Particle Style Cleaves Mountains

"Is this the waterfall?" Mu stood near a waterfall in the vicinity of Takigakure, accompanied by the Iwagakure diplomatic delegation.

"That's the one. I'll have to trouble you, then." Ruri stood to the side with Hagane Masamasa. In order to secure iron ore, Ruri had dispatched a ninja skilled in Earth Style to scout for mineral deposits a few days ago. Yesterday, upon returning to the village, the ninja had unexpectedly discovered signs of iron ore behind this very waterfall.

Because the Land of Waterfalls had lacked mineral deposits for years, there was essentially no talent for mining. Ruri had considered using ninja strength to extract the ore, but the village lacked ninjutsu with large-scale destructive power. The only ninja who could be considered proficient in Earth Style was Kakuzu, and he was currently unconscious.

Left with no choice, Ruri had asked Mu and his delegation to stay. Mu's Particle Style was incredibly convenient for carving through mountains to create mine shafts, and the other Earth Style ninjas could handle the subsequent work of stabilizing the mountain structure.

"Just use the Atomic Dismantling Jutsu. The cylindrical version. Don't make the power too high; just punch a tunnel through to serve as an entrance. Don't shatter the whole thing," Ruri added.

Mu: "????" How do you know so much about my Particle Style? This is my unique Kekkei Tōta, for heaven's sake!

However, since the other party was the Takikage, holding a status equal to his own Tsuchikage, Mu did not press for the source of the intelligence. He spread his hands and gave a soft shout: "Particle Style: Atomic Dismantling Jutsu!"

A white, cylindrical beam of light tore through the air, striking the cliff behind the waterfall. A moment later, a pit appeared in the cliff face.

This was the power of Particle Style; it could easily breach a cliff. Mu couldn't help but feel a sense of pride. In the ninja world, the number of ninjutsu capable of such an attack could be counted on one hand.

"You lot, use Earth Style to stabilize the cliff. I'm going to take a look." With that, Mu used the Light-Weight Rock Technique to take flight. There were few ninjas in the world capable of flight, and he felt quite satisfied showing off this ability in front of the Takikage.

Light-Weight Rock Technique, huh... How outrageous. I must make a note of this! Ruri secretly memorized Mu's hand seals, though he knew that without understanding the underlying principles and undergoing rigorous practice, it would be impossible to execute—otherwise, ninjutsu would be common knowledge, and clans wouldn't need to keep their techniques secret.

Before long, Mu flew into the mine shaft. He reached out to touch the rock wall. "So it really is iron ore! This method of mountain excavation is quite good. Iwagakure is also short on ore; it seems I can try using Particle Style to carve out some mine shafts when I return..."

But just then, Mu heard a rumbling sound from deep within. His expression shifted, and with a muttered curse, he retreated from the mine shaft at high speed.

"Increase chakra output! The cliff face is going to collapse! Stabilize it immediately!" Mu roared. At his command, all the Iwagakure ninjas sprang into action. They didn't want the Takikage to blame them for incompetence—failing to open a mine and causing a collapse instead would be the ultimate mockery for ninjas who specialized in Earth Style!

A collapse? How could this happen? Ruri frowned. The chunin had conducted a terrain survey and even attempted to open the mountain with Earth Style, but had failed due to a lack of skill. However, the mountain hadn't reacted at all; logically, this shouldn't be happening!

"Lord Takikage, this waterfall was formed by the Takigawa River being intercepted by the cliff. Although Lord Mu's Particle Style only punched a hole, it fundamentally destroyed the structural integrity of the cliff, causing it to be unable to withstand the impact of the waterfall, leading to the collapse..." Hagane Masamasa explained from the side.

Oh, so the stress point had been compromised. Ruri was somewhat surprised that Hagane Masamasa possessed such analytical ability.

"Lord Takikage, please retreat! We might not be able to hold it much longer! Once we withdraw our chakra, this entire area will be flooded!" a lead Iwagakure ninja shouted with difficulty.

