A Stalemate

Hui Youling utilized her rapid reflexes to create an excellent opening for an attack, yet before she could even close in on the Grass Ninja, she felt the ground beneath her begin to tremble. The Grass Ninja's chakra was surging violently; with no time to think, she leaped away from her spot just as the ground beneath her split into a deep trench.

Leaping into mid-air, Hui narrowed her eyes at the Grass Ninja, discovering he was weaving hand seals. A massive burst of chakra erupted around him again—he had managed to brew his next attack with such terrifying speed!

Hui quickly kicked off a nearby giant tree, vaulting away from her previous position just as jagged stone spikes erupted from the ground beneath her. The terrain shifted in an instant, filling the area with sharp earth spikes.

Simultaneously, Hui Youling, still in mid-air, wove hand seals rapidly to command a swarm of snakes to lunge at the Grass Ninja. Her nerves were taut, her eyes scanning the surroundings as she contorted her body to dodge the emerging stone spikes. The surrounding thunderous roars made the very ground tremble.

In this duel, a single moment of hesitation meant defeat. The speed and range of the stone spikes were nearing her limits, and her heart rate had not settled for a long time.

Hui Youling could only expand her range of perception, her eyes darting rapidly as she scanned the surroundings, though she dared not stop her body for even a second.

She flipped rapidly in the air, dodging another wave of attacks. Her breathing grew increasingly ragged, her eyes bloodshot from exhaustion, and a nauseating, unbearable dizziness washed over her.

She landed on a protruding stone spike, using chakra to adhere to the slanted surface. She kept her gaze steady as she looked toward the Grass Ninja, seeing that the snake swarm was still attacking him; it seemed they were both causing each other quite a bit of trouble.

The Grass Ninja dodged the strange snakes' attacks, frowning as he looked at Hui Youling, who had landed steadily on a giant spike. He clenched his fists tightly. What is going on with this brat's strength? Why does it feel like the more I fight him, the stronger he becomes?

Hui Youling focused her perception on the Grass Ninja, her mood turning grave and suspicious. She had to admit that the Grass Ninja's ambush capabilities were formidable; if not for her ability to perceive the flow of chakra and predict his moves, she would not have lasted until now. But just how many more tricks did he have hidden?

The two locked eyes, each harboring different thoughts, before charging at each other once more, their attacks growing increasingly fierce.

Both were launching sneak attacks while fighting, yet they found themselves entangled in each other's offensives, leaving the battlefield increasingly devastated.

The fat ninja also noticed the problem. He had not expected to encounter such a troublesome opponent today, one who could remain unscathed even under their pincer attack.

Although Hui Youling's attacks were being suppressed by them, was this level of evasion and reaction speed truly something someone of that age should possess?

In truth, Hui Youling should be thankful that her ability to perceive chakra remained unknown to the two of them; otherwise, today's battle would never have lasted this long.

The fat ninja could wait no longer, his heart growing anxious. He quickly pulled Explosive Tags from his pouch, and the moment the two separated, he threw them toward Hui Youling while simultaneously swinging his Meteor Hammer to seize the chance to strike.

Having just dodged the stone spike ambush, Hui heard the sound of something tearing through the air. She turned her head just as the Explosive Tags detonated. Hui Youling was caught in the blast and sent flying, though she managed to protect her head.

Immediately following, the Meteor Hammer shattered the smoke of the explosion and smashed toward Hui Youling. The iron spikes of the hammer pierced her body, blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, and her pupils dilated instantly.

However, before the fat ninja could rejoice, he saw Hui Youling turn into a wooden log and vanish. The smile that had just appeared on his face stiffened. "Damn it! When did he use the Substitution Technique!"

The Grass Ninja's eyes narrowed. Sensing a fluctuation in the ground, he immediately turned to look behind him, his hands weaving seals with great speed before he slammed them into the earth. "Earth Style? Earth Land Return!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Several sounds of air being torn apart echoed as a barrage of Wind Blades sliced into the earthen wall, leaving deep gouges one after another.

The Grass Ninja realized something was wrong; his defense was on the verge of being broken, and using Fire Style at this distance would only harm himself. He moved his feet rapidly, leaping away from his spot just as the earthen wall was shredded into rubble by the Wind Blades, which then pursued him.

The Grass Ninja's eyes widened, and he hurriedly accelerated his hand seals. The Wind Blades sliced through the Grass Ninja's body, but with a puff of smoke, he turned into two wooden logs that fell to the ground.

On the other side, Hui Youling, who had been hiding in the shadows, was forced out again by the fat ninja's Explosive Tags. It turned out that she had exposed her position when she made her move, and the fat ninja had quickly tracked her down.

Hui Youling was forced into the open ground once more. The fat ninja swung his Meteor Hammer, smashing it toward her; when the first strike missed, he quickly changed the direction of his attack. The Meteor Hammer was as flexible as his own limbs in his hands.

Yet, Hui Youling dodged every one of these attacks, her agile form shifting positions multiple times in mid-air as if an invisible force were pushing her.

The Grass Ninja angrily unleashed a series of earth spikes, chasing Hui Youling's footsteps closely, his anger pushed to its limit.

Thud! Thud! Thud!!!

In the blink of an eye, a series of earth spikes erupted from the ground, spreading continuously and pursuing Hui Youling. Compared to the wide-range ambush from before, this attack had clearly increased in speed, becoming a rapid, linear assault.

Hui performed consecutive backflips to dodge the emerging spikes, putting dozens of meters of distance between herself and the Grass Ninja. Her dark eyes fixed on him, and with a light flick of her hand, many small snakes crawled out from behind him unnoticed, lunging at him in an instant.

The Grass Ninja was distracted, but the fat ninja reacted quickly, swinging his Meteor Hammer to smash the snake swarm flying out of the grass. "There are more snakes around, watch out!"

With a dull thud of heavy objects hitting the ground, the snakes were smashed into pulp before they could even hiss.

"Tch..." Sensing the situation, Hui could only quickly hide behind a nearby tree trunk, her hands still weaving seals. Her expression darkened, her brows furrowed tightly.

Unexpectedly, the moment she landed on the tree trunk, she triggered an Explosive Tag the fat ninja had hidden there. Seeing the lit fuse, Hui Youling hurriedly leaped toward the intact forest ahead. Behind her, the roar of the Explosive Tag rang out, and the tree was blown to pieces.

However, just after crossing a short distance, her body felt as if it had been frozen in place. It was only a momentary pause, but she retreated rapidly, the force of her feet snapping the tree trunk she stood upon.

The fat ninja sneered and flicked his fingers. Many hard, thread-like objects flashed in the moonlight, whipping through the air to slice toward Hui Youling.

Hui watched as everything the threads touched was sliced through; even the trees were shorn into wooden blocks that fell to the ground. If a person were to be touched by them, they would surely be shredded into meat.

When did this fat man set up so many wires!

Hui felt a jolt of alarm. Seeing the rapidly whipping wires closing in on her, she realized she could not dodge every attack. She hurriedly accelerated her hand seals, sending several Wind Blades toward the thin wires, hoping to sever them and destroy their lethality.

Clang! Clang!

The sound of the wires snapping rang out continuously. The high-pitched, piercing screech was bizarre, and the tone itself was incredibly strange.

Hui Youling felt a sharp pain in her head, and her physical reactions grew sluggish. At the same time, her hearing and vision were impaired.

These sounds were actually interfering with her perception of the outside world!

She truly had not expected him to be waiting for her with this!

However, before Hui could recover, the Grass Ninja suddenly emerged from the ground, his hand reaching out rapidly to grab Hui Youling.