Slacking Off

"Kuroishi!"

Seeing that Rock Hidden Chunin killed by Qian in a single blow, the Rock Ninja who was fighting Ryosuke flew into a rage. With a roar, he forced Ryosuke back and charged straight at Qian.

Qian didn't dodge or retreat. He kicked off the ground with both feet and rushed to meet him head-on.

Clang—

The two kunai collided, letting out a crisp metallic ring.

Both men exerted force at the same time. The kunai scraped violently against each other, sending sparks flying.

Looking up close at the fury in the other man's eyes, Qian's expression didn't change in the slightest.

Perhaps he had been close to the Rock Ninja Qian had killed, and perhaps he was furious over his death, but those who killed would be killed in turn.

Since he had stepped onto the battlefield, he had to be prepared for death.

It wasn't as if Qian could remain indifferent when others were trying to take his life!

So Qian felt no psychological burden at all over killing the man.

"Hah!"

All sorts of thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Qian gave a low shout, forcefully knocked aside the Rock Ninja's kunai, retreated half a step, then closed in again.

Clang, clang, clang—

The grating sound of metal clashing rang out one after another.

Qian wielded the kunai in his hand so tightly that not even wind could pass through, bringing every combat technique included in Basic Body Technique to full effect.

Though there were no particularly profound techniques, he still fought the Chunin before him to an even standstill.

They pulled apart again.

The two stood still. Ishii Ichiro looked at Qian a few steps away, and the reason that had nearly been overwhelmed by the shock of his friend's death finally returned.

Though he was very unwilling to admit it, this young Genin before him truly did have the right to make him take things seriously.

If nothing else, in close-quarters combat, the other side wasn't much weaker than him.

In fact, if not for his richer real Battle Experience, and the considerable advantage his adult physique gave him, he might even have suffered a small loss in the fight just now.

And while Ishii Ichiro was observing Qian, Qian was also observing him.

Through their exchange just now, he had roughly figured out the other man's strength. Though neither side had used any other methods yet, Qian was certain the other man was no match for him.

However...

Qian discreetly swept his gaze around.

At this moment, the battlefield was in utter chaos, with the sounds of fighting everywhere.

Although Leaf's side held the advantage in numbers, that same advantage meant the Chunin had no room to move freely.

The canyon area wasn't spacious to begin with, and those Rock Hidden Chunin had come prepared. They didn't clash head-on with the Leaf Village Chunin at all.

Whenever they had a chance, they would slip into the crowd and use the numerous Leaf Village Genin as shields.

As a result, with both sides mixed together, the Leaf Village Chunin were wary of harming their own and didn't dare use powerful ninjutsu at all. Even Exploding Tags had to be used with caution.

By contrast, these Rock Ninja Elite had far fewer scruples.

After all, the Genin on the field didn't pose much of a threat to them. They could move freely among them and rely on their rich Battle Experience to inflict casualties.

With one side fighting with its hands tied and the other acting without restraint, the result was easy to imagine.

Qian didn't know about elsewhere, but nearby, several Genin had already fallen.

Therefore, even though he was confident he could deal with the Rock Ninja in front of him, Qian had no intention of doing so, because that would only bring him even more trouble.

As the saying went, the tree that stood tallest in the forest would be the first destroyed by the wind.

Geniuses were often the targets of every village's ninja.

Killing Kuroishi could still be explained as a Sneak Attack, but if he killed Ishii Ichiro head-on, that would be a little hard to justify.

Qian didn't want to be the one who stood out. He only wanted to coast along steadily until the war ended.

So next, all he needed to do was maintain a stalemate.

Although Leaf had been caught off guard, it wasn't to the point of total annihilation.

After all, this place wasn't far from Leaf's Main Camp in Rain Country. They might notice something unusual at any time and send support.

When that happened, if Iwagakure didn't retreat in time, the situation would be reversed.

Iwagakure had launched this raid to gain an advantage and weaken Leaf's reserve forces as much as possible, not to fight Leaf to the death.

So Qian estimated that these Rock Ninja couldn't possibly stay here for long.

What he had to do was make it through this period of time.

And to make it through this period of time, he couldn't let the Rock Ninja in front of him stay idle.

With that thought, Qian stopped wasting time.

He finished forming seals with a lift of his hands and unleashed the Body Flicker Technique, his whole body like a gust of wind as he arrived in front of Ishii Ichiro and clashed with him.

The D-Rank Ninjutsu—Body Flicker Technique—could only display an effect similar to "teleportation" when used against someone weaker than oneself.

But when facing opponents of the same level or even higher, their reaction speed was already enough to see through this degree of "teleportation."

So to the eye, it simply looked a little faster.

Thus, even though Qian used the "Body Flicker Technique," Ishii Ichiro still reacted and moved to block.

As a result, Ishii Ichiro was forced to interrupt the process of casting his ninjutsu.

That was right—just now, Ishii Ichiro had intended to cast a ninjutsu to deal with Qian.

Since he had confirmed that Qian was no weaker than him in close combat, he naturally had to use his strengths and avoid his weaknesses, attacking with the ninjutsu that chunin were better at.

Unfortunately, Qian noticed this idea, and he no longer had the chance.

Not only did he not have the chance now, he would not later either.

Whether he pretended to retreat or forcibly pulled away, as long as there was any sign that he was forming seals to cast a ninjutsu, Qian would move to interrupt him.

Either with close-quarters fighting or by greeting him with ninja tools—in short, he gave him absolutely no chance to cast ninjutsu.

The samurai of the Land of Iron were able to hold a place in the Ninja World by relying on precisely this method.

Although Qian did not possess the samurai's strength and speed, his lv3 "Basic Body Technique" combined with lv3 "Ninja Tool Throwing" was still more than enough to suppress an average Rock Hidden Chunin.

Moreover, Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko were also supporting him from the side.

Although the strength of those two was not enough to threaten Ishii Ichiro, throwing one or two shuriken occasionally could still interfere with him.

In this way, Ishii Ichiro could only be forced into a tangled fight with Qian.

Time passed second by second.

The battle on the perimeter and atop the cliff was still ongoing, and the commotion caused by the jonin grew larger and larger.

From time to time, aftershocks from the fighting swept over, forcing everyone in the field to dodge.

Ishii Ichiro even seized an opportunity because of it.

He dodged the falling rocks overhead, raised both hands, and rapidly completed his hand seals. In a breath, he unleashed Iwagakure's signature ninjutsu—Earth Release: Earth Mausoleum Spear.

Seeing the dense spikes bursting out of the ground, Qian did not hesitate at all and immediately retreated with Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko, narrowly avoiding this wave of attacks.

Before Ishii Ichiro could launch a second wave, Qian let go of Ryosuke and Mizutani Shizuko.

Then his hand brushed over his pouch, and three kunai were in his palm. With a casual throw, they shot accurately toward Ishii Ichiro's throat, heart, and lower abdomen.

Seeing the kunai shooting toward him at high speed, Ishii Ichiro's heart jolted, and he hurriedly dodged to one side.

During their earlier fight, the kunai Qian threw had left a deep impression on him, so he naturally did not dare be careless now.

If not for the fact that there was nothing unusual about Qian's eyes, he would have thought the other party had already awakened the Sharingan.

That was right. Ishii Ichiro had long since recognized Qian's identity as a ninja of the Uchiha clan through the Uchiha Clan crest on him.

And in his impression, only an Uchiha ninja who had opened his eyes could use kunai so smoothly at such a young age.

Unfortunately, Qian was cautious and had never exposed the existence of the Sharingan from beginning to end.