Powerful

A few exchanges were all it took for him to kill two Stone ninja, making the others feel an oppressive force and once again driving home a profound truth. In the world of shinobi, age could never be used to measure a person's strength.

"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique."

A Stone ninja crept behind Ye Zi, his rock-wrapped fist smashing toward the back of Ye Zi's head.

The wind whistled behind him, yet Ye Zi seemed completely unaware. He merely tilted his head up slightly, gazing at Haihara, who was looking down at the courtyard from the attic.

Only when the Rock Fist was about to hit him did he swing his blade backward with one hand. A flash of lightning streaked past, and Raiya, wrapped in lightning, effortlessly tore the arm encased in rock into two pieces.

The Stone ninja's charge abruptly halted. He stared blankly at the arm that had been sliced in half. After a long moment, the intense pain reached him, and he let out a scream. The next instant, another streak of lightning flashed over, slicing across his neck and cutting the scream short.

Watching this scene, the remaining Stone ninja stood motionless as if they had been immobilized.

On the attic, Haihara's hand tightened slightly around the hilt of his sword. His heart, which had just settled down, began to stir again because of Ye Zi. He sensed danger.

Two people stood beside him, a man and a woman. They were Tsuchiya Sanzo's students, Dick and Unohana.

Dick watched Ye Zi below with a solemn expression. This person, who was the same age as him, possessed terrifying speed, and the blade wrapped in lightning was practically the bane of Earth Release.

"Daiyan, you seal his movements." Dick shouted toward a broad-faced, stocky-looking boy below the attic.

This boy was also one of Tsuchiya Sanzo's students. He was the one who had used Rock Tomb to force Ye Zi into the air to evade it.

Hearing Dick's words, Daiyan nodded heavily.

"Unohana, leave the Daimyo to you." Dick turned to Unohana.

Unohana twirled the short hair over her forehead. She did not answer immediately, keeping her gaze fixed on Ye Zi. Only after a moment did she slowly nod and say flatly, "Our mission is to protect the Daimyo, so we should retreat now rather than launch an attack. But I know you won't retreat, so do as you wish. However, the moment you show signs of defeat, I'll take the Daimyo and leave."

Dick glanced at her silently, then leaped from the attic without a word.

Watching Dick charge toward Ye Zi, Unohana twirled her hair faster and faster. Suddenly, she pulled out several strands, brought them to her lips, and blew. The strands slowly floated into the air.

"Where does someone facing an enemy like that get such confidence..."

She looked at Ye Zi, whose entire body was wrapped in lightning, and sighed softly. Then she turned to Haihara and said calmly, "Be ready to flee at any time."

Given the current situation, retreating with Haihara was the best choice. As long as they held Ye Zi back until the forces stationed around the Land of Ash gathered and closed in, not only would Haihara be completely safe, they might even be able to keep the enemy here. But she knew Dick, so she could not even be bothered to persuade him. She only hoped that Dick and Daiyan would not lose too quickly.

Hearing Unohana's words, Haihara froze. He did not understand why she was so certain that so many people could not stop a Konoha youth, even if that youth was very strong.

"If Dick and Daiyan can't defeat that Konoha youth, what about you?"

Unohana turned her head and glanced at Haihara, saying coldly, "With me, our odds of winning won't be zero, but your chances of dying will rise."

Haihara obediently fell silent. However, the hand gripping his sword hilt tightened further. He was a shinobi, after all, and not entirely without the ability to fight back.

In the courtyard, Ye Zi relied on his speed and the Lightning Release that countered Earth Release to quickly kill several more Stone ninja. At the same time, he noticed two hostile newcomers: Daiyan and Dick. One of them was the person who had used Rock Tomb against him at the beginning.

Compared with the Stone ninja he had killed earlier, these two were around his age, yet he could sense that they were not weak.

Daiyan silently watched Ye Zi dart through the courtyard, astonishment unconsciously rising in his eyes. He was truly fast. In Iwagakure, which was famed for taijutsu and defense, there probably were not many people faster than this boy. It was hard to believe that this boy was about the same age as him.

However...

"Earth Release: Yomi Marsh!"

Daiyan formed hand seals and slammed one palm against the ground. In an instant, the enormous courtyard, reduced to scorched earth, transformed into a muddy swamp.

"That technique again!"

