"No—he didn't vanish! He's above us!"
A sensor-nin's shout cut through the confusion. Dozens of Iwa-nin snapped their heads upward. High above, silhouetted against the dim moonlight, a massive bird soared away—and dangling beneath its talons, barely visible, was a man.
"It's him! Lock's escaping by air!"
"Damn it! He has a flying summon!"
Panic rippled through the ranks. Few in the ninja world could take to the skies. Fewer still had flying summons—and none of them had prepared for that possibility.
The great bird carrying Lock wasn't a traditional summoning beast. It was a trained messenger hawk—one Lock had raised and conditioned himself for reconnaissance and emergency extraction. What was once a small courier bird had grown into a broad-winged predator, strong enough to carry him short distances.
He clung to its claws, wind whipping across his face, watching the village shrink below.
"Just get me outside the perimeter," he muttered under his breath. "That's all I need."
But even as he spoke, a cold, gravelly voice echoed behind him.
"Hmph. You think you can fly away from me?"
The Third Tsuchikage was already airborne, rising effortlessly on a cushion of chakra. For him, flight was as natural as walking. In moments, he closed the distance.
Lock cursed under his breath. "Right. The Tsuchikage can fly." He gritted his teeth. "Brilliant move, Lock."
He was high above the rocky valley now—too high to jump, too exposed to hide. The old Kage was closing fast, and his next move was obvious.
"Dust Release: Detachment of the Primitive World Technique!"
A massive cube of white energy flared into existence between the Tsuchikage's hands, then expanded outward with terrifying speed. The air itself seemed to disintegrate around it.
"Not good!"
Lock spun and dropped onto the bird's back, weaving hand signs in a blur. His left hand slapped a small talisman onto the hawk's feathers, and a faint gold shimmer spread over its wings.
The Dust Release hit them head-on.
The world went white.
For a breathless instant, Lock felt everything around him—air, sound, even gravity—vanish. Then the glow faded, and he realized they were still there. The hawk screeched, wounded but alive, golden light flickering like embers around its wings.
The Tsuchikage froze midair, disbelief flickering across his weathered face.
"What…? Impossible. That was a direct hit."
His eyes narrowed. "Some kind of sealing barrier… No. That shimmer—chakra shielding. Advanced, portable defense seals. That boy's full of tricks."
Lock didn't look back. His bird beat its wings desperately, struggling to climb higher.
The old man's eyes hardened. "You can dodge once. Not twice."
He raised his hands again, chakra compressing between them—another Dust Release forming, the air around him trembling from its power.
Lock saw the movement instantly.
"Too slow, old man."
His body blurred, vanishing from the bird's back. In the next instant, he reappeared behind the Tsuchikage in midair—a flicker of motion, almost invisible to the naked eye.
"Smoke Bomb!"
A dense cloud of black vapor exploded around the old Kage, swallowing him whole. Dust Release chakra faltered—interrupted mid-form.
Lock's palm slammed into the Tsuchikage's back, a sealing tag pressed against his cloak. Then—he was gone again, flickering back to the hawk as it swooped past.
"Burst."
The sky lit up.
A chain of detonations erupted in midair, fiery blossoms of light rippling through the smoke. The concussive force tore through the night, scattering clouds and shaking the mountains below.
Lock didn't wait to see the result. He guided the hawk toward the horizon, breath harsh, eyes narrowed.
"That should buy me some distance," he muttered. "Even if he survived… he'll feel that one."
Behind him, amid the burning haze, a single figure hovered, battered but unbroken—his eyes cold as stone.
The Third Tsuchikage watched Lock's silhouette vanish into the night and whispered to himself:
"That boy… he's too dangerous to live."
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