The Fury of an Iwagakure Jonin and the Absolute Suppression of Earth Style Ninjutsu

The roar was deafening.

Sight was completely stripped away, replaced by a shadow crashing down from above. The dark red boulder descended with the force of ten thousand tons, compressing the air at the bottom of the canyon until it emitted a sharp, piercing shriek.

Baishi did not look up.

Max-level Lightning Release chakra surged frantically through the meridians in his legs. His muscle fibers bulged from the extreme blood flow, and a tearing pain accompanied by explosive power shot through his entire body. Like a black lightning bolt refracting off the ground, he wove through the gaps between the falling boulders at the limit of his speed.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

Hundreds of tons of rock slammed into the mire one after another. Mud and water, mixed with sharp stone fragments, scattered in all directions like large-caliber bullets. A stone shard the size of a fingernail grazed Baishi's cheek, slicing through the edge of his ANBU mask and leaving a deep, bleeding gash on his face.

Warm blood dripped down his chin, but Baishi had no time to care.

The suppression from the Iwagakure jonin's Earth Style was terrifying. This was not a battlefield that an ordinary ANBU could contend with. The opponent not only possessed a massive reserve of chakra, but more frighteningly, an absolute mastery over the terrain.

"Don't let him catch his breath! Seal off his landing points!"

The Iwagakure jonin's gruff roar exploded amidst the rolling dust. He kept his hands in a seal, pouring thick earth-attribute chakra into the ground without pause.

The remaining four Iwagakure elites snapped out of the shock caused by their comrade's instant death. Displaying high tactical proficiency, they quickly scattered to occupy the protruding rock walls on both sides of the canyon.

Swish, swish, swish!

A dozen kunai attached with Explosive Tags formed a crossfire net, shooting viciously toward the path where Baishi was maneuvering.

Baishi twisted his waist and abdomen in mid-air, forcing his body into an unnatural angle that defied physics, barely dodging the blast waves of two Explosive Tags. The scorching heat singed his hem, and the smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils.

The moment he landed, the mud beneath his feet began to squirm eerily, the once-solid ground transforming into a thick, gray-black swamp.

"Earth Style: Underworld Swamp." Baishi's eyes were cold.

As his feet sank into the mire, a powerful suction force tried to swallow him whole.

"Got you, rat!"

On the rock wall to the right, an Iwagakure chunin seized the opportunity and quickly formed seals: "Earth Style: Earth Rising Spears!"

Pop, pop, pop!

Four razor-sharp earthen spears erupted from the swamp beneath Baishi's feet without warning, aiming straight for his thighs and abdomen.

At the brink of life and death, Baishi slammed his hands together.

Bang!

The moment the spears pierced his body, Baishi exploded into a puff of white smoke. A log riddled with holes was pinned firmly in place by the earthen spears.

"Body Replacement Technique? Don't think you can escape!"

The Iwagakure jonin's combat experience was seasoned and ruthless. He didn't even glance at the log, his massive frame turning sharply upward. His bloodshot eyes locked onto Baishi, who had just revealed his figure in mid-air.

"He's above! Knock him down!"

The jonin lifted his thick arms upward.

Rumble!

The ground directly beneath Baishi shook violently, and a solid stone wall one meter thick shot up like a beast breaking through the earth, directly sealing off Baishi's path for a downward strike.

Not only that, but under the influence of chakra, dense rock spikes instantly sprouted from the surface of the wall. This wasn't a defensive Earth Style: Earth Wall; it was a giant meat grinder!

A gale whipped past Baishi's robes.

With no leverage in mid-air, he was about to collide with the spike-covered wall.

Chakra consumption: 15%.

Baishi's brain functioned like a cold, precision instrument, frantically calculating his chips even in this desperate situation. While the max-level Lightning Release granted by the Simulator was formidable, the container of this cannon-fodder body had too low a limit. If he squandered his chakra here, even if he killed all the Iwagakure ninja, he would never make it out of this forest alive.

Venom Fang, that old schemer, was definitely still watching from the shadows.

The absolute fear of death transformed into extreme rationality at this moment. He had to survive. Not only did he have to survive, but he had to seize control of his own destiny and trample those high-and-mighty chess players beneath his feet!

Baishi reached into his ninja pouch with one hand and threw a kunai attached to a thin steel wire.

Clang!

The kunai pinned precisely into the steep cliff on the left. Using the tension of the wire, Baishi forced his body to swing in mid-air, sliding past the spikes of the stone wall by a hair's breadth.

However, this was the opening the Iwagakure jonin had painstakingly created.

"Die!"

The jonin's massive body had already leaped into the air, stepping off the stone wall. The muscles in his right arm bulged, the entire limb encased in a thick, metallic-lustered rock armor.

"Earth Style: Earth Style: Ultra-Added Weight Rock Fist Technique!"

The air was compressed by the punch, emitting a piercing sonic boom. The violent wind pressure even blew away the remaining half of Baishi's ANBU mask, revealing eyes as cold and sharp as blades.

There was no retreat.

To his left was the cliff, to his right the spike-covered wall, and below him the bottomless Underworld Swamp.

And directly in front of him was a heavy rock fist capable of smashing the head of a summoning beast to pulp.

His room for movement was completely locked down.

This was the absolute suppression brought by a veteran jonin below the Kage level. He didn't engage in flashy ninjutsu exchanges; he simply used the terrain and experience to force his prey into a desperate situation with no way out.

"Scum of Konoha, pay for my subordinates' lives!" The jonin's face twisted with extreme gratification, his fist less than half a meter from Baishi's chest.

At this critical juncture.

Amidst the gale, Baishi suddenly released his left hand, which had been gripping the steel wire.

His body completely lost its balance, entering a state of freefall. Yet, he showed not a hint of panic, his calm eyes locked onto the rock-hard fist inches away.

He did not weave a single seal for a defensive ninjutsu.

Instead, he slowly raised his right hand.

His fingers splayed, thumb tucked inward, index and middle fingers pressed together.

A bizarre, single-handed seal—one that belonged to no conventional ninjutsu system—formed instantly in mid-air.

"Why do you think I lured you into the air?"

Baishi's voice was incredibly flat, yet it cut through the frantic wind pressure, ringing clearly in the Iwagakure jonin's ears.

The jonin's pupils contracted sharply as a sense of lethal crisis instantly gripped his heart. But he was suspended in mid-air, his heavy blow already committed, and he had no way to pull back.

The next second.

A blinding blue light finally erupted at the bottom of the gloomy canyon, without reservation.