"It's too late to retreat now."
Uchiha Kaien held the phantom beast in his arms, his tone low and grim.
Based on the beast's sensing, a chakra presence on par with Orochimaru's was now just five hundred meters away.
For a shinobi, five hundred meters could be covered in an instant—especially for someone of that caliber.
The sea of flames created by Kaien's Fire Style was abruptly torn open. From within the smoke and blaze, a figure emerged.
"Wind Blade?"
The Senju jonin immediately recognized the technique—and its wielder.
"An A-rank Wind Release technique. The user... Elder Chiyo of Sunagakure."
"This is bad."
The gap between an elite jonin and someone of Kage-level strength was like a chasm—almost impossible to bridge.
The Senju jonin knew he wasn't a match for Chiyo. But maybe... if it was just for a moment, he could buy them some time.
"Lord Nawaki, Lord Kaien, Lord Minato—I'll try to stall her. You three need to fall back immediately!"
His duty had always been to protect Nawaki. And now, it was time to fulfill that duty.
"If we try to run, we might not make it out at all," Kaien replied. "Better to hold out until Orochimaru-sensei arrives!"
He licked his lips. In his Sharingan—three tomoe spinning in his scarlet eyes—an old, bloodthirsty gleam had returned.
Chiyo... a master of Puppet Technique. Said to have reached its very peak. She could control ten puppets at once—enough to breach a fortress with sheer force.
But puppet techniques had an inherent weakness—the chakra threads. And fortunately, their side had more than a few speed-type shinobi.
"No matter how strong her puppets are, she still needs chakra threads to control them, right, Senju-san?"
Kaien's voice was calm as he spoke, already recalling everything he knew about Chiyo and assessing the strength of their own side.
If the others weren't here, he might've been tempted to take her on solo.
Strength breeds confidence—and Kaien had strength to spare.
And if things went south... he still had that trump card to fall back on.
Even if using it would complicate things later...
"Yes," the Senju jonin nodded. "That's a flaw puppet users can't overcome."
"Then we've got a shot. Both Minato and I are speed-types—we're naturally suited to counter her style. And judging by that Fire Style I used earlier... I should be at least on par with a jonin, right?"
"You're being modest, Lord Kaien. Even I wouldn't be confident facing that fire jutsu head-on."
The jonin's expression eased slightly. Just from Kaien's fire jutsu alone, he was clearly of elite jonin level. And with those three-tomoe Sharingan...
Maybe—just maybe—they really could last until reinforcements arrived.
"I've got a bit of speed on my side too," Minato added, his eyes burning with determination. "Senju-san, let's fight together!"
He was swept up in Kaien's fighting spirit. Their opponent was a veteran on par with Jiraiya-sensei—but their side had strength too. With a versatile Senju jonin leading, and tight teamwork between him and Kaien, they wouldn't go down easily.
Besides...
"I've spent two years perfecting my explosive tags. This is the perfect time to put them to use. And as the older student... I can't just run away."
"Anyone aiming to be Hokage can't afford to abandon their comrades."
Nawaki unsealed a huge batch of explosive tags from his summoning scroll, his hands practically itching for action. Faced with a high-level enemy like this, he was more than ready to go all out.
Explosive tags were deadly across all ranks of shinobi.
He immediately began setting traps, while hurling a barrage of kunai at Chiyo—each one laced with special Senju explosive tags.
But Chiyo's reaction was lightning-fast. Without even summoning a puppet, she formed hand seals and unleashed a sharp gust—Wind Blade—slicing the kunai and tags out of the air in one sweeping motion.
Kaien and Minato exchanged a glance, then dashed toward Chiyo in unison, hoping to interrupt her before she could bring out her puppets.
"Fire Style: Majestic Flame Dragon!"
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!"
Wind and fire fused into a deadly combined jutsu. A fierce wave of fire surged forward, a dragon's head made of flame howling as it tore through the air toward Chiyo.
"Hmph. A combo jutsu?"
Chiyo didn't flinch. She slowly raised her arm. Her fingers, once nimble and smooth, twisted into mechanical shapes—fan-like blades extending from each digit.
A translucent barrier formed before her, shielding her from the incoming inferno.
"Puppet arm?!"
Minato was briefly stunned by the transformation.
"Minato!"
Kaien's sharp voice snapped him back to focus, and the two charged straight into close combat with Chiyo.
Kaien had already recalled most of the intel on her—including her use of this particular defensive technique.
He had never expected to win the fight with just elemental ninjutsu.
"Don't let her summon her puppets!"
"Got it!"
With Nawaki and the Senju jonin covering them, Kaien and Minato closed the gap. Less than ten meters now—and still, Chiyo hadn't managed to pull out a puppet scroll.
"Tch... underestimated them. Didn't think these little brats would be so troublesome. Uchiha... and Senju?"
In Chiyo's mind, there were only three clans whose children could produce chakra of this caliber at such a young age—Uchiha, Senju, and Uzumaki.
And the red-haired Uzumaki were easy to identify. That meant the blond kid had to be Senju.
"Well, well... an Uchiha and a Senju, working together to take me down?"
She chuckled to herself, unfazed. Hiruzen Sarutobi wasn't the only one still in his prime. Chiyo, too, was in peak form.
Her sharp taijutsu skills were the reason she didn't immediately summon her puppets.
"Uchiha and Senju?" Minato echoed, but brushed the comment off. He assumed Chiyo was talking about Kaien and Nawaki.
Because of that assumption, he didn't realize—Chiyo had just identified him as Senju.
At that moment, Kaien and Minato reached her—and the real fight began.
They clashed in a fierce taijutsu exchange. With his Sharingan's enhanced perception, Kaien's every movement was sharp and elegant—like a deadly dance. The Uchiha-style taijutsu flowed smoothly, every strike precise and dangerous.
Minato backed him up with a solid stance, using a ninja blade to block, counter, and cover Kaien's openings. Having trained under Hatake Sakumo, his blade work was anything but amateur.
The two coordinated seamlessly, and the battle reached a stalemate. Meanwhile, Nawaki and the Senju jonin launched a signal flare, then began shaping the battlefield—preparing it for a final trap meant to bring down Chiyo once and for all.
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Pls Drop some Power Stones
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