Chương 56: Not a protagonist but the Final boss

The Konoha team left the Daimyō's estate after a quick talk just after the Iwa team had departed.

"Kids, be on your guard and prepare for battle," Shikaku said. He wanted everyone to understand the situation clearly so no one would be caught off guard.

"Iwa might not have got an alliance. But we are at war with them. So they have no need to hold back against attacking us even if we are both in another country." He explained, making sure the genin knew that being in neutral territory did not mean safety. Wars between villages often spilled over borders, and Iwa had every reason to strike while they had the chance. Iwa had left just a little early than them. They might be waiting for them in an Ambush.

Without the Daimyō's protection, they were free to do so as they wished. Shunsui himself knew that a battle was inevitable considering Iwa could not just leave such a good chance of killing the Ino Shika Cho formation. He thought about how valuable their team was to Konoha and how much damage it would cause if they were taken out here.

'The clan heirs of three of the big clans of Konoha. With them alone outside their village, it is one of the best opportunities Iwa would get to weaken Konoha. What was Hiruzen even thinking sending all three of them for this mission?' Shunsui thought. Shikaku spoke to his teammates to prepare them for what might come.

"The other jonin is a special jonin so he will not be much of a problem. Han of the five tails would be the one that would be troublesome. Choza, we will be relying on you to deal with him up close. Inoichi, mind transmission jutsu would not be a good idea against a jinchuriki so we both would have to do much of the heavy lifting." Choza nodded in agreement.

The Konoha team ran towards the direction of Konoha for a few hours. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Suddenly Inoichi shouted, "Incoming, Choza to your nine o clock." Choza immediately folded in on himself as he looked in the direction where a red streak was moving at top speed towards them. The large man prepared his defense quickly.

"Human boulder jutsu," Choza muttered as his large body started spinning. He crushed everything in his path as he moved at an immense speed towards Han, who was steaming towards them literally. The ground shook from the force of Choza's spinning body as he rolled forward like a powerful boulder. All rocks were crushed under him. As both of them were about to collide, Han let out a kick which was accompanied by a lot of steam that sent the rolling Choza spinning back with much more force.

He collided with trees, breaking them apart before crashing into the ground. He was at least sent two hundred metres away. The impact created a cloud of dust and broken trees. The force showed just how strong the jinchuriki was when using his Kekkei Genkai. The genins watched with concern as their sensei was thrown back so far.

"Sensei!" Guy called out in worry. Shunsui looked at Han who had now covered his body in a special armour with a furnace on his back that stored large amounts of steam. This power was borrowed from Kokuo's boil release, which boiled Han's chakra to the highest temperature. The armour looked tough and gave off heat that could be felt even from a distance. Steam rose from his body.

Shunsui thought, 'If I am not wrong by regulating the amount and pressure of the steam, Han can severely magnify his physical strength and the force behind his physical attacks. The power behind his steam enhanced strength was enough to send Naruto in his nine tails chakra mode flying across a significant distance during the fourth great ninja war when Kabuto had reanimated the jinchurikis.' This made Han a very dangerous close range fighter who could overpower strong opponents like Choza with raw power.

Shunsui continued thinking about Han.

'I do not know much but if he can use boil release like how Mei Terumi used, he might be lethal at long range too.' This worried him because it meant Han could attack from long distances too. The jinchuriki looked at them after launching Choza away. The steam continued to build around him, showing he was prepared for more fighting. Shunsui said with a sad tone, "I thought you were a fellow friend and fashionista, Uncle. We both appreciate good clothes and style, yet here you are trying to kill us.

It is quite disappointing, you know." Shunsui's words gave Han a pause for a single second but he did not reply. He was about to come straight at them, next to attack them as steam erupted from his legs. Only to stop because of Shikaku's shadow possession jutsu who had taken advantage of his momentary distraction. The jinchuriki froze in place as the shadow technique took hold.

Thankfully Choza joined back in the fight within a few seconds with some scuff marks on his body since Shikaku had trouble holding back the jinchuriki with his shadow possession jutsu.

'Here I thought all jinchurikis had a weakness of being called a friend. It was my trump card against them,' Shunsui thought. He had hoped that reminding Han about friendship would work like how Naruto could but clearly it did not stop the attack. Shunsui then thought in a more serious tone, 'Well I guess it only works with those who have protagonist energy and well my energy.... is not of a protagonist but that of the.... final boss after all.'

Shunsui muttered as his swords changed as they came out of the scabbard as he activated his Shikai without the long activation.

"Katen Kyokotsu" It was time to show the Iwa shinobi true power that he had been holding back during the earlier tests.