Three... Left!
"Haku, remember the information I just shared with you...?" I stared at the Sound Ninja standing opposite us, without turning my head, and said, "You handle that female ninja using Genjutsu, leave the rest to me..."
On the way here, I already discussed the characteristics of the Sound Ninja we might encounter with Haku and Naruto.
The only female member, Tayuya use her voice to cast Genjutsu and control summoned creatures to attack, but she is weak in close-quarters Taijutsu. Kidomaru, with his ponytail, is the strongest of the Sound Four, using a spider-imitating Ninjutsu that makes him strong in both close-quarters and ranged attacks. Jirobo, who is already dead, is not worth mentioning. Finally, Sakon, with Sakon white hair, can split into two people, and the other person can possess someone else, so you must never let him get close to you!
Of these four, only Tayuya truly poses a threat to me. Her summons can pass through physical bodies and absorb the enemy's Chakra, which perfectly counters my Azure Water Release and Chakra. Furthermore, her Genjutsu is one of the few among the Sound Four that can affect my offensive methods!
Conversely, Shiro, who excels at using the Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals for high-speed close-quarters combat, is a perfect counter to Tayuya!
The Sound Five been implanted with Cursed Seal by Orochimaru and can transform using Curse Mark Stage Two. Each of them possesses Jonin -level combat power, and with their uncanny Ninjutsu and perfect teamwork, defeating two Elite Jonin is not a problem! Kimimaro, who possesses the Shikotsumyaku Kekkei Genkai, has even more Elite Jonin- level combat power thanks to his Taijutsu and Bone Release!
In comparison, Haku is only around the level of Elite Chunin, while I am at most Elite Jonin. However, with my Azure Water Release and Water Gun Technique, even a Kage Level character could be defeated if they are careless!
However, the outcome of a battle can never be determined by looking at the strength on paper. There are many, many factors that truly determine the outcome, and it is not impossible for a Jonin to die at the hands of a Shinobi Jonin carelessness!
Kimimaro appears to be on par with me in strength, but if he were to engage me in close combat, he wouldn't have enough lives to survive! The difference between us is like that between a master swordsman wielding a greatsword, each strike a fatal blow, and a soldier wielding an assault rifle. Guns have limited ammunition, but if the swordsman charges in, he absolutely cannot defeat the gunman!
Battles are not just about direct combat capabilities, but also a clash of wits and tactics!
Right now, the Sound Ninja are planning to use their high-speed movement to force my Water Gun Technique to fail in its attrition tactic!
"Her Ninjutsu has strong penetrating power and is very fast... One hit could be fatal!" Kimimaro said slowly. "Therefore, we can't let her lock onto us so easily! Activate State Two immediately!"
A powerful burst of Chakra erupted from the four Sound Ninja, and black Cursed Seal in the shapes of tadpoles, clouds, lines, and crescent moons quickly covered their bodies!
Under the control of the Cursed Seal, these people grew all sorts of strange horn-like protrusions and limbs, turning them into monsters that were no longer human!
Is this nauseating feeling what's called Cursed Seal State Two?
Water Release: Super Water Gun Technique!
I didn't have the patience to wait for them to finish transforming before making my move; I immediately used my Water Gun Technique to shoot Kimimaro!
Whoosh! The four Sound Ninja moved swiftly the moment they sensed my Chakra fluctuations, their water lines only hitting Kimimaro's afterimage! Faced with a Taijutsu so focused on my Ninjutsu, who instinctively dodged the moment they sensed my Chakra, I couldn't handle their undisguised frontal assault. No matter how strong the technique, if you can't defeat your opponent, there's nothing you can do! The key is, they don't need to win; their passive avoidance is solely for stalling for time!
"That's definitely a dangerous Ninjutsu!" Kimimaro stopped, touching his abdomen. His entire body was armored with bones, and a deep gash ran across the abdomen of the armor, a line of blood slowly seeping out. "Just 0.05 seconds too slow, and it cut my bone armor like this...!"
The Cursed Seal turned Kimimaro's skin completely black, and a long tail grew from his back, with grotesque bone spikes piercing through his skin and extending from his back and spine all the way to the end of his tail! The Kimimaro before us no longer resembled a human being at all!
"... Monster!" I said coldly.
The Water Gun Technique failed, which means the upcoming battle will likely be very difficult!
"This is the price I must pay for gaining power," Kimimaro replied calmly, without anger. "Although my monstrous body is somewhat ugly, I don't mind undergoing this transformation..."
"Next, let me show you how monsters attack!" Kimimaro's bones pierced through his flesh, forming a huge bone shield and a sharp spear!
