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"Sasuke has certainly learned a lot from you, Kakashi," Kurenai remarked as she revealed her true form.
Because their opponents were Uchiha, she had stayed out of the fight for most of the time, instead sneaking back to where the Anger of the Heavens was released earlier and bringing back the dazed Hotaru.
As a Konoha ninja, they also had to complete the mission to rescue the Tsuchigumo Clan.
Kakashi glanced at the trembling Hotaru, who was clutching onto En, then calmly drew another kunai from his pouch, holding it in a reverse grip. "I don't feel any pride in this right now. I'll take the lead, Kurenai, you provide support, and the others will seal off all escape routes."
Kurenai nodded.
As a fully qualified Jonin under Konoha's strict promotion standards, even without using genjutsu, her taijutsu and ninjutsu were at Jonin level. Otherwise, she would have been labeled as a Tokubetsu Jonin.
Supporting Kakashi in an offensive was simple enough for her.
The other Konoha Twelve members also followed orders, spreading out to further restrict Sasuke's movement.
Boom!
In the distance, Guy and Gensou clashed again with explosive force.
With a swift "whoosh," Kakashi and Kurenai, moving in perfect synchronization, charged at Sasuke from both sides using the Body Flicker Technique.
Sasuke knew he couldn't afford to be careless.
He had heard Kurenai's earlier comment.
Indeed, the tactic of using ninjutsu to obscure vision and then seizing the opportunity to deploy a new technique was something he had learned from Kakashi a long time ago.
However, Kakashi usually used Earth-Style Wall to obscure the enemy's vision, then deployed Shadow Clone Jutsu, leaving the clone behind while he hid the real body, ready to strike at the right moment.
As a tactician who often used his head, this was Kakashi's usual approach.
Many enemies had fallen prey to this tactic.
Sasuke had just employed a similar strategy.
He hadn't used Shadow Clones, though, mainly because his chakra reserves were running low.
Unlike Naruto, who could afford to waste chakra freely, Sasuke was very cautious with its usage.
But in front of Kakashi, a trick that worked once wouldn't work twice.
Under heavy pressure, Sasuke, with his blade crackling with lightning, didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced, launching an attack as Kakashi and Kurenai approached.
To avoid collateral damage, Guy had purposefully lured Gensou to another location for their battle from the very beginning.
Noticing that the nearby area included a pond, Gensou went along with Guy's intentions.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!"
Dodging Guy's punches and kicks with a large backstep, Gensou formed hand seals. A massive water dragon rose from the lake and lunged at Guy.
"Even his Water Style is this proficient?" Guy thought as he punched through the water dragon with a flurry of blows.
He had brought this "Uchiha Uzumaki" to the water's edge, partly to limit his Fire Style.
But it turned out that, despite usually awakening fire-affinity chakra, this Uchiha was equally skilled in Water Style.
Rain from the shattered water dragon poured down, drenching the battlefield.
With the heavy burden of maintaining the Seventh Gate, Guy wasted no time and charged at Gensou once more.
Bam, bam, bam!
After a few intense exchanges, Gensou's figure exploded, transforming into a stream of water.
"A water clone," Guy narrowed his eyes, quickly spinning and kicking the Gensou who appeared behind him, shattering the clone into water once again.
For the next few moments, using the ample water supply from the pond, Gensou repeatedly formed water clones, launching attack after attack against Guy.
As Guy grew impatient, readying a powerful move to take down the hidden Gensou in one decisive blow...
Bang!
Guy instinctively shattered the water clone that rushed at him. Then, out of habit, he swept his right leg back, preparing to deal with the clone behind him.
But this time, his foot made solid contact.
"There's a real body behind me!" Guy's expression changed slightly. He was about to counterattack when he noticed the water from the shattered clone falling in front of him, reflecting Gensou's image behind him.
Their eyes met.
Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu activated!
Guy froze for a split second.
"Got him," Gensou muttered, relaxing slightly. But then he noticed Guy's body twitch, as if he was about to break free.
His brow furrowed, and without hesitation, Gensou delivered a powerful kick that sent Guy flying off Katsuragi Mountain. As he rushed to Sasuke's aid, he had a moment to think:
"My Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu can only hold Guy for an instant. Is Guy's resistance to genjutsu really that strong?"
"No, it's the Eight Gates!"
The Eight Gates technique unlocks the body's chakra limits, temporarily granting immense power.
Once the gates are opened, the amount of chakra in the body increases by dozens of times, and the chakra itself becomes extremely volatile.
