Chapter 79

— If possible, don't deliver the finishing blow, — I recalled, addressing the neighboring ninja with a questioning smirk, — I need them for training, and I don't want to risk our own.

— Understood.

For some time, we simply stood silently, tense and scanning the enemy. Or rather, the red-eyed neighbor was doing the scanning, while I could sense the approach of nine sources of chakra. If two jounin didn't pose much of a concern, the third shinobi among them stood out noticeably, not reaching kage-level reserves but definitely not an ordinary fighter. In any case, our commander was outmatched in terms of chakra volume.

— Here they come, — Uchiha tensed.

Indeed, I could already distinguish fleeting figures in the grass. Without waiting for them to approach, we hastily retreated and at the right moment activated the traps, creating a series of explosions and bursts of lightning-style chakra in addition to physical attacks on the trio of enemy shinobi. After that, the jounin began forming seals, followed by me.

— Katon: Dai Endan.

— Futon: Daitoppa.

Our quiet whisper was almost drowned out by the roar of flames, but the resulting enhanced wave of fire struck where Iwa's shinobi were moving. However, I doubted that we could easily get rid of the jounin — just moments before the traps triggered, I felt a solid surge of chakra, followed by an even larger one.

Due to the amount of chakra used on both sides, it wasn't immediately clear what jutsu they had employed, but the towering flames encountering resistance clearly showed that our opponents were far from weak. Anticipating what we would see when the smoke and dust settled, I began forming the next series of seals.

— Chidori Senbon.

And I also silently rejoiced that I stood slightly behind Uchiha and hadn't allowed him to copy the technique. The projectiles launched from lightning-style easily pierced through the earth wall that had appeared, slightly singed. A faint cry indicated that at least one senbon had found its mark. Simultaneously, I sensed our and the enemy chunin engaging in combat, using their techniques. However, it was becoming dangerous to be distracted further, as three figures appeared atop the wall.

— Damn it! — Uchiha cursed under his breath.

— Well, well, have we been lucky to stumble upon Konoha rats? — a rather colorful man with a completely bald head, more resembling a bear with his build than a human, interjected.

Even at a glance, he stood slightly over two meters tall and weighed about a hundred and a half kilograms of pure muscle. The narrow-eyed man with a small beard and a miniature woman with short dark hair and a cloth mask on her face on either side of him didn't make much of an impression. The latter, incidentally, had caught a senbon in her arm, judging by the twitch of her limb.

— And what brings "Butcher" Goto here? Did they demote you to sabotage squads? — the neighbor scoffed in response.

— Asked for it myself, to avoid dying of boredom. Just didn't expect to meet Shigeru Uchiha himself in such a hole, — the bald man grinned menacingly. — In Iwagakure, your head is valued very highly, and I intend to collect.

— Konoha and Suna bounty hunters have quite a reward for you too, — the jounin grinned back, and turning to me for a moment, asked, — Ryo, can you handle two of them?

Assessing the opponents and their somewhat battered condition from the triggered traps, I nodded. Fighting two jounin was certainly different from dealing with a pair of chunin and a jounin's underling, but considering the cards I had up my sleeve, the odds were decent not only to await backup but also to take them down myself.

— My red-eyed friend, take care of the second one, — Goto roared and quite agilely for his size, lunged towards the retreating neighbor.

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