Ice Style Ninja

Imamura Kosaku was in a difficult position. The three of them had remained within the enemy's sensory range the entire time, which meant many tactics were unusable. And since they were the attacking side, even more tactics were unavailable to them.

They could not simply drag this out. Imamura Kosaku formed hand seals again, creating a Water Clone and sending it ahead to scout.

This was actually a very unwise move. Before they had even properly engaged, he had already used a Water Clone. Feeling a large chunk of his Chakra gone, Imamura Kosaku began to doubt his decision.

Imamura Kosaku's Water Clone cautiously approached where Yichen and the others were located.

Sensing the Water Clone's movements, Yichen began considering how to meet it with traps. The enemy wanted to take the initiative and attack, so time was on their side.

Using traps to wear down a portion of the enemy's strength would greatly improve their Chance of Winning.

During the preparations a few days ago, they had considered Yichen's Sensory Ninjutsu, so the devices controlling the traps had all been placed in Yichen's hands this time.

After entering the trap zone, the Water Clone used kunai and even Exploding Tags to destroy every suspicious spot it encountered.

Yichen felt the Water Clone destroy trap after trap, but he was in no hurry.

The enemy's goal was to force them out of their hiding places. If he rushed, he would merely be playing into their hands.

After allowing the Water Clone to destroy dozens of traps, large and small, the enemy finally entered a favorable area Yichen had selected.

Yichen immediately activated more than a dozen traps in succession.

Since he already knew it was a Water Clone, the traps Yichen activated were all area attacks.

Even if such attacks struck a real person, they would not kill them, only inflict minor injuries. But against a Water Clone, they could destroy it outright.

This was one major weakness of the various clone techniques in the shinobi world.

Shadow Clones had the poorest resistance to attacks among all physical clone techniques. Clones of the other elemental attributes were somewhat better. Among the five elemental clones, Water Clones were second only to Earth Style Clones in durability.

But even so, they could not withstand the overwhelming barrage of senbon and stones.

Left with no choice, the Water Clone formed hand seals and cast a Water Formation Wall around itself.

But just as the Water Clone used the Water Formation Wall to block the incoming hidden weapons, three Exploding Tags detonated from among the pile of weapons that had fallen to the ground.

The prepared Water Clone used the Body Flicker Technique and quickly escaped the explosion range of the Exploding Tags.

But Yichen had deliberately arranged the positions of those three Exploding Tags to force the Water Clone toward a designated location.

The moment the Water Clone landed, a continuous barrage of hidden weapons flew at it from behind. This time, it had no time to use Ninjutsu to evade.

It could only dodge as much as possible to reduce the number of attacks it took.

But the results were poor. After suffering more than a dozen neither-light-nor-heavy blows, the Water Clone vanished.

Seeing the Water Clone disappear, Imamura Kosaku and the other two were startled. They had never expected a Water Clone to accomplish much; their goal had merely been to force one or two of Yichen's group of four out.

But they had not expected Team Five to have specifically arranged attack traps targeting clone techniques.

This put Imamura Kosaku in a dilemma. If he sent another clone to investigate, there was no telling whether a clone's Combat Power could accomplish anything. It might simply waste more Chakra.

If the enemy truly had a Jonin, then the three of them would be in danger.

But if they left now, and the enemy was merely putting on a show, retreating like this would also damage the team's confidence. After all, the three of them had yet to even see the enemy's faces.

Just as Imamura Kosaku was struggling with the decision, Yuki Kagami made it for him. As a member of a Kekkei Genkai clan, Yuki Kagami could not tolerate such humiliation.

He immediately formed hand seals with both hands and unleashed a B-rank Ice Style Ninjutsu—Ice Style: Ice Needles—which spread in an endless, overwhelming blanket toward the trap zone.

Sensing this, Yichen was startled. Although the enemy's consumption to cast this B-rank Ninjutsu was enormous and the casting process was slow, its sheer scale was terrifying.

Within Yichen's sensory range, over ten thousand ice needles were forming in the air.

Yichen hurriedly shouted, "Four!" Then he used a pre-prepared iron plate to shield his head.

The next moment, those ten thousand ice needles rained down across the entire trap zone at incredible speed.

If this had merely been a B-rank Water Release Ninjutsu, if it had been ten thousand streams of water, then after striking the ground, they would have essentially lost their momentum and left only small pits behind.

But these were ten thousand ice needles. Every single one could easily pierce dozens of centimeters into the ground.

That was terrifying. Team Five's traps were mostly within that area. After the rain of ice needles, nearly every trap had been destroyed.

And that was not even the most important part. Although the ice needle rain did not harm the prepared Team Five, it still exposed their positions.

After all, as the controller of the Ninjutsu, Yuki Kagami immediately noticed the unusual spots where Team Five's four members were hiding.

After the ice needle rain, the four of them stopped concealing themselves and leaped out from their hiding places. If they continued hiding, they would become targets.

Sure enough, at Yuki Kagami's signal, Imamura Kosaku immediately cast a B-rank Water Release Jutsu—Water Style: Raging Waves—and charged toward Team Five.

Fortunately, after receiving Yichen's warning, Kitsuchi had already begun casting his Ninjutsu. The "Four" Yichen had shouted earlier referred to the fourth method of responding to enemies that Team Five had discussed before the battle.

So all four members of Team Five immediately shielded themselves with iron plates, then leaped out of their holes as soon as the ice rain ended.

As a Jonin, Kitsuchi followed up by casting a B-rank Earth Style Ninjutsu—Earth Style: Earth Flow Fortress—raising the entire trap zone several meters into the air.

