The frustrating part was that Iwa ninja seemed personally invested in fighting Kenji specifically.
Despite failing to break through Earth Spear's defense repeatedly, he refused to disengage. He just kept attacking from every angle, hitting Kenji over and over in rapid succession, each strike coming from a different direction before Kenji could even process the last one.
While maintaining Earth Spear at full power, Kenji's mind raced through options for trapping his opponent. Direct combat wasn't working. The enemy was too fast to tag with offensive jutsu, and Earth Spear was purely defensive right now. He needed a different approach.
Got it. Time to gamble.
He channeled chakra downward through his feet, letting it seep into the earth beneath him. Then he spread the chakra in a specific pattern across the ground.
The Iwa ninja hit him again. Kenji went flying, crashed, and got back up. Same pattern as before.
He waited. Timing was everything.
Now!
The enemy came in for another strike. He sensed the approach and threw himself backward, creating distance. His hands flew through seals mid-leap, focusing on the exact spot where he'd been standing.
"Mind Clone Switch Technique!"
The jutsu activated. At the same instant, complex sealing patterns erupted across the ground where Kenji had been channeling chakra. The formations glowed briefly, sealing spreading outward in concentric circles.
The Iwa ninja materialized in the center of the sealing, fist extended where Kenji's head had been a split-second earlier. Suddenly his body locked up.
What... This is a sealing technique?!
Before he could process what was happening, Kenji's mental copy of himself slammed into his consciousness and seized control of his body. The Iwa ninja's muscles went rigid.
Kenji's real body landed and immediately charged forward. His hand shaped into a claw, each finger wreathed in chakra. Symbols manifested at his fingertips, glowing with energy.
"Five Elements Seal!"
He drove his palm into the captive's abdomen. The chakra symbols flared bright as they made contact, then burned into the Iwa ninja's body. The seal took hold instantly, disrupting and binding the man's chakra network at multiple points simultaneously.
He stepped back and tested his mental control, forcing the captive to try channeling chakra. Nothing happened. The pathways were completely locked down. Only then did he release the Mind Clone Switch.
The Iwa ninja gasped as his consciousness returned to his own body. He tried to move, but found himself still paralyzed by the sealing array beneath his feet. His hands twitched uselessly at his sides.
"Who the hell are you?"
Kenji didn't bother answering. He stepped forward and placed one hand on top of the ninja's head. A pulse of chakra, another seal, and the Iwa ninja's eyes rolled back as consciousness left him completely.
He let out a long breath.
That had been way too close. If the sealing hadn't held the enemy in place long enough for Mind Clone Switch to connect, this could've gone very differently. The Iwa ninja's speed would've let him escape before he could land the Five Elements Seal.
He knelt down and drew a kunai, making a small incision on the captive's thigh. Blood welled up immediately. He pulled out a test tube and collected tissue and blood samples, sealing them carefully before storing them away.
That speed had definitely been a bloodline limit. No normal ninja moved like that. The sample would be invaluable for his research.
Once everything was secured, he stood and surveyed the battlefield around him.
Chaos everywhere. Jutsu explosions sent smoke and debris into the air. Ninjas screamed war cries and death rattles. The fighting continued without pause.
The Iwa ninja had been so fast that only the people he'd directly attacked had seen him. Everyone else was too busy with their own fights to notice the blur tearing through Konoha's lines. Now that he was captured and unconscious, the surrounding ninjas were still locked in their individual duels.
He checked his chakra reserves. About sixty percent remaining.
He extended his sensory technique, searching for his students' chakra signatures. Soon, he found them, northeast, maybe forty meters away, tucked behind some broken rocks.
He grabbed the unconscious Iwa ninja by the collar and started moving.
The captive was light, probably only about sixteen or seventeen years old based on his build. Young for a ninja with this level of ability. The Intelligence Division would want to interrogate him.
Kenji found his students exactly where his sensory technique had indicated. They'd taken cover in a gap between several large boulders, creating a defensible position with good sight lines.
Haruto stood guard at the entrance, kunai in hand and eyes scanning the battlefield. Aoi was kneeling beside Kaede, both hands glowing with the green chakra. Kaede was conscious but looked rough, his uniform torn and blood-stained.
"How bad is it?" Kenji called out as he approached.
Haruto spun around, then relaxed when he recognized Kenji. "Sensei! You're okay! We're alright, mostly. What about that enemy?"
"Right here." Kenji lifted the captive slightly. "He won't be causing any more problems."
Haruto's eyes widened at the sight of the unconscious Iwa ninja. "You captured him? That guy was insanely fast!"
"I got lucky with a sealing array." Kenji looked past Haruto to where Aoi was working. "How's Kaede?"
