Red Nara

- You can't reach where you're going," Hatake moved forward, holding his naked sword and flanked by Hizashi and Nui.

Kei and I were pushed to the rear as the weakest and most desirable targets. And while the commander was exchanging barbs and mutual insults with the leader of the dozen, I got a chance to visually assess the enemies. But I didn't like what I saw - all ten healthy men belonged to the same generation, slightly over thirty.

They were considered to be in their late teens, but I knew that most shinobi reached the peak of their physical capabilities at that age. And with about a decade and a half or two decades of constant battles under my belt, such opponents are the most dangerous for me - they can be crushed by experience despite the difference in strength, and there are two of them for each of us.

- One of them must have a scroll where they could seal the Genin," another Iwa-nin suddenly spoke up, examining us closely, "given Konoha's connection to Uzushio, there should still be such scrolls for the prisoners.

- Ho, what a nice gift," the chief smirked, "then let's show them that these green lovers are lucky to have won recently!

- Hai!

- Well, two against one is a pretty good show," Hatake snorted sarcastically.

The five of them stepped forward as one and stomped their feet, tossing blocks of compacted sand into the air. Already knowing what would happen next, I quickly folded the seals and slammed my palm on the surface, investing a decent amount of chakra.

- Doton: Doroku Gaeshi!

Before I could even whisper the full name of the technique, a wide and thick wall rose up from the surface, providing excellent protection from the hail of rocks, despite the mesh of cracks where the most massive blocks crashed into it. I could barely hear the clang of metal amidst the clashing rocks, but Sakumo reacted instantly.

- Pull back!

We hastily moved backward with a leap, and just moments later, the wall, which was already holding on to its last breath, exploded with shrapnel from several explosions on the other side. If we had stayed where we were, it would have been no big deal. But there was no time to be relieved, as the jonin jumped over the pile of rubble, sending kunai and shurikens at us as they went.

We returned the favor, and Sakumo folded a few seals with his free hand and slashed with his wakizashi to unleash a wave of lightning at the attackers, but it wasn't enough against ten experienced fighters. At a certain level, jonin are generally very hard to reach with throwing weapons, so it was no surprise that no one on either side got a scratch.

The kunai that landed nearby, with kibakufudas tied to their handles, made us scatter to avoid being hit. In fact, that was exactly what the Nukenin were trying to do, instantly splitting into teams and following their targets. I saw three jonin rushing towards Sakumo and two towards Sarutobi, but I didn't have time to turn my head any further - four opponents were already approaching me, two of whom were beginning to crust over with stone, while the ones who had fallen behind were forming seals and preparing jutsu. Ha, and others can play this game!

- Chidori Senbon," I ordered the Hyuga who was covering me, "move aside!

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