"Kakashi! I'll back you up!"
Shouting loudly, Nobu rushed into the fray.
He raised his sword and swung toward Yuichi. Kakashi and Yuichi were still locked in a fierce blade fight, and upon hearing Nobu's voice from behind, Kakashi sped up his attacks, as if genuinely believing Nobu's support had arrived.
But then, Nobu suddenly turned his blade and struck toward Kakashi with lightning speed.
However, his sword slashed through Kakashi's shoulder, only to meet a spray of water.
'What?'
Nobu froze in confusion. 'A water clone? Impossible!'
'How can a mere water clone, with only a fraction of the original's power, manage to duel someone like Yuichi for that long? Could Kakashi have formed the water clone in the brief moment just now?'
'Impossible.'
Even if it was Kakashi, no one could form hand signs that quickly. Which left only one explanation…
His scalp tingled. He immediately turned to flee.
"Nobu! You traitors, I'll expose your crimes before Lord Mifune himself!"
Yuichi shouted, rage and determination in his voice.
His blade flashed like lightning.
A clean, diagonal cut slashed across Nobu's forehead down to his torso. Blood sprayed into the air.
Tenten and Kasumi froze.
'What just happened?'
"Kakashi went to support the others," Yuichi said, sheathing his sword and collapsing to the ground.
After days of skirmishes, and just now putting on a staged battle with Kakashi, he had reached his limit.
…
"Lord Ishi, that brat…"
"Chase him! He heard too much. We can't let him live." Ishi Kiyotani suddenly accelerated.
Garou, relying on his sensory abilities, immediately noticed the change in pace.
As expected.
The old man had been holding back. He'd only pretended to be slow to lure Garou in. In reality, he was a jōnin-level threat.
Garou pushed his chakra output to seventy percent of his limit state, using the Body Flicker Technique to flee toward a predetermined direction.
At the same time, four other enemies quietly crept into his sensory range. But they didn't strike. They moved forward, then stayed hidden, lying in ambush.
Exactly as he predicted.
Garou exhaled softly.
He'd gambled correctly.
They didn't view him as the main threat. They saw themselves as predators lying in wait for the real fight to end, hoping to swoop in for the spoils.
Garou slowed his pace intentionally as he moved toward the binding formation he had set up.
"Hah, as expected. A runt like you can't possibly maintain that speed for long," Ishi sneered. "You used some kind of secret jutsu, didn't you?"
"No jutsu lasts forever. Tell me what you used, and maybe I'll spare your life."
His voice was calm, but his chakra told a different story. It surged ominously. Garou said nothing. He just gave a cold smirk and kept running.
"This is your last chance."
But Ishi was already preparing to strike. He had no intention of letting Garou live. His words were just another ploy to lower Garou's guard.
What he didn't expect was that Garou wanted him dead too.
Suddenly, Ishi's sword slashed out.
Fast and heavy, its force was monstrous. Garou, even in his enhanced state, couldn't hold the block. His sword went flying from his hands.
And Ishi didn't pause. His blade traced a perfect arc in his return swing, aimed at Garou's throat.
'So fast!'
Garou's eyes lit up.
The sword style was brutally efficient. It reminded him of a classic Iaido draw—nothing flashy, just pure technique and power. These kinds of swords, built solely for battle, were rare outside the Land of Iron.
But Ishi was a jōnin. Garou wasn't going to get a long lesson in his techniques. Ishi was ruthless. There were no wasted moves. His sword was a killing tool, nothing more.
That's how Garou saw him.
And yet, Garou wasn't just a swordsman.
'Binding Formation, activate!'
"Damn brat!"
"You might've frozen me, but my men are almost here! What can you possibly do now?" Ishi's fury gave way to calm confidence.
He'd figured out Garou's jutsu. It was a mid-level Binding Formation, typically used by chūnin. His subordinates were barely a dozen steps away, while Garou had to maintain the formation to keep him restrained.
In other words, Garou was a sitting duck.
He sneered.
But Garou… smiled too.
Then, he stopped forming seals.
Ishi's sneer turned into a grin, but that quickly froze.
He was still immobilized.
He couldn't move.
Even without Garou maintaining the technique, the formation remained, and when he tried to flood it with chakra to break free, the seal only tightened.
'What…?'
His expression blanked in disbelief.
And then, a kunai drew a red line across his neck.
A samurai who'd stood among the elites of the Land of Iron fell, slain by a mere genin.
Kakashi, who'd been hiding nearby ready to strike, held back in surprise.
'This kid… he actually pulled it off?'
Though it was a perfect ambush, and he'd used a newly modified Binding Formation, taking out someone on par with a jōnin was still a monumental feat.
'Wait… there were three more.'
Kakashi's thoughts raced.
He never considered those three a threat to him, but the fact that Garou risked his life to deal with them touched him deeply.
"Kakashi-sensei. Four more, closing in from the flanks," Garou said quietly.
Kakashi narrowed his eyes and emerged from the earth, grabbing a descending enemy and pulling him into the ground.
Earth Style: Headhunter Jutsu.
From there, Kakashi unleashed carnage.
He moved like the second coming of the White Fang, his father, his blade a silver streak in the twilight, tearing through enemies with ruthless precision.
In seconds, it was over.
Panting heavily, Kakashi sheathed his sword and walked over to Garou. He pulled his headband back down over his Sharingan.
"I need a break," he muttered, slumping against a tree.
Garou, just as exhausted, stood silently. The transformation jutsu cast on him had long since worn off.
Then, three slow claps echoed from a treetop.
"Well played, Kakashi Hatake. Even with your chakra depleted, your blade and taijutsu are terrifying. If you were at full strength, we'd never dare make a move."
Four figures emerged from the shadows.
Kakashi's eyes narrowed. He sat up slowly, pretending to muster strength.
"You're the Four Celestial Symbol Men, aren't you?"
"Don't give him time to recover," one said. "And watch for that odd sealing technique."
"Just destroy everything!"
They attacked without hesitation.
One of them, a woman wielding twin blades, slashed fiercely, summoning a roaring windstorm.
Trees snapped, grass was ripped from the earth, and the entire terrain turned to ruin. Any seal, trap, or formation would've been obliterated.
"Move in!"
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