Chapter 16: Battle Against the Rogue Shinobi!
Chapter 16: Battle Against the Rogue Shinobi!
Thump, thump!
The sound of rapid footsteps echoed through the cave.
A large group of armed bandits blocked the entrance.
Ordinary bandits wouldn't be this alert.
But these weren't ordinary bandits. They smuggled ninja tools and had shinobi among their ranks, so they must have noticed the intruders as soon as they entered the cave.
No wonder Johay had felt something was off earlier.
Bandits!
Their behavior couldn't be this 'disciplined.'
Among the bandits, there was one Chunin and five Genin, all wearing forehead protectors with the symbol of the Hidden Mist Village. However, the horizontal scratch on their forehead protectors indicated that they were rogue shinobi.
At first, Johay couldn't understand why these rogue shinobi would still wear their forehead protectors, even after betraying their village.
But he later learned from Minato that wearing the scratched forehead protector was a declaration of severing ties with their village. Other hidden villages were happy to see such rogue shinobi, as it improved their chances of survival.
The forehead protector also served as a symbol of their identity as shinobi, a point of pride for many.
"Kakashi, you deal with the Chunin. Hoji, take care of the others. I'll handle the Genin!"
Johay's voice was urgent as he gave orders to his companions.
He was nervous; this was his first real battle. Practice matches were different; they didn't involve life and death.
He wondered how other Cross-Dimensional Travelers could perform so flawlessly in their first battles. Maybe they were assassins or elite soldiers before they came here.
"Got it!" 2
Both Hoji and Kakashi knew this was the best strategy. They had been working together long enough to understand each other's strengths.
Kakashi had the strongest individual combat power among the three, capable of facing off against a Chunin.
Hoji could handle ordinary bandits with ease.
The remaining five Genin could be dealt with by Johay using his summoning techniques and jutsu.
"Leaf shinobi, our captain has already gone to deal with your sensei. You'll die here today!"
The leading Chunin drew a kunai and signaled the others to attack.
Whoosh!
Before they could make a move, a white blur lunged forward.
It was Kakashi.
His speed was truly impressive. If he were older, like Johay and the others, his speed would be at least at the Jonin level.
Clang!
Kakashi's short sword clashed with the Chunin's kunai. His aggressive attacks left the Chunin no time to think about anything else.
The five Genin launched shuriken at Johay and the others.
"Wind Style: Violent Wind Palm!"
Hoji formed the hand seals and clapped his hands.
Whack!
A tangible, transparent gust of wind burst forth from his hands, blowing the shuriken away.
Even a person could be blown away by this wind, let alone shuriken.
Taking advantage of Hoji's cover, Johay completed his jutsu.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
With a shout, he slapped his hand on the ground. Black, tadpole-like runes spread out, and white mist rose.
A massive crow, several meters tall and covered in dark golden feathers, suddenly appeared in the cave.
"What is that?"
"It's a summoning!"
"Be careful!"
...
With these exclamations, the battle began.
Caw!
The crow, named Daisuke, lunged forward with its powerful claws.
The cave was too narrow for it to spread its wings, which slowed it down. However, its massive size still exerted a formidable presence.
Kunai flew toward it, but Daisuke ignored all but those aimed at its eyes.
The dark golden feathers were like a resilient armor, deflecting all the kunai.
Large summonings like this had a significant defensive advantage over shinobi.
For example, the summonings of the Three Great Shinobi.
If their defenses weren't strong, they wouldn't be summoned on the battlefield. A single round of ranged attacks would force them to retreat, and they would lose all their prestige and reputation.
Compared to the summoning beasts of the three great sanctuaries, Taichi was still far behind, but he had already begun to show some promise.
The natural energy injection he received earlier had benefited him far more than it had Tang Ping. As a result, his size had more than doubled and was expected to continue growing rapidly in the coming days.
Just like Gamakichi in the anime, who was small when he first met Naruto but grew to be almost as big as his father, Gamabunta, a few years later. This demonstrated one crucial point: for summoning beasts, natural energy was the key to growth, not genetic limitations or growth rate.
So, it wasn't surprising that Taichi's size was growing so quickly.
Croak!
Taichi opened his mouth and spat out a large number of fist-sized fireballs.
The effect was similar to the Uchiha's C-rank jutsu, Goukakyuu no Jutsu (Grand Fireball Technique).
As for the power...
Boom, boom!
The fireballs exploded one after another, capable of shattering even rocks, let alone flesh and blood.
"Run for it!"
"I don't want to die!"
"Damn it, get out of the way!"
...
Ordinary thieves couldn't stand against such an attack and immediately turned to flee.
No one understood the power of shinobi better than they did. Even a low-ranking genin could easily wipe out their entire group, so it was no surprise they chose to run.
However, Taichi's attack didn't harm the rogue ninjas.
Shinobi were too fast.
Slow attacks had a very low chance of hitting them.
That's why the Grand Fireball Technique was sometimes called the "Mercy Technique."
It wasn't because of a lack of power! The technique's power was enough to bring down even a Kage-level ninja, but if it couldn't hit, its power was meaningless.
But that was fine; Taichi was summoned to clear the field and provide support.
At the very least, this attack had disrupted the enemy's formation.
Sankan Koji seized the opportunity to rush out of the cave and chase the fleeing thieves.
This left Tang Ping and Kakashi to face a chunin and five genin.
Tang Ping needed to quickly dispose of his opponents to support Kakashi.
One against five!
If he were alone, it would be suicide.
But with Taichi's help, it wouldn't be a problem.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
Tang Ping swiftly performed the jutsu.
For other genin, a C-rank jutsu would nearly drain their chakra.
Sankan Koji was in that situation, which is why he went to chase the others instead of staying to help.
Without chakra, a shinobi's combat ability was no better than a civilian's.
The difference between a shinobi and a civilian lay entirely in their chakra.
Whoosh!
A fireball, like a cannonball, was expelled from Tang Ping's mouth.
Thanks to Minato Namikaze's guidance, Tang Ping had greatly improved in both the timing and speed of his jutsu, allowing him to use it effectively in battle.
Having a strong mentor was indeed beneficial.
If Sankan Koji had to learn jutsu on his own, it would take him months, if not longer, to master a technique like the Gale Palm.
The Flame Bullet successfully hit two genin who were trying to avoid Taichi's attack.
Boom!
The intense explosion of flames engulfed them.
If it had been the Grand Fireball Technique, there would have been no hits at all.
The reason was simple: it couldn't hit.
The Flame Bullet flew faster, so even with less power, it was more likely to score hits.
Using two C-rank jutsu in quick succession had depleted about half of Tang Ping's chakra.
Drawing a kunai from his equipment pouch, he prepared to face the enemy in close combat.
Taichi was doing his best to intercept the enemy, but with so many opponents, three remained. Two of them held Taichi back, while the last one charged directly at Tang Ping.
Close combat was definitely his weakness.
Before crossing over, Tang Ping had been a programmer and a shut-in, so casting jutsu from a distance was no problem, but he had no talent for close combat.
Of course, lacking talent didn't mean he would let himself be slaughtered. So, he revealed his trump card.
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
