Attempt

Yizhe broke into a frantic run, with Rikaku close on his heels.

Seeing that he was about to be caught again, he pulled out two kunai and hurled them behind him.

Clang, clang!

Rikaku swung his sword again, blocking the surprise attack. This time, however, he had been prepared. He easily knocked aside the two kunai without breaking stride.

The distance between them steadily closed.

"Hah!"

Judging that he had entered a suitable attack range, Rikaku shouted and suddenly accelerated, rushing forward with a swift downward slash at the figure ahead.

His attack was too fast. Yizhe could only twist aside to evade it. If he stubbornly kept running, he definitely would not have been able to dodge that sword.

That brief delay was enough for Rikaku to intercept him on the rooftop.

Running like this was not a solution in the end! Yizhe no longer intended to run.

"Outsider, put Daidao down! This is an internal matter of our Land of Iron and has nothing to do with you!" Rikaku sheathed his sword and stared coldly at Yizhe.

"Lord Rikaku truly is impressive! You caught up to me so quickly!" he said with a smile.

"Quit grinning at me. Put Daidao down, or do not blame me when my sword shows no mercy!" As he spoke, an immensely powerful aura burst from Rikaku and locked firmly onto him.

Before this, Yizhe had never met Rikaku. Their search for Daidao's whereabouts had been their first encounter, and he had never seen Rikaku fight. He had only vaguely sensed that the man was strong.

It was not until Rikaku charged into the house and fought Daidao head-on, with neither gaining the upper hand, that Yizhe took notice.

At first, he had thought they had only tied because Daidao was severely injured.

Now that he faced Rikaku directly, he understood just how powerful this samurai was. He was not much weaker than Daidao!

He remained cautiously on guard, his expression grave as he placed Daidao to one side.

Against such a powerful opponent, he had to go all out for even the slightest chance of escape.

"You may leave now! I swear upon my honor as a samurai that I will not pursue this matter further!" Rikaku said earnestly.

He thought Yizhe had submitted and intended to leave Daidao behind before fleeing alone.

"Thank you for your kindness, my lord! But I would still like to test your swordsmanship!" Yizhe said cautiously.

"Courting death!" Rikaku flew into a rage.

Taking advantage of Rikaku's anger, Yizhe threw three Explosive Kunai at him.

Clang, clang, clang!

Rikaku drew his sword with incredible speed and easily knocked all three kunai aside.

Boom, boom, boom!

The violent explosions prevented him from pressing his attack. Snow billowed through the air, obscuring the battlefield from view.

Yizhe had never thought such an attack could hurt him. It was all merely a feint.

In close combat, he was certainly no match for Rikaku. He probably could not even last ten exchanges. He could only seek a breakthrough by exploiting the range advantage of ninjutsu.

"Byakugan! Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"

With the Byakugan, nothing could obstruct Yizhe's vision. He seized the opportunity to retreat swiftly, forming hand seals as he condensed a sharp blade of wind in the air and slashed it viciously toward the silhouette amid the wind and snow.

"Hmph!" Rikaku snorted from within the storm.

Though he could not see his surroundings, he could still clearly sense the dangerous aura in the air.

He raised his hand and sent a sword aura slashing forward, directly shattering Yizhe's wind blade.

Not only that, his overwhelming sword aura carved a clear passage through the wind and snow before him, and he charged straight out along it.

"Pathetically weak. What gave you the courage to provoke me?" Rikaku demanded loudly.

"I simply thought it would be a terrible waste for a samurai like Daidao to die like this!" As he spoke, Yizhe cast a regretful glance at Daidao lying nearby.

"Who said he will die? I will plead with Lord Mifune for him!" Rikaku retorted loudly.

"After causing such a disaster, if Daidao does not die, how will anyone be held accountable?" he mocked mercilessly.

"You..." Rikaku was left speechless. In truth, he knew full well that this would be Daidao's fate.

