Chapter 348 – Ayaka and Kakashi's Battles
Among everyone present, Hyūga Ayaka was the calmest when Uchiha Kei suddenly made his move.
She knew him far too well.
Kei would always create the battlefield most favorable to them.
Ayaka had considered it herself—what kind of environment would best suit their fight?
After weighing it carefully, she arrived at the same conclusion as Kei:
Fighting in front of the Fire Daimyō was optimal.
The intimidation alone was immense. More importantly, it forced the Daimyō's guardian ninjas to fight with shackles on their hands.
With the Daimyō standing right beside them, any large-scale ninjutsu—whether offensive or defensive—would be fatal to an ordinary civilian.
That meant restraint.
They would be limited to taijutsu or small-scale, short-burst techniques.
And that level of combat posed no real threat to them.
Kei didn't even need to be mentioned—he was a complete all-rounder, equally lethal in wide-area suppression or pinpoint assassination.
As for Kakashi, Ayaka didn't know his full strength, but with the Sharingan and swordsmanship combined, this kind of close-range battle wouldn't trouble him.
And Ayaka herself?
She excelled at taijutsu.
She had no fear of meeting anyone head-on.
Staring at the three opponents before her, Ayaka already understood—
The teammate killed by Kazuma the night before had belonged to this very squad.
One fewer enemy reduced the pressure, but she didn't let her guard down.
Raising her hand, she assumed a standard Gentle Fist stance, her Byakugan activating as her gaze swept across all three.
Unlike Kei, who could ignore the difference in strength entirely, Ayaka needed an opening.
She needed a breakthrough.
"Why are you doing this?!"
Chiriku shouted through clenched teeth. He truly hadn't expected Konoha's shinobi to act this way.
"Why?"
Ayaka sneered coldly.
"Because what you've done harms Konoha—and the Fire Country itself. How does that answer sound to you?"
"Nonsense!"
A guardian ninja behind Chiriku roared angrily.
"Everything we've done was to protect the Daimyō—to protect the true 'Lord' of the Fire Country! You're the ones overturning it!"
"Oh?"
Ayaka's Byakugan narrowed slightly. She sighed.
"As expected—I really can't compare to Kei. When he talks nonsense, you spiral into overthinking. When I do it, it's just a waste of time."
Her words fell—
—and blue chakra surged into her palms as she began walking toward them.
Her steps were light.
Soft.
Measured.
Yet in Chiriku's eyes, Ayaka grew more dangerous with every step.
Suddenly—
She exploded forward.
Before they could react, Ayaka was already at the side of one guardian ninja.
Her palm—wrapped in azure chakra—pressed gently against his chest.
Her growth was unmistakable.
While her Gentle Fist technique wasn't as refined as that of the Hyūga main family, her battlefield experience had transformed it.
She no longer followed rigid forms.
She broke movements apart, reassembled them, and adapted them instinctively to combat.
Combined with the activation of dormant potential from Kaguya clan cells within her body, her physical capabilities had risen dramatically.
The ambushed ninja reacted quickly, raising both arms to guard his chest.
Chiriku and the remaining guardian ninja rushed in simultaneously.
But Ayaka's destructive power far exceeded their expectations.
Crack.
The sound of shattering bone echoed through the hall.
The guardian ninja felt his arms collapse—completely broken.
Worse still, the force traveled straight through his ribcage.
Shattered ribs pierced into his internal organs.
"AAAGH—!"
He screamed in agony, but the moment his mouth opened, blood mixed with fragments of flesh sprayed out.
Ayaka withdrew her palm—and her body twisted fluidly.
She slipped past Chiriku's strike and the second attacker with impossible precision, the Byakugan's vision giving her perfect awareness.
What made her frown slightly—
Was that Kei had already finished his opponents.
That level of efficiency…
That overwhelming lethality…
It made her sigh inwardly.
She knew she couldn't catch up to him.
But she refused to perform poorly.
The first kill had relied on surprise.
Of the remaining two, one was best left alive, and the other was fully alert.
So she engaged them in sustained combat.
As the fight dragged on, Ayaka's speed and attack frequency steadily increased.
The pressure became unbearable.
The Hyūga clan's 360-degree vision made coordinated attacks nearly impossible.
And her defense was terrifying.
Chiriku and his partner simply couldn't break through her guard with taijutsu alone.
As Ayaka moved, the air itself seemed to come alive.
Invisible currents swirled—orderly yet chaotic.
When the airflow finally formed a complete ring around her—
She struck.
Dashing forward, Ayaka drove a palm toward Chiriku.
He reacted instantly, abandoning all restraint.
Golden chakra erupted around him, forming the image of a towering Buddha.
Ayaka felt something familiar within that chakra—
Nature energy.
