Fierce Battle

A massive fireball and a cascading rock torrent collided violently in midair.

"Boom!"

The flames burst instantly, illuminating the dim canyon as if it were daylight.

Yet, just as Nishikawa Tetsu had anticipated, while the high heat could evaporate the rain, it couldn't stop several tons of rock backed by gravitational potential energy.

The fireball was crushed out in an instant; the enormous falling boulders were merely scorched black on the surface, still carrying a deadly wind pressure as they howled down toward the three of them.

"Scatter!"

Uchiha Fugaku bellowed.

In truth, no reminder was needed—the moment he began forming hand seals, Nishikawa Tetsu and Namikaze Minato had already launched themselves to either side.

"Thud—!!!"

The boulder slammed into the spot where the three had stood, sending mud splashing three meters high. The ground trembled violently, as if it would swallow everything whole.

Riding the shockwave's backlash, Nishikawa Tetsu kicked off the slick rock wall repeatedly, pressing himself behind a protruding boulder.

He had barely steadied himself, not yet catching his breath, when several sharp sounds of piercing air cut through the rain.

"Earth Style: Earth Rising Spears!"

The ground suddenly swelled, and several sharp rock spears, like fangs thrusting up from below, stabbed precisely at the landing points of the three.

"Hmph!"

Uchiha Fugaku snorted coldly, the Three Tomoe in his eyes spinning wildly as he pushed his kinetic vision to its limit.

He twisted his waist in midair, evading the lethal strike with an extremely awkward posture, while simultaneously flinging several shuriken from both hands.

"Clink, clink, clink!"

Sparks flew; the Uchiha Clan's masterful throwing technique was on full display. Those shuriken arced through the air, bypassing the stone spears entirely, and shot straight toward the shadows atop the cliff.

"As expected of the Sharingan—pretty quick reflexes."

A rough voice came from above.

With a "bang," a puff of white smoke dispersed, revealing four Stone Ninja in reddish-brown armor.

The leader was a burly jonin with a vicious scar across his left cheek. He looked down at the three struggling figures below, his eyes full of mockery.

"But with two dead weights in tow, how long can you hold out, Konoha brat?"

The Scarred Jonin slammed his hands onto the ground.

"Earth Style: Earth Flow River!"

The once-hard canyon floor instantly turned into a raging mudslide.

Nishikawa Tetsu felt his footing give way; his center of gravity shifted in an instant, and he began sliding down with the mud.

"Tetsu!"

A golden flash cut through the rain.

Namikaze Minato's figure appeared beside Nishikawa Tetsu in an instant, grabbing him by the collar. Chakra exploded from his feet as he forcibly stomped on the flowing mud and leaped onto a patch of high ground untouched by the slide.

"Thanks, Minato." Nishikawa Tetsu quickly adjusted his stance, pulling a kunai from his Ninja Tool Pouch and going on alert.

"This terrain is way too disadvantageous for us." Namikaze Minato frowned deeply, his blue eyes filled with urgency. "They hold the high ground, and Earth Style's power multiplies in this rocky area."

"It's more than that."

Nishikawa Tetsu analyzed calmly, his gaze locked on the enemies above. "They're a standard squad formation. One jonin handles the main offense and area control, three chunin provide firepower suppression and defense. That scarred guy's chakra level is about the same as Fugaku-senpai's."

While the two were speaking, Uchiha Fugaku at the center of the battlefield had already fallen into a tough fight.

He had to dodge the mudflow at his feet while fending off a dense barrage of ninjutsu from the four enemies above.

"Earth Style: Rock Iron Bullet!"

Countless fist-sized rocks rained down like machine-gun bullets.

Uchiha Fugaku's hands flew through hand seals, his chest swelling.

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Over a dozen phoenix-flower-like flames burst forth, striking down the incoming rocks one by one.

Yet the torrential rain in the Land of Rain severely weakened the Fire Style's power. What should have been flames capable of melting rock could now only barely shatter the stones.

Fine gravel cut Uchiha Fugaku's cheek; blood mixed with rain as it streamed down, making him look especially ferocious.

"This damn weather!"

Uchiha Fugaku gritted his teeth, a sense of humiliation burning in his heart.

If this were on flat ground, or if the weather were clear, he would have already turned the tables with genjutsu and Fire Style.

But this cursed terrain and weather had sealed his strength.

"Minato! Don't just stand there! Cover me!"

Uchiha Fugaku roared, abandoning his defensive stance and charging up the rock wall, braving the falling rocks.

