The Elder was gravely wounded, and Yūto awakened three tomoe

Yūto poured chakra into his legs and charged into the enemy ranks, driving a chakra-cloaked fist straight at a Kumogakure jonin's face.

The jonin sneered and sidestepped, swinging back with a Lightning Release Hand Blade. Yūto's Sharingan spun furiously as he ducked beneath it and hurled three Phoenix Flower Fire shots.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The fireballs burst against the enemy's chest, but only scorched his armor.

The Kumogakure jonin had used Lightning Release Armor to bolster his defense.

"That's it?"

The Kumogakure jonin wiped away some soot, then suddenly erupted with lightning.

Before Yūto could make out his movements, a knee slammed into his abdomen and sent him flying backward.

He twisted at the waist in midair and flipped over, landing with the sweet, metallic taste of blood in his throat.

That packed a punch!

Two more hits like that would definitely finish me off!

Yūto turned toward the Elder, who was being surrounded and attacked by three jonin.

The old man's hands flew through seals, and a Great Fire Dragon roared forth, forcing the enemies to retreat again and again.

Suddenly, a scene from sixty years ago flashed before his eyes. Back on the battlefields of the Warring States Period, he had used Fire Release just like this to drive back the Senju Clan members surrounding him.

But before the memory could finish, Dodai's Lava Release: Rubber Wall surged out of the ground, its scalding liquid rubber nearly engulfing his legs.

"What are you spacing out for, you old bastard!"

Shaking his arm, which had gone numb from Lightning Release, Yūto rushed to the rescue, scattering Phoenix Flower Fire shots as though they cost nothing.

But the five enemy jonin worked together far too well. Three used Lightning Release: Lightning Snake to cut off their movements, while the other two closed in directly for the kill.

The Elder had just used the Substitution Technique to escape the surprise Lava Release attack when he turned and saw a Lightning Release Whip Kick send Yūto flying backward, coughing blood.

Dodai stood atop a raised rubber platform formed by Lava Release and sneered. "You still have a chance to surrender."

Breathing heavily, the Elder glared around him. The four jonin's Lightning Release chakra crackled in the rain, while Dodai's Lava Release slowly encircled the battlefield.

The old man suddenly realized that the Fire Release he took such pride in had been completely suppressed by the rain and Lightning Release.

Yūto lay in a puddle, coughing blood, and smiled bitterly to himself. It's a sure thing now...

But when he caught sight of the Elder's trembling hands, he suddenly noticed that the old man's right leg had been burned by Lava Release at some point.

The Kumogakure jonin closed in with sneers, lightning dancing over their kunai. This time, master and student would probably meet their end here.

Yūto suddenly sprang out of the puddle, his Two-Tomoe Sharingan spinning madly as his hands rapidly formed seals. "Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Claw Crimson!"

Dozens of shuriken wrapped in fireballs shot toward the four Kumogakure jonin like a torrential downpour.

Amid bursts of lightning, two jonin dodged with Lightning Body Flicker, while the other two activated Lightning Release Armor and took the attack head-on. Sparks scattered, accompanied by the smell of scorching.

Seizing the opening, the Elder bit his finger. His aged body burst into astonishing speed, and he smashed an elbow into the One-Eyed Jonin's throat.

As his opponent dropped to his knees with bulging eyes, the old man's hands had already become blurs. "Fire Release: Great Flame Flower!"

Three fire tornadoes struck Dodai's raised rubber platform in a triangular formation. The Lava Release: Rubber Wall sizzled under the flames, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning rubber.

Watching the battlefield before him, the Elder suddenly recalled another battle from the Warring States Period, though he did not know why.

In the rain sixty years ago, the Elder, still a youth, had been driven into a desperate corner by three Senju ninja.

Madara Uchiha's Gunbai had swept through the Senju, saving him like a god.

The image of that figure's back, blocking every kunai like a mountain, now overlapped with Yūto's bloodstained back before him.

"Get back, you brat!"

The Elder suddenly roared. Dodai's Lava Release had seeped out from underground and formed an encircling net.

Yet Yūto met the slashing lightning blade with a savage grin, deliberately letting it pierce his shoulder blade so he could slap an explosive tag onto his opponent's chest.

Boom!

