Fox looked at Kakashi not far ahead, who was likewise weaving seals.

"Tch, a Genin fighting a Jonin in ninjutsu?"

He couldn't help but sneer inwardly at the opponent. Even though the other party had the advantage of a weapon and took advantage of his injured right arm, the opponent's taijutsu strength truly far exceeded Fox's understanding of a Genin.

Yet if the opponent thought that made him qualified to duel him in ninjutsu, he was truly too naive.

Too naive! Fire Release: Heaven-Prison Flame Sword!