"Who gave you the courage?"
An icy, indifferent voice, devoid of any human emotion, drifted from the center of the enormous, glassy crater.
The voice was quiet, yet it struck everyone's heart like an invisible iron hammer, instantly turning the tense atmosphere eerie.
Meizu of the Demon Brothers, the man with bandages wrapped around his face and a vicious look in his eyes, slowly turned toward the source of the voice.
He saw the black-haired boy standing in the center of the enormous crater, Shengu Xuan.
There was not the slightest fluctuation of chakra coming from the boy. He looked like an ordinary person too weak to truss a chicken, even more harmless than the pink-haired girl trembling in terror nearby.
"Hah?" Meizu scoffed, as though he had heard the funniest joke imaginable. "Brat, who said you could speak here? If you don't want to die, get out of the way and go cry somewhere!"
His partner Gozu licked his venom-coated claw blades and let out a strange, cackling laugh. "Brother, don't waste your breath on a brat like that. Taking out Kakashi, then bringing back that Jinchūriki and the Uchiha brat will earn us plenty of credit. As for this ordinary brat... we can just tear him apart as an appetizer."
Their conversation was filled with disregard for life and absolute confidence in their own strength. In their eyes, of Team 7 before them, only Kakashi Hatake would be somewhat troublesome. The other three brats were merely lambs awaiting slaughter.
In particular, they had placed the fellow standing at the bottom of the crater, without even any chakra, squarely in the category of "ants."
They had never stopped to consider how the terrifying crater beneath their feet, fifty meters in diameter with its edges still glowing red, had come into existence. Perhaps they thought it was simply part of the terrain, or a trace left by some large-scale Earth Release ninjutsu.
Ignorance made them fearless.
"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto Uzumaki, however, was unusually excited. He scrambled up from the ground, pointed at the Demon Brothers, and shouted, "Finally, some decent enemies! Let me go first! I'll send them flying with the ninjutsu I've been practicing!"
"Naruto, don't rush in!" Kakashi stopped him with a sharp shout, his expression utterly grave.
His lone eye remained fixed on the Demon Brothers, the muscles of his back completely taut.
Chunin!
And rogue ninja from Kirigakure's Bloody Mist Village at that. Ninja like these were known for their cruelty and expertise in assassination. Every one of them was far beyond an ordinary Chunin. Worse still, there were two of them, working in perfect coordination. The chains and claw blades on their arms were clearly powerful weapons for fighting together.
Even for him, facing two enemies like these while protecting three students would undoubtedly be a grueling battle. The slightest mistake could lead to casualties!
"Sasuke, Sakura, keep yourselves safe and be ready to provide support!" Kakashi lowered his voice and rapidly issued instructions. At the same time, he reached for his forehead protector, preparing to lift it and unleash that scarlet Sharingan.
He would have to give this battle everything he had from the very start!
Sasuke did not reply, but he already had a kunai held between his fingers, his dark eyes shifting between the Demon Brothers and Shengu Xuan. He felt neither Naruto's hot-blooded excitement nor Kakashi's tension. Instead, he was filled with a certain morbid anticipation.
He wanted to see.
He wanted to see what Shengu Xuan would do when facing real enemies who killed for a living.
Would he display that godlike power again, as he had before? Or would those strange abilities of his be different in a real fight to the death?
Sakura had already hidden behind Sasuke in terror, her little face deathly pale. She clutched the hem of his clothes, not even daring to breathe loudly.
"Oh? The Copy Ninja, Kakashi Hatake, is actually getting nervous?" Meizu noticed Kakashi's movement, and the mockery on his face deepened. "Looks like the rumors are true. You really do care about these useless little teammates of yours. That really is... your greatest weakness!"
Before he finished speaking, Gozu moved!
With a swish, his figure vanished from where he stood. Like a venomous snake striking its prey, he used the swing of the chain to lunge from an exceptionally tricky angle straight at Team 7's weakest link-Sakura, hiding behind Sasuke!
"I'll start with the weakest girl!" Gozu's strange laughter echoed through the air.