"These are bone spears and bone shields I made from bones hardened to their strongest state. I will use the bone shield to block your Ninjutsu, and then use the bone spear to pierce your defense!" Kimimaro!
"Go ahead and give it a try..." I said with a sneer.
Kimimaro should know very well the power of the Water Gun Technique and the Azure Water Release; his bones are not something he can withstand! Is he trying to mislead me and provide cover for the remaining three Sound Ninja who have hidden in the forest and are waiting for an opportunity to attack?
The Sound Ninja's attack came suddenly in the next moment!
"Ninja Technique·Spider Sticky Gold!"
Whoosh! Dozens of sharp arrows and Kunai emerged from the forest one after another, shooting towards me from all directions!
"The Magic Flute: Dreamlike Soundscape!"
At the same time, Tayuya's flute music rang in my ears, pulling me into a world of Genjutsu—
Tick-tock...
Tick-tock...
I felt as if I were in a gloomy room, hearing the sound of water. The sound of water droplets hitting the surface. I looked closer, no, this dark red color wasn't water, it was blood!
I looked up and saw a person hanging on the wall, cut in half at the waist, the upper and lower body tied to the ground, entrails and blood everywhere! Suddenly, I realized that the familiar clothes on the corpse, the long pink hair—wasn't that me?!
"Ah--!" I screamed in terror, then realized it was Genjutsu!
Such powerful Genjutsu! Even someone with my strong mental abilities like me was trapped in it!
There are three main types of Genjutsu: mental binding, mental manipulation, and mental attack. In principle, the effect of each Genjutsu is closely related to the mental strength of both the caster and the victim!
In the original work, Tayuya only used one Genjutsu on Shikamaru, "Magic Flute: Dream Sound Lock," which is a Genjutsu that combines mental binding with a bit of mental attack. However, this "Magic Flute: Dream Sound Illusion" is a pure mental manipulation technique that invades my brain and creates illusions, trapping me in those illusions and thus making me helpless in the real world!
"Genjutsu - Release!"
Back in reality, in the short time it took to break the Genjutsu, Kunai and arrows had already closed in on me, Kimimaro seized the opportunity to thrust his bone spear at me!
But don't forget, we still have one person here!
Ice Release: Annihilation of Water Flight!
Bai condensed Senbon ice needles in the air, shooting out in all directions from me! Hundreds upon Senbon struck down Kunai and arrows one after another, clanging and clanging—they hit Kimimaro's bone shield, leaving only a few shallow scratches before shattering into powder! With no obstruction, Kimimaro's bone spear thrust irresistibly towards my chest!
Thud! The bone spear was blocked by a Water Release and shattered with a low thud! But Kimimaro's true killing move wasn't there yet; I felt a strange movement beneath my feet—
"The Dance of the Early Bracken!"
"Azure Water Release: Absolute Defense!"
Two Ninjutsu were completed simultaneously! Hard and sharp bones grew from the ground, spreading into a bone forest the size of a football field! Countless bone spikes frantically pierced towards me, striking the Absolute Defense water wall, stirring up ripples, but unable to advance any further! Meanwhile, Haku used the magic mirror to dodge this bone forest!
I continue Hand Seals!
Water Release--
Crack! The bone slammed into the Azure Water Release and cracked. This series of attacks was a flawless coordination! I praised it inwardly. But it was time for me to counterattack!
"We got it!"
Suddenly, I heard the triumphant shouts of the Sound Ninja! Turning around, I saw three humanoid monsters, like shadows, effortlessly weaving through the bone forest, stretching out their long necks, and opening their massive jaws to bite me—
In that instant, I understood—that's how it is!
All the attacks were just a cover for those three monsters, designed to trap me here! The dazzling series of attacks just now were nothing but feints! These almost massless semi-material monsters can pass through solid objects, the Azure Water Release technique can't defend against them, and the Water Gun Technique can't shatter them. I have no way to deal with them for the time being!
If I get bitten by those three monsters, I'm really done for! And right now, I can't avoid it!
The Sound Ninja made perfect use of their known information about Water Gun Technique and Azure Water Release!
If Orochimaru had been able to bring along a few Sound Ninja to use this combo when he encountered Tsunade last time, I might have really lost. But now, their intelligence is outdated!
I continued Hand Seals and unleashed a new advanced Ninjutsu from the Water Gun Technique series!
" --Wind Cutter Water Blade!"
Just before the giant jaws bit me, a stream of water, imbued with a blue wind- Nature Transformation Chakra light, slashed towards the three monsters! The water stream passed through the monsters' bodies without hindrance, yet the Chakra with its cutting properties shredded their intangible Chakra forms to dust!
