That hand sign was ancient and simple, yet it carried a weight and steadiness akin to the earth itself. It belonged to none of the standard twelve zodiac hand seals in Mizuki Han's memory. It looked more like a bloodline inheritance or a personal battle sign devised by this jonin, unique to him alone.
The instant the strange hand seal was completed, the flow of energy throughout the entire space underwent a fundamental reversal.
It wasn't a burst of chakra, but an extreme condensation, restrained and drawn inward.
"Vmmm—"
A dull rumble sounded—not from the jonin's body, but from the solid stone beneath his feet.
Mizuki Han's real body, circling around toward the jonin's flank, narrowed his eyes. He saw the ground within a one-meter radius of the jonin darkening at a visible speed, shifting from its original gray-white to a deep hue like obsidian. Countless fine, earth-yellow chakra patterns spread from the jonin's feet like plant roots, burrowing into the depths of the earth.
"Earth Release: Rock Body Armor!"
The jonin's hoarse voice rang out like a declaration.
At almost the same moment, the Water Clone charging straight at him had already thrust its Black Steel Short Blade to within three inches of the jonin's throat! The keen blade cut through the air with a sharp whistle.
The jonin didn't even lift an eyelid.
"BOOM!!"
The blade didn't strike flesh. It collided with an invisible wall. No—not a wall, but a thick layer of rock armor that surged up from the jonin's body! It hadn't appeared from nowhere. It had "grown" out of the earth beneath his feet, spreading up his legs and covering his entire body in an instant, forming a full suit of heavy armor with no gaps and a rugged, powerful appearance!
The Water Clone's blade was as fragile as rotten wood against the Rock Armor. The instant its tip made contact, it gave a piercing crack and shattered into pieces. Then the entire Water Clone was blasted apart by the peerless force rebounding from the armor!
"Splash!"
The water that made up the clone burst apart like ice dropped into boiling oil, becoming a cloud of mist that scattered in every direction.
One probe, one exchange, one basic clone—it hadn't even made the opponent move a fraction. It had been crushed completely in the most brutal, unreasonable way imaginable.
This was a jonin.
This was the absolute gap in strength.
Mizuki Han's real body, racing around the flank, came to an abrupt halt. His toes scraped against the ground with a grating sound as he twisted at an extreme angle, forcibly stopping his forward momentum.
His mind was ice-cold. He had captured and analyzed every detail of the scene he'd just witnessed.
This wasn't the standard Earth Release: Hardening Technique. That technique merely strengthened the user's defense, while the opponent's ninjutsu directly controlled the earth itself and shaped it into a new form of defense. That meant as long as his feet remained on the ground, the armor's defensive power and ability to recover were practically limitless.
Ordinary physical attacks were useless.
Piercing ninjutsu? With the small amount of chakra he had as a chunin, he probably couldn't even leave a white mark on that Rock Armor.
He had the information he needed. The price was the chakra spent on the probe—and another brutal reminder of just how weak he was.
"Is it over, brat?" The jonin, clad in heavy Rock Armor, slowly turned his stone-encased head. His voice rumbled like a bell. His gaze locked precisely onto Mizuki Han's real body. "Your little tricks mean nothing to me."
Mizuki Han didn't answer. He held his short blade in a reverse grip, its tip dipping slightly as he lowered his center of gravity. He was adjusting, thinking, searching for a new way to break through.
If he couldn't break your "shield," then he'd destroy the "road" beneath your feet.
A new, bolder and more precise tactical plan took shape in his mind in an instant.
His gaze shifted away from the oppressive Rock Armor, sweeping over every detail in the space—the droplets of water condensed on the damp rock walls, the puddles left behind by the Water Clone's burst, even the invisible moisture hanging in the air.
All of it could become his weapon.
"Still not giving up?" The jonin seemed to have run out of patience. He raised his rock-armored right foot and slammed it down!
"Thud!"
The ground beneath him cracked with a deafening boom. A powerful gust mixed with flying rocks surged toward Mizuki Han!
