Taking an Earth Dragon Bullet Head-On

Gazing at Miya's face, then at the guards falling around him, Kakashi finally nodded for the sake of the mission.

"Yes."

Above all else, the mission came first.

Everything else could wait until the mission was complete.

Although Kakashi didn't know why Miya was here, having him as an ally would undoubtedly make things much easier.

"All right, but remember, you owe me a meal."

Kakashi's pupils instantly contracted.

Miya was so fast that even he couldn't fully track him.

There were no dazzling, flashy techniques. Miya relied on speed and a Rasengan in one hand.

Bang.

A guard was about to die horribly beneath an opposing swordsman's blade when Miya suddenly appeared. Before the guard's horrified eyes, the samurai who had been about to kill him had his head burst like an exploding watermelon, splattering him with red and white matter.

Bang, bang, bang...

Miya's figure flickered past, blowing apart one samurai's head after another.

"Ah..."

Fight over, job done.

Miya appeared beside Kakashi and said to him as he watched him warily:

"Do you need help over there too?"

Miya was referring to Kakashi's instructor and two teammates.

"Ah..."

As soon as Miya finished speaking, the dozen or so wounded guards around them began screaming, still reeling from the shock. The red and white matter splattered over them had shown them Miya's brutal methods.

Actually, Miya didn't want to do it this way either.

But it was the simplest and most effective method.

Steadying himself, Kakashi looked back at Miya and said solemnly:

"Yes."

A smile as bright as sunshine appeared on Miya's face as he held up two fingers.

"Two meals. That makes three altogether."

Kakashi, who only wanted Miya away from his side, nodded numbly.

Then he saw Miya flash away again, vanishing from his side in an instant.

"Phew~~"

Should I be glad Miya isn't an enemy?

This was the first time Kakashi had felt such intense pressure from someone his own age.

The first time he asked Miya to act, Kakashi really had needed help.

The second time, he wanted Miya farther away from his employer. Who knew whether Miya might attack his employer?

Kakashi: I'm just that cautious a ninja.

Konoha Jonin Iwakawa Yunosuke and Genin Taiseki Shutaku and Takeuchi Takashi were locked in a fierce battle with the enemy. Though they hadn't managed to finish them off quickly, the fight was evenly matched.

If Kakashi joined the battle against the enemy now, the outcome would surely be decided soon.

However, Kakashi, who only wanted to keep his employer from dying during the mission and was focused entirely on completing it, wouldn't join the fight so readily.

Not unless he could confirm that his employer was completely safe.

Karubin, a missing-nin from Iwagakure, watched the deadlocked battle, searching constantly for an opening while keeping an eye on the direction where the samurai were attacking.

When he saw Miya suddenly appear and deal with the samurai in an extremely short time, a bad feeling immediately rose in his heart.

"Go!"

Knowing when to make a clean break, Karubin decisively chose to retreat. He had no intention of taking the two subordinates he had recruited with him.

Water Release: Water Blade Slash.

Seeing Karubin distracted, Yunosuke seized the opportunity and unleashed the Water Blade Slash Technique.

The Kunai in his hand was wrapped in a high-pressure stream of water, and he closed in.

Karubin jumped back to evade Yunosuke's attack, observing his surroundings while rapidly forming Hand Seals with both hands.

The instant his feet touched the ground, he completed the Hand Seals.

Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet.

Chakra projectiles spat from the earth dragon's mouth, firing a barrage at Karubin.

Yunosuke reacted swiftly. He slashed with the Kunai in his hand, blocking the first Chakra projectile, then flashed away and immediately dodged the rest.

Just then, Yunosuke seemed to remember something and abruptly looked back.

"Oh no!!!"

Alarm bells rang wildly in Yunosuke's heart. Looking back, he saw that he wasn't Karubin's only target; Shutaku and Takashi were also in the line of fire.

Yunosuke wanted to turn back and save them, but it was already too late.

He couldn't make it in time, but Miya did.

Atomic Chakra Armor.

Bang, bang, bang...

Miya stood in front of the four of them, a layer of Atomic Chakra Armor covering his body, and took Karubin's Earth Dragon Bullet Technique head-on.

"What?"

"What?"

Yunosuke and Karubin both stared at Miya in disbelief.

Behind Miya, Shutaku and Takashi had also broken away from the enemies they were fighting. The two stood side by side, facing opposite directions, solemnly watching Miya and Karubin's two subordinates respectively.

Karubin's two subordinates were still shaken as well. They knew that they had also been among the targets of Karubin's attack just now.

Then the two exchanged a glance and understood each other's intentions.

"Run."

These two subordinates of Karubin truly lived up to being his subordinates: their ability to run away was first-rate.

"Trying to run? Don't even think about it!"

The instant Miya saw the two ninja turn around.

Whoosh.

Miya vanished.

To Miya, these two were worth a meal. He couldn't let them escape.

Bang, bang.

When Miya appeared again, he had pinned both of them facedown on the ground, one in each hand.

"Keep an eye on them..."

Without so much as glancing at Shutaku or Taiseki, Miya gave the instruction and vanished again.

Run, run, run...

Alarm bells rang frantically in Karubin's heart at that moment, and his expression changed abruptly.

"So fast."

Rasengan.

Bang.

Miya's attack turned Karubin into a substitution log.

"Where is he?"

"There!"

Yunosuke was still searching for the hidden Karubin, but Miya had already spotted him.

Concealing himself behind a large tree, Karubin broke out in a cold sweat as he rapidly formed Hand Seals with both hands.

That was close. I almost died just now.

But just as Karubin finished preparing his Ninjutsu and was about to unleash it, he suddenly felt an unusual change in the large tree behind him.

Atomic Big Ball Rasengan.

Facing a Jonin, how could Miya hold back? Finishing off his opponent as quickly as possible was what mattered.

Boom.

Under Miya's attack, a section of the large tree Karubin was leaning against vanished into thin air. Karubin couldn't dodge again in time, and Miya's Atomic Big Ball Rasengan slammed into his back.

"Ah!"

With a scream, Karubin crashed heavily to the ground. His breaths were growing shallow, and he clearly wasn't going to live.

Whoosh.

Yunosuke landed beside Karubin. With a hint of confusion in his eyes, he asked:

"Who are you?"