Test

Night fell like ink, silently blanketing the land. After parting ways with Might Duy, Yūske continued deeper into the forest, pondering the direction of his next training.

Just then, he suddenly noticed a furtive figure, with an unconscious child lying on the ground nearby. At that moment, the figure was resting by the river.

Yūske slowly approached without making a sound, watching warily. The man looked ordinary, but his clothes clearly did not belong to someone from the village.

After looking around for a while, the man suddenly pulled a kunai from his ninja tool pouch and vanished from where he stood.

The next instant, the man appeared behind Yūske like a ghost, gripping his kunai as he stabbed straight toward Yūske's body.

So fast! Yūske had no time to dodge. In his haste, he could only summon countless densely packed strings and wrap them tightly around his body for defense.

The stranger felt his kunai strike something hard. Before he could attack again, Yūske reacted and used the Body Flicker Technique to open up some distance.

Seeing that the man did not continue his pursuit, Yūske frowned deeply and demanded, "Who are you?"

The man did not answer. Instead, he stared with interest at the strings wrapped around Yūske's body. "Kid, your ability is rather unusual. This is a Kekkei Genkai, isn't it?"

With his secret exposed, Yūske had no intention of letting it become known so quickly. He stared fixedly at the enemy before him, killing intent rising in his heart.

The two faced off for a while before Yūske made up his mind and stretched both hands behind him.

"String Style: Super Striking Constriction Whip!"

Dozens of fine strings tangled together immediately emerged from his palms. With a hard swing of his hands, the strings howled toward the man like whips.

Yet the man calmly evaded the attack. Yūske followed close behind, wildly using the Super Striking Constricting Whip to pursue him.

"The power isn't bad. Too bad your accuracy is lacking."

After analyzing Yūske's attack patterns, the man suddenly leaped into the distance and rapidly formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Fire Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A fire dragon bared its fangs and claws as it pounced toward Yūske. Yūske controlled the Super Striking Constricting Whip and shattered the fire dragon.

Seeing that his opponent's taijutsu was also exceptionally formidable, Yūske had an idea. He gathered densely packed strings and fired them into the ground.

Imitating the technique of the ultimate move, 16 Sacred Bullet Barrage: Divine Punishment, the strings burst from the ground beneath the man like bamboo shoots after rain.

"Hmm, I'll call this move Pseudo God Slaying Strike."

At the sight, the man's expression turned serious. While nimbly dodging the attacks, he accelerated toward Yūske. Yūske had already prepared for this, controlling the strings around him to slash madly at the man like blades and axes.

Unable to get close, the man used ninjutsu.

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

Yūske swiftly manipulated the strings into a sturdy barrier, successfully blocking the Fire Style attack.

After the attack ended, Yūske withdrew his strings, picked up a kunai, and charged fiercely at the man like an arrow loosed from its bow. Seeing this, the man hurriedly retreated with several backward flips.

At that moment, the man's foot was caught by a string. Yūske took the chance to pull the string downward with force. Unable to break free, the man was slammed hard into the ground.

"String Shot!"

Strike while he was down! Yūske made a finger-gun gesture, sending fine strings shooting from his fingertips at high speed. They struck the struggling man with perfect accuracy.

"Bang!" However, to Yūske's surprise, the man who had been hit suddenly turned into a log.

The Substitution Technique!

Realizing this, Yūske turned around—only for a foot to slam into his face like a gale. He was immediately sent flying dozens of meters like a kite with its string cut.

The burning pain in his face made Yūske suck in a sharp breath, but he quickly forced himself back to his feet. Strangely, the man did not continue attacking. Instead, he returned to the riverbank, picked up the child on the ground, and turned to retreat.

Yūske guessed that the other party might be a spy from an enemy nation. Besides, his secret had been discovered. How could he possibly let him escape so easily?

Yūske immediately activated his ability, firing strings densely into the dark clouds overhead. Pulled by their tension, his entire body shot forward like a cannonball, making it seem as though he were flying through the air at high speed.

At that moment, inside the Hokage's Office, Hiruzen Sarutobi had been watching the battle between the two. Seeing that Jiraiya had not used his true strength and was finding it difficult to shake off Yūske's high-density attacks, he stood and headed for the door. It seemed it was time for him to make an appearance.

In the forest, the chase continued.

"Teacher, why not reveal your identity to Senior Watanabe?" Minato Namikaze whispered into Jiraiya's ear.

"Nonsense! Peeking into a ninja's secret technique is a major taboo. Who knew Yūske would be this troublesome? If I'd known, I never would have accepted that old man's assignment." Jiraiya shouted in frustration.

Suddenly, Jiraiya stopped.

"What's wrong, Teacher?" Minato Namikaze asked, his face full of confusion.

Looking at the densely tangled strings ahead, Jiraiya instantly realized that he had fallen into Yūske's carefully laid trap.

"We've been tricked. This kid leaves a backup plan behind every time he attacks. Now, there's nowhere for us to run." Gazing at Yūske high above them in the sky, Jiraiya sighed inwardly. This really was an exceedingly troublesome opponent.

Just moments ago, Yūske had cleverly merged the strings he had launched back together. Now, Jiraiya was completely surrounded by strings and could only confront him head-on.

"Kid, aren't you afraid I'll do something to this child?" Jiraiya glared at him with feigned viciousness, barking fiercely despite his lack of confidence.

"You kidnappers really have no originality in your lines." Yūske replied calmly.

"I may not know who this child is, but can you guarantee that you'll let this child go after I let you leave?"

"If letting you go causes the village's intelligence to leak, then even if I save this child, how am I supposed to answer to those who lose their lives because of it?"

Yūske spoke with righteous conviction. Then, he pressed his palms together and released countless strings without end. The strings entwined with one another, rapidly forming countless bows and arrows.

At the same time, he precisely controlled the strings surrounding Jiraiya, preparing to shrink Jiraiya's range of movement the instant the attack fell.

Jiraiya's expression turned extremely grim. He realized that he had fallen into a situation of extreme danger. Worry also appeared in Minato Namikaze's eyes.

The wind howled, and the tension had reached its peak. A fierce final battle seemed ready to erupt at any moment...