Genjutsu, by nature, disrupts the target's five senses using chakra, causing them to fall into illusions.
To break a genjutsu, one only needs to disrupt their internal chakra flow, either by themselves or with someone else's help.
In the Seventh Gate state, Guy's chakra was constantly in a state of violent turmoil.
While Mangekyō Sharingan's genjutsu could control him for an instant, it would be quickly broken by the rampant chakra within his body.
The only genjutsu that might completely affect Guy in this state would likely be the ones beyond ordinary illusions, like the Mangekyō's special abilities or the Infinite Tsukuyomi.
Realizing the danger, Gensou had immediately kicked Guy, who was regaining his senses, off the mountain.
By the time Guy, who couldn't fly, managed to return, it would be too late.
Whoosh!
With Guy no longer keeping him occupied, Gensou dashed rapidly toward Sasuke.
On the perimeter, Neji, through his Byakugan, saw the figure speeding toward them. His face changed, and he turned to assume his Gentle Fist stance.
Boom!
In an instant, Neji was sent flying like a bowling pin, crashing through several walls before coming to a stop.
"So fast!" Neji muttered, stunned by what he had seen through his Byakugan just before he lost consciousness.
Sasuke's situation was dire.
With Kakashi and Kurenai, two Jonin, attacking him with full force, and the support of the other Konoha Twelve members, Sasuke's injuries were piling up.
His once-dazzling sword now slashed horizontally, temporarily pushing Kurenai back. Breathing heavily, Sasuke prepared to face Kakashi, who was applying relentless pressure.
Sasuke realized he had been mistaken.
Kakashi wasn't as ordinary as he had thought.
On the contrary, Kakashi was quite skilled at handling him.
"I can't hold out much longer."
Sasuke, his chakra nearly depleted, recognized the situation.
Kakashi, sensing the opportunity, moved in.
Just as the two were about to clash, a figure suddenly intervened.
"Well done," Gensou nodded at Sasuke.
(End of Chapter)
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Seeing Gensou arrive, Sasuke finally breathed a sigh of relief, dispersing the lightning chakra from his sword and allowing himself to relax completely. With Gensou here, all the current problems seemed to vanish.
And indeed, that was the case.
Facing the approaching attacks from Kakashi, Kurenai, and the other Konoha ninjas, Gensou quickly formed hand seals and declared:
"Fire Style: Hiding in Ash and Dust Technique!"
A large amount of high-temperature ash rapidly emerged, centering on Gensou and Sasuke. It concealed their figures and spread out like a thick fog in all directions.
Kakashi, who was closest, instantly realized the danger. Sensing the extreme heat from the ash, he stopped in his tracks. The level of mastery this unknown Uchiha had over Fire Style was far beyond what Kakashi had anticipated.
"Retreat!" he ordered.
Seeing the dangerously hot ash advancing toward them, Kakashi had no choice but to retreat quickly with the others.
Meanwhile, within the cloud of ash, Gensou looked toward the blue figure rapidly approaching in the distance and then glanced at Hotaru, who was in En's arms, staring at them with a complex expression.
Everything that needed to be done was finished, and Gensou had gained what he wanted. He saw no reason to linger any longer.
To avoid the possibility of Guy opening all Eight Gates in a moment of desperation, Gensou placed a hand on Sasuke's shoulder and, using the Earth Style: Subterranean Voyage, the two quickly sank into the ground, burrowing through the mountain like a dragon, and soon disappeared without a trace.
Boom, boom, boom! With a series of powerful punches, Guy swiftly dispersed the high-temperature ash.
Guy, who had just arrived, didn't hesitate. He immediately began punching at high speed, scattering the Hiding in Ash and Dust Technique.
But Sasuke and Gensou were already gone.
"Huh? Where did the enemies go?" Guy scratched his head in confusion.
Having learned from Hinata that Sasuke and the masked man had used Earth Style to escape at such speed that they were now beyond the range of the Byakugan, Kakashi sighed slightly and explained to Guy:
"They're already gone."
"Should we go after them?" Guy clenched his fists, his fighting spirit still high.
"After this experience, tracking Sasuke and the masked man will become much more difficult. Besides..." Kakashi trailed off, shaking his head as memories of the battle with the man possessing the Sharingan played in his mind.
The strength the man had shown was far beyond what he had anticipated.
Another Uchiha?
