A Stalemate

Hui Youling had used her quick reflexes to create an excellent opportunity to attack. But before she could get close to the Grass Ninja, she felt the ground beneath her feet begin to sway. The Grass Ninja's chakra was surging, too. With no time to think, she hurriedly leaped away, and the ground instantly split open into a deep fissure.

In midair, Hui turned her furrowed gaze toward the Grass Ninja and saw him forming Hand Seals. A large amount of chakra erupted around him once more. He had already prepared another attack so quickly!

Hui hurriedly stepped onto a giant tree nearby and leaped away from her previous position. A moment later, jagged sharp rocks burst up beneath her feet. The terrain changed in an instant, with sharp Earth Spikes everywhere.

At the same time, Hui Youling, who had leaped into the air, quickly formed Hand Seals, directing the snakes to lunge at the Grass Ninja. Her nerves were taut as her eyes swept rapidly around her. She twisted and dodged the sharp rocks bursting up around her, while the thunderous crashes made the ground tremble.

If either of them was a step too slow in this battle, they would lose. The sharp rocks' speed and range were already approaching her limits. Her heartbeat had yet to settle.

Hui Youling could only expand the range of her perception. Her eyes darted about as she warily scanned her surroundings, but she didn't dare pause for even a moment.

She spun rapidly through the air, dodging yet another wave of attacks. Her breathing grew increasingly ragged, and her eyes slowly became bloodshot with exhaustion. Nausea churned faintly in her stomach as an unbearable dizziness washed over her.

She landed on a jutting sharp rock, using chakra to cling to its sloping surface. Keeping her expression composed, she looked toward the Grass Ninja—and saw that the snakes were still attacking him. It seemed they were both causing each other plenty of trouble.

The Grass Ninja dodged the monstrous snakes' attacks and frowned as he watched Hui Youling land steadily atop a giant spike. His fists clenched tightly. Just what was going on with this kid's strength? Why did it feel like she was getting stronger the longer they fought?

Hui Youling focused her perception on the Grass Ninja, her mood growing heavy with doubt. She had to admit that the Grass Ninja was exceptionally good at launching surprise attacks. If she couldn't sense the flow of chakra and anticipate his moves, she wouldn't have lasted this long today. But how many more tricks was he hiding...?

They exchanged a glance, each with different thoughts, then charged at each other again in an instant, their attacks growing ever more fierce.

They both attacked and launched surprise strikes as they fought. Each was caught up in the other's attacks, and the battlefield grew more and more devastated.

The fat man had noticed the problem, too. He hadn't expected this opponent they'd run into today to be so difficult to deal with. She had somehow remained unharmed even while the two of them attacked her together.

Although Hui Youling's attacks were being countered, were this level of evasiveness and reflexes really normal for someone her age?

In truth, Hui Youling should have been grateful that the two of them didn't know she could sense chakra. Otherwise, the battle couldn't have gone on for so long.

The Fat Ninja couldn't wait any longer, and he grew anxious. He quickly pulled Explosive Tags from his pouch. As soon as the two fighters separated, he threw the tags toward Hui Youling and swung the Meteor Hammer in his hand, taking the opportunity to attack her as well.

Having just dodged the surprise attack from the sharp rocks, Hui heard something whistle through the air. She had only just turned her head when the Explosive Tag detonated. Caught in the blast, Hui Youling was sent flying, though fortunately she managed to shield her head.

The Meteor Hammer immediately tore through the smoke and hurtled toward Hui Youling. Its iron spikes pierced her body. A trace of blood spilled from the corner of her mouth, and her pupils instantly lost focus.

But before the Fat Ninja could celebrate, Hui Youling turned into a wooden post and vanished. His smile froze on his face. "Damn it! When did she use the Substitution Technique?!"

The Grass Ninja's eyes narrowed. Sensing movement in the ground, he immediately turned toward what lay behind him and rapidly formed Hand Seals before slapping the ground. "Earth Release: Earth Land Return!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!!

Several sounds tore through the air as successive Wind Blades slashed into the earthen wall, leaving one deep crater after another.

The Grass Ninja realized something was wrong. His defenses seemed about to be breached, and using Fire Release at this distance would only hurt himself. He moved quickly, leaping away from where he stood. The earthen wall was then cut into chunks by the Wind Blades, which even pursued him.

The Grass Ninja's eyes widened. He hurriedly sped up his Hand Seals. The Wind Blades sliced through his body, but in a puff of smoke, it turned into two pieces of wood that fell to the ground.

Elsewhere, Hui Youling, who had been hiding in the shadows, was forced out again by the Fat Ninja's Explosive Tag. It turned out that she had revealed her position when she attacked, and the Fat Ninja had quickly picked up her trail.

Hui Youling was driven back into the open. The Fat Ninja swung his Meteor Hammer at her. When he missed, he quickly changed its direction and attacked again. In his hands, the Meteor Hammer moved as nimbly as one of his own limbs.

Yet Hui Youling dodged all of these attacks. Her agile figure shifted positions several times in midair, as if an invisible force were pushing her.

The male Grass Ninja angrily sent a series of Earth Spikes after her, pursuing her relentlessly. His fury had reached its peak.

Thud! Thud! Thud!!!

In the blink of an eye, a series of Earth Spikes burst from the ground and continued spreading, hot on Hui Youling's heels. Unlike the broad-area surprise attack from earlier, this attack was clearly faster, turning into the swiftest straight-line assault.

Hui flipped backward several times to dodge the rising Earth Spikes, putting dozens of meters between herself and the Grass Ninja. Her dark eyes turned toward him as she raised a hand slightly. Unnoticed, many more small snakes had crawled out behind him, and they lunged at the Grass Ninja all at once.

The Grass Ninja couldn't spare a glance for them, but the Fat Ninja reacted quickly, swinging his Meteor Hammer at the snakes bursting from the bushes. "There are snakes around us, too. Watch out!"

With a dull thud as something heavy hit the ground, the snakes were crushed into a bloody pulp before they could even hiss.

"Tsk..." Sensing what had happened over there, Hui could only hurry behind a nearby tree trunk. She was still forming Hand Seals, her gaze darkening as she furrowed her brow.

What she hadn't expected was that the moment she landed on the trunk, she triggered an Explosive Tag the Fat Ninja had hidden there. Seeing the lit tag, Hui Youling hurriedly leaped toward the intact woods ahead. The Explosive Tag boomed behind her, destroying the tree.

But just after she had crossed some distance, her body seemed to be pinned in place. It lasted only a moment before she abruptly retreated, pushing off so hard that she snapped the tree trunk beneath her feet.

The Fat Ninja sneered and moved his fingers. Many hard, threadlike objects flashed in the moonlight before quickly whipping and slicing toward Hui Youling.

Hui watched as everything the threads touched was cut apart. Even the trees were sliced down into chunks that fell to the ground. Anyone they touched would be reduced to pieces of flesh.

When had that fat guy strung up so many threads?!

Hui's heart jolted as the rapidly whipping threads closed in on her. Realizing she couldn't dodge every attack, she hurriedly sped up her Hand Seals. Several Wind Blades slashed at the threads, aiming to cut them and weaken their attack.

Clang! Clang!

The threads kept snapping with a sharp, piercing ring. The high-pitched sound was strange, and even its tone was odd.

Hui Youling felt a sudden pain in her head. Her body's reactions grew somewhat sluggish, and her hearing and vision were affected as well.

Those sounds were interfering with her perception of the outside world.

She really hadn't expected that this was what they had been waiting for!

But before Hui could recover, the male Grass Ninja suddenly emerged from the ground and quickly reached for Hui Youling.