Kato Dan, in his spirit form, stared coldly at the five remaining Sunagakure jōnin. A faint, icy smile tugged at his lips as he darted toward one of them, a gleaming arc of light trailing behind him. His speed was so great it was almost beyond comprehension. The Sunagakure ninja's kunai sliced cleanly through Kato Dan's body—only to pass harmlessly through.
"Ah!"One jōnin screamed in agony as Dan's ethereal form flashed through his chest. Without hesitation, Dan surged toward his next target.
"Get out of the way! That's a spirit form!" one of the Suna jōnin shouted. Warned by his comrade, another jōnin leapt aside just in time, narrowly avoiding Dan's fatal strike.
The Spirit Transformation Technique was a forbidden jutsu created by the Second Hokage, capable of separating the soul from the body—turning oneself into a living spirit. In this form, the user could travel as quickly as the Body Flicker Technique, ignoring all physical obstacles, assassinating enemies at will. They could even possess an opponent's body, enter another's mental world, or transfer chakra to an ally. While immune to all normal attacks, the technique came with severe drawbacks: the user's body required protection, chakra consumption was massive, and once the limit was reached, the spirit had to return.
"Stay sharp! Don't let him touch you—he can kill your soul instantly!" a Suna jōnin barked, all of them now treating Dan as the deadliest threat on the field.
"Ordinary attacks won't work—only barriers and advanced sealing techniques can deal with him!"
Dan's spirit form vanished in an instant and reappeared directly before the jōnin who had just shouted. "So fast!" the man gasped, instinctively dodging. Dan's hand grazed his shoulder—no wound appeared, but a sudden numbness spread. Just like Orochimaru's arms had once been sealed by the Third Hokage, Dan's strike had damaged the man's very soul in that spot.
"Damn it! His jutsu can't last forever—fall back! Keep your distance!" the Suna jōnin yelled, retreating rapidly.
"Trying to run? Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!"Two Konoha jōnin burst from the side, cutting off the four remaining enemies. Forming hand seals in an instant, one exhaled a massive wave of fire.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"A Sunagakure shinobi reacted just as quickly, raising a thick earthen barrier. Flames wrapped around it, heating the wall until it glowed red.
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"Another jōnin formed seals, but with no nearby water source, the technique's power was greatly diminished. Still, the circular wall of water managed to snuff out the flames.
"Konoha shinobi—die! Wind Style: Pressure Harm!"The third Suna jōnin leapt into the air, exhaling a blast of high-pressure wind that swelled into a massive expanding sphere.
BOOM!Everything in its path was shredded—rocks splintered, trees ripped apart. The two Konoha jōnin slid back under the onslaught, barely avoiding being swallowed by the turbulence. They leapt rapidly to evade the sweeping attack, but the forest before them was already torn open, leaving a barren clearing. One jōnin failed to dodge completely and had his shoulder pierced by flying splinters.
"Hmph! Try this too—Wind Style: Wind Cutter!"The Suna jōnin pressed his advantage, releasing multiple razor-sharp wind blades toward the wounded Konoha shinobi, ready to slice him apart.
"You forgot about me?"The voice was right beside his ear. The Suna jōnin turned in horror—Dan's spirit form plunged straight through his chest.
"Ah!"The man collapsed, lifeless. There was no wound—but his soul had been annihilated.
"Kroll!" his comrades shouted in shock. The wind blades vanished, giving the Konoha jōnin a chance to pull their injured comrade to safety.
Dan glanced at his flickering form. "Chakra at the limit? Time to retreat. The rest is up to you!" With a flash, his spirit arced upward into the sky.
"We'll handle it," came the confident reply from Hinata Haruki as he landed. Alongside him appeared Aburame Shibi, Akimichi Chōza, Nara Shikaku, Yamanaka Inoichi, and another Hyūga—Hinata Mizuki.
The enemy forces within the camp had already been nearly wiped out. Dan and the two Konoha jōnin had stalled them long enough for Haruki's group to arrive and finish the job.
One Konoha jōnin and six chūnin surrounded the last three Suna jōnin. One of the enemies immediately unrolled a scroll, summoning three humanoid puppets. He had been running since encountering Dan's spirit and only now had the chance to deploy them.
"My teammate's injured," the Konoha jōnin told Haruki's group. "It's just me and you six chūnin now—they're not easy opponents."
"No problem. Captain, take the Water Style one. We'll handle the other two. Just follow the plan," Shikaku said calmly.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio rushed the Earth Style jōnin, while Shibi, Mizuki, and Haruki closed in on the puppet master.
"Hmph! Sending little chūnin against me? Has Konoha run out of real shinobi?" the puppet master scoffed.
"For you, we're more than enough," Haruki said with quiet confidence.
"You brats—die!" the man snarled, fingers dancing as chakra threads shot forward.
One puppet's arms sprang out twin blades, skittering low over the ground toward Haruki with a "clack-clack" sound. The other two lunged at Mizuki and Shibi.
