People Cannot Be Treated the Same (Please Vote)

Hell Valley sounded like a mountain valley, but it was actually an underground cavern located at the center of Seven Grass Island.

After passing through a long, pitch-black tunnel, the full sight of Hell Valley appeared before Araki and the others.

It was a rather low-lying hilly terrain, with countless small earthen mounds scattered irregularly throughout. The entire area spanned several hundred meters in both length and width. At the end of the hills were several muddy yellow springs bubbling with a "gurgle, gurgle."

"Those are the [Universal Mud]!"

Bando pointed at the springs at the end of the hills.

Zabuza looked ahead and asked, "Then why is this place—"

Before he could finish, the small mounds below suddenly began hissing. Streams of pale purple gas shot out, and in an instant, the entire hilly area was shrouded in a layer of purple mist.

"This is..."

Seeing the obviously poisonous purple fog below, Kisame turned to Bando.

"This is why it is called [Hell Valley]. The holes in the ground periodically spew highly concentrated gas. It happens frequently and without any pattern. The gas is also extremely toxic. Even slight contact will cause poisoning and unconsciousness."

Bando's tone was somewhat helpless.

As a major merchant group on Red Province Island, the Kamizumi Clan had once considered sending people in to forcibly mine the [Universal Mud] despite the danger. After all, the profits involved were simply too great.

However, after losing dozens of people without managing to advance more than a few steps, they had no choice but to abandon that dangerous idea.

Bando looked at Kisame expectantly. "The three of you are powerful shinobi from Mist Village. You should have a solution, right?"

Kisame ignored him and instead looked at the two genin under his command. "What do you think? Do either of you have any ideas?"

This was only a C-rank mission, after all. Its main purpose was to train the genin, and unless absolutely necessary, Kisame did not want to step in and do their work for them.

Araki held his sword and pondered. "Judging from the gas eruptions just now, as long as someone is agile and fast enough, it should be possible to get through."

Still, he did not state it too definitively. This was only the first time they had seen the gas erupt. What if the situation changed afterward?

"I can use a Water Clone to test it!"

Zabuza's answer was much more straightforward. It was only a clone, so it did not matter if it died.

What a hardhead!

Araki shot him a surprised look.

"Then try your own methods first!"

Kisame did not comment on either of their ideas, merely signaling for them to give it a try.

Zabuza immediately formed hand seals and created a Water Clone, then sent it down to die—cough, to investigate.

Although a Water Clone only possessed one-tenth of the original body's chakra, its strength and speed were not diminished. [Clone Zabuza] jumped down without a word of complaint. The moment he landed, he flashed dozens of meters away with a whoosh.

"Is he trying to use the Body Flicker Technique to rush through quickly, leaving the gas no chance to erupt?"

At that moment, Araki understood Zabuza's plan. Simply put, it was [only speed could overcome all]!

"But with your speed, can you really cross several hundred meters in such a short time?"

Just as that question arose in Araki's mind, the gas below immediately gave him an answer.

Puff! Puff! Puff!

Countless holes in the ground erupted at once. Innumerable purple columns of gas crisscrossed and nearly covered the entire surface. Zabuza's Water Clone did its best to dodge, but danger surrounded him on all sides. He did not know any Wind Style Ninjutsu and had no means of defense. A few seconds later, he could only dissolve into water unwillingly and vanish.

"It is still too difficult to force your way through with speed alone, unless you can cross several hundred meters in a single second."

Araki suddenly paused. Who was the fastest shinobi in the Shinobi World right now? The Third Raikage?

With the incredible speed of Lightning Release Chakra Mode, he should be able to charge through by force. And with Lightning Release Armor protecting him, even getting hit would not be a problem.

No, that was not right!

This was gas. If it came into contact with lightning, it might explode outright.

A chain gas explosion in a nearly sealed cavern like this... the results would be—

Araki stopped his wandering thoughts and looked at Kisame. "Captain, your Water Release should be able to fill this entire cavern, right? If so, even if the gas erupts, it will dissolve into the water and become much less dangerous."

"I can indeed do that, but are you sure you want to ask me for help?"

Kisame looked at the two of them with his small round eyes.

"Of course not. Such a simple mission does not need to trouble the captain." Araki immediately shook his head. "Let me go down and try it myself!"

Hearing that, Zabuza glanced back at him. The meaning was obvious: You just called me a hardhead, but at least I used a Water Clone to test it. You are planning to go in yourself? So who is the bigger hardhead?

Araki returned Zabuza's look. People cannot be treated the same. When you go down, it is being hardheaded. When I go down, it is because I know exactly what I am doing!

Wind Release: Gale Palm!

After first applying the buff of [Grace of the Wind] to himself, Araki gave a light leap and jumped down.

After finding his footing on the hills below, he did not rashly move forward. Instead, he carefully observed his surroundings, chose a spot where the nearby holes were relatively sparse, and quietly waited for the next gas eruption.

"What is he doing?"

Zabuza was somewhat confused by Araki's behavior of simply standing there after going down.

"Araki probably wants to personally test whether his speed is enough to evade the gas eruptions."

Kisame was experienced and saw through Araki's intentions at a glance, explaining them to Zabuza.

As they spoke, densely packed purple columns of gas filled the entire space once more.

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!

Araki focused completely, his feet slightly raised. The instant the gas columns appeared, he moved.

Faced with a gas column shooting toward him from the rear left, he rapidly adjusted his footing and leaned to the right to evade it.

At the same time, three gas columns shot toward him from the front, left, and right, intersecting at different heights.

Araki turned sideways, leaned back, spun, jumped, and crouched. For one gas column he simply could not avoid as it came straight at him, he used Gale Palm to blow it away. In an instant, his body moved continuously like an acrobat, and only then did he avoid being struck by even a single gas column.

A moment later, the gas subsided. Araki stood where he was, lightly sweating.

He pushed off with his feet and shot straight upward, returning to the platform where he had been standing before. Zabuza was staring at him in shock, as though he had seen God.

"Captain, I think this place is very suitable for practicing Hoho. Can we stay here for a few more days?" Araki asked with a smile.

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