Shortly after the red signal flare shot into the sky, a squad clad in Sunagakure attire finally arrived. Their movements were swift, and their expressions carried an unmistakable arrogance.
The leader was a middle-aged shinobi with a broad, muscular build. His vest strained against his physique, his hair was cut short, and his deep-set eyes radiated experience and confidence.
Three Jonin.
Uchiha Hayashi glanced at them briefly before looking away.
Right now, eliminating the enemy was not the priority. His real objective was to break through their defenses and get Minato and Mikoto out safely.
But Minato and Mikoto could not possibly match the speed of Jonin. In barely a minute, the distance between them and the Sand ninja had narrowed to less than twenty meters.
Hayashi had no choice but to stop.
Lightning Release chakra surged violently in his right hand as Chidori screamed to life. In the next instant, he shot forward, aiming straight for the Sand ninja positioned on the far left.
Minato and Mikoto immediately widened the distance between themselves and the battlefield. Getting any closer would only interfere with Hayashi's fight. In a battle of this level, the most they could do was cling to their kunai and pray from the sidelines.
With Lightning Release stimulating his body, Hayashi's already terrifying speed increased yet again. His form blurred, leaving faint afterimages as he appeared beside the Sand ninja in an instant.
The enemy never expected a child to move this fast. By the time he reacted, the piercing shriek of Chidori was already cutting through the air, aimed directly at his heart.
A powerful sense of danger forced the Sand ninja's body to twist sharply to the right.
"Konoha's Lightning Flash? Why is he here?"
The Sand ninja recognized him immediately. Shinobi of that caliber were clearly marked in the intelligence manuals. Even without knowing his face, his fighting style made his identity obvious.
Before he could recover, the sound of rushing wind struck again.
Hayashi did not turn toward the other two enemies as expected. Instead, he reappeared behind his target in a flash.
At the same moment, the puppets controlled by the other two Sand ninja slammed into the spot where Hayashi had been standing only a heartbeat earlier.
This time, the Sand ninja was too slow.
In desperation, he shifted his body just enough to avoid a fatal blow, allowing the kunai to pierce through his shoulder instead. At the same time, he attempted to detonate the explosive tag clenched in his hand.
Nothing happened.
Hayashi's genjutsu had already taken effect.
A split second later, blood sprayed through the air.
Instant death.
"You two leave now. I'll take care of this."
After swiftly dealing with his opponent, Hayashi spoke without turning back.
Minato and Mikoto did not hesitate. They immediately increased their speed and sprinted toward the Konoha camp.
Without Hayashi, even if they reached this point, breaking through the Sand Village's defensive line would be impossible. The most likely outcome would be being cut down effortlessly.
And then buried alongside Nawaki.
...
Because of the clash, Sand ninja stationed along the defensive line began converging on Hayashi's position. Meanwhile, Konoha reinforcements would need at least five or six minutes to arrive, even at full speed.
After creating some distance, Hayashi quickly formed hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Wall!"
A massive earthen barrier erupted from the ground, towering upward. The Sand ninja on the opposite side reacted instantly, reinforcing the structure with their own Earth Release.
They were not careless. The opponent was Konoha's Lightning Flash. A ninjutsu requiring so many hand seals could not be ordinary.
But once the final seal was completed, Hayashi pulled out four smoke bombs, tossed them forward, and turned around without hesitation.
He ran.
The Sand ninja froze in disbelief.
Retreating after such a display was not Hayashi's usual style, but he had no choice. If the others had not been alerted, he could have eliminated the remaining Sand puppet masters. Now, that opportunity was gone.
More importantly, there was no guarantee that Minato and the others would not encounter additional enemies ahead.
After protecting them for so many years, allowing them to be slaughtered so easily would be unacceptable.
Breaking off the fight cleanly, Hayashi chased after Minato, who was already far ahead.
He needed to catch up as quickly as possible. On a battlefield like this, danger could appear at any moment.
Just as he expected, even after breaking through the main defensive line, Sand ninja continued to appear along the route.
Without any technique to conceal his tracks, once the Sand Village focused on him, his position was bound to be exposed.
Lightning flashed again as Hayashi cut down a Sand Jonin who attempted to ambush Minato and Mikoto.
More than half of his chakra remained, and the scrolls he carried were barely used, less than twenty percent consumed.
As long as he was not surrounded by a large force, Hayashi was confident he could handle whatever came next.
That thought had barely formed when several sharply condensed stone spears suddenly materialized behind him, arranged in formation and launched toward him at full speed. At the same time, a Wind Release: Air Bullet followed close behind.
Mid-jump, Hayashi glanced back and saw two Sand ninja standing some distance away.
They carried no puppets and were rapidly forming hand seals. Standard combat shinobi.
That made things simpler.
As Hayashi descended, a savage grin spread across the face of one of the Sand ninja. On solid ground, his Earth Release held the advantage.
"Earth Release: Needle Forest!"
Within dozens of meters of Hayashi's landing point, countless stone spikes burst upward from the earth. Simultaneously, the other Sand ninja hurled a barrage of kunai at him mid-air.
With no trees nearby, Hayashi could not rely on Snake Shadow Hand. He deflected the kunai with his blade, twisted his body in the air, and formed a single hand seal.
A powerful gust of wind erupted from his mouth, halting his descent just above the deadly stone forest. Using the airflow, he shifted sideways, narrowly escaping the attack's range.
Seeing their assault fail, fury flashed across the Sand ninja's faces. One of them leapt down like a cannonball, slamming into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
At this point, Hayashi was clearly their sole target. No one paid any attention to Minato and Mikoto anymore.
"Summoning Technique!"
As the smoke dispersed, a massive blue snake appeared beneath Hayashi's feet, its cold eyes locked onto the surrounding enemies.
In the distance, even more Sand ninja were rushing toward the battlefield.
"Since my last injury, this is the first time my blood has boiled like this," Hayashi muttered calmly. "Let me enjoy this for a while."
"Go, Aoda."
...
Explosions echoed continuously in the distance.
Minato, carrying Nawaki on his back, did not dare to look behind him. He could only run with everything he had, heading straight for the Konoha camp.
Once again, as a friend, he was powerless to help.
I want to become stronger.
As they ran in silence, both Minato and Mikoto shared the same thought.
____
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