Deadlock Reappears

Ye Yuexin did not want to listen to any more of his nonsense, so he let out a loud shout and charged straight at him.

His fighting style was all about being fast, accurate, and ruthless.

He pushed his footwork to its maximum speed, moving like a gust of wind as he arrived instantly in front of Tugang.

Tugang's physique was vastly different from Ye Yuexin's; Ye Yuexin only reached his waist.

Therefore, Ye Yuexin did not waste time jumping up to attack Tugang's throat or chest.

Instead, he slashed directly at his thigh.

Unexpectedly, things went smoother than he had anticipated.

Ye Yuexin's blade was already grazing Tugang's skin.

Having learned of Tugang's strength, Ye Yuexin had felt a deep sense of wariness toward him.

The smoother things went now, the more Ye Yuexin felt that this seemed to be a trap.

But under Ye Yuexin's Flying Dagger Mode, Tugang truly appeared unable to react in time.

The next moment, he found out the truth.

Although Tugang's upper body did not move in the slightest, the leg Ye Yuexin was attacking kicked out heavily toward him instead.

In this way, Ye Yuexin's blade would collide with Tugang's leg even faster.

Ye Yuexin could not make sense of this. He knew of ninjutsu that could withstand blades, but he had truly never seen a physical body that could withstand a blade infused with wind-attribute chakra.

Moreover, this was not just ordinary chakra infusion; he had used nature transformation.

"Clang!"

Tugang's leg and Ye Yuexin's short blade, filled with wind-attribute nature transformation chakra, actually emitted the sound of metal clashing.

This was simply too incredible.

One had to know that his current short blade could slice even steel in two.

Yet now, it could not deal with the opponent's bare leg.

Shock was shock, but the distance was too short now.

It was already becoming difficult for Ye Yuexin to dodge.

He hurriedly used wind-attribute chakra to wrap himself in wind, using his short blade to block Tugang's heavy leg directly.

"Bang."

Ye Yuexin was instantly kicked flying by Tugang.

An elite jonin's leg was not something so easily blocked.

Fortunately, after mastering his footwork, Ye Yuexin had become much more proficient in controlling wind-attribute chakra.

The wind force in the air converged, helping Ye Yuexin block the majority of the force.

Even so, Ye Yuexin still felt a tightness in his chest.

Tightening his grip on the short blade, Ye Yuexin's expression became even more solemn.

He had not expected Tugang to be so familiar with earth-attribute chakra nature transformation as well.

He had managed to condense a layer of brown chakra nature transformation armor on his leg in an instant.

That was the only reason Ye Yuexin's short blade could not cut through.

In fact, Tugang was an important figure in the Rock Village, a pillar-like existence similar to what Kakashi would become later.

The number of people in the Rock Village's Earth Style Group had already dwindled due to the Second Great War, and now the Third Great War was nearing its end.

The entire Earth Style Group of the Rock Village was left with only five people.

Survival of the fittest; it could be said that these five people could already be called figures who represented the Earth Style ninjutsu attribute.

Originally, they would not have needed to come to the border defense.

But it was precisely because of Taiyuan Zeng that they had been specifically transferred over to discipline him.

The Rock Village only had one elite jonin stationed at the main base, which was the one Kakashi and the others had already taken care of.

After arriving at the border, Taiyuan Zeng had always refused to be disciplined and acted recklessly.

Since the original captain could not control Taiyuan Zeng, Tugang had been sent over after the situation was reported.

There was another important reason: the Rock Village had likely guessed that the people of Konoha might try to give them a taste of their own medicine.

That was why they had sent the formidable Tugang.

To be honest, this meant the Rock Village's main defensive base had become a place guarded by three elite jonin.

In these wartime conditions, the village's manpower would be very thin, especially for a village like Konoha that was fighting three enemies at once.

Therefore, if the people of Konoha wanted to break through here again, they would likely have to pull people back from the battlefield. This played right into their hands.

Ye Yuexin looked at Tugang in front of him, feeling that he should try again.

Having exchanged blows just once and already falling into a disadvantage, Ye Yuexin felt very unwilling to give up.

Moreover, with his current Wind Transformation footwork at the great success stage, even if he failed, he could retreat immediately afterward.

After checking his current chakra levels, Ye Yuexin condensed nearly half of his wind-attribute chakra into a nature transformation.

He then began compressing it into his short blade.

Yes, Ye Yuexin intended to cut straight through Tugang's defense.

Ye Yuexin was quite confident in his compression of wind-attribute nature transformation.

After all, he had practiced it countless times on his flying daggers.

However, because he had already become a chunin, this compression involved the largest amount of chakra Ye Yuexin had ever utilized.

The entire blade was no longer shaped like flowing wind; instead, it had solidified at the edge into a transparent, halo-like sheen.

Watching Ye Yuexin's movements, Tugang's narrow eyes slowly turned grave.

He had never expected that Ye Yuexin could compress nature transformation to such an extent.

Even he, having studied earth-attribute chakra for over twenty years, could not achieve this.

What kind of terrifying control was required to accomplish such a feat?

But just because he couldn't do it didn't mean Ye Yuexin, who had activated Flying Dagger Mode, couldn't.

Once Ye Yuexin finished condensing the energy, he burst forth with speed and vanished instantly.

In the blink of an eye, he appeared right in front of Tugang.

This speed was the fastest Ye Yuexin could currently muster.

However, one should not underestimate a powerhouse like Tugang; the moment Ye Yuexin prepared to attack, Tugang had already shrouded his entire body in earth-attribute nature transformation chakra.

Since the hardness wasn't enough, Tugang had decided to make up for it with quantity. Because the layer was so thick, Tugang's entire body had turned a brownish-black.

"Die!" he roared.

Ye Yuexin's short blade slammed heavily into Tugang's chest.

Blood immediately began to flow.

Although he had inflicted damage, because the armor formed by Tugang's chakra nature transformation was so thick, Ye Yuexin felt his short blade had only pierced about four centimeters deep.

Just as he was preparing for his next attack, Ye Yuexin caught a glimpse of Tugang's face and was shocked to see that Tugang was actually smiling.

To be smiling during a life-or-death struggle like this meant he was either a pervert or...

Not good.

Ye Yuexin's heart pounded with alarm.

Though he didn't know what he was about to face, his intuition told him it was better to retreat first.

He prepared to leave.

But it seemed he was a step too late; over a dozen dense Earth Thorns erupted from the ground beneath him.

Upon realizing what it was, Ye Yuexin let out a sigh of relief, but simultaneously began to initiate Wind Transformation.

He could still dodge a move like this.

However, he felt that Tugang must have a follow-up move, so he had to get out of the attack range quickly.

"Ah!"

A wave of unbearable, sharp pain suddenly struck, and Ye Yuexin cried out in agony.

He quickly looked down. His lower abdomen had been instantly pierced by an Earth Thorn. "Nature transformation!!"

[New book released... Suggest "adding to library"... wait until it's fat to slaughter. Need your support... Thank you everyone.]