"Was it you who killed Tsubute?"
Asuma tightened his grip on his trench knives, his gaze fixed intensely on the cloaked figure before him.
"In a way, didn't I do you a favor?" the figure in the black robe chuckled lightly.
Asuma exchanged a brief glance with Masahiko. In the next instant, the two launched their assault simultaneously.
Masahiko's hands flew through hand seals. He spat out a small fireball—similar to the Great Fireball Technique, yet this sphere of chakra was highly compressed and chaotic. From the other side, Asuma flanked rapidly.
Bombardment of flame; slicing blades of wind.
However, as they made their move, their opponent remained unhurried, standing perfectly still as he awaited their strike.
Just as Asuma closed the distance, channeling azure chakra into his trench knives to extend them like wings aimed at the cloaked man's neck, the sound of rushing water erupted.
Water Style: Water Wall!
A rising curtain of water surged upward from beneath the enemy's feet, obscuring Asuma's vision and blocking his attack path. He immediately chose to retreat.
But in that split second, the water wall split apart. A figure drilled out from the torrent, closing the distance to Asuma in a heartbeat.
Boom!
Masahiko's fireball was still bombarding the area, but it clearly couldn't keep up with the enemy's speed.
Beside his ear, Asuma heard Masahiko's anxious shout: "Senpai, look out!"
A heavy punch hammered down. Asuma leaped back lightly to dodge, countering with a backhanded slash that drew blood from the enemy's fist.
But at the same time—
Shoo!
A tiny, dense bone bullet burst from the opponent's fingertip.
Asuma's pupils constricted. He immediately brought his other trench knife down in a diagonal slash. Chakra exploded outward as the invisible blade of wind sliced the bone fragment to pieces, deflecting the debris.
The crisis seemed averted.
However, in the very next moment, a blade slashed diagonally from his blind spot behind him.
'So fast!'
Asuma was startled. He moved to counterattack, but a loud metallic clang rang out.
Behind him, Masahiko's sword had intercepted the enemy's blade.
Bang!
Masahiko's arm buckled under the pressure, his feet sinking deep into the solid rock beneath him.
'This strike… the weight behind it is immense!'
"Not bad," the opponent remarked, glancing into the distance with a faint chuckle. "That's about enough. Gentlemen, let's spar again another time."
With that, the black-robed man flickered, instantly putting a significant distance between them.
Water surged violently around him. A massive wave swept through the surroundings, the hydraulic force propelling the figure away as he made his escape.
Asuma leaped onto a stone pillar to gain a vantage point, but all he could see was the receding floodwater. The enemy was nowhere to be seen.
His face turned ashen. "That bastard..."
"Damn it! Naruto!"
"Yagyu Masahiko's" expression changed drastically. He made to rush toward Naruto's location, but after taking a single step, he clutched his arm and hissed in pain.
"Hss!"
"What's wrong?" Asuma abandoned the thought of pursuit and jumped down from the pillar.
"That parry just now… it was too heavy. My arm..." Masahiko gripped the arm that had blocked the blade, forcing his trembling left hand to form a seal to gather medical chakra. "I need to treat this for a moment. You go support Naruto first; be careful."
"Understood."
Asuma nodded gravely. Without wasting another second on the fleeing enemy, he sprinted toward the direction where the Nine-Tails' chakra had erupted earlier.
Meanwhile, back at the site of the earlier encounter with Orochimaru…
A giant snake had been torn apart by brute force, its remains twitching in agony on the ground.
Orochimaru's eyes were filled with excitement. "Yes, just like that! You don't need to hold back. Let all your anger, your grievances, and your resentment pour out!"
Naruto's face was twisted in pain. Behind him, red chakra coalesced into a swaying tail, which seemed on the verge of splitting into two.
Not far away, the screech of lightning chirped in Kakashi's palm. However, the silent figure of Itachi Uchiha stood before him, finally breaking his silence.
"The Raikiri, is it?" Itachi said calmly. "My apologies, but until he finishes his business, I cannot let you pass."
The tomoe in Itachi's eyes spun slowly.
Kakashi stared him down. "Itachi, have you really fallen so low as to conspire with these rogue ninja?"
