Karot slashed his blade at Shindai, only to realize this Shindai was nothing but an Iron Sand-Body Clone.
Shindai's voice echoed from above.
"Fool! How could I possibly put myself in danger?!"
The real Shindai stood on a tree branch.
Having completed his hand seals, Shindai extended his palm toward Karot.
[Magnet Release: Iron Sand Coffin Binding!]
Using the iron sand left behind after dissolving his clone, Shindai rapidly sent it flying straight at Karot.
Though Karot reacted swiftly and dodged immediately, he'd been too close to the scattered iron sand on the ground.
Manipulating the iron sand, Shindai successfully wrapped it around Karot's ankle.
Karot lost balance and fell to the ground.
The iron sand quickly spread across Karot's body.
Panicking, Karot roared at Rumoda—who was still hiding—"Rumoda, what the hell are you doing?! I told you to attack with me, why are you still hiding? Do you want to see me die!"
Rumoda's eyes twitched.
So that was what Karot meant when he nodded earlier...
[Shadow Lightning Thrust!]
Lightning erupted from Rumoda's body. Channeling the lightning chakra to boost his speed, he rushed toward Karot.
Rumoda wanted to slash away the iron sand covering Karot using his ninja sword.
Naturally, Shindai wouldn't let Rumoda rescue Karot so easily.
Shindai pulled out three kunai knives and hurled them at Rumoda.
With incredible speed, Rumoda sidestepped three times in succession, effortlessly dodging all the thrown kunai.
Quickly reaching before Karot, Rumoda raised his sword high, ready to swing down.
Karot closed his eyes tightly, not daring to move, afraid Rumoda might miss.
But instead of feeling Rumoda's strike, Karot heard a muffled groan.
Opening his eyes and looking at Rumoda, disbelief filled Karot's gaze.
"Hey, what happened to you?"
Rumoda wore a grimace, blood dripping from his lips.
Three kunai had impaled his back.
Instantly, Shindai manipulated Kannazuki to charge at Rumoda, slashing downward at him with his ninja sword.
Ignoring his wounds, Rumoda immediately raised his blade to block.
Yet something strange happened again.
After Rumoda blocked Kannazuki's vertical slash, the ninja sword suddenly slipped past his guard, piercing straight into Rumoda's throat.
Gripping his neck, Rumoda tried to speak—his mouth opened and closed wordlessly—but couldn't utter a single word. After convulsing on the ground for a moment, he lay still—lifeless.
Seeing this sudden turn, Karot stood paralyzed.
Why... Why did three kunai impale Rumoda's back so suddenly?
There wasn't a fifth person around, so who threw those three kunai?
The three kunai stabbed into Rumoda's back were naturally Shindai's doing.
In fact, these were the kunai thrown by Shindai and dodged by Rumoda.
As to why those kunai ended up returning to pierce Rumoda's back, it was because Shindai had used Magnet Release: Magnetic Conversion just before throwing them.
After using Magnet Release: Magnetic Conversion, Shindai could magnetize anything he touched. The magnetization could also transfer to other objects through contact, allowing him to attack enemies using magnetism.
Earlier, Shindai had touched the kunai, giving them magnetic properties.
Since Shindai himself carried magnetism after casting Magnet Release: Magnetic Conversion,
after Rumoda dodged the three kunai, Shindai attracted them back toward Rumoda's back with his own body's magnetism, causing the blades to return and pierce into Rumoda's back.
Finally, using Kannazuki's ninja sword, he unexpectedly extended the blade and stabbed it into Rumoda's neck, successfully defeating Rumoda.
Kakashi stared at Shindai in shock.
He hadn't expected that Shindai, once deciding to fight, actually possessed remarkably sharp combat intelligence.
At this moment, Karot was already completely covered in Iron Sand, wrapped tightly by highly concentrated Iron Sand Body until breathing became difficult.
Shindai raised his hand again, pointing it at Karot.
[Iron Sand Funeral!]
The iron sand surrounding Karot compressed inward, producing dull sounds of breaking bones.
Karot was crushed to death by the pressure of the iron sand.
The three Cloud Ninjas were all eliminated by Shindai.
Shindai wiped imaginary sweat from his forehead, took a deep breath, and said, "What a terribly difficult battle that was!"
"Uh..."
Kakashi, Obito, and Rin Nohara looked at Shindai somewhat speechlessly.
Difficult?
Judging from how things went, this battle shouldn't have been that hard for Shindai, right?
From start to finish, it was practically a complete domination. Just what was difficult about it?
Kakashi now had a clear general understanding of Shindai's strength.
If Shindai didn't intend to run away and chose to fight like he just did, he definitely possessed jonin-level power.
Out of these three Cloud Ninjas, only one was an elite chunin while the other two were regular chunin—no match for Shindai, who possessed jonin-level strength.
Of course, if Shindai wanted to escape, his actual performance might differ.
Shindai approached the nearest Obito, looking at his swollen face with an expression hard to describe: "Obito, you look absolutely hideous right now. You look like a takuan."
Obito snapped, "You're the takuan! If you had come to help earlier, we wouldn't have gotten hurt."
Shindai immediately shot back, "No way am I taking the blame for this! Kakashi himself said we should retreat. I simply followed his order!"
Obito gave Shindai a look, then rushed to Kakashi's side and asked Rin Nohara, "Rin, how is Kakashi doing?"
Looking worriedly at Kakashi's injuries, Rin replied, "Kakashi is seriously wounded. Right now I can only provide emergency treatment and temporarily stop the bleeding. Proper medical care must wait until we return to the base camp."
Shindai also approached Kakashi. Seeing Kakashi's pitiful state reminded him of Kakashi's earlier warning about being surrounded by Cloud Ninja, so he anxiously urged Rin, "Have you finished treating him? We need to retreat right away or we're doomed once they surround us."
Rin nodded, "I'm done already."
Shindai immediately ordered Obito, "Obito, carry Kakashi on your back! Let's get out of here fast!"
Obito pointed at himself in disbelief, "Hey, I'm injured too! You're not hurt, Shindai. Can't you carry him for a change?"
Shindai argued indignantly, "Me? I've already exhausted my chakra and am completely drained. Hurry up and don't argue! If we delay any longer, I'll just run off and leave you two behind!"
"What do you mean talking so loud like that? You definitely don't look like someone who's drained."
Muttering under his breath, Obito grudgingly lifted Kakashi onto his back.
Kakashi weakly urged, "We should retreat quickly. I've already sent Guruku ahead with our intel to the base camp. Master Jiraiya and the others should already be mobilizing."
Together, Shindai supported Obito as he carried Kakashi, with Rin accompanying them as they all hurried toward Konoha's base camp.
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