From the night of genocide, marching towards the strongest.

"Cough...cough cough..."

Yamato coughed a few times, spitting out a mouthful of thick, dark blood. He glanced at the numerous wounds on his body and the two companions lying beside him, and sighed inwardly.

That mysterious enemy, who was proficient in all five ninjutsu, was far too powerful; he was the strongest and most dangerous enemy he had ever encountered in his ninja career.

Even if he tried his best, he was unable to protect his two remaining men from the enemy.

'Kakashi-senpai, please don't get hurt!'

Yamato silently prayed, then forcefully suppressed the turmoil in his mind.

He focused all his attention on the billowing smoke in the distance, his expression becoming serious.

Yamato had only turned his gaze away for a moment when, in the next second, a figure leaped out of the dust and unleashed a Fire Release ninjutsu!

"Fire Escape·Tou Ke Ku!"

It was no bigger than a fist, but it was compressed to the extreme, turning reddish-yellow.

A fireball, like a small sun, hurtled down rapidly with intense heat.

With a bang, the small fireball landed and immediately expanded its burning area, as if it had turned into a surging sea.

The overwhelming and endless sea of ​​fire instantly sealed off all of Yamato's hiding places, making it impossible for him to escape.

Wood escape·Wooden spindle wall!

Yamato reacted extremely quickly, having already formed hand seals the moment Kakuzu appeared, just as the sea of ​​fire rushed towards him.

Then, rows of wooden pillars rose up in front of Yamato, curving into a circular wooden wall that protected him.

The firestorm crashed violently against the wooden wall, accompanied by a series of explosions and the crunching sound of millstones grinding against it.

"Excellent, excellent!"

Seeing this, Kakuzu clapped his hands, a slight smile curving his lips, revealing a hint of excitement and cruelty.

"However, you are still far from being as good as the First Hokage, you are far too inferior!"

As he spoke, Kakuzu moved his hand seals again, and the muscles in his hands bulged violently.

The next moment, a howling wind arose, and a high-pressure wind ball, compressed to the extreme, suddenly burst out from the palms of both hands, whistling out at an extremely terrifying speed.

(Wind Release: Pressure Damage is released through the mouth. Considering that Kakuzu is currently wearing a mask and has not used Earth Grudge Fear, it has been changed to the hand. Given Kakuzu's skill level, it is not difficult for him to release a B-rank ninjutsu with his hand. To avoid nitpicking, I'll just mention it first.)

A surging wind swept up dust and debris, and the high-pressure wind ball followed closely behind the flames. The flames, which had been locked in a stalemate with the Yamato wooden ingot wall and were even said to be running out of steam, seemed to have encountered grease.

In an instant, the flames suddenly burst into flames. With the combination of wind and fire, the impact was stronger, the explosion was higher, the temperature was even higher, and it was twice as difficult to stop!

With a loud bang, the circular wall of the wooden ingot finally exploded. Centered on the wooden wall, a violent shock wave, carrying countless fragments, bursts of flame and fierce winds that shot out rapidly in all directions.

It also revealed the Yamato that was wrapped inside.

At this moment, Yamato's entire body was bright red, and steaming white vapor was constantly rising from his body.

The person's entire body was burned and scalded, with blood and sweat constantly flowing from the wounds, which were red and cracked!

"Are there any powerful ninjutsu you haven't used yet?"

Looking at Yamato, who was covered in burns and looked utterly disheveled, Kakuzu said calmly from his superior position.

At this moment, Kakuzu is just like a Platinum-ranked player who was once beaten 0-5 by the number one player in the Chinese server.

In a fit of rage, he insisted on killing the bot that was the top player in the national server using the same hero a hundred times in the training ground before he would stop.

"If that's all there is to it, then I'm very disappointed in you, an unknown Wood Release ninja from Konoha."

Kakuzu stared at Yamato, whose body was trembling slightly from the injuries and pain, but who was forcing himself to stand up.

His eyes seemed indifferent, reminiscing, melancholy, and also a mixture of expectation and disappointment.

There was also a strange, inexplicable sense of pleasure in my heart.

How similar were his past circumstances to those of the Wood Release ninja before him?

Facing the First Hokage, who was revered as the God of Shinobi, he fought with all his might and risked his life, yet still failed to inflict the slightest damage on his opponent.

'I might die here this time.'

After standing up, Yamato took a few heavy breaths and assessed his injuries.

Although he had cells transplanted from the First Hokage, giving him vitality and regenerative abilities far exceeding those of ordinary people, his injuries were already severe under Kakuzu's relentless attacks.

Any other ninja would have died countless times by now.

He estimated that he could withstand the same attack two or three more times before he would die completely, and the first-generation cells would be useless.

