"Ambush in the Land of Waterfalls."

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Disguised and moving cautiously through a small town, Shimura Danzo and Akimichi Torifu were out buying supplies. Just then, a tall, imposing figure brushed past Danzo. A chill ran down his spine.

"What a terrifying killing intent… Is he a ninja?" Danzo turned to Torifu and said seriously, "We need to get out of here. Now. We've got trouble—big trouble."

Torifu paused mid-bite of his steamed bun, completely carefree. "What? But we haven't had a proper meal in two days! I'm not even half full yet!"

Danzo shot a glance at the spot where the man had vanished and said coldly, "If we don't move now, we might not get another chance. That guy's the real deal—way out of our league. Even the four of us together might not be able to beat him."

Once they'd stocked up and packed everything, they bolted from the town, heading for the rendezvous point where Aki was.

Aki had barely been asleep for an hour when Uchiha Kagami woke him. Kagami said, "Young Master, it's dangerous to sleep like this out in the open. You've got to stay alert."

Aki groggily nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry. I'll set some explosive tags and traps right away."

Kagami shook his head. "Already taken care of."

Just then, Danzo and Torifu arrived beneath a tree. Aki and Kagami jumped down to greet them. Torifu handed out food—after all, none of them had eaten properly for two days.

Lying back with a full stomach, Aki sighed in bliss. "Man, this feels amazing. I never realized just how lucky it is to eat until now. I finally get why you're always so happy, Torifu."

Torifu, cheeks stuffed with food, nodded enthusiastically, mumbling something completely unintelligible.

Danzo glanced at everyone, then said, "I sensed an extremely powerful ninja in the town. If he's after us, we're screwed. Even the four of us together might not stand a chance—escaping would be hard enough."

Kagami frowned. "A Kage-level ninja? That can't be… The only one in the Land of Waterfalls is the Takikage, and I seriously doubt he'd leave the village just to chase three Jonin and a Chunin."

Danzo shook his head. "It wasn't the Takikage—someone else. We don't know his intentions yet, so we need to stay sharp."

Right as he finished speaking, ninjas from the Village Hidden in the Waterfall suddenly surrounded them. One of them sneered from beneath the tree, "You guys are a pain to find. We've been chasing you for two days! You killed quite a few of our shinobi. Lucky for us, someone in your group wandered into our village and got marked by our tracking scent, or we'd still be looking."

Danzo's eyes widened as the memory hit him—when that tall figure brushed past him in the town, their clothing had just barely touched. "So that's when it happened... He's a rogue ninja. He's trying to pit us against the Takigakure shinobi and reap the rewards from the sidelines."

He quickly gave everyone a hand signal: "Break through to the north. Don't engage. There's a strong enemy lying in wait to ambush us."

Kagami read the signs, formed a quick seal, and shouted, "Boom!" Explosive tags hidden beneath the trees and in the ground ignited in a chain reaction, blasting through the area. Using the confusion, the group broke through to the north.

The lead Taki-nin screamed, "After them! If they reach the Land of Fire, we'll have to face the Takikage's wrath!"

There were nearly thirty Taki-nin: five Jonin, eight Chunin, eight Genin. While the explosion killed many, the higher-ranked ones made it through mostly unharmed. The Takikage himself launched after Danzo's team.

Seeing the enemy closing in, Aki created two shadow clones. One clone cast Wind Style: Thousand-Blade Gale, while the other followed up with Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu—the flames merged with the wind, growing into a storm of flaming blades hurtling toward the pursuers.

A Taki Jonin stepped forward and countered with Water Style: Water Dragon Whip, forming a long whip of water that lashed out, snuffing out Aki's jutsu. Two more Jonin followed up, blasting apart Aki's shadow clones. The Taki-nin pressed forward, undeterred.

Suddenly, Kagami, who was running at the front, skidded to a stop and leapt backward, pushing off a tree trunk. At that exact moment, a massive ten-meter-tall spike of earth shot up from the ground right where he'd been standing.

Danzo landed beside him and growled, "That guy's goal is crystal clear—he wants us to fight the Taki-nin until we're all dead. Did you signal Konoha? When's our backup getting here?"

Kagami replied, "I saw a reply signal, though it's far away. Shouldn't be more than a few hours."

