Cooperating in Battle

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

Seeing Konan use paper shuriken, Nagato immediately pressed his palms together, took a deep breath, and exhaled a blast of air directly at the shuriken flying toward Jiraiya!

The chakra Nagato gathered in his mouth combined with the air in his lungs, triggering an instant energy transformation. A massive volume of airflow was compressed and converted into a violent gale. Accelerated by the gale, the paper shuriken vanished in a blink, their speed and power incomparable to before!

While a Gale Palm attack on its own had enough force to easily send a person flying, its true brilliance lay in its synergy with projectile weapons like shuriken or kunai. With the boost of powerful wind pressure, both the flight speed of the shuriken and the destructive power upon impact increased exponentially...!!

"Haha, using Wind Style to accelerate your shuriken, are you?" Jiraiya grinned and nodded.

"Well done, but it won't be so easy to hurt me!"

With a loud shout, a massive amount of chakra instantly gathered in Jiraiya's hands.

"Rasengan!"

Jiraiya slammed the high-speed rotating Rasengan directly into the water surface in front of him.

"BOOM!"

A massive wave erupted. Before the paper shuriken accelerated by Nagato could even touch the crest of the wave, they were scattered by the shockwave generated by the surge.

"Dodge!"

Yuehua Ai shouted, quickly forming hand seals, while Konan and Nagato also darted to the side.

"Now is the time!"

Just as Jiraiya was sliding backward from the recoil of his Rasengan, Yahiko, who had circled behind him, seized the opportunity.

"Ah—!" Yahiko roared as he charged at Jiraiya. He stomped heavily on the water, sending up a spray, and launched himself into the air, aiming a kick at the man's head.

"Too slow!"

Jiraiya laughed, reaching out to grab Yahiko's incoming leg without even looking back.

"Damn it!"

Realizing Jiraiya seemed to have eyes in the back of his head and had anticipated his attack, Yahiko cursed under his breath and did his best to retract the force of his kick. Although he had used his momentum to power the strike, there was a significant gap in strength between them; he dared not let the man catch his leg during such a collision.

Though he had no leverage in mid-air, Yahiko curled his waist and abdomen, folding his body like a shrimp in an instant. Using this motion, he successfully utilized his body's inertia to pull back his kick, transforming the horizontal sweep into a downward strike.

As Yahiko changed his move, Jiraiya turned around. He leaned back slightly to dodge the downward kick, then raised an arm to block the follow-up punch.

All of Yahiko's attacks were blocked in an instant. Just as he was falling and unable to maneuver, a scorching blue sphere of light appeared in Jiraiya's palm and was pressed directly against his abdomen.

"What!?" Yahiko's eyes widened!

"Bang!" The chakra sphere exploded, and the massive impact sent Yahiko flying far away.

Although Yahiko was sent flying in a sorry state, he wasn't seriously injured. That aggregate of chakra was merely a small cluster Jiraiya had gathered to mimic the Rasengan; had he used a full-powered Rasengan, Yahiko would likely be dead by now!

Just as Yahiko put distance between himself and Jiraiya, Yuehua Ai finished his technique.

"Water Style: Water Ground Cannon!"

A compressed water sphere nearly a meter in diameter emerged and hurtled toward Jiraiya like a cannonball.

"Gale Palm!" No sooner had Ai finished the water cannon than Nagato followed up, using Wind Style to provide an acceleration boost to the sphere.

Jiraiya had just shifted his attention away from Yahiko when he turned back to find the compressed water cannon almost upon him.

Water Ground Cannon was a ninjutsu of the Second Hokage, a technique he had taught to Yuehua Ai himself. He understood this jutsu perfectly; despite the sphere's modest size, it was a state of highly compressed water. Once it exploded, the range of the attack would be vast. Even with his speed, it would be impossible to dodge completely in such a short window!

"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"

Since he couldn't dodge, he would meet it head-on!

Jiraiya made his decision instantly. He formed the Tiger seal and exhaled a massive fireball.

Flame Bullet was a high-power Fire Style technique requiring only one hand seal, often capable of catching enemies off guard and dealing fatal blows in battle. Although Fire Style was countered by Water Style, the power of the Flame Bullet far exceeded Ai's water technique. Furthermore, the Flame Bullet was mixed with Toad Oil, allowing it to burn fiercely even in water, making it more than enough to intercept Ai's Water Ground Cannon.

"Hiss—"

The fireball and the water projectile collided violently. As they erupted with a powerful shockwave, massive plumes of steam rose up, shrouding the entire river surface.

"Damn it, where is Master Jiraiya?"

Yuehua Ai heard Yahiko's shout coming from deep within the white mist. The pervasive steam acted much like the Hidden Mist Technique, obscuring everyone's vision. Yahiko and Konan had lost track of the others, and Jiraiya's location was unknown, but Ai remained unaffected thanks to his sensory talent, and Nagato, with his Rinnegan, would surely not be hindered by mere water mist.

"Yahiko, watch out! Master Jiraiya is heading your way!"

