Kick them while they're down.
Minato saw that while Tsunade's previous strike hadn't landed directly, it had dealt a devastating psychological blow to the Iwa ranks. Seizing the opening, he shot a quick glance at Choza. In a blur of a Body Flicker, Minato reappeared in front of several rattled Iwa Chunin, his hands already blurring as he unleashed a volley of shuriken.
Choza didn't miss a beat. He activated his own technique, causing his explosive mane of hair to harden into a layer of razor-sharp needles before curling his massive frame into a ball.
"Secret Technique: Spiked Human Bullet Tank!"
The high-speed, needle-clad sphere roared forward, following right on Minato's heels.
Despite being shaken by Tsunade's display of raw power, the Iwa Chunin were experienced enough to snap out of it. They scrambled to block or dodge, making Minato's initial shuriken volley seem like a wasted effort.
But it wasn't. Three shuriken, seemingly possessing a life of their own like heat-seeking missiles, curved through the air and struck three fallen Iwa Genin squarely in their throats. They sank into the eternal dark without ever having the chance to conquer the fear that had paralyzed them.
This sight instantly twisted the survivors' fear into a white-hot rage.
Scritch!
Before they could lash out at Minato, the sound of grinding stone and friction filled their ears—Choza's tank was upon them.
Acting with the seamless coordination of long-time teammates, Minato waited until the spiked tank was inches from his back before using another Body Flicker to vanish.
"Earth Style: Earth Shore Return!"
One Iwa Chunin, positioned at the front and having anticipated the trajectory of the tank, was ready. He slammed his hands down, and a thick stone slab—dozens of centimeters thick—erupted from the ground directly in the path of the Meat Tank.
In the not-too-distant future, Choza's son, Choji, would fall victim to this exact counter-move during the Chunin Exams.
However, as a seasoned Chunin forged in the fires of a Great War, Choza was far more formidable than his future son. A mere C-rank jutsu wasn't going to stop him.
"Secret Technique: Multi-Size Jutsu!"
Mid-roll, Choza's volume suddenly ballooned. Utilizing the immense elasticity of his expanded form, he bounced high into the air, soaring over the two-meter-high slab of rock. He descended like a massive, spiked mallet toward the Iwa Chunin hiding behind the wall.
"Earth Style: Earth Dragon Lance!"
Unfortunately, this wasn't a one-on-one duel in a controlled exam; this was a brutal battlefield where commanders were willing to sacrifice their own men to kill an enemy.
As the Iwa Chunin looked up in despair at the encroaching shadow of the Spiked Human Bullet Tank, Kyu—who had been watching from the sidelines after dodging Tsunade—made his move. He relied on his experience to strike at the perfect moment.
He targeted the split second where Choza was airborne, unable to change direction—the moment where he was most threatening, yet most vulnerable.
Over a dozen stone spears, sharpened to a lethal point, erupted from the earth. They were positioned to impale the spiked urchin, turning the Akimichi into a dead pincushion.
Kyu didn't care that his own subordinate was also in the kill zone. That ninja died with a look of betrayal and confusion as his superior's spears pierced through him to reach the enemy.
"Choza!"
Minato, who had reappeared near another Chunin to capitalize on the diversion, abandoned his sneak attack. He roared in desperation, lunging toward his teammate, but his eyes—much like those of the dying Iwa ninja—were filled with hopelessness.
"Heavenly Foot of Pain!"
Just as a sadistic smirk began to curl on Kyu's lips, anticipating the gruesome sight of the Akimichi boy's death, Tsunade's boot shattered his dream.
Tsunade could have used the moment Kyu was focused on Choza to launch a lethal surprise attack of her own, essentially trading Choza's life for Kyu's. Instead, she chose to save her subordinate.
With chakra flooded into her leg, Tsunade moved like a human bulldozer. With a single, devastating kick, she snapped the reinforced stone spears like dry twigs.
Kyu went frantic, desperately pumping more chakra into the ground to repair the spears or grow new ones, but he was too late.
Taking advantage of the shattered spears, Choza immediately deactivated his Multi-Size Jutsu. He reverted to his normal size and hit the ground, landing on the blunt, broken stumps of the stone pillars. It hurt like hell, but it didn't impale him.
Wasting no time, he triggered a Body Flicker and scrambled out of the forest of stone.
Tsunade, however, remained in the center of the spears. She showed no intention of retreating; instead, like a girl playing a violent game of whack-a-mole, she systematically smashed every spike that dared to thrust toward her with her fists and feet.
Realizing he couldn't kill her and was only wasting chakra, Kyu glared at her with pure venom and cancelled the technique.
He assumed Tsunade would resume her assault on him with that same murderous intent, and he began frantically calculating his next defensive maneuver.
But Tsunade caught the gap—the moment he ended his jutsu, when he was momentarily unable to weave new signs. She blurred into motion, shooting through the opening in the encirclement that her punch had created and that Minato and Choza's assault had widened.
"Move!"
At her command, Minato and Choza—who had already received her silent signal while she was "playing" with the spears—triggered their Body Flickers simultaneously. They flanked her, and the three of them tore through the gap, leaving the encirclement behind.
"Damn it!"
Kyu's mind went blank for a second, his frustration at failing to kill Choza boiling over into a temper tantrum. "After them!"
Almost as soon as the order left his lips, two other Iwa Jonin—who had been holding the other sides of the perimeter to prevent Tsunade from picking a soft target—bolted past him in pursuit.
"Kyu, your actions just now... I will be reporting them to Lord Ohnoki exactly as they happened," one of the Jonin spat as he brushed past.
"You know as well as I do that even if my spears hadn't hit him, that useless waste would have been crushed into a meat pie by the Akimichi!" Kyu barked back, his face a mask of cold indifference despite the disdain in his eyes.
Internally, he looked down on these border-patrol ninjas, but he knew he needed their cooperation to secure the glory and the kill he craved.
The two Jonin didn't bother responding. They shot him one final, heavy look before disappearing into the distance, maintaining the chase.