Asai Hane

A flash of sword light blazed brilliantly, painfully bright.

It cut through the mist, sending the fog rolling in waves.

Asai Hane's dead-water eyes rippled slightly. He raised his kunai, intending to block.

Ryōken's lips curved faintly, a sharp gleam flashing through his eyes. My sword isn't so easy to block.

The incomparably swift blade suddenly trembled, tracing a bizarre arc as it continued forward. The kunai's defense was utterly useless.

Disbelief flashed through Asai Hane's eyes, his pupils contracting as he watched the blade draw closer and slash across his waist.

"Hmm?"

"Water Clone Technique!"

Ryōken narrowed his eyes and watched his surroundings warily, without the slightest joy at victory.

Sure enough, the Asai Hane before him, split in two, abruptly turned into a mass of water.

"Ninja Art: Water Binding Technique!"

A cold voice suddenly came from within the mist, drifting unpredictably and making its location impossible to determine.

Ryōken's heart jolted. With a tap of his toes, he tried to break away.

But it was too late.

The mass of water suddenly shifted, and several twisting streams surged out, binding Ryōken's entire body.

He struggled forcefully, only to find the water streams seemed immune to force. The chakra-filled current possessed astonishing Tenacity.

After carefully sensing the current's resilience, Ryōken silently estimated that while he could break free, it would take some time.

At a time like this, even the shortest delay could be fatal.

Ryōken could not help but smile bitterly. What a seasoned assassin.

As soon as Ryōken spoke, the man had probably already guessed his intentions.

"It's over!"

"The one who kills you is Asai Hane!"

The distant voice echoed through the mist, carrying a trace of pride.

Asai Hane's calm heart stirred violently.

The chaotic ninja world had never lacked geniuses. He had fought his way through Amegakure and earned the recognition of Hanzo the Demigod; one could imagine just how terrifying Asai Hane's talent was.

He was a born assassin. To achieve his goals, he would stop at nothing, even daring to assassinate a true jonin.

Though he had not succeeded and had only severely wounded his target, he had still managed to escape unscathed while pursued by enemy ninja. That fully proved both his strength and his intelligence.

With talent, strength, and intelligence, it was no exaggeration to call him a genius.

Geniuses were all proud, whether it was the pride in their hearts or the pride they displayed.

Just like Minato Namikaze, victory would make him stronger, and defeat would make him stronger as well.

That was the mindset a true powerhouse should possess.

Now, trapped in Konoha, where hidden dragons and crouching tigers abounded, his path to survival had been cut off.

Instead, it stirred the pride deep within Asai Hane's heart.

Death no longer seemed important.

What mattered was making this world remember him—Asai Hane.

At that moment, the breakthrough in his state of mind allowed him to feel the fluctuations and transformations of chakra with unprecedented clarity.

The nature transformation of Water-attribute chakra suddenly became as clear to him as the palm of his hand.

Asai Hane believed that if he could survive this time, he would definitely break through and become a jonin.

Unfortunately, that was almost impossible.

In that case, he would kill to his heart's content.

However many Konoha ninja he could drag down with him, he would drag them down.

And Ryōken would be the first.

"Water Release: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"

As his words fell, a huge mass of water appeared out of nowhere at Asai Hane's feet. It rapidly formed into a gigantic shark that bared its fangs and claws, threw back its head with a fierce roar, and charged vividly toward Ryōken.

"A C-rank Water Release?"

"Why does it look alive?"

Facing the Water Shark Bullet Technique before him, Ryōken's gaze sharpened in confusion. But since it was Water Release, he was not afraid.

A strange curve formed on his lips as he suddenly closed his eyes, quietly waiting for the water shark to arrive.

The increasingly close force made Ryōken's skin sting. The howling wind raged through the mist.

Everyone could feel the astonishing chakra fluctuations, and they could not help but worry in secret. They understood that the battle between the two men would determine whether they lived or died.

Especially the Konoha ninja who had heard of Asai Hane—they were even more anxious and uneasy.

Ryōken had only recently graduated from the Ninja Academy. In four months, even under Hatake Sakumo's guidance, he could only have improved so much.

From what they had seen earlier, he was at most at the level of a special jonin.

Asai Hane, however, had severely wounded a jonin from the Wind Country.

Sunagakure was a ninja village famed for its elites. Among ninja of the same rank, they could almost always suppress their opponents.

Seeing Ryōken's strange movements, Asai Hane gave a cold smile.

Since he had come to assassinate Ryōken, he naturally knew that Ryōken possessed a strange defensive sword technique.

He had even used it to block a combined ninjutsu comparable to a B-rank technique.

That was why Asai Hane had restrained Ryōken from the start and created this opportunity.

He was still just a brat who had never experienced slaughter, ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth.

During his earlier observations, he had discovered that Ryōken's physical defense was astonishing. That was why he could take a punch from Honda Tadakatsu head-on without retreating a single step.

The barrier that had appeared during the earlier assassination attempt was strange, but in his understanding, it was more like a special ninja tool.

And ninja tools generally came with enormous restrictions.

There was absolutely no way it could be used again so soon.

Mockery appeared in Asai Hane's eyes, as though he could already see Ryōken being severely wounded by his attack.

If it had been the old him, a mere C-rank Water Release might have struggled to break Ryōken's defense.

But now that he had grasped nature transformation, how could the Water Shark Bullet he unleashed compare to an ordinary C-rank ninjutsu?

In a clash between opponents of the same rank, once one side was severely wounded, the outcome went without saying.

At this moment, Ryōken did not know that Asai Hane had already achieved a degree of breakthrough, and that the ninjutsu he released was far more powerful than before.

With his eyes closed, the oppressive roar of wind bore down on him. The hairs on Ryōken's body swayed gently like feelers.

The Sword Intent surrounding him suddenly surged violently. Waves of intense danger washed over him, startling Ryōken.

Sword Intent was equivalent to an extension of a swordsman's thoughts. Calling it a swordsman's third eye would not be an exaggeration.

Ryōken immediately trusted that instinct. He abruptly opened his eyes and looked at the Water Shark Bullet, which was clearly different from an ordinary C-rank ninjutsu.

Only then did he understand, and a bitter smile appeared on his face.

Damn it.

I actually made the mistake of underestimating my enemy!

How could someone who dared to assassinate ninja from another nation be an ordinary person?

Fortunately, Ryōken was no longer the Ryōken of the past. Four months of training had not remade him entirely, but his strength had greatly increased.

A blue sphere of chakra rapidly appeared in his open left palm. It spun swiftly, emitting an astonishing tearing force.

Ryōken raised his wrist and pressed it directly against the Water Shark Bullet, which was nearly in his face.

A powerful tearing force erupted. The water shark's enormous, fang-filled head was ripped apart, though the Rasengan in Ryōken's hand was also exhausted.

However, time had been too short, and the chakra Ryōken had poured into it was clearly insufficient. Thus, it was not enough to completely block the Water Shark Bullet enhanced by nature transformation.

The water shark's remaining body struck Ryōken with tremendous force, sending him flying.