Suppression

"So fast!"

A jolt went through Qi Shuang. Instinctively, it leaned back, narrowly dodging the other's claw, but a burning pain still shot through its chest.

It knew its nails had grazed it.

The Inuzuka Clan ninja didn't get discouraged when its attack missed. It used the momentum to place its hands on the river's surface and kicked out.

A claw, then a kick, a two-hit combo flowed like water, giving its opponent no time to react.

Qi Shuang felt a sharp pain in its lower abdomen and was sent flying.

It tumbled several times across the river's surface before it could regain its breath, using its hands and feet to stop its momentum.

"Hiss—"

Taking a sharp breath, it endured the intense pain in its abdomen and slowly stood up. It looked towards the other side of the dense fog, its face grave.

The opponent was an adult, already far superior in speed and strength. Coupled with the gap in overall ability, it had almost no chance to fight back head-on.

If it didn't think of a countermeasure quickly, it feared it might truly meet its end here today.

Just then, from the dense fog opposite, another oppressive aura emanated.

"Kid, stop resisting. Let me give you a quick end!"

"Fang!"

Following the sound of tearing air, Qi Shuang saw a small, gray-white whirlwind that dispersed the surrounding fog. It shot straight towards it like a sharp cone.

"Can't take this head-on!"

Seeing the ninjutsu the opponent used, it immediately made a judgment.

It couldn't block it.

Immediately, it withdrew the chakra attached to its feet. The moment the wind cone was about to hit, it narrowly plunged into the river, once again avoiding a fatal blow.

The wind cone struck the spot behind where Qi Shuang had been. After the huge splash it created subsided, the Inuzuka Clan ninja slowly revealed itself.

"Hmph! Just playing tricks!" it snorted coldly.

Its sure-kill attack had missed, and its mood couldn't be any worse.

Furthermore, its opponent was just a genin-level kid.

It had expected to easily capture such a kid, but unexpectedly, the brat had dodged two of its fatal attacks.

This made it lose face.

Then, it sniffed the air around it again, preparing to search for the other's trace.

However, it found that the opponent seemed to have vanished into thin air, impossible to find.

"Could that kid still be hiding in the water?" it guessed inwardly.

Only by hiding in the water could it make the other's scent undetectable.

"I don't believe you won't come out!" it gritted its teeth, secretly vowing.

As long as it caught the kid when it surfaced to breathe, it could deliver a killing blow.

Then, it took a torn piece of cloth from its pocket and sniffed it carefully.

It was a fragment of clothing the Mist Ninja kid had used to set up an explosive trap earlier.

After being washed by the river, the kid's scent would surely be greatly weakened. To distinguish the faint scent, it needed to strengthen the impression of the kid's scent in its mind.

With persistent effort, it soon smelled the Mist Ninja kid's scent on the river surface again.

Although the scent was faint, it still didn't escape its nose.

"Beast Mimicry Technique: Four Legs Jutsu!"

It lowered its body again, assuming the posture of a beast hunting its prey.

This was a secret technique of the Inuzuka Clan. Through this jutsu, it could mimic a beast's form, gaining the speed and strength of a ferocious animal.

"Kid, I smell you! You're dead!"

With an arrogant laugh, it moved on all fours, charging towards the source of the scent.

The distance between them rapidly closed.

Because of the dense fog, it could only smell the scent and couldn't be sure if the opponent had set another trap this time. It didn't rashly attack.

It just got as close as possible, hoping to bring the opponent within its limited field of vision to ensure a one-hit kill.

It didn't want to delay any longer.

If it continued to drag this out, it would inevitably be mocked by Uchiha Tai again.

It, a chunin, struggling to deal with a mere genin kid – such a story would surely become a laughingstock in Konoha.

As the distance shortened, it finally confirmed that the source of the scent was not a trap, but the kid itself.

Moreover, the kid was preparing to form hand seals for a jutsu.

At the same time, the moment the Inuzuka Clan ninja brought Qi Shuang into its sight, Qi Shuang had also completed its jutsu.

He decisively unleashed the prepared jutsu.

"Ice Release: Needle Rain Technique"

Using Ice Release chakra as a guide, he rapidly condensed the misty water vapor in the air into ice, shaping it into three-inch long sharp needles. He aimed them at the enemies who had entered his field of vision, launching a sweeping, cover-all strike.

"This ninjutsu again?" the ninja from the Inuzuka Clan raised an eyebrow.

Because the opponent's attack was too sudden, and the ice needles were fine and difficult to detect in the dense fog, he was immediately hit by several.

It wasn't until he felt the stinging and icy sensation on his body that he realized he had been struck.

Immediately, he dodged to the side, narrowly avoiding a large wave of ice needles. Then, while keeping the mist ninja brat locked in his sights, he moved at high speed, evading the continuous barrage of ice needles behind him.

As soon as this rain-like ice needle attack stopped, he would launch a fatal blow.

Although the actual damage from these ice needles wasn't strong, he wasn't a masochist. He had been pricked by them once before, and he never wanted to experience that feeling again.

Besides, having to use a strategy of trading injuries for a kill against such a genin-level brat would be too embarrassing for his Inuzuka Clan to admit.

"So cautious?"

Seeing the opponent desperately dodging the needle rain assault, Qi Shuang, who was controlling the numerous ice needles in the air, frowned inwardly.

He had originally thought that after enduring one baptism of needle rain, the opponent would choose to withstand this less lethal technique and launch a fierce attack on him.

Unexpectedly, the opponent's caution was somewhat beyond his expectations.

"If you're this rational and cautious, I'll be in trouble!" he pouted, feeling a bit annoyed. However, he still didn't cancel the release of the ice needle jutsu.

He merely slightly limited the number of falling ice needles, intending to prolong the jutsu's release time.

After all, once this jutsu was fully released, his chakra would be almost depleted. He had to kill the opponent before this jutsu was completely finished!

As for how to kill the opponent with his remaining chakra, he had devised a plan while hiding underwater earlier.

A plan based on the insufficient killing power of Ice Release.

But this plan had one prerequisite: the opponent had to disregard his ice needle attacks and launch a fierce assault!

Yet, at the moment, the opponent's cautious attitude left him like a mouse trying to catch a turtle – with nowhere to start.