The Heart of the Strong

Pinned to an iron spear, Iwamata coughed up blood as he said weakly, "My... my premonition was right. You truly are a threat!"

Hyuga Kagami covered the wound on his right leg with one hand and braced himself against the ground with the other, his gaze fixed firmly on Iwamata.

Judging by the chakra reaction within Iwamata's body, he still possessed considerable vitality. His current weakness was therefore likely just an act.

Hyuga Kagami would not underestimate any Elite Jonin who had lived through war, so he did not act rashly.

Iwamata continued weakly, "Heh, you're a cautious one. Aren't you coming over to put me out of my misery?"

Hyuga Kagami immediately grew suspicious. Is he trying to lure me closer?

Before Hyuga Kagami could think it over, Iwamata suddenly broke free from the iron spear. As though he had never been injured, he spun around and fled nimbly into the depths of the forest.

"He's trying to run!?" Hyuga Kagami froze for a moment before thinking, I can't let him escape!

The secret of the Third Kazekage Human Puppet could not be allowed to leak. Almost instinctively, Hyuga Kagami stretched out both arms toward Iwamata and activated Rotation with all his strength.

Under the immense pulling force, Iwamata was dragged toward Hyuga Kagami with barely any resistance.

Ignoring his own injuries, Hyuga Kagami unleashed a full set of Eight Trigrams Palms. Every strike targeted a vital point, for he was determined to finish off the formidable enemy Iwamata once and for all.

Bang! Bang! Bang...

The dull sounds of palm strikes landing on flesh echoed through the forest.

From the feel of his strikes, Hyuga Kagami could tell that Iwamata had not had time to use Earth Release's hardening technique. Even if this set of Eight Trigrams Palms had not shattered Iwamata's heart meridians, it had certainly injured his internal organs.

Just as Hyuga Kagami had expected, Iwamata's body went limp like a pile of mud after taking the blows, slowly collapsing at Hyuga Kagami's feet.

Just as Hyuga Kagami let out a long breath, Iwamata suddenly sprang up from the ground and grabbed hold of him. In a hoarse voice, he said, "Genius youth of Konoha, come to the underworld with me."

Sizzle, sizzle...

Amid the sounds of fuses igniting, Hyuga Kagami realized that Iwamata had modified his own body. He had implanted numerous specially made Explosive Tags beneath his skin, using the flow of chakra within his body to mask the chakra on the Explosive Tags and evade Hyuga Kagami's detection.

Looking at Iwamata's calm face even in death, Hyuga Kagami suddenly understood.

From beginning to end, Iwamata had never intended to flee. His feigned escape had instead been meant to get close to Hyuga Kagami and deliver this final blow.

Boom! Boom! Boom...

The storm unleashed by the explosions swept through a vast stretch of forest. The surrounding area was leveled, smoke and dust filled the air, and the earth trembled!

In the distance.

After using genjutsu to deal with the last enemy, Shisui stepped forward and added a slash, ending the man's life.

At this point, nine corpses lay scattered around him.

Aside from one member of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit, the other eight corpses were all dressed as rogue ninjas. They appeared to be the group of rogue ninjas from the Land of Bears secretly supported by Iwagakure.

Just as Shisui put away his Short Blade and prepared to search for the other members of Team Eleven, a violent explosion suddenly erupted in the distance, shaking the ground so fiercely that he stumbled.

"What happened!?"

Startled, he hurried toward the source of the explosion...

Elsewhere.

Kakashi pulled his right hand from his opponent's heart, then casually flicked the blood clinging to it onto the ground.

Then, while panting heavily, he looked toward the direction from which the explosion had come.

With his experience, he could naturally tell that an explosion of such scale could not have been caused by ordinary ninjutsu or Explosive Tags. His expression immediately darkened.

The fierce battle just now had exhausted his chakra. Though he had killed all nine enemies, he had nearly lost his ability to fight as well. Yet he did not hesitate, limping toward the explosion...

At the final battlefield.

Guy clutched his injured left arm, his face grave.

Surrounded by enemies, he was worried both about the battle before him and the other members of Team Eleven. In his view, if the enemy had sent nine ninjas to surround him, then there were probably even more attacking his comrades.

Suddenly, the violent explosion drew the attention of everyone on both sides.

Guy's heart sank as a bad feeling arose within him.

Meanwhile, the leading member of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit went pale. He directly abandoned the injured Guy and led eight rogue ninjas charging desperately toward the source of the explosion.

Guy was stunned for a moment, then followed after them...

At the center of the explosion.

When the dust settled, Hyuga Kagami's figure slowly emerged.

He calmly swept his gaze over the surroundings and let out a soft sigh.

At the final instant, Hyuga Kagami had decisively used Rotation to push Iwamata away. But Iwamata's self-destruction had been too violent. Rotation could not repel every shockwave and burst of flame at once, so he had still suffered serious injuries from the aftermath. Several parts of his body were fractured and burned, leaving him in a miserable state.

As for Iwamata, not even bones remained. Only a shattered Iwagakure forehead protector lay alone on the ground.

Dragging his injured leg, Hyuga Kagami staggered over, picked up Iwamata's forehead protector, and placed it in the Ninja Tool Pouch at his waist.

He had won this battle of life and death!

A year ago, before Iwamata, he had been nothing more than an insignificant figure who could be killed with a casual gesture. Iwamata had not even been willing to waste extra chakra on using ninjutsu against him.

But today, one year later, Iwamata was dead—killed by an insignificant figure like him.

For a moment, Hyuga Kagami felt dazed, his heart filled with emotion.

This was also his first time facing an Elite Jonin head-on. Though he had still broken the deadlock through Rotation's surprise attack, his performance throughout the battle had been quite commendable.

Aside from being tricked by Iwamata at the very end, of course.

After putting away the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, Hyuga Kagami sat cross-legged on the ground and began bandaging his wounds. His expression was as calm as though he were tying his shoelaces.

At that moment, a group of nine ninjas hurriedly appeared before him.

At their head was a member of the Iwagakure Decapitation Unit, while the other eight were all dressed as rogue ninjas.

The Iwagakure Decapitation Unit member swept his eyes across the battlefield, then shouted at Hyuga Kagami with false bravado, "Damn it, where is our captain?"

Having finished bandaging his wounds, Hyuga Kagami slowly rose to his feet and said blandly, "Haven't you already seen the outcome? Why are you still pretending to be so surprised?"

"Th-That's impossible! How could our captain possibly lose!?"

"The reason he lost was because he met me. Nothing more."

With that, Hyuga Kagami charged at them without hesitation.

Hyuga Kagami had gained much from his battle with Iwamata, but his greatest gain was the fearless heart of the strong!