"Earth Style: Earth Core!" Mu also performed hand seals to use Earth Style. Under his control, the surrounding terrain began to shift, and the ground started to sink. "Lord Takikage, I will do my best to sink the ground here to form a larger basin to store the water and create a lake, but there isn't enough time. I can only do my best; please evacuate the nearby people immediately!"

Hearing Mu say this, Ruri felt a bit embarrassed. He had thought using Particle Style to open the mine was a good idea, never imagining it would lead to this. Mu was being a stand-up guy, helping to clean up the mess without a word of complaint, even though the wrong decision had ultimately been his own.

[Ding... Congratulations on the successful establishment of the Takigakure Ninja Academy. Development of Takigakure has been promoted. Rewards have been issued; please check.]

Rewards at a time like this? Ruri had assumed the rewards for the Ninja Academy wouldn't be issued until students actually enrolled! He hurriedly checked to see if there was a way to solve the problem. System rewards might be late, but they never failed to arrive.

[Iaijutsu]

Swordsmanship? The Ninja Academy was a grand project for the village's century-long development, and all he got was a sword technique? Swordsmanship was useless in this situation! It would have been better to draw Wood Style from a lottery! Even a civilian-grade Amaterasu would be ten thousand times more useful than this lousy sword technique!

However, after Ruri delved deeper into the information, he realized he had been mistaken.

Iaijutsu was not just a single sword technique; it would be more accurate to call it the "Way of Iai." It was a sword intent and technique that encompassed all schools of Iai. In terms of characters from Naruto, only Mifune could represent it to any degree.

According to the system, Mifune's Iaijutsu hadn't reached its full potential and relied primarily on speed. Yet, even that unperfected, speed-based Iaijutsu had easily defeated the reanimated Hanzo, Deidara, and even a Ten-Tails clone, making it quite formidable among Kage-level powerhouses.

The system's Iaijutsu was a sword intent perfected to the peak, a technique that simplified the complex, and incorporated various schools. Ruri particularly favored the Iaijutsu focused on a single killing blow. What he lacked right now was high-damage ninjutsu. As the system stated, the pinnacle of Iaijutsu could cleave mountains, sever rock, and even shatter small asteroids to achieve a star-burst!

"Lord Takikage, let's go arrange for the evacuation!" Hagane Masamasa's shout pulled Ruri back to reality. But after learning the mysteries of Iaijutsu, Ruri had no intention of retreating.

Iaijutsu was the strongest strike in the ninja world, wasn't it? Cutting through a waterfall shouldn't be a problem!

"Iwagakure ninja, lend me your blade." Ruri used a Body Flicker to appear behind an Iwagakure ninja who had a short katana at his waist. Before the man could respond, Ruri drew the blade.

The moment he held the sword, Ruri instinctively took a side step and slightly hunched his body. A sharp glint erupted from his eyes, and his aura surged, becoming as suffocating as an abyss. A massive amount of chakra gathered on the blade, so intense that it made the nearby Iwagakure ninjas struggle to breathe, causing their Earth Style techniques to falter!

"What are you doing! Why did you stop..." Mu, who was sweating profusely while sinking the ground, looked up in shock after feeling the Earth Style stop. He saw an incredible sight: the chakra Ruri was emitting wasn't vast, and its fluctuations weren't violent, but the sword intent on the blade in his hand was terrifyingly chilling!

"Lord Takikage actually knows swordsmanship? With this kind of sword intent, his mastery must be even greater than those generals from the Land of Iron! And he can even coat the blade in chakra..." Hagane Masamasa trembled as he spoke. Despite being the Takikage's assistant, he realized he still knew far too little about him!

"Is he trying to cut the waterfall?!" Mu finally realized Ruri's goal. Wasn't Ruri facing exactly toward the waterfall?

The next moment, Ruri stepped forward with his right foot, leveled the blade at the center of the waterfall, and drew!