With such a figure, plus Sasuke's rapidly growing power, their current team configuration would stand little chance if they encountered them again. They might even suffer heavy losses.
"Though I hate to admit it, I'm sorry, everyone, but our mission to bring Sasuke back has failed again," Kakashi said calmly as he pulled his forehead protector back down to cover his Sharingan, then looked up at the sky.
At that moment, he felt his life was full of failures.
His mother had died early; his father had committed suicide; one of his closest friends had died saving him, while the other he had to kill with his own hands; his beloved teacher and mentor had also died on the same day.
And now, even his student had chosen to leave him, despite all his efforts to bring him back. No matter what Kakashi did, Sasuke never looked back.
It seemed that failure was the main theme running through his life.
Kakashi sometimes wondered how he had managed to hold on for so long.
Just then, a familiar voice rang out in his ears:
"The journey of youth isn't just about passion; it's also filled with regrets. Embracing those regrets and facing them head-on will make the flames of youth burn even brighter!"
Kakashi turned to see Guy cheering him on with a loud and energetic shout.
Indeed.
In his darkest moments, there had always been this friend who, despite the strange looks from others, consistently stayed true to himself, constantly pulling Kakashi back from the brink of despair.
Kakashi shook his head, dispersing the lingering gloom from his thoughts. He looked at Guy and said, "Guy, you still have the Eight Gates open. You should close them now."
Even with Guy's superhuman physique, keeping the Seventh Gate open for too long was taxing.
"I almost forgot! As expected of my lifelong rival, Kakashi, thanks for the reminder," Guy said, giving Kakashi a thumbs-up before deactivating the Eight Gates.
The next second, his body trembled, sweat poured down his face, and he began gasping for breath.
Kakashi moved forward to support the now-exhausted Guy.
"I'm fine. Youth doesn't allow for retreat! I can still do a thousand sit-ups, a thousand frog jumps, a thousand—"
Guy tried to prove himself again.
Kakashi ignored his nonsense and continued to support him, resuming his calm demeanor as he asked Kurenai, who had just finished checking Neji's condition and confirmed that his injuries weren't life-threatening:
"What's the deal with the little girl from the Tsuchigumo Clan?"
Although their mission to bring Sasuke back had failed, Kakashi still felt the need to investigate Sasuke and the other Uchiha's sudden appearance and their invasion of the Fire Temple and Katsuragi Mountain, hoping to find some useful information.
Kurenai, who had already questioned Hotaru when she brought her back, replied, "Hotaru is the current bearer of the Tsuchigumo Clan's forbidden jutsu. Sasuke and the masked man invaded the Tsuchigumo Clan to obtain the forbidden jutsu. But it's strange—the masked man didn't remove the jutsu from Hotaru; he just had her repeatedly use it and didn't harm her."
"So the Tsuchigumo Clan's forbidden jutsu is still with her?"
"Yes."
"That's odd. Could he have used the Sharingan to copy the jutsu?" Kakashi speculated, glancing at Hotaru, who was still beside En no Gyoja.
As someone known as the Copy Ninja, Kakashi knew well that while the Sharingan was excellent at copying jutsu, it was difficult to replicate forbidden techniques.
The masked man could have easily taken the forbidden jutsu or taken Hotaru herself, but instead, he just left after making her use the jutsu a few times. It was puzzling from a normal shinobi's perspective, and Kakashi couldn't quite understand it.
Meanwhile, Hotaru, noticing Kakashi's gaze, shrank back slightly, hiding a scroll inside her clothes.
Though her grandfather and the Konoha ninjas believed that the masked man was evil, she didn't see him that way.
He never tried to take the forbidden jutsu from her; at most, he just had her use it in front of him a few times. Although it was exhausting, she had gained some benefits from the experience, thanks to the various secret medicines he had given her.
Moreover, the masked man had even left her with a training scroll for Water-Style chakra control as a parting gift, perhaps as a reward for using the Anger of the Heavens technique so many times.
Such a person didn't seem like the greedy and evil type that adults often spoke of.
Additionally, the masked man's final words to her made a lot of sense.
Having a forbidden jutsu that others covet without the strength to protect it would only lead to a tragic end.
Relying on others wasn't as good as relying on herself.
Recalling the splendid but dangerous battle she had just witnessed between the ninjas, Hotaru made a decision. She would definitely study the contents of the training scroll the masked man had left her.
Speaking of which, since he left her a training scroll, it wouldn't be wrong to call him "Sensei," right?
(End of Chapter)