"Swish, swish, swish..."
A dense storm of kunai shot in from every direction.
Like a black downpour, they blanketed the entire area.
The Konoha genin still struggling in the swamp had no strength left to dodge.
Shikamaru had just started to form hand seals when the mud beneath his feet dragged him down another notch.
Choji tried to use the Expansion Jutsu, only to realize the swamp under him had already vanished.
Ino and Sakura clung tightly to each other, watching helplessly as the deadly flashes of steel drew closer and closer.
We're going to die.
That thought flashed through every one of their minds at the same time.
"Not good!"
Kakashi's pupil contracted sharply.
Lightning Blade crackled in his hand.
But he was too far away. There was no time.
Guy's muscles tensed all at once.
In an instant, he opened the Eight Gates up to the Fifth Gate.
He was just about to throw himself forward no matter the cost when-
"You'd better worry about yourselves first!"
A rasping, labored voice rang out from the side.
Kitsuchi's massive figure appeared in front of the two of them.
He slammed both hands onto the ground.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
Rumble!
A gigantic earthen wall several meters high burst from the ground.
Like a small mountain, it forcibly cut Kakashi and Guy off from the center of the battlefield.
"Damn it!"
Kakashi drove his Lightning Blade into the wall.
It left only a shallow crater.
Guy leaped up and kicked at it.
The wall trembled, but it did not collapse.
And in those few brief seconds of delay...
The kunai had already slammed into the surface of the wall.
At the same time, dozens of dark figures burst from the edge of the swamp and shot toward the carriage holding Roshi like phantoms.
Standing atop the wall, Kitsuchi's pupils suddenly shrank.
That honest-looking face showed no emotion.
But one thought flashed silently through his mind.
We've got him.
And yet...
"Get lost."
A low shout suddenly rang out from all directions.
The voice was not loud, but it carried a strange power.
As though it could pierce through everything.
As though it struck directly at the soul.
In the next second, something bizarre happened.
The kunai that were just about to pierce the genin suddenly stopped in midair.
They did not fall. They did not slow down.
They stopped completely.
They hung there in the air, utterly motionless.
As if time itself had frozen.
Then-
Buzz!
The kunai abruptly turned around.
Their sharp tips lined up in unison, pointing straight back the way they had come.
"What?"
Kitsuchi's eyes went wide.
Before he could react-
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The kunai shot backward even faster than before.
"Ahhh..."
"Urgh..."
"Gah..."
Screams rang out one after another.
The Iwa ninja hiding in the shadows and launching that sneak attack had no time to react at all before they were pierced by the very kunai they had thrown.
Some fell from the trees.
Some crashed into the underbrush.
Some tried to defend themselves with Earth Style.
Only to find that the moment their jutsu touched that strange power... it shattered.
That was right. Shattered.
The earthen walls and shields they had just formed were struck by some invisible force and collapsed on the spot, exploding into clouds of dust.
For a moment, the battlefield dissolved into chaos. Men and bodies tumbled everywhere, and cries of pain filled the air.
Kitsuchi's face changed drastically. He sank into the ground in an instant, then shot out again some distance away.
He barely avoided a wave of rebounding kunai.
But when he lifted his head again, the sight before him left him completely stunned.
The swamp that had looked like hell just moments ago had changed entirely.
The mud that had trapped the genin had been forcibly flattened by some unseen power.
It was solid ground again.
The Konoha genin had collapsed onto the earth, covered in mud and looking miserable.
But every one of them was still alive, though unconscious.
The kunai that had been meant for them were now embedded in the earth and tree trunks around them.
Each one had sunk several inches deep.
The force behind them was obvious.
And the most shocking thing of all...
Was the carriage.
It was completely unharmed.
A hand gently lifted the carriage curtain.
A figure slowly stepped out from within.
A tall, straight posture. A pair of dark eyes with a wild edge to them. Twin sword sheaths hanging at his sides.
Teizawa.
He stood on the driver's bench of the carriage and looked down over the entire battlefield.
Everywhere his gaze swept, the Iwa ninja involuntarily took a step back.
Kitsuchi stared fixedly at that figure and swallowed.
So this was... the Kazekage's strength?
With nothing more than a single low shout, he had neutralized every attack.
He had even inflicted heavy losses on their own side.
What kind of monster was this?
Not just him.
Even Kakashi and Guy were completely stunned.
The earthen wall separating them had already collapsed by half.
Kakashi stood atop the rubble, his visible right eye opened wide, his body trembling faintly from shock as he stared at the man standing on the carriage.
This guy...
He's strong.
Guy's thick brows arched high, his eyes filled with disbelief.
He was a taijutsu specialist.
No one understood better what that single move just now meant.
That wasn't a burst of chakra.
That wasn't ninjutsu.
It was some higher form of power...
Control over magnetism.
Control over all matter in his surroundings.
"Kazekage-sama!"
The Sand ANBU finally snapped out of it.
They emerged from all directions and surrounded Teizawa.
He did not look at them.
He merely lowered his gaze toward the broad figure standing among the ruins below.
Kitsuchi.
The corner of Teizawa's mouth lifted slightly.
"Kitsuchi-san."
His voice was calm, but every pore on Kitsuchi's body went numb.
"Is this how Iwagakure teaches its people to conduct themselves?"
He paused for a moment before continuing slowly.
"Launching a sneak attack against a group of genin..."
He let the words hang for a beat.
"Is this really all Iwa has come to?"
Kitsuchi glared at the man standing atop the carriage.
This was the bastard.
The bastard who had kept his daughter locked up for so long.
The bastard who had gotten Kurotsuchi pregnant.
The bastard who had made Iwa lose face.
No matter how mild-tempered he usually was, at this moment he still clenched his teeth so hard that the muscles at his waist twitched.
"Kazekage."
He took a deep breath, suppressing the rage in his heart.
He did his best to keep his voice steady.
"Hand over Roshi, and we'll leave immediately."
The demand was simple and direct, with no room for bargaining.
Teizawa stood on the carriage bench, looking down at him with a faint, unreadable smile on his lips.
That smile irritated Kitsuchi to no end.
"Hand over Roshi?"
Teizawa repeated the words, his tone tinged with amusement.
"Sure."
Kitsuchi froze for a moment.
That easily?
But in the next second, Teizawa's next words made his face darken.
"But Roshi attacked the border of Sunagakure. He killed our people and destroyed our outposts."
"Who's taking responsibility for that?"
Kitsuchi fell silent.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, only to realize he had no rebuttal at all.
Because Teizawa was telling the truth.
Roshi really had gone off on his own without permission.
He really had attacked Sunagakure's border.
He really had killed their people and destroyed their outposts.
On this matter...
Roshi really had been in the wrong.
Kitsuchi let out a silent sigh in his heart.
The problem was...
If you were going to do it, then at least win.
If you won, anything could be discussed.
But instead, you got yourself captured after losing, and you still acted tough?
What kind of mess was this?
"What?" Teizawa said as he watched his expression. "Even Kitsuchi-san thinks you're in the wrong?"
Kitsuchi drew in a deep breath and forced himself to calm down.
"Kazekage-dono, release Roshi first."
"Roshi is our village's jinchuriki. He has to come back with us."
"I know."
Teizawa nodded, and his tone suddenly turned "serious."
"I'm not an unreasonable man."
He paused, then raised one hand and held up five fingers.
"For Kurotsuchi's sake, I'm willing to discuss it with you."
"As long as Iwagakure pays fifty billion ryo in compensation for the border losses, Sunagakure will return the Four-Tails immediately."
(End of Chapter)
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