Explosive Tag

This guy... he had completely suppressed me. Now I could only barely hold on with the Sharingan's abilities!

Uchiha Meikyō gritted his teeth, fighting desperately as he searched for a way to break the deadlock.

In terms of swordsmanship, his opponent was a rare expert. His weapon techniques were also strange, and he was at the peak age for a ninja. His physical abilities far surpassed Meikyō's, making it difficult to gain any advantage in close combat.

I need to think of a way to turn this around quickly! Fire Style, Wind Style, swordsmanship, genjutsu...

Meikyō's mind raced.

They were still within the Land of Rain. Rain fell continuously, the ground was muddy, and there were plenty of puddles, all of which gave Water Style a certain advantage. If he used the Fire Style he was best at, it might be suppressed.

As for Wind Style, he was not very proficient with it yet. He could only just barely use it in actual combat. Usually, it was merely one part of a combined ninjutsu used to strengthen Fire Style, though he could consider it under suitable circumstances.

As for swordsmanship, he would find it difficult to defeat his opponent in close combat as well.

That left genjutsu as his best chance.

However, before Meikyō could make his next move, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed again.

"Urgh, urgh, aaah—!"

A scream rang out. One of Amegakure's genin was covered from head to toe in dense black insects, which gnawed at him. Another of the two genin seemed distracted by the scream, allowing Kazemaki Kibata to seize an opening and decapitate him with one slash. The last one, facing the combined assault of Nami and the other two, could not last more than a dozen exchanges before Inuzuka Tsume slit his throat with her sharp claws.

"Tsume, what should we do next? Go help Meikyō?" Kazemaki Kibata asked Inuzuka Tsume beside him as he watched the three people battling fiercely in the field.

Inuzuka Tsume turned her gaze toward Aburame Nami.

Aburame Nami remained standing still, seemingly tacitly agreeing to let Inuzuka Tsume make the arrangements.

"That Chunin fighting Meikyō is strong! Even Meikyō has been suppressed. My suggestion is that Kibata and I replace Tetsu. With Tetsu's strength, he can intervene in that fight, and his Byakugan can guard against the opponent's strange methods. Then Nami can provide long-range support with her insects. We should be able to take down their strongest opponent! Once we defeat him, there won't be any suspense left in this battle!"

Inuzuka Tsume swept her gaze across the battlefield and made her judgment.

Aburame Nami silently controlled her insects to go support Meikyō, while Kazemaki Kibata followed Inuzuka Tsume in blocking the tall Rain Ninja.

"Tetsu, go help Meikyō defeat that Rain Ninja with the umbrella first!"

Kazemaki Kibata shouted, then joined Inuzuka Tsume and Kuromaru in surrounding the tall Rain Ninja with his ninja blade drawn.

"No need. We'll go together."

After speaking, Hyuga Tetsu gave the tall Rain Ninja before him a calm glance, then turned away impassively.

"Hey! Brat, are you pretending I don't exist?!"

The tall Rain Ninja was furious. Just as he was about to continue fighting, he discovered that his body had stiffened and could not move.

"This is..."

"Mister, this is the Hyūga Clan's Pressure Point Secret Technique!"

Kazemaki Kibata said with a grin. Then, decisively, he raised his blade and brought it down, killing him.

At the same time, the middle-aged Rain Ninja, who had noticed the shift in the situation, could not help growing anxious. He tried several times to break through and flee, but Meikyō stopped him every time.

Clang!

With his wakizashi held in reverse, Meikyō barely blocked the middle-aged Rain Ninja's strike. He then swiftly flipped over and rolled across the ground, narrowly evading the Rain Ninja's follow-up attacks.

Just as the middle-aged Rain Ninja tried to use the chance to escape, a huge swarm of black flying insects blocked his path.

"Damn it!"

The middle-aged Rain Ninja's face darkened. He decisively pressed the mechanism on the umbrella's handle and threw it upward.

"Ninja Art: Rain Drop Thousand Needles!"

Countless senbon shot from the umbrella, killing swaths of insects. But just as the middle-aged Rain Ninja tried to escape, countless palms carrying howling gusts appeared before him!

"Gentle Fist Art: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms!"

After narrowly dodging Hyuga Tetsu's attack, the middle-aged Rain Ninja realized that he no longer had any chance of escape.

On the other side, the Rain Ninja whom Meikyō had already cut once was being besieged by Kazemaki Kibata and two Inuzuka Clan ninja, and he died on the spot.

Having completely lost his teammates' support, the middle-aged Rain Ninja knew that what awaited him was most likely being surrounded and beaten to death by the Konoha Ninja.

"Damn it!"

The middle-aged Rain Ninja slammed his fist into the ground.

He had thrown out his umbrella ninja tool during the earlier battle, and the crafty Tetsu Maru and Kuromaru had already dragged it aside.

Without his umbrella ninja tool, even though he was skilled in Water Style Ninjutsu, there was no way he could escape this group's encirclement.

After this battle, he had already gained a clear understanding of Uchiha Meikyō's strength.

He considered himself among the strongest Chunin in Amegakure and had even received swordsmanship guidance from Hanzo. Yet Uchiha Meikyō could fight him head-on to this extent, looking battered while actually remaining unscathed. His strength qualified him as an elite among all Chunin. And that Hyūga Clan brat had been able to deal with a Chunin alone, so he was certainly no weakling either.

Along with the others, who were all elite genin already close to Chunin level, he was definitely going to die.

Still, he had long been prepared to die fighting for Amegakure. Before that, though, if he could drag a few Konoha geniuses down with him, it would not be a loss.

With that thought, the middle-aged Rain Ninja bared his teeth in a vicious grin, tore open his clothes, and revealed a bundle of Explosive Tags tied around his body.

But how could such an action escape the notice of the two Konoha Dojutsu users present?

The prepared Uchiha Meikyō and Hyuga Tetsu each grabbed one of their teammates with one hand and swiftly retreated.

Seeing this, the middle-aged Rain Ninja hurried after them, only to have Aburame Nami's insects block his way again. He immediately detonated the tags.

Boom!

"Secret Technique: Insect Wall!"

"Earth Style: Earth Return!"

A sturdy earthen wall rose up, its surface covered with barriers formed from insects, blocking the force of the Explosive Tags' detonation.

The blast wave sent everyone flying at once. The Insect Wall and earthen wall shattered the moment the explosion struck, but fortunately, they had absorbed most of the blast's power.

"Mm..."

Meikyō let out a muffled groan, using his wakizashi as a cane as he rose from the mud-covered ground and looked around.