Who's there!
Taiseki's heart trembled in shock.
He'd just scouted the surroundings. There shouldn't be any more Konoha ninjas.
Unless someone had avoided detection before he checked.
In that case, only a sensory ninja could do that.
"A sensory ninja?"
Taiseki's gaze wandered between Kiyohara, Kurenai, and Genma, wondering which one was the sensory ninja.
"Kiyohara..."
Kakashi turned around, seeing Kiyohara who'd suddenly arrived, and felt slightly relieved.
Sure enough, compared to the dead-last Obito, Kiyohara was far more reliable.
"I see, just two chunin and a genin?"
Taiseki formed a one-handed seal, continuing to refine chakra to maintain his invisibility.
Camouflage Jutsu!
The form he'd just revealed turned invisible again after he released the technique once more.
This technique could make both flesh and clothing invisible, so naturally it could also make the dust on his body invisible too.
"It's no good, Kiyohara. Your chakra reserves aren't as much as his."
Kakashi gripped his short blade tightly, his brow furrowed.
Even if Kiyohara used Wind Release: Great Breakthrough to blow out the Iwagakure jonin Taiseki's form, it wouldn't last long.
Taiseki could continue releasing the technique anytime. He could definitely use it more times than Kiyohara!
"Hmph, so you're White Fang's son. As long as you're not White Fang himself, there's nothing to fear."
Taiseki looked at Kakashi, who was warning Kiyohara, and a vicious smile appeared on his face.
The White Fang of Konoha had killed quite a few of their comrades. Now killing his son would count as revenge.
But... before that.
Taiseki turned his gaze to Kiyohara.
This guy posed a greater threat than Kakashi right now.
Through observation, Taiseki noticed that both Kurenai and Genma were positioned half a step behind Kiyohara.
This meant that among them, Kiyohara had the most authority. He should be the squad captain.
That excellent sensory ability should also belong to Kiyohara.
Or rather, precisely because of this sensory ability, Kiyohara was qualified to be captain.
In a flash of thought, Taiseki began analyzing Kiyohara's intel.
The next moment, there was a faint sound of air friction!
Taiseki had moved!
"He's completely eliminated his scent. I can only judge the enemy's position by subtle air flow and sound."
Kakashi's expression was grave.
Suddenly, he blurted out, warning Kiyohara:
"Behind you, Kiyohara!"
Clang!
At the same time, kunai clashed with kunai.
"Oh?"
Taiseki raised an eyebrow slightly.
Sensory ninjas generally leaned toward support. He hadn't expected Kiyohara to block his sneak attack.
With one strike unsuccessful, Taiseki retreated a step and vanished back into the darkness.
"You guys go rescue Rin. Don't worry about me."
Kiyohara spoke.
In a sense, Taiseki was easier to deal with than the other Iwagakure jonin Kakkō in the back.
The invisibility ability was indeed quite troublesome.
"Kiyohara..."
Kurenai wanted to say something, but Kiyohara shook his head, signaling Kurenai not to worry about him.
"Alright, be careful."
Kurenai nodded with some concern.
Then she and Genma headed toward the rear together.
Seeing this, Kakashi and Obito also rushed forward.
No matter what, the current situation called for prioritizing numbers reduction.
As long as they killed one enemy, they could focus their efforts on dealing with the other.
Right now, the weight on victory's scales depended on which side could reduce the other's numbers first.
"Ho, so you're letting your comrades go?"
Taiseki felt some recognition for Kiyohara's will.
Although this guy was an enemy, he was truly a ninja.
Unfortunately, Taiseki wasn't worried about the rear.
Kakkō's abilities in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu were all very strong. He was an elite even among jonin.
A few snot-nosed kids trying to take on Kakkō?
Taiseki wanted to laugh just thinking about it.
He suppressed the urge.
Laughter would expose his position.
"Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder!"
Kiyohara formed hand seals with both hands. Many traces of electrical arcs spread across the ground.
Taiseki jumped upward, flipping to hang inverted from the cave ceiling, avoiding the Lightning Release technique Kiyohara released on the ground.
"This brat's techniques are no joke."
Taiseki frowned slightly.
Kiyohara wore a genin's outfit, but the techniques he used were all very skilled, completely beyond the genin level.
This made Taiseki put away his contempt and regard Kiyohara seriously.
"So he dodged. The invisibility ability is indeed impressive, but if you rely on it too much, you'll die because of it..."
Kiyohara grabbed a large handful of powder from the ninja pouch at his waist.
"Ninja Art...!"
Kiyohara called out, as if about to release some powerful technique.
Taiseki's gaze sharpened.
The power of Kiyohara's earlier Wind Release: Great Breakthrough and Lightning Release: Electromagnetic Murder were both quite remarkable. It showed he had great talent in ninjutsu.
Seeing Kiyohara about to use a new technique, Taiseki's guard instantly went up.
He widened his eyes, wanting to see clearly the hand seals Kiyohara was forming, thereby deducing what technique he might use.
This was a combat skill among jonin.
Predicting the enemy's technique in advance to prepare countermeasures.
But this required a certain knowledge base to deduce the enemy's technique from the hand seals.
He saw Kiyohara's hands overlap together, with the powder pressed in his palm.
The two palms seemed to be covering each other.
It was the "Monkey" hand seal.
Taiseki recognized it. This was "Monkey" from the twelve basic hand seals.
"Water Release: Water Fang Bullet? Or some other technique?"
Many techniques using "Monkey" as the starting seal flashed through Taiseki's mind in an instant.
Most of them were Water Release techniques.
But based on just one seal, there were still too many possibilities.
So Taiseki widened his eyes even more, trying to see clearly what it was.
"Lime Powder Scatter Technique!"
Kiyohara first threw all the lime powder out, then followed up with Wind Release: Great Breakthrough before shouting the technique's name.
"Ahh!"
The fierce wind mixed with lime hit Taiseki full in the face.
Although his reaction was quick, caught off guard, lime powder still got in his eyes. A burning sensation swirled in his eyes, blurring his vision.
He never imagined Kiyohara would be so underhanded.
One second ago, he could sacrifice himself for his comrades, taking him on alone.
The next second, he used such a dirty trick!
"Damn brat, you...!"
Taiseki was furious beyond measure and was about to use an Earth Release technique.
But as soon as he opened his mouth, Kiyohara threw another handful of quicklime, which landed right in his gaping mouth.
"Cough, cough, cough..."
Taiseki choked terribly. His eyes burned, his throat burned.
"Do you have any ninja spirit at all!"
Taiseki hoarsely questioned him.
"Very sorry, I'm a traditional-style ninja."
Kiyohara smiled.
Taiseki was being ridiculous. A ninja who liked turning invisible and ambushing people was now talking to him about spirit.
"Alright, now I'm invisible too. Let's begin a fair duel."
Kiyohara spoke slowly.
It's just that his was physical invisibility. As long as Taiseki's eyes couldn't see him, didn't that also count as being invisible?