Still Fighting

"Dust Release?"

Kushina was startled by the ninjutsu her opponent had used.

Dust Release was the current Tsuchikage's prized technique.

A Kekkei Tōta that surpassed the Kekkei Genkai.

Even Kushina, who was not much of a student, had learned from books about the powerful ninjutsu possessed by Iwagakure's Tsuchikage.

But judging from her opponent's display...

"This isn't Dust Release at all!"

Kushina burst forward, using Soru to cross the distance between them and appear before the girl. Her fist shot toward the girl's face.

Monster Strength Punch.

With a roar of air, the girl turned into scattered dust. Her body vanished, yet her voice slowly carried over.

"Though I can't compare to the Third, my Dust Release isn't weak either."

The dust swept up, every grain sharpened by the power of Chakra.

Its power was simply too lacking.

It was like cutting someone with nail clippers. It would not kill them, but it hurt like hell.

Three golden chains burst from Kushina's back and wrapped tightly around her body, trying to block the dust's erosion.

"It's useless. Tiny dust particles aren't so easy to stop."

The girl's smug voice came from within the dust.

Rather than immediately searching for the girl, Kushina looked toward the stream.

She used Soru beneath her feet to rapidly cross the distance.

The girl also realized Kushina's intentions.

"Don't think you'll get away with it."

"Dust Release! Dust Body Technique!"

The dust gathered into the girl's form, but her exterior was entirely black, her body made up of countless grains of dust.

The dust girl moved to intercept Kushina.

"Stop getting in my way!!"

Kushina smashed apart each dust girl with a single punch. Kushina, who possessed the Monstrous Strength Technique, was not so easily stopped.

Especially when this clone was so weak.

After breaking through the blockade, Kushina plunged headfirst into the stream.

The dust followed close behind, but it could not penetrate the thin layer of water.

It could only watch as Kushina hid beneath the stream.

The dust gathered and formed the girl again. She stared into the water at Kushina with an ugly expression.

Her so-called Dust Release was actually just a variant secret technique of Earth Release. Every ninja village had some techniques like that.

Its power truly was not much, only standing out in reconnaissance.

At the same time, water was Dust Release's greatest nemesis.

"Don't think hiding in there will save you."

The girl threw Shuriken at Kushina.

The chains behind Kushina flew out and knocked away the Shuriken, then seized the girl without losing any momentum.

The girl was instantly caught. The chains twisted hard, turning her into dust that filled the sky.

"What an annoying ninjutsu."

Kushina crouched beneath the water's surface. The stream was not deep enough, so she could only maintain this posture.

The wounds on her body had already healed quickly thanks to the Nine-Tails' Chakra.

But they could not remain locked in a stalemate like this. It would be troublesome if her opponent's companions came back to assist.

"My companions and teacher have gone after your companions."

The moment Kushina mentioned companions, the girl used them to threaten her.

"That blond brat is facing my companion, Sansho, known as the Mad Beast. He loves tormenting his opponents. He's probably started slaughtering your companion by now."

The girl wanted to provoke Kushina with words, but instead, her words calmed Kushina down.

Minato Namikaze was not weak. Kushina was not worried at all!

Seeing it did not work, the girl could only switch targets.

"And that other person's clothing pattern... he's Uchiha, right? My teacher has always wanted a pair of Uchiha eyes for his collection."

Kushina's expression changed beneath the water. Though she and Uchiha Jin never got along, he was still her companion.

"An elite jonin went after Uchiha Jin? I have to end this quickly."

Kushina formed hand seals.

"Mind's Eye of the Kagura! Activate!"

The next moment, Kushina burst out of the water.

"She finally came out!"

The girl was overjoyed and controlled the dust to sweep toward Kushina.

But Kushina let the dust wound her as she charged into the distance.

"A sensory ninjutsu!!"

The girl hidden behind the trees immediately turned pale and sprinted away. She had been hiding there from the very beginning.

Even as she fled, she did not forget to command the dust to open wounds across Kushina's body.

"Damn it, what is wrong with this little brat? Why is she bleeding so much!!"

Her fighting style was to make her enemies die from excessive blood loss.

But this young girl was practically a blood tank. She had lost so much blood, yet she was somehow still completely fine.

"I found you!!"

Kushina leaped high into the air and spotted the girl at a glance.

Her body descended from above.

The chains behind her shot out first, rapidly binding the girl layer by layer.

"Die a hundred times over!!"

Kushina punched the girl in the head. The tremendous force dented her skull, bloodshot her eyes, and sent her body crashing to the ground without moving.

Only then did Kushina begin panting heavily.

The battle was over.

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"I hit the jackpot."

Jin stood atop a boulder, looking at the man before him as his hand silently settled on his sword hilt.

Chudo hung upside down from a tree, quietly watching Uchiha Jin.

The moment Jin was locked onto, he could no longer escape.

"How about you pretend you never saw me and let me leave?"

After all, he was not particularly interested in a brawl between the Five Great Villages.

