43. The End of the Road

Ye Yuexin cried out in shock.

He had actually spotted a translucent thorn hidden among the countless Earth Thorns, formed entirely through Earth Release nature transformation.

Just how incredible was Tugang's mastery of Earth Release?

Even after using Earth Release nature transformation to form armor and protect himself, he could still use ninjutsu.

More terrifying still, this ninjutsu concealed such a frightening hidden attack.

Gritting his teeth, Ye Yuexin reacted at once.

Otherwise, he felt Tugang might kill him at any moment.

He immediately began gathering chakra throughout his body.

The wind swirling around him instantly became a whirlwind.

Ye Yuexin stopped using the Wind Transformation Technique and instead controlled the whirlwind to lift him into the air.

He managed to pull the Earth Thorn formed through Earth Release nature transformation out of his lower abdomen.

But the whirlwind couldn't move as fast as Ye Yuexin himself.

Tugang seized the opening in an instant and punched Ye Yuexin flying again.

Blood burst through the air like a scarlet fountain.

Ye Yuexin crashed heavily to the ground and rolled several times, staining the earth red.

In the blink of an eye, he was gravely wounded.

As soon as he stopped moving, Ye Yuexin clamped a hand over the wound, which was still spurting small streams of blood.

The situation was dire. He must have damaged a blood vessel.

Otherwise, he couldn't have lost so much blood.

The worse things got, the more the Flying Dagger Mode helped Ye Yuexin stay calm.

He immediately began gathering chakra inside his body, then used it to seal the damaged blood vessel.

With the control he had in Flying Dagger Mode, he could manage it.

Once the wound had nearly stopped bleeding, Ye Yuexin hurriedly pulled out a bandage and pressed it against the injury.

As he did all this, he kept his eyes on Tugang, afraid he might take advantage of the opportunity.

But Tugang didn't attack. Instead, he did the same thing Ye Yuexin had done.

Ye Yuexin's knife had struck him right in the chest. It hadn't damaged his heart, but he'd still felt as if he were facing death.

So Tugang had tended to his wound first as well.

Besides, he knew exactly how badly Ye Yuexin was hurt.

He already knew Ye Yuexin couldn't put up much of a fight now.

An experienced elite jonin like Tugang had a keen eye for these things.

Indeed, Ye Yuexin could barely be said to have any ability to fight back.

The wound in his abdomen was simply too severe. He couldn't even use his footwork now.

If he tried to force it, he might suffer internal bleeding and die from blood loss.

He was truly at the end of his rope.

Still, in Flying Dagger Mode, he felt not the slightest fear.

He stared coldly at Tugang, who had finished treating his wound.

That was how battles between shinobi went. One moment, you might have the advantage; the next, you might be dead.

He had learned a harsh lesson this time—one that might cost him his life.

It was all because Ye Yuexin had been overconfident. No, it was more accurate to say he'd trusted his footwork too much.

After successfully developing a jutsu like Wind Transformation, Ye Yuexin had started to let success go to his head.

He had subconsciously assumed that even if he couldn't beat an enemy, he could use his footwork and Wind Transformation to escape.

But he had never realized that the Wind Transformation Technique wasn't an unbeatable jutsu.

There were many ways to counter it. It could never compare to Obito's intangibility in the original story; the two were worlds apart.

Now Ye Yuexin was paying the price for that lesson, pushed to the brink of despair.

Ye Yuexin's mind raced as he searched for any possible way to escape, but none seemed workable.

Seeing that Ye Yuexin still didn't look afraid, Tugang couldn't quite figure out what was going through his mind.

After all, Ye Yuexin still hadn't used the Flying Dagger that had made even him wary throughout their fight.

Tugang didn't know if he could dodge that incredible speed, which was why he had covered himself in a thick layer of chakra altered through Earth Release nature transformation.

He would have to test him with words first. With his hands behind his back, he said:

"That was a pretty good jutsu just now. But your understanding of nature transformation is too shallow. You may become intangible for a while, but it's still just a form of nature transformation."

"Some jutsu might have no effect on you, but jutsu based on nature transformation are different. You don't really think that jutsu of yours can make you invincible, do you? Hahahaha! What a naive kid."

"You're a genius, but don't you know that geniuses usually die because of their own arrogance?"

Hearing Tugang's ridicule, Ye Yuexin felt not the slightest stir in his heart while in Flying Dagger Mode.

Instead, he wondered why Tugang still hadn't attacked.

Only when he saw Tugang glance at his Flying Dagger did he form a rough idea.

It seemed Tugang was wary of his dagger.

But if the dagger could defeat Tugang, Ye Yuexin would have thrown it already. He had even sensed Tugang while he was bandaging his wound just now.

Yet he still hadn't sensed the feeling that his attack would never miss.

It seemed Tugang hadn't let down his guard against Ye Yuexin, even then.

For some reason, every elite jonin Ye Yuexin encountered seemed more terrifying than the last.

Seeing that Ye Yuexin didn't reply, Tugang continued:

"Genius kid, you can't move now, can you? You look pretty weak."

"If you really can't go on, just surrender. I'll arrange a place for you in Iwagakure. We Rock Ninjas love geniuses."

Tugang began playing mind games.

But Ye Yuexin's defenses weren't so easy to break through.

Besides, this was already a fight to the death. He didn't believe a word Tugang said.

If he surrendered, it would only prove that he was helpless—and Tugang would probably greet him with a high-level Earth Release jutsu.

Since Tugang seemed to be stalling, that suited Ye Yuexin just fine.

He didn't think the main Konoha base could send anyone so quickly, but he still clung to a sliver of hope.

"Just a mere Iwagakure. They can—"

"Kid."

Ye Yuexin was suddenly cut off in the middle of his boast.

He looked at Tugang's face, and his heart sank.

"Have you figured out how you're going to die?"

A smile spread across Tugang's face. Ye Yuexin knew that smile all too well. It was the same one Tugang had worn when he'd fallen into Ye Yuexin's trap.

The moment he saw that smile, Ye Yuexin knew something was wrong.