Blinding blue light exploded in the gloom at the bottom of the canyon.
This was no faint spark from an ordinary Lightning Release technique. It was highly condensed, violently unstable Chakra made tangible. Countless fine blue arcs snapped and spread from Baishi's right hand, instantly ionizing the murky air around him with a rapid series of sharp cracks.
The pungent smell of ozone mingled with the earthy stench of soil and struck the Iwagakure Jonin's nose.
"One-handed seals?!"
In midair, shock twisted the Jonin's rugged features. His right arm, encased in thick stone armor, had already slammed into the heart of the blue light with crushing force.
Bolstered by Earth Release Chakra, his Super Weighted Rock Fist could have pulverized the skull of an adult summoned bear. He had expected the Konoha ANBU rat to be crushed into a smear of flesh.
But the sound of breaking bones never came.
Instead, there was a crisp crack.
Baishi stared coldly at the enormous stone fist bearing down on him. He thrust forward the right hand still held in its one-handed seal. Highly condensed Lightning Release Chakra became an invisible blade that pierced the very center of the stone armor with pinpoint precision.
At that moment, the principle governing the five Chakra natures was laid bare.
Lightning overcame earth.
The instant the seemingly indestructible stone armor met the concentrated lightning, its Earth Release Chakra structure was destroyed from within. The dense rock crumbled like dried mud, a web of fine cracks racing across its surface.
"That's impossible!" the Iwagakure Jonin roared. He desperately drove Chakra into the fractured fist to repair it, but the lightning's penetrating force was too great.
Expressionless, Baishi sharply twisted his right hand.
Boom!
The massive stone shell around the Jonin's right arm shattered completely. Wrapped in lightning, countless tiny fragments sprayed in every direction like deadly buckshot.
The lightning sliced through the Jonin's defenses without resistance and drove deep into his thick right arm.
"Aaagh!"
His scream rang through the canyon. High-voltage current punched through his skin and seared great swaths of muscle. The reek of charred meat filled the air. His entire right arm blackened and shriveled before the eye; the blood evaporated in the terrible heat before it could even spray out.
Baishi fell through the air, his black coat snapping in the turbulent wind. His cold eyes stayed fixed on the Jonin's face, contorted with pain. There was not a trace of pity in them.
"Chakra expenditure: thirty-five percent."
Cold figures flashed through his mind. Releasing a transformation of this caliber with one hand placed a tremendous strain on his expendable body. Pain tore through the meridians of his right hand, but he did not so much as frown.
The killing had only just begun.
Using the recoil from the lightning strike, Baishi forced himself steady in midair. His left hand reached behind his waist and smoothly drew his standard-issue ANBU Short Blade. A thin layer of lightning instantly coated its edge, turning it into a blue blade that cut through the darkness as it swept toward the Jonin's throat.
Strike while he was wounded. Finish him.
It was the one truth Baishi had learned from countless brushes with death.
But an Iwagakure Jonin who had survived this border battlefield—this meat grinder—was no easy prey.
The agony did not break his will. It brought out the ferocity buried in his bones.
"Konoha scum! Even if I die, I'm taking a piece of you with me!"
Pain and rage made the Jonin's rugged face monstrous. He abandoned the right arm Lightning Release had ruined, letting it hang at his side like a length of charcoal. Twisting his massive body violently in midair, he narrowly evaded Baishi's fatal slash at his throat.
Slash!
The lightning-coated Short Blade cut through the Jonin's protective vest and carved a gash across his chest deep enough to expose bone. Blood spurted onto Baishi's cold mask.
The Jonin did not even glance at the wound. Using the momentum of his turn, he slipped his left hand to the Ninja Tool Pouch on his outer thigh and drew an oddly shaped Kunai.
A poisonous green gleam shimmered along its edge.
"Earth Release: Hardening Technique!"
The Jonin roared like a beast. He poured all his remaining Earth Release Chakra into his left arm and the Poison Kunai. His already thick arm swelled, and a gray-black layer as hard as stone spread over his skin.
The two plummeted through the air, barely an arm's length apart.
Baishi's last burst of strength had spent itself, and the next had yet to come. The Max-Level Lightning Release he had just unleashed had left his body rigid for the briefest instant.
The seasoned Iwagakure Jonin caught that fraction-of-a-second opening with perfect precision.
"Come to hell with me!"
Mad killing intent blazed in the Jonin's eyes. He lunged at Baishi, abandoning all defense. Fueled by Earth Release Chakra, the poison-coated Kunai shot toward Baishi's left collarbone like an armor-piercing round.
They were too close.
Wind howled past Baishi's ears, but he could clearly hear the Kunai's tip shrieking through the air. He could even make out the bloodshot veins in the Jonin's hate-filled eyes.
He could not dodge.
There was nothing to push against in midair, and even the Substitution Technique required a moment to prepare. With this final strike, his opponent had pushed both speed and strength to their limits.
If the Poison Kunai reached his heart, even the Incomplete Uzumaki Constitution would not save him.
Time stretched without end.
Baishi's mind raced, calculating every chance of survival.
Compromise? Yield?
No.
The coldness in Baishi's eyes turned to utter ferocity. If he could not dodge, he would pin this beast down here, no matter what it cost!
Instead of pulling back, he stepped straight toward the deadly Poison Kunai.
Thud!
The muffled sound of a blade tearing through flesh burst out in midair. The green-tipped Kunai pierced Baishi's ANBU uniform and drove viciously toward the flesh beneath his collarbone.