The Unsealed Seal!

"Earth Style! Earth Wood Technique!"

Following the enemy's technique, two semi-circular boulders rose from the ground on either side of Uzumaki Kuming, clamping down toward him. Due to the shifting terrain, Kuming could not steady his footing, losing his chance to escape immediately.

Facing the attack, Kuming quickly reached into his ninja tool pouch and pulled out a shuriken, gripping it tightly.

"Thunder Sword!"

Without any hand seals, Kuming channeled his chakra into the shuriken. He didn't even need to aim, simply hurling it toward the boulder on his right.

"BOOM!!!"

"What happened?"

With a deafening roar, a thick cloud of dust rose from where Kuming had been standing, completely obscuring the attacker's vision.

"Die, you bastard!"

Kuming's youthful voice rang out from within the smoke. Two shadow clones suddenly burst from the dust, rushing toward the enemy. As Kuming finished speaking, the clones reached the enemy and immediately detonated the explosive tags on their bodies.

"BOOM!!"

The explosion of the shadow clones kicked up another cloud of dust, completely engulfing the enemy.

"Tch... didn't kill him!"

The dust began to settle around Kuming. His clothes were covered in grime, and his wounds were caked with dirt, causing him to wince in pain. However, he had no time to worry about his injuries; Kuming could sense that the suicide attack from his shadow clones had not killed the enemy.

"Clap, clap, clap, clap!"

"Not bad combat awareness, and the technique has quite a bit of power. To think you could bore a hole through such thick rock."

As it turned out, at the very last second, Kuming had imbued his shuriken with high-piercing lightning-style chakra, forcibly carving a small hole in the rising stone wall to slip through.

Kuming looked on with a grave expression as the dust cleared to reveal a Blond Youth. The newcomer's attire made his identity clear; based on his clothing, Kuming could tell he was a ninja from the Rock Shadow Village.

"This is real trouble now..."

As the dust dissipated, Kuming saw the man clearly. The Blond Youth wore a calm expression with a confident smirk, clapping his hands incessantly. Though he was praising Kuming, the pressure he exerted was immense. Furthermore, after the suicide attack from the shadow clones, there was only a light dusting of dirt on the youth's clothes.

He was completely unscathed.

"And who might you be?"

Though he knew the man likely wouldn't answer, Kuming couldn't help but ask. At the same time, he reached for his pouch, silently counting his remaining tools and explosive tags.

"I didn't bring many explosive tags; only three left."

"Not many shuriken or kunai either. I have to be careful."

"Damn it, for something like this to happen during a ninja academy exam... are the ninjas of Konoha just eating shit?"

Uzumaki Kuming tallied his remaining gear, feeling a surge of frustration. But frustration aside, he still had to find a way to survive the current crisis.

"Actually, there's no harm in telling you. You can call me Lord Earth, and I'm here to kill you~"

Kuming had expected the man to keep his mouth shut, but to his surprise, the man wasn't in a hurry to attack, choosing instead to chat.

"Not in a hurry to kill me? We're so close to Konoha; the village should have received word by now. Why isn't he rushing?"

Kuming didn't respond. When things were abnormal, his vigilance reached its peak. He pushed his Mind's Eye of the Kagura to its limit, finally detecting something amiss in the ground not far from his feet. Some imperceptible, insect-like creatures were slowly moving toward him.

If Kuming hadn't focused his senses, he might have actually chatted to stall for reinforcements, just as the enemy had anticipated. The man had clearly calculated Kuming's likely behavior and set a trap.

"You dog, how insidious!"

Kuming's eyebrows twitched. Having discovered the anomaly, he remained composed, though his leg muscles tensed, ready to bolt at any moment.

"Hm?"

Though Kuming's movement was subtle, the Blond Youth still noticed.

"Art is an explosion!"

"Hah!"

Not waiting for the insects to reach Kuming's feet, the Blond Youth performed a seal and detonated them. The familiar line left Kuming stunned.

"BOOM!!" Kuming moved his front foot just as the ground exploded, leaving a massive crater where he had been standing.

"What the hell!"

"This guy is..."

With no time to think, Kuming leaped onto a tree branch. Before he could catch his breath, the sound of flapping wings filled the air. Uzumaki Kuming steadied his gaze and saw three small white birds rushing toward him.

"Clay Bomb!"

"Damn it!"

Seeing the birds flying toward him, Kuming threw a kunai with an explosive tag trailing behind it. After throwing it, Kuming immediately abandoned the branch and dropped to the ground.

"BOOM!" An explosion erupted overhead; the explosive tag Kuming had thrown successfully detonated the Clay Bomb released by the Blond Youth.

"Oh ho~"

Just as Kuming landed, a mocking voice whispered in his ear. Following it was a knee strike from the Blond Youth, which slammed directly into Kuming's abdomen.

"Ugh!" Kuming was struck, his body folding like a shrimp as he was sent flying. He vomited clear fluid, and the sheer force left him unable to stand after hitting the ground.

"Hehehehe, for a child, your strength is already quite outstanding. But a child is still a child; how could you possibly be a match for an adult?"

Just as Jiuming regained his senses and tried to stand up, a foot pressed down onto his chest. The immense force caused Jiuming to cough up a trace of blood.

"Cough!"

Although he was restrained, there was no despair in Jiuming's eyes.

Is there no other way? Are the efforts of these past two years about to fall short of success?

At this moment, Jiuming did not have much chakra remaining. Due to the influence of the Yin Seal, the amount of chakra he could mobilize was already limited—only about one Kakashi's worth.

From the start of the battle until now, he had used the Shadow Clone Technique several times, and he had consumed a massive amount of chakra just moments ago to break free from the enemy's Earth Wood Technique. With the little chakra he could originally mobilize already depleted by this series of expenditures, he had hit rock bottom.

Facing this desperate situation, the only method Jiuming could think of was to release the Yin Seal. However, doing so meant opening it before the Yin Seal had fully stored enough chakra. Not only would the seal need to be reconstructed afterward, but the chakra would also need to be accumulated all over again, which would be a huge blow to Jiuming.

Unless it was an absolute last resort, Jiuming truly did not want to release the Yin Seal prematurely.

"Kid, say your final goodbyes to this world."

"To be able to sacrifice yourself for art is your honor!"

"Plop!" A glob of clay fell from the Blond Youth's sleeve, landing directly on Jiuming's chest. After expanding, the clay stuck Jiuming entirely to the ground. The Blond Youth's foot moved away from Jiuming's chest, and he slowly backed away. At this moment, Jiuming's eyes were tightly shut; to the Blond Youth, this state looked like he had completely given up on resisting.

"Yin Seal, release!" Deep blue chakra began to swirl around Jiuming's body, and wisps of lightning seeped into the Clay Bomb.

"Farewell, kid!"

"Hah!!"

After putting enough distance between them, the Blond Youth formed a hand seal with one hand and let out a low shout to detonate the Clay Bomb attached to Jiuming.

"What is going on?"

The expected explosion did not occur. At this moment, the Blond Youth's face was filled with astonishment.