But no matter how unwilling he was, he could not let Daidao go. He had to take Daidao back and hand him over to Lord Mifune for judgment, to give everyone an explanation.

While he was lost in thought, Yizhe had already completed another set of hand seals.

"Water Release: Extreme Water Wave!"

A high-pressure water column shot from his mouth toward Rikaku.

"Whatever you do is useless! The gap in our strength is far too great!" Rikaku shouted.

His feet did not move in the slightest. With a casual slash, he split the incoming water column in two, turning it into countless streams that scattered at his feet.

Using the recoil from the water column, Yizhe retreated even farther.

"Even ten more ninjutsu like that would be useless!" Rikaku said disdainfully.

"Is that so?" The corners of Yizhe's lips curled up slightly as he completed another set of hand seals.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

A massive azure dragon emerged from the puddles left behind by the earlier Water Wave.

This was a ninjutsu Yizhe had only mastered after his hand had healed. It was fairly powerful, but with his control over Water Release, he still needed a large amount of water to perform it.

However, using the puddles left by Water Wave as a catalyst and gathering the moisture from the endless wind and snow, he finally managed to cast the technique.

"That water dragon looks somewhat decent, but unfortunately, it is still useless!" Rikaku commented calmly from the side.

"What if you add me to the equation?"

A third voice rang out on the battlefield. Rikaku looked toward it and saw that "Daidao" had already turned into Yizhe!

"Shadow Clone? Transformation Technique? Where is Daidao?" Rikaku was enraged.

He had actually been fooled by such a petty trick from a brat.

"Wind Release: Wind Tornado!"

A tornado rose from the rooftop. Having returned to his true form, Yizhe unleashed a Wind Release technique, pouring chakra into the wind to create a tornado.

"What difference does one more clone make? Still pathetically weak!" Rikaku said calmly.

Though Daidao was not here, he believed that as long as he captured this boy, he would be able to find Daidao.

"Then... what if it is like this?" the clone and Yizhe asked in unison.

"Combined Ninjutsu: Wind-Water Dragon Fang Bullet!"

The tornado enveloped the water dragon, transforming the charging dragon into a spinning cone wrapped in a hurricane as it lunged directly at Rikaku!

Rikaku's expression grew slightly more serious.

Because he had recently been studying medical ninjutsu with Shizune, Yizhe's chakra control had improved considerably. Combined with the Byakugan's assistance, he was finally capable of combining these two relatively low-difficulty elemental techniques.

Even so, he still needed a clone to cooperate with him. Only by having one person cast each technique could they combine them!

"Naive!"

Facing the incoming Wind-Water Dragon Fang Bullet, Rikaku curled his lips in disdain.

Yizhe saw a fierce flash of sword light, and the enormous spinning water cone was split in two. Rikaku remained standing in the field, utterly unharmed.

However, Yizhe had expected this outcome. He had merely wanted to test the power of this newly mastered ninjutsu.

Rikaku was a powerful samurai comparable to an Upper Ninja. Although Yizhe's Wind-Water Dragon Fang Bullet was impressive and even surpassed the attack power of most Chunin, defeating Rikaku with it was simply impossible.

"I have played enough, brat! This farce should end now!" Rikaku's icy voice sounded beside his ear.

"Two-Stage Slash!"

Rikaku's figure flashed twice in succession across the battlefield. Yizhe and his clone both felt pain in their abdomens as they were struck by a heavy blow.

Do not complain about why the protagonist could combine two elemental techniques at this point!

The Byakugan could see chakra, and his spiritual power was strong enough. With all the conditions met, he succeeded!

The main reason was probably the Byakugan. It could see chakra, allowing him to make constant adjustments, whereas others could not see it. When combining ninjutsu, they could only rely on feeling!

It was like the difference between a blind person and someone with normal vision! The Sharingan was also powerful, but when it came to training ninjutsu, it truly could not compare to the Byakugan!

The Byakugan could see chakra. When training, it was practically free rein!