Inverse Scale

"I need to quickly come up with a plan to make this guy take my ice needles head-on!" Looking at the rapidly fleeing figure, Qi Shuang frowned.

Just then, as if struck by inspiration, he remembered something—dogs!

The Inuzuka Clan were famous beast tamers in Konoha, their members skilled in secret techniques that involved cooperating with Ninja Hounds.

Therefore, they often moved as one, inseparable.

Like a peerless swordsman's sword, the person never left the sword, and the sword never left the person.

Thus, for an Inuzuka ninja, a Ninja Hound was their other half, an indispensable part of their lives.

And the opponent before Qi Shuang was an Inuzuka Clan member, but there was no Ninja Hound accompanying him. This was an extremely abnormal situation.

The possibility of the other party's Ninja Hound hiding to prepare for a sneak attack was minuscule.

Because since encountering the four Konoha ninja earlier, he hadn't seen any Ninja Hounds.

This indicated that the other party's Ninja Hound was not with him at all.

Given the importance of Ninja Hounds to the Inuzuka Clan, the only reason for it not being by his side could be one thing: the Ninja Hound was dead!

Because even if they were sick or injured and unable to fight, Inuzuka Clan members would not leave their side.

Furthermore, it was wartime, and death was commonplace.

Now, this opponent of his was participating in the battle without his Ninja Hound.

The possibility of his partner Ninja Hound having died was as high as ninety percent!

With this thought, Qi Shuang's mind was made up.

He immediately stopped the ice needles that were about to fall from mid-air and, with a smile, shouted at the person, "Hey, you Inuzuka! I have a question for you!"

Sensing that no more ice needles were falling from behind, the Inuzuka ninja also stopped immediately. He sniffed the air carefully.

Sensing that there were still many chakra fluctuations in the air, and that the opponent's technique hadn't been fully released yet, he didn't dare to rush forward. Instead, he stood cautiously in place and replied curiously, "What do you want to ask?"

In this situation, the other party still had the mood to ask him a question, which made him curious.

"Don't they say that your Inuzuka Clan are inseparable, person and dog? Where is your Ninja Hound?" Qi Shuang asked "surprisedly."

Hearing this, the Inuzuka ninja's face immediately fell, and he said coldly, "Without it, I can still kill you!"

Seeing this, Qi Shuang immediately knew he had guessed correctly.

Then, he abruptly raised his voice.

"Don't tell me... it died on the battlefield?"

Immediately, the Inuzuka man clenched his fists, his eyes coldly sweeping over him, and a hint of rage was added to his killing intent.

"I guess your Ninja Hound was fed too well! It caught the opponent's eye and became someone's dog meat hot pot! Hahaha!" Qi Shuang laughed unrestrainedly.

Hearing this, the Inuzuka man was stunned at first, then his mind buzzed like boiling water.

Killing intent and rage churned together, his head felt like it was about to explode!

"I'll kill you! I'll kill you! I will definitely kill you!"

At this moment, only one thought remained in his mind.

That was to kill the other party!

At all costs, kill that foul-mouthed Mist Ninja brat!

"Very good, very good!"

Seeing the other party's furious appearance, Qi Shuang curled his lips. His provocation had succeeded.

Currently, the only way he could think of to make the other party attack him desperately was through provocation!

Everyone had a place in their heart that was a forbidden zone, untouchable by others.

As the ancient saying goes, a dragon has inverse scales; touching them means death.

Just as Sasuke's inverse scale was Itachi, and Naruto's inverse scale was Sasuke.

As long as one mentioned these two people in front of them and added a little instigation, they would lose their reason and go mad.

And now, he only needed to touch the inverse scale of this Inuzuka ninja to achieve his goal.

Although he didn't know the other party personally, he knew very well that all Inuzuka Clan members had a common inverse scale: their Ninja Hounds!

Originally, saying something negative about their Ninja Hounds in front of them was already hateful.

Now, he was even mocking their deceased partner, talking about eating dog meat, which was like desecrating someone's friend or family's remains.

The hatred the Inuzuka man felt towards him had likely reached an unbearable level.

He wished he could skin him alive, dismember him, and drink his blood and eat his flesh!

A head-on confrontation was imminent!

Then, he deliberately smacked his lips, licked the corner of his mouth, and continued to taunt, "Speaking of dog meat, it's truly delicious! I haven't eaten dog for a long time..."

Before he could finish speaking, a roar came from the opposite side.

"Fang"

With a heart full of hatred and rage, the Inuzuka Clan ninja locked onto the misty figure opposite him. He then spun his waist, transforming into a small, gray whirlwind, and thrust directly forward.

He no longer cared if the opponent's ice needles would injure him or make his victory look too ugly.

Only the thought of tearing the opponent to shreds remained in his mind.

"Good move!"

"Go!"

Seeing the opponent charge, Qi Shuang quickly dodged to the side and sent the remaining half of the ice needles in mid-air shooting rapidly.

Clang, clang, clang!

The moment his ice needles came into contact with the gray whirlwind, nearly half of them were instantly shattered. The remaining half were either deflected or knocked away by the vortex created by the opponent's high-speed rotation, none managing to penetrate the whirlwind.

"As expected, is the hardness of my ice still too poor?" Qi Shuang frowned at the sight.

Fortunately, all these attacks were just feints; the real killing blow was still to come.

Whoosh!

The gray whirlwind brushed past him. He felt a coolness on his arm, followed by a searing pain that surged to the top of his scalp.

Upon closer inspection, a palm-sized patch of skin had been scraped off his arm!

Blood flowed profusely, and the pain made his teeth chatter.

The gray whirlwind dissipated slowly on the water's surface. The Inuzuka Clan ninja, eyes red, knelt on the water, already in the stance of a predator.

"Go!"

At the same time, the moment he broke free from the gray whirlwind, Qi Shuang, enduring the intense pain in his arm, controlled the last few ice needles in the dense fog above his head and shot them rapidly towards the target.

Thwack, thwack!

A few muffled sounds were heard, and the Inuzuka Clan ninja gained several ice needles on his body.

He had sensed the ice needles as they approached, but the opponent's timing was too precise; he had no chance to dodge.

Or rather, consumed by his rage and hatred, he had no intention of dodging at that moment.

Because he already knew that the opponent's ice needle attacks were very weak, only capable of causing superficial wounds.

He just wanted to tear the opponent apart with an unstoppable force, thereby venting his anger and hatred.

"Brat, your attacks are too weak! They don't even qualify to tickle me!"

"Now, die!"

"Beast Mimicry Technique: Four Legs Jutsu!"

Without bothering to pull out the ice needles stuck in him, he quickly activated the body-strengthening jutsu and charged at the detestable Mist Ninja brat again, wanting to seize the opportunity when the opponent's ice needles were depleted to kill him immediately.