Chapter 155: Russian-style Rescue (Fog)
Haruko didn't need to think to know that Karin had definitely been kidnapped.
"Hidden Grass Village? Or Hidden Cloud Village?"
"It can't be Hidden Grass Village." Tsunade's voice interjected from the side. "I just laid all their Jonin out flat yesterday. They wouldn't dare touch my people now even if they had ten times the courage, and they don't have the ability to kidnap someone right under the noses of so many Konoha Jonin."
"Fine, then it's highly likely to be Hidden Cloud Village."
Haruko stretched his body, his bones cracking. "It just so happens I have a bunch of energy with nowhere to vent."
"Kagero, go back to the Ramen Shop and send word. Tell Dad he can come out of the basement, but I'll be back a bit later."
Seeing Kagero nod, Haruko didn't even greet the Third Hokage; he pushed off with his feet and disappeared.
Bang!
Hearing the sound, the Third Hokage turned around, only to see clear, cracked footprints left on the ground and a streak of light heading straight out of the village.
"Tsunade, what happened? What is Haruko going to do?"
...
"Hoo... hoo... This is it..."
Atsui stumbled when he landed, his knees going weak, and he nearly collapsed to the ground.
On the treetops ahead, several masked figures had been waiting for a long time.
Anbu from Hidden Cloud Village.
"Did you get the item?"
The lead Anbu didn't offer any pleasantries and spoke directly.
Atsui took the scroll and the Sword of the Thunder God from his embrace and handed them over.
The Anbu took them, quickly inspected them, and nodded in satisfaction.
"Well done."
Atsui grinned, wanting to smile, but it aggravated his wounds, causing him to wince in pain.
"Let's go quickly; the Konoha pursuers won't be too far behind."
The group hurried in the direction of Hidden Cloud Village.
But Atsui's speed had clearly slowed down.
The wound on his chest was continuously bleeding, and every breath felt like a knife churning in his chest cavity.
Boom—!
In the forest behind them, an explosion sounded—it was the traps laid by the Anbu being triggered.
The Konoha Ninja had arrived faster than expected.
"If this continues, we're going to be caught."
...
The traps were being triggered one after another, and Nurui's face turned pale.
"At this rate of triggering, even without the traps, the enemy is much faster than us! What kind of monster is chasing us?!"
"The enemy is definitely not an ordinary Jonin or Anbu; they might even be on the same level as the boss." Darui looked at the strategist beside him with a grave expression. "What should we do, Shi?"
"...There's no other way."
Shi reached into his embrace and took out a signal flare.
Noticing Shi's action, both Darui and Nurui showed surprised expressions.
"Shi, are you going to use it? Now? Here?"
"Yeah, we need that person's support more on this side. The pursuer must be Konoha's trump card, perhaps even the guy who emitted that beam of light."
Shi didn't hesitate to pull the fuse, and a red signal flare ascended into the sky.
Seeing the Genin looking at each other, not yet realizing the severity of the problem, Shi added:
"If it really is that guy, we have to treat him as a " Jinchuriki " level threat!"
Jinchuriki, the nuclear weapons of the Ninja World, synonymous with national strategic weapons.
Hearing Shi's assessment, even the Genin understood the enemy's power.
Soon, a Chakra signature appeared within Shi's sensing range.
"They're here! Five hundred meters behind... one person!"
Upon hearing the number, no one felt relieved; instead, they all faced the enemy as if it were a life-or-death situation.
Just as they turned back, they saw a figure flashing with silver light approaching rapidly, throwing a shuriken with a flick of his hand.
"Sage Mode: Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"
In the blink of an eye, a millstone-sized disk of fire flew in an arc toward the Hidden Cloud Village group, slicing through everything in its path like tofu.
"Are you kidding me?"
"Does that guy not care about the hostage?!"
"A monster!"
No one dared to take this move head-on; the Hidden Cloud Village group desperately scattered to avoid it.
"Ah!"
Even so, Yawaii couldn't dodge in time and had his arm severed, the wound instantly cauterized.
At the same time, their formation was completely scattered by this strike.
