The Power of Steel Release!

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A pale blue blade of light, like an inverted crescent moon, tore through the air. In an instant, the crescent ripped the earth apart!

Under countless gazes, the terrifying slash crashed into the caught-off-guard Stone Ninja. Hard steel covered his entire body, and a tremendous, muffled clang rang out like a struck bell, deafening everyone!

Clang!

The crescent's ferocious, unmatched Chakra exploded in an instant. Excruciating pain spread from the Stone Ninja's forehead all the way to his abdomen. White bone was visible inside the ghastly wound, which ran from top to bottom as though it would chop him clean in two!

Crack! The dark brown steel covering his body shattered and fell away, dissolving into specks of Chakra.

Steel Release, supposedly impervious to blades and spears, had been cut open in a single instant!

"Aaah!"

The Stone Ninja tried to cover his blood-soaked head with his hands, but both arms were like bamboo stalks sliced halfway through, dangling as though they might snap off. A piercing howl burst from his mouth. Clearly, he had suffered a devastating injury!

That was the result of taking the horrifying slash head-on!

The other two Stone Ninja could not keep the horror from their faces. They had never imagined anyone could tear through the steel bodies they were so proud of in a single blow, much less a brat who was not even ten years old!

Yet after severely injuring the Stone Ninja Jonin with one strike, Shunren showed no trace of joy. Zangetsu was the most powerful weapon he could currently project, and its sole and strongest move, Getsuga Tenshō, was his trump card for killing in one blow. But even after using his strongest trump card, Shunren had failed to kill the Stone Ninja before him. He had truly miscalculated when it came to the Steel Release Kekkei Genkai!

So without another word, Shunren sent a message to Shizune and Kakashi, then took to his heels.

Whoosh! Taking advantage of their opponents' shock and horror, Shunren and the other two immediately turned and fled.

This time, even Kakashi had no objections.

"I really didn't expect... the enemy to withstand your killing blow head-on," Kakashi said, at a loss for words.

Shunren was even more speechless at Kakashi. "Are you kidding me? Even if my Getsuga Tenshō could take down one of them, what about the other two? They're all Stone Ninja Jonin! And that strike just used up more than half my Chakra. I can't fire a second one at all. Where did you get the confidence for that so-called countermeasure of yours, Kakashi?"

Kakashi said calmly, "Trading the lives of one Chunin and two Genin for a Jonin from an enemy ninja village is a huge tactical victory!"

To a ninja village, every Jonin was an important reserve combat asset, Chunin were ordinary regular forces, and Genin were cannon fodder. So by the measure of battle losses, even if all three of them were wiped out here, it would be a victory for Konoha as long as they killed one enemy Jonin.

Hearing Kakashi's words, Shunren felt a herd of alpacas trampling through his mind. As he remembered him, Kakashi Hatake was an all-around ninja, skilled in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, powerful and clever. He had simply forgotten that, at this point, his father's death had left Kakashi's thinking extremely rigid, his head full of nothing but rules, missions, and the ratio of their losses to the enemy's.

No wonder Kakashi had spent time in Root as a boy. A heartless killing tool like that was exactly what Danzo liked best.

"All right, your plan has failed. Let's tuck our tails between our legs and run!" Shunren said coldly. "Though I don't know if we can get away."

"Damn it! That damned brat... I swear, I swear! I'll tear you limb from limb!" The Stone Ninja forcibly endured the pain of his wounds, his dark eyes fixed on the direction Shunren and the others had fled. His deathly pale face looked utterly vicious!

"Haha! I never thought I'd see you in such a sorry state! But don't worry,

Captain Kurogane has already gone after them. They won't escape." The Stone Ninja who had stayed behind was a medical-nin, and he treated him. But when he saw the enormous gash that ran from his cheek to his chest and all the way down to his abdomen, his expression turned grave. "Close your mouth first. That wound of yours is no joke." While fleeing for his life, Shunren did not forget to activate Mind's Eye and keep constant watch on what was happening behind them.

"They're coming! Six o'clock, less than a hundred meters away!"

Naturally, they could not flee along the main road. Anyone could see that, when running for their lives, they had all the more reason to plunge into the woods, where the many obstacles could help them while limiting the enemy's field of vision.

"Shizune, throw smoke bombs!"

"Right!"

At Shunren's order, Shizune flung several smoke bombs behind them. Skilled in hidden weapons, she was never short of ninja tools like these.

"A smokescreen? A pointless trick," Kurogane said expressionlessly. He pulled a scroll from his pocket and opened it, revealing a geographical map. Biting his thumb, he smeared blood across it.

"Earth Release: Mobile Core!"

A vast amount of Chakra poured into it, and the scroll merged with the earth.

Rumble!

The earth shook violently, the ground quaking and the mountains swaying. In the blink of an eye, the densely packed trees around them toppled and were buried, leaving a level, open plain.

"An advanced Earth Release that rewrites the terrain?" Shunren's expression changed. "Watch your back!"

Kakashi's gaze sharpened. Without a word, his hands flew through Hand Seals. "Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Useless. Such a fragile defense." Kurogane hurled more than a dozen Kunai at them in quick succession, forming Hand Seals with both hands at the same time. "Steel Release: Metal Weapon Strike!"

Empowered by Steel Release, every Kunai became a weapon sharp enough to slice through iron like mud, piercing Kakashi's Earth Release defense with ease.

Kakashi drew his blade and knocked several down, but the tremendous force of the heavy Kunai left his hand numb! Thankfully, he had managed to withstand that round of attacks.

With Shizune's skill in hidden weapons, she could naturally knock them down with the same kind of weapons. But her opponent's Kunai had been specially enhanced with the power of Steel Release and were incredibly heavy; their force was far beyond what her strength could handle. So when a Kunai flew straight at her face, Shizune was utterly unable to stop it.

Am I going to die just like this? A flash of despair passed through Shizune's eyes. But just then-

"Yin Release: Projection!"

A sharp flash!

Shunren appeared in front of her and raised his sword, knocking the enemy's Kunai down.