"You scoundrel, what else do you want?" A blocked Setsuna's path, his hair standing on end as he reactivated the Lightning Release Chakra Mode.
"Naturally, I want to try and kill you!" Setsuna adopted a starting stance that looked incredibly strange to everyone else. "Wolf Fang Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"
This was a combination he had secretly learned from Yamcha, the ultimate butt-of-the-joke and victim in the Dragon Ball world: a fusion of the Wolf Fang Fist and the Gentle Fist.
The power of the Wolf Fang Fist wasn't exceptionally strong; its sole advantage was its blistering speed. When fused with the Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms, it allowed him to hit all of an opponent's pressure points in the fastest possible time.
A, unaware of the danger, thought Setsuna was simply trying to overpower him with speed. He pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to the absolute limit and charged forward to engage Setsuna.
In just a few seconds, the two exchanged over a hundred blows.
But many people noticed that after just a few seconds, A's punching speed slowed down significantly, which was definitely abnormal.
Sure enough, A was quickly sent flying by Setsuna's next strike, unable to block in time.
A stood up again, his arms hanging down, clearly furious. "You're a disgrace! Using pressure points to blindside me!"
"What, is hitting pressure points not Taijutsu? Besides, doesn't your Lightning Release Body Flicker also have a paralyzing effect? The only difference is that I wasn't hit," Setsuna countered, shaking his head slightly.
"Hmph! Even if my hands are temporarily useless, I still have my legs. I still have my body!" A burst with accelerated speed, charging like a raging bull, intending to smash Setsuna away.
"Then I'll break your legs!" Setsuna raised his fist, ready to strike, when he suddenly sensed danger. A dark, black beam of light shot out at him.
In that perilous instant, Setsuna's body twisted in an unbelievable manner, dodging the attack. The beam flew past him and landed in the river far in the distance.
BOOM!
There was a massive roar, and that section of the river instantly exploded. A fierce shockwave swept in all directions, blowing away the ninja who were too close. Fish and shrimp rained down from the sky, as if a storm of river seafood had begun.
"Tch, a Tailed Beast Bomb," Setsuna muttered, a flicker of caution in his eyes. No matter how confident he was in his defense, there was no way he could endure a Tailed Beast Bomb with his bare flesh.
Of course, that was only because he didn't want to expose his "Ki" just yet. Otherwise, he might have tried a beam clash.
Seeing Setsuna turn his gaze toward Killer B, A yelled, "B, watch out!"
Although Killer B was strong and the Eight-Tails Jinchūriki, A didn't believe for a second that B could stand up to this monster.
"Heh, daring to interfere in my fight requires a willingness to die!" Setsuna appeared in front of Killer B almost instantaneously.
"So fast!" Killer B's pupils constricted. He hadn't fully grasped the enemy's speed while watching A fight, but facing him personally, he felt the terrifying pressure.
Setsuna launched a knee strike that sent Killer B soaring into the air. While airborne, Killer B immediately entered his Version 2 Tailed Beast state. The chakra cloak glowed like scorching flames, and he let out a roar that sounded like it came from ancient times.
"Be careful!" Minato looked grave. He was arguably the person who understood the power of the Tailed Beast transformation the best, but he was currently unable to intervene and could only hurry to recover his chakra.
The Tailed Beast-transformed Killer B was practically mindless. His chakra became violent and aggressive. All four chakra tails and both hands simultaneously slammed down, blasting Setsuna deep into the earth. Then, another Tailed Beast Bomb was fired. The ground instantly collapsed, and a cloud of dust billowed up, enveloping the area.
However, before the Cloud Ninja could cheer, a pained cry came from the Eight-Tails within the dust cloud.
A, anxious, blew away the dust and saw Killer B kneeling halfway down, blood constantly dripping from his chest.
A looked closer and saw a finger-sized wound on B's chest, as if he had been pierced by a beam of lightning.
The next moment, Setsuna burst out from the ground's ruins, dusting himself off. Although he looked slightly disheveled, anyone with eyes could see that he was in a much better state than Killer B.
"Damn it, what did you do to B?" A demanded furiously.
Setsuna looked at Killer B, marveling. "As expected of a Jinchūriki, he took my Dodompa and looks like nothing happened."
With the dust cloud providing cover, he didn't mind using a little bit of his "Ki" power.
A didn't understand what the "Dodompa" was, but anxiety welled up in his heart.
If this were before, an attack like that wouldn't have been enough to seriously wound Killer B in his Tailed Beast state. But B's condition had been unstable recently, and an injury of this severity might make it difficult for B to suppress the seal.
If the Eight-Tails broke the seal at a time like this, it would undoubtedly be a disaster.
"Oh, your Jinchūriki seems to be having some issues," a villain-like smile appeared on Setsuna's face as he walked toward Killer B.
"You bastard, I won't let you!" A gritted his teeth and leaped forward, clinging desperately to Setsuna's right leg, then yelled at the others, "Get Bee and B out of here!"
"Hmm, he forced his way past the pressure points with sheer willpower?" Setsuna stroked his chin. "That's a truly touching display of comradeship, but why does it make me look like the villain?"
Despite his words, Setsuna's attack was completely merciless. He drove a punch into A's back.
"Pah!"
Even with the Lightning Release Armor protecting him, A still spat up a mouthful of blood, yet he didn't let go.
Some of the Cloud Ninja took Bee and Killer B and fled, while the rest charged forward like madmen.
"Protect Lord A!"
"We have to hold out until Lord Raikage arrives!"
They rushed toward Setsuna like moths to a flame, but most couldn't even get close before they were blown away by the shockwave of his punches. The only one who managed to get close immediately detonated explosive tags, which left Setsuna looking quite roughed up.
Seeing the fallen Cloud Ninja, A's heart bled, and he was filled with deep regret.
He didn't regret initiating this operation, but he regretted being careless and getting blindsided by the opponent's pressure point technique.
If he hadn't tried to trade punches and had fought with hit-and-run tactics instead, he absolutely wouldn't have been defeated so easily.
Now, although he had forced open the pressure points in his arms through sheer willpower, he could only move them barely enough to function. Continuing the fight was simply impossible.
Just then, a roar like thunder traveled from the distance: "A!"
"The Old Man is here," A's eyes brightened, and he tightened his grip on Setsuna's right leg even more.
"Are you being this welcoming?" Setsuna laughed. "Minato-senpai, I guess I'll have to ask you to take both of us back to the Leaf Village."
Hearing Setsuna's words, A's body stiffened, and he cautiously released his hands.
Setsuna immediately took advantage, hooking A's foot to launch him into the air, then aiming a powerful mid-air strike at A's legs.
A shockwave "plowed" a trench hundreds of meters long into the ground, but at the end of the trench, A still struggled to prop up his upper body.
Just when Setsuna had to marvel at the vitality of the future Raikage, he heard A roar with unwillingness, "Who are you?! State your name!"
"Leaf Village Genin, Chiyū Setsuna." After leaving his short name, Setsuna instantly teleported away with Minato.
"Chiyū Setsuna, huh? I won't forget you..." A gritted his teeth, then suddenly froze. "He's just a Genin?!"
A looked around at the forest, destroyed as if by a natural disaster, the heavily wounded Cloud Ninja, and their three top-tier fighters all seriously injured. For a moment, he was in a daze. The person who defeated them was a freaking Genin?