"Yes!"

Namikaze Minato's eyes sharpened as the special kunai in his hand spun once.

"Body Flicker Technique!"

The next second, his figure vanished from where he stood.

When he reappeared, Minato had already ghosted to the diagonal rear of the Scarred Jonin.

"So fast!"

Several Stone Chunin exclaimed in shock. They hadn't even seen the blond youth's movement trajectory.

The kunai in Minato's hand whistled with sharp wind, thrusting straight for the Scarred Jonin's carotid artery.

Yet, just as the kunai was about to strike, the Scarred Jonin's lips curled into a cold smirk. Without even turning his head, his skin surface instantly turned a dark brown.

"Earth Release: Earth Spear!"

"Clang!"

A crisp metallic ring echoed.

Minato felt as if he'd stabbed a steel plate; the massive recoil numbed his hand.

"Too green, kid! An attack like that can't even scratch my skin!"

The Scarred Jonin swung a reverse punch.

The fist carried a howling wind—if it hit, his head would burst like a watermelon.

Relying on his superhuman neural reaction speed, Minato tilted his head back at the last possible moment to dodge, but the fierce wind still sheared off a few strands of his blond hair.

"Fall back!"

Failing to land a hit, Minato decisively retreated, bounding back to Uchiha Fugaku's side in a few leaps.

"No good, senior. His skin's hardened; ordinary kunai can't pierce it." Minato panted, his expression grim.

At this stage, he hadn't yet developed the Rasengan, and against a high-defense Earth Release ninja like this, he truly lacked a one-shot kill option.

By then, Uchiha Fugaku had also charged forward, but was immediately blocked by three other Stone Ninja using "Earth Flow Wall."

The four Stone Ninja stood atop a towering rock wall, looking down from above. A semicircular earthen barrier rose around them, protecting them like a turtle shell, leaving only a few firing holes.

"So this is Konoha's genius and its great clan?"

The Scarred Jonin stood behind the earthen wall, his voice dripping with mockery. "Can't even break through my defense. Better go back and drink milk."

"Oh, I forgot—you're not going back!"

With that, the four Stone Ninja began forming hand seals simultaneously.

The surrounding rock walls started shaking violently. Clearly, they were preparing a large-scale combination jutsu, intending to bury these three Konoha brats alive in the canyon.

A dead end.

Uchiha Fugaku stared hard at the sturdy earthen wall, his hand pressed over his eye.

"Minato, take Tetsu and retreat."

Fugaku's voice was low and hoarse. "I'll force a breakthrough myself."

He was ready to overdraw his dojutsu, forcibly using a large-scale genjutsu he hadn't fully mastered yet.

"It's useless, senior."

A hand suddenly pressed down on Uchiha Fugaku's shoulder.

Nishikawa Tetsu, who hadn't acted at all, had somehow appeared behind them both.

He was soaked through, black hair plastered to his face, but his eyes burned with an unsettling brightness.

"That hardening technique uses chakra to alter skin density. Unless you've got piercing power on the level of Four-Finger Nukite, a direct assault will just waste chakra. Besides..."

Tetsu pointed at the semicircular earthen wall, the corner of his mouth lifting into a slightly manic grin:

"They built this half-enclosed dome specifically to defend against fire release and shuriken, leaving only the front firing holes, right?"

"So what?" Fugaku shook off Tetsu's hand impatiently. "This isn't the time for your lectures!"

"Enclosed space, dry interior environment, plus..."

Tetsu ignored Fugaku's anger, pulling from his ninja tool pouch the several bags of gray-white powder he'd mixed back at camp, along with two explosive tags.

He looked at Minato, his tone as calm as if discussing what to have for dinner:

"Minato, with your Body Flicker Technique, can you toss these bags precisely into the firing holes of that earthen wall?"

Minato paused, then looked at the powder in Tetsu's hands, seeming to catch on. His eyes lit up. "Just toss them in?"

"Yeah, toss them in. Make sure they scatter."

Tetsu turned to Uchiha Fugaku and handed him the explosive tags:

"Then, Senior Fugaku. The moment Minato pulls back, even if it makes your eyes bleed, send this explosive tag in with a shuriken. You have to detonate the powder inside."

"You're trying to..." Fugaku stared at the items in his hand, brow furrowed, but seeing the certainty in Tetsu's eyes, he inexplicably abandoned his plan to overdraw his dojutsu.

"This is science, senior."

Through the curtain of rain, Tetsu looked at them as if they were already dead men. "Its technical name is—Dust Explosion."