Come at Me

"Veteran Chunin."

Looking at the system's revised evaluation and his severely lopsided taijutsu attributes.

According to Qifeng's usual comparisons, the system's evaluation of Veteran Chunin, coupled with the unexpected Shikotsumyaku and Sharingan, meant he should be able to contend with some Special Jonin, provided they were not the kind of Special Jonin who countered him.

For example, a Special Jonin skilled in genjutsu would be his nemesis.

Special Jonin was a very awkward level of strength.

It was a rank specially designated for Chunin whose overall strength was at the Chunin level, but who excelled exceptionally in certain areas, even to the point of rivaling Jonin.

Its purpose was to distinguish them to a certain extent from ordinary Chunin.

If a Special Jonin fought a Jonin with the same specialization, they could rival a Jonin to some extent as well.

For instance, a Special Jonin skilled in taijutsu could briefly contend with a Jonin who was not particularly proficient in either genjutsu or taijutsu.

But someone like Qifeng, whose taijutsu was extremely strong while his genjutsu was pitifully weak, would only get beaten around if he encountered a Jonin who was decent at genjutsu.

Even if he ran into a Chunin who was good at genjutsu, the fight would be extremely awkward.

That was the situation with Special Jonin: against suitable opponents, they could rival Jonin; against opponents who countered them, they were equivalent to Chunin.

Qifeng was exactly like that.

Having used up all his attempts at once, he no longer hoped to get anything else from the corpses that could serve as a trump card.

He glanced at the night outside the window.

Without realizing it, it was already night.

"Wait."

Qifeng, immersed in his pleasant "communication" with the corpses, suddenly realized that according to the rules for ninjas operating outside, the two Chunin responsible for defense and sensing had to meet at least once every hour to exchange intelligence and verify code phrases.

Yet while he had been occupied sorting out his strength, more than an hour had already passed.

The other two knew he was in the command room. They should have come looking for him.

A faint sense of unease rose in his heart.

But he did not dare act rashly, much less leave the command room.

The command room was relatively spacious and had a clear view. Outside were nothing but cramped corridors, where it was far too easy to encounter danger or fall into an ambush.

When he had first entered the outpost, he had seen quite a few corpses lying across those corridors.

But staying inside would not be much different from waiting to die if the Iwa-nin launched a large-scale attack.

He sat on the floor and pondered for a moment.

He felt around in his pocket and pulled out a cigarette. Not caring whether it was disrespectful to the corpses, he rubbed his hands together and lit it.

He took a deep drag.

"Damn it! I can't be this unlucky, can I?"

He tossed the cigarette to the ground and crushed it out, then frantically pulled out Explosive Tags from the system one after another.

Though he was not skilled at setting traps, he understood the basics.

Using special threads to link the Explosive Tags together, he plastered them densely across the walls and door.

"Whoever comes in dies!"

As his eyes closed and opened, his black pupils were covered by scarlet, a single tomoe rotating unhurriedly.

His gaze swept across the surroundings.

His hand lightly rested on the long sword at his waist.

He sat perfectly still, silently waiting, like a farmer waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump.

He did not know how long he had stared.

Then, the handle of the command room door trembled slightly.

Qifeng narrowed his eyes, his pupils contracting sharply.

"Who is it?!"

The door was locked.

"It's me."

A somewhat familiar voice came from outside. It seemed to belong to one of the two Chunin left behind.

But Qifeng's expression did not relax in the slightest. He merely asked in a low voice, "The code phrase!"

"..."

After one second of silence, Qifeng hesitated no longer. Releasing the sword hilt, he formed a hand seal with both hands.

Hisss—

The Explosive Tags began burning all at once, making faint sounds as they were rapidly triggered like fuses.

Then—

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Violent explosions erupted one after another, and the entire building shook violently.

Still, he had to admire the construction crew that had built these outposts. Despite such frequent, large-scale explosions, the outpost remained standing.

Only the walls and corridors outside the command room had been reduced to rubble.

Qifeng did not lower his guard. He simply activated his Sharingan and silently watched the chaotic pile of rocks.

"So many Explosive Tags. Konoha seems quite determined."

A light, leisurely voice suddenly rose from the rubble.

A figure stood from within, looking somewhat disheveled, ragged clothing hanging from his knotted muscles.

Iwagakure Jonin Tsuchi!

Had he not sensed something wrong at the last moment and promptly dodged while using Earth Release for protection, that dense barrage of Explosive Tags would have been enough to blow him to death five or six times over.

Unfortunately, that one second of silence had given him enough time to react.

Qifeng frowned tightly, his right hand resting on the hilt at his waist. His temples throbbed violently as the Sharingan spun rapidly.

With a single glance, he determined that his opponent was definitely not a Chunin, and was very likely a Jonin, perhaps even a Special Jonin.

Tsuchi watched Qifeng's wary expression, noticed his scarlet eyes, and chuckled. "What luck. An Uchiha Clan brat. Pity it's only a Single Tomoe Sharingan. If it were Three Tomoe, this plan might not have succeeded."

A plan?

Qifeng's heart tightened.

Then he roughly understood.

The traces at Mount Nagao had been deliberately left behind by the Iwa-nin to lure Konoha's reinforcements away, allowing them to calmly send people to kill the guards remaining at the outpost.

They were trying to besiege one point and ambush the reinforcements.

But weren't they underestimating Orochimaru too much?

Suppressing the tension in his heart, he grinned and asked, "Konoha's determination is far beyond your imagination. I'm afraid you still don't know who is leading this team, do you?"

"Oh? Who is it?" Tsuchi raised an eyebrow.

Qifeng sneered, his lips moving as he calmly uttered the name that was enough to intimidate the Shinobi World.

"Orochimaru."

Sure enough, when Tsuchi heard that name, his eyes narrowed and a flash of fear involuntarily crossed his face.

"Lord Orochimaru is personally leading the team. I doubt things are looking too good for the Shinobi World forces you've ambushed at Mount Nagao," Qifeng continued.

Tsuchi's face darkened. "Even if it's Orochimaru, he won't be leaving easily without paying a price this time. As for you, are you prepared to die?"

In his eyes, Qifeng was at most a Chunin. Though the Sharingan was powerful, it was only a Single Tomoe and posed no threat to him.

Qifeng smiled calmly and crooked a finger at him. "Come at me."

That smile was not Qifeng putting on a front. He had confirmed something.

His opponent did not know Orochimaru was leading this mission, so they definitely had not made thorough preparations.

In that case, with Orochimaru's strength, he would probably return before long. When that happened, it would be this Jonin's time to die.

And if things truly went badly, couldn't he just run if he could not win?

Tsuchi froze for a moment before realizing what had happened, anger rising in his heart.

He had actually been frightened by a brat.

Clenching his fists in fury, he did not use any fancy ninjutsu. His body itself was his best weapon and method of attack.

Rock Fist!

Crack! Crack! Crack!

His already sandbag-sized fist was rapidly covered in rock. In the blink of an eye, it closed in on Qifeng, the wind from the punch making Qifeng's face sting.

The Sharingan locked tightly onto him.

With its powerful dynamic vision, Tsuchi's attack was completely laid bare before him.

But being able to see it did not mean he could block it.

This was bad.

His opponent was not only a Jonin, but one of the best among Jonin.

Even worse, Qifeng had no Experience Cards left to use.