"Hmph, the same trick again!"
The Sunagakure jonin snorted and raised his hand, about to form a wind blade to split apart the fireball. But at that moment, he realized that his feet had been firmly stuck in the viscous sand and dirt, leaving him unable to move.
"Not good!"
The Sunagakure jonin's expression changed. He hurriedly mobilized his chakra, trying to shatter the sand beneath his feet, but it was already too late.
The massive fireball instantly swallowed his figure. A violent explosion rang out, sending dust and sand flying everywhere.
"Did it work?"
A flicker of hope appeared in Asuma's eyes as he remained trapped by the sand bindings, but his expression darkened the next second.
A figure slowly emerged from the smoke and dust—it was the Sunagakure jonin.
Cracks had appeared all over his sand armor, and even a trace of blood seeped from the corner of his mouth, but his gaze remained cold and sharp.
"Interesting."
The Sunagakure jonin wiped the blood from his mouth and stared coldly at Aoba. "You actually thought of using the chakra from Explosive Tags to saturate the sand and limit my movement.
You're far stronger than those pieces of trash from before."
"Likewise."
Aoba took a breath. The continuous attacks just now had consumed quite a bit of his chakra, and the wound on his shoulder had begun bleeding again from his wide movements. "To take that attack of mine and remain unharmed, you Sunagakure jonin really do have some skill."
"But this ends here."
Killing intent surged in the Sunagakure jonin's eyes. He abruptly raised his hand, and the surrounding dust and sand instantly converged, forming a massive sand sword in his grasp. "Next, I'll show you that the gap between an Elite Jonin and an ordinary ninja is