Chapter 173: Cutting Down Cloud Ninja

Just as Troy was concentrating on forming his Lightning Release shuriken, Kakashi suddenly felt his body loosen and regained his ability to move.

Kakashi immediately guessed that Troy was about to use some trump card ninjutsu, so he no longer had the energy to control him.

Kakashi quickly used the Body Flicker Technique to flash away from his original spot and charged toward the enemy fighting Might Guy.

The enemy fighting Might Guy had been trying to attack the tent where the client was hiding, keeping Might Guy on the defensive.

Kakashi's surprise attack caught the Cloud Ninja off guard, and under Kakashi's fierce blade, several bloody gashes quickly appeared on his body.

Might Guy, seeing Kakashi coming to help, also brightened, knowing that the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived.

"Rock Breathing, Total Concentration Breathing, Leaf Strong Whirlwind!"

Might Guy immediately used his strongest power, concentrating his breathing over and over while combining it with chakra to massively enhance his physical abilities, rapidly kicking a whirlwind leg carrying tremendous force toward the Cloud Ninja.

With Kakashi attacking from one side and Might Guy unleashing his power from the other, the Cloud Ninja instantly fell into a hopeless situation.

Bang!!

Kakashi's unrelenting slashes left the Cloud Ninja no time to deal with Might Guy, and combined with Might Guy suddenly displaying even greater speed than before, the miscalculating Cloud Ninja was directly kicked by Might Guy's whirlwind leg and sent flying backward at high speed.

"Such tremendous power." The Cloud Ninja felt the sharp pain coursing through his body, his pupils suddenly dilating, his face full of shock and unwillingness.

He couldn't accept that he had fallen to two mere brats.

Swish! Swish!

Kakashi gave the Cloud Ninja no chance to reflect; the moment Might Guy kicked the Cloud Ninja flying, he flicked two kunai toward the ninja's chest, killing him outright.

"As expected of my best friend, perfect coordination!" Might Guy gave Kakashi a thumbs-up.

Having taken down one enemy, Kakashi breathed a slight sigh of relief, then quickly turned his attention to the battlefield where Muyue was fighting — that was the key to deciding the outcome of this skirmish.

The reason he had come to help Might Guy as soon as he broke free was, first, that he didn't know if Troy could still control him, and to avoid becoming a burden to Muyue, he needed to create distance — ninjutsu had a casting range after all.

Second, it was to resolve the client's crisis while also freeing Might Guy as a combat asset.

However, when Kakashi focused on Muyue's side, he discovered that Muyue seemed not to need their help.

Faced with the incoming massive Lightning Release shuriken, Muyue did not evade as Troy had imagined but instead split off a Shadow Clone and began using ninjutsu.

"Fire Release: Head-Hard!"

"Wind Release: Pressure Damage!"

Muyue's main body switched to Flame Breathing, a constant use of Head-Hard, while the clone used Pressure Damage.

This time Muyue did not deliberately suppress his power, because no matter how much commotion he caused here, no ANBU would come to check the situation.

He would kill all the enemies present, and the only ones left were his disciples and the client hiding in the tent — he could unleash his power to the fullest.

With a Mastery-level Head-Hard, a Fire nature chakra nature transformation above seven thousand proficiency, plus the boost from Flame Breathing, if Muyue checked his status panel now, he would see his chakra data plummeting.

The consumption of massive chakra exchanged for a ninjutsu of terrifying power.

The moment Muyue released the Fire Release, an orange-red blaze illuminated the forest. The flames from Muyue's mouth were not a fireball, not a fire dragon — they were a sea of fire!

The ocean of flames devoured everything before Muyue, the towering firelight striking everyone's faces. Though it was night, the immense brightness made the entire forest bright as day.

Staring at that sudden sea of fire, Kakashi's eyes were filled with flames. His mind shook violently, never imagining that Muyue's Fire Release could be so terrifyingly powerful. He had never seen a ninjutsu with such overwhelming force; the towering inferno seemed about to burn the entire forest to ash.

"So his specialty is Fire Release!" Muyue once again refreshed the impression he had left on Kakashi.

"With such terrifying strength, even the Three Sannin are nothing more than this?" Kakashi couldn't help but sigh inwardly.

At first, he had thought Muyue was just a jonin with excellent overall abilities, but every time Muyue made a move, it gave Kakashi a new understanding of his strength.

Even Obito and Lockbi, who were locked in battle, were shocked by this terrifying sight; the two sides pulled back and temporarily stopped fighting.

"That Fire Release is so cool. I wonder when I'll be able to use a Fire Release at that level," Obito thought as he looked at Muyue standing before the sea of fire.

"This time's enemies are unexpectedly troublesome." Looking at that incredibly terrifying sea of fire, even Lockbi, who had always believed Troy would win, began to waver.

Before Muyue unleashed such a fearsome ninjutsu, he had been very confident — after all, the jonin Troy had killed weren't weak — but an opponent this strong was beyond his comprehension.

"Damn it, where did this strong guy come from? A Fire Release ninja this powerful, and we have no intel at all." Troy's face instantly darkened as he looked at the sea of flames from Muyue.

He had originally planned to use his trump card to kill Muyue and then casually send one genin back, but now he had no thought of killing anyone — only one idea remained in his mind: retreat.

"If you can't win, run away. That's not shameful; it's strategy."

But Mu Yue had no intention of letting anyone escape.

After the original body used 'Head Hard Work', the shadow clone quickly spat out a high-pressure wind ball. The wind aided the fire, and in an instant, the sea of fire that Mu Yue spat out rapidly expanded.

Okami, who had originally wanted to rush forward and engage Mu Yue, was the first to collide head-on with the sea of fire. She saw the fire and wanted to retreat, but it was too late.

Okami activated all her power and used Lightning Release, but against the surging giant sea of fire, it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot. In an instant, she was engulfed by the scorching flames.

With the aid of 'Yagai', the sea of fire expanded at extreme speed. Numerous trees instantly turned to ash. Even Troy's Lightning Release shuriken could not break through the terrifying sea of fire.

The sea of fire expanded rapidly. Troy no longer had any thought of fighting Mu Yue. He used a scroll to summon a large number of shuriken, bringing his Magnet Release and Lightning Release to their limits to briefly block the attack of the sea of fire.

Rumble!!

A huge explosion sounded. Relying on the smoke from the explosion, Troy used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat behind him. He wanted to bring back information about Mu Yue.

But the next moment, a blue bolt of lightning suddenly burst out from the sea of fire. Troy's movement instantly halted. He looked down and saw that a blood hole had appeared in his chest at some unknown time.

It was Mu Yue, his whole body bathed in blue lightning, standing in front of him and smiling at him, his right hand still holding a single finger extended.

"Lightning Release Chakra Mode? Hell Stab?" Troy was very puzzled. Such speed and power really resembled their Cloud Village's Lightning Release Chakra Mode.

"Our Rock Village will not forgive you." Before dying, Troy did not forget his mission.

If he could make Mu Yue think that the ones attacking them were from Rock Village, then he wouldn't have completely failed.

"I don't recall Rock Village having that many ninja who use Lightning Release." Mu Yue raised his glasses with his left hand, squinted, and said with a smile.

"Claiming to be Rock Village—at least they should have found two ninja who can use Earth Release."

"You..." Troy stared wide-eyed, wanting to say something more, but his life force could no longer support him. Carrying guilt toward his village, Troy died with his eyes open.