"Clang!"
Metal rang against metal. To Qi's astonishment, the slash that had never failed him before—the one powered by the shape transformation of Wind Style Chakra—was stopped cold for the first time. The blade came to rest firmly against the other man's skin...
Qi had put everything he had into that strike, yet he hadn't even managed to scrape the skin. Just what level was this Hardening Technique!? This was ridiculous!
"You little bastard! You're asking to die!"
That son of a bitch had actually dared to cut him!?
The Iwagakure Chunin flew into a rage...
He had nearly used Explosion Release to blast Qi on the spot, but fortunately, he managed to hold himself back...
It was acceptable if the enemy destroyed the granary. If he blew it up himself, he'd have no choice but to become a rogue ninja—or die.
The instant the blade sliced through his clothes and struck the skin on his back, he swung a vicious punch behind him. Years of combat experience had taught him exactly where to aim.
Qi wasn't slow to react, either. In fact, as soon as the blade was stopped by the man's skin, he knew something had gone wrong.
Without a second thought, he raised his other blade across his chest. Almost at the same instant, the other man's fist arrived right on time!
"Bang!"
The punch landed squarely on the blade, its force and speed both first-rate. It then sent Qi flying, man and weapon together!
Qi had never been hit by a car, so he didn't know what it felt like. But he'd conservatively estimate that an ordinary person struck by that punch would fare about as well as someone hit by a car...
An elite Chunin, indeed!
Qi had nearly been knocked flat by the punch, and let out a curse. He knew at once that this man was an elite Chunin...
Even with the blade taking the brunt of it, the punch's force still hammered into his chest, nearly breaking his sternum. Qi could even taste blood in his mouth. Without the blade to shield him, his bones would definitely have been broken.
Damn, how could he be that strong!? If Qi had been even a little slower, he'd have been crippled...
No wonder this rank was considered the dividing line between levels of ninja. They were both Chunins, but compared with this guy, the one Qi had killed earlier was nowhere near as quick or strong!
"Ptooey! What rotten luck!"
Forcing down the ache in his chest, Qi didn't dare linger. The moment his feet touched the ground, he ducked and slipped back into the mist.
From the corner of his eye, he clearly saw the Iwagakure Chunin charging toward where he'd just landed. The man flung both hands out, sending several Kunai flying in every direction. One of them barely grazed Qi's cheek...
What a shameless bastard. Didn't he know littering was forbidden in public places?
Qi couldn't help shivering. There was no doubt about it: this guy was a Taijutsu expert. Qi would be in for a world of hurt if he tried to fight him with Taijutsu...
It wasn't that Qi was actually that much weaker than this Chunin. He was an elite Chunin too; he just wasn't a Taijutsu specialist. Even having a teacher like Ogata couldn't change that. He could deal with people who were no good at Taijutsu, but taking on someone skilled at it was just asking for a beating...
"This guy's trouble... I should kill the other Rock Ninjas first!"
Having made up his mind, Qi quickly put some distance between himself and the Rock Ninja, then moved to approach the others.
"Trying to run!?"
The Iwagakure Chunin glowered. Somehow, perhaps because he'd done something earlier, this time he pinpointed Qi's location with uncanny accuracy. He stamped down and lunged straight at him!
"Kid, I marked you with my chakra. You think you can still run!?"
Chakra!?
Qi's face changed. He thought of the Kunai from earlier!
No way it was really that strange. Who was this guy... Had Qi just had terrible luck and run into a scion of one of the Rock Ninja clans?
"Take this!"
At the shout, a massive fist shot out of the mist. At this distance, even the Iwagakure Chunin could clearly see Qi's face.
"Die!"
Qi roared as the other man's fist tore through the mist. He had already formed a Hand Seal with one hand, and in an instant, ice crystals swept in around them, hurtling straight toward the Rock Ninja!
"Ice Release is a fusion technique only found in the Land of Water! Get out of my way!"
In the heat of the moment, the man forgot to correct himself and still took Qi for someone from the Land of Water. As the ice crystals rushed toward him, he moved both hands and finished forming Hand Seals, then opened his mouth!
"Whoosh!"
With a sound like rubble being scattered, a sizeable mass of viscous, dough-like earth burst from his mouth and collided squarely with Qi's ice crystals...
Boom!
They were right in the middle of the granary, where there was plenty of space. Nearly all the clumps of earth that hit the ice crystals exploded at once. The ice shattered, and the remaining heat vaporized the shards. Aside from adding a little more to the thick mist, the attack did no damage to the granary.
"What exquisite control!"
Qi's eyes lit up. The mist didn't affect him at all, no matter how thick it was. He'd seen the Rock Ninja's every move clearly and couldn't help admiring his skill.
"But things are different now. I'm not afraid of you in a one-on-one fight! Your companions can't stop my blade!"
"Fine. I didn't realize you were a Mist Ninja. Otherwise, I'd never have let you into the granary!"
