Victory Over Choza and the Civil War

"Is this... Earth Style?" Choza asked in surprise, yet he felt no chakra beneath his feet. "Could it be a simple trap?"

If it were a trap, Choza naturally wouldn't need to worry about it. To him, this trap was far too crude; it couldn't restrain him in the slightest.

Through this, Choza also gauged the trap-setting proficiency of this squad. Such a level was not worth fearing at all; they would need much more training before it could be of any use in actual combat.

Thus, Choza continued to walk forward with confidence. In his eyes, this trap wasn't even enough to serve as a side dish.

After taking a few steps, Choza felt something wrong with his feet. His movement seemed slightly hindered. Only then did Choza realize the gravity of the situation; he looked down to see a thin layer of glue coating the soles of his feet. The strength and speed of this adhesive were on par with superglue. By the time Choza noticed it, one of his feet was already completely immobilized.

The previous trap had been intentionally set to look crude, placed there to inform Choza of their trap-setting level—it was a trap designed to make him lower his guard! Choza had fallen for the trio's ruse once again!

However, even if the three of them combined their ninja tool pouches, they couldn't possibly carry that much glue. After using the Multi-Size Technique, Choza's feet spanned over a dozen square meters.

Choza suddenly realized the truth and looked back at the place where they had just fought. Hachiko, who had fallen to the ground, turned into crows and scattered in all directions. This meant that only two of the three had been in Choza's line of sight the whole time, while the third—Hachiko—had been in a state of concealment! It was entirely possible for her to have gone out to replenish the glue while hidden!

"This squad is not simple... their ability to deceive is quite good..." Choza sighed. He had already fallen for their tricks several times today. While this level of cleverness didn't compare to the wisdom of the Nara Clan, it certainly had its own flair.

"Creak, creak..."

At this moment, Choza felt the ground slowly sinking, and his hands and feet were bound by ropes before he even knew it. Choza tried to struggle free, only to find that the ropes were tied to points where it was difficult to exert force; no matter how he tried to use brute strength to break free, he couldn't do it.

The ground was sinking unevenly—one side was dropping while the other remained unchanged. This was genuine Earth Style, but the level of this Earth Style was completely disproportionate to the level of the trap; this Earth Style was far too poor.

The shift in the ground clearly indicated that this trap was designed to make Choza lose his balance. The longer this continued, the harder it would be for Choza to escape. It could be said that this trap had brought Choza to the brink of defeat at the hands of three genin.

A trap capable of hooking an elite jonin was far from crude. On the contrary, the calculations regarding position, force, and timing were impeccable. It was no exaggeration to say that this was a perfect trap. The only one with the time to complete a trap of this scale was Hachiko. Yashui and Xun had been in Choza's line of sight, engaging him the entire time; those two could not have spared the time to complete such a massive trap.

The three members of this squad didn't just have a talent for deception. Yashui's ninjutsu, Xun's taijutsu, and Hachiko's traps—each of them had their own specialty. A team like this, when combined, would create an effect greater than the sum of its parts. He never expected their first time working together would not be on a mission, but in a confrontation against their own teacher.

Choza was an elite jonin, after all. Traps in complex terrain were clearly the primary weakness of his giant form. How could an elite jonin like Choza not think of ways to improve upon this weakness? There was naturally a way to escape the trap: he could simply dispel the Multi-Size Technique and shrink his body to break free.

"Poof!" As the smoke cleared, Choza returned to his normal size. To avoid being held fast by the superglue, he discarded one of his shoes.