"'Rogue ninja' is merely a definition you people created," Itachi spoke slowly, his gaze fixed ahead. "We have simply grown tired of the village's ways. If you don't move, I won't have to strike."
In an instant, Kakashi shifted his gaze downward to avoid direct eye contact, then exploded into a sprint.
Raikiri!
His speed reached its zenith.
Itachi's gaze darkened slightly. The fingers of his left hand twitched, while his right hand drew a kunai.
A split second later, the lightning of the Raikiri flashed through Itachi, only for his body to scatter into a flock of crows.
Kakashi spun around—
Clang!
The blade attacking him was sheared in half by the lightning chakra, shattering into fragments.
Itachi retreated, discarding the broken hilt.
'So this is what facing the Raikiri feels like.'
His expression grew serious. As he leaped backward, his hands formed seals rapidly. Flames erupted from his mouth, concealing shuriken hidden within the blaze.
Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!
Kakashi mirrored with his own seals. An earthen wall rose from the ground, intercepting the flame-wreathed shuriken.
On the other side of the battlefield, Kurenai struggled up from the ground, charging once more toward Naruto and Orochimaru.
Orochimaru glanced up, sighing lightly. "The young lady from the Yūhi clan… retreating isn't cowardice, you know. It's a mark of intelligence to judge the situation."
"Masahiko entrusted Naruto to me, so I must protect him!"
Kurenai muttered to herself, seemingly trying to bolster her own courage. Her gaze hardened with resolve.
Orochimaru fell silent for a few seconds, then sighed again. He stopped speaking. While one hand continued to absorb the Tailed Beast chakra, he raised the other.
Snakes shot out from his sleeve.
Kurenai was instantly bitten. Another serpent coiled around her, binding her tightly and rendering her immobile.
Just as Orochimaru prepared to finish her, his brow furrowed. The scenery before him warped.
"Genjutsu?"
The illusion shattered instantly.
Orochimaru looked up just in time to see Naruto breaking free from his constraints and rushing right in front of him.
"Aaaahhh!!"
Naruto roared, his fist slamming into Orochimaru with blinding speed.
Simultaneously, Kurenai ripped open a scroll and slammed her hands together.
Unseal!
"Yagyu Masahiko" burst forth from the scroll—a Shadow Clone stored for emergencies.
The clone looked up, glancing first at Orochimaru, then at Naruto and Kurenai.
The corners of Orochimaru's mouth curled up.
"Fine. Your Genjutsu isn't bad, but… I'm just about done here."
He severed the connection absorbing the chakra and kicked Naruto away. Following up with a Body Flicker, he appeared instantly beside the boy, his hand slamming five fingers onto Naruto's stomach.
In an instant, the violent Tailed Beast chakra shrouding Naruto began to recede.
Five Pronged Seal!
"As I said, I have no intention of killing anyone. I just wanted to take something."
Orochimaru smiled sinisterly, grabbing Naruto and tossing him toward Masahiko.
Masahiko intercepted the boy, catching him gently. His hands formed a seal, and a fluid, jellyfish-like construct of water enveloped Naruto's body to cushion the impact.
Kurenai panted heavily. By the time she looked up, Orochimaru had already sunk into the earth and vanished.
Kakashi, breathing hard, called out to his opponent. "Itachi, looks like you've been sold out!"
"No," Itachi replied with unnatural calm. "As he said, the time is up."
He raised his head, the tomoe in his eyes spinning into a new pattern.
Kakashi's instincts screamed danger.
Behind them, Masahiko had already begun weaving signs. All of his available chakra surged, forming a massive curtain of water that encircled everyone in the vicinity.
Water Style: Water Wall!
Kakashi used Body Flicker to dive behind the water curtain.
The next second, pitch-black flames ignited upon the water wall.
Simultaneously—
BOOM!
A massive explosion echoed from the perimeter.
When the water curtain finally lowered, they saw Asuma half-kneeling on the ground, looking battered and disheveled. Not far from him lay a smoking crater from the explosion.
In the distance, crows circled.
Itachi was already gone.
Kakashi stared at the lingering black flames, his expression grave. "Was that… a Dōjutsu technique?"