Chapter 89: 89
[A/N : 2 chapters if the power stone reaches 150 within 24 hours]
"Looks like I am not the only one working today." Genma replied seeing the situation around. He had already guessed what had happened. Both of them could see the Four Violet Flames Formation (Shishienjin).
And since he could hear the chaos and battle sounds, it didn't take a genius to know that Konoha was under attack and that too from two factions. Sand and sound. Both Genma and Rei looked at each other and nodded.
The two moved almost immediately. Baki blocked Rei's incoming strike only for Genma's kunai to force him backwards. Shuriken flew from both sides and Baki found himself defending far more than he expected.
The fight wasn't just that, one could see that both Genma and Rei were coordinating and for a genin that was almost unheard of. A genin going toe to toe with another jonin while fighting against another jonin. Baki was dumbfounded. He had heard the small complaint of Orochimaru before about how this guy named Rei ruined his plan.
And also saw with his own eyes of how he saved Lee from an attack and took the blame himself. Baki had still looked down on this guy and now the same kid was showing his fangs.
Every time Baki created an opening against Genma, Rei appeared there. Every time he tried to pressure Rei, Genma interrupted him, of course all of this was with simple shurkien throws and taijutsu but one could see how good Rei was, of course there were hardly any spectators for their fight. The coordination wasn't perfect but it was more than enough to make the Sand jonin realize that staying here any longer would only waste precious time.
"Genma!" Rei suddenly called out while parrying another kunai strike. Genma immediately understood.
His gaze shifted toward Sasuke who was still staring at the retreating figures of Gaara, Temari and Kankuro.
"Sasuke! Go after them. Stop the Sand siblings and assist wherever necessary."
Sasuke didn't need to be told twice.
"Hmph."
A burst of speed later and he was gone. Baki was annoyed now and started throwing kunais at them with precision in order to stop the duo and then stop Sasuke later. But was it that easy?
Nope.
Baki threw a paper bomb too among the several kunais at Genma and Rei and it blasted mid air as it reached.
"Rei!" Genma shouted as he didn't expect Baki to mix a paper bomb along with normal shurikens. Baki smirked and was about to leave and help the team only for the next moment he got smacked at his face with a forceful kick that came out of nowhere.
Genma who had just escaped the paper bomb attack, saw Rei standing where Baki and Baki thrown of a few meters with a clear foot print of his face.
"When did you.." Genma was surprised seeing the speed of Rei. He didn't even notice how Rei had avoided the blast. Truthfully speaking, Rei didn't avoid the blast and the only reason his clothes seemed fine was because in Asgard he had asked the royal tailor to make clothes for him which would be tough and wouldn't get destroyed through minute attacks.
He was still hiding himself and thus he couldn't exactly show now that he had fully mastered Hiraishin. So he needed to be safeguard himself as much as possible and just took the blast while also executing shunshin and avoiding smoke and dust.
Baki himself looked stunned after getting launched away. He rolled across the arena floor before quickly regaining his footing, his hand instinctively touching the side of his face where Rei's kick had landed. The footprint was still there.
For a brief moment nobody moved. Then Baki's expression darkened.
He had come here expecting resistance from jonins, not from a genin who seemed determined to ruin every single plan that had been put in motion.
Unfortunately for him, the situation around Konoha was deteriorating rapidly. The sounds of battle were increasing by the second and more importantly Gaara's team was getting farther away.
"Tch."
Baki clicked his tongue and immediately leapt away in a completely different direction. Genma's eyes narrowed.
"I'll go after him."
Rei immediately stepped in front of him.
"No."
"No?"
"The Hokage is fighting that man. Konoha is under attack. Right now the village needs every available jonin more than it needs another person chasing Baki through the forest." Rei replied while looking toward the massive barrier in the distance. Even from here they could feel the chakra fluctuations coming from inside.
Genma didn't argue immediately because the logic was sound.
"I'll go after him."
"By yourself?"
"I am not trying to capture him or defeat him. I only need to make sure he doesn't interfere with Sasuke and the others. If Baki joins them then things become complicated."
Genma stared at him for several seconds. Under normal circumstances he would've refused instantly. Sending a genin after a jonin sounded ridiculous. But right now the village was under attack and he could see Kakashi and other jonins were already safeguarding the citizens and they definitely needed hand.
He was torn between helping Rei and saving the people around. But he had also seen how Rei handled Baki and was felt that maybe Rei would be powerful enough to not die. That was what he wanted.
He had heard how he was very fast even for a jonin and how he had escaped from Orochimaru and even safeguarded his friends so he could see where the confidence of Rei was coming from.
"...Fine." Genma finally said. "But if things go bad, retreat."
Rei grinned.
"I was planning to do that anyway."
Before Genma could decide whether that was reassuring or terrifying, Rei vanished in a burst of speed and headed after Baki. Genma watched him disappear before turning toward the village.
"Every single year these exams get weirder."
Baki moved fast.
The moment he cleared the arena he pushed his body to its limits and vanished through the rooftops before crossing the outer sections of Konoha and entering the forest. Trees blurred past him as he leapt from branch to branch. He wanted to take a detour and link up with Gaara and others.
Then he felt it. Baki glanced backwards and saw Rei keeping pace with him without any visible difficulty. He smirked at sensing a single person coming after him. He would take care of the person and then meet with them.
Several minutes later both landed inside a clearing far beyond Konoha's borders.
"You are persistent." Baki said.
"And you are quite the speedster. Quicksilver should take notes from you."
"Who?"
"Nobody." Rei replied. Baki snorted and didn't pay attention to apparent joke which seemed only funny to him. This guy was surely nuts. Besides that wasn't the point now.
"When Orochimaru told me that you were dangerous, I thought he was exaggerating. After all, how dangerous could a genin really be?"
Rei rolled his shoulders.
"And now?"
"Now I think chasing me was the greatest mistake of your life."
The moment the words left his mouth Baki vanished.
CLANG!
Kunai collided. The next second both disappeared again and reappeared several meters away exchanging blows. Baki immediately realized something was wrong. Not just wrong, but very very wrong.
His arm shook after blocking a simple punch. Then another strike landed against his guard.
BOOM.
Baki was forced backwards and his eyes widened. Every punch felt like he was blocking a steel hammer. Every kick carried absurd force behind it. This wasn't the strength of a normal genin.
"What the hell are you?"
Rei didn't answer. He simply appeared in front of Baki and threw another punch.
BOOM!
Baki crossed both arms and still got launched backwards through two trees. For the first time since the invasion began, genuine alarm appeared on the jonin's face.
Then the wind around him shifted. A marked kunai suddenly landed beside him. The kunai had reincarnation written on it. And the moment he saw that Baki's instincts screamed.
"What-"
A yellow flash appeared beside the kunai.
Hiraishin.
The next moment Rei's hand was already moving. A sphere of swirling chakra appeared in his palm. The chakra rotated so violently that the surrounding air seemed distorted.
"This jutsu.. You..." Baki watched at Rei in horror. He had heard tales of it and he was one of the lucky one who had never witnessed the horror. He had never thought that the tales he heard before would suddenly come to reality for him.
"Rasengan."
BOOOOOM!
The sphere slammed directly into Baki's chest and he was launched across the clearing before crashing into a massive trunk hard enough to crack it in half. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth as his body slid down the broken tree.
His eyes rolled back.
Unconscious. Rei stood in the middle of the destroyed clearing and looked at the damage.
"Yeah..." he muttered while staring at his hand. "Thor's physique might be a little ridiculous."
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