Visual Distance Misalignment

"Daring to run wild on the borders of our Land of Fire... aren't you looking down on Konoha a little too much?"

Just as the Kumogakure ninja were about to use Lightning Release to finish off everyone in the convoy, a voice rang out from the sky, startling them.

They looked up.

A massive toad descended from above.

"Scatter."

The Kumogakure leader withdrew his Lightning Release and scattered with the others.

Bang!

A huge cloud of dust billowed up.

The enormous three-meter-tall toad landed in front of the convoy, with Tobitake Tonbo standing atop its head, smiling.

"Step one of the strategy: scatter the enemy. Success."

As the Kumogakure men retreated, their gazes remained highly vigilant.

Besides watching the enemy who had descended from the sky, they were also alert to movements around them.

They clearly had extensive combat experience.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Hayama Shirakumo exploded just as the Kumogakure leader retreated, turning into countless falling leaves.

When he reappeared, the blade in his hand was already slashing toward the enemy's neck.

Clang!

At the critical moment, the enemy proved no pushover. He drew the blade at his waist and blocked the attack.

"Wind Release: Breakthrough."

Hayama Shirakumo formed hand seals with one hand, and a violent gust struck the enemy's body.

Crackle!

The Kumogakure leader felt sharp pain across his body. Seeing the thin trails of blood on himself, his expression grew solemn.

He looked at Hayama Shirakumo's forehead protector. "A Konoha ninja?"

Using the force of Wind Release: Breakthrough, Hayama Shirakumo swiftly retreated into the forest, intending to wage guerrilla warfare among the trees.

"Tree Binding Strangle."

One Kumogakure ninja had just pulled back when he heard a voice. He turned around, and a pair of red eyes filled his vision.

His entire body immediately stiffened. A large tree grew behind him, its branches winding around him.

"Genjutsu."

Squelch!

Just as he was about to dispel the Genjutsu, a giant python appeared and bit down on his head.

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

His head was severed.

Under the pressure of his heart, blood shot into the sky.

"Not bad coordination, Uchiha brat!" Mitaraishi Anko tossed the head to the ground as the giant python reverted to the form of an arm.

She looked at Itachi Uchiha and praised him.

"Damn it, they're enemies."

Several Kumogakure ninja watched one of their companions die, fury flashing in their eyes.

This time, they gave Anko and Itachi no chance to surround them. Instead, they surrounded the two of them.

Clang!

Bang! Bang!

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Boom!

"Your opponent is me."

Tobitake Tonbo controlled the toad beneath him and leaped forward, blocking the man who seemed to be a Jōnin and had been about to support the other ninja.

He was a dark-skinned man with black hair and a scar across his face.

He carried twin blades on his back and wore no forehead protector.

He stared at Tobitake Tonbo with great wariness.

His eyes also occasionally drifted toward the two distant battlefields, as well as the towering summoned toad beneath Tobitake Tonbo.

"Hmph. Courting death."

Kawasuke formed hand seals with both hands. Chakra gathered in his mouth, and he fired a lightning spear at Tobitake Tonbo.

Whoosh!

"A little too impatient, aren't you?"

Tobitake Tonbo formed hand seals with both hands, completing them like an afterimage before the attack arrived.

"Wind Release: Breakthrough."

Wind overcame lightning. The spear was instantly scattered by his Wind Release and continued toward Kawasuke.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Kawasuke's Lightning Release had only been a feint. Before Wind Release: Breakthrough reached him, he had already left his position and rapidly advanced toward Tobitake Tonbo.

He drew the twin blades from his back.

Lightning coiled around both blades.

He's a Wind Release ninja. I have to focus on fighting him—and watch out for his summoned beast.

Kawasuke looked at the massive toad beneath Tobitake Tonbo and silently analyzed the situation.

The moment Tobitake Tonbo used Wind Release, Kawasuke knew that, being countered, he was at a disadvantage in long-range combat.

He made a quick decision.

He rapidly closed in on the enemy.

Crackle!

Lightning stimulated his cells, making him extremely fast.

As he approached Tobitake Tonbo, his eyes remained fixed on his opponent.

Then suddenly.

Tobitake Tonbo formed hand seals with both hands.

Wind Release again? he thought.

Then sorry, but you'll die by my hand.

After preparing for quite a while, he realized the anticipated attack had not come, even as he approached the other man's summoned beast.

He swung his blades...

Missed.

He slashed again.

Missed.

Again...

"What's going on?"

Kawasuke discovered that no matter how he swung, the blades always stopped an inch short of the toad.

Even with lightning raging across the blades, they remained an inch away.

But his extensive combat experience made him think of one possibility.

"Lightning Body Charge."

The chakra within his body transformed into lightning, disrupting his own chakra.

The scene before his eyes instantly changed.

His pupils contracted. "So it really was Genjutsu."

What close-range combat? He had only taken two steps. Tobitake Tonbo was still ten meters away.

A visual Genjutsu?

"Yo, not bad. My Visual Distance Misalignment Genjutsu, in its first real battle,

was actually broken by you so quickly. That's impressive!"

Tobitake Tonbo stood on the toad's head and laughed.

The Genjutsu consumed little chakra, and he had wanted to test it on a battlefield. It had worked even better than he imagined.

As for the toad beneath him, he had merely imitated Jiraiya's summoned beast using memories he had gathered in the past.

"Again."

Boom!

Crackle, crackle, crackle!

Lightning crackled, Taijutsu clashed, and giant beasts joined the siege.

Swish!

Itachi Uchiha tilted his head back, and a blade grazed past his loose hair, scattering strands into the air.

The Kunai in both his hands shot out. Just as the enemy was about to block them, they collided with each other and attacked from an unexpected angle.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

With this Taijutsu and swordsmanship, they really are Kumogakure ninja? Itachi frowned inwardly as his techniques were easily blocked.

Even with the Sharingan, it would be difficult to win against so many enemies.

He had to think of another way.

His gaze fell on Anko. She was in a rather sorry state as well, with many wounds covering her body.

If not for the unique qualities of her snake-type Secret Technique, the enemy's Lightning Release would likely have already paralyzed half her body.

The enemy force had also grown from six to eleven.

That was because, besides those they had initially sensed, there were five spy ninja hiding within the convoy.

Altogether.

Otherwise, he and Anko should not have been in such a miserable state.

In the distance.

Mitaraishi Anko's Hidden Shadow Snake Hands forced the enemies back. She exchanged a glance with Itachi, then slowly retreated toward the forest behind them according to the rhythm of the battle.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Lightning Release, Shuriken, Kunai...

For a time, the battle was intense.

"Sir, should we go help them?"

After seeing the ninja wearing Konoha forehead protectors lure the enemies away, one of the bearded man's guards spoke up.

If the Konoha ninja failed, they would be next.

The others frowned at his words.

The bearded man was relieved to have been saved, but he was still in a terrible mood. "No. We'll wait here. We can't afford any more losses."

He looked at the devastated ground around them, the several shattered carriages, and the dead guards and servants.

It pained him deeply.

It was all because Konoha had arrived too late.

The other guards quickly chimed in as well. "Right, right, let them fight. We'll act according to the situation."

How much did they even earn in a month? Why risk their lives?

They all looked at the guard who had suggested helping, their eyes filled with dissatisfaction.