Take my Black Mamba elbow strike

With Lightning Release Chakra Mode boosting him, Tetsuya charged at blistering speed.

A single elbow strike sent a ninja flying.

"A burly, dark-skinned guy with blue lightning! You're from the Cloud Shadow!"

Someone cried out, and everyone instinctively took Tetsuya for a Cloud Shadow ninja.

After all, Lightning Release Chakra Mode had been invented by the Second Raikage, who had made it famous on the battlefield.

Along with the Raikage's fearsome reputation, Lightning Release Chakra Mode had become widely known during this war. The man before them looked so young that he clearly couldn't be the Second Raikage.

Then he had to be his student!

"Attack that Kumogakure ninja first!"

The two sides, who had been at each other's throats moments earlier, immediately switched targets and joined forces against Tetsuya.

"Too slow! Too slow!"

Tetsuya moved at incredible speed, weaving through their attacks like lightning.

Although he had learned Lightning Release Chakra Mode, however, he lacked the accompanying ninjutsu, leaving him to fight with nothing but his fists and feet.

He didn't know whether it was the influence of Lightning Release Chakra Mode or a result of taking on the appearance of someone from the Cloud Shadow Village.

Either way, he had developed a particular fondness for elbow strikes, charging up to people and driving his elbow into their heads.

Anyone who took that blow would be left dazed, if not dead.

"This feels great! Fighting feels great!"

Tetsuya felt the thrill of combat. That rush of adrenaline left him utterly exhilarated.

"Take my Black Mamba elbow strike!"

His figure flashed, and he appeared right before another man, delivering yet another elbow strike.

His elbow smashed straight into the man's temple, killing him instantly.

"He's insane! This guy's a monster!"

"So this is the Raikage's student? He's terrifying!"

"Retreat! Retreat for now!"

The few surviving ninja immediately decided to retreat. They had to get this intelligence back.

A Cloud Shadow ninja had entered their battlefield. That was crucial information, and they had to bring it back to the others.

"Trying to run? Think you can get away?"

Tetsuya charged forward.

"Here comes the elbow!"

"Aaargh!"

Agonized screams echoed through the woods.

"Whew!"

Looking at the last ninja he had elbowed to death, Tetsuya deactivated Lightning Release Chakra Mode and let out a long breath.

As the excitement gradually faded, the smell of blood around him began to make him uncomfortable.

But then he reconsidered. It was actually pretty similar to the smell at the slaughterhouse where he bought meat. It was fine. He could handle it.

Noticing that his sleeves had somehow become soaked in blood, he simply tore them off and burned them to ashes with a breath of Fire Release.

"Ah, now I finally get why the Fourth Raikage liked sleeveless shirts when he was young and just stopped wearing a shirt when he got older. What clothes could survive all this elbowing?"

"Not bad, kid. You fought so cleanly and decisively that you've really made this old man see you in a new light."

Huang Bai jumped down from a tree and landed on Tetsuya's shoulder.

He was very pleased with Tetsuya's performance.

"But your attacks are far too repetitive. Why do you like smashing people with your elbows so much? You battered every one of those fellows to death with them.

"That works against ordinary ninja, but if you run into someone strong, such a limited approach will be easy to read."

Tetsuya smiled and spread his hands.

"Can't help it. Mainly, when I got this ninjutsu, I didn't get the accompanying taijutsu, so I can only fight in the simplest, most brutal way."

"I see. Then I can't help you either. Our clan isn't particularly good at taijutsu."

"It's fine. I'll see if I can get my hands on the accompanying ninjutsu later. Or I can keep learning from my fights and develop a fighting style that suits me."

"That makes sense. Let's leave for now. This is still a battlefield, after all. More enemies could show up at any time."

"All right. Where do we go next?"

At that question, Huang Bai fell silent too.

It had been far too long since he last visited the Ninja World, and he didn't know much about the current situation.

As for Tetsuya, although he had watched the anime, he didn't know the actual geography. Besides, this was his first time leaving Konoha since coming to this world.

"How about this? There's fighting everywhere anyway, so we can just pick a direction and keep going."

"That works. But which direction?"

In response to Tetsuya's question, Huang Bai jumped to the ground and stood his pipe upright.

He suddenly let go, and the pipe fell in one direction.

"There we go! Let's head that way!"

As he spoke, Huang Bai pointed in the direction the pipe had fallen.

"All right."

Tetsuya didn't particularly care. If Huang Bai hadn't used his pipe to choose their direction, he had been planning to toss a shoe instead.

For some time afterward, Tetsuya kept moving in that direction. Whenever he encountered ninja, he charged in to fight. Whatever village they came from, he simply activated Lightning Release Chakra Mode and elbowed them to death.

Of course, besides using lightning chakra, he also began trying to learn other ways to fight.

Using equipment he took from the ninja he killed, he learned how to handle shuriken and kunai.

He used Shadow Clones to quickly max out his proficiency with shuriken and kunai, and he also learned some of the Yellow Weasel Clan's genjutsu from Huang Bai.

Gradually, he grew from a complete novice who had immense chakra reserves but no idea how to use them.

And he began working toward becoming an all-round fighter.

At the Iwagakure camp, Mu, the Second Tsuchikage, slammed a hand on the table and snorted.

"What is going on? We've inexplicably lost this many ninja, and you don't even know who did it?"

"Lord Mu, we really don't know. We initially thought the Mist Shadow was responsible, but our investigations at the sites found that they lost a lot of men too."

The ninja below him answered fearfully.

"Teacher, could this be a trick by the Mist Shadow?"

Mu's student, Ōnoki, offered his guess.

"A trick?"

Mu frowned.

"Probably not. After fighting us for so long, the Mist Shadow is short on manpower too. I know that old bastard Hozuki. He wouldn't sacrifice his own men for a trick like this at a time like this. It wouldn't benefit him at all."

"Then who could it be? Could it be Sunagakure?"

Ōnoki fell into thought, then promptly asked another question.

"Did the investigation uncover any other traces at the sites?"

"Yes, Lord Ōnoki. We also found traces of Lightning Release and Fire Release."

"Lightning Release and Fire Release? Have people from Konoha and the Cloud Shadow come to our battlefield?"

Mu shook his head.

"Probably not. Cloud Shadow and Konoha ninja aren't the only ones who can use Lightning Release and Fire Release. I think there are two likely possibilities: either that Hozuki fellow found reinforcements somewhere, or a third force has entered the battlefield."

"Then what should we do, teacher?"

"What should we do? Hah. Step up the offensive. Once we crush the Mist Shadow's main force and kill Hozuki Gengetsu, every trick will fall apart."

Meanwhile, at the Mist Shadow's position, Hozuki Gengetsu received the same news: small units on the front lines had been killed one after another.

Besides the Iwagakure ninja, there were also traces of Fire Release and Lightning Release at the sites.

Hozuki Gengetsu's reaction was much the same as Mu's. Both believed the other side had called in help.