"He's stable now, sensei," Aoi replied without looking up, her focus entirely on maintaining the healing technique. Sweat beaded on her forehead from the chakra expenditure. "We all took hits, but he got the worst of it. Internal injuries, some cracked ribs, possible concussion. I've been working on him for about ten minutes. The life-threatening damage is repaired, but he's still pretty beat up."
Kenji moved closer and crouched down to examine Kaede properly. The kid's breathing was steady, color returning to his face. Aoi had done good work under pressure.
"You picked a solid hiding spot," he said, glancing around their shelter. "Who found this place?"
"That was me!" Haruto grinned. "Just got lucky, I guess. After that ninja finally left, Aoi grabbed Kaede and I spotted this gap. I figured it was better than sitting in the open."
Kenji nodded. Haruto's luck really was something else. The kid wasn't the most talented ninja on the team, his chakra control was average and his jutsu execution was often sloppy. But somehow he always ended up in the right place at the right time. It was uncanny.
Maybe that was its own kind of talent.
"Good instincts," he said. He sat down with his back against one of the boulders, setting the captive beside him. "Aoi, I'll take over the healing once my chakra recovers a bit more. You need to rest."
"I'm okay for now, sensei," Aoi said, though her voice sounded strained. "Let me finish stabilizing the ribs first. Just another few minutes."
Kenji closed his eyes and focused on his breathing. The sounds of battle continued in the distance. His sensory technique monitored the area constantly, tracking nearby chakra signatures. Most were moving away from their position as the fighting shifted to other sections of the battlefield. That meant they could rest here relatively safely.
After about ten minutes, his reserves had climbed back to seventy percent. Good enough.
"Alright, I'm taking over." He moved beside Aoi and placed his hands where hers had been. Green healing chakra flowed from his palms into Kaede's body. "Go sit down and recover. Haruto, keep watching our perimeter."
"Yes, sensei," they both responded.
Aoi stood up slowly, wiping sweat from her face. She looked exhausted but satisfied with her work. She'd only learned Mystical Palm Technique recently, within the past months. Her control was still rough, and the chakra flow was a bit inefficient. But she'd kept Kaede alive, and that was what mattered.
Kenji worked in silence, his healing technique far more refined than Aoi's. He could feel the damaged tissue responding to the chakra, cells regenerating at an accelerated rate. The cracked ribs were knitting back together. Internal bleeding had already stopped thanks to Aoi's earlier work. He just needed to finish repairing the organ damage.
Kaede stirred beneath his hands. His eyes fluttered open, unfocused at first, then settling on Kenji's face.
"Sensei? Where... are we? Is everyone..."
"We're fine," Kenji said calmly, not breaking his concentration on the healing. "You took the hardest hit. Don't move yet. I'm almost done."
"Kaede!" Aoi hurried over from where she'd been resting. "How do you feel?"
"Like I got hit by a boulder," Kaede said with a weak smile. He tried to sit up, but Kenji's hand on his chest stopped him. "Everything hurts. Especially my ribs."
"That's because several of them were broken," Aoi explained. "You got knocked around pretty hard. Haruto and I dragged you here after that ninja left. You've been unconscious for about twenty minutes."
Kaede's expression shifted to concern. "Did we win? What happened to that enemy?"
"Sensei captured him," Haruto called from his guard position. "That guy's right over there, out cold."
Kaede turned his head slightly and saw the unconscious Iwa ninja.
Kenji said, "Just focus on staying still while I finish this."
He worked for another ten minutes, then withdrew his hands. The green glow faded. "There. Try moving now, but take it slow."
Kaede pushed himself upright carefully, testing his body's response. He flexed his hands, rotated his shoulders, and took a deep breath. A smile spread across his face.
"It doesn't hurt anymore. I mean, I feel weak, but the pain's gone."
"The Mystical Palm accelerates healing by forcing your cells to regenerate faster," Aoi explained. "That process burns through a lot of energy. You'll need to rest for a couple days and eat a lot to recover fully."
Kenji stood up and looked at his students. They were all battered, exhausted, and covered in dirt and blood.
"Haruto, you need rest? Kaede's stable now. Aoi, how's your chakra?"
"I'm good," Haruto said immediately. "I recovered most of my reserves already."
"Me too," Aoi added. "About seventy percent."
Kenji nodded and bent down to hoist the captive onto his shoulder. The Iwa ninja was still completely unconscious.
"Then we're moving out. The battle's winding down based on what I'm sensing. We'll head straight back to the defensive line and hand this prisoner over to Intelligence."
He extended his sensory technique one more time, confirming no immediate threats in their path.
Kenji took point, moving at a steady pace that Kaede could maintain in his weakened state. Haruto and Aoi flanked their injured teammate, ready to support him if he faltered.