Torifu felt the sudden surge of twenty elite chakra signatures and knew the odds were impossible. The sheer density of killing intent made the sulfurous mist feel like lead.
"We can't hold this position!" Torifu barked, his voice thick with authority. "There are too many, and they have already locked onto our identities. Retreat! Fall back to the forest line!"
"Retreat?" Jiraiya stammered, eyes wide as the disguised shinobi began to move with terrifying speed. "We just got here! How are we supposed to outrun twenty of those guys?"
"Don't argue with him, idiot!" Tsunade snapped, already pivoting on her heel. She grabbed Jiraiya by the collar to force him into motion. "If Torifu-sama says we run, we run! Move!"
Orochimaru lingered for a split second, eyes fixed on the Suna puppet masters with a cold, calculating look. "What a waste of a rare opportunity," he hissed, though he didn't hesitate to follow. He blurred into a dash, movements fluid and snake-like.
Yoichi stayed low, gaze never leaving the attackers while moving backward. A deep reservoir of Qi Blood surged through his veins, fueling his legs for the explosive burst required for a high-speed retreat. Every muscle was tense, ready to react if a projectile cut through the mist.
The Cloud swordsman laughed again, the sound echoing off the obsidian cliffs. "Run all you want, little geniuses! The Land of Hot Springs is a maze, and we know every corner!"
"Sakumo, take the lead!" Torifu ordered, stepping back to act as the rearguard. "Yoichi, stay right behind him! Use the steam for cover!"
"Understood, Torifu-sama!" Yoichi responded, face a mask of rational focus despite the grimace of exertion.
He understood the logic of the retreat.
Fighting twenty elites in an open circle was a death sentence. They needed to funnel the enemy into a narrower path. He kept breathing shallow to avoid the sulfur, senses dialed to the maximum to track the overlapping footsteps of the pursuers.
The team vanished into a thick plume of geyser steam, the rocky terrain blurring as they pushed their bodies to the limit. Behind them, the twenty shinobi dropped their merchant robes entirely, revealing dark combat gear and specialized weaponry as they gave chase.
The twenty elite shinobi did not wait for the team to gain distance. As Torifu's order to retreat echoed through the valley, the pursuers moved in unison.
Hands blurred in a synchronized dance of signs, the rhythmic clicking of joints audible even over the hissing geysers.
"They're not letting us go!" Jiraiya yelled, glancing over his shoulder. "Look at those signs! They're weaving high-level techniques!"
"Stop looking back and run!" Tsunade countered, her boots cracking the volcanic stone. "Focus on your footing or the jutsu won't be what kills you!"
Orochimaru's eyes remained fixed on the elemental gathering behind them. "A combined ritual... how efficient," he whispered, his voice cold and analytical even in flight. "They are merging their chakra to blanket the entire escape route."
Yoichi sensed the massive buildup of energy. The air grew static, and the smell of ozone began to fight the stench of sulfur. The Kumo shinobi molded lightning, the Kiri agents condensed the ambient steam, and the Suna masters churned the earth.
"Target the their legs!" the Cloud swordsman roared, finishing his signs. "Don't let them reach the tree line!"
Water Release: Thousand Flying Water Needles!
Earth Release: Earth Flow Wave!
Lightning Release: False Darkness!
The sky flickered with a violent light. Thousands of hardened water needles, electrified by arcing bolts, rained down. Simultaneously, the ground beneath them heaved like a violent sea, rock turning into a rushing tide of debris. The team struggled to maintain their pace as the environment itself turned into a weapon.
"Get behind me!" Yoichi shouted, stopping his retreat for a heartbeat.
The boy did not flee immediately. Instead, he planted his feet into the shifting soil, his Qi Blood roaring through his pathways like a furnace. He pulled his fist back, the air around his knuckles beginning to distort from the sheer pressure of his physical energy.
Mountain Crushing Fist!
He punched forward into the heart of the oncoming storm. The resulting shockwave was a physical wall of force that collided with the combined ninjutsu. The Earth Flow Wave was pulverized into dust, and the electrified water needles were vaporized instantly by the sheer friction of the air displacement.
The collision sent a backlash of lightning and jagged stone fragments toward him. Arcs of electricity danced across his skin, and a few stray stone shards cut shallow lines into his forearms. He felt the sting of the burns and the sharp bite of the impacts, but his terrifying constitution held firm. The marginal injuries barely slowed the flow of his Qi Blood.
"He just... he blew it all away with a punch?" Jiraiya gasped, eyes bulging at the clearing dust.
"Move, now!" Yoichi ordered, his voice strained but steady.
Torifu didn't waste the opening. "Everyone, through the gap he made! Back to the forest!"
