It actually made sense when you thought about it. During a search, more people were better—especially since most of the strong survivors from the Uzumaki clan had already perished. So assigning one tokubetsu jonin to lead a team was the logical choice.
The Kirigakure shinobi from earlier must have been their squad leader. They had split up, and once those three genin encountered the enemy and realized they couldn't handle them, they naturally needed to notify their teacher, which explained the signal flare.
When Shiyu Uchiha arrived, he saw two Kirigakure shinobi attacking Izuno Hiroshi and Saya fiercely. The last Kirigakure shinobi fought Gekko Ryo alone. His two teammates and Saya were holding their own against the enemy.
As for the few from the Uzumaki clan, only the oldest remained—a girl clutching a kunai. She looked exhausted, staring at the five people and one cat on the battlefield. Desperation still flickered in her eyes. She stood—but only out of duty, as she was the eldest among the four, though barely ten years old herself.
Fortunately, the special jonin among the Kirigakure ninjas had already been killed by Shiyu Uchiha, so there was no need to worry about reinforcements. Still, to avoid any unexpected trouble, Shiyu wanted to end things quickly.
Before the other Kirigakure shinobi could react, he decided to withdraw immediately and return to the Land of Fire. Carrying extra baggage now would only slow them down. His body still couldn't take more than a few hits.
But Shiyu didn't charge recklessly ahead. Instead, he used the Transformation Jutsu to disguise himself as the special jonin he had just killed. He assumed this person was probably the team leader of those three genin. Even if that wasn't exactly right, pretending to be a Kirigakure ninja would lower the trio's guard. Shiyu only needed one moment.
Though simple, the plan worked perfectly. The inexperienced Kirigakure genin didn't realize what was happening and thought their teacher had come to assist. Even Shiyu's two teammates were momentarily startled.
Izuno Hiroshi desperately tried to create an opening so Gekko Ryo could escape. As for Gekko Ryo herself, she was ready to fight to the death—something she had long accepted as a kunoichi. Meanwhile, the four Uzumaki children had grown numb, their eyes filled with complete despair, certain they were doomed.
In contrast, the three Kirigakure shinobi grew more cautious in their attacks. Only Saya, Shiyu Uchiha's summoned beast, looked slightly suspicious.
Then, under everyone's stunned gazes, Shiyu used shuriken in combination with his sword techniques, ambushing and killing one of those surrounding Izuno Hiroshi. Together, the two swiftly eliminated another opponent. But the last one managed to break free from Gekko Ryo's grasp at the cost of injury, trying to flee. Prepared for this, Shiyu launched a surprise attack using [Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique], instantly turning the escaping ninja into a pile of scorched remains.
Shiyu stopped Gekko Ryo from chasing further, then the trio took the four Uzumaki children and quickly retreated. As always, Saya led the way ahead.
They had just started walking when Shiyu Uchiha and Saya sensed someone approaching, and the pursuer's strength was formidable. Several attempts to shake off the follower only drew them closer. Reluctantly, they set the children down and let the oldest girl lead the younger ones into hiding. Then, they signaled Ryo Gekko and Izuno Hiroshi to act as the situation demanded. Meanwhile, Saya was subtly instructed to send another distress signal to Konoha while also protecting the surviving members of the Whirlpool clan. Finally, they stepped forward to face the enemy head-on.
The moment Shiyu Uchiha saw the enemy, his heart sank. To his dismay, it turned out to be an Anbu from Kirigakure. Just by sensing the enemy's aura, Shiyu knew that this opponent was no weaker than the Kirigakure ninja he had just killed—possibly even stronger.
Moreover, Shiyu wasn't at full strength, while the enemy remained completely unscathed. With such a shift in power balance, even if all three humans and one cat worked together, victory would be difficult.
Still, at this point, Shiyu had resolved himself to fight with everything he had. First, he checked his remaining chakra reserves. At the moment, he had slightly more than half of his maximum capacity.
He'd regained some along the way, but fighting those three Kiri genin had cost him. Overall, he recovered only a little. Therefore, instead of starting with the Great Fireball Technique, Shiyu decided to test the enemy first by throwing some shuriken.
Even with all three—Shiyu and his two teammates—throwing shuriken together, it was hard to have any real effect against an experienced Tokubetsu Jonin. The Kiri Anbu immediately blocked the projectiles using [Water Release: Water Wall], then retaliated with [Water Release: Water Gun Technique], forcing Ryo Gekko and Izuno Hiroshi to scatter in panic.
Thankfully, the two of them were no pushovers. If it weren't for insufficient chakra, they could already be Chunin. Their short bursts of power were just as strong as those of an average Chunin.
Only Shiyu Uchiha easily dodged the attack thanks to the Insight granted by his Sharingan. He seized the chance and fired the [Phoenix Sage Fire Technique], interrupting the Kiri ninja's [Water Release: Water Gun Technique] and forcing them into a series of evasions, exposing a critical opening for Izuno Hiroshi and Ryo Gekko to strike.
His two highly coordinated teammates didn't disappoint. They seized the opportunity Shiyu created for them. Izuno Hiroshi adopted a reckless strategy of trading injuries with the enemy, sustaining serious damage himself to further create an opening for Ryo Gekko, who took the chance to slash the enemy's left leg.
Although Ryo Gekko's follow-up attack was briefly confused by the Kiri ninja using the [Clone Jutsu], the enemy barely managed to dodge using the [Substitution Jutsu] and quickly created distance using the [Shifting Body Technique]. However, the serious injury to his leg significantly reduced the effectiveness of his movement technique.
The injury slowed the Kiri Anbu's movements, giving Shiyu Uchiha the chance to chase after him with the [Shifting Body Technique]. Pushing both his body flick and swordplay to the limit, Shiyu unleashed the [Decisive strike], stabbing his blade into the enemy's body. However, thanks to his elite physical conditioning, the enemy managed to dodge the fatal point.
At the same time, his counterattack forced Shiyu Uchiha to drop his sword and evade. However, the opponent was just too fast. As the enemy's foot came crashing toward Shiyu's chest, he quickly crossed his arms to block the strike, then used that force to retreat backward a few steps.
But instead of continuing to retreat and fully dissipate all the impact force, Shiyu chose to release only part of it, enduring the rest through sheer determination as he forced himself to stay steady. The Kirigakure Anbu, already wounded from being cut by Shiyu's blade, couldn't keep attacking Shiyu Uchiha due to his injuries.
This gave Shiyu the chance to seize the moment. He quickly formed hand seals and once again poured all his strength into [Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique]. Although the Kirigakure Anbu noticed Shiyu's movement, he was already too late to stop the hand seals. Yet just before the jutsu reached him, he timely activated a Water Wall defense.
However, because it was done in haste, the technique was barely completed with insufficient chakra gathered. Additionally, he underestimated Shiyu's mastery of fire techniques. Ultimately, he failed to completely block the incoming attack. The entire body of the Kirigakure Anbu was scalded by the intense steam created when Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique collided with his Water Release. He looked like a giant steamed shrimp.
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