Terumi Mei was being ganged up on, but on the other side, Hoshigaki Kisame and Hozuki Mangetsu weren't having an easy time either.
They only had one enemy.
However.
That one person was enough to keep Kisame and Mangetsu on their toes.
At this moment, the mist had spread to more areas.
This method consumed a lot of chakra, but Kisame had no choice—
If he didn't expend chakra, there was no way to defend against Kyohiko's terrifying "clones."
The Hidden Mist Technique was at least effective.
The two of them suppressed their chakra, hiding their presence and footsteps.
Mangetsu pointed his fingers like a gun toward the area where Kyohiko was.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The faint sound of something cutting through the air echoed in the mist, and Kyohiko instantly judged—
Mangetsu was to his right.
He quickly dodged.
None of the water bullets hit!
At the same time.
From the left, there was the sound of someone jumping.
Kyohiko vanished from his spot in an instant.
Kisame leaped into the air, spitting out a stream of water that surged toward the ground below.
Water Release: Exploding Water Wave!
However.
Before the jutsu could fully form, he sensed that Kyohiko had already jumped up.
In the next moment, three figures appeared in his line of sight through the thick mist.
Only one of the three was real!
Kisame plunged into the water, trying to use the current to escape quickly, but in the next instant, a terrifying impact came from below.
How...
Is this possible?
His mind went blank. The violent water current was horrifying, and his throat immediately filled with the taste of blood, his face turning pale.
But Kisame's hands moved without hesitation. He quickly bit his finger, and a shark appeared in the water.
This was his clan's summoning contract, allowing him to call upon sharks for assistance.
Under the residual force, the shark exploded, its blood staining the water red.
Bam!
Kyohiko used the water's force to leap upward, kicking Kisame diagonally toward Gai's position.
Kisame's throat was filled with the taste of blood, and blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
The opponent had actually figured out the secret of the Hidden Mist Technique, hiding himself within the mist's chakra detection.
How could this be?
Kisame regretted it.
He had thought that, based on their last encounter, Kyohiko was only strong in taijutsu, and he could suppress him with ninjutsu.
In reality, this guy had grown far stronger than before!
Moreover, Kyohiko was very good at using ninjutsu and environmental advantages to create psychological pressure on his opponents.
Like this time.
Who would have thought that a Konoha ninja could use the Hidden Mist Technique to hide himself?
Isn't that a Kirigakure ability?
But this guy...
From the very beginning, he had hidden this ability, concealing himself within the mist, becoming a true "invisible man," delivering a fatal blow.
Kisame watched as kunai, shuriken, and explosive tags flew toward him, along with the figure leaping up again. He was frantic.
He formed hand seals, hoping to stop the enemy with a jutsu, but then a water jet shot out from Kyohiko's mouth.
Water Release: Wild Water Wave!
The power wasn't great, but it was enough to push him further away.
Below, the oddly dressed beast and the female ninja immediately closed in on him—
Three kunai with explosive tags shot toward him from different angles.
At the same time, as he instinctively looked toward where the projectiles came from, he saw Yuhi Kurenai forming hand seals.
In an instant, her figure dissipated, and a flurry of cherry blossoms filled the air.
Genjutsu?
It's over!
Kisame felt the same despair Terumi Mei had experienced earlier.
At this moment, all he could do was wait.
Wait for Mangetsu, or...
Mei?
He glanced over, losing hope in Mei.
At this moment, Mei, who had finally caught a breath from the relentless attacks, had no time to rejoice because—
Kyohiko was charging toward her with his blade!
Four figures, indistinguishable from the real one, closed in from four directions in the blink of an eye.
Mei quickly formed hand seals.
Then, she spat out a mist from her mouth.
The special mist distorted the air with its heat.
However.
The four figures in front of her quickly dissipated in the mist.
They were ordinary clones.
But Mei grew even more vigilant. She didn't dare relax and immediately changed her hand seals, spitting out a stream of water that formed a water prison, protecting herself.
Just as Kisame and Mei were facing dire straits.
A giant water figure rose up.
Mangetsu absorbed the water from the Exploding Water Wave, refined a large amount of chakra, and transformed into a giant water figure. With one hand, he grabbed each of his teammates, and then—
The giant water figure quickly collapsed.
A huge wave rolled down, carrying the three of them down the mountain.
Mangetsu had fled with his teammates!
Kyohiko leaned against a tree, catching his breath, and quickly popped a soldier pill into his mouth.
Gai landed beside him, sighing as he looked at the water, then turned to Kyohiko.
"Do you need to rest?"
"No, the consumption isn't too high. We can rest while moving. Kurenai..."
Kyohiko looked at Yuhi Kurenai.
Not long after.
"They ran toward the No. 3 direction,"
"Chase!"
...
"We... we escaped! Whew—"
Kisame wiped the sweat and water from his forehead.
He got up and looked around, only to see Mangetsu collapsed on the ground, seemingly unconscious.
Mei was using chakra to dry her clothes.
What a disaster!
Kisame fell silent.
Unlike before.
Last time he was defeated, Kisame thought it was just carelessness. If they fought seriously, he might not have lost.
But this time, he had no excuses. He was completely defeated.
"Let's head up. I'll take the lead from here."
"Huh?"
Kisame was stunned for a moment, then snapped out of his daze and put on a determined expression. "I'll carry him."
This battle was so humiliating and frustrating!
If it weren't for Mangetsu, he and Mei might not have made it back, and it was all because he had insisted on chasing.
What should they do when facing such a fast enemy in the future?
Kisame fell into deep thought.
After thinking for a while, he came up with an idea—
Although Kyohiko was strong, he was still more focused on taijutsu. If he could master the Great Exploding Water Wave, with Kirigakure's advantage in water combat, defeating him wouldn't be too difficult.
But for now, he hadn't mastered that jutsu, and his chakra reserves weren't sufficient to sustain it.
Still.
This battle had woken him up.
The strategies he had thought of to counter Kyohiko hadn't worked, and he needed to come up with new ways to deal with him.
"Let's go."
Kisame gritted his teeth, got up, and carried the unconscious Mangetsu on his back, following behind Mei.
This time, they were more cautious, heading straight for the summit and even avoiding other teams.
In the shadows, two Takigakure jōnin exchanged glances.
They had heard the commotion and rushed over.
Originally, they thought a team had been eliminated by the Kirigakure ninjas and wanted to see if they could help, but—
To their surprise, it was Kirigakure's elite team that had been defeated, with the Hozuki clan member even passing out from chakra exhaustion.
What kind of enemy could cause such a result?
"The Konoha team?"
Aside from the Konoha ninjas, they couldn't think of any other formidable opponents around Entrance No. 1.
"To make the Hozuki clan flee like this, the enemy's strength must be terrifying. The next generation of Konoha is truly fearsome!"
The Takigakure jōnin sighed.
Konoha always had terrifying geniuses in every generation. Even if a few died unexpectedly, they could quickly recover and nurture the next generation of talented ninjas.
Small villages like theirs simply didn't dare to oppose Konoha.