Yuehua Ai shouted. Yahiko's previous call had exposed his position, and in Ai's perception, Jiraiya had begun moving toward him the moment he spoke.

"I'll go help Yahiko!" Nagato left those words behind and shot toward Yahiko.

"Understood!" Yuehua Ai replied, moving toward Konan's location.

"What do we do?" Seeing it was Ai who had arrived, Konan breathed a sigh of relief, though she frowned as she asked him. Their current situation offered no advantage; Yahiko and Konan were severely limited by the loss of vision. While Ai and Nagato were unaffected, the group was acting independently, making them easy targets for Jiraiya to pick off one by one.

"It's fine, watch this." Yuehua Ai smiled at Konan to reassure her, his fingers already moving.

"Rat-Ox-Monkey-Ram."

"Water Style: Water Curtain Cover Technique!"

Yuehua Ai called out the name of the jutsu to Konan, and she watched as the water beneath their feet swirled into a ring around them. The water ring then rose, forming a thin, hemispherical water curtain.

"Hah!" Yuehua Ai formed the Ram seal and shouted, increasing his chakra output into the technique.

The water film enveloping the two expanded rapidly, stretching dozens of meters in the blink of an eye. Wherever the film passed, all water vapor, mist, and raindrops vanished without a trace, leaving the entire space feeling noticeably less humid.

"Is this that jutsu you developed earlier to dispel the Hidden Mist Technique, Ai?" Konan asked, her face filled with astonishment as she looked at Yuehua Ai with pure admiration.

"Mhm! I named this jutsu Water Curtain Veil." Yuehua Ai confirmed her suspicion, a hint of pride inevitably crossing his face.

This Water Curtain Veil was a modification he had derived from the Water Style: Water Curtain Wall. The original Water Curtain Wall could shape water into a curtain for defense or to obstruct an enemy's line of sight, making it a defensive ninjutsu.

However, the Water Curtain Veil that Yuehua Ai developed differed from the original; it was neither an offensive nor a defensive ninjutsu. If one had to categorize it, it would be a field-clearing ninjutsu.

It possessed no offensive or defensive power, but its unique shape transformation allowed it to sweep through everything in the space, clearing away anything from mist to poisonous gas.

Yuehua Ai's inspiration for developing the Water Curtain Veil came from actual combat. Over the past two years, the group had frequently clashed with ninjas from other factions and had numerous run-ins with the local Rain Ninja.

Because the Rain Ninja were highly skilled in Water Style, many were adept at the Hidden Mist Technique. While the mist didn't affect Yuehua Ai or Nagato much during battle, it was difficult for Yahiko and Konan to handle, prompting Yuehua Ai to find a way to counter it.

Later, through further study of various ninjutsu, he mastered the Hidden Mist Technique and was introduced to the Water Curtain Wall. The unique defensive form of the Water Curtain Wall sparked his inspiration. Not long after, he stripped away the defensive functions and added new shape transformations. After several experimental modifications, he perfected this uniquely functional ninjutsu.

Today was the first time he had used it in actual combat. With the mist gone wherever the water film passed, he saw the others suddenly revealed and realized the effect was unexpectedly good.

Truly, there is no strongest ninjutsu in battle, only the most suitable one!

The water film dissipated after sweeping past the group. Jiraiya, Yahiko, and the others were stunned by the sudden clarity, then quickly separated in vigilance.

"What terrifying creativity!" Jiraiya couldn't help but exclaim as he watched Yuehua Ai lower his hands.

"Master Jiraiya, now is not the time for sentiment!"

Yahiko chuckled, and taking advantage of Jiraiya's distraction, he launched another attack.

"Hmph!" Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. Seeing Nagato attacking simultaneously, he prepared to dodge to the side, only to feel his steps suddenly become heavy.

"This is..." Jiraiya looked down in shock at the water coiling around his calves, a flicker of confusion crossing his mind. When did this happen?

"Haha!" Seeing Jiraiya's movements slow down, Yahiko couldn't help but grin.

"Snake-Ram-Horse-Hare-Ram-Horse-Hare, Water Style: Water Prison Technique!"

With a loud shout, Yahiko finished his hand signs, and a massive sphere of water rose from beneath Jiraiya's feet, imprisoning him entirely!

Yahiko kept one hand plunged into the water prison, continuously supplying it with chakra, while signaling to Nagato beside him.

"Lightning Style: Appreciative Wave!"

As Nagato finished his hand signs, Yahiko pulled his hand away from the prison and retreated rapidly.

"Crackle!"

A brilliant flash of lightning erupted from Nagato's mouth, the bolt trailing countless electrical tendrils like a spear as it struck the water prison instantly.

There was no dodging it!

Jiraiya's shadow clone inside the water prison widened his eyes, able only to watch helplessly as the electric light flooded his vision.

"Boom!"

With a thunderous roar, the water prison exploded. When the waves settled, the shadow clone of Jiraiya was gone, leaving only a puff of smoke rising from the center...