Explosive Device

Numbing agony instantly swept through all four of them. Their bodies stiffened in unison, their hand seals stopped short, and the chakra throughout their bodies fell into complete disarray, its flow sluggish and obstructed.

Seizing the opening, Kakashi planted his foot.

He immediately used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the spot.

After Kakashi flickered away, a sea of flames crashed down from above.

Obito Uchiha's Fire Release had arrived.

Crimson waves of fire filled the sky, instantly engulfing the four immobilized Sunagakure Chunin along with the Black Ant puppet lying disabled on the ground.

"You've got to be kidding!!"

Watching his companions vanish into the flames, the Sunagakure Shinobi puppeteer’s eyes filled with shock. He raised a hand and unfurled a scroll, just about to summon more puppets to rescue his teammates.

Squelch!!

Blood splattered. A bloody hole suddenly opened straight through the Sunagakure Shinobi puppeteer’s abdomen, but the shape outlined by the blood revealed that an invisible claw had pierced him.

"What... is this?"

The scroll fell from his hand. He lowered his head to look at the bloody hole in his chest, confusion in his eyes.

He didn't understand. All three enemies were clearly in front of him, so where had this invisible monster come from?

"Hahaha, it's Rin-chan's Moon Oni!! So awesome, so awesome!!"

In the distance, Obito Uchiha's boisterous laughter supplied the answer.

"Damn it!! Damn it!!"

Seeing his companions subdued or killed all at once, the remaining Sunagakure Shinobi’s eyes filled with murderous intent.

The Sunagakure Shinobi Chunin glared viciously at Kakashi. He raised a hand, and a black diamond-shaped block appeared in his grasp.

"Then... die with us!"

He raised his hands and formed seals!

At once, a black diamond-shaped block rose from each spot where the other Sunagakure Shinobi had died.

As the Sunagakure Chunin formed hand seals, white light flashed across all the diamond-shaped blocks at once.

"Explosive Devices, avenge us!!"

The Sunagakure ninja roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"Oh no! Idiot! Stop celebrating! Get Rin out of the way!"

Seeing the black diamond-shaped blocks rise, Kakashi Hatake was the first to realize something was wrong. He immediately flickered backward, shouting at Obito Uchiha, who was still praising Rin Nohara nearby.

"Huh?"

Obito Uchiha turned to look at his words, a trace of confusion flashing through his eyes as he saw the Explosive Devices glowing white.

Why did they need to dodge a few little black blocks?

Still, since Kakashi was so nervous and had told him to take Rin, he naturally couldn't stay where he was.

Though his mind hadn't caught up yet, his body had already grabbed Rin Nohara's wrist and sprinted into the distance.

"You... can't escape. These Explosive Devices are artifacts crafted by Lord Ebizo!!! Even a Jonin couldn't withstand their power!!! And there's no way you can get out of their blast radius. Hahahahahaha, die with me!!"

Watching Team 7's trio rapidly retreat, the Sunagakure Shinobi Chunin's face became hideously twisted.

But in the next instant, just as the six Explosive Devices were about to explode...

Hum!

With a hum, six sealing formulas unfolded out of thin air, instantly enveloping all six Explosive Devices before vanishing into thin air.

Immediately afterward, a blond figure appeared before the Sunagakure Shinobi Chunin.

"Sorry, but I can't let you use ninja tools that powerful against my dear subordinates."

Minato Namikaze smiled as he spoke to the Sunagakure Chunin before him.

The next moment, a blade of wind silently sliced through the Sunagakure Chunin's neck. Without even a bloody mark appearing, the Sunagakure Chunin before him stopped breathing.

"Minato-sensei!" ×2

Rin Nohara and Obito Uchiha shouted excitedly at the sight of Minato Namikaze.

"Yep, I didn't lie to you, did I? I've been watching you the whole time."

Minato Namikaze smiled at the three of them.

"So, Gen, you've been watching for quite a while. What did you think?"

After speaking, Minato Namikaze raised his hands and formed seals, sealing away every corpse on the ground before turning toward a nearby clump of trees.

"??? Gen?? The Gen I know?"

"Uchiha... Gen... when did he... I didn't sense him at all..."

"Huh?? There's someone nearby?"

Hearing Minato Namikaze suddenly say that, all three members of Team 7 looked in the direction he was facing.

"Good afternoon, everyone."

Under the four's gazes, Uchiha Gen appeared on a thick tree branch.

Uchiha Gen had arrived the moment Team 7 began fighting.

During that time, he had witnessed Minato Namikaze plant a Flying Thunder God Mark on someone out of thin air, deploy sealing formulas directly in empty space without any medium, and... use a Flying Thunder God Technique that very likely allowed spatial transportation without placing a mark beforehand.

As for Kakashi and Obito Uchiha's performances, Uchiha Gen considered them within the bounds of "normal."

But Rin Nohara's summoned creature...

He hadn't paid it any attention before, merely assuming it was some special summoned creature, like a chameleon, that could turn invisible by changing its body.

Now, however, in the sight of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan, that summoned creature was nothing but a living mass of Yin Release Chakra.

Something that bizarre... was downright surreal.

Because, as far as Uchiha Gen knew, living chakra in the Shinobi World was either some peculiar monster or... a tailed beast.

Whichever of the two it was, its presence in a Genin's hands was particularly strange. And it had no clear origin, either.

According to Obito Uchiha, even Rin Nohara herself didn't know how it had appeared.

"What are you doing here?"

Watching Uchiha Gen greet them, Kakashi frowned and asked quietly.

Since Uchiha Gen was here, didn't that mean he had also seen Kakashi fleeing so disgracefully just now?

"Gen!"

Unlike Kakashi, who was agonizing over embarrassing himself in front of Uchiha Gen, Obito Uchiha had already hurried over the instant he saw him, greeting him cheerfully.

"Huh? Why did you come alone, Gen? Where are Kurenai and the others?"

Rin Nohara looked behind Uchiha Gen. Seeing that he was alone, she couldn't help asking in confusion.

"Them? They're with Shibi-sensei, carrying out the same mission as you."

Uchiha Gen shrugged at her words and answered Rin Nohara's question.

"Huh?? What about you, then? You... you didn't desert, did you?!!!"

Obito Uchiha froze at his words, then rubbed his chin before blurting out in surprise.

"...Kakashi calling you an idiot is actually giving you too much credit."

Uchiha Gen rolled his eyes at his words.