The Only Plan I Can Think Of!

"Boom—whoosh—"

A blinding white blaze lit up half the vast grassland, illuminating the layers upon layers of crisscrossing primitive forest stretching into the distance. The blast wave became a howling gale, carrying searing heat as it swept away.

"Crack, crack, crack..."

Splinters from giant trees and scorched grass were caught up in the hot gale, twisting up from the ground and spiraling outward in a scattered shower. Amid the explosions, they were flung far into the distance.

Did it work?

Behind the blazing smoke on the grassland, Hirohiko stood in a forward stance, leaning down with his hands crossed before him to shield himself from the dead grass and wood chips carried by the hot gale. His Three Tomoe Sharingan turned faintly through the gap between his arms.

The grass flattened outward around the explosion and the branches of the ancient trees stretched taut backward under the gale—all of it was reflected in those blood-red eyes.

I didn't catch any movement of him escaping. In that instant, no matter how fast he was, he shouldn't have been able to dodge it.

Besides, although his speed was still beyond what my body could react to, he seemed somewhat slower than that old Kumogakure ninja. His defense, though, was on a completely different level. He had come through the cutting of the double-layered Wind Style: Net without a scratch. Even with Wind Release countering him, he could still use such powerful Lightning Release, even blowing away my Wind Release... This is simply unbelievable!

That Kumogakure ninja's strength is utterly incomprehensible. Is he really a ninja?

And when he was bound and cut by the net, he hadn't even used that Lightning Release!

Is his body made of steel?

As a string of thoughts flashed through his mind, Hirohiko could not help recalling