Geographical Advantage

"Hm?"

Qi Shuang paused for a moment. Although he didn't quite understand why, he followed the instruction and immediately changed direction to the right.

"Are Konoha ninja catching up?" he thought, then tentatively asked.

If there wasn't a sudden development, Kamiya Ki shouldn't have changed direction like this.

After all, they were currently moving in a straight line, and changing direction meant taking a detour, which would delay their return to the Kirigakure camp.

Moreover, Kamiya Ki chose the right side, the direction with more moisture, not the left.

This indicated that the other party was more inclined to approach an environment with water.

For the vast majority of Kirigakure ninja, the presence of a water source meant convenience in using Water Release, making it more suitable for their combat.

Now, at a time when returning to the Kirigakure camp as soon as possible meant greater safety, Kamiya Ki was willing to take a detour to get closer to a water source. This couldn't help but make Qi Shuang consider this grim possibility.

"Yes! Someone is chasing us from behind!" Kamiya Ki said to him with a serious expression, quickening his pace.

Immediately, Qi Shuang collected his thoughts and became fully alert.

Because, a battle was imminent.

Not long after the two of them changed direction, a mocking voice echoed from far behind them.

"Why don't the two of you come back to Konoha's camp with us? We'll give you a proper welcome, how about it?"

Qi Shuang looked back at the sound of the voice, only to see two Konoha ninja chasing after them. They were faster than them, and the distance between them was rapidly closing.

"Don't look back, focus on your footing!"

Hearing Kamiya Ki's warning, Qi Shuang immediately withdrew his gaze and quickened his pace a bit more.

Perhaps to adjust their own state, the Konoha ninja who had caught up to the two of them didn't rush to attack. They merely slowed their pace slightly, trailing behind from a distance.

At the same time, Qi Shuang faintly heard a splashing sound.

After another chase, as the sound of flowing water grew louder, they burst out of the forest, and a vast, surging river appeared before them.

The terrain was now advantageous. Qi Shuang knew that Kamiya Ki was preparing to counterattack!

"Your strength is too weak, I don't expect you to do much. Just harass them from the side!"

Glancing at the child beside him, Kamiya Ki leaped forward. In mid-air, he forcefully twisted his body, facing the pursuers behind him, and quickly formed a series of hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Immediately, Qi Shuang saw a column of water rapidly rise from the river surface where Kamiya Ki had landed. The tip condensed into the shape of a dragon's head.

Then, as if it came to life, it dragged its long body, directly breaking through the water, soaring over his head, and charging straight at the two Konoha ninja pursuing them.

Seeing the suddenly attacking water dragon, the two Konoha ninja remained calm in the face of danger.

One of them sneered, "No wonder you suddenly changed direction. So you wanted to fight us by the river!"

He immediately stopped in his tracks, formed a series of hand seals, and pressed his palm to the ground, injecting chakra into the earth.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

A three-meter-high earth wall rose from the ground before him, blocking the path of the water dragon.

His companion also took the opportunity to hide behind the earth wall.

BOOM!

The pale blue water dragon, dragging its long body, crashed into the thick earth wall without hesitation. A deafening roar echoed through the air.

Qi Shuang looked closely. The earth wall remained unmoved, while the water dragon, at the moment of impact, was shattered by the recoil. Water splashed everywhere, like a torrential downpour, washing over the surrounding trees and making them appear even greener.

"What's wrong? Is this all the skill Kirigakure has?" A Konoha ninja leaped onto the earth wall, crouched on top, and taunted Kamiya Ki on the river.

Following that, his companion slowly emerged from behind the earth wall, staring expressionlessly at the two Kirigakure ninja, one large and one small.

"Be careful yourself!"

Ignoring the taunts, Kamiya Ki cautioned the child who had landed beside him, and then activated another ninjutsu.

"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"

The river water beneath him churned, and countless wisps of mist rose from the surface, forming a dense white fog.

"Annoying!"

Seeing this, one of the Konoha ninja frowned.

Facing Kirigakure's signature ninjutsu, he dared not be careless.

Neither of them was a specialized sensory ninja. Once their vision was obscured by this dense fog, they would have no way of tracking the opponent's movements.

If they weren't careful, they could even be ambushed.

Furthermore, this technique from Kirigakure was very peculiar. It wasn't ordinary thick fog, and ordinary Wind Release couldn't disperse it. There were no known instances of it being broken.

Therefore, facing this technique, both of them were at a significant disadvantage.

Next, the dense fog spread outwards under Kamiya Ki's control. In the blink of an eye, it enveloped an area of several tens of meters around them.

Before Qi Shuang's eyes, there was nothing but a vast expanse of white. His visibility was less than two meters.

The effect was even better than when Teacher Ki had used it before!

"It seems the 'Hidden Mist Technique' has also been greatly enhanced due to the surrounding water vapor!" he marveled inwardly.

Gone from his sight, besides the river, the forest, and the two Konoha ninja, was Kamiya Ki.

He could still faintly sense a trace of chakra from the two Konoha ninja, but he couldn't feel any chakra or movement from Kamiya Ki at all.

"Could this be the 'Silent Killing Technique'?" he guessed inwardly, also doing his best to conceal his chakra.

Hailing from Kirigakure, he naturally knew their signature assassination techniques, which primarily consisted of the 'Hidden Mist Technique' and the 'Silent Killing Technique'.

However, he had only heard of it; this was the first time he was truly witnessing it.

The 'Hidden Mist Technique' obscures vision and scent, and conceals the user's chakra, while the 'Silent Killing Technique' masks sound. Unless one possesses specialized sensory abilities, no one can locate a Kirigakure ninja within the dense fog.

However, although the combination of these two techniques was ingenious, its drawbacks were also obvious.

This was because the 'Hidden Mist Technique' could not conceal the chakra fluctuations generated when using ninjutsu, only the chakra signature under normal circumstances.

In this state, if a Kirigakure ninja wanted to kill someone, they couldn't use ninjutsu and could only rely on pure taijutsu attacks, otherwise, their position would be exposed.

But if the opponent's taijutsu was strong, then such taijutsu attacks would be meaningless and could even be dangerous, like a lamb walking into a tiger's den.

"I hope those two's taijutsu isn't too strong!" At this moment, he could only pray for his teacher.

Clang! Clang!

Within the dense fog, two metallic clashing sounds could be heard. Qi Shuang guessed that Kamiya Ki must have engaged the opponents.

After thinking for a moment, he did his best to conceal his presence and crept slowly towards the direction of the sounds.

Although he was not the caster of this dense fog, with its natural visual obstruction, as long as he didn't make any rash moves, it would be difficult for the opponents to detect his presence.