Kyoka Suigetsu

"Stop!"

The young man, who had suddenly Shunshined to the other side of the rooftop, shouted sharply.

However, Sahara Mizu seemed completely unaffected, calmly looking at him with his clear blue eyes, a faint, ironic smile on his face.

Then, he abruptly took a step towards him.

Noticing this, Yagura Karatachi immediately realized something and furrowed his brows.

At the same time, he quickly released the sealing hand signs and dashed towards him.

A matte-surfaced Kunai was held in reverse grip in his seemingly childish hand, silently drawing a fatal arc through the air.

"Clang!"

The Kunai clashed, and a harsh metallic screech echoed in their ears.

As they faced off, Yagura Karatachi looked into his clear blue eyes.

Sahara Mizu angled the Kunai at his neck upwards, his body rotating half a circle with the momentum, a sweeping elbow strike aimed directly at Yagura Karatachi's temple. Simultaneously, his left foot tapped the ground, a powerful knee strike poised to launch.

Clearly, each move was aimed at taking the enemy's life, showing no mercy just because they were fellow Hidden Mist Ninja.

However, the reason the seemingly small Yagura Karatachi could become one of the top young Jonin in the entire Hidden Mist at such a young age was not without cause.

The moment the heavy, axe-like elbow strike swept past, his steps did not retreat but instead advanced. His free left hand hooked upwards, his thumb precisely jabbing into the pressure point at the tip of the elbow.

"Thud!"

At the moment of impact, Sahara Mizu's entire arm instantly lost all sensation.

At the same time, there was a crisp 'crack' as the joint of Yagura Karatachi's left thumb dislocated.

Immediately after, the incoming knee strike was anticipated. The calf that had angled between Sahara Mizu's legs suddenly tightened and exerted force.

Simultaneously tilting his body, the seemingly small figure pressed against the wind-whipping knee strike, plunging into Sahara Mizu's embrace. His right pinky hooked the Kunai, rotating it half a circle, and thrust upwards with force, aiming directly at the carotid artery in the neck.

In this critical moment, Sahara Mizu remained calm. Enduring the intense pain in his arm, which felt like being pierced by a steel rod, he swung his left shoulder out with the momentum.

The arm that had lost sensation immediately whipped out like a lash, the tips of his joined fingers even making a crisp 'snap' sound as they cut through the air.

The Kunai held in his other hand reversed and stabbed diagonally, using the advantage of his arm span to point directly at Yagura's heart.

A killing move against a killing move!

"Clang--"

At the last moment, the Kunai in Yagura Karatachi's hand finally turned back, crossing his chest to block the attack.

A fierce shower of sparks erupted in the night.

The entangled figures in the battle circle suddenly split apart, each retreating several meters.

"That was truly terrifying, Ren-kun."

Yagura Karatachi expressionlessly reset his dislocated thumb joint, his voice devoid of even a hint of emotion. "While the village had anticipated your increase in strength, reaching this level truly exceeded my expectations."

"Not only did you break the Fuinjutsu on your own, but your Taijutsu has also grown to this level?"

"The one who should be scared is clearly me."

Sahara Mizu maintained his smiling expression, while forcefully rubbing the skin on his elbow tip, which had turned blue from the pressure. He spoke in a calm, even tone, "Lord Yagura actually attacked one of the village's most important intelligence personnel—I wonder if this was your personal action, or the will of the village?"

"If it's the latter, this subordinate's loyalty to the Will of Water might just start wavering."

"A Ninja who refused the village's mission and broke the village's seal, is he even fit to talk to me about loyalty?"

His words stopped there, and Yagura Karatachi's gaze grew colder. He raised two fingers.

Suddenly, a violent surge of Chakra erupted from his body and quickly spread in all directions.

The street under the moonlight was suddenly covered in a thin layer of mist.

Like the intertwined dew on hidden buds among scattered petals during a windy late spring, it carried a hint of coldness.

It was the signature opening Jutsu of the Hidden Mist Ninja.

"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique."

Although the village's command was merely to give Ren-kun a small lesson, to make him truly understand the village's necessity for him.

However, after that exchange, Yagura Karatachi had already realized it.

Even he, if he didn't go all out, would likely find it difficult to completely suppress the opponent.

If that was the case...

"Then, let's make a scene."

Yagura Karatachi muttered internally, his small figure completely disappearing into the thick mist.

However, just before he vanished into the deep fog, he glimpsed Sahara Mizu already joining his fingers, staring directly at him.

Beneath the faintly lit moonlight.

Those clear blue eyes shone brightly.

"Shatter!"

Almost the instant that voice rang out, the dense, pure white mist completely swallowed his vision.

"Whoosh—"

Suddenly, silent footsteps padded across the ground, stirring up a swirling breeze in the thickening fog, but the figure was almost invisible.

Yagura Karatachi's form shifted rapidly, his matte-surfaced kunai piercing the mist, utterly silent.

The mist, composed entirely of Chakra, served as the 'eyes' for the Ninjutsu user in this environment where vision was useless, probing every inch of the area and being unilaterally transparent to them.

Coupled with special footwork that was both incredibly fast and completely silent.

This was the true essence of the Hidden Mist's Silent Killing Technique.

In a flash, Yagura Karatachi's figure appeared behind Sahara Mizu, the kunai in his hand suddenly thrusting out from his visual blind spot.

"Clang, clang!"

