While his Swift Release puppet collected the spoils from the dead puppet master, Kenji's mind drifted to something he'd been noticing lately.
His speed had increased.
Not dramatically, and certainly not like he'd suddenly gained a bloodline ability through some miraculous awakening. But noticeably, enough that he'd started paying attention to what was causing it.
After careful examination, he'd found faint traces of Swift Release chakra in his own system. That shouldn't have been possible.
He'd spent days analyzing the phenomenon, trying to understand the mechanism. The answer, when he finally figured it out, was simple.
Every time he used the Mind Clone Switch Technique with the Swift Release puppet, traces of the puppet's chakra attached themselves to his spiritual energy. When he released the technique and his consciousness returned to his body, that trace amount of Swift Release chakra came with it.
The quantities were microscopic, almost negligible on an individual basis.
But over weeks of constant use, those microscopic amounts had accumulated. And instead of dissipating harmlessly, the Swift Release chakra was being absorbed by his body. Gradually, his physical form was adapting, learning to form Swift Release chakra on its own.
It was a feedback loop. The chakra changed his body. His changed body became capable of generating more of that chakra naturally.
For bloodline limits formed through chakra nature fusion, like Swift Release, the relationship between body and chakra worked both ways. Physical genetics influenced chakra production, but chakra could also reshape physical genetics over time.
This discovery meant he could potentially acquire bloodline abilities that weren't originally his.
BOOM!
A loud explosion interrupted his thoughts.
Kenji's head snapped toward the source. A massive plume of white smoke erupted into the sky about two hundred meters away, near the center of the battlefield. As the smoke cleared, an enormous serpent emerged. Purple and black scales covered its body, each one larger than a man's torso. Cold green eyes with slit pupils surveyed the battlefield. It was Manda, Orochimaru's personal summon.
The giant snake let out a hiss toward the Suna ninja lines.
"They're bringing out the boss summons already?" Kenji muttered. "This is escalating fast."
Before the thought fully formed, another explosion of white smoke burst into existence. This one materialized beside Gamabunta, the massive toad that had been holding the line. A gigantic slug stretched its body languidly.
It was Katsuyu, Tsunade's summon.
"Tsunade's here too?"
That surprised him more than Manda's appearance. He knew better than anyone what condition Tsunade was in. Dan's death had broken something in her. The hemophobia had made her avoid combat entirely. For her to force herself onto the battlefield despite that psychological trauma meant the threat was serious.
Before he could process that information, the sky darkened.
Iron sand erupted from behind Suna's lines. It rose nearly a hundred meters into the air. The sheer volume of it was suffocating. Thousands of tons of weaponized metal, each particle capable of piercing through flesh and bone.
A figure wearing the Kazekage's hat and cloak descended slowly at the center of the iron sand storm. It was the Third Kazekage, known as the strongest in Suna's history
As if that wasn't enough, another massive chakra signature flared to life. The ground shook as something enormous appeared on the battlefield. A creature the size of a mountain, covered in yellow fur with violet markings. Its face was monstrous.
Shukaku, the One-Tail.
"Fuck me. They brought everything."
The Third Kazekage, Shukaku, and he could see Chiyo and Ebizō on the front lines commanding puppet corps. Three kage-level fighters plus a tailed beast. Suna had committed everything to this battle.
On Konoha's side, the only visible heavy hitters were Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade. Powerful, but not enough to match what Suna had fielded.
Where the hell is Hiruzen? Kenji scanned the battlefield with his sensory technique, searching for the Hokage's chakra signature. The enemy kage is here. This is supposed to be the decisive battle. So where's our kage?
He couldn't find him. Hiruzen's chakra was nowhere in the combat zone. Did he fear Danzō so much that he refused to leave Konoha? Whatever the reason, he couldn't shake the sour thought, their Hokage was missing when it mattered most.
And Sakumo should be here too. The current Ino-Shika-Chō leadership...
The two sides collided before he could finish the thought.
The shockwave from the initial clash hit him, even from this distance.
He gritted his teeth and made a decision. He needed to get close enough to see what was happening. And maybe, if the opportunity presented itself, close enough to collect tissue samples from the Third Kazekage or chakra from Shukaku.
Tailed beasts were pure chakra constructs. Their chakra was equivalent to biological tissue for analysis purposes. If he could get his hands on even a small sample, the research possibilities were endless.
He'd barely taken five steps when a familiar voice called out.
"Sensei!"
