Hard Battle

Scorching flames erupted from his mouth, colliding with the incoming water dragon.

"Sss... sss..."

A massive amount of steam exploded outward, reducing visibility to almost nothing; he could barely see his own hand in front of his face.

After landing, Naoki quickly adjusted his stance, using his Two-Tomoe Sharingan to search for traces of the enemy within the mist while silently cursing his own tactic of adding fuel to the fire.

Just then, a sharp killing intent struck from behind.

With no time to turn around, Naoki could only roll to the side.

A kunai grazed his ribs, tearing his clothes and leaving a bloody gash on his skin.

"Your death has arrived!"

The voice of the black-clad ninja was right beside him.

While rolling, Naoki swung his blade backhanded, but the opponent kicked it away.

Damn it!

He inwardly cried out in alarm; the opponent's strength was already superior to his, and now they held the initiative...

With no other choice, Naoki continued to roll while forming hand seals with one hand.

"Let's see where you can run!"

The black-clad ninja accelerated again, quickly closing the distance to Naoki, but just then, the latter suddenly stood up and spat out a gust of gale-force wind.

Wind Release: Great Breakthrough

The gale, mixed with gravel, erupted suddenly, blowing away the majority of the dense steam in the surrounding area.

The black-clad ninja was forced to retreat repeatedly by the sudden blast, shielding his eyes with his arms to block the flying debris.

Now!

Naoki seized this fleeting opportunity, stomping hard on the ground and launching himself toward the opponent like an arrow released from a bow.

His long blade carved a cold arc through the night, aiming straight for the opponent's throat.

Although the black-clad ninja was blinded by the wind, his years of combat instinct allowed him to sense the lethal crisis; he forcibly twisted his body, causing the blade that was aimed at his throat to veer off, instead piercing into his shoulder blade.

He let out a muffled grunt, simultaneously stabbing his own kunai backhanded toward Naoki's abdomen.

Naoki had no time to pull his blade out and could only let go and retreat, but the kunai still slashed his abdomen, and blood instantly soaked his clothes.

The two separated once more, standing about ten paces apart, both gasping for air.

Naoki looked down at the wound on his abdomen; it wasn't too deep, but it was bleeding continuously.

He took a bandage from his pouch and wrapped it around the wound, all the while keeping his Two-Tomoe Sharingan locked firmly onto the enemy.

Hearing the commotion in the distance growing louder, he thought, I can't drag this out any longer!

Naoki's long blade was still stuck in the black-clad ninja's shoulder, blood dripping steadily from the steel, and the man's gaze grew even more ferocious.

"Kid, I admit I underestimated you." He slowly pulled the long blade from his shoulder and tossed it aside. "But this is where it ends!"

Without his weapon, and not being used to using a kunai, Naoki could only remain vigilant, ready to form hand seals at any moment.

The mist began to rise again; Naoki held his breath, his Sharingan spinning frantically as he searched every inch of the surrounding space.

Left rear!

He spun around abruptly, his hands forming seals.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique

A scorching fireball erupted from his mouth, roaring toward the direction he had sensed.

But the flames only pierced through a patch of mist.

Suddenly, a kunai appeared within the fog, stabbing toward Naoki's throat.

Naoki's pupils constricted, his body instinctively leaning backward as the kunai grazed the tip of his nose.

He took advantage of the momentum to perform a backflip, and the moment his feet touched the ground, he stomped hard, charging toward the source of the sound instead of retreating.

"You're courting death!"

The black-clad ninja let out a cold snort, his hands moving rapidly to form seals.

Water Style: Water Wall

A wall of water blocked the space between them.

Naoki did not hesitate in the slightest, quickly forming seals.

Blinding lightning erupted from his palms, instantly piercing through the water wall.

Water conducts electricity.

The black-clad ninja was caught off guard, struck by the lightning, and paralyzed for a split second.

This is the moment!

Naoki stomped hard on the ground, launching himself through the dissipating water wall like a cannonball, drawing a spare kunai from his waist with his right hand to strike directly at the opponent's heart.

The black-clad ninja was struck with terror; he had not expected Naoki to have such a trick up his sleeve, and he hurriedly forced his paralyzed body to shift to the side.

The kunai sliced through skin and muscle, piercing his left chest, but it missed the vital heart.

"Ah!"

The black-clad ninja let out a roar and kicked toward Naoki's abdomen.

Although Naoki had succeeded, the violent movement aggravated his own abdominal wound, causing his reaction to be half a beat slow. The kick landed solidly on his freshly bandaged injury, and searing pain instantly spread throughout his body. He was sent flying, rolling several times on the ground before coming to a stop.

"Cough, cough..."

Naoki coughed up a mouthful of blood. The wound on his abdomen burst open, and fresh blood soaked through the bandages, dripping down his clothes onto the ground.

The black-clad ninja was no better off; he knelt on one knee, clutching the wound on his left chest, his face deathly pale.

Although that blade had not pierced his heart, it had gone in deep, making every breath he took accompanied by excruciating pain.

Gasping for air, Naoki picked up the kunai that had fallen nearby and struggled to his feet.

"It's over, you damn bastard!"

Blinding Rai light appeared once again in Naoki's palm.

As the kunai was thrown, it flew toward the black-clad ninja, enveloped in blue-white electricity.

Before he could even react, the kunai pierced through the black-clad ninja's chest. With a loud "boom," the corpse collapsed heavily to the ground.

Having finally dealt with the enemy, Naoki let out a sigh of relief.

Since arriving in this world, this was the first time he had encountered such a troublesome opponent. If he hadn't mastered five types of ninjutsu and possessed sufficient tactical reserves, it would be hard to say who would have had the last laugh... However, the benefits were obvious; he felt that he was now fully capable of killing a chunin as easily as slaughtering a chicken!

Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand straight and scanned the surroundings with his Sharingan.

The transport ship on the river was still burning, the fire even more ferocious than before.

Dozens of Kirigakure ninja corpses lay scattered across the shallows, and the sounds of battle could be heard from the distance from time to time.

"It looks like the fighting is still ongoing... I have to get there!"

Applying medicine from his pouch to his wound and wrapping it with new bandages, he picked up his long sword from the side and sprinted toward the other battlefield.

He ran along the riverbank, the sounds of battle growing clearer, and the firelight reflecting a deep red across the sky.

Rounding a cluster of reefs, he saw the scene before him.

The shallows at the river bend had turned into an Asura field. The corpses of Kirigakure ninja lay strewn everywhere, and the once-clear river water had been stained a dark crimson, shimmering with an eerie luster under the glow of the flames.

The burning transport ship was grounded on the shore, billowing thick smoke that obscured the night sky even further.

This battlefield was larger, and upon closer inspection, there were five distinct skirmishes of varying sizes.

The most conspicuous was the battle group where Uchiha Setsuna was located.

The man, nearing sixty, held a long sword, his graying hair standing out starkly due to the specks of blood staining it. Confronting him was a Kirigakure ninja clad in heavy armor, wearing an iron mask on his face. The weapon in the latter's hand was quite strange: one end was a large hammer, while the other was an axe, the two connected by an iron chain.

The more Naoki looked at the weapon in the armored man's hand, the more familiar it seemed.

"Isn't this..."