'We must hold this guy off for a while so Kakashi-senpai can deal with the other guy. I can die, but Kakashi-senpai cannot die here.'

After pondering silently for a while, Yamato made up his mind and said to Kakuzu, "Now I believe that you did indeed fight the First Hokage."

In order to buy Kakuzu even a tiny bit of time, Yamato used a respectful title.

"Humph!"

As expected, Kakuzu's intended action faltered.

He snorted coldly, wanting to hear what this guy had to say.

"Otherwise, you wouldn't be so persistent in your pursuit of me."

After fighting with Kakuzu for a while, Yamato realized that with Kakuzu's strength, he could have easily killed him.

But he refused, clearly indicating that this guy had indeed fought against the First Hokage.

They suffered a great loss and were even traumatized.

That's why I wanted to get back at him in this way, to comfort myself.

What a ridiculous guy!

Yamato scoffed inwardly, then said, "However, my Wood Release is far inferior to that of the First Hokage. If you think you can erase the resentment you feel towards the First Hokage from me, you're probably just fooling yourself."

"I have no grudge against the First Hokage."

Kakuzu lowered his eyelids slightly, remained silent for a moment, and then said calmly, "It was just that the Wood Release on your body reminded me of some things. I wanted to see how much of the First Hokage's Wood Release strength you had inherited, but it seems it's nothing special."

"This is disappointing, senior."

Yamato shook his head, a bitter smile on his face.

"Although I didn't inherit much of the First Generation's strength, but..."

With a change of tone, Yamato's eyes flashed with determination, and his aura became resolute.

"I have inherited the Will of Fire and the determination to protect the village left by the first generation. Don't underestimate the Will of Fire!"

"The Will of Fire? To protect the village?"

Kakuzu murmured softly, "Brainwashing and ignorant stuff."

Money is the only eternal truth!

"Alright then, unknown Wood Release ninja, if your performance satisfies me, I'll spare your life."

Chapter 103 Reinforcements

Clang clang!

Not far from where Yamato and Kakuzu were fighting, the two figures clashed from time to time, with sparks and booming sounds coming from the friction of their weapons.

Hidan wields the Bloodstained Three-Moon Scythe, his sword movements are wide and sweeping, his attacks fierce and domineering.

Kakashi wielded the White Fang short sword, his movements light and swift, his attacks lightning-fast yet perfectly composed.

As soon as they clashed, Kakashi realized how troublesome this guy was.

Kakashi also felt uneasy and threatened because of Hidan's strange rituals and actions.

Furthermore, from the very beginning of their fight, this guy seemed to be trying to inflict injuries on him, not caring at all about exchanging serious injuries for minor ones.

The experienced Kakashi sensed that the enemy might possess some kind of secret technique that used blood as a medium.

Although it sounds unbelievable and outrageous, Kakashi felt that his guess was close to the truth.

There are countless secret techniques of all sizes in the ninja world, and there are even more outrageous ones. Secret techniques that use blood as a medium are not too rare.

Although Kakashi is proficient in thousands of ninjutsu, he wouldn't dare say that he knows even a tenth or a twelfth of the secret techniques of the ninja world.

Having determined the enemy's objective, Kakashi naturally wouldn't allow the enemy to obtain his blood.

As a result, after several rounds of fighting, Kakashi was basically in a passive defensive posture.

He dared not take the few fleeting opportunities that might allow him to kill his enemies.

Because of these opportunities, he could certainly attack the enemy's fatal weaknesses, but he would also be killed or seriously injured.

This guy had a completely reckless attitude from the very beginning of the fight.

Kakashi wasn't sure if the so-called fatal point would work or if it could kill his opponent.

If possible, exchanging serious injury for the enemy's death would be barely acceptable.

But it wasn't a good idea either, because there was an even stronger enemy waiting for them on the Yamato side.

If he can't, then his attempt to trade injury for death will become a joke.

'Yamato....'

As he dodged, Kakashi glanced at the battle in the distance out of the corner of his eye, and his heart sank.

"Damn it, you dare to get distracted while fighting Hidan?!"

Hidan was furious, and his crescent scythe suddenly extended, with a rope connecting the bottom to the rope loop around Hidan's waist.

The scythe suddenly flew out of his hand, slicing Kakashi in two as he couldn't dodge in time.

Immediately following a "crack" of lightning and thunder, Kakashi's body, which had been split in two, burst forth with a strong white light.

"Lightning clone!? When did that happen?"

Hidan froze, when suddenly a series of low rumbling thunderous sounds rang out behind him.

Pfft!

A short sword wreathed in blue and white lightning pierced straight through Hidan's chest. Before the blood could even gush out, it was charred black by the high temperature of the lightning.