I Am Willing

For Monzaemon, the battle before him had dragged on a bit too long; theoretically, he should have ended everything within ten seconds.

But facing a ninja like Hanyu who could utilize large-scale offensive ninjutsu, Monzaemon, as a mere puppeteer, had limited options regardless of his strength. When encountering an enemy whose specialty countered one's own, any ninja would find their efforts doubled for half the result... The most orthodox way to deal with a ninjutsu-type ninja is to counter them with another ninjutsu-type ninja.

Moreover, compared to ordinary ninjas, Hanyu's casting speed was too fast—so fast that it left no gaps for the puppets to attack. This was far beyond what mere hand-seal speed could explain... No matter how fast seals were, there was a limit, yet Hanyu's casting speed seemed to have surpassed this theoretically insurmountable boundary.

Could it be one-handed seals? No, that was absolutely impossible. This speculation merely flashed through Monzaemon's mind; at the very least, he had seen Hanyu using both hands to form seals.

It was also fortunate that during this engagement, Hanyu did not display his special skill of mixing two types of elemental releases; otherwise, Monzaemon would have been driven mad.

After sinking to the bottom of the water, Hanyu lost all perception of what was happening above the surface, so he did not know that a squad of Konoha ninjas had arrived.

At this moment, he was just idling at the bottom of the water.

Nara Nagisa appeared rapidly beside the squad of ninjas and provided a briefing in the most concise manner possible: "There is only one enemy, Monzaemon of the Sand Village. Preliminary judgment suggests he has been active in this area for some time, and our captain is currently pinning him down."

Upon hearing his explanation, the leader of the squad nodded and asked, "What about this mist before us?"

"It is our captain's Water Release ninjutsu."

The squad leader nodded. He knew it was the Hidden Mist Technique, but he needed to confirm whether the person releasing it was an ally or an enemy. He then asked a ninja behind him, "Can you see the situation inside?"

The Hidden Mist Technique that Hanyu used for self-preservation had created a certain obstacle for the reinforcing ninjas.

The person standing behind the captain scanned the mist, then spoke up: "One enemy and ten puppets, so the probability of it being Monzaemon is extremely high. Our man has hidden at the bottom of the water and is currently in no immediate danger."

Grasping the entire battlefield in just an instant? The report made Nara Nagisa turn his gaze toward that ninja, and then... he saw a pair of eyes with pure white irises and pale pupils.

It was the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan. Indeed, with a pair of eyes like those, the mist before them was nothing.

After hearing the Hyuga ninja's report, the captain said to his subordinates, "Attention, the enemy is Monzaemon. We must strive to kill him here. If he breaks free, limited pursuit is permitted... You few stay here and provide support for the ninjas arriving later."

The latter part of the sentence was directed at Nara Nagisa. The young ninjas had done well enough, and the ensuing battle did not require them.

Nara nodded, fully accepting the arrangement. He knew that a four-man squad like this was composed entirely of elite jonin who traversed the battlefield daily for the sole purpose of eliminating the enemy's high-level combatants... To them, Monzaemon was the kind of target that demanded their intervention.

Monzaemon was indeed an experienced ninja; the moment the tide of battle shifted, he sensed the danger and withdrew without hesitation.

Konoha's elite squad immediately launched a pursuit.

At this time, Hanyu was still idling at the bottom of the water.

He had already reached his limit for holding his breath, but fearing that he might have his skull cracked open the moment he surfaced to breathe, he had no choice but to keep holding it.

Soon, a faint birdsong reached the bottom of the water. This was his companions signaling him, meaning, "Reinforcements have arrived, the enemy has fled, and the team is safe."

The signal rang out accurately three times. Only then did Hanyu realize that the enemy had truly left, so he slowly ascended, first his eyes, and then his entire body returning to the surface.

"Cough, cough..." Hanyu crouched on the water's surface, coughing incessantly as the water that had entered his mouth and nose was expelled.

His companions quickly reached his side, crouching down together to surround him, partly to maintain vigilance and partly to help check his condition... After all, in this battle, Hanyu had been the primary target for pressure and attacks.

Hanyu took a few heavy breaths, the feeling of suffocation in his chest finally easing. "Friends, I think I might need mouth-to-mouth resuscitation."

It was a close call, but now that he was sure they were safe, he even had the mood to crack a joke. Unexpectedly, his joke received an unforeseen response.

"I'll do it."

The person who spoke was Chichiwa.

"..."

Hanyu and the other two members of the team were stunned for a moment, and then, as they realized what Chichiwa had said, they all leaned back in shock.

"Uh, I was just joking," Hanyu said quite awkwardly. Who could have expected that such a remark would get a response? The female ninja in the team was a bit too bold.

Yes, Chichiwa was indeed bold, but her boldness was not at all what Hanyu had in mind, and... he had been feeling a bit too good about himself.

"Don't move."

Chichiwa knelt on the water, reached out to support one of Hanyu's arms, and then unfastened the arm guard tied to it before rolling up his sleeve... Finally, two very faint wounds were revealed.

Earlier, when Hanyu was blocking the puppets' attacks, the sharp blades had slightly pierced his arm guard, but because the wounds were so shallow, he hadn't noticed anything at the time.

By now, his arm had turned pitch black—puppets and toxins were inseparable; a puppeteer who didn't use poison was no puppeteer at all.

Then, Chichiwa held Hanyu's arm with one hand, and a refreshing coolness emanated from her fingertips, which was quite soothing... until her other hand pulled out a kunai.

"Should I cut it? I think the sooner we act, the better; the poison has already started to spread."

In just this short while, Hanyu's entire forearm had turned pitch black, but looking at Chichiwa's calm, unruffled eyes, he couldn't help but feel that she looked rather eager to try.

It must be an illusion, it had to be an illusion.

Thus, Hanyu said with great certainty:

"I think... I can still be saved."