The Iwagakure Chunin sneered.
"I should have known. Konoha hasn't had anyone using Water Release for years. How could you possibly be a ninja trained by Konoha?"
As the two spoke, the sound of weapons clashing came from the other side of the mist as well. Obito and Rin were evidently fighting the other Rock Ninjas.
"I won't let you help your companions. Your Hidden Mist Technique is useless against me now. I marked you, so give up!"
Seeing that Qi seemed to be slipping away to launch a surprise attack, the Iwagakure Chunin charged at once, raising his fist to strike.
He'd already seen what Qi's blade could do. His companions couldn't withstand it; one slash, one kill. Even an ordinary Kunai could cut them in two. So he'd decided to counter it with his own Hardening Technique.
"You're so annoying! Why won't you leave me alone?"
Qi didn't want to take another punch. He turned and dodged, then slashed twice, but only cut through the other man's clothes. The blows rang with metallic clangs but left no mark.
What kind of monster was this guy? His Hardening Technique was absurdly strong!
"If I can't cut you, I'll freeze you to death!"
After a few exchanges, Qi understood that this guy had trained his Hardening Technique to an incredible degree. His blade couldn't get through the defense.
No wonder Ogata had told him that if he ever ran into a Rock Ninja skilled in Hardening Technique, he shouldn't try to fight hand-to-hand—he should hammer them with ninjutsu instead! These human tortoises were unbearably annoying!
"Stay right there!"
Qi brought his hands together. The mist around him surged and swept toward the Rock Ninja, while the temperature plunged!
Ice Release was based on ice, but that didn't mean he always had to form ice first. Water in any of its three states could serve as a medium for an attack, which was very convenient. And now he really could use some of those techniques.
Before the mist even reached the Iwagakure Chunin, the rapidly dropping temperature had already formed countless tiny crystals in it. It was clearly cold enough that being caught in it would end badly.
"So cold... This guy's ninjutsu is incredible!"
The Iwagakure Chunin was about to charge through, but before he could take a step, the cold pierced him to the bone, making him shiver. Looking down, he saw a layer of frost had formed over his body!
"Wind Release! Wind Cutter!"
Seeing the cold mist about to engulf him, the Rock Ninja didn't dare charge. He leaped backward, formed a few Hand Seals, and swept his hand through the air.
"Shhk!"
A sound like cloth being cut rang out. The stream of cold mist under Qi's control was cleanly sliced in two by the Rock Ninja. The razor-sharp blade of wind kept going, slicing straight toward Qi!
"This guy can use Wind Release too!?"
Without thinking, Qi threw himself into a roll and dodged. The two of them were so close that he barely avoided losing a few hairs!
This was a real headache. They were both kekkei genkai users, and they both knew Wind Release. If the fight went on like this, it'd turn into a battle of attrition!
Weren't Wind Release users supposed to be rare!? How had Qi run into another one so easily!? Wasn't this ridiculous?
But no matter how much trouble it caused, this was where it ended...
"What a pain... Why would someone like you be guarding a granary..."
Qi suddenly smiled, looking quite pleased.
"It'd be such a waste to die here, old man..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a dazzling silver flash of a blade tore through the thick mist, surging forward with unstoppable force as it slashed down from behind the Rock Ninja!
"Hm!?"
The Rock Ninja's reflexes were extremely sharp; Qi had already seen that for himself. Almost the instant the flash appeared, the man spun around and looked.
"White Fang of the Leaf!? Impossible! You can't be here!"
Unexpectedly—or rather, to Qi's utter astonishment—the Rock Ninja who'd been so arrogant, cocky, and flashy let out a howl as if his parents had just died. His whole body froze, and his eyes bulged with sheer terror!
Just from seeing the White Fang Short Blade, he'd mistaken Kakashi, who hadn't even emerged from the mist, for the supposedly dead White Fang of the Leaf!
Even for a famous name, that was absurd...
"I'll fight you to the death!"
Under Qi's incredulous, Are you an idiot? stare, the Iwagakure Chunin seemed to have lost his mind. He didn't even try to dodge. He swung his fist and charged straight at Kakashi, whose figure was still in the mist but had begun to show through faintly.
"Stay right there!"
Qi wasn't about to let him have his way. This was the perfect chance to kill him. He brought his hands together and repeated the same move, sending a vast blanket of cold mist sweeping in again!
This time, the Rock Ninja—already thrown into utter confusion by his own terror—couldn't dodge at all. His movements stiffened almost immediately, and thick layers of ice formed around his joints. It was almost comical.
But the sight soon turned grim. The White Fang Short Blade flashed with a burst of light, and in one slash, it cut the Rock Ninja in two from head to toe!
Lightning beats earth. Though they were both elite Chunins, Kakashi's fight against this man showed just how terrifying elemental advantage could be. The Hardening Technique that had seemed so difficult for Qi to deal with was incredibly fragile under Kakashi's blade!