"Huh, my kidney's gone?"
The thought had barely surfaced before it was swallowed by searing pain and terror. The rock armor covering his body continuously crumbled away, exposing his original flesh beneath.
"Y-You... was that Gentle Fist?" the towering Stone Shinobi asked, his face deathly pale.
"Probably not."
Hyuga Satoru thought for a moment before answering.
Strictly speaking, this was version 2.0 of Magnetic Storm Palm. The first-generation Magnetic Storm Palm used electromagnetic pulses to inflict electrical burns and impact damage on the human body. But with version 2.0, Hyuga Satoru had tried to fuse Gentle Fist techniques with the Magnetic Storm Palm he had developed, using Gentle Fist to deliver the Magnetic Storm Palm's damage from within.
That was why the enemy's rock armor had been so fragile. The damage had erupted from the inside.
Hyuga Satoru had never been bound by form. Combining different techniques to unleash greater power was his pursuit and goal.
With his internal organs critically struck and his kidney flying off from nowhere, the towering Stone Shinobi finally collapsed to the ground after letting out an unwilling wail.
Hyuga Satoru looked toward Uchiha Rin and saw that her battle had also reached a fever pitch. The Stone Shinobi was using his ninja blade to force Uchiha Rin back step by step.
After seeing his companion killed by Hyuga Satoru, the Stone Shinobi let out a grief-stricken roar. Bloodshot veins surfaced in his eyes, and his ninja blade's assault suddenly intensified, pushing Uchiha Rin into a perilous situation.
"This is bad!"
Hyuga Satoru's heart tightened.
Yet amid the relentless exchange of attacks, Uchiha Rin revealed a tiny opening. The Stone Shinobi seized it, hacking his ninja blade viciously toward her head with a savage look in his eyes.
"Die!"
The scene seemed to freeze. Only the sound of flesh being pierced remained, along with bright-red blood that kept flowing.
The Stone Shinobi's body seemed to stiffen. His pupils trembled continuously as his ninja blade swept past Uchiha Rin's side, cutting off a lock of black hair.
He opened his mouth, as though trying to say something, but all he could do was spit out red foam. A kunai was embedded deeply in his throat, blood streaming down from the slender fingers tightly gripping its hilt.
The crimson in Uchiha Rin's cold eyes was as red as blood, and a single black tomoe slowly rotated within them.
Hyuga Satoru arrived and swallowed hard.
"Are you okay?"
"Wu, you were right. Only at the brink of life and death can the Sharingan truly be awakened."
Uchiha Rin pulled out the kunai and flicked away the blood as she spoke calmly.
"Congratulations."
Hyuga Satoru let out a breath of relief, then his expression turned strange. Awakening the Sharingan before the age of nine—without a doubt, Uchiha Rin was a true genius.
Would getting this close to her get him sacrificed someday?
Probably... not, right?
"Where's Anko?" Uchiha Rin asked.
Hyuga Satoru looked over and saw that a huge swarm of black insects suddenly burrowed out from beneath the Genin fighting Anko. They rushed forward and began devouring his flesh, drawing out waves of miserable screams.
"It's... over." Anko wiped the sweat from her forehead and collapsed weakly onto the ground.
Aburame Shibi appeared on the battlefield, looking at them with approval.
"You all did exceptionally well. You completed the mission perfectly despite facing ninja who outnumbered you."
"No, it was all Wu and Rin's doing. I didn't even defeat a single Genin." Anko lowered her head in dejection. This battle had made her see the gap between herself and her teammates.
"No, Anko. You were already doing very well. The Genin you fought had already fallen into a disadvantage. Even if I hadn't intervened, you would have been the one to win in the end."
Anko said nothing, keeping her head slightly lowered.
"Teacher Shibi, let's check the supplies the Stone Shinobi were transporting," Hyuga Satoru said.
"Mm."
When they arrived at where the wagon had been left, Hyuga Satoru discovered that the Stone Shinobi guarding the supplies had disappeared. A bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart. He yanked aside the canvas covering the cargo compartment and froze.
There were only empty wooden crates inside, each set up with anti-scrying techniques. The supplies were nowhere to be seen.
