"Teacher, this is bad!"
"Kurama told me there's a guy with incredibly immense malice heading this way."
"He said we might not be able to win..."
Kushina, who was fighting alongside Minato, suddenly froze and frantically called out to Orochimaru for help.
"Teacher? Where did he go?"
Kushina's head twitched left and right, but she unexpectedly discovered that her teacher, who had been standing behind them observing the battle, had vanished at some point.
"It's Roshi. What is he doing here..."
"Could it be that the Hidden Stone Village got wind of this and dispatched Roshi, a Jinchuriki, to support the Land of Demons?"
Even before Kushina spoke, Orochimaru's formidable dark and Sage Mode sensing had already fed him information about the approaching individual.
Orochimaru furrowed his brow and, using Sage Mode chakra to conceal his presence, quietly positioned himself around his four disciples.
"The Four-Tails' chakra has reappeared within Roshi's body, though it seems to have become agitated."
Orochimaru further sensed Roshi's aura and chakra fluctuations, his expression abruptly turning grim.
"This feeling..."
"Completely rejected by nature, with an aura of malevolence surrounding him..."
"You're the culprit responsible for the rampant slaughter in the Land of Demons and the leak of the魍魉's power!"
"You actually used the Tailed Beast's passive ability to absorb negative emotions to forcibly break through the Five Elements Seal I set!"
"Roshi, Hidden Stone Village... very good indeed!"
Orochimaru truly hadn't expected that to break free from the restrictions he had placed on Roshi's use of Tailed Beast power, the Hidden Stone Village would resort to such a cruel method.
Indeed, even Orochimaru, who was typically indifferent to outsiders, felt that the Hidden Stone Village's actions were going too far.
"Captain Kushina, Teacher said before that he wouldn't interfere with our actions unless our lives were in danger."
"So..."
Minato Namikaze gathered Nawaki and Nonoyu around Kushina. After a shared glance among the young companions, Kushina, as the squad leader, clenched her fists and pointed with fighting spirit in the direction where the sensed malice originated.
"So, let's have a great fight!"
"Kushina Squad, prepare for battle!"
"Yes!"
The three team members responded with admirable alacrity. Nawaki stepped forward, his bones cracking as his body became as hard as iron, shielding his three companions behind him.
Kushina's red hair fluttered, a thin, crimson chakra cloak gradually enveloping her body. With a conflicted expression on his face, Minato was shielded behind her.
Minato scratched his head and exchanged a look with Nonoyu, who was smiling at his side, feeling a bit of embarrassment.
"This..."
"Captain Kushina, I request to stand in front of you..."
Kushina glared back at him and then looked at Nonoyu, whose eyes were full of amusement, immediately understanding Minato's thoughts.
Blushing, she spat at him, but Kushina still moved aside slightly, pulling Minato to her side.
"You idiot, you can at most stand beside Captain Kushina. To stand in front of me, you're still far from it!"
Minato smiled and nodded at Kushina, then, as if possessed, grabbed a strand of her red hair that floated in front of him.
"I'm already very happy to be able to stand beside Captain Kushina!"
Kushina's face turned even redder. She snatched the hair back from Minato's hand, turned to face forward, and adopted a ready stance.
"Concentrate, the enemy will appear any moment!"
Minato uttered an "oh" and quickly retracted his wandering thoughts, his eyes vigilantly fixed ahead.
A faint, fishy odor drifted in with the breeze, causing the four companions to frown. A distinctly uncomfortable feeling simultaneously arose in their hearts.
It wasn't a sensory aversion from smell, but rather an instinctive repulsion from nature's creatures when facing an evil aura.
The fishy stench intensified, the surrounding air becoming unbearable to breathe while the temperature subtly rose. Simultaneously, a dark purple figure, enveloped in chaotic chakra fluctuations, abruptly appeared within the four's line of sight.
The figure moved with extreme speed, its target clearly aimed at the four. Only when the figure was close enough to be seen clearly did the four realize it wasn't dark purple at all, but rather a color stained by layers of dried blood.
"Be careful, this person might be the rogue ninja who has been slaughtering countless civilians and shinobi in the Land of Demons."
Minato's eyes narrowed. A faint wind-natured chakra flowed around the four, dispersing the thick, fishy odor and bringing a touch of coolness to those amidst the scorching heat.
"His chakra appears extremely volatile and scorching; he might be a formidable enemy who excels in Fire Release ninjutsu!"
"Brother Nawaki!"
Nawaki nodded in understanding and quickly formed three hand seals in front of him.
Ne–Rin–U
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
The Senju clan's bloodline endowed Nawaki with a powerful physique and chakra reserves, allowing the ordinary B-rank Water Release ninjutsu to unleash unimaginable power.
The ground, devoid of water, seemed to surge with waves. A ferocious dragon head rapidly formed from the waves, letting out a silent roar as it lunged, teeth bared, towards the approaching figure.
Roshi had sensed the battle occurring here from afar. He had assumed some shinobi from the Land of Demons were cleaning up the reanimated corpses. He planned to finish them off and then leave the Land of Demons to continue his hunt further west in the Land of Shadows.
However, upon arrival, he discovered four young children, one of whom, a girl, wore a Konoha forehead protector.
This discovery filled Roshi with a mix of surprise and joy. His eyes fixated on Kushina, and he didn't even notice the hand seals Nawaki formed when casting the Water Dragon Bullet Technique.
"Hahaha..."
"So it's the new generation of Konoha shinobi!"
"A Chunin leading three Genin, the old practice of old teaching the young; Konoha's educational methods are still so cliché!"
"They're sent out on missions at this age, so any kind of accident should be quite normal, shouldn't it?"
"Therefore..."
With past grievances and new ones surging to the forefront, a wicked thought arose in Roshi's heart. With a wild laugh, he dodged the Water Dragon Bullet attack and accelerated towards the four.
"Earth Release: Earth Armor!"
A dusky yellow earth-natured chakra quickly covered his entire body. Shielded by the formidable defense of Earth Armor, Roshi raised both fists and punched towards Kushina and Nawaki.
One wore a Konoha forehead protector and possessed an aura similar to that of a Tailed Beast. The other was powerfully built and had attacked him with a Water Dragon Bullet.
These two were inherently designated as Roshi's primary targets. As for the unremarkable blonde boy beside them, and the girl with round glasses standing behind the other three...
Roshi subconsciously ignored them.
How could a squad possibly consist entirely of elites!
"Die!"