"Your teammates are already dead, Katsuki. Aren't you coming out?"
Dan Katō smiled gently, his light blue hair hanging loose around his shoulders as he stood there at ease. Otome sat beneath a tree with a cold expression, her hands bound behind her back. Nawaki had not received such kind treatment; he had been tied up spread-eagle and lay on the ground groaning.
With their skills, either of them could have escaped this predicament with a simple Rope Escape Technique. But neither would do so. They were already considered "dead," and staying put obediently was the proper thing to do. That was simply how losers were treated.
Katsuki was the only one still holding on.
Dan Katō stood with his feet slightly apart, firmly rooted to the ground. The faint rumbling disturbances underground could not escape his senses. Sensory ninja could scout situations a thousand meters away; as a non-sensory ninja, he could not achieve that degree of perception, but monitoring the area within a dozen meters around him was still possible.
Katsuki moved beneath the earth like a fish through water, effortlessly controlling the soil before him, softening and parting it to reveal a path through which he could travel. He circled Dan Katō from all directions.
Earth Travel Technique.
It was a high-level Earth Release technique Sakumo had taught him. Sakumo had not specified its exact rank, only that he had extracted it from the mind of a Stone Ninja jonin. Among the several infiltration techniques Sakumo possessed, it was one of the best. After it had fallen into his hands, he had further adjusted and improved it.
It was precisely because of this technique, combined with his immature yet somewhat accomplished sensory ability, that Katsuki was qualified to spar with Dan Katō. Unlike Otome and Nawaki, he