Ye Zi immediately stopped moving. He gathered a fixed amount of Chakra beneath his feet and stood on the swamp without sinking into it.

Dick and Daiyan exchanged glances and nodded at each other.

"Earth Release: Mud Ball Barrage!"

Dick formed several seals and crossed his palms. With a cold shout, mud balls suddenly erupted from the swamp and flew toward Ye Zi.

At the same time, two other Stone ninja used Earth Dragon Bullet Technique against Ye Zi. Two dragon heads opened their gaping jaws and lunged at him.

Ye Zi moved his foot, preparing to shift right and evade the attacks. But a massive suction force suddenly arose beneath him, preventing him from leaving his position in time.

His heart jumped, and he instinctively looked at Daiyan's palm, which remained pressed against the ground.

With the mud balls and earth dragons about to reach him, Ye Zi had no choice but to waste Chakra defending against the wave of attacks.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Ye Zi spat out a gigantic fireball. Its searing heat reduced the earth dragons and mud balls to nothing.

He then released a burst of Chakra beneath his feet, broke free of the suction coming from the swamp, and immediately charged the two Stone ninja. Before they could react, Raiya swept left and right, cutting off their lives.

After passing through the two Stone ninja who had become corpses, Ye Zi took a Soldier Pill from his ninja pouch and tossed it into his mouth. Maintaining Lightning Release around his body for a long time consumed a great deal of Chakra and stamina. With his current amount of Chakra, he could not sustain it for long, and the remaining enemies seemed far from ordinary.

"There's no other way. I can only grit my teeth and hold on."

Ye Zi looked coldly at Daiyan and Dick. With a movement of his feet, he appeared before Dick and stabbed toward his chest. Dick formed a single hand seal, and the swamp before him suddenly surged from the ground and hardened into an Earth Wall.

However, lightning countered earth.

Ye Zi encountered little resistance and easily tore through the Earth Wall. But this also delayed him for a moment, allowing Dick to evade the stab. He knew perfectly well that the Earth Wall could not stop Ye Zi's blade wrapped in Lightning Release.

"Daiyan!"

Dick shouted after dodging the blade.

Understanding him, Daiyan's eyes widened. He poured out nearly half his Chakra and used the most powerful sealing technique he knew.

"Earth Release: Earth Corridor Technique!"

The ground suddenly shook. Pillars of earth rose from the several dozen meters surrounding Ye Zi, instantly forming four towering walls that enclosed him. Once the pillars stopped rising, more pillars shot diagonally from their tops, interlocking in the blink of an eye. That was not all—the mud in the swamp was manipulated by an unseen force and smeared over the stone-pillared corridor.

"Petrification!"

After covering the stone-pillared corridor with mud, Dick turned it into rock.

Once everything was done, a smug curve appeared at the corner of Dick's mouth. He crossed and tightly clasped his palms, a cold killing intent flashing through his eyes, and shouted, "Crush!"

The stone-pillared corridor rumbled loudly and suddenly closed in.

"Whew, he must be dead, right?" After expending a huge amount of Chakra, Daiyan and Dick panted heavily.

On the attic, Haihara relaxed when he saw this. He also believed that Ye Zi would die beneath the combined ultimate move of Dick and Daiyan.

A look of surprise appeared on Unohana's beautiful face as well.

They had sealed Ye Zi inside the stone-pillared corridor, then had Dick solidify it completely from every direction. Before Ye Zi could escape, they had crushed the corridor around him.

Under such a joint attack, Dick and Daiyan did not believe Ye Zi could survive.

Thus, the tense nerves of Dick and Daiyan finally relaxed.

At that moment, the stone wall cracked open without warning. A thread of lightning surged through the gap.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

Like the cries of a thousand birds, a dazzling bolt of lightning shot through the gap and sped toward the astonished Dick and Daiyan.

Pfft!

Ye Zi's lightning-wreathed hands plunged into Dick and Daiyan's chests, one hand in each.

"How... could this be..."

Dick and Daiyan stared at Ye Zi in shock. He slowly pulled out his blood-covered hands and said coldly, "I don't only know Fire Release and Lightning Release..."

The astonishment in Dick and Daiyan's eyes instantly froze. They crumpled to the ground and died.

After killing Dick and Daiyan, Ye Zi did not immediately retrieve Raiya, which was trapped inside the Earth Wall. Instead, he raised his head toward the attic—but it was already empty.