A Hard-Fought Battle

A searing flame burst from his mouth and collided with the oncoming water dragon.

"Hiss... sizzle..."

A huge cloud of steam erupted in an instant, reducing visibility to almost nothing. It was nearly impossible to see even an arm's length ahead.

After landing, Naoki quickly adjusted his stance. He used his Sharingan to search the mist for the enemy's whereabouts, all the while cursing himself for adding fuel to the fire with his earlier tactic.

Just then, a sharp killing intent struck from behind.

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

The Kunai grazed his ribs, tearing his clothes and leaving a bloody gash across his skin.

"Your time is up!"

The black-clad ninja's voice was right beside him.

Naoki slashed backward as he rolled, but his opponent kicked his blade away.

Damn it!

He knew at once that things were going badly. His opponent had already been stronger than him, and now he had the initiative as well...

With no other choice, Naoki rolled repeatedly while forming Hand Seals with one hand.

"Let's see where you run now!"

The black-clad ninja accelerated again and was soon right in front of Naoki. At that moment, Naoki suddenly sprang to his feet and unleashed a blast of wind from his mouth.

"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"

A violent gale, mixed with flying stones, burst forth and swept away most of the dense steam around them.

The black-clad ninja was forced to stagger backward by the sudden gust, raising his arms to shield his eyes from the flying stones.

Now!

Seizing the fleeting opportunity, Naoki drove his feet into the ground and shot toward his opponent like an arrow loosed from its bow.

His long blade traced a cold arc through the night, aimed straight at the man's throat.

Though the gale had blinded the black-clad ninja, years of combat instinct alerted him to the deadly danger. He forcibly twisted his body, causing the blade that had been aimed at his throat to veer aside and pierce his shoulder blade instead.

He grunted. At the same time, he stabbed backward at Naoki's abdomen with the Kunai in his right hand.

Naoki had no time to pull his blade free. He could only let go and retreat, but the Kunai still cut into his abdomen, and blood instantly soaked through his clothes.

The two separated again, standing about ten paces apart as they both gasped for breath.

Naoki glanced down at the wound in his abdomen. It wasn't too deep, but it was bleeding steadily.

He took bandages from his pouch and wrapped them around the wound, all the while keeping his Two-Tomoe Sharingan fixed on his enemy.

Hearing the commotion growing louder in the distance, he thought, I can't let this drag on!

Naoki's long blade was still embedded in the black-clad ninja's shoulder, blood running down its length. The man's gaze grew even more vicious.

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

Without a weapon, and not very accustomed to using Kunai, Naoki could only stay on guard, ready to form Hand Seals at any moment.

The mist rose again. Naoki held his breath as his Sharingan spun rapidly, searching every inch of the area around him.

To the left behind me!

He spun around and formed Hand Seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

A blazing fireball burst from his mouth and hurtled toward the direction he had sensed.

But the flames passed through nothing but a cloud of mist.

A Kunai suddenly emerged from the fog, stabbing toward Naoki's throat.

Naoki's pupils contracted. His body instinctively leaned backward, and the Kunai grazed the tip of his nose.

He followed through with a backflip. The instant his feet touched the ground, he kicked off with his right foot and charged toward the direction the sound had come from instead of retreating.

"You're asking for it!"

The black-clad ninja snorted and rapidly formed Hand Seals.

"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"

A wall of water rose between them.

Naoki didn't hesitate for a moment and quickly formed Hand Seals.

Dazzling lightning erupted from his palm and pierced through the water wall in an instant.

Water conducted electricity.

Caught off guard, the black-clad ninja was struck by lightning, and his entire body went numb for a moment.

That moment was all Naoki needed!

He drove his feet into the ground and shot through the dissolving water wall like a cannonball. His right hand drew a spare Kunai from his waist and thrust it straight at his opponent's heart.

The black-clad ninja was horrified. He hadn't expected Naoki to have another trick up his sleeve, and hurriedly forced his numbed body to shift sideways.

The Kunai cut through his flesh and sank into his left chest, but missed his heart.

"Argh!"

The black-clad ninja roared and kicked at Naoki's abdomen.

Though Naoki had landed a hit, the violent movement had aggravated his abdominal wound, slowing his reaction by half a beat. The kick struck the freshly bandaged injury squarely. Pain instantly spread through his body, and he was sent flying, tumbling across the ground several times before coming to a stop.

"Cough, cough..."

Naoki coughed up a mouthful of blood. His abdominal wound had split open, blood soaking through the bandages and dripping from his clothes onto the ground.

The black-clad ninja was in no better shape. He knelt on one knee, clutching the wound in his left chest, his face frighteningly pale.

Though the blade had missed his heart, it had gone in deep. Each breath brought him a sharp stab of pain.

Gasping heavily, Naoki picked up the Kunai lying nearby and struggled to his feet.

"It's over, you bastard!"

Dazzling lightning appeared in Naoki's palm once more.

As he threw the Kunai, blue-white lightning wrapped around it and sent it flying toward the black-clad ninja.

Before the man could react, the Kunai pierced through his chest. With a loud boom, his body hit the ground.

At last, the enemy was dealt with, and Naoki let out a sigh of relief.

Since coming to this world, he had never faced such a troublesome opponent. Without mastery of five nature transformations and a solid reserve of tactics, it was hard to say who would have come out on top in the end... Still, the benefits were clear. He felt that he could now kill a Chunin as easily as slaughtering a chicken!

Grimacing, he forced himself upright and used his Sharingan to scan the area.

The transport ship on the river was still burning, the flames even more fierce than before.

More than a dozen Kirigakure Ninja corpses lay scattered across the shallows, and the sounds of battle carried over from the distance.

"Looks like they're still fighting... I have to get over there!"

He applied ointment from his pouch to his wound and wrapped it in fresh bandages. Then he picked up the long blade lying nearby and ran toward the other battlefield.

He ran along the riverbank. The sounds of fighting grew clearer, and the flames painted the sky a deep red.

After rounding a stretch of reefs, he saw what was happening.

The shallows at the bend in the river had become a slaughterhouse. The bodies of Kirigakure Ninja were scattered everywhere, and the once-clear river had turned dark red, gleaming eerily in the firelight.

The burning transport ship had run aground on the shore. Thick smoke billowed upward, darkening the night sky even further.

This battlefield was larger. A closer look revealed five separate clashes of varying sizes.

The most conspicuous was the group Uchiha Setsuna was fighting in.

The old man, nearly sixty, held a long blade. Bloodstains dotted his gray-white hair, making it especially noticeable. Facing him was a Kirigakure ninja clad in heavy armor and wearing an iron mask. The weapon in the man's hands was bizarre: a sledgehammer at one end, an axe at the other, the two connected by an iron chain.

The weapon in the armored giant's hands looked more and more familiar the longer Naoki watched.

"Isn't that..."