Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique

Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!

Each time Hyuga Rei struck Watanabe in the chest, a bone-chilling impact rang out, like a war drum booming across a battlefield.

[Under attack: Vitality +21, Defense +13, Pain -11...]

[Under attack: Vitality +20, Defense +11...]

Although Hyuga Rei's Eight Trigrams Palm barrage had left Watanabe unable to defend himself, he had suffered no real injuries. On the contrary, the more he was hit, the more vigorous his vitality became, and his whole body felt wonderfully at ease.

Her blows are much weaker than Tsunade's.

Watanabe thought to himself. Aside from Tsunade, this was the first time he had been beaten around by another girl.

Unaware of Watanabe's thoughts, Hyuga Rei attacked his chakra pathway system with the Gentle Fist Style while reminding him, "Watanabe-kun, you can surrender if you can't take it anymore. Otherwise, I might beat you to death."

With strength like yours, you'd have to chip away at me for a year before you could kill me.

Naturally, Watanabe had no intention of surrendering. He forcibly rallied himself, interrupted her combo, and began trying to counterattack.

Hyuga Rei's pretty face turned cold. She had not expected Watanabe to still resist her.

Our Taijutsu is clearly on completely different levels. How could you possibly stand a chance once I get close?

"Gentle Fist Style, Eight Trigrams Thirty-two Palms!"

Hyuga Rei intensified her assault. Her hands became a series of afterimages as they rained down on Watanabe like a tempest, sending Chakra into the acupoints throughout his body to restrict the output and flow of his Chakra.

[Under attack: Pain -12, Chakra Flow +17...]

[Under attack: Pain -10, Chakra Flow +15...]

Watanabe suddenly felt something strange. The harder Hyuga Rei hit him, the smoother the Chakra flowed through his body. However, her uninterrupted combo gave him no chance to form hand seals and cast Ninjutsu, leaving him only able to clumsily counterattack with his fists.

But aside from Ninjutsu, Watanabe's Taijutsu was completely lacking in killing power. Naturally, it posed no threat to Hyuga Rei.

"Why hasn't he given up yet?!"

Hyuga Rei gradually grew astonished.

The Hyuga Clan's Gentle Fist Style was Konoha's strongest Taijutsu school. It could directly destroy an enemy's chakra pathway system and leave them completely incapable of resistance. Ordinary ninja could not even endure the Eight Trigrams Sixteen Palms, yet she had already unleashed the Eight Trigrams Thirty-two Palms, and Watanabe still had not fallen.

"Eight Trigrams Sixty-four Palms!"

Hyuga Rei hardened her resolve and unleashed an even more violent offensive, sternly warning Watanabe at the same time:

"If you still won't surrender, you'll really die!"

She certainly wanted to win, but she did not wish to kill anyone. If she completed the entire sixty-four-palms sequence, Watanabe would become crippled even if he survived.

Watanabe did not respond. The stubborn way he continued throwing punches made his refusal to admit defeat clear.

Seeing this, Hyuga Rei's astonishment swiftly turned to emotion.

She knew better than anyone that once the chakra pathway system had been damaged by the Gentle Fist Style, even moving a finger would bring agonizing pain, let alone throwing punches.

Wasn't he afraid of death?

Hyuga Rei could not understand. She had to defeat Watanabe in order to escape the Caged Bird, but what was Watanabe fighting for? Why was he persisting to this point, even disregarding his own life?

Hyuga Rei had only heard of Watanabe two months ago. Back then, her classmates had been talking about Tsunade, saying that Tsunade had recently become very close with Watanabe and that the two were likely a couple.

At the time, Hyuga Rei had thought Watanabe was a pretty boy trying to climb the social ladder, someone skilled at seducing girls. In short, she had held him in very low regard. Once their battle began, she had also thought him a petty man no less cunning than herself. But now, her impression of Watanabe changed once again.

A petty man seeking to climb the social ladder could not possess such tenacious willpower.

Then what kind of person was Watanabe, really?

For the first time, Hyuga Rei felt curious enough to want to understand Watanabe. Yet her desire for victory was even stronger than her curiosity.

"No matter what kind of person you are, I have to win this battle!"

Hyuga Rei strengthened her resolve and struck every palm with all her strength.

"Don't blame me if you die!"

[Under attack: Pain -12, Chakra Flow +15...]

Looks like I have to use that move.

Watanabe thought helplessly.

If possible, he did not want to use the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique. It was far too expensive—one explosive tag cost him an entire month's living expenses.

But the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique was now his only way to break the deadlock. Otherwise, even if Hyuga Rei could not wear him down, she would still beat him straight out of the ring.

With a flick of his wrist, Watanabe pulled an explosive tag from the pouch at his waist. No matter how fierce Hyuga Rei's attack was, he forcibly formed the hand seals with both hands.

"Oh no!"

At the judges' table, Danzo's expression changed drastically, and even Hiruzen showed shock.

There was no mistake. That hand seal was indeed for that technique. The two of them were extremely familiar with the Ninjutsu Tobirama had left behind: another forbidden technique after the Multiple Shadow Clone.

Compared with the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique, the Multiple Shadow Clone was actually less dangerous. As long as one had enough Chakra to support it, the Multiple Shadow Clone could be performed without any harm. But the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique was different—regardless of how much Chakra one had, using it meant perishing together with the enemy.

"Has he gone insane?!"

Danzo rarely lost his composure. Based on Watanabe's earlier performance, he had no doubt that Watanabe had already mastered the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique.

That was a forbidden ninjutsu even he did not dare learn. Once it was used, the entire Training Ground would be blown apart!

Hyuga Tenfu, Uchiha Chiri, and the others looked at him in surprise, unable to understand why Danzo had reacted so strongly. Watanabe had merely taken out an explosive tag.

Explosive tags were similar in nature to kunai and counted as Ninja Tools. They could be brought onto the arena and did not violate the rules.

On the other side, when Hyuga Rei saw Watanabe take out an explosive tag, she sensed his intention to take her down with him. She decisively used Rotation, as a massive amount of Chakra burst from the acupoints all over her body to resist the coming explosion.

By then, Watanabe had completed his hand seals. He raised his hand, about to stick the explosive tag onto himself—

Whoosh!

Hiruzen Sarutobi suddenly appeared between Watanabe and Hyuga Rei, grabbing them both at once and forcibly ending the fight.

"That's enough. There's no need to continue. This match is a draw," Hiruzen Sarutobi announced.

Watanabe breathed a sigh of relief. Honestly, the Third had stepped in at just the right time. It was best if he could save the explosive tags.

The principle behind the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique was to combine it with the Summoning Jutsu. In theory, a single explosive tag could be used to repeatedly summon countless explosive tags in an endless cycle. However, the summoned explosive tags were not created out of thin air; they had to be prepared in advance.

Watanabe was very poor. One explosive tag cost him a month's living expenses. He only had nine of them, all given to him by Tsunade back when he had practiced the Mutual Multiplication Paper Bomb Technique.

Watanabe had originally planned to detonate all nine explosive tags at once. Their power would have been enough to blast through Hyuga Rei's Rotation defense without endangering her life. It would have been perfect.