The blast flung both of them away. Yūto struck a rock wall and spat blood, only to see another jonin's Lightning Tiger Massacre already lunging toward him.

At the critical moment, the Elder used the Body Flicker Technique to knock Yūto aside, only to be engulfed by lightning himself.

"Old man!"

Yūto watched with eyes stretched wide as blood burst from the old man's back.

Dodai seized the opening to unleash Lava Release, and scalding liquid rubber coiled around the Elder's legs like a giant python.

"Go!"

Roaring, the Elder formed the ram seal and spewed towering flames from his mouth.

This was the suicidal way of fighting he had learned from Yūto. The flames kept rebounding onto the Elder himself.

Yūto struggled to rise from the pool of blood, rainwater mingling with blood as it dripped from his chin.

He looked up. Half the Elder's body had been charred black by Fire Release, yet he was still bellowing, "Get out of here, you brat! The Uchiha's... spark..."

With every word, fresh blood welled from the corner of his mouth.

The corpses of two Kumogakure jonin lay nearby, their bodies charred black, burned to death by the Elder's final Great Fire Annihilation.

But three enemies still remained, and Dodai's Lava Release had completely sealed off their escape route.

Yūto suddenly wanted to laugh.

He had once longed so desperately to die in battle, yet now, seeing the Elder on the verge of death, he felt as though senbon were piercing his chest.

Rain struck his eyelids. The instant he closed his eyes, everything he had experienced during this time flashed through his mind.

The Elder teaching him taijutsu, taking a blade for him on the battlefield, the hands that had trembled when he kicked him away just now...

When he opened his eyes again, three tomoe spun wildly amid the bloody rain.

At least... I have to make them die with him!

Chakra rampaged through his meridians as Yūto charged willingly toward death for the first time.

But not to go home. This time, it was to avenge this stubborn old man.

Yūto's Sharingan flared red through the curtain of rain, its three tomoe spinning rapidly.

The chakra within him changed to lightning nature. Blue-white electricity burst across his body, and his speed instantly surged.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Body Flicker!"

He shot forward in a blur. Before the one-armed Kumogakure jonin could react, Yūto's lightning-cloaked kunai had pierced his throat.

Blood sprayed into the rain, but Yūto did not pause. Turning, he swept a Lightning Release Whip Kick toward another jonin.

His opponent hastily raised his Lightning Release Armor to block, but the tremendous force still blasted him several meters back, plowing a deep furrow through the ground.

"Fire Release: Great Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Yūto's roar came from behind. This was a ninjutsu he had seen someone else use before. Now that he had three tomoe, he could copy it.

Three fire dragons intertwined into a net, forcing back Dodai as he attempted a surprise attack.

The rubber wall formed by Lava Release warped under the flames. Dodai sneered and formed hand seals. "Lava Release: Rubber Ball!"

A scalding rubber ball shot toward Yūto like a cannonball.

Yūto evaded it with the Substitution Technique. The ground where he had stood was melted into a scorched pit.

The instant he dodged, he seized the chance to launch a surprise attack on the last jonin, Lightning Release chakra crackling around his fist.

But his opponent grinned savagely and caught his wrist with a backhanded grab. "Boy, you haven't mastered that move yet!"

Lightning surged through Yūto's meridians and into his body. Agony drove him to his knees.

The jonin raised his lightning blade high and slashed down. "Die!"

At the critical moment, Yūto used his Sharingan to copy his opponent's Lightning Release Conducting Technique and channeled the electricity into the ground.

At the same time, he planted his left hand on the ground and swept his right leg at the jonin's knee like a battle-ax.

Crack.

With the sound of breaking bone, the jonin screamed and lost his balance.

Yūto surged upward, shattering his throat with an elbow strike. Blood sprayed through his opponent's teeth onto his face.

"The third..." Yūto turned, panting, only to see a massive wave of Dodai's Lava Release bearing down on him, blotting out the sky.

Though gravely wounded, the last jonin was not dead, and he worked with Dodai to block Yūto from the flank.

Rubber and lightning intertwined into a cage of death. Standing before the Elder, Yūto slowly closed his eyes.

"Old man, I probably won't be able to avenge you..."

Just then, a Flying Thunder God Kunai shot into the battlefield.

Minato arrived, though not quite in time.