Two consecutive strikes, sparks flying.

However, Sahara Mizu's movements were noticeably a beat slower than before.

By the time he turned and swung his blade, Yagura Karatachi's figure had reappeared in another blind spot, delivering another strike unhurriedly.

This time, Sahara Mizu seemed to sense it in advance and violently plunged the kunai in his hand downwards.

Then, the figure dissolved into a scattered mass of mist.

Water Release: Mist Clone.

Sahara Mizu's eyes widened instantly.

Almost at the same moment, a strike, nearly twice as fast as before, suddenly thrust out from behind him.

"Pierce!"

Blood sprayed, dark red splashing.

The intense stinging pain made Sahara Mizu instantly forget about searching. He immediately leaped back several meters in the opposite direction of the attack, his hand forming seals rapidly.

Monkey - Rooster - Dog - Ram!

"Fire Release: Flame Whirlwind!"

Blazing high temperatures spewed forth, and along with the firelight, the condensed water droplets of the mist also burned.

The intense Fire Release Ninjutsu evaporated the water vapor. The Chakra mist swirling around him was also stirred and churned in the updrafts generated by the temperature clash, clearing a wide area around him and illuminating the entire rooftop with a roar.

In this brief instant, Yagura Karatachi's figure, originally hidden deep within the mist, was suddenly illuminated.

Sahara Mizu, his physical strength rapidly draining with the blood loss, his eyes immediately brightened. A burst of Chakra firelight, almost tangible, erupted from beneath his feet. His body skimmed across the ground, rapidly rushing towards Yagura Karatachi, while simultaneously throwing out several shuriken in his hand to block the other's retreat path.

"Swish swish swish—"

The spinning shuriken embedded one by one into the rooftop ground, all dodged by the other party.

Yagura Karatachi's feet shifted, and he rapidly approached him along the direction the shuriken had come from, shouting fiercely:

"Coral Palm!"

His hand, wrapped in an intense Chakra reaction, suddenly struck out.

Seeing the unfavorable situation, Sahara Mizu subconsciously raised his kunai to block.

"Squeak!"

The next moment, he saw that not only was the palm that struck the tip of the kunai blade completely unharmed, but layers of pale pink coral tubes, resembling blood vessels, surprisingly condensed on the surface of the steel kunai, and were still extending towards his hand.

Sahara Mizu decisively threw away the kunai.

Yagura Karatachi's next palm immediately followed like a parasite, aiming directly for his heart, his foot stepping forward.

However, a hint of a successful scheme couldn't help but appear on Sahara Mizu's face.

His body suddenly leaned back.

At the same time, his other hand suddenly pulled back with force.

Yagura Karatachi's expression instantly changed.

Almost simultaneously, matte steel wires, which had somehow connected to those shuriken from earlier without anyone noticing, were abruptly pulled up from the ground. Without warning, they wrapped around Yagura Karatachi's short figure, instantly bundling him into a ball.

Sahara Mizu bit down on a steel wire, his hands forming seals rapidly.

Snake - Monkey - Ram.

"Lightning Release: Ground Running!"

Suddenly, the piercing, dense sound of lightning echoed throughout the entire rooftop. Dazzling bursts of lightning shot straight along the steel wires towards Yagura Karatachi, who was wrapped in the center of the threads, exploding in a bright flash.

The short body suddenly trembled violently as if having an epileptic seizure, and shrill cries of agony were incessant.

"Huff, huff"

Sahara Mizu gasped for breath, watching the scene before him, his voice becoming increasingly low:

"Did you see?"

"This is the gap between us, then."

However, almost at the exact moment his voice fell.

Splash—

The figure struck by the wire and the Lightning Release Ninjutsu unexpectedly dissolved into a cascade of water, spilling onto the ground.

Sahara Mizu's expression froze.

The next moment.

Click.

Yagura Karatachi appeared behind him without warning.

A Kunai held in a reverse grip was silently placed across his neck.

The cold touch of the blade slowly crept onto his skin, causing Sahara Mizu's entire body to stiffen.

On Yagura Karatachi's slightly chubby face, the corners of his mouth unconsciously curved upwards, his voice cool and tinged with sarcasm:

"What were you saying... about the gap between us?"

At the exact moment Yagura Karatachi sneered with mockery.

The entire rooftop was just as it had been when the two first met.

Filthy, silent, covered in dust.

Yet, there was no trace of any Ninjutsu.

Sahara Mizu still stood quietly at the edge of the rooftop, his hands resting on the railing, clutching a scroll he had somehow acquired.

He leaned down, looking with a rather bored expression towards the dark alley below.

At this moment, he saw Yagura Karatachi with a cold smile on his face.

His beautiful, gem-like purple pupils, however, were completely vacant.

In his hands, he was holding a half-tipped garbage can, sternly lecturing it in a deep voice about something, and as he spoke, he fiercely pressed the Kunai against the garbage can lid, leaving a deep scratch.

The night remained silent, occasionally punctuated by the distant chirping of cicadas.

Everything happened without a sound.

Without disturbing anyone.

Sahara Mizu rested a hand on his cheek, watching the scene below, so earnest it was almost comical, like a one-man play, his gaze slightly distant.

Thanks to book friends Please Call Me Xiaochuan, qwepoilkjasd, H Mengbi, Tenshi of Gensokyo, and Wushan Yunmengzhe for the monthly votes!

I just saw the votes cast today, thank you very much!