Water Style: Raging Waves then slammed directly into the raised earthen hill, sending shattered rocks flying everywhere.

But that was as far as its effects went. The earthen hill completely blocked the force of Water Style: Raging Waves.

Seeing the small earthen hill rise from the ground, Imamura Kosaku's heart sank. As expected, the enemy also had a Jonin.

After steadying himself, Imamura Kosaku said to Yuki Kagami, "I'll hold off their Jonin. Quickly deal with the remaining three."

It was a helpless choice. They had already lost the initiative, and Earth Release countered Water Release.

The odds of defeating a Jonin in a short time were no longer high.

Judging by the speed and power of the enemy's Ninjutsu, he was likely a Jonin from Iwagakure.

During the recently ended Second Shinobi War, the five great ninja villages had all fought one another. Though there was now a ceasefire, many countries had not signed peace treaties, so they were theoretically still in a War State.

Although he had never fought an Iwagakure Jonin, as a ninja from a Great Ninja Village himself, Imamura Kosaku knew the enemy's strength would certainly not be inferior to his own.

All they could do now was see whether Yuki Kagami could use the advantage of being a Bloodline Ninja to eliminate the enemy's three Genin, then come support him in time.

Yuki Kagami nodded with a solemn expression. That move had consumed a great deal of his Chakra, but as a Bloodline Ninja, his Chakra Amount was inherently far greater than that of ordinary people.

So while he remained cautious, he had not lost confidence in defeating the enemy.

Calling out to Kono Oda, Yuki Kagami and she ran up the small earthen hill. Imamura Kosaku had already rushed up ahead of them and was confronting Kitsuchi.

Once Yuki Kagami and Kono Oda faced off against Yichen's group of three, Kitsuchi and Imamura Kosaku began fighting as well.

Yichen once again became Team Five's temporary captain. After calling to Shinohara and Tana, he formed hand seals first and cast the new version of Water Style: Water Line Jutsu.

Shinohara and Tana, coordinating with him, immediately threw a large number of Shuriken.

Seeing Yichen attack first, Yuki Kagami did not lower his guard. He formed hand seals and created an Ice Wall. The Shuriken and Water Style: Water Line Jutsu struck it, but could not break through its defenses at all.

By now, Yichen had gained a clear understanding of Kekkei Genkai.

Setting aside the various enhancements a Kekkei Genkai brought to the body, the boost to Ninjutsu power alone was enough to drive opponents to despair.

The enemy Jonin had just used a B-rank Ninjutsu, and its effect had merely been to destroy the surface traps. Yet this Ice Style Ninja's B-rank Ninjutsu had even destroyed the underground traps.

Its power had already far exceeded the limit of B-rank Ninjutsu, Reached the effect of A-rank Ninjutsu.

And now, the enemy's C-rank Ice Wall had directly blocked Yichen's new Water Style: Water Line Jutsu, which could penetrate an Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall. Judging by its effect, the Ice Wall's endurance had far exceeded the new Water Style: Water Line Jutsu's limit.

Yichen estimated that it possessed the defensive strength of B-rank Ninjutsu.

"Could it be..." Yichen had a chilling thought. "Can a Bloodline Ninja's Ninjutsu raise its power by an entire rank?"

This guess made Yichen even more cautious. As he formed hand seals again, he told his two companions about his suspicion.

After thinking for a moment, Tana said, "I've heard elders in my family mention Kekkei Genkai. Not all Kekkei Genkai have this kind of power. Only a few powerful bloodlines can achieve this effect. Ice Style should be one of those few."

Yichen's mouth twitched. Why had she not said that sooner?

Yuki Kagami did not give Yichen and the others time to think up tactics. Having finished preparing his Ninjutsu, he flashed out from behind the Ice Wall's protection and cast a C-rank Ice Style Ninjutsu at Yichen's group of three—Ice Style: Ice Spear Thrust.

Having learned the power of Ice Style, Yichen did not hesitate. Finishing his hand seals, he slapped both hands against the ground. Immediately, earthen spikes rose before the ice spears.

The earthen spikes shattered one after another before the ice spears, while the ice spears continued shooting forward.

However, Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear disrupted their path, causing the ice spears to lose their accuracy and making them difficult for Yuki Kagami to control. As a result, they failed to achieve anything, and Yichen's group of three successfully dodged them.

Seeing Yichen break the attack this way, Yuki Kagami grew solemn. The enemy's combat instincts seemed quite sharp. This was becoming troublesome.

Before he could think further, Tana and Shinohara had already begun attacking Yuki Kagami and Kono Oda from both sides.

Yichen also began another round of hand seals. Seeing him form seals, Yuki Kagami's mouth twitched. Such fast Hand Seal Speed.

When Yichen had cast Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear earlier, he had been faster than Yuki Kagami. But fortunately, Yichen's Earth Style: Earth Rising Spear required too many hand seals, so its overall speed had been roughly equal to Yuki Kagami's Ice Style: Ice Spear Thrust.

But the Water Release Ninjutsu Yichen was casting this time was clearly the same type as the first Water Style: Water Line Jutsu, making him far faster than Yuki Kagami.

Yuki Kagami did not dare remain where he was, nor did he dare continue hiding behind the Ice Wall. Faced with attacks from three directions, he could only call Kono Oda to retreat with him.

From Tana and Shinohara's speed, he found an opening. He would avoid Tana and kill the slower Shinohara first, the one who lacked so many fancy Ninjutsu.