I Just Wanted to Slack Off, But I Was Forced to Become Hokage

Chapter 88: Sunagakure Ninja Battle Royale!

Separated by the scorching barrier formed by the "Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder," the Konoha ninja could not advance. Considering the astonishing strength the Suna ninja had just displayed, the forces of the Kikyo Castle garrison would have a hard time confronting them head-on.

The temporary commander on the battlefield chose not to divide his forces or take a detour. Instead, he signaled for several ninja skilled in Water Release to step forward and use their jutsu to diminish the heat barrier. However, the short time it took to cast these water jutsu was already enough for Chiyo and her group to retreat a considerable distance.

High in the sky.

Nara Keisuke, while dodging the sharp ninja tools thrown by the puppeteers below, carefully observed the retreat route of the Suna Puppet Brigade. The barrier formed by the "Extremely Steaming Murder" was enough to hinder the advance of ground troops, but what did that have to do with a "flying soldier" like him?

After the exchange just now, Keisuke had already confirmed that the Suna Puppet Brigade had no effective way to counter a mobile and flexible "flying soldier" like himself. Since that was the case, why not take this opportunity to beat the dog while it's down?

It wasn't that Keisuke was coveting Sunagakure's secret techniques. The barrenness of the Hidden Sand was known throughout the ninja world. Their village didn't have any high-end secret techniques worth noting. What Keisuke cared about was whether he could use his outstanding performance in this emergency siege to raise his own ninja rank!

According to Tsunade, she had already planned to assign him to a ninja team. Participating in the Third Great Ninja War was now inevitable. The problem was, he was still just a "Genin." In war, Genin were the cannon fodder with the least say. By the time Keisuke truly entered the war, both Tsunade and his family would be far away. A magistrate on the scene is better than a governor far away. Keisuke had no desire to be casually ordered around by some random Chunin or Jonin he didn't know in the days to come.

Raising his ninja rank could effectively prevent such minor troubles from arising. And if his rank was high enough... perhaps he could also become a "master ninja" who ordered other low-ranking ninja around.

"The only problem is that I'll need to expose some of my strength."

"But after this battle, a good deal of my personal strength has already been revealed, so... [Shadow Doppelganger]!"

Another doppelganger emerged from Keisuke's shadow. This one cast the [Shadow Transformation Technique], summoned a [Shadow Creature], and flew rapidly back towards Kikyo Castle. Meanwhile, Keisuke's main body followed closely behind the Suna Puppet Brigade, continuously monitoring their movements from high above.

"Sister, that little brat from the Nara clan seems to have separated out a shadow clone." In the puppet brigade, Ebizō was constantly paying attention to the movements in the sky and immediately reported when he noticed something was wrong. "He should be reporting our movements to the Konoha ninja behind us."

"We have no way to deal with him for the time being! Ignore him!" Although Chiyo was old, her movement speed was not much slower than the young ninja beside her. "We only need to intercept Konoha's main pursuit force. He can't do much by himself..."

During their conversation, the Suna Puppet Brigade quickly rushed into the dense mountain forest outside Kikyo Castle. The Konoha ninja, who were a distance behind, were about to catch up with this remnant force. But just at that moment, "Scorch Release: Extremely Steaming Murder!"

It was Pakura who acted again. Through her special "Scorch Release" Kekkei Genkai, Pakura instantly evaporated the natural moisture in the surrounding trees and then used the high temperature to directly ignite them. The blazing flames instantly set the mountain forest on fire, and then detonated the flammable materials that the Suna ninja had placed on their retreat route in advance, igniting the parts of the forest that had not yet been affected by the Scorch Release.

BOOM! BOOM!

The ferocious flames turned into a towering blaze, illuminating more than half the sky.

"These damn Suna ninja!" Blocked by the flames, the temporary commander on the battlefield cursed angrily. Although he could take a detour, the fire ahead was too large. If left unattended, it could easily cause a forest fire that would spread to other areas. At that time, it wouldn't just be Kikyo Castle that was affected. But with just the few Water Release ninja under his command, who knew how much chakra it would take to extinguish this already terrifying blaze!

After some thought, the temporary commander still ordered the Konoha ninja to first extinguish the fire before considering anything else.

During this time.

Nara Keisuke's [Shadow Doppelganger] had already returned to Kikyo Castle and found the old clan head.

"Keisuke, you're back!" An excited expression was unconcealable on Nara Shikano's face. He had not expected that Keisuke alone could basically hold back Suna's proud Puppet Brigade and even inflict massive casualties on them. Was this the skill level a Nara clan ninja was supposed to have? Keisuke's strength had far exceeded his expectations. 'Perhaps... the Nara clan really can vie for the position of Fifth Hokage in a few decades!'

"I'm just a doppelganger right now." Keisuke shrugged and asked urgently, "Clan Head, where is Lady Tsunade now?"

Shikano's tone paused slightly. "Princess Tsunade... is in the rear, researching an antidote for Suna's compound poison." He was actually a little curious why Tsunade hadn't shown her face at all during the battle. But considering that Keisuke had already "solved" the enemy, this small question was no longer within the scope of his concern. Besides, it wasn't as if she was slacking off; she was working hard too! "Keisuke, is there something you need to discuss with her?"