"Sakura!" Naruto cried out.
No! Kakashi's pupil contracted sharply. He had not expected such decisive brutality from his opponent, who showed no sense of fair play whatsoever and immediately attacked the person least capable of resisting!
He was just about to use the Body Flicker Technique to rescue her, but Meizu had already anticipated his move. The chain in his hand whipped out with a clatter, like an enormous steel python, precisely blocking every route Kakashi could take to her aid!
"Your opponent is me, Kakashi!" Meizu sneered.
In that split second, Gozu's claw blades, gleaming with purple poison, were already right in front of Sakura!
The terrifying claws grew larger in Sakura's pupils, reflected alongside her opponent's savage grin. Her mind went blank, and her body was so stiff that she could not even scream.
It's over... I'm going to die...
Sasuke's Sharingan spun furiously. He reacted immediately, turning sideways to pull Sakura back while raising his kunai to block!
Clang!
A piercing metallic clash rang out!
Sasuke felt an enormous force slam through his arm, sending him stumbling backward. The web of his hand split open instantly, blood streaming out!
"Oh? Not a bad reaction, Uchiha brat." When his first strike failed, Gozu used the force to flip through the air and landed steadily, looking at Sasuke with mockery. "Too bad you're so weak. Next time, I'll gouge out your Sharingan too!"
Sasuke gritted his teeth, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. He stared fixedly at Gozu, his eyes filled with humiliation and defiance.
So this was... the strength of a Chunin?
He had barely been able to withstand even a single blow!
Meanwhile, Kakashi was also entangled in Meizu's chain, unable to break free for the moment. Naruto's attacks could not get anywhere near Gozu, who toyed with him and ran him in circles.
In just a few seconds, they had fallen into an utterly disadvantageous position.
Team 7 was in imminent danger!
Yet, from beginning to end, one person had not even changed his stance.
Shengu Xuan still stood quietly in the center of the enormous crater, as though the fierce battle before him were merely a farce that had nothing to do with him.
As he watched his suppressed teammates and the Demon Brothers' smug, savage grins, a trace of... impatience finally flashed through his dark eyes.
"What... noisy bugs."
He slowly raised his right hand, the very hand that had just reduced the entire stretch of ground to dust.
"Since you're in such a hurry to die, I'll grant your wish."
Shengu Xuan's voice was soft, yet it reached the ears of everyone present with perfect clarity.
"Hmm?" Gozu was about to attack again, but his movement paused at those words. He looked back at Shengu Xuan disdainfully. "Brat, what did you just say?"
Meizu also spared him a glance and scoffed. "Still spouting nonsense when you're about to die."
Kakashi's heart tightened. He did not know what Shengu Xuan intended to do, but that searing heat that made his heart pound with dread was beginning to emanate from Shengu Xuan again.
Was he going to... use that move again, right here?!
That power could vaporize the Demon Brothers along with this entire area, but Naruto and the others would have no chance of escaping it either!
"Shengu Xuan! Don't do anything reckless!" Kakashi shouted urgently.
But Shengu Xuan paid no attention to anyone.
He merely aimed the palm of his raised right hand at the grinning Gozu, then slowly spread his fingers.
Scarlet energy, filled with an aura of destruction and explosive force, gathered in his palm like a miniature sun.
An ancient, mysterious totem of a coiled divine dragon flickered into view on his arm.
"This is..." The smile on Gozu's face instantly froze. Instinctively, he sensed a terrifying danger powerful enough to freeze his very soul!
He wanted to dodge!
He wanted to flee!
But his body seemed pinned beneath an invisible mountain. He could not move even a single finger!
It was absolute suppression stemming from a difference in the level of their very existence!
"Farewell, you stinking bug."
The few words slipped softly from Shengu Xuan's lips.
In his palm, the red energy condensed to its utmost limit did not erupt as Kakashi had feared.
Instead...
"What... ninjutsu is this?" Gozu mustered every ounce of his strength to force the words from his throat, his eyes filled with endless terror and bewilderment.
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