"It's a Sunagakure jonin? Damn it... using genjutsu to ambush two genin is just shameless!"
Nawaki snorted coldly.
"Even so, he still didn't succeed!"
"Two of their chunin are dead or injured, and you have the nerve to say that?"
Satoru muttered under his breath. The Mage Eye had not detected the enemy, and The Book of Medivh had not reacted either. That meant the enemy had not continued using genjutsu, but had instead used some kind of concealment ninjutsu.
"Earth Release is the most likely. In other words, he might be beneath our feet, waiting for a chance to ambush us."
"Hmph, I'm good at fighting battles of attrition." Nawaki wiped the corner of his mouth and tightened his grip on the kunai.
Though he was terrified inside, Nawaki still gritted his teeth and encouraged himself.
Three flaming arcane orbs revolved around Satoru as he cast Flame Shield on himself, then applied Magic Suppression to both himself and Nawaki.
"Earth Release: Earth Stone Dragon!"
The ambush came just as they finished preparing their defenses.
An enormous mass of earth and stone formed a menacing dragon that lunged at Satoru and Nawaki from behind!
"So strong!"
The enemy jonin was hiding underground, launching sneak attacks from the shadows. The vast Gobi of the Land of Wind gave him an excellent environment for casting techniques.
"Scorching Swiftness!"
Grabbing Nawaki, Satoru's Mage Eye spotted the forming earth dragon immediately, and he swiftly took Nawaki out of its path.
Meanwhile, the Water Elemental was smashed to pieces by the earth dragon as it bought them time.
"Take this!"
Satoru tossed Nawaki a small scroll.
"If you run into danger you can't avoid, tear one open. But remember, try to face an open area!"
"This is..."
Nawaki knew this was not the time to ask questions. With a solemn expression, he tucked the scroll into his clothes and immediately began running—
The earth dragon's attack was not limited to that single lunge.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The hidden Sunagakure jonin had clearly realized that Satoru was harder to deal with, so Nawaki became his first target.
"Damn!"
As Nawaki ran, he stepped straight into the massive swamp created by the ninjutsu. Gritting his teeth, he began forming hand seals before his arms could be restrained.
"Earth Release: Underground Submarine!"
"Nice!"
Satoru, who had rushed over after noticing Nawaki was in danger, stopped short and could not help praising him.
Nawaki's Earth Release ninjutsu allowed him to move swiftly through underground soil.
Even if the enemy had created a swamp, with another, more troublesome opponent nearby, he would not keep pouring Chakra into it.
Sure enough, Nawaki successfully escaped the swamp formed by Swamp of the Underworld and burrowed out from another patch of ground.
"Rat hiding underground!"
Nawaki snorted angrily. After such a long battle, even his extraordinary Chakra reserves were nearly depleted.
He gave Satoru a look. Seeing Satoru's stunned, then stern gaze, he bit his lip and nodded fiercely, stubbornly beginning to form hand seals.
"This guy..."
Seeing Nawaki insist, Satoru could only sigh and cooperate with all his strength.
A faint layer of purple Arcane Power coated the long staff in Satoru's hand, with transformed Wind Release Chakra surrounding it.
"Seriously... if the wind elements condensed a little further, they'd become lightning. Lightning Release Chakra counters Earth Release, but I can't use it right now."
Satoru tugged at the corner of his mouth. He already understood the principles behind wind-element natural magic such as Lightning Bolt, but he had never actually tried casting it.
Better not use it in battle.
"Guardian's Secret Staff Techniques~"
Using the powerful boost of Arcane Power and his exceptionally strong, tempered physique, Satoru smashed the weakening earth dragon apart with a single strike!
"Oh? He didn't keep supplying Chakra at all."
Satoru frowned. The enemy was even sneakier than expected. Had he really gotten so used to assassination?
With the brief delay Satoru had bought, Nawaki had already completed his technique.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
On the way to the Land of Wind, Nawaki had mastered his first Rank B Ninjutsu with Orochimaru's help!
It was one of Earth Release's most famous defensive ninjutsu, but it could be used for more than defense. It could also trap enemies or locate them.
"Rumble—"
The terrain shifted violently. Under Nawaki's control, the Earth Flow Wall formed slowly at first, then rapidly—
"Found him!"
His eyes lit up as Nawaki shouted. A patch of ground not far from them quickly bulged upward, and then a figure in Sunagakure ANBU battle gear burst from the ground amid a torrent of earth and stone.
"No!"
Satoru shouted lowly. A fireball rapidly formed in his hand and shot toward the figure caught in the rising earth and stone.
"Boom—"
Under the Fireball Technique's impact, the figure turned into shattered clumps of earth that scattered across the ground!
"An Earth Clone... no, an Earth Substitution!"
Nawaki noticed it too. Earth Release escape-type substitutions could use mud or stone as a medium, making them incredibly convenient.
Ordinary Substitution Technique required the user to choose a medium, most commonly a log or a small animal.
But there was nothing like that in this Gobi. The ordinary Substitution Technique had limited use here, while Earth Substitution had no such problem.
"Damn it, he's too strong..."
Nawaki panted heavily. Using an unfamiliar Rank B Ninjutsu and forcibly controlling it to locate and trap the enemy had nearly drained all his Chakra.
"Watch out!"
Satoru, who had been keeping watch around them, suddenly changed expression. He instantly used Blink to appear behind Nawaki.
"Impact Wave!"
"Boom—"
Unlike when he had tested it against Orochimaru before, Satoru was now much stronger, both in spell attack power and its added effects.
Moreover, the stability of standing firmly on the ground was worlds apart from being in midair.
Thus, this enhanced Impact Wave successfully sent the enemy, who had burst out from behind Nawaki with a kunai in hand and was about to leap in for a strike, flying hard!
Of course, since Satoru had appeared practically between them, Nawaki was sent flying too...
"Transformation Technique: Pig!"
"Oink~"
The Sunagakure jonin who had been blasted away turned into a pink pig, but after only a few seconds, he instinctively erupted with Chakra and broke through the Deformation Technique.
Still, those few brief seconds were enough for Satoru and Nawaki to regroup.
"This is a Transformation Technique? Strange kid... no wonder two chunin were taken out by two genin!"
The Sunagakure jonin, who had finally revealed himself properly, spoke for the first time.
For a jonin, breaking free from the Deformation Technique would not greatly damage his Chakra pathways, though the intense pain was unavoidable.
"But this ends here!"
Feeling waves of stabbing pain from his Chakra pathways, the Sunagakure jonin's face darkened. No matter how strong genin were, they were still genin!
"Wind Release: Vacuum Serial Waves!"
The Sunagakure jonin swiftly finished forming hand seals and spewed a massive barrage of spinning wind blades from his mouth—
"Die!"
"Rumble..."
The violent wind blades ravaged the area, blasting Gobi stones into grains of sand. Dust filled the sky, and the Sunagakure jonin frowned. In his senses—
"They actually dodged it! Was that the Body Flicker Technique from earlier?"
Beyond the dust cloud, Nawaki stared fearfully at the ground that had been cut to pieces by the wind blades. He drew a deep breath, his heart pounding violently.
"Satoru, this scroll is incredible!"
In Nawaki's and Satoru's hands were two opened scrolls—magic scrolls containing Blink.
Before you continue