Trying

Yizhe sprinted away at full speed, with Rikaku in hot pursuit behind him.

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

Clang! Clang!

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

The distance between them steadily shrank.

"Hah!"

Judging that he had entered a suitable attack range, Rikaku let out a loud shout, abruptly accelerated, and lunged forward with a swift downward slash at the figure ahead.

His attack was too fast. Yizhe could only change direction and dodge to the side. If he stubbornly kept running, he would definitely be unable to evade that sword.

With that brief delay, Rikaku intercepted him on the rooftop.

Running like this was no solution in the end! Yizhe decided not to run anymore.

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

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

"Cut the cheeky act. Put Daidao down, or don't blame me for showing no mercy once I draw my sword!" As he spoke, an immensely powerful aura erupted from Rikaku, locking firmly onto him.

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

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

At first, he had thought Rikaku had merely fought to a draw because Daidao was badly injured.

Now that he faced Rikaku directly, he finally understood the strength of this samurai. This samurai was hardly any 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 a sliver of a chance to escape.

"Now, you may leave! I swear in the name of a samurai that I won't hold this against you!" Rikaku said seriously.

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

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

"You're courting death!" Rikaku flew into a rage.

Taking advantage of Rikaku's anger, Yizhe fired 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 halted his plan to press the attack. A great mass of snow erupted into the air, obscuring the battlefield.

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

In close combat, he was certainly no match for Rikaku. He probably would not last even ten moves. Thus, he could only use the range advantage of ninjutsu to seek a breakthrough.

"Byakugan!" "Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"

Under the Byakugan, nothing could block Yizhe's sight. Seizing the opportunity, he rapidly retreated and formed hand seals, condensing a sharp wind blade in the air before slashing it fiercely toward the figure amid the snowstorm.

"Hmph!" Rikaku snorted from within the wind and snow.

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 splitting Yizhe's wind blade apart.

Not only that, his formidable sword aura carved a clear passage through the swirling 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 think it would be a pity for a samurai like Daidao to die like this!" As he spoke, Yizhe glanced regretfully at Daidao lying nearby.

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

"After causing such a huge incident, if Daidao doesn't die, how will anyone be answered to?" he mocked mercilessly.

"You..." Rikaku had no response. In truth, he knew perfectly well that this would be Daidao's fate.

Yet no matter how unwilling he was, he could not let Daidao go. He had to bring Daidao back for Lord Mifune's judgment and give everyone an explanation.

While his thoughts ran wild, Yizhe had already formed another set of hand seals.

"Water Release: Extreme Water Wave!"

A high-pressure water jet burst from his mouth and shot toward Rikaku.

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

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

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

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

"Is that so?" The corner of Yizhe's mouth 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 level of control over Water Release, he still needed a large amount of water to use it.

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

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

"What if you add me to the equation?"

A third voice appeared on the battlefield. Rikaku turned toward it, only to see that "Daidao" had already changed into Yizhe's appearance!

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

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

"Wind Release: Wind Tornado!"

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

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

Although Daidao was no longer here, he believed that as long as he captured this boy, he would find Daidao.

"Then... what about this?" Yizhe and his clone asked in unison.

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

The tornado wrapped around the water dragon, transforming the fiercely advancing water dragon into a spinning drill wrapped in a hurricane as it rushed straight at Rikaku!

Rikaku's expression grew slightly more serious.

Because Yizhe had recently been studying medical ninjutsu with Shizune, his chakra control had improved considerably. Coupled with the Byakugan's assistance, he was able to combine these two relatively low-difficulty release techniques.

Even so, he still needed a clone to cooperate with him. One person had to cast each ninjutsu for them to combine!

"Naive!"

Facing the oncoming Wind-Water Dragon Fang Bullet, Rikaku curled his lip disdainfully.

Yizhe saw a fierce flash of sword light. The enormous spinning water drill was cut in half, while Rikaku stood in the field completely unharmed.

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

Rikaku was a powerful samurai comparable to an Upper Ninja. Yizhe's Wind-Water Dragon Fang Bullet was impressive, even surpassing the attack strength of most Chunin, but using it to defeat Rikaku was simply impossible.

"I've had enough fun, boy! This farce should end now!" Rikaku's icy voice sounded beside his ear.

"Two-Stage Slash!"

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

Don't complain about why the protagonist could combine two release techniques at this point!

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

The most important reason was probably the Byakugan. Since it could see chakra, he could constantly adjust the changes, while others could not see it. For them, combining ninjutsu relied entirely on feel!

It was like the difference between a blind person and someone with normal vision! The Sharingan was also powerful, but when it came to practicing ninjutsu, it truly was inferior to the Byakugan!

The Byakugan could see chakra. When practicing, it was practically unstoppable!