Deep in Konoha's forest, surrounded by a swarm of animals, Nawaki stood covered in wounds, gazing at his opponent with fighting spirit. Even with countless animals surrounding him and attacking relentlessly, this was still a worthy, powerful opponent! The sound of nature
"Honored opponent!"
Nawaki's voice was low, his fighting spirit soaring.
"To stand your ground against me without being overwhelmed by my presence, and to fight me for so long—you truly are an opponent not to be underestimated!"
"Cut the damn crap!"
The Sand Ninja, completely unharmed but being relentlessly attacked by the animals, roared furiously:
"If you've got what it takes, get these pests out of my way! Without them, I'd have killed you more times than I can count!"
"Bastard! How can you say something like that as a ninja?"
Hearing the Sand Ninja's furious words, Nawaki flared up and rebuked him:
"Even though my teammate is a bastard who resorted to such a despicable tactic, seriously compromising the fairness of our fight, I'm ashamed of it!
"But as a ninja, even when you know you're in danger, you have to fight bravely, find a way to win against the odds, and claim victory. Every ninja should have that mindset. Acting like this, are you treating being a ninja as a joke? Do you have any pride as a ninja?"
"Pride? You can shove it! Have you looked at yourself lately?
"You're slow at making Hand Seals, have no sense for attacking, and your hits don't do enough damage!
"We've been fighting this whole time. I've beaten you black and blue, while I haven't even got a scratch. Doesn't that make you wonder why?
"Without these damn animals, I'd have killed you ages ago!"
The Sand Ninja shouted in fury, his anxiety rising by the moment. From the instant his squad began pursuing them, he'd had a bad feeling. Nothing else mattered—the fact alone that this little squad of pursuers could release a chemical that made animals across such a wide area obstruct them showed they were no ordinary team!
But their chunin squad leader had angrily ordered them to keep pursuing, and he had no choice but to obey. Otherwise, even if he were the only one left alive, being discovered as a deserter would bring a punishment he simply couldn't bear!
And when the fighting began, the other two Konoha Ninja had taken out his comrades in an incredibly short time, while his own opponent had the combat sense of an idiot. That only made his unease grow!
He thought the three genin on this team were no match for the chunin in his squad. But so much time had passed, and their squad leader still hadn't come to help. That alone was the biggest problem!
Even so, he'd been prepared to die at any moment ever since he'd been chosen for the Sand Ninja assault squad and started sabotaging Konoha's supplies and hunting Konoha Ninja.
But there was a difference between dying gloriously in battle and dying in a humiliating way. His opponent's combat sense was downright appalling, yet the bastard could take a beating. He'd already battered him until he was in a sorry state, and the amount of blood he'd lost would have been the limit for an ordinary ninja, yet he kept fighting like a cockroach that refused to die, dragging the fight on. What was even more unbearable was all the maddening nonsense coming out of his mouth!
He'd said that the Sand Ninja had done all manner of evil, but could still turn over a new leaf and join Konoha; that even though he was a rookie, if the Sand Ninja became his lackey, he could become a legendary God of Shinobi; and that though he was trash, under Nawaki's tutelage he was sure to become someone who changed the Shinobi World!
The absurd things he said were enough to drive the Sand Ninja mad. After fighting for so long, the Sand Ninja had finally accepted one fact: his opponent wasn't deliberately insulting him. He was genuinely an idiot!
But an insult that wasn't intentional only made the Sand Ninja even more furious!
"Sand Ninja over there, you..."
"Shut the hell up! Shuriken—Five Shooting Stars!"
Hearing Nawaki start talking again, the Sand Ninja could take no more and launched another attack. Five shuriken shot out at incredible speed, like shooting stars falling from the sky, aimed at Nawaki's vital points!
He moved like a nimble cat, leaping like a monkey through the trees, swift as the aurora and as fast as lightning!
After an incredibly elaborate series of evasive moves, Nawaki successfully took all five shuriken straight into his body!
"What a powerful opponent! I couldn't dodge them, despite my skills. I thought highly of you, but it seems I still underestimated you. Water Release: Repeated Water Bullets!"
Zhou Duan: "..."
Water Gate: "..."
Hundred Palms: "..."
Watching Nawaki get hit by every single one of the most basic ninja weapons, then seeing his opponent easily evade the attack because Nawaki took an excruciatingly long time to perform his technique—giving the man plenty of time to prepare—Zhou Duan couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh!
This proved that Zhou Duan had been absolutely right to reject the Third Hokage's proposal to add Senju Nawaki to his squad. And improving Nawaki on the way to deliver supplies had been a stroke of genius!
If Nawaki hadn't already improved his Hand Seal speed to two seals per second, and made such a significant improvement to his footwork, Zhou Duan was certain the opponent would have killed him before Zhou Duan, Water Gate, and Hundred Palms could get there—even with the animals throwing themselves into the fray to obstruct the Sand Ninja!
"Zhou Duan, Water Gate, am I seeing things?"
Watching Nawaki and his opponent's fight, which was practically a how-to guide on what not to do, Hundred Palms could no longer hold back:
"Is Nawaki's combat sense really that awful? Even with all those animals harassing his opponent, he's still struggling this much?
"And look at all those wounds on him. Don't tell me that after fighting for so long, every one of his attacks has missed, while every one of his opponent's hits landed? This is painful to watch!"
Standing beside Hundred Palms, Water Gate reached the same conclusion as Zhou Duan:
"Hundred Palms, we have Zhou Duan's training plan and your sparring sessions with Nawaki to thank for this. Without them improving Nawaki's combat ability, judging by the Sand Ninja's strength, he might have killed Nawaki before we arrived, even with Nawaki's exceptional physical strength. And even though Nawaki has improved quite a bit, judging by what's happening now..."
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
"Ah!"
The three watching from a short distance away sighed in unison:
"This doesn't look good!"
"Cut the crap!"
Nawaki had noticed Zhou Duan and the others arrive long ago. Though he was having a hard time in the fight, he couldn't bring himself to ask them for help. But he hadn't expected them to arrive and then just stand by, not only making no move to help but also sneering at him from the sidelines. Anger surged in his heart:
"Don't just stand there and talk! If you think you can do better, come on up!"
"All right!"
Hundred Palms, who had long since had enough of Nawaki's fighting style, was the first to lose patience. With a single dash, he closed in on the Sand Ninja in the time it took to draw two breaths. With a sharp cry, he landed every one of the Sixteen Palms of the Eight Trigrams on the Sand Ninja. Then he used a Kunai to slice the throat of the now helpless man, finishing him off for good!
Nawaki stood frozen, watching the Sand Ninja he'd fought for so long get taken down by Hundred Palms in the span of a few breaths. Even someone as shameless as Nawaki felt his cheeks sting a little!
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