"What incredible Wind Release chakra… As expected of the founder of the Artisan Ninja Village!"
Garou took a deep breath.
If not for her weapons, he could take on ten of her. Countless soft swords slithered like snakes, homing in from all directions.
Garou and Kakashi both leapt back in unison.
Their main target was Kakashi, but they didn't dare let their guard down against Garou either.
After all, this kid had killed a samurai on par with a jōnin with his own hands. Though samurai were known to lack combined battle tactics and couldn't be treated as full jōnin in such scenarios, the fact remained, Garou was undeniably troublesome.
So, he received special attention.
The majority of the attacks went for Kakashi, but roughly a third still targeted Garou.
Even with his Limit Mode activated, facing such dense waves of assault, Garou was overwhelmed just trying to dodge.
Counterattacks were off the table for now.
"Garou, now!" Kakashi's voice rang out, and a sudden burst of blinding white light flared between his palms.
In the blink of an eye, his figure vanished.
Lightning Blade.
The flashing white bolt sliced through the night like lightning itself.
And when it faded, a life had already been taken.
Kakashi's hand had pierced straight through Kujaku's chest.
The Four Celestial Symbols Men had spread out to corner both Kakashi and Garou.
Even though Infinite Armor could absorb chakra, it was meaningless at such a distance.
Moreover, Kakashi was too fast.
They didn't even have time to react.
"Impossible! You were supposed to be…"
"Wait, regroup!"
The remaining three finally sensed that something was wrong.
Kakashi still had full combat capabilities, their judgment had been fooled by his feigned exhaustion.
As for Tenten, Kasumi, and Yuichi arriving late? They paid them no mind. Two girls with average strength couldn't possibly change the battle.
And Yuichi, a sword-wielding samurai, was virtually useless in such high-level combat.
That is, assuming they could retrieve the Twin Swords of the Kujaku first.
"Hoki, that kid…"
"I know." Hoki, the leader of the Four Celestial Symbols Men, focused his chakra, preparing to summon more ninja tools. He had initially sensed the swords' activity but… that connection had vanished.
Hoki's face darkened.
"It's done?" Kakashi tilted his head slightly.
"Yeah. Couldn't seal them at first, but once I treated them like living things, the process went smoothly."
Before they were sealed, the swords behaved like ordinary weapons.
Garou's eyes sparkled as he turned toward the armored figure.
"Kakashi-sensei, if those weapons share similar 'living traits,' then that armor, it has a mouth. Its ability might be to absorb chakra."
"Agreed." Kakashi nodded.
"You take Kakashi."
"Understood!"
The three remaining Celestial Symbols Men shared grim looks before charging at Garou together.
They had already overestimated him… and still hadn't accounted for how insanely difficult this brat was.
He wasn't just good with a blade. He could use bizarre sealing formations, had unraveled the secret of the Twin Swords in record time, sealed them, and even guessed Infinite Armor's ability.
This brat had to die.
Hoki's dark blades whipped forward like a horde of snakes. At the same time, beams of energy fired from hidden mechanisms, all aiming for Garou.
Garou's speed instantly surged to the limit. With a resounding blast beneath his feet, propelled by a chakra burst, Garou's body blurred and vanished, dozens of paces away in the blink of an eye.
But one of the shadow blades grazed his shoulder. Blood streamed down his arm.
He gritted his teeth and endured.
"Garou!" Tenten's voice rang out from the trees.
Steel wires shot out from the forest, quickly wrapping around the extending shadow blades.
The stretched blades shrieked as they were forcefully retracted.
In that instant, Garou's hands blurred through a series of seals. Five chakra pulses struck the blade.
Five-Element Seal.
It wouldn't hold for long, but it was enough to interrupt their control momentarily.
Then, a figure emerged from underground.
"Kakashi! I've been ready for you!"
Two beams of chakra flared from Hoki's shoulder guards, but the figure he struck turned to mud upon impact.
Earth Clone.
His eyes widened, and then a flash of white lightning surged straight for him.
"Suiko,"
"Yes!"
Knowing he couldn't match Kakashi's speed, Suiko had one simple tactic, teleport directly in front of Hisan to block.
A sharp glint flickered in Kakashi's eye.
He'd already tested the armor. It could absorb chakra and disable certain jutsu, but not all of them.
At least… not a sword.
Kakashi drew his blade with his left hand, pouring his raw strength and chakra into a single, focused slash.
The sound of metal crashing rang out.
"You think a sword can kill me? Don't be naïve, you, wait, what?!"
Suiko tried to mock him while preparing to grab Kakashi's arms and counter with his hidden blades.
But then, pain exploded in his chest.
He looked down in disbelief.
The chakra shield of his armor had been pierced. Kakashi hadn't used chakra along the blade at all, allowing the weapon to bypass the absorption function and slide just an inch into his body.
The shadow blades, now in disarray from the earlier seal, failed to respond.
Hoki was about to step in when a gust of wind howled overhead.
He looked up, and Kakashi swung down with his blade.
He retaliated, but it was just another clone.
In the next moment, Kakashi's real hand, crackling with lightning, drove through the weak spot in the armor at Suiko's chest. The armor absorbed chakra frantically, but it couldn't stop the thrust.
From the shadows, Kasumi used her clone technique to throw Hoki off guard. The moment she saw him hesitate, she unsheathed her blade and lunged from her hidden position.
"Kasumi, fall back!"
Garou's pupils shrank.
"Your opponent is me!"
Ryugan's blades danced again, four or five serpentine strikes lashed out, two of them aimed at Tenten.
"Infinite Armor, return!"
Hoki roared.
With a light hiss, the armor detached from Suiko's dying body.
Kakashi's hand pierced clean through the unarmored corpse. He scowled. "You… you ditched your comrade that easily?!"
"Move."
Hoki ignored him. Reclaiming the armor, he signaled for retreat.
Tenten quickly pulled out two scrolls. With a dramatic sweep, kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags burst into the air like a deadly fireworks show.
Kakashi's eyes gleamed.
Under Limit Mode and his Sharingan, he instantly grasped Tenten's intent.
Those weapons weren't scattered randomly. Hidden among the explosive tags were sealing talismans, flung precisely in eight directions.
It was flawless teamwork.
Garou formed hand seals again.
'Binding Formation. Activate!'
Seals and barriers erupted from the eight seal points, reinforced by wires. Before Hoki could absorb chakra again, the formation solidified around him.
Kasumi, aware of the armor's nature, redirected her strike toward the final enemy.
Ryūgan's blades were powerful—but his defense was paper-thin.
While frozen by the formation, a single slash ended him.
"A basic sealing technique? What?!"
Hoki's expression contorted.
He realized that his Infinite Armor's chakra absorption was in a tug-of-war with the seal's drain.
The sealing technique hadn't broken… What was going on?
Just as confusion overtook him, roots burst from the earth.
Garou, maintaining both the binding and absorption formations at their peak output, let out a slow breath.
He had finally turned the tide.
______________________
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