Electromagnetic Sniper's First Battle

"Huh, my kidney's burning?"

The thought had only just surfaced before it was swallowed by searing pain and fear. The armor made of rock continuously crumbled away, revealing his original flesh beneath.

"Y-You... is that Gentle Fist?" the towering Hidden Stone Village ninja 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 the principles of electromagnetic pulses, inflicting electrical burning and impact damage on the human body. But with version 2.0, Hyuga Satoru had tried to combine Gentle Fist techniques with the Magnetic Storm Palm he had developed, using Gentle Fist to deliver the palm's damage from within.

That was why the enemy's rock armor had been so fragile—because the damage had erupted from the inside.

Hyuga Satoru had never been bound by form. Combining all kinds of techniques to unleash greater power was what he pursued and what he aimed for.

With his internal organs critically struck and his kidney flying out of nowhere, the towering Hidden Stone Village ninja finally collapsed to the ground after letting out an unwilling wail.

Hyuga Satoru looked toward Uchiha Rin. The battle there had also reached its fiercest point, with the Hidden Stone Village ninja using his ninja blade to force Uchiha Rin back step by step.

After seeing his companion killed by Hyuga Satoru, the Hidden Stone Village ninja let out a grief-stricken roar. Bloodshot veins filled his eyes, and his ninja blade's assault suddenly intensified, pushing Uchiha Rin into danger after danger.

"This is bad!"

Hyuga Satoru's heart tightened.

Yet amid the relentless attacks, Uchiha Rin revealed a tiny opening. The Hidden Stone Village ninja seized it, slashing his ninja blade viciously toward her head with a ferocious look in his eyes.

"Die!"

The scene seemed to freeze, leaving only the sound of flesh being pierced and bright red blood continuously flowing.

The Hidden Stone Village ninja's body seemed to solidify. His pupils trembled violently as his ninja blade swept past Uchiha Rin's side, cutting off a lock of black hair.

He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but only kept spitting red foam. A kunai was embedded deeply in his throat, blood streaming down along the slender fingers gripping its handle.

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?"

"Satoru, 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 the blood from it 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 so close to her mean he might be 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 surged over him and devoured his flesh, drawing screams from him.

"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 approvingly.

"You all did quite well. You completed the mission perfectly despite facing ninja who outnumbered you."

"No, it was all Satoru and Rin's doing. I didn't even defeat a single Genin." Anko lowered her head dejectedly. This battle had shown her the gap between herself and her teammates.

"No, Anko. You were already doing very well. The Genin you fought was already at a disadvantage. Even if I hadn't intervened, you would still have won in the end."

Anko said nothing, merely lowering her head slightly.

"Teacher Shibi, let's go check the supplies the Hidden Stone Village ninja were transporting," Hyuga Satoru said.

"Mm."

When they reached where the carriage had stopped, Hyuga Satoru discovered that the Hidden Stone Village ninja guarding the supplies was gone. A bad feeling suddenly rose in his heart. He yanked away the tarp covering the carriage compartment and froze in shock.

Inside were only several empty wooden crates arranged with anti-scrying formulas. There were no supplies at all.

"We've been tricked!"

"This carriage was only a decoy. The real supplies were probably transferred away long ago using sealing scrolls."

Aburame Shibi's heart sank. During the battle, he had focused all his attention on the students' safety. He had never expected 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 frantically fled into the distance.

It was the Hidden Stone Village ninja who had been left behind to guard the supplies!

"He's over there, roughly eight hundred meters away from here." Hyuga Satoru immediately pointed out the fleeing ninja's location through his Byakugan.

Aburame Shibi looked over. Across the endless grasslands, a black speck could vaguely be seen at the distant green horizon, steadily shrinking.

Aburame Shibi swiftly assessed the situation, then sighed helplessly.

"This mission is a failure. I'll explain to the Hokage that it was my mistake. All of you performed exceptionally well."

"Wait, Teacher Shibi. Can you use your insects to lift me up? It doesn't need to be high. Five meters will be enough."

Aburame Shibi looked puzzled. "Given 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."

Though he had no idea what his student intended to do, he could only trust him now.

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 that swayed as it lifted him upward.

"Higher."

Aburame Shibi increased the swarm's output, raising Hyuga Satoru to a height of five meters.

"What exactly are you trying to do?"

He looked up gravely at Hyuga Satoru atop 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 let me down!"

Bang!

As the white smoke dispersed, a peculiar metal bow appeared in Hyuga Satoru's hands, reflecting a faint cold glint.

"That's... Satoru! You're finally going to use it?"

Below, 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?

A crossbow?

No!

It was an electromagnetic cannon!

Hyuga Satoru took a deep breath, nocked a metal arrow against the bowstring, and began constructing electromagnetic propulsion. The arrowhead pointed at the black speck 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 visual correction complete. Target locked.

Hyuga Satoru held his breath. The fingers gripping the bowstring loosened slightly, and in an instant, accompanied by a piercing explosive crack, the metal arrow transformed into a blue arc of lightning and vanished.

Go, only my railgun!

He roared in his heart.

"Close one, close one! Looks like they didn't chase after me!"

Haito, who was fleeing desperately, glanced behind him and panted heavily.

"I didn't expect Yantu and the others to be taken out. Those Konoha brats are terrifying. Once I return to the Hidden Stone Village this time, I have to make Lord Tsuchikage raise the alert level—especially against that Byakugan brat..."

Thinking of his two teammates who had died horribly, Haito felt a chill rise in his heart. That terrifying Byakugan brat absolutely could not be allowed to live!

The thought had only just appeared when an intense life-or-death crisis suddenly erupted from behind him. He turned his head slightly, and his pupils abruptly contracted.

A metal arrow wrapped in arcs of lightning shot toward him like a thunderbolt.

Haito's eyes nearly split apart.

What kind of ninjutsu was this?!

Before his roar could leave his throat, the arrow had already arrived. Its terrifying penetrating force instantly tore through his body and the scroll on his back, pinning them firmly to the ground.

On the insect cushion, Hyuga Satoru lowered the bow he had raised high. The corner of his mouth lifted slightly as he murmured in a voice only he could hear.

"Target eliminated."