"No, to be precise, I need to confer with the current supreme commander of Kikyo Castle."

"Then you can just talk to me," Shikano said. "This old bag of bones has just been entrusted with command in this time of crisis. I'm currently the person in charge here."

"Alright then... Clan Head, do we need to continue pursuing the Suna Puppet Brigade?"

"Of course!" A cold light flashed in Shikano's eyes. "Since the Suna ninja dared to launch a surprise attack on Kikyo Castle, then they should know the price of failure! Enma has already sent a message back. Lord Third is leading troops this way. We will definitely not let this group of Suna ninja off easily!"

"That's good..." Keisuke was about to leave when he suddenly thought of something. "Clan Head, that S-rank mission Princess Tsunade mentioned, is it considered complete now?"

"The enemy has been driven away, so of course the mission is complete..." Shikano looked at Keisuke strangely. "Keisuke, is it my imagination, or do you seem... very interested in high-level missions?"

A mission fanatic? There had never been such an example in the entire history of the Nara clan!

Just as the old clan head's voice fell, several new lines of text popped up on Keisuke's panel.

[S-rank Mission [The Battle for Kikyo Castle] has been completed!]

[You have obtained one S-rank [Shinobi Secret Scroll]!]

"I am a little... Clan Head, we'll talk later." Keisuke raised his finger and dispelled the [Shadow Doppelganger]. "Then I will continue to tie down that group of Suna ninja."

Poof!

Keisuke's [Shadow Doppelganger] exploded into a puff of smoke. The experience and memories flowed back to the main body along with the Yin Release chakra.

On the other side.

Having received confirmation from the old clan head, Nara Keisuke no longer loitered. He controlled his [Shadow Creature] to accelerate in pursuit of the Suna Puppet Brigade.

The brigade was currently moving at high speed through the mountain forest. Due to the cover provided by the trees, they did not immediately notice Keisuke's approach.

Stealthily approaching the Suna ninja on his [Shadow Creature], Keisuke took out a thick stack of paper bombs from his ninja tool pouch. He opened them one by one and tied them to shuriken for extra weight. As long as his funds allowed, he didn't mind preparing more ninja tools for self-defense. Paper bombs were simple to operate, had considerable power, and didn't consume his own chakra. Besides being a bit expensive, they had no other flaws.

"You get what you pay for." Keisuke picked up a paper bomb tied to a shuriken, made a quick directional prediction, and threw it towards the puppet brigade below. "But this isn't the paper bomb's problem..."

Fizz...

The sound of a burning paper bomb fuse was exceptionally clear in the quiet night. The Puppet Brigade was, after all, an elite Suna unit. They quickly realized someone was throwing paper bombs at them and judged the source of the throw from the direction of the sound.

"This Nara brat is simply haunting us!" Chiyo ordered helplessly. "Everyone, be careful to dodge the paper bombs from the sky!"

However, Keisuke's attack was not so monotonous. Just as the ninja of the Puppet Brigade were preparing to dodge the paper bomb falling from the sky, a lacquer-black bullet, under the cover of night, flew down at high speed and accurately struck the shadow of a certain Suna puppet master.

[Spiraling Shadow Binding Bullet]!

The Yin Release chakra instantly erupted, turning into a powerful restraint that fixed the Suna puppet master in place, unable to dodge in time.

"Sa—"

BOOM!

The Suna puppet master's cry for help was cut short before he could finish, directly interrupted by the exploding paper bomb. The other Suna ninja had no time to react before they had lost another teammate.

"Damn Konoha ninja!" Bloodshot veins appeared in Ebizō's eyes. He gripped the ninja fan in his hand and swung it heavily towards the sky. "Wind Release: Hanging Net!"

With the help of the fan, the wind-nature chakra was transformed into numerous extremely sharp blades of wind. After a fine shape transformation, they formed a huge net of wind. The giant net flew towards Keisuke in the high sky, as if to trap him within.

[B-rank Ninja Combat Mission Detected!]

[B-rank Mission: Ebizō]

[Mission Content: Defeat/Kill Sunagakure Jonin Ebizō]

[Mission Reward: B-rank Shinobi Secret Scroll]

'Whoa! A combat mission was triggered!'

'Was it because the S-rank mission was covering it before, which is why no extra combat missions were triggered...'

Keisuke lightly glanced at the mission message on the panel, his thoughts churning. But at the same time, the hand signs he was forming did not slow in the slightest. The Fire-nature [Nature Mask] hung at his waist, continuously providing him with pre-molded fire-style chakra.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A giant fireball crashed into the wind net that was like a trap cast from heaven. According to the principle of nature counters, Fire Release counters Wind Release. This Wind Release ninjutsu, which was meant to attack and obstruct Keisuke, became "fuel" for the latter the moment it came into contact with the [Great Fireball Technique] and was directly torn apart on the spot. If it weren't for the limited range of the [Great Fireball Technique], that giant fireball, which had clearly swelled in size, would very likely have counter-attacked the Suna Puppet Brigade.

After the fireball dissipated in mid-air, Keisuke once again threw a paper bomb attached to a shuriken. This time, his target was none other than Ebizō, who had just triggered the combat mission!

(End of Chapter)

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