Meanwhile, the Konoha jōnin engaged the Water Style user in close combat. Without a water source and with his shoulder still numb from Dan's earlier strike, the Suna shinobi was at a disadvantage.
The Ino–Shika–Chō trio clashed with the Earth Style jōnin.
"Expansion Jutsu! Human Boulder!"Chōza's body ballooned, limbs tucked in as he spun forward like a massive wheel.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"The wall rose—but Chōza slammed into it, spinning relentlessly.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"Inoichi leapt toward the wall's side, aiming for the jōnin—but the target sensed danger and dodged. The technique required a straight-line hit.
"This is the Ino–Shika–Chō formation? In this darkness, the Nara kid's useless without shadows. The Yamanaka needs to be watched, but the main threat is that fat Akimichi," the Suna jōnin calculated.
The Human Boulder smashed through the wall, rolling toward him. With no choice, he jumped high.
"Earth Style: Earth Spear Spike!"Sharp earthen spikes shot up from the ground toward the trio. They dodged with quick flips—landing right near the enemy.
"No shadows—how will you bind me, brat?" the jōnin thought smugly, forming seals to finish them.
But behind him, Chōza had already hurled a small ball into the air. It exploded in a flash of blinding light. Shadows stretched instantly across the ground.
"Now! Shadow Stitching—Strangle!"Shikaku's jutsu lashed forward, a dozen tendrils piercing the jōnin's body from all sides.
"Flash bombs… so the Nara was the real threat…" the man gasped, before collapsing in a bloody heap.
"Expansion Jutsu!" Chōza leapt high, coming down in a crushing finish. The fight was over.
…
Elsewhere—
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"The Suna Water Style jōnin struck first, sending a surging wave at the Konoha captain.
"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"The Konoha jōnin answered with a massive fireball that roared forward, vaporizing the wave in an instant before engulfing the enemy.
The Suna shinobi leapt desperately aside, shoulder still numb, movements sluggish—only to see a foot rushing up toward his chin.
"Leaf Shadow Dance!"A swift upward kick launched him into the air.
"Fire Style: Great Flame Bullet!"The next moment, he was consumed by flames and fell, screaming.
…
Haruki's side—
Years of training his Byakugan on wooden dummies had taught Haruki every weak point in a puppet's structure. As the first puppet attacked, he sidestepped, flickered behind it, and with a rapid flurry of Gentle Fist strikes, shattered its joints. Fearing the master might still control the pieces, he smashed them further until they were useless.
"Guess Sasori of the Red Sand is still a kid at this point—no wonder these puppets are so pathetic," Haruki thought.
The puppet attacking Mizuki spewed poisoned needles. She dodged—but a blade nicked her shoulder.
"Mizuki-neesan! Antidote!" Haruki shouted, charging the puppet master in fury.
"Hahaha! One taste of my poison and you're finished!" the man laughed—only to see Shibi's kikaichū swarm the puppet attacking him, locking its joints.
Mizuki's form then crumbled into a mass of insects—an Insect Clone—which swarmed the second puppet. Both were immobilized.
"What?!" the puppet master cursed.
In that instant, Haruki closed the distance. The man jumped back—straight into Mizuki's real body.
THWACK!A single Gentle Fist strike dropped him instantly. Without his puppets, he was nothing.
"You just realized? Our abilities counter puppets perfectly," Haruki said, arms folded.
The man, humiliated, shouted, "Fight me one-on-one, brat!"
"Idiot—why would I, when I can gang up on you?" Haruki sneered, kicking him unconscious.
It was the unspoken rule of Konoha's young elite—victory through teamwork and overwhelming force.
For safety, Haruki sealed multiple tenketsu on the captive's body before handing him to the transport squad.
None of the attackers escaped. In the Land of Fire, a failed ambush only meant being hunted to the ends of the earth. Even their own Kazekage wouldn't forgive such a costly defeat.
By dawn, the battle was over. The camp was in ruins—scorched earth, blood-soaked soil, and bodies scattered everywhere. Konoha shinobi tended the wounded, collected the dead, and secured the supplies.
The tally: Sunagakure lost 322 shinobi—7 jōnin, 133 chūnin, 181 genin, and 7 captured. Konoha lost 12 chūnin, 9 genin, and 4 non-combat personnel, with many more injured.
Haruki surveyed the carnage without much unease. In his previous life, he had seen death in many forms—patients bleeding out in surgery, dying in ERs, or perishing in famine, disease, and war. Killing with his own hands last night stirred little within him. This was war—kill or be killed.
Where there were people, there was conflict. All he could do—then and now—was protect the innocent, grow stronger, master medical ninjutsu, and save as many lives as he could. World peace? That could be Uzumaki Naruto's problem.
"Looks like the wounded are taken care of. Guess I can rest for a bit—hopefully we move out soon," Haruki murmured, fatigue washing over him as he crawled into his sleeping bag.