She had trained in senjutsu before—before her cells rejected it.
"Thousand-Hand Kill!"
"Senjutsu?"
Ayaka frowned.
"No… not quite."
She didn't dwell on it.
Because she knew—
She could break this technique.
As the golden chakra fist surged forward from behind the Buddha construct—
Ayaka's blue chakra transformed into lion-shaped energy, her palm tightening into a fist.
Gold and blue collided.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the palace.
Shockwaves tore through the hall, cracks spiderwebbing across the walls.
Ayaka felt her chakra fluctuate—but her expression remained steady.
Chiriku, however, staggered, blood seeping from the corner of his mouth.
This woman…
This young Hyūga…
Is this the power of Konoha's elite?
But he didn't stop.
Because his teammate had already launched a surprise attack from behind Ayaka!
Chiriku inhaled sharply, preparing to use Wrathful Vajra to coordinate—
He knew Kazuma's squad was finished.
Surrendering now offered no guarantees.
Still—
That Uchiha Kei…
He was terrifying beyond belief.
Then—
A cold voice whispered beside his ear.
"Looking around during a fight… is that really appropriate?"
At some point, Ayaka had already driven back his teammate.
Chiriku surged chakra, desperate to complete his technique—
—but Ayaka gave him no chance.
She stepped in.
A single punch.
Fast.
Precise.
In an instant, it struck multiple tenketsu.
Chiriku froze.
His body locked up.
His chakra flow stopped dead.
His technique collapsed instantly.
This time—
He couldn't endure it.
Blood burst from his mouth as his strength vanished completely.
He collapsed, utterly defeated.
Ayaka lowered her fist.
"You should've behaved yourself earlier."
Ayaka stared at Chiriku expressionlessly, her voice calm and cold.
At that moment, however, the teammate she had just driven back charged at her once more.
Ayaka didn't move at all, as if she hadn't noticed the attack.
Yet just as the guardian ninja's blade closed to within less than half a meter of her—
She suddenly dropped into a crouch and twisted her body sideways. The strike skimmed past her perfectly, and at the same instant, azure chakra surged once more into her right hand.
Then—
She drove her palm straight into the guardian ninja's chest.
In an instant, the man's expression twisted in horror.
His body was sent flying, smashing into the wall and leaving a deep crack before collapsing to the floor, completely unable to move.
Ayaka didn't even spare him a glance.
Her gaze returned to Chiriku. Then, slowly, she deactivated her Byakugan and turned toward Kakashi.
Chiriku's face was filled with resentment, but he couldn't say a word.
His internal organs had almost certainly been shattered by Ayaka's attacks.
On the other side of the hall, Kakashi's battle was also nearing its end.
Although Kakashi was facing four opponents—and couldn't kill them—
his strength was undeniable.
Whether it was his swordsmanship or his mastery of the Sharingan, both exceeded Ayaka's expectations.
Kakashi stared calmly at the four enemies he had pinned down. His short blade, Kakashi, was already drawn.
He knew their dossiers well. He knew just how terrifying their coordination was.
The difficulty of this fight was obvious.
But he quickly cleared his mind of all distractions.
Years of ANBU training had taught him how to control his emotions perfectly.
His Sharingan spun gently.
Though he possessed only one eye, its perception was frighteningly sharp.
Kakashi himself didn't fully understand why, but the insight it granted him was almost unbelievable.
Enemy movements.
Attack trajectories.
Intent.
He could read all of it almost the moment it formed.
The cost, however, was immense.
Maintaining the Sharingan consumed nearly two-thirds of his chakra.
At that moment, Kakashi truly felt grateful to Uchiha Kei.
If Kei hadn't corrected his mindset earlier—hadn't guided him toward a path that truly suited him—
then Kakashi knew that his old self would already be exhausted after casting only a few jutsu.
But now, he fought using the simplest methods and the most efficient attacks.
Less wasted motion.
Less wasted chakra.
Azure lightning bloomed along the edge of Kakashi as he locked onto his targets.
"Why are you doing this?"
The Lightning Release quartet remained on guard, still struggling internally.
"Why attack our comrades? Why frame the Daimyō?"
"Some things aren't as simple as you think," Kakashi replied coldly.
"No matter the reason—no matter our intentions—this battle was inevitable."
They frowned, unable to fully understand his words.
Kakashi didn't intend to explain.
His blade tilted slightly—
—and the next instant, he vanished in a burst of speed.
In the blink of an eye, he had locked onto his target.
Lightning chakra surged through New Gen. Kakashi, forming a crescent arc that slashed cleanly across Minami's chest.
Her body stiffened—
—and instantly dissolved into crackling lightning.
A Lightning Clone.