"We were tricked!"
"This wagon was only a decoy. The real supplies were probably transferred away long ago using a sealing scroll."
Aburame Shibi's heart sank. During the battle, he had focused all his attention on keeping the students safe, never expecting something to go wrong here.
Hyuga Satoru immediately activated his Byakugan. Through its vision, he saw a Chunin nearly a kilometer away, carrying a massive scroll on his back as he fled madly into the distance.
It was the Stone Shinobi who had been left behind to guard the supplies!
"He's over there, roughly eight hundred meters from here." Hyuga Satoru immediately pointed out the fleeing Stone Shinobi's location through his Byakugan's vision.
Aburame Shibi looked over. Across the endless grassland, he could vaguely make out a black dot on the distant green horizon, steadily growing smaller.
Aburame Shibi quickly assessed the situation and sighed helplessly.
"This mission is considered a failure. I'll explain to the Hokage that it was my mistake. You all performed exceptionally well."
"Wait, Teacher Shibi. Can you use the insect swarm to lift me up? It doesn't need to be very high. Five meters will be enough."
Aburame Shibi was briefly puzzled. "Considering your weight, the insects can form a platform and lift you to that height. But..."
"There's no time to hesitate. Hurry!" Hyuga Satoru looked at him solemnly.
"All right."
Although he had no idea what his student intended to do, all he could do now was trust him.
Aburame Shibi raised a hand. Countless black insects crawled out from his body, flying beneath Hyuga Satoru's feet and gathering into a black platform. It swayed as it lifted him upward.
"A little higher."
Aburame Shibi increased the output of the insect swarm, raising Hyuga Satoru to a height of five meters.
"What exactly are you trying to do?"
He looked solemnly up at Hyuga Satoru on the black platform.
Standing on the soft insect cushion, Hyuga Satoru took a deep breath and pulled a scroll from his clothes. A trace of anticipation flashed through his eyes.
"The Electromagnetic Sniper's first real battle. Don't disappoint me!"
Bang!
The white smoke dispersed, revealing a peculiar metal bow-like crossbow in Hyuga Satoru's hands, reflecting a faint cold gleam.
"That's... Wu! You're finally going to use it?"
Below him, Uchiha Rin's eyes lit up.
What was that?
Aburame Shibi stared in astonishment at the ninja tool in Hyuga Satoru's hands.
Was it a bow?
Was it a crossbow?
No!
It was an Electromagnetic Cannon!
Hyuga Satoru took a deep breath, picked up a metal arrow and set it against the bowstring. He began constructing Electromagnetic Propulsion, aiming its arrowhead at the black dot in the distance, now so tiny it was almost impossible to see.
Constructing Electromagnetic Propulsion... construction complete!
Measuring wind speed...
Calculating air humidity...
Calculating gravitational acceleration...
Byakugan vision corrected. Target locked.
Hyuga Satoru held his breath and loosened the fingers gripping the bowstring. In an instant, accompanied by a shrill explosion, the metal arrow turned into a blue lightning arc and vanished.
Go, only my railgun!
He roared in his heart.
"That was close! Looks like they didn't chase after me!"
Haito, who was fleeing for his life, glanced behind him and panted heavily.
"I never expected Yantu and the others to be taken out. Those Leaf Village brats are terrifying. Once I return to Iwagakure, I have to make Lord Tsuchikage raise the alert level—especially for that Byakugan brat..."
Thinking of his two teammates who had died horrible deaths, Haito felt a chill rise in his heart. That terrifying Byakugan brat absolutely could not be allowed to live!
The moment the thought arose, an intense threat of death exploded from behind him. He barely turned his head before his pupils abruptly contracted.
A metal arrow wrapped in lightning arcs was streaking toward him like a bolt of thunder.
Haito's eyes nearly split open.
What kind of ninjutsu was this?!
Before he could even roar, the arrow had arrived. Its terrifying piercing force instantly tore through his body and the scroll on his back, pinning both firmly to the ground.
On the insect cushion, Hyuga Satoru lowered the bow he had raised high. The corner of his mouth curled upward as he murmured in a voice only he could hear.
"Target eliminated."
Before you continue