The border between the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning stretched across terrain that gradually shifted from desolate rocky mountains to rugged hills.
Jingxin and the others made their way through the hills.
Their mission was B-rank: according to intelligence, several missing-nin whom the Anbu had been tracking had appeared nearby.
This had originally been the Anbu's job, but Jingxin had asked to take it over.
At noon, the four of them took shelter in a hidden cave.
Deidara kept watch outside while Jingxin, Kurotsuchi, and Karin analyzed the map inside.
"From what we can tell, signs of the missing-nin's activity are concentrated in an area twenty kilometers north of the border." Kurotsuchi pointed to several marked spots on the map.
Karin suddenly opened her eyes. "There are three chakra signatures. Judging by the amount of chakra, they're Chunin."
"They're coming from the northeast, straight toward us!"
Jingxin led Karin and Kurotsuchi to meet up with Deidara at the cave entrance and gave the order. "Prepare for battle. Contingency Plan Two."
The four of them quickly left the cave and took up positions in the clearing outside.
Less than a minute later, three figures burst out from behind the hills to the northeast, moving at incredible speed like three streaks of ochre.
They were Iwagakure missing-nin—all men, each wearing an Iwagakure Forehead Protector slashed through with a line.
The other side didn't attack right away. Clearly, they planned to trade a few words first, like old friends meeting again with tears in their eyes.
"This isn't the Anbu, either." The man in the lead fixed his gaze on Kurotsuchi and Deidara. "Oh, it's you two? You've already graduated... Time really flies."
"Did Ōnoki actually trust you two with a mission like this? Does he think so little of us?"
Evidently, they weren't focused on the children so much as on keeping an eye on their surroundings. "Then let me guess. Who's your Jonin instructor?"
Kurotsuchi narrowed her eyes and quietly explained to Jingxin, "Those three defected five years ago. They're all Chunin. I heard they stole some advanced jutsu from the village. No one knows how strong they are now."
Jingxin asked, "Are there only three?"
"Seven missing-nin haven't been killed yet," Kurotsuchi said, assessing the situation. "The other four haven't been spotted anywhere in the Land of Earth, so it should just be these three. But we can't rule out the possibility that they've joined forces with others."
Jingxin's eyes turned into a scarlet Three-Tomoe Sharingan. "Let's begin," he told Kurotsuchi and Deidara.
The two immediately ran off in opposite directions, apparently intending to cut off the missing-nin's escape route.
The missing-nin also noticed that Jingxin was giving the orders and instinctively looked toward him.
One of them suddenly froze.
There was no sound, no flash of light—just an invisible spiritual force sweeping into the short-haired missing-nin's mind.
He felt as if invisible stakes had pinned his body in midair. His limbs wouldn't move, and even breathing became difficult.
The scene before his eyes began to twist. The rock walls became a prison, the sky turned into an iron curtain, and the entire world seemed to press in around him.
He opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out.
Genjutsu: Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique.
Jingxin raised his hand and threw a kunai, an Explosive Tag attached to its end.
One of the missing-nin's two companions started releasing the one caught in the genjutsu, while the other stepped in front of Jingxin, formed Hand Seals, and slapped the ground.
An earthen wall appeared in the kunai's path, blocking it.
Boom!
The Explosive Tag left the Earth Style: Earth Wall on the verge of collapse.
Jingxin didn't waste a moment.
He applied the Light-Weight Rock Technique to himself and rose into the air, gaining the advantage of a bird's-eye view. Combined with the Sharingan, it gave him an exceptionally clear view of the battlefield.
Then Jingxin formed Hand Seals.
Rat—Boar—Snake.
With the seals complete, Jingxin thrust his palms outward.
A translucent white cube appeared, and he hurled it down toward the three missing-nin.
The missing-nin who had used Earth Style: Earth Wall had been watching Jingxin closely. He recognized the Iwagakure signature jutsu at once.
His eyes instantly reddened with fear. He leaped to the side and shouted, "Get out of the way! Move!"
The other missing-nin had just released his companion from the genjutsu. When he turned around, he saw a blast of Dust Release coming down toward him.
His heart nearly stopped from fright. His scalp tingling, he did everything he could to scramble aside.
But the missing-nin who had just awoken from the genjutsu wasn't so lucky. He was completely engulfed by the Dust Release barrier.
The power of Dust Release took effect.
Resistance was futile.
Sizzle~
A patch of white mist slowly rose into the air.
The missing-nin caught in the Dust Release was reduced to atoms, leaving an eerie, cube-shaped void in everything around him.
"Argh!"
The missing-nin who had released his companion hadn't expected the Dust Release's range to be so large. His entire arm had vanished, the severed edge neat and smooth.
The intense pain coursed through his nervous system, sending frantic signals to his brain.
"How is this possible?!"
The only missing-nin left unharmed was so terrified he could barely think. He even began to wonder whether Jingxin was actually Ōnoki disguised with the Transformation Technique.
He was just too young.
Every Iwa shinobi knew how difficult Dust Release was.
His first thought was to run.
But then he remembered Kurotsuchi and Deidara, who had moved to either side at the start of the battle.
They were surrounded.
And the enemy had the advantage of the high ground. There was no escaping.
He had no choice but to fight!
The missing-nin gritted his teeth and formed Hand Seals. "Earth Release: Rock Spear!"
The ground beneath his feet cracked. Several chunks of earth flew up around him, compressed into spears, and shot toward Jingxin.
Jingxin didn't dodge. The Three-Tomoe Sharingan in his eyes had already transformed into the Mangekyō Sharingan.
As the spears drew near, visible chakra appeared around Jingxin, quickly condensing into a ring of white bones that enveloped him.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Several earth spears struck the Susanoo, but couldn't budge it in the slightest.
But below, a shinobi cried out in agony.
"Argh!!!"
The one-armed missing-nin looked around in panic.
He saw the companion who had attacked Jingxin...
His body was covered in bizarre wounds.
He hadn't been hit at all, yet several bloody holes had somehow appeared in his body.
The missing-nin had plenty of combat experience. He could tell what had happened.
His companion had been hit squarely by Rock Spear. There were several clearly visible, spear-tip-shaped holes in the ground behind him.
But the strange thing was, he couldn't see any Rock Spears. Was it some kind of invisible jutsu?
Had that black-haired kid modified Rock Spear so it couldn't be seen with the naked eye?
No!
That couldn't be right.
The one-armed missing-nin immediately dismissed the idea, because he hadn't seen Jingxin form a single hand seal.
In the sky, the white skeletal frame made of chakra slowly vanished from around Jingxin.
The bizarre attack on the missing-nin had come from one of the abilities of Jingxin's Mangekyō Sharingan.
Left eye: Aragami.
Its ability was to inflict any jutsu Jingxin endured back onto the attacker, exactly as it was, regardless of distance or obstacles—and with no so-called "cooldown."
Its drawback was that it was completely useless if the enemy didn't attack Jingxin.
But in a fight, this ability was vicious.
The enemy won't attack me because of Aragami?
Then I'll just attack them~
Before you continue