Just as the Stone Ninja's stone fist was about to fall, Shin'un used the Body Flicker Technique to leave the branch beneath his feet.
The next instant.
Boom!
A deafening crash rang out. The tree beneath Shin'un could not withstand the Stone Ninja's full-strength blow and was knocked askew, slowly toppling to the ground.
"Impressive!"
Shin'un crouched on another tree, watching the scene before him in amazement.
Was that stone shell similar to the Rock Fist Technique? Could it increase strength too?
As he thought, the Stone Ninja opposite him leaped up again and smashed down toward the tree Shin'un stood on.
Helpless, Shin'un could only use the Body Flicker Technique to dodge again.
When he looked back, he saw that the tree he had just stood on had also been knocked askew by a single blow from the Stone Ninja.
Shin'un had barely steadied himself when the Stone Ninja nearby continued attacking without pause.
The rock fist, as large as Shin'un's entire body, rose again and hurtled toward him with a whistling rush through the air.
Shin'un dodged and began considering how to break out of his current predicament.
The situation was clearly the opposite of before.
Previously, because of the electricity coiling around Shin'un's body, the Stone Ninja had constantly tried to get away from him and find an opening to use ninjutsu.
Now, because of the thick stone covering the Stone Ninja, the electricity around Shin'un had become ineffective.
And because the stone shell amplified the Stone Ninja's strength, his close-combat ability was now extremely formidable, leaving Shin'un the one who had to maintain a safe distance while fighting.
Leaping through the air, Shin'un looked at the ground beneath the treetops and had a sudden idea. After landing firmly on a branch, he adhered to the trunk with chakra and ran straight down.
Landing on the ground, Shin'un looked at the dense vegetation and cramped space around him and nodded in approval.
Just then, an enlarged human-shaped shadow suddenly appeared on the ground, covering Shin'un entirely.
Looking up, Shin'un saw that the Stone Ninja had, naturally, followed him down from the treetops.
Still in midair, he was already gathering strength in that giant rock fist capable of killing with one blow.
Shin'un hurriedly jumped aside to dodge.
Boom!
Another crash rang out. All that force poured into the ground, creating a huge crater and sending dust flying everywhere, severely obscuring visibility.
Watching the dust before him, Shin'un cautiously moved some distance away to avoid a sneak attack from the Stone Ninja.
A moment passed.
A stone palm thrust out of the dust and swept rapidly sideways. The gust it raised tore through the surrounding dust, revealing the Stone Ninja before Shin'un again.
He looked at the cramped surroundings, then at his own body, two or three times its normal size, and understood Shin'un's intent.
He formed hand seals, and the stone armor on his body fell away piece by piece, his enormous frame slowly shrinking.
Watching the Stone Ninja before him, Shin'un smiled. All that mattered was that his opponent had been constrained by the cramped surroundings as he had intended and had reduced the power of his ninjutsu.
He did not know what ninjutsu that stone armor was, but judging from their brief exchanges of attacks and evasions in the treetops, that seemingly cumbersome stone shell not only amplified its user's strength but did not impair his agility.
Without finding a way to reduce the power of his opponent's ninjutsu, Shin'un truly had no confidence that he could win this battle.
Seeing the Stone Ninja opposite him shrink to half his previous size, Shin'un could no longer hold back and formed hand seals.
"Lightning Release: False Darkness!"
Streams of electricity emerged from Shin'un's palms and condensed above his head into a nearly solid blue-violet spear. Countless dense currents wound around it, offering a glimpse of its power.
Looking at the lightning spear hovering above Shin'un's head, the Stone Ninja opposite him smiled and spoke for the first time since the battle began.
"Brat, you've got talent. At such a young age, you've managed to fight a jonin like me this long and even leave me with a nearly fatal wound."
As he spoke, the Stone Ninja touched his abdomen, still encased in stone.
Hearing his words, Shin'un was taken aback. He had always assumed his opponent was an Iwagakure special jōnin, never expecting him to actually be an Iwagakure jonin.
"What's more, your ability to track movement and react in combat is the fastest I've ever seen. You're even more ridiculous than those red-eyed Uchiha."
"That's why you're still alive."
Seeing that the Stone Ninja had recognized the effects the skill [Extreme Reaction] gave him, Shin'un narrowed his eyes slightly and continued listening.
"If you survive today, I believe you'll soon become a powerful ninja no village can afford to ignore."
"But I don't know whether to call you stupid or clever."
As he said this, a visibly contemptuous look flickered across the Stone Ninja's face.
"You know to observe your surroundings and use them. Most ninja who've been active on missions for a long time don't take advantage of that."
"But it's obvious you lack actual combat experience."
"You see, when I use Earth Release: Rock Armor, my hands are encased in stone. That actually prevents me from forming hand seals to use ninjutsu, limiting my strength and my more flexible, varied ways of fighting."
As he spoke, the Stone Ninja raised his hands. The stone that had covered them was already gone.
Then, his words finished.
The Stone Ninja immediately pressed his palms together and began rapidly forming hand seals.
"Damn it!"
Seeing this, Shin'un immediately attacked.
Whoosh!
With a rush through the air, the lightning spear shot toward the Iwagakure jonin at tremendous speed.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
The stone wall that suddenly rose opposite him made Shin'un freeze for a moment.
The first ninjutsu that Stone Ninja formed hand seals for was actually a defensive one?
Shin'un's lightning spear easily pierced the paper-thin Earth Style Wall and struck the ground, unleashing countless currents and kicking up thick dust.
Shin'un was baffled. Even if Lightning Release countered Earth Release, it should not have pierced an Earth Style Wall meant purely for defense so easily. There should at least have been a moment of resistance.
That Earth Style Wall was like a pile of loose soil, soft and fragile, with no defensive power at all, as though it had been deliberately thrown together shoddily.
Only when the rising dust completely enveloped the area around the Earth Style Wall, cutting off Shin'un's view of it entirely, did he realize what had happened.
"Damn it."
Realizing that the lightning spear he had spent chakra creating had become a tool for the Stone Ninja to escape his sight and hide, Shin'un could not help gritting his teeth as anger began to rise within him.
Recalling what the Stone Ninja had just told him, Shin'un focused intently on the cloud of dust before him.
Presumably, what awaited him next was a furious barrage of ninjutsu from the Stone Ninja.
Suddenly, a rush of air behind him put Shin'un on alert.
Turning his head, Shin'un saw a hole appear in the ground behind him. The Iwagakure jonin leaped out of it and attacked him with a kunai in hand.
Shin'un hurriedly turned to face his attacker, but after he turned, the Stone Ninja who had leaped out of the hole suddenly became a lifelike stone statue of the ninja.
"A Rock Clone?"
Shin'un's pupils contracted. Realizing something, he turned to look toward the dust cloud behind him.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique!"
The real Stone Ninja charged out of the dust concealing him. Seeing that this young Konoha brat had indeed been led around by his words and clone, he immediately gave a cruel smile and closed in rapidly.
Swinging a rock fist as large as Shin'un's entire body with lethal force, the Stone Ninja shouted exultantly:
"Young brat, take your regrets to hell!"
Watching the giant rock fist draw ever closer in his eyes, Shin'un felt every hair on his body stand on end.
He wanted to dodge, but his overly hasty response to the Stone Ninja's clone attacking from behind had already thrown him off balance. His awkwardly crossed legs could not move at all.
"No choice. I'll have to take it head-on!"
Shin'un gritted his teeth and rapidly formed hand seals.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Ring Wall!"
A solid wall of lightning rapidly appeared around Shin'un.
The next instant, the rock fist struck.
Thud!