Geographical Advantage

"Hmm?"

Qi Shuang froze for a moment. Although he did not quite understand why, he still followed the instruction and immediately changed course to the right.

"Have people from Konoha caught up with us?" After thinking for a moment, he cautiously asked.

Unless something unexpected had happened, Kamiya Ki should not have suddenly changed direction.

After all, they had been traveling in a straight line. Changing course meant taking a detour, which would delay their return to the Kirigakure camp.

Moreover, Kamiya Ki had chosen the right side—the direction with heavier moisture in the air—instead of the left.

This meant that he preferred to move closer to an environment with water.

For the vast majority of Kirigakure shinobi, the presence of a water source meant that using Water Release would be convenient, making the terrain more suitable for fighting.

At a time when returning to the Kirigakure camp sooner meant greater safety, Kamiya Ki was willing to take a detour just to get closer to a water source. Qi Shuang could not help thinking of that terrible possibility.

"Yes! Someone is catching up from behind!" Kamiya Ki said gravely, quickening his pace even further.

Qi Shuang immediately composed himself and became fully alert.

Because a battle was about to begin.

Not long after the two changed course, a mocking voice rang out from far behind them.

"Why don't you come back to the Konoha camp with us? How about we give you two a proper welcome?"

Qi Shuang turned at the sound, only to see two Konoha shinobi pursuing them from behind. They were a good deal faster than the two of them, and the distance between both sides was rapidly shrinking.

"Don't look back. Focus on your footing!"

Hearing Kamiya Ki's warning, Qi Shuang immediately looked away and quickened his pace again.

Perhaps they were adjusting their condition. The Konoha shinobi who had first caught up to the two of them did not hurry to close in and attack. They merely slowed down slightly and followed from a distance.

At the same time, Qi Shuang faintly heard the splashing of water.

After another stretch of pursuit, the sound of rushing water grew louder and louder. Bursting out of the forest, they found a surging river before them.

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

"You're too weak. I don't expect you to do much. Just harass them from the side!"

Kamiya Ki glanced at the child beside him, then leaped into the air. He forcibly twisted his body around midair to face the pursuers behind him, rapidly forming a series of hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Qi Shuang immediately saw a water pillar surge up behind Kamiya Ki, who had landed directly on the river's surface. Its tip even took the shape of a dragon's head.

Then it seemed to come alive. Dragging its long body, it burst straight out of the water, swept over Kamiya Ki's head, and lunged directly at the two Konoha shinobi who had caught up.

Facing the suddenly incoming water dragon, the two Konoha shinobi remained calm.

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

He immediately stopped, formed a series of hand seals, then slammed his palm against the ground and injected chakra into the earth.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

A more than three-meter-tall earthen wall rose from the ground in front of him, blocking the water dragon's path.

His companion also took advantage of the moment to hide behind the earthen wall.

Boom!

The pale-blue water dragon dragged its long body forward without hesitation and crashed into the thick earthen wall. A deafening boom rang through the air.

Qi Shuang stared closely. The earthen wall had not moved an inch, while the water dragon exploded from the force of the impact, sending water spraying everywhere. It was like a torrential downpour that washed every tree around them, making the forest seem even greener.

"What's wrong? Is that all the Kirigakure shinobi can do?" One Konoha shinobi leaped onto the earthen wall and crouched there, taunting Kamiya Ki on the river.

His companion slowly emerged from behind the wall as well, expressionless as he stared at the two Kirigakure shinobi, one large and one small.

"Be careful!"

Ignoring the other man's taunt, Kamiya Ki warned the child who had landed nearby, then launched another ninjutsu.

"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique!"

The river beneath his feet began to churn. Countless wisps of mist steamed up from the surface, and a dense white fog suddenly formed.

"Annoying!"

One of the Konoha shinobi frowned at the sight.

Faced with Kirigakure's signature technique, he did not dare be careless.

Neither of them was a specialized sensor-type shinobi. Once this dense fog blocked their vision, it was impossible for them to track their opponent's movements.

If they were careless, they might even be ambushed.

Moreover, Kirigakure's technique was extremely special. It was not ordinary fog at all, and ordinary Wind Release could not disperse it. There had hardly ever been a case of someone breaking it.

Thus, the two of them were extremely passive in the face of this technique.

The dense fog spread outward under Kamiya Ki's control. In the blink of an eye, it covered the surrounding area for dozens of meters.

Apart from an expanse of white, Qi Shuang could no longer see anything. Visibility was less than two meters.

It was even more effective than when Teacher Ki had used it earlier!

"Looks like this 'Hidden Mist Technique' has also been greatly enhanced by the moisture in the surroundings!" he marveled inwardly.

The things that had vanished from his sight included the great river, the forest, the two Konoha shinobi, and Kamiya Ki.

He could still barely sense a trace of chakra from the two Konoha shinobi, but he could no longer sense even the slightest trace of chakra or movement from Kamiya Ki.

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

As someone from Kirigakure, he naturally knew that Kirigakure's signature assassination art mainly consisted of the Hidden Mist Technique and the Silent Killing Technique.

But he had only heard about it before. This was the first time he had truly witnessed it.

The Hidden Mist Technique obscured vision and scent while concealing the caster's chakra presence. Combined with the sound suppression of the Silent Killing Technique, no one without specialized sensory abilities could locate a Kirigakure shinobi within the dense fog.

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

The Hidden Mist Technique could not conceal the chakra fluctuations produced when ninjutsu was used. It could only conceal the chakra presence emitted under normal circumstances.

In this state, if a Kirigakure shinobi wanted to kill someone, they could not use ninjutsu. They could only rely on pure Taijutsu attacks, or they would expose their position.

But if the opponent's Taijutsu was strong, such attacks would have little meaning. Instead, they might be walking straight into the tiger's den.

"I hope those two aren't too strong at Taijutsu!" At present, this was all he could do—pray for his teacher.

Clang! Clang!

Two metallic collisions rang out from within the dense fog. Qi Shuang guessed that Kamiya Ki had begun exchanging blows with the enemy.

After thinking for a moment, he concealed his presence as much as possible and quietly crept toward the source of the noise.

Although he was not the caster of the dense fog, the natural obstruction of vision gave him an advantage. As long as he did not act recklessly, it would also be very difficult for the enemy to detect his presence.