Mizuki Han didn't try to withstand it. He dropped low and slid aside like a snake hugging the ground. As he dodged, he spread the fingers of his left hand and held it over the earth.
"Ice Release: Frost Bind."
A faint but intensely concentrated chill flowed from his palm.
The ground, soaked by the Water Clone's burst, had been merely damp. The instant the chill swept over it, a thin, almost transparent layer of white frost quickly formed and spread!
The jonin paid no attention to the detail. When his attack missed, he immediately strode after Mizuki Han. Every heavy step made the ground tremble, while the pressure of the wind kicked up by his Rock Armor stung the skin.
But when he took his second step onto the frost-covered ground, an unexpected change occurred!
"Skrrt—"
The hard stone soles of his boots scraped violently against the slick ice, producing a teeth-grating sound. His powerful forward momentum suddenly slipped! His body faltered for an instant, so slightly it was almost imperceptible.
He steadied himself immediately, but the brief stumble had broken the momentum of his relentless charge for a tenth of a second.
In a clash between experts, that tenth of a second could change everything.
Mizuki Han seized the opening. He didn't counterattack. Instead, he used the moment to dart away again, lightly touching his fingers to another puddle.
Another deadly patch of ice formed, silent and unseen.
"Cheap tricks." The jonin gave a cold snort, evidently understanding Mizuki Han's intent. He stopped pursuing in a straight line and tried to catch him with greater speed and more complex changes of direction.
But Mizuki Han was like a slick eel, impossible to catch. Amid the complicated maze of metal and rock, he used every obstacle and every turn to repeat the same move.
At times, his figure flashed into view on a metal support, his fingertips trailing a streak of frost.
At others, he rolled across the ground, pressing his palm down to turn a small puddle into a trap.
He even flung several shuriken from his ninja pouch—not to attack, but to knock droplets of water from high on the rock wall and create new "freezing points."
He broke the chakra he'd set aside for probing into dozens, even hundreds, of tiny portions. With astonishingly precise control, he wove an invisible web of ice across the battlefield.
The web had no killing power.
But it was everywhere.
A few minutes later, the jonin's expression had changed from its initial disdain to cold irritation.
He found himself increasingly hindered.
Whenever he tried to accelerate, there would "happen" to be a patch of ice underfoot, forcing him to waste attention regaining his balance.
Whenever he tried to change direction and intercept Mizuki Han, a tiny ice shard would "happen" to rise from the ground along his predicted route, forcing him to alter course.
He felt like a ferocious tiger trapped in a swamp. He had strength to spare, yet he was impeded at every turn and couldn't bring it to bear. His speed—his pride and joy—was being whittled away, bit by bit, by this damn brat using the very method he despised most.
"You've succeeded in making me angry."
The jonin abruptly stopped. He no longer chased Mizuki Han. Standing on a patch of ice that Mizuki Han had repeatedly "attended to," he radiated a pressure so oppressive it made the blood run cold.
Mizuki Han stopped as well. He stood on a metal crossbeam more than ten meters away, looking down at the jonin, his chest rising and falling slightly. This high-intensity precision control had taken a heavy toll on his mind and chakra.
He knew that when a jonin stopped toying with his opponent and said something like "You've made me angry," the real killing move was about to come.
The jonin slowly raised both hands and began forming hand seals again. This time, the seals were more complex than those for Rock Body Armor, and he formed them more slowly. Each change in his gestures seemed to tug at some nerve buried deep in the earth.
"Vmmm... Vmmmm..."
The low rumble from the Energy Hub was drowned out by a more violent, more primal vibration.
The metal crossbeam beneath Mizuki Han's feet began to shake violently, and loose stones tumbled from the rock walls. To his horror, he saw the hard stone making up the ground throughout the entire space begin to ripple like water!
An unprecedented sense of danger enveloped him.
This wasn't an attack aimed at him alone. He was going to overturn the entire battlefield—and the player on it along with it!
What kind of lethal counterattack would the jonin unleash after having his movement restricted?
Before you continue