Kakashi's Sharingan flashed.
He ducked low, narrowly avoiding Nishito's ambush, then drove a kick into Kitako's chest.
At that same moment, Higashi struck—
a lightning-charged punch crashing into Kakashi's chest.
Boom!
"Damn it—it's a shadow clone! When—?!"
"Watch out! Underground!"
The Kakashi they hit burst into smoke.
Kitako shouted in alarm—but it was already too late.
A hand suddenly shot up from beneath the ground, gripping Nishito's ankle.
With a surge of chakra and raw strength, Kakashi dragged him straight underground, sealing him firmly in place.
Kakashi resurfaced just as Minami reappeared at his side.
Higashi and Kitako regrouped instantly, forming a pincer formation that locked down Kakashi's movement and struck from above, center, and below all at once.
Kakashi remained perfectly calm.
His Sharingan scanned left and right.
In an instant, he read every motion.
As the three closed in, Kakashi displayed astonishing agility.
He deflected Minami's kunai with Kakashi.
His left hand ignited with Chidori, thrusting toward Nishito's chest and forcing him to defend.
At the same time, his right leg swept out with brutal force toward Higashi.
As Higashi evaded, Kakashi stepped down—
—pinning Higashi's kunai to the floor with pinpoint precision.
Less than a second.
Just a few simple movements—
—and the entire assault was dismantled.
But Kakashi wasn't finished.
He knew his current advantage existed only because the enemy couldn't fight at full strength.
Kei had deliberately created this battlefield.
And Kakashi understood exactly why.
Ninjas aren't samurai, he reminded himself.
We use everything.
If he failed to turn this advantage into victory, then he didn't deserve to be called a ninja.
His gaze sharpened dangerously—and locked onto Minami, the sole female among them.
He didn't underestimate female shinobi.
On the contrary, some of the strongest ninja he knew were women.
Ayaka, fighting nearby.
Kushina Uzumaki.
Tsunade.
But from their exchanges, Kakashi knew—
Minami's chakra control was excellent.
Her speed and strength, however, lagged behind her teammates.
Kakashi struck.
Kakashi flared, forcing Minami back.
Then he slashed toward Higashi.
Higashi leapt back—
—and that brief opening was all Kakashi needed.
He glanced at Kitako, who was just emerging from underground, and drove a crushing kick into his head.
Kitako collapsed instantly, unconscious.
Kakashi turned, blade in hand, charging straight at Minami.
She grimaced, attempting to stall him until her teammates could assist.
But Kakashi's offense was far more relentless than she expected.
She retreated again and again.
Frustration clawed at her.
Not just her—all four of them felt it.
Their true strength lay in coordinated Lightning Release techniques.
But here, confined to this hall, unable to unleash their specialty—
They were suffocating.
Worse still, Kakashi's seamless blend of taijutsu and ninjutsu was overwhelming.
Extreme speed.
Minimal movements.
Every strike aimed precisely at a weakness.
Their attacks were completely read.
They posed no threat at all.
That pressure alone was terrifying.
Minami clenched her teeth and formed seals discreetly.
Just as her jutsu completed—
Kakashi's blade arrived.
The Lightning Clone shattered into arcs of electricity.
Using the surge as cover, Minami darted toward her remaining teammates.
Then—
Her body froze.
She felt Kakashi slice across her back, lightning chakra exploding inside her.
Even as a Lightning Release ninja, the paralysis hit hard.
"Minami!"
Higashi and Nishito shouted as they rushed toward Kakashi.
Less than three minutes.
They had already lost two teammates.
How could they continue?
What chilled them even more were the other battlefields.
Kei had slaughtered Kazuma's entire squad—everyone except Kazuma himself.
Slaughtered.
They hadn't even been able to resist.
On the other side, Ayaka had wiped out everyone except Chiriku.
Compared to that—
Their squad had been lucky.
No one was dead yet.
But they knew it was over.
The Twelve Guardian Ninja were finished.
Even if they didn't understand why Kei and Ayaka hadn't killed them—
Defeat was absolute.
Still—
They would retrieve their comrades.
Even if it meant dying together.
Resolve flashed across Higashi and Nishito's faces as their chakra began to boil.
Kakashi noticed immediately.
He hadn't forgotten Kei's orders: clean and decisive.
Kei had finished.
Ayaka had finished.
Only he remained.
Kakashi might not match Kei—
—but he had his pride.
If his teammates could do it, why couldn't he?
His Sharingan spun.
Kakashi erupted with even brighter lightning.
If they were going all out—
Then so would he.
I'll be tired afterward, Kakashi thought calmly.
But I can afford it.
"Looks like I ended up the slowest," he muttered.
"But that's fine."
"I'll finish this now."