Danzo nodded. "If it comes to it, drink the Hero Water. Just stall for time. We can't afford to all die here. Protect the kid—he's carrying the money. Got it?"

Kagami gave a firm nod. "I'll protect the Young Master with my life."

Danzo then charged into the enemy ranks. Torifu, seeing the signal, activated Akimichi Style: Partial Expansion Jutsu, transforming into a huge rolling ball of flesh that barreled into the Taki-nin, smashing trees left and right. No one could stop his rampage.

Two Taki Jonin quickly responded with Earth Style: Earth Wall and Earth Style: Earth Flow Rampart, raising a high wall and a giant boulder to block the charge. Torifu crushed the wall and slammed into the boulder, pushing it back several meters before stopping.

Then he went bigger—Super Expansion Jutsu—turning into a towering thirty-meter giant. With one massive hand, he swatted at the Taki-nin like they were insects. Danzo jumped onto his shoulder, launching wind-style jutsu to coordinate the attack. Together, they clashed fiercely with five Jonin.

Meanwhile, Aki and Kagami took on the remaining Chunin and Genin. Outnumbered, they were struggling, and their Fire and Water style ninjutsu weren't working well in such a wet, waterfall-filled environment. Their only option was to rely on taijutsu and genjutsu.

Back to back, Kagami whispered, "Watch my genjutsu. Follow up with a fast attack. Let's wrap this up quick."

Aki nodded. Kagami made two shadow clones and formed a triangle formation. His fully-activated Sharingan spun as he cast Mind of the Fox genjutsu. The surrounding Taki-nin froze, caught in the illusion.

Aki drew his short sword, leapt forward, and created three more shadow clones mid-air. They each went for a different Chunin, and Aki himself killed four of them in a blink, then turned to engage the others.

Two of the Chunin broke Kagami's illusion and rushed to help their comrades, but Kagami's shadow clones blocked their path. His real body went after the Genin. In less than a minute, they'd wiped out half of the sixteen remaining enemies.

Elsewhere…

"Hey, Monkey Boy! What the hell are you doing?! Danzo's in serious danger, we need to go help them!" shouted a ponytailed girl at a boy who was hanging upside down in a tree, munching on a peach.

A bespectacled boy nearby pushed up his glasses and said calmly, "We're waiting for a signal. Without it, we could be running around the Land of Waterfalls blindly. It's small, but there are lots of paths. It'd be risky and a waste of time."

The girl snapped, "Easy for you to say—you're always hanging back casting illusions while I'm out front doing all the hard work!"

With a yell, she leapt into the tree and punched the peach-eating boy down to the ground.

Just then, a flare lit up the sky in the distance.

The boy with glasses adjusted his lenses and said, "Cut it out. That's a Konoha signal flare. Looks like they're in trouble. Should we head there or wait for more signs?"

The girl's expression turned serious. "Danzo's not the type to ask for help unless it's serious. If he's calling for backup, then it's urgent. Let's go."

The three of them nodded. The peach-eating boy said, "Forget waiting for the ANBU. Let's move—just the three of us."

They leapt into the trees and took off toward the flare. These three were none other than Sarutobi Hiruzen, Homura Mitokado, and Koharu Utatane.

An hour later, while traveling fast through the forest, they suddenly heard a huge explosion. Hiruzen jumped to the treetop and spotted a giant figure flying through the air.

"That's Akimichi Torifu! Someone actually managed to knock him back even after he used Expansion Jutsu? Danzo must be in deep trouble!"

He dropped down and shouted to Homura and Koharu, "Danzo's in serious danger. I just saw Torifu get knocked flying. At this rate, they might not survive. I'll go on ahead—I'm faster. You two catch up as quick as you can!"

Homura nodded. "Be careful. Our mission is to get them out of the Land of Waterfalls safely. Don't get dragged into a drawn-out fight."

Hiruzen nodded, bit his finger, and slammed his hand to the ground. "Summoning Jutsu: Enma the Monkey King!"

A burly monkey appeared beside him. "Slashing Sun, you called me in the middle of training—what's up?"

"Enma, turn into the Power Pole. My squad needs help, and I've gotta get there fast."

With a shout of "Extend! Extend! Extend!" the Power Pole shot into the sky, launching Hiruzen toward the battlefield at full speed.

"....."