"Katai, above..."
Shi wanted to warn his teammate—
Unfortunately, it was a step too late. The silver figure had already taken advantage of the chaos to arrive directly above Katai, bringing his heel down with the force of ten thousand tons.
"Sage Mode: Tenshu Kyaku!"
At the critical moment, it was Darui who activated his Lightning Release Chakra Mode, raising his folding broadsword to block in front of Katai.
Clang!!
The custom weapon, which had chakra metal added to it, was dented by this kick. Darui collided with Katai behind him, and they plummeted to the ground like a cannonball.
—Along with Karin, who Katai had been carrying the whole time.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
The silver figure's arm transformed into a giant python, wrapping around Karin, who had crashed to the ground, and pulling her to his side.
Although the little girl had passed out and suffered a fracture, this was still within the plan.
After all, a surprise attack must be quick. If he waited for the enemy to react and hold a Kunai to Karin's neck, that would be the real trouble.
Compared to that, sustaining some injuries was a minor issue.
"Shadow Clone Technique."
A non-glowing Shadow Clone appeared beside the silver figure, and only then did everyone see the true face of the attacker.
"Haruko?!"
No one in Hidden Cloud Village expected that the person who had beaten so many of them into having no power to fight back was the Konoha "Genin" they had just seen in the arena.
Haruko's main body tossed Karin to the Shadow Clone, then the two touched soles of their feet and rushed off in opposite directions.
The Shadow Clone hugged Karin and ran away, while the main body charged straight at Shi.
"The theft was your idea, right, the Fourth Raikage's lackey!"
Shi didn't dare to take Haruko's attack at all and could only dodge desperately, but he was soon chased down by Haruko.
"Storm Release: Laser Circus."
Suddenly, black lasers traced arcs in the air, shooting toward Haruko in a surrounding formation.
It was Darui. Although he had been kicked into the ground by Haruko just now, his sturdy body combined with the reinforcement of his Lightning Release Chakra Mode meant he hadn't suffered much injury; he had just been lying there playing dead, waiting for an opportunity.
But Haruko acted as if he had eyes in the back of his head, discovering the attack coming from his blind spot.
"Rotation."
The blue, rotating Chakra sphere deflected the black lasers, but it also left an opening for Hidden Cloud Village.
"Now, everyone, together!"
Seizing the moment when the Rotation ended, the Hidden Cloud Village Ninja who could still move swarmed forward, various Ninjutsu, Kunai, and shuriken flying in together.
—But they still underestimated Haruko's Ninjutsu release speed.
"Fire Release: Dust Concealment."
Scorching hot smoke and ash sprayed from Haruko's mouth, obscuring their vision while also preventing the Hidden Cloud Village Ninja from approaching.
After the attacks entered the smoke, it was like a clay ox entering the sea; there was no feeling of hitting anything at all.
"Continue." Even so, Shi still ordered them to continue the attack. "Drag him here; that person will be here soon."
...
Haruko hid in the smoke, avoiding the Hidden Cloud Village long-range attacks, and occasionally threw a long-range Ninjutsu in retaliation.
Except for Shi, who could sense his position, the others were basically shooting blindly and posed no threat.
'It's a pity I couldn't take out Shi."
At the beginning, he relied on a surprise attack to catch Hidden Cloud Village off guard, only then did he seriously injure two Genin.
Now that the enemy had reacted, it wouldn't be easy to take down an elite Jonin—unless he used his ultimate move.
But at the moment, not knowing how long his current state could last, Haruko didn't dare to squander his Sage Mode Chakra recklessly, at least not until the other "battery" was ready.
After all, annihilation was not the main goal of his trip; there was no need to risk his life.
'The Shadow Clone should have run far enough away; it's time for me to leave too."
Having made up his mind, Haruko threw one last Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique as a distraction, then charged out of the smoke—
Following that, he hadn't run far before his path was blocked by a huge figure.
A burning blue Chakra cloak, like a humanoid Two-Tails demon cat, leaped out from between the trees and landed heavily in front of Haruko!
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