A Clash

Was that the Explosion Release ninja after all? It seemed Iwagakure's artistic style had been passed down through the generations.

But Yuzuru couldn't afford to focus on the Explosion Release ninja right now.

On the battlefield, there was a contradiction between objective reality and conventional wisdom: "A Genin's life is still a life," and "No one expects much from a Genin."

Was an Iwagakure jonin really that easy to keep occupied? In terms of raw strength, Yuzuru was at a marked disadvantage. It was practically a gap in their "stats."

"Not bad speed."

The enemy was remarkably calm. As Yuzuru charged at him, he even offered that compliment.

Yuzuru shot a glance toward Torifu Akimichi, then immediately focused all his attention on the enemy in front of him... He simply had no time to keep track of how his captain was faring.

"What should I call you?" he asked casually.

"Doto, Iwagakure jonin."

Doto answered, but that didn't mean he planned to make small talk with his enemy. As he spoke, his hands had already finished forming hand seals.

Earth Release: Earth Spear.

In the blink of an eye, the ground beneath Yuzuru exploded. The bedrock hidden under the soft, wet soil suddenly seemed to come alive. The solid rock rapidly shifted shape, transforming into jagged spikes that thrust at Yuzuru from every direction like a mountain of swords.

No—judging by the technique's range, Yuzuru was about to be swallowed up by it. If he got hit, he would either die or be seriously injured.

Fortunately, Yuzuru immediately spotted a safe place: where Doto was standing. Chakra burst beneath his feet, and he appeared behind his enemy with the Body Flicker Technique.

But Doto was a jonin with abundant combat experience and sharp instincts. The instant Yuzuru appeared behind him, Doto swung his right arm backward, his burly limb stirring up a rush of air!

As the wind buffeted his face, Yuzuru instinctively leaned back, barely dodging the attack.

Looking at the man's thick arm and feeling the force behind his blow, Yuzuru understood at once. There was no need to talk about taking a direct hit—even a glancing blow could leave him severely injured and near death. His opponent was a ninja whose strength lay in his physical power.

But Doto's attack didn't stop. His arm came to a precise halt above Yuzuru's torso, then came crashing down.

"I—"

Yuzuru didn't even have time to curse. He bent backward again, arching as far as he could until his upper and lower body nearly folded together. Only then did he dodge the attack.

Boom!

Doto's arm slammed into the ground, missing Yuzuru by a hair. Muddy water and flying stones splattered all over his face.

The enemy still hadn't hit him, but in his current position, Yuzuru would have trouble dodging another attack.

So why keep dodging? Just because his opponent was a jonin and he was a Genin?

Yuzuru gritted his teeth, braced both hands against the ground, and unleashed chakra through his feet. Then, almost upside down, he kicked his opponent in the chest...

Er, he landed the kick, but the enemy didn't budge an inch.

The difference in their size and strength was plain to see. Yuzuru's kick did no damage at all. In fact, Doto was reaching down to grab his ankle.

My Taijutsu is way too weak, Yuzuru sighed to himself.

For an Earth Release ninja of Doto's caliber, his techniques might have looked simple, but in combat they combined offense and defense so well that a ninja like Yuzuru was left helpless.

Fortunately, Yuzuru wasn't fighting alone. Just as Doto was about to attack again, a white beast covered in strange markings charged into him and sent him flying.

Kairi Omori had arrived to help.

Yuzuru immediately used the opening to put some distance between himself and the enemy. Then he saw Kairi take a square piece of paper marked with a strange design from her Ninja Tool Pouch. As she formed hand seals, she folded the paper. When she finished, a bird appeared in her palm.

"Go!"

The bird let out a cry, and the paper bird sprang to life. It flew through the air for a short distance, then swooped toward the enemy who had been knocked away.

Boom!

Another explosion rang out. Kairi had hidden an Exploding Tag inside the paper bird.

"The weather's too bad. My technique won't last long," Kairi explained to Yuzuru.

