Fierce Battle

"This..."

In his terror, Iwamata involuntarily flew toward Hyuga Kagami.

Hyuga Kagami, who was lying on the ground, forced himself upright and barely managed to unleash Eight Trigrams Palms!

Bang, bang, bang...

Amid a barrage of palm strikes, Iwamata was sent flying by Hyuga Kagami's Gentle Fist and crashed into the mud nearby.

"Cough, cough..."

After completing the Gentle Fist sequence, Hyuga Kagami coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Though he had deliberately taken the hit earlier to lure Iwamata out, his injuries were real. In truth, he had not expected Iwamata's mud whip to be so powerful. With the added force of momentum, being violently slammed downward from midair had directly injured his internal organs. Even now, his blood still churned, and his head spun.

After catching his breath for a moment, Hyuga Kagami said flatly, "Stop pretending. I know you're not unconscious!"

Hearing that, Iwamata no longer bothered with the act. He flipped over and sprang out of the mud, asking uncertainly, "Kid, what was that move just now?"

Hyuga Kagami spat lightly. "Tch, why should I tell you?"

"It's fine. I'll make you tell me soon enough!"

As he spoke, Iwamata slowly drew the short blade at his waist.

Iwamata truly was an Elite Jonin of Iwagakure. While he had been controlled by Rotation earlier, he had secretly used an Earth Release technique to harden parts of his body. Thus, although Hyuga Kagami's Gentle Fist had sealed some of his chakra pathways, it had not caused much damage to his body.

With his chakra pathways sealed, he simply could not use ninjutsu. But as an Elite Jonin, even without chakra, Iwamata was still a first-rate fighter in taijutsu and swordsmanship.

Hyuga Kagami was clearly seriously injured, so Iwamata believed he held the advantage and still had the situation under control.

At that moment, Hyuga Kagami did not waste any words. He calmly took out a Scroll marked with the character "Three" and summoned the Third Kazekage Human Puppet before Iwamata.

"This is...?"

Staring at the cloud of iron sand floating beside the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, Iwamata was dumbfounded.

As a ninja who had lived through two great ninja wars, Iwamata's knowledge far exceeded that of ordinary shinobi. With only a cursory glance, he recognized Sunagakure's unique bloodline limit—Magnet Release!

Exposing the Third Kazekage Human Puppet in this environment was undoubtedly risky, so Hyuga Kagami did not say anything more and immediately controlled it to attack.

Magnet Release, Iron Sand Drizzle!

In an instant, the iron sand filling the sky transformed into countless sharp senbon needles and shot toward Iwamata like raindrops.

Clang, clang, clang...

The short blade in Iwamata's hand danced in dazzling arcs. Amid piercing metallic clashes, he actually deflected the vast majority of the iron sand senbon!

Hyuga Kagami's brow tightened at the sight.

He had thought that sealing Iwamata's chakra would allow him to end the battle quickly, but he had not expected Iwamata's swordsmanship to be so superb.

However, one short blade clearly could not block an endless stream of iron sand senbon. A moment later, Iwamata's limbs, waist, and abdomen were riddled with iron sand senbon.

Gritting his teeth, Iwamata shouted, "Forbidden Technique, Blood Explosion Technique!"

The Blood Explosion Technique was Iwamata's personal forbidden technique. Once activated, it would cause the amount of chakra in his body to surge dramatically, and it could dispel most genjutsu as well as ninjutsu used for restraint or sealing.

As the forbidden technique activated, Iwamata's face flushed crimson, as though he were drunk.

Sensing danger instinctively, Hyuga Kagami hurriedly retreated at top speed.

At that moment, through the vision of his Tenseigan, the chakra inside Iwamata's body resembled a blazing flame—surging and violent!

The feeling was somewhat familiar to Hyuga Kagami. It was like Guy while using the Eight Inner Gates, except Guy's chakra still followed a traceable pattern when the Eight Inner Gates were opened, whereas Iwamata's chakra was completely disorderly and berserk, as if it could devour him entirely at any moment.

There was no doubt that this was a forbidden technique with immense side effects. Yet forbidden techniques like this often possessed terrifying power as well, a trump card capable of changing the course of battle!

In just a few breaths, the chakra pathways sealed by Hyuga Kagami's Gentle Fist were forcibly broken open by Iwamata. Then, Iwamata's rapidly forming hand seals blurred into afterimages.

Earth Release, Mud Dragon Barrage!

Earth Release, Earth Spear Barrage!

Earth Release, Mud Whip Bind!

With Iwamata's killing intent-laced growl, the three large-scale Earth Release techniques activated almost simultaneously.

For a moment, howling mud projectiles, silent earthen spears, and cracking mud whips attacked Hyuga Kagami and the Third Kazekage Human Puppet at his side from all directions.

Faced with such an all-encompassing attack, even with the Tenseigan, Hyuga Kagami was not confident he could evade it all. Moreover, he was injured, so he could only choose to defend.

Magnet Release, Iron Sand Defense!

The iron sand filling the sky immediately condensed into an iron sand sphere, protecting Hyuga Kagami and the Third Kazekage Human Puppet within it.

Boom, boom, boom...

Countless mud projectiles, earthen spears, and mud whips struck the surface of the iron sand sphere in succession, producing deafening explosions!

Inside the iron sand sphere, Hyuga Kagami crouched on the ground and calmly considered his options.

An explosive forbidden technique could not last long. Therefore, by all reason, if he simply dragged this out, the scales of victory would inevitably tip toward Hyuga Kagami.

But considering that this ambush had been carefully arranged by Iwagakure, the enemy might not consist solely of the four-man Iwagakure assassination squad he had encountered in the Land of Demons.

If other Iwagakure shinobi were involved, then whether continuing to stall would be beneficial or harmful was difficult to say.

After weighing it briefly, Hyuga Kagami decided that even if he had to take some risks, he needed to end this quickly. The Third Kazekage Human Puppet was simply too sensitive a matter. If Iwagakure's shinobi exposed it, the trouble would be enormous.

Having made up his mind, he immediately controlled the Third Kazekage Human Puppet to use its strongest move.

Magnet Release, Satetsu Kaiho!

In an instant, more than half of the iron sand in the sphere protecting Hyuga Kagami was drawn out, transforming into sharp iron spears that continuously branched and extended as they stabbed toward Iwamata.

As countless iron spears shot toward him, Iwamata's already ferocious face became filled with madness.

He actually abandoned defense entirely and activated Earth Release with all his strength, seemingly determined to perish together with Hyuga Kagami.

For a moment, Hyuga Kagami could not determine his opponent's true intentions. But having fought to this point, he had no time to make other plans. In a contest between life and death, there was no room for hesitation!

Almost simultaneously, both sides' attacks struck their targets.

Iwamata's entire right shoulder was pierced through by an iron spear, while his limbs were also impaled by branching spears. He looked as though he had been skewered upon iron spears, blood dripping down them and staining a large stretch of the mud pool red.

On Hyuga Kagami's side, using Satetsu Kaiho had drawn out too much iron sand, leaving half of the defensive iron sand sphere exposed. Though it blocked most of the mud projectiles and mud whips, one earthen spear slipped through the opening and pierced his right leg...