As Uchiha Shisui withdrew, the Mist Shinobi's formation immediately became more orderly. They no longer had to divide their attention between defending against Uchiha Shisui's genjutsu and his Body Flicker ambushes, and could focus all their attention on Hyuga Ritsu.
The next moment,
The well-trained Mist Shinobi split into two groups. Those in the front rank simultaneously hurled Shuriken, Kunai, and poisoned Senbon, sending them hurtling toward Hyuga Ritsu from every direction like a storm.
Meanwhile,
The rear rank quickly formed Hand Seals and gathered Chakra, preparing to unleash ninjutsu attacks.
In fact,
Ninja battles weren't simply a matter of launching ninjutsu and genjutsu at each other as soon as the opponents met.
Taijutsu was the most commonly used way for ninja to fight. The reason was simple: the vast majority of ninja spent their entire lives struggling with the problem of never having enough Chakra.
For Chunin and Genin, releasing just three or five low-level techniques was often enough to exhaust their Chakra. If they couldn't kill their opponent with those few techniques, they were as good as dead.
But if they fought with Taijutsu, they could keep trading blows for hours without a problem.
This wasn't just true for Chunin and Genin. Even Jonin rarely spent their Chakra recklessly on ninjutsu in battle. They used it cautiously, and never wasted Chakra on a technique when they could defeat an enemy with Taijutsu.
But everything depended on the circumstances. There were no hard and fast rules in battle. Avoiding ninjutsu attacks was simply customary, not a strict rule that had to be followed.
At that moment,
The Mist Shinobi had an overwhelming advantage in numbers.
Even if they exhausted their Chakra, they still had allies to protect them. So why risk fighting Hyuga Ritsu up close, when he excelled at Taijutsu? The sensible choice was to blast him to death with ninjutsu. Lord Suikazan Fuguki hadn't ordered them to capture him alive.
[Water Release: Water Shark Bullet] [Water Release: Water Shark Bullet] [Water Release: Water Shark Bullet]
The Mist Shinobi unleashed the same C-rank Water Release Technique. One lifelike water shark after another shot from their mouths, hurtling toward Hyuga Ritsu like cannonballs.
"Just what I was waiting for!"
Hyuga Ritsu easily knocked away all the Shuriken, Kunai, and Senbon without the slightest panic. He had been prepared for this. In an instant, he took up his stance, and Chakra burst from the points all over his body in an orderly flow, propelling him into a rapid spin like a top.
A hemispherical barrier made entirely of rapidly spinning Chakra formed in an instant, then expanded outward at tremendous speed.
[Eight Trigrams Palms: Revolving Heaven]
The Hyuga Clan's absolute defense technique.
Every water shark that struck Rotation was smashed to pieces without exception, breaking into splashes of water that drenched the Mist Shinobi around them. Rotation expanded at astonishing speed, and more than a dozen Mist Shinobi in the front realized something was wrong and tried to retreat—but it was already too late.
Only three Jonin were quick enough to escape in time with the Body Flicker Technique. The other nine Chunin couldn't dodge and took the full force of Rotation at close range. Their faces and bodies were mangled beyond recognition, and they were flung in every direction like chunks of bloody meat.
Defense followed by counterattack—
That was the true essence of Rotation!
"Beautiful!"
Uchiha Shisui caught the sight out of the corner of his eye and praised it sincerely. That only made Hozuki Mangetsu, who was fighting him, even more irritated.
Shisui was fighting him and still had time to look around. It was plain that he was underestimating him.
But his anger had barely flared up before it died away.
Sigh!
So what if Shisui was underestimating him?
He really couldn't beat the man. For now, all he could do was barely hold his ground. As long as he kept Uchiha Shisui occupied, that contribution was more than enough to brag about.
Elsewhere,
After using Rotation to counterattack and kill nine Mist Shinobi, Hyuga Ritsu stood in the crater it had carved out. He glanced at the Mist Shinobi, whose ranks were visibly in disarray, then at Suikazan Fuguki, who still showed no intention of joining the fight.
"Planning to use your men's lives to drain my Chakra? That's pretty ruthless!"
Hyuga Ritsu gave a soft laugh.
The next moment,
His attacks came as fast as lightning.
[Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm]
If Suikazan Fuguki wanted to use his subordinates' lives to drain Hyuga Ritsu's Chakra, then so be it. He didn't mind spending his own Chakra to trade for the lives of these Mist Shinobi.
Blasts of pressure, infused with Chakra, shot toward the Mist Shinobi, throwing their already disordered ranks into utter chaos.
After firing off twelve palms in a row, the Chakra he'd refined and circulated through the channels in his arms ran out. He had no choice but to stop and refine and circulate more.
That flurry of attacks killed five Mist Shinobi and wounded three more. The rest were forced to scatter in every direction, their original formation torn to pieces.
Hyuga Ritsu seized the opportunity. Not giving them a chance to put more distance between them and launch ninjutsu attacks, he shot forward like an arrow loosed from a bow and darted straight into their midst.
[Ten Finger Bullet]
Hyuga Ritsu faced the Mist Shinobi who stood ready to fight with a sword in hand. Raising both hands, he aimed his fingertips at the enemies to either side. Ten finger bones shot from his fingertips, five to each side.
Two screams rang out.
Caught off guard by the sudden attack, the two Mist Shinobi were struck through the chest by the finger bones' powerful impact, and died on the spot.
The Mist Shinobi in front seized the opening and drove his long sword fiercely toward Hyuga Ritsu's chest. But two rows of white bones sprouted from Ritsu's chest, blocking the deadly blade.
Then,
Hyuga Ritsu swung his palm with a powerful strike. A white bone suddenly thrust out from his palm, plunging into the left eye of the Mist Shinobi in front of him. The man let out a brief, agonized cry, then fell silent.
"Fall back! Fall back!"
The Jonin roared.
"Get some distance and use ninjutsu!"
"Don't rush in and get yourselves killed!"
"Rally around the nearest Jonin!"
Under their orders, the Mist Shinobi, who had been thrown into disarray, began to move as commanded, trying to regroup around the Jonin.
But Hyuga Ritsu was right on their heels.
Chakra burst from his feet, suddenly increasing his speed. The sharp white bones that extended from his palms easily slashed open the throats of two Chunin, then thrust straight toward the Jonin in front of him.
The opposing Jonin reacted quickly, raising his long sword to block. But before the blade and bone could meet, the bone suddenly retracted. The sword struck nothing, and Hyuga Ritsu used the opening to close in on the Jonin.
He thrust his left palm straight toward the Jonin's chest. But this Jonin was no pushover. He reacted quickly, decisively drawing back his left arm and bracing it across his chest, ready to sacrifice his arm if it meant catching the bone emerging from Hyuga Ritsu's palm.
Only—
No bone emerged from Hyuga Ritsu's palm. Instead, a fierce lion's head formed from densely concentrated Chakra coiled around it. This was the—[Gentle Step Twin Lion Fist].
The left palm, wrapped in a deep-blue lion's head, slammed into the Jonin's left arm, which was braced across his chest. A sharp crack rang out as the bones in his arm broke. The palm drove his broken arm into the center of his chest, and the fabric over the same spot on his back burst with a ripping sound.
The Jonin violently spat out a mouthful of blood, splattering Hyuga Ritsu's plain white clothes. He toppled backward and lay still.
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