Yuzuru looked at the beast that had initially knocked the enemy away. It was beginning to dissolve in the pouring rain... Well, paper didn't hold up in water. That made sense.

He turned to look at the enemy. As the smoke cleared, Doto reappeared. It seemed the Exploding Tag hadn't worked.

Doto's right arm was covered in a layer of rock, which had blocked the blast from the Exploding Tag. This was the Fist Rock Technique, a common Earth Release technique in Iwagakure.

Most ninjas had high offense and low defense, but Yuzuru couldn't even get past this sort of low defense with his attack power... He supposed he'd have to use a certain someone's number.

"Kairi, can you use that Binding Technique from earlier to hold him in place? Just for an instant?" Yuzuru asked.

"His chakra is strong, but... if it's only for a moment, I can try."

"Good. There's a technique I want to try, too."

Kairi glanced at Yuzuru but said nothing. At a time like this, it didn't matter whether a Genin could really pull off a finishing move. Teammates had to trust each other.

Kairi kept folding paper birds as she maintained her distance and fought the enemy. Yuzuru shifted positions with the Body Flicker Technique from time to time, waiting for an opening.

The enemy wasn't very agile. That seemed like a weakness, and it looked as though they could wear him down little by little with a "hit-and-run" strategy. But that possibility existed only in theory. If the fight dragged on, Kairi would be the first to run out of chakra.

Her paper birds weren't very threatening, but their flight paths and the spots where they were shot down had been carefully planned. In no time, they had formed a ring around Doto... She was quietly setting up the Binding Technique that way.

Then she gave Yuzuru a look.

Good! Yuzuru understood at once.

Kairi formed hand seals. A pattern of markings lit up on the ground, and the Binding Technique was complete. Doto's movements immediately came to a halt.

At the same time, chakra burst beneath Yuzuru's feet. He flickered forward in a series of blurs, closing in on his enemy at a strangely high speed.

In that moment, all Yuzuru could hear was the wind. As he moved at high speed, he even felt space stretching around him. The thick air dragged at his speed, but each time chakra surged through him, he left that resistance behind in an instant.

He didn't know how fast he was, but he felt he could go even faster. In the rain, his afterimages were everywhere.

But the Binding Technique had limited effect at such a distance, and Doto had more chakra than Kairi. So the moment he realized he was bound, he recklessly gathered chakra throughout his body.

In the blink of an eye, he broke free of the invisible restraints.

With a deafening boom, Doto smashed his fist into the ground. The earth cracked apart, and as the terrain was destroyed, Kairi's Binding Technique was shattered with it.

This was Doto's strongest outburst. He had mastered most of Iwagakure's practical Earth Release techniques, but what had earned him a place among the elite jonin was his ability to use a highly destructive Earth Release technique...

Added-Weight Rock Technique.

Now, he had decided to attack without holding back.

The gap in strength between the two sides became clear once more. But actual combat between ninjas wasn't a matter of simply comparing strength.

It was precisely because anything could happen that the outcome of a fight between ninjas was always uncertain.

Amid the rumbling of the ground breaking apart, Doto's ears picked up a strange sound with pinpoint accuracy, like something spinning at high speed.

Friction? Rotation?

The flying rubble cleared, revealing Yuzuru. He surged to his enemy's side, then opened his right hand. The bright blue sphere of chakra in his palm lit up the expressionless face before him.

The curtain of rain caught and scattered the light from the chakra sphere, casting soft, scattered glimmers through the gloomy surroundings.

Then, as Doto stared in disbelief, the chakra sphere sank easily into his chest.

Yuzuru gasped for breath. He was covered in blood; clearly, the shockwaves from his enemy's indiscriminate attack had hit him. But... trading an injury for a life was worth it.

Worried about a desperate counterattack, Yuzuru used the Body Flicker Technique to retreat as soon as his attack landed.

Just as expected, Doto straightened up. He looked at Yuzuru as he withdrew, then glanced down at his chest.

Blood poured uncontrollably from his body. His abundant vitality was draining away just as helplessly...

Then his body swayed, and he collapsed face-first onto the ground.