"Huff… huff…"
Hatake Kakashi gasped for breath.
There were simply too many Sand shinobi.
Even though he had already used every method available to kill ten of them, there were still over twenty Sand shinobi searching for his location.
The most troublesome among them was the squad leader.
His mastery of Wind Blades had caused Kakashi immense trouble.
Kakashi was having a hard time, but the Sand shinobi were in even worse shape.
Maki's expression was extremely grim.
He knew Konoha shinobi were difficult opponents, but he never expected the young White Fang—who hadn't even reached adulthood or his peak yet—to be this troublesome.
Using the terrain alone, Kakashi had managed to kill ten of their comrades.
And the methods he used still left Maki shaken whenever he thought about them.
Ninja tools, genjutsu, Earth Release, Lightning Release, Water Release, swordsmanship…
Was Konoha trying to raise an all-purpose shinobi?
"Maki-sama, the White Fang is behind us!"
One of the Sand sensory ninja hurriedly reported.
"What?! Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
A barrage of wind blades shot toward the rear, shredding countless trees throughout the Land of Rivers.
"Earth Release: Headhunter Jutsu."
Hatake Kakashi suddenly emerged beneath the sensory ninja's feet.
With a violent pull, he dragged him underground.
"AHHH!"
"Ōno!"
"Quick! Use sand manipulation and get Ōno out!"
Maki hurriedly gave orders.
Two Sand shinobi immediately pressed their palms to the ground.
"Dark Sand Surge!"
The earth began to churn violently.
But all that surfaced was a humanoid corpse.
"Damn it… Ōno!"
Maki gritted his teeth in fury.
That damned White Fang had killed yet another comrade—worse, an extremely important sensory ninja.
"Maki-sama, what do we do now?"
One Sand shinobi asked nervously.
"What else can we do? Keep searching! If we can't kill him now, then once he grows stronger in a few years, do any of us still have a future?"
"Yes, sir!"
Without a sensory ninja, the Sand shinobi could only resort to the most primitive method available—
A full carpet search.
...
Beside a river, Kakashi emerged from the water completely drenched.
Leaning against a rock wall, he swallowed two soldier pills.
"Huff… huff…"
"No good. I don't have enough chakra left to make it back to the Land of Fire. And even if I cross the border, these Sand shinobi clearly have no intention of letting me go."
"This really is a deadly situation… so…"
Hatake Kakashi pulled out a communication bug.
Crush.
A message was immediately transmitted.
"Shiken-niichan, hurry and send someone to save me! I can't hold out much longer! Enemy: Sand shinobi. Location: Land of Rivers. I'm fleeing toward the Land of Fire!"
If you can't win, ask for help.
Kakashi wasn't the kind of idiot who refused to adapt.
And now, his task was simple—
Wait for rescue.
Shiken-niichan, you used to mess with me all the time, but please don't mess with me this time…
This is a life-or-death crisis!
...
Konoha.
Aburame Shiken suddenly received Kakashi's distress message.
"The Land of Rivers? Sand shinobi? Kakashi's being hunted?"
What was going on?
Was Ryoha's water trade with the Hidden Sand Village doing too well or something?
Had the Sand Village gone insane?
Did they not want water anymore?
Unless…
Kakashi had accidentally run into Chiyo.
That would make perfect sense.
After all, Sakumo-san killed Chiyo's son and daughter-in-law.
If she saw Kakashi and didn't want to kill him, that would be the strange part.
Thinking that through, Aburame Shiken finally arrived at what he considered a reasonable conclusion.
"Luckily, that guy is nearby. Otherwise, even if I leave now, I won't make it in time to save Kakashi from Chiyo."
That person might not necessarily defeat Chiyo, but escaping while carrying someone would definitely not be a problem.
So Aburame Shiken dispatched reinforcements under the assumption that the enemy was Chiyo.
But the problem was—
Maki: "Chiyo-sama never came! Your assumptions are completely wrong! The matchmaking system is broken!"
So sometimes, making the wrong guess isn't entirely a bad thing.
...
Meanwhile, in the Land of Waves,
Uchiha Shisui had smoothly dealt with the Mist shinobi before him.
Ordinary ninja facing a genius—
It was almost pitiful how powerless they looked.
"Why are you hunting me?"
"Don't know."
So this isn't specifically targeting me…
Using genjutsu to control one of the Mist shinobi, Uchiha Shisui continued gathering intelligence.
Then he realized something.
These Mist shinobi had only attacked after seeing his Konoha forehead protector.
"Why are you killing shinobi wearing Konoha headbands?"
"Orders."
"Whose orders?"
"The Mizukage."
Uchiha Shisui understood the situation now.
The Mist Village's Mizukage had ordered the execution of Konoha shinobi.
His genjutsu could only extract rough information.
If they wanted precise intelligence, they'd still need Konoha's Interrogation Division.
Shisui then cut off the heads of several Mist shinobi and headed back toward Konoha.
...
Land of Hot Water.
Jiraiya had already entered Sage Mode.
He was finally using his trump cards.
Meanwhile, A's body had accumulated quite a few burn marks.
Fire Release enhanced by senjutsu chakra wasn't something easy to withstand.
"I'm sorry… Raikage-sama…"
After saying that, Cee collapsed from exhaustion.
At such a young age, fighting a veteran Kage-level shinobi like Jiraiya—even while teaming up with A—was simply too much for him.
Shima naturally wouldn't miss this opportunity.
"Little Jiraiya, go! Take one of them out first!"
"Got it!"
"Genjutsu: Toad Confrontation Chant."
Invisible sound waves spread from Shima's mouth, halting A and Darui's movements.
"Little Jiraiya!"
"Right!"
"Sage Art: Fire Release: Goemon!"
Towering flames surged toward the fallen Cee.
"CEE!"
Darui shouted desperately.
But the raging inferno still swallowed Cee whole.
"Storm Release: Black Panther!"
A tiger made of black lightning charged toward Jiraiya.
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
Fukasaku quickly freed one hand to cast Water Release, blocking Darui's attack.
"Darui, calm down."
A stopped Darui with one arm before he could rush forward.
"Yes… Raikage-sama."
Tears filled Darui's eyes, but he still obeyed A's orders.
Seeing this, A felt deeply satisfied.
Darui was a good kid.
The tears in his eyes showed how much he valued his comrades.
Stopping himself showed his trust in A as Raikage.
"Darui, sometimes what you see with your eyes isn't the truth. You need to confirm the final result before making decisions."
"The truth…? The result…?"
"B!"
A suddenly shouted.
"I'm over here!"
Several massive octopus tentacles burst out from the flames.
At the center, one tentacle held the unconscious Cee.
"Damn it—it's the Eight-Tails jinchūriki!"
"Little Jiraiya, run! If you don't escape now, you'll die!"
"Understood!"
And so, Jiraiya began his great escape.