It was only when Kyuushin truly engaged in battle that he understood how troublesome these Rock ninja were. Their strength was evident from the fact that they could force Tsunade and her two legendary companions to flee in all directions.
"Clang!"
Kyuushin stabbed a kunai into the neck of a Rock ninja, but it only produced a shower of sparks. He frowned at the Earth Release armor on the man's neck, then casually tossed aside the kunai in his hand. The Rock ninja charged forward with a sneer, intent on finishing him off, but Kyuushin merely turned, evading the attack, and simultaneously delivered a charged punch directly to his opponent's waist.
"Monstrous Strength Fist!"
Two successive "crack-crack" sounds rang out; the first shattered the Earth Release armor, and the second was the sound of bones breaking inside the Rock ninja's body. The next second, he collapsed, a look of terror still on his face, dead beyond any doubt.
After dispatching one Rock ninja, Kyuushin couldn't help but look around. Although the Konoha ninja still held the advantage, the Rock ninja's occasional counterattacks were gradually causing casualties.
Minato, enveloped in Wind Release chakra, continuously tangled with another Rock ninja. Suddenly, he found a gap. A blue chakra sphere appeared in Minato's hand, which he forcefully pressed against the enemy's body. In an instant, the Rock ninja was left barely breathing.
In contrast, Nawaki was in much greater danger. He didn't have Minato's speed and could only rely on constantly maneuvering, occasionally taking an attack. Fortunately, he was tough. After taking a direct hit, he seized the opportunity to close in and also finished off his opponent with a Rasengan. After dealing with their respective enemies, the two didn't look for another opponent but instead moved directly towards Kyuushin. The three formed a defensive formation, back to back, and for a moment, no one dared to attack them.
"How are you two?" Kyuushin asked.
"I'm alright, just consuming chakra a bit too quickly," Minato said, panting.
"I'm also alright. I took a few hits, but it doesn't affect my combat ability," Nawaki replied.
"That's good," Kyuushin nodded, then said, "Don't fight alone anymore; just assist me."
"Alright!" the two agreed, knowing that now was not the time for them to show off their individual strength.
Just then, a Rock ninja spotted them and launched an attack. Seeing this, Kyuushin charged forward with Minato and Nawaki. As soon as they engaged, Kyuushin felt something was off. He warned the two, "Be careful, this is a Jonin."
"Haha, you brats should be hiding in your mothers' arms asking for candy," the Rock ninja mocked. But Kyuushin and the others were completely unmoved by such trash talk. However, this Jonin was indeed powerful, much stronger than the two they had previously encountered. Nawaki and Minato were only providing auxiliary attacks, but he still found several openings. If Kyuushin hadn't intervened in time, they would have likely suffered serious injuries.
"Rasengan!"
Finally, Kyuushin caught a momentary opening. With a Body Flicker, he appeared beside the Jonin and simultaneously pressed the Rasengan in his hand against his chest. Then, something unexpected happened: after the Rasengan's violent rotation tore through the man's clothes, it couldn't penetrate his skin. Looking at the enemy's now-blackened skin, Kyuushin instantly recognized the jutsu he was using.
*Earth Release: Earth Spear!* Although named "spear," this was a defensive jutsu. The user could harden any part of their body, making it extremely durable. The moment he recognized this, Kyuushin wanted to retreat, but it was too late.
"Heh heh, it wasn't easy to trick you; how could I let you escape so easily?" the Rock ninja said with a sinister laugh, rapidly forming hand signs. "Earth Release: Restrictive Earth Rising!" The mud beneath Kyuushin's feet quickly surged up, rapidly encasing his entire body.
"Hahahaha, you'll die a painful death in this mud, brat," the Jonin laughed maniacally, seeing the mud about to cover Kyuushin's neck.
However, seeing this, Kyuushin remained completely calm. "If you had used a blade, I might have dodged. But mere Earth Release..." The next second, Kyuushin's entire body erupted with lightning. The mud covering him crumbled into pieces upon contact with the intense electrical discharge.
"Impossible! Such pure Lightning Release chakra... how could you, a brat—"
Kyuushin gave him no more chances. The lightning on his body, after shattering the Earth Release, converged onto his right hand.
"Zzzzzzzzz—"
The sound grew from a soft crackle to the loud chirping sound of a thousand birds, echoing across the entire battlefield.
"Lightning Release: Chidori!"
Under the Rock ninja's horrified expression, Kyuushin thrust his right hand fiercely into his left chest. The Earth Spear, which he had been so proud of, seemed like paper in the face of the powerful Chidori, easily pierced through. Lightning Release naturally counters Earth Release, let alone Chidori, which primarily uses piercing power as its main killing method. Even in death, an expression of disbelief remained on the Jonin's face.
"Lord Takeda!" This person seemed to be a superior officer of the Rock ninja. After Kyuushin killed him, their morale visibly dropped.
"That Rock ninja's jutsu just now, it didn't hurt you, did it?" Minato also walked over, asking with concern.
"Well done, Kyuushin!" Nawaki said, grinning as he approached. "That ninjutsu just now, was it Lightning Release? When did you learn such powerful Lightning Release?"
Kyuushin nodded to Minato, indicating that he was fine. As for Lightning Release, he had learned it during the past few months. After Mito had agreed to help him, it only took her three days to present a sealing technique suitable for his conditions. With the sealing jutsu in hand, finding other elemental chakra became simple. With so many ninja in Konoha, gathering Lightning, Fire, and Earth elements was effortless. Mito's sealing technique could slowly decompose the sealed chakra into raw spiritual and physical energy. Previously, he had condensed chakra to perceive its ratio; now, he perceived the ratio through its decomposition. It took nearly three months for him to fully analyze only the Lightning Release Nature Transformation ratio.
With the Lightning Release mastered, he naturally created Kakashi's signature jutsu. The Chidori, while seemingly complex, isn't actually that complicated. He only needed to condense extreme Lightning Release chakra in his hand. However, for an ordinary ninja, achieving this is still very difficult because Lightning Release is inherently one of the most difficult elements to control in terms of shape transformation. But for Kyuushin, no matter how difficult it was to control, it was still chakra. In his Gene Lock state, even Lightning Release had to obey him, so this jutsu posed almost no difficulty. And crucially, the problem that plagued Kakashi in the original work—the inability to react due to the fast thrusting speed—was even less of an issue for Kyuushin. Therefore, its compatibility with him already surpassed any other ninjutsu he had learned. Its first appearance today, killing a Jonin, certainly lived up to Kyuushin's expectations.
However, at this moment, the situation on the battlefield suddenly changed.
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