Haruto emerged from behind a pile of rubble, covered in dust and showing signs of recent combat. Cuts and bruises marked his face and arms, but he was moving well enough.
"Haruto. Where are Kaede and Aoi? And stay away from the main battle zone. If you get caught in one of those attacks, you won't even leave a corpse."
"They're over there!" Haruto pointed to a relatively sheltered area about fifty meters away.
Kenji had already sensed them with his chakra detection, but hearing confirmation was good. He moved quickly to their position.
Kaede and Aoi were taking a breather behind a fallen tree. When they saw him approach, their faces lit up with joy.
"Sensei!"
"It's been forever! We've been running missions nonstop, we haven't seen you in weeks!"
"Listen carefully," Kenji said. "Stay far away from the main battlefield. You see that?" He pointed toward where Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade were engaging the Third Kazekage. "Anyone who gets within a hundred meters of that fight is dead. The shockwaves alone will tear you apart. Understand?"
All three nodded quickly.
"Good. Stay alive. I'll find you after this is over."
He turned to leave.
"Wait, where are you going?!" all three shouted simultaneously.
"To see if I can help. Don't follow me. That's an order."
Before they could protest, he took off at full speed toward the center of the battlefield.
Behind him, he heard Haruto mutter, "He just told us to stay away from there..."
The closer Kenji got to the main combat zone, the more intense the pressure became. Chakra clashes created visible distortions in the air. The ground was cratered and scarred from jutsu impacts. Wind Release techniques sent debris flying like bullets.
Most of the ninjas on both sides had pulled back to safer distances. A handful of confident jonin lingered at the edges, testing their strength against their opponents, but the majority had stopped fighting entirely. They watched from afar, smart enough to recognize when they were outclassed.
Nobody wanted to die as collateral damage from a battle between monsters.
Kenji reached a position about 150 meters from the nearest kage-level fight and used his sensory technique to scan the entire battlefield. Still no sign of Hiruzen's chakra.
Unbelievable... He really isn't here. What the hell is he doing that's more important than the decisive battle of the war?
He thought Hiruzen had led the Second Great Ninja War, the so-called God of Shinobi, the man who supposedly mastered every jutsu in Konoha. Yet here they were, bleeding and dying on foreign soil, while their Hokage stayed behind the walls. How the hell had he earned that title if he wasn't even fighting?
At least the situation hadn't collapsed yet.
At the center of the battlefield, Jiraiya, Orochimaru, and Tsunade fought in coordinated formation against the Third Kazekage. They weren't at their peak strength yet, probably wouldn't reach that for another few years. But their teamwork was flawless, honed through countless missions together. With Manda, Katsuyu, and Gamabunta providing support, they held their own against the Kazekage's iron sand techniques.
Neither side had gained an advantage yet.
On another front, Chiyo and Ebizō were tag-teaming a white-haired jonin. He wielded a short blade, his swordsmanship so refined that each strike looked effortless. Despite being outnumbered by their puppet corps, he pressed them back.
Kenji recognized him at a glance, Konoha's White Fang, Sakumo Hatake.
The third major engagement was happening on the far side of the field. Shukaku dominated that area, the tailed beast's massive form making everything else look small by comparison. Facing it was a giant that stood nearly as tall.
The giant was Akimichi Fūza, the current head of the Akimichi clan and part of the Ino-Shika-Chō formation. His enlarged form grappled directly with Shukaku in brutal close combat. Each clash shook the ground like an earthquake. Dust clouds rose hundreds of feet into the air.
It looked like something out of a kaiju movie.
Kenji sent his Transparent Release puppet toward the Third Kazekage's battlefield first. If he could collect tissue samples from the Kazekage during the chaos, it would be worth the risk. The puppet faded from view and began its infiltration.
Then he moved with his Swift Release puppet toward the Shukaku fight. Fūza was holding his own for now, but human chakra reserves couldn't match a tailed beast's. It was only a matter of time before exhaustion set in.
Sure enough, as he closed to within a hundred meters of Shukaku, he heard Fūza grunt heavily. The giant's form wavered, his Multi-Size Technique flickering as his chakra reserves depleted.
Shukaku saw the opening and moved with surprising speed for something so large. Its tail whipped around, aimed directly at Fūza's chest.
BOOM!
The impact sent the giant flying. Fūza's body crashed into the ground and plowed a trench several hundred meters long before finally coming to a stop. Dust and debris exploded upward, obscuring the battlefield.
Kenji threw himself sideways as chunks of earth the size of houses flew past his position.