The expected ambush never came.
By the next morning, only a few hours of travel remained before they reached their destination and the mission would finally end.
Still, none of them lowered their guard.
The forest was too quiet.
"Someone's standing on the road," Kakashi said sharply.
Ken followed his line of sight.
A lone man stood in the middle of the path.
Middle-aged. Ordinary face. No visible hostility.
He wore traditional armor instead of modern combat gear, one hand resting behind his back as if gripping something heavy. He wasn't releasing killing intent, yet his presence alone pressed faintly against the air.
At least… he was trying to make it feel that way.
Whoosh.
Minato stepped forward, positioning himself between the man and the caravan.
"May I ask what you want from us, senior?" he said with a smile.
This time, it wasn't gentle.
Kakashi and Ken shifted into combat stances instantly.
The fact that Minato moved first meant only one thing.
The man was at least a jōnin.
"Nothing troublesome," the man replied with a jovial smile."I merely request that you turn back and return."
He chuckled.
"Obviously, there's no need to escort the noble back. We wouldn't want you working too hard."
Minato's smile vanished.
He attacked without another word.
The air exploded as he disappeared.
Kakashi and Ken moved at the same time—
—but the shriek of steel slicing through the wind reached Ken first.
Clang!
He barely managed to deflect the strike with his kunai and leapt backward, his arm jolting painfully from the impact alone.
The force was absurd.
When Ken looked up, a massive man stood before him.
Twice his size. Thick arms. Heavy frame.
A massive saber rested in the man's grip, its edge chipped and brutal.
Behind him, Ken caught sight of Kakashi facing an identical opponent, while Minato clashed directly with the jōnin.
"Twins," Ken muttered.
The bulky man heard him and grinned.
"Focus on your own fight," he said."Let the adults handle theirs."
He lunged.
The saber descended in a clean vertical arc.
Ken leapt back as spikes burst from the ground where he had stood.
The man didn't retreat.
Instead, he twisted the downward strike into a horizontal sweep, cleaving through the spikes before landing directly in front of him.
"Not bad," the bulky man laughed. "But not enough."
He charged again.
Ken retreated while firing compressed earth bullets without hand seals, launching them in rapid succession like a machine gun.
The bulky man didn't slow.
Each projectile shattered against his blade.
Like a bull, he pushed straight through the barrage.
If this continued, Ken's chakra would drain first.
The man's body was enormous, layered with fat thicker even than an Akimichi's. Defensive. Durable.
"At least his movements are slow and predictable," Ken muttered while forming hand seals.
Earth chakra coated his arms, hardening instantly.
With a kunai in hand, he sprinted forward instead of retreating.
Seeing Ken charge toward him, the man's grin widened.
He leapt.
The saber descended diagonally, aimed to cleave Ken in half—
Bang!
Just before contact, Ken's body split into several clones that scattered outward.
The bulky man snorted. "You think cheap tricks—"
He rushed straight toward Ken.
The original.
The moment his blade sliced through Ken's torso—an eerie grin still plastered on his face—the bulky man's expression changed.
It was hollow.
The clone dispersed.
Before he could react, slashes appeared across his calves.
Then his thighs.
Shallow cuts. Dozens of them.
Ken was already moving.
Through training under Might Duy, he had learned a physical variant of the Body Flicker. By reinforcing it with chakra, he had created a hybrid version.
Even without the Sharingan, he had developed his own clone–flicker variant.
It wouldn't function well in complex terrain or against multiple opponents, but against a single enemy—surrounded by clones and struck with rapid micro-movements—
It was enough.
His opponent's skin was thick.
But with earth chakra reinforcing his hands, each strike cut deeper.
The man roared and raised his saber horizontally.
He began spinning.
Through secret training, he and his brother had gained monstrous physical strength. Though they lacked the ability to use ninjutsu, their chakra-reinforced bodies still possessed at least chūnin-level power.
Chakra surged violently through his muscles, turning him into a living blade.
Ken hurriedly crossed his arms and strengthened the earth coating.
Though he wasn't cut down, the impact hurled him backward.
His body slammed into a tree.
His clones vanished.
Pain exploded through his ribs.
The man didn't miss the opportunity and leapt toward him immediately, saber raised high.
Ken lifted his head just as the blade descended.
Blood ran down his face.
Yet he looked as though he were restraining himself from laughing out loud.
A wall erupted in front of him.
The saber, capable of cleaving through a C-rank defense, lodged deep into the stone.
Spikes surged upward instantly.
The bulky man tore his blade free and jumped, but his injuries slowed him. Several spikes ripped through his flesh.
When he landed—
Ken was gone.
His instincts screamed.
He turned—
—and saw Ken above him.
Both fists, coated in hardened earth, swung downward.
He raised his saber to block.
It snapped in half.
The broken weapon slowed the blow just enough for him to throw it aside and leap backward desperately.
Ken followed with compressed bullets at point-blank range, piercing his arms as he shielded his vitals.
Now only one thought remained in the man's mind.
Run.
Ken stomped.
A wall erupted behind him.
He crashed into it.
Ken appeared in front of him in a straight-line flicker and struck.
Once.
Twice.
The massive body collapsed.
Ken's adrenaline finally faded.
Still smiling he dropped to one knee, breathing hard.
The technique drained stamina brutally.
He forced his expression under control and looked up.
Minato and Kakashi were already approaching.