The team scrambled past the neutralized zone, their feet pounding against the scorched earth.
Giant spheres of Fire Release: Great Fireball soared through the mist, while blades of Wind Release: Great Breakthrough whistled through the air to fill the void Yoichi had created.
The team dove into the thickest plumes of sulfur, using the cover to sprint toward the distant dark line of the woods.
Torifu and the group breached the forest line, the sulfurous haze giving way to the damp shadows of towering oaks. Torifu pushed the group deeper, but the reprieve was short-lived. Yoichi's eyes widened as his sensory perception detected a new layer of danger. Dozens of hidden signatures flared within the underbrush.
"Ambush!" Yoichi barked, his voice sharp with warning. "They have Chūnin waiting in the trees!"
The forest erupted in a secondary bombardment.
These hidden units were not as powerful as the Jōnin behind them, but they were numerous and perfectly positioned. They unleashed a coordinated barrage of mid-level techniques designed to snare the team and stall their momentum.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet!
Wind Release: Gale Palm!
Large, roaring serpents of flame erupted from the foliage, their intensity amplified by the pressurized gusts of wind. The fiery dragons tore through the branches, turning the forest floor into a chaotic mess of burning leaves and splintered wood.
"They're trying to pin us between two fronts!" Sakumo shouted, drawing his white chakra sabre.
A group of Hidden Mist Chūnin emerged from the shadows, their hands flying through signs.
Water Release: Water Trumpet!
They expelled high-pressure streams of water, aiming to sweep the team's footing away and push them back toward the valley where the elites waited.
"Get back!" Torifu roared, his hands moving in a blur to weave a counter.
Yoichi didn't wait for the water to reach them.
His Qi Blood surged, fueling a series of rapid-fire movements. He ignored the sting of a stray flame that grazed his cheek, his focus entirely on the looming threat of the elite Jōnin closing the gap from behind. He calculated the trajectory of the incoming fire dragons and wind, realizing the Chūnin were merely the anvil to the Jōnin's hammer.
They are using these Chūnin as disposable walls, Yoichi realized, his grimace deepening. If we stop fighting them, the twenty elites will have our heads in seconds.
Torifu realized the Chūnin blockade would allow the Jōnin pursuers to catch them. He stepped to the front, his massive frame radiating a sudden, crushing pressure. The veteran shinobi was no longer playing a defensive game.
"Stay close to me!" Torifu roared, his hands moving so fast they seemed to disappear.
He didn't start with a jutsu. Instead, he reached for a small pouch and swallowed a pill. His body mass didn't just expand; it surged with raw, physical energy. He performed a single hand sign, and his entire body began to grow, his limbs thickening until he towered over the path.
Multi-Size Technique!
His massive hands reached out, snatching two trees from the ground as if they were mere twigs. He swung them in a wide arc, the sheer physical force creating a gust of wind that scattered the incoming Fire Dragon Bullets. He then tucked his limbs in, spinning his colossal frame into a high-speed projectile.
Human Bullet Tank!
The ground groaned and shattered under his weight. Torifu became a rolling mountain of destruction, tearing through the forest floor and crushing the Chūnin's water pillars into mist.
The hidden enemies in the trees were thrown into the air by the shockwaves alone. Once the path was cleared, he uncurled, still massive, and inhaled deeply.
Fire Release: Blast Wave Wild Dance!
A gargantuan spiral of flames erupted from his mouth, twisting into a massive firestorm that mirrored a horizontal tornado. The heat vaporized any remaining water techniques. The forest was illuminated by a blinding orange glare as the blast wave incinerated the wooden platforms of the ambushers.
"Now! Move!" Torifu commanded, his voice booming with the resonance of his enlarged form.
Yoichi didn't hesitate, his Qi Blood humming as he maintained his pace. He watched Torifu with an analytical eye, noting how the Akimichi used physical mass to augment his elemental release.
The scorched trench carved into the earth was their new escape route.
"That's... that's the power of an Akimichi elite," Jiraiya wheezed, his face red from the radiating heat.
"Don't gawk! Keep your feet moving!" Tsunade yelled, leaping over a burning log.
Behind them, the twenty elite Jōnin finally breached the forest line, unaffected by the heat.
They moved through the burning embers with grim determination. The gap was closing again, and the scorched path Torifu created was now a highway for the pursuers.
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I shortened the word count for this since I wanted it to be as action-packed as usual. Of course, we can't deny the prowess of 20 Jōnin. But in the next chapters, I'll have another 2,000-word count so the content will be brimming to the maximum.
Thanks to Snowwwww, Daemonic_Dragon, Kacey_Jackson, and doomslayer24 for the power stones! Thanks! I appreciate it so much!