Battle

Firelight erupted beneath Goenji's feet, and with a whoosh, his entire body shot away.

Before Konan and the others could react, he had already retreated a considerable distance and escaped their encirclement.

At the same time, he spat out a series of small fireballs.

Boom boom—!

The attack from all directions instantly became Goenji surrounding the four of them.

His goal was to stall them, so Goenji remained calm and unhurried.

He had no intention of killing them.

It was not merely that he did not want to; it was mainly that it would be difficult to pull off.

If he killed one of them, Nagato might summon the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path directly. With his current strength, he probably would not be able to withstand it.

Even Hanzō had to give the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path a wide berth.

Right now, he had only learned a few more ninjutsu and developed several Fire Release techniques. He did not have the ability to resist it.

Besides, all four of them possessed Jonin-level strength. It was still uncertain who would take down whom.

White Zetsu might even be watching Nagato.

The barrage of fireballs forced the four of them to dodge while forming hand seals and casting techniques.

Buzz—!

Konan's Paper Shuriken arrived first.

The small fireballs he avoided exploded against the trees and ground, forming a stark contrast with the Paper Shuriken slicing past the fireballs.

Bang bang bang—!

The fireballs exploded against the ground and collided with puddles formed by accumulated rainwater.

They gave off a sizzling sound as thick mist rose into the air.

"Stay here."

Nagato used the Body Flicker Technique to close in, unleashing a fierce gale from both hands. With a boom, the wind lent its force.

The Paper Shuriken instantly accelerated.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh~

Squeak squeak squeak—!

At the same time, countless rats scurried out from every direction and pounced straight at Goenji.

"Four against one is really troublesome."

Goenji watched the rats pouncing at him from all sides. He had not expected the Akatsuki to possess such a disgusting summoning technique.

He could not help wishing that Fire Ring Repulsion had already been developed.

After all, it was well suited to dealing with a situation like this.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs.

He could only use a more strenuous method.

Rat—Horse—Tiger—Tiger—Tiger.

Fire Release: Flame Tornado.

Blazing flames ignited around his right foot.

The instant the rats were about to leap onto him, he used the Sharingan to seize the best timing.

He twisted his waist.

His flaming leg spun, whirling into motion like a tornado.

Flames danced within the vortex.

The enemy's summoned rats were instantly burned to ashes.

Fire Release: Fire Dragon's Iron Fist.

After dealing with the summoned beasts, Goenji did not hesitate. Explosive flames ignited around his right hand.

He aimed at Konan and Nagato's combined ninjutsu.

Boom—!

His punch landed, and explosive flames surged forth.

Though the enemy had used a combined ninjutsu, the fire borrowed the wind's force, keeping Goenji from falling into a disadvantage.

This was the effect of elemental restraint.

By using the enemy's Wind Release, he could employ Fire Release to amplify its power.

Without a clever mind, he might not have thought of exploiting that restraint.

Even if he was a transmigrator.

Because in the eyes of a transmigrator, elemental restraint seemed both real and unreal.

But as someone who wanted to survive in the Shinobi World, Goenji naturally had to make use of every advantage in battle.

"Stay here today."

Clang!

Orange-haired Yahiko closed in on Goenji and attacked him with a kunai.

Clang—!

"Do you think my Taijutsu is weak, daring to get this close to me?"

Goenji gauged the remaining chakra in his body. The Sharingan locked Yahiko's attack firmly in his sight.

A close-range attack—was he trying to restrain him this way?

How naive.

His right hand instantly moved to the short sword.

Outer Spiral Draw Technique.

With a twist of his wrist, he brought tremendous rotational force down directly onto Yahiko's kunai.

Clang—!

"This force..." Yahiko's hand trembled as though some twisting power had been applied to his kunai.

He knew it was likely the enemy's Taijutsu. He could not let the other side succeed.

Enduring the pain of the twist, he exerted force through his wrist.

He forcibly held back the sword strike.

Goenji smiled. "Let me show you the power of the Uchiha Sharingan. Watch out."

Buzz—!

The twisting wrist followed the direction of its rotation, and the force suddenly erupted, breaking free of Yahiko's resistance. From another angle, it launched an even faster attack.

Outer Spiral Draw Technique.

It was a Taijutsu copied from Ryoma with the Sharingan.

It was an extremely practical Taijutsu in close combat.

By applying rotational force to the blade, the enemy would feel a twisting torque.

If they lacked sufficient strength, their weapon would be knocked from their hand. If they could resist it, he could use that rotational force to launch a faster second-stage attack.

It was an extremely practical sword technique.

Swish—!

"Yahiko, watch out!"

Roar!

With a dragon's roar, an enormous water dragon condensed from the rain in the air.

It charged straight at Goenji.

Bang—!

Seeing this, Goenji could only turn the force of his blade toward the water dragon.

It could not be helped. Fighting one against many was just this difficult.

Especially when the opponents were geniuses.

The short sword struck the water dragon's head, but Goenji was still shoved far back by its tremendous force.

His short sword had only cut up a small splash on the dragon's head.

Meanwhile, the water dragon's impact continued pressing down on him.

Single-Foot Shuffle Steps.

There was no time to form hand seals for Rocket Propulsion. Goenji shuffled rapidly with both feet, using the rebound force of his muscles from the small steps to swiftly increase his starting speed and dodge sideways.

Whoosh whoosh—!

After several consecutive pursuits, the water dragon finally dispersed in the air.

The exchange had been incredibly fast.

This was also Ryoma's Taijutsu. It used powerful balance and reflexes to determine the direction of an attack the instant it arrived, then used the rebound force of the muscles to greatly increase one's initial speed.

Goenji had copied it as well.

It was extremely useful when he had no opportunity to use the Body Flicker Technique.

This was the Sharingan.

"If I could incorporate Fire Release into this kind of swordsmanship, it would definitely be extremely useful!"

Even in battle, Goenji did not forget to consider other matters.

However, his eyes remained fixed on the four of them.

Their strength was indeed formidable. No wonder they could make the Akatsuki grow stronger.

They were only in their teens now!

Then there was Nagato—his Water Release was pretty damn good!

Who knew where he had learned Water Dragon Bullet? That was a Kirigakure ninjutsu.

"You're all strong, and you aren't from Amegakure, are you? Why go this far?" Goenji found this difficult. He only wanted to complete his mission.

Why did they have to fight? Five people made things unsafe for everyone.

Kyūsuke said, "Yahiko, the others have already left the range of perception. We must end this quickly."

"Yeah. Konan, Nagato, let's attack together. Use that move of ours."

Yahiko also knew they had to end this quickly, so he spoke.

Goenji's strength was simply too troublesome to deal with.

And the Sharingan gave the enemy an enormous advantage.

Even though they had four against one.

Shikigami Dance: Paper Wheel.

Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique.

Wind Release: Breakthrough.

The enormous spinning Paper Wheel was ignited by Fire Release and imbued with immense fiery power. Then, under the effect of Wind Release, its power and speed increased even further.

It attacked Goenji.

Buzz buzz—!

[Woohoo~ She... she actually treated me to milk tea. This is the first time a girl has treated me to milk tea. Oh my god, what a wonderful feeling! It's like entering heaven.]