If Minato Namikaze had not noticed something was wrong, he would not even have spoken up to warn them.

"Sorry. Duty calls."

As Chudo replied, a Kunai silently appeared behind Jin.

Clang!

Metal collided.

At some point, Jin had already drawn his sword and blocked Chudo's Kunai.

Chudo, hanging upside down from the distant tree, instantly disappeared.

The two of them began forming hand seals with one hand at almost the same time.

"Fire Release! Great Fireball Technique."

"Earth Release! Rock Gun Technique."

They both unleashed their attacks. Jin spat out a fireball, while the stone pellets Chudo spat out rapidly grew larger.

Boom!

The collision created a violent gust that swiftly forced them apart.

The next moment, they clashed again. Their taijutsu was evenly matched, but Chudo held the advantage due to his larger build.

Jin raised a finger, and a speck of blue light appeared.

Spirit Gun!

The blue light was incredibly fast. Chudo had no time to react before his shoulder was struck, leaving behind a bloody hole.

Chudo groaned and used his Kunai to force Jin back before quickly retreating.

"They said I wasn't a match for an elite jonin. Why don't I believe that?"

Jin wanted to press his advantage.

But when he lifted his foot, it would not move. Looking down, he saw a hand suddenly gripping his ankle.

"When did he...?"

The enemy elite jonin had clearly been recovering from his injuries not far away. How had he ended up underground?

"Earth Release! Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"

Jin was instantly dragged into the earth. In that brief instant before he was pulled under, his hands rapidly formed seals.

"Six Paths Immortal Thief!"

The other man's Chakra rapidly flowed into Jin's body. Chudo's expression changed aboveground, and he could only release his grip.

Jin broke free and leaped onto a boulder on the other side.

Then a faint sound rang out. Looking down, he saw an Explosive Tag stuck to the sole of his shoe!

"Tekkai!"

Boom!

A violent explosion erupted. Jin used Soru and appeared farther away. This time, his long pants had become shorts, his shoes had vanished entirely, and his legs were scorched black.

The enemy's ninjutsu came one after another, leaving Jin completely unable to cope for the moment.

He looked toward where Chudo had appeared. There was only a hole in the ground, with no sign of the man.

Jin formed hand seals.

"Shadow Clon—!"

"Earth Release! Splitting Earth Turning Palm!"

Before Jin could finish speaking, the ground beneath him rapidly split apart, and his body uncontrollably fell downward.

He hurriedly stepped onto a chunk of flying earth, trying to escape quickly.

Jin scanned his surroundings and soon spotted Chudo in the distance.

His opponent's attacks had not stopped, and he gave Jin no time to react.

Chudo slammed a fist into the ground, activating another ninjutsu.

"Earth Release! Earth and Stone Sand!"

The broken chunks of earth transformed into countless grains of fine sand.

Just as Jin was about to leave the ninjutsu's range, the fine sand suddenly surged like ocean waves and instantly swallowed him.

Buried in the sand, Jin gritted his teeth and curled up to withstand the secondary damage caused by the flowing earth and sand.

He had been completely dragged into his opponent's rhythm. This guy was nothing like the ninja he had fought before.

Their fighting styles were similar, but the results were worlds apart.

The relentless attacks had completely forced him into a passive position.

One wrong step led to another.

"Earth Release! Antlion Technique!"

At that moment, the sand turned back into earth. The earth became extremely soft and began rotating clockwise, churning everything around it.

Covered by the earth, Jin knew it.

If this continued, his entire body would be crushed by the soft earth.

He could even hear his bones crying out.

During the battle, his opponent had already calculated his movements, and he had stepped into the other man's traps one after another.

He searched through every ninjutsu he could use at this moment, but they either could not be learned in such a short time or were completely useless.

"How could I..."

"Die here!!"

"Gate of Opening! Open!"

Just one gate of the Eight Gates Formation could not give him a significant boost, and the Six Paths Immortal Thief-modified Eight Gates Formation required more Chakra than he currently had.

"I will never die in a place like this!!"

"Spirit Gun! Self-Destruct!"

Blue light suddenly lit up within the earth and gradually spread outward.

The Spirit Gun was not made of Chakra. It fused the seven attributes of earth, water, wind, fire, lightning, yin, and yang before releasing them together in a crude, violent amalgamation. It did not belong to any category of ninjutsu; the unstable effect came only from so many attributes being forced together.

When fired outward, its unstable destructive power became a high-speed spirit bullet.

But if the Spirit Gun was simply left in place...

It became a bomb whose power steadily increased.

Boom!!

The ground was instantly blasted apart.

Jin, covered in blood, leaped out of the earth. Every inch of skin on his body had been ravaged by the explosion; even Tekkai could not withstand it.

Jin covered his face with his right hand, peering at Chudo through the gaps between his fingers.

With those scarlet eyes.

Thanks to Void Spirit ZIO for the reminder.

Thanks to Dongrenmou for the monthly pass.

Thanks to reader 161108121836599 for the monthly pass.