After imbuing the launched high-pressure water line with wind Nature Transformation Chakra, "Wind Cutter Water Blade" is even more powerful at cutting solid objects than the Super Water Cannon Technique! After tearing apart the summoned monster, the water line also easily sliced the hard bone forest into bone stakes, and Kimimaro's bone shield was cut in half as easily as cutting tofu!
Kimimaro dodged the water blade the instant it turned towards him, landing far away on the ground. This distance gave him enough time to react and dodge my water blade.
"You actually managed to slice through Chakra monster without a physical form with your water blade..." Kimimaro said with some surprise, "In just a few weeks, your technique has become even stronger! Did you add wind Nature Transformation to your Water Release?"
"I have no obligation to explain my Ninjutsu to you..." I said bluntly, though inwardly I admired Kimimaro's observational skills.
"Water Release: Wind Cutter Water Blade" utilizes both Water Release Wind Release Chakra Nature Transformation, making this Ninjutsu twice as difficult to execute as the Water Gun Technique! For most people, combining two Nature Transformation into a single Ninjutsu to form Combination Ninjutsu is something they might never achieve in their entire lives. In the Land of Snow, my training in the Water Gun Technique was essentially practicing the "Wind Cutter Water Blade" Ninjutsu! Although this technique still belongs to Ninjutsu Water Blade Technique series, the inclusion of Wind Release Nature Transformation means that Ninjutsu name doesn't follow the usual naming conventions of the previous techniques.
Furthermore, in terms of Chakra consumption, the activation speed of "Wind Cutter Water Blade"Water Gun Technique is similar to that of Water Gun Technique, but it consumes more than twice the Chakra, while its power is not doubled. Therefore, its cost-effectiveness is not as good as Water Gun Technique! However, as my Chakra reserves continue to increase, there is no need to pursue the cost-effectiveness of Chakra consumption in Ninjutsu excessively in the future. The main Ninjutsu of the Water Blade Technique series will change from Water Gun Technique to Wind Cutter Water Blade!
"Instead of worrying about my Ninjutsu, you should..." Suddenly, the sounds of ninja tools clashing and Ninjutsu being activated came from the woods. I said to Kimimaro, "... concern about your comrades!"
Tayuya used such a powerful Genjutsu, and the huge fluctuation of her Chakra completely exposed her location. Haku jumped into the Demon Mirror to avoid Kimimaro's Bone Release, and he also went into the forest to search for Tayuya!
"Tayuya...?" Kimimaro glanced quickly at the forest before turning back to me and saying, "With Sakon protecting her, it's your companions you should be worried about!"
A thought struck me; I sensed something, and my hands were about to Hand Seals—
"If you don't want your comrades to die," a white-haired man suddenly emerged from the woods, "Stop your Ninjutsu!"
Sakon his right hand holding Bai's neck, Zuo Jin slowly said to me! Bai's body was covered in wounds, his delicate face was full of scars, his white clothes were stained with blood, and his right hand had been cruelly severed at the elbow!
"Otherwise, I'll strangle her!" Sakon said with a cruel laugh!
"Do whatever you want..." I looked at the lifeless white figure and continued Hand Seals without being moved!
"What? You actually—" Sakon could finish speaking, my Ninjutsu activated!
"Ice Release Secret Technique: Ice Crystal Explosion!"
Boom--!
The white body that Sakon Jin was holding transformed into thousands of sharp ice spikes, exploding in all directions! Sakon had caught was merely a lifelike Ice Clone of white! Ice Clone are composed of blocks of ice, unlike Shadow Clone and Water Clone; Ice Clone do not immediately collapse when injured!
The dust settled.
Sakon hid behind a ferocious figure, while the figure in front was riddled with ice shards, its body riddled with holes by ice spikes! Sakon himself was also deeply embedded with several ice spikes!
"You... you actually used me as a shield!" Ukon said weakly and angrily, "Let me in to recover!"
"I don't think it's necessary! Now that you've come out of hiding, there's no going back. I'll give you a quick death!"
Water Release: Super Water Gun Technique!
Sakon and Ukon, enduring excruciating pain, tried to jump away. Suddenly, an ice mirror appeared Sakon, and Haku's hands reached out from the mirror, grabbing Sakon's ankles! Sakon looked back at Haku's figure in despair, and then his body was pierced by the waterline, breaking into several pieces just like Ukon, who was unable to escape!
Snap! Bai emerged from the ice mirror and stood behind me.
"Three left!" I said with a cold laugh.
[I fell asleep while writing... Oh well.]