Fighting a Jonin

"A Sunagakure Jonin? Damn it... using Genjutsu to ambush us two Genin, that's just shameless!"

Nawaki couldn't help but snort coldly:

"But even so, it didn't succeed!"

"Two of their Chunin are dead and one is injured, do you have any self-awareness saying that!"

Satoru grumbled in a low voice. His Mage Eye hadn't detected the enemy, and The Book of Medivh hadn't reacted, which meant the enemy had likely stopped using Genjutsu and was now using a hidden Ninjutsu.

"The most likely candidate is Earth Release, meaning he could be beneath our feet, waiting for an opportunity to ambush."

"Hmph, I'm good at drawn-out battles." Nawaki wiped his mouth, tightening his grip on his kunai.

Despite feeling incredibly nervous, Nawaki gritted his teeth and encouraged himself.

Three flaming orbs spun around Satoru, who donned Flame Shield and cast Magic Suppression on both himself and Nawaki.

"Earth Release: Earth Stone Dragon!"

Just as they finished their preparations, the ambush arrived.

A massive amount of earth and stone formed a fearsome dragon that lunged at Satoru and Nawaki from behind!

"So strong!"

The enemy Jonin, hidden beneath the ground, launched his surprise attack from the shadows. The vast deserts of the Land of Wind provided him with an excellent environment for casting.

"Scorching Swiftness!"

Grabbing Nawaki, Satoru's Mage Eye immediately spotted the forming Earth Dragon and he swiftly dodged with Nawaki.

To buy time, the water element was shattered by the Earth Dragon.

"Take this!"

Satoru tossed a small scroll to Nawaki:

"If you encounter danger you can't avoid, tear one open, but remember to face an open area if possible!"

"This is..."

Nawaki knew it wasn't the time to ask. With a serious expression, he tucked the scroll into his clothes and quickly began to run—

The Earth Dragon wasn't just capable of one attack.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The Sunagakure Jonin in the shadows clearly saw that Satoru was the more troublesome opponent, so his first target was Nawaki.

"Crap!"

As Nawaki ran, his foot landed in the massive swamp formed by the Ninjutsu. He gritted his teeth fiercely and, before his arms were restricted, began forming hand seals:

"Earth Release: Underground Submarine!"

"Beautiful!"

Satoru, who had stopped upon seeing Nawaki in danger, couldn't help but praise him.

Nawaki's Earth Release Ninjutsu allowed him to move quickly through the underground soil.

Even if the opponent created a swamp, with another, more difficult enemy present, they wouldn't continuously supply Chakra.

As expected, Nawaki successfully escaped the swamp formed by Swamp of the Underworld and emerged from another patch of ground.

"A rat hiding underground!"

Nawaki snorted angrily. After fighting for so long, even his extraordinary Chakra reserves were nearing depletion.

He gave Satoru a look. Seeing Satoru's momentary surprise followed by a stern gaze, he bit his lip, stubbornly nodded fiercely, and began forming hand seals.

"This guy..."

Seeing Nawaki's persistence, Satoru could only sigh and cooperate with all his might.

The long staff in Satoru's hand was coated with a faint layer of purple Arcane Power, and on the outside was converted Wind Release Chakra.

"Seriously... if I condense the wind element a bit more, it'll become lightning. Lightning Release Chakra counters Earth Release, but I can't use it right now."

Satoru curled his lips. He already knew the formation principles for elemental magic corresponding to wind, like Lightning Arrow, but he hadn't tried casting it yet.

It was better not to use it during a battle.

"Guardian's Secret Staff Techniques~"

Utilizing the powerful boost from Arcane Power and his refined, strong physique, Satoru smashed the somewhat weakened Earth Dragon with a single blow!

"Oh? They're not supplying any more Chakra at all."

Satoru frowned. The enemy was more cunning than he'd imagined. Had they really made assassination their habit?

With Satoru stalling for this brief moment, Nawaki had completed his technique.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

On the way to the Land of Wind, Nawaki had, with Orochimaru's help, mastered his first B-rank Ninjutsu!

The most famous defensive ninjutsu among Earth Release techniques, it's not just for defense; it can also be used to trap enemies or locate them.

"Rumble—"

The terrain changed drastically. Under Nawaki's control, the Earth Flow Wall was delayed in its formation, and then quickly—

"Found him!"

Nawaki's eyes lit up as he shouted. The ground not far from them rapidly bulged, and then a large amount of earth and rock surged out, carrying with it a figure clad in Sunagakure Anbu combat gear.

"Not right!"

Satoru let out a low cry. The Fireball Technique in his hand quickly formed and shot towards the figure enveloped by the rising earth and rock.

"Boom—"

Under the impact of the Fireball Technique, the figure shattered into clods of earth that rained down!

"It's an Earth Clone... no, an Earth Substitution!"

Nawaki also noticed. Earth Release substitution techniques can use mud or rocks as a medium, which is incredibly convenient.

Normal substitution techniques require the user to choose their own medium, with wood blocks or small animals being the most common.

However, in this desert, there was nothing like that. Normal substitution techniques had limited applications, but the Earth Substitution didn't have this problem.

"Damn it, too strong..."

Nawaki panted heavily. Using an unfamiliar B-rank ninjutsu and forcibly controlling it for tracking and trapping had depleted his chakra reserves.

"Watch out!"

Satoru, who was scanning their surroundings, suddenly changed his expression. With a Blink, he instantly appeared behind Nawaki:

"Impact Wave!"

"Boom—"

Unlike when he tested against Orochimaru, Satoru's magical attack power and its additional effects were much stronger now.

Furthermore, the stability of being on solid ground versus being in the air was vastly different.

Therefore, this enhanced Impact Wave successfully sent the enemy, who had emerged from behind Nawaki and was holding a kunai to leap for an attack, flying back!

Of course, since Satoru's position was essentially between the two, Nawaki was also sent flying...

"Deformation Technique: Pig!"

"Oink—"

The flying Sunagakure Jonin turned into a pink piglet, but in just a few seconds, he instinctively erupted with chakra, breaking free from the Deformation Technique.

However, these few seconds were just enough for Satoru and Nawaki to regroup.

"This is Deformation Technique? A strange kid... no wonder two Genin managed to take down two Chunin!"

The Sunagakure Jonin, who had finally revealed himself, spoke for the first time.

For a Jonin, breaking free from the Deformation Technique wouldn't cause significant damage to the meridians, but intense pain was unavoidable.

"But, this is where it ends!"

Feeling the throbbing pain in his meridians, the Sunagakure Jonin's expression turned grim. No matter how strong a Genin is, they are still Genin!

"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

The Sunagakure Jonin quickly completed the hand seals and spat out a large expanse of swirling, massive wind blades from his mouth—

"Die!"

"Rumble, rumble..."

The violent wind blades ravaged the area, pulverizing the desert rocks into sand. A sky full of dust and sand was kicked up. The Sunagakure Jonin frowned. In his perception—

"He actually dodged it! Was it that earlier Body Flicker Technique?"

Beyond the dust, Nawaki looked at the ground, which was mangled by the wind blades, with lingering fear. He took a deep breath, his heart pounding violently.

"Satoru, this scroll is too amazing!"

In Nawaki and Satoru's hands were two opened scrolls—magic scrolls that sealed the "Blink" technique.