Once again disguised as a nurse, Kiyosuke had spent a few more days working in the Kirigakure Hospital. He noticed that the number of injured had been steadily increasing lately. It looked like war had broken out again—and this time, it was on a massive scale.
There were more maimed and mutilated bodies than he could count. Dealing with their wounds every day was exhausting.
But he never considered killing them. With missing limbs, these shinobi's careers were essentially over. Especially those who lost arms—without hands to form seals, their combat ability was drastically reduced. Not everyone was strong enough to form one-handed seals, much less cast jutsu without any seals at all. Unsealed jutsu weren't exactly cheap.
These people posed no threat to him.
During this time, Kiyosuke sent a corpse from the Kaguya clan to Orochimaru. He didn't have much choice—resources were limited, and the flamboyant Yuki clan was too troublesome to touch.
While he was still working in the hospital, two members of the Kirigakure ANBU approached from down the corridor.
He narrowed his eyes. He hadn't seen these guys around here for days. Their sudden appearance couldn't be good news.
Sure enough, the two stopped in front of him and said,
"Come with us."
"Of course," he replied with a smile.
They flanked him, one in front, one in back, escorting him out of the hospital.
As they reached the intersection just outside, Kiyosuke's expression darkened. With a sinister grin, he suddenly punched the ANBU in front of him square in the back. Flames exploded on impact, engulfing the man like a human torch.
The ANBU behind him was stunned and immediately drew his sword, slashing down—but the blade cut clean through Kiyosuke's body as if it were air, leaving only a diagonal trail of fire across his chest.
Kiyosuke spun around and slammed a punch into the second ANBU's mask, shattering it with such force that it crumbled to pieces. Knowing he was exposed, he didn't dare linger.
He had to get out—now.
The commotion quickly drew attention. When others saw Kiyosuke attacking someone in broad daylight, they rushed in to intervene.
"Fire Fist!"
He hurled a blazing punch down the street, flames erupting in its wake. Then he leapt into the inferno, his entire body becoming a torrent of fire as he charged through it like a missile.
Suddenly, a figure appeared above the flames.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
A wall of water rose up in front of him, forcing Kiyosuke to halt his advance.
The one blocking him was Karatachi Yagura. In his hands was a thick coral club, its hooked head decorated with a tiny green flower.
"You can't do as you please here, Asakawa Kiyosuke," Yagura said coldly.
"Out of my way, baby-face!"
Flames surged in his hands, and he hurled two flaming spears straight at Yagura.
Yagura smashed the spears apart with his coral club. While he was occupied, Kiyosuke darted past him and made a break for it.
He was fully exposed now. He didn't know how it happened, but one thing was clear—he couldn't stay here anymore.
He had to run.
Activating his elemental form, his body grew lighter and faster. Flames erupted beneath his feet like rocket boosters, propelling him into the sky.
This state couldn't last long—it burned through his chakra at an accelerated rate—but it was fast enough.
But flying like that was like sending up a flare.
Almost instantly, a squad of Kirigakure shinobi began pursuit.
"Catch him! He's Orochimaru's disciple! We can't let him escape!"
"If we capture him, Orochimaru will be forced to back down! He won't dare start a war with us!"
"He's a valuable bargaining chip!"
Voices shouted behind him, but Kiyosuke didn't listen. He flew straight toward the newly rebuilt gates of Kirigakure.
The gate: mmp!
"Stop him!"
More than a hundred shinobi had already gathered at the entrance.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
"..."
Over a dozen shinobi cast the jutsu at once, creating a towering water barrier to block his path.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Water Style: Great Waterfall Technique!"
"Water Style: Water Trumpet Technique!"
A barrage of offensive water jutsu, along with countless kunai and shuriken, rained down on him.
Kiyosuke crossed his arms, fingers interlocked, and held his hands in front of his chest. Then he exhaled.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
It was a unique seal formation—an improved version of the Water Formation Wall refined by the Second Hokage himself. A massive wall of water rose up and blocked the entire assault. The tradeoff was a steep price in chakra.
"As expected, Tobirama's water techniques aren't something just anyone can use."
Senju Tobirama's Water Style was extremely powerful, but also extremely chakra-intensive. Only those with chakra reserves as vast as the Senju clan could truly wield it.
"What the hell? How can his Water Formation Wall be so strong?"
"Are we even using the same jutsu?"
"No way! This is impossible!"
The Kirigakure shinobi who had used the Water Formation Wall earlier were stunned. None of them could create that kind of defense.
If they ever learned that Kiyosuke's specialty was fire, they might just lose their minds.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet!"
He didn't stop moving—another roaring water dragon surged forward, crashing into the crowd and wreaking havoc. The chaos forced the enemy to defend, buying Kiyosuke precious seconds.
"ROAR OF THE FIRE DRAGON!!!"
A colossal pillar of flame erupted from his mouth, blasting a massive hole through the enemy's formation.
"Hot! It burns!"
"Help! I'm dying!"
"I don't want to die yet—I haven't even proposed!"
"I was gonna get married after this war!"
Kiyosuke bolted.
In every shinobi village, breaching the barrier from the inside was nearly impossible. That meant the only way out—was through the front gate.
"After him!"
Karatachi Yagura was hot on his heels, followed closely by Ao, Terumi Mei, and a shark-faced man carrying a massive sword on his back—the Samehada.
Its wielder had finally shown up.
Hoshigaki Kisame!
"We absolutely cannot let this bastard escape!" Terumi Mei growled. She would never let him off the hook.
Ao followed behind, activating his Byakugan to lock onto Kiyosuke.
"He's about a thousand meters ahead. Move it, everyone! We can't let him get away!"
"Ao-san's ability really is convenient. A thousand meters, huh? Let's go!" Kisame laughed.
Even with the Samehada on his back, Kisame was still fast. The whole team picked up speed, and behind them surged a horde of Kirigakure shinobi.
Their gates had been blown up. Konoha shinobi had come and trampled them at their front door.
How could they possibly tolerate that?
Even shinobi had limits to their patience.
"These damn ghosts... who the hell leaked my identity?!"
He had only ever reported his movements to Orochimaru. Which meant someone had stolen a secret letter from Orochimaru's side.
There was a traitor in the village.
"Damn it. I'll settle this score later."
Right now—he needed to survive!
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