A solid clang rang out like a tolling bell as the Stone Ninja collided with the spherical Lightning Wall Shin'un had formed.
"Dong!"
The Rock Fist struck, unleashing all its force and whipping up a wave of air that tore up the surrounding vegetation.
Without the slightest pause, the spherical Lightning Wall surrounding Shin'un was sent flying like a baseball the instant the Stone Ninja's attack landed.
"Whoosh~ whoosh~"
"Boom!"
"..."
Crackling with lightning and carrying tremendous force, the Lightning Ring Wall barreled through the dense forest. No plant in the lightning sphere's path could stop it for even a moment.
A distinct surge of wind trailed behind it. Ordinary vegetation was sent flying or snapped in two by the lightning sphere, while taller, sturdier trees had deep craters smashed into their trunks before rebounding the sphere in another direction.
"Dong~ dong!"
Amid the relentless impacts, Shin'un curled up inside the Lightning Ring Wall, doing his utmost to maintain the surrounding Lightning Wall and pouring chakra into it to strengthen its defenses.
This continued for several seconds. The spherical Lightning Wall was still flying straight through the air with tremendous force when Shin'un, sheltering inside, suddenly noticed that the towering trees around him had vanished.
In his panic, Shin'un looked left and right from inside the sphere.
The dense forest around him had disappeared, replaced by a battlefield with dozens of ninja. Some belonged to Konoha, while others appeared to be Stone Ninja from their clothing. Together with the half-destroyed buildings in the clearing-
That Stone Ninja's punch had actually sent him flying into the air above the nearby Stone Ninja outpost.
Now, the mysterious sphere that had suddenly burst out of the forest with such a commotion drew the attention of most of the ninja in the outpost.
They broke away from their opponents and raised their kunai warily, afraid that reinforcements from the opposing ninja village had arrived.
For a moment, this small battlefield, which should have been brutal and clamorous, suddenly fell silent.
Among all the ninja, only Orochimaru, who was fighting three Jonin alone in a corner of the Stone Ninja outpost, sank into thought at the sight of the sphere bursting out of the forest, arcs of electricity intermittently shooting from its surface.
Watching the lightning sphere streak over the outpost, Orochimaru recalled the signal flare Shin'un's team had fired after discovering the enemy outside the outpost and immediately guessed why the sphere had appeared here.
"It seems Shin'un isn't coming out ahead against that unidentified Stone Ninja~"
At that thought, Orochimaru narrowed his eyes and turned toward the three Stone Jonin. His entire presence changed, killing intent emerged, and he immediately lunged forward.
"I'll have to finish the battle here as quickly as possible..."
Under everyone's gaze, the lightning sphere that had burst out of the forest streaked through the air, descended in an arc at tremendous speed, passed through a wall, and smashed into a house in a corner of the Stone Ninja outpost.
Immediately afterward, the sphere shining bright blue inside the house and intermittently shooting out blue-violet currents began to change.
The solid, translucent barrier rippled, then disintegrated into streams of thunderous lightning that formed a ring of electric current and erupted outward.
"Boom!"
The raging ring of lightning erupted violently, first tearing apart and blasting away the Stone Ninja house around it. The spreading gusts hurled the raindrops above it away, briefly creating a rainless space amid the downpour.
The ring of lightning expanded rapidly, instantly covering a radius of over ten meters and selectively paralyzing several Stone Ninja within it.
Yet when it came to the Konoha ninja within the lightning ring's range, the currents seemed to have minds of their own, rising high and letting them off lightly.
The Konoha ninja inside felt, at most, as though their bodies had passed through a thin membrane. They felt no discomfort whatsoever; the worst of it was that their hair, already disheveled from the fierce fighting, turned into afros.
"Th-this is!"
Though astonished to see their opponents paralyzed by the ring of electricity that had suddenly appeared, the Konoha ninja, as competent ninja, gladly finished off their respective enemies with ease.
"Shhk~"
"Cough, cough!"
After finishing off their opponents, several Konoha ninja suddenly heard weak coughing coming from the Stone Ninja house behind them.
Immediately, the nearby Konoha ninja exchanged glances, raised their kunai, and warily faced the house the lightning sphere had reduced to rubble.
Granted, the spectacular lightning ring had paralyzed all the nearby Stone Ninja without attacking a single Konoha ninja, so whoever it was seemed to harbor no hostility.
But until they confirmed the person's identity, ninja could not stake their safety on words like "seemed" or "probably."
Perhaps there was some particular reason the person had not attacked the Konoha ninja?
After all, it was pouring now, and interconnected pools of water covered the ground everywhere. In such an environment, this person had managed to control the lightning ring, clearly an area attack, to avoid every Konoha ninja without sparing a single Stone Ninja within range.
Such control was simply unheard of.
Thinking of this, one of the Konoha ninja slowly swallowed. His grip on his kunai tightened, veins bulging.
Such terrifyingly precise control is probably beyond even an ordinary Jonin.
If this person is an enemy, they're probably at least an elite Jonin!
As the Konoha ninja was thinking, footsteps sounded from the ruined house ahead.
Hearing those footsteps, the Konoha ninja no longer dared let his thoughts wander. He mobilized all his chakra and stared intently ahead.
Under the watchful eyes of several Konoha ninja, a pair of small, childlike hands gripped the edge of the house's remaining wall, the figure behind it barely visible.
Though puzzled by the seemingly childlike figure hiding behind the wall, the Konoha ninja continued staring ahead as though facing a formidable enemy.
The next instant, the figure emerged from behind the wall.
"This!"
"He's Lord Orochimaru's..."
"Yes, that's right..."
"..."
The Konoha ninja all froze at the sight of Shin'un walking out of the Stone Ninja house.
That astonishingly powerful Lightning Release had come from this child before them?
Seemingly finding it hard to believe, the Konoha ninja all turned toward an Inuzuka ninja for confirmation.
"Yes, his identity checks out. The scent is right..."
Seeing his colleagues all turn toward him, the Inuzuka ninja immediately understood. A brief sniff was enough to confirm the identity of the person before them.
Once the Inuzuka Clan ninja confirmed it, the Konoha ninja erupted into another round of amazement.
Looking at the Konoha ninja staring at him in shock, Shin'un slowly rolled his eyes inwardly.
This battlefield was so dangerous and hectic, yet these ninja still had the leisure and time to stand here finding different ways to express their astonishment.
Clutching his chest, which had been injured once again, Shin'un turned to look at the rubble behind him.
A pit several meters deep, large enough to swallow the entire house, came into view.
Recalling the earlier battle in which that Iwagakure Jonin had toyed with him, Shin'un immediately clenched both hands.
That Iwagakure Jonin was right. My combat experience is severely lacking.
Fortunately, I was lucky. Countless plants and trees in the forest cushioned the force, and I did everything I could to maintain the Lightning Ring Wall. That was the only reason I survived that Iwagakure Jonin's charged strike.
However...
At this thought, Shin'un focused once more. His field of vision began to slow again, and his gaze swept across the entire outpost.
Found him!
Shin'un's gaze fixed on a corner of the battlefield right beside the dense forest. The Iwagakure Jonin who had fought him earlier had just pushed aside the thick undergrowth and appeared there.