In a single second, Mikami Yuu appeared behind the Rain ninja, separated only by a patch of brush, and unleashed the jutsu he had already finished forming:
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!!!"
BOOM—!!!
A massive fireball burst into existence again, smashing straight toward the four ninja who had just turned around, shock still written all over their faces! The heat was so intense that the surrounding air warped visibly!
"Scatter—!"
The two quickest Rain ninja used Body Flicker to evade while forming seals at the same time.
"Water Style—"
Before they could finish their Water Release,
Mikami Yuu vanished from the spot, and in his place stood Kakashi. His hand seals had also already been completed. Facing the enormous Great Fireball that was just about to slam into the enemy, he took a deep breath:
"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!!!"
FWOOSH—!!!!
In that instant, the already enormous Great Fireball swelled by more than double under the violent Wind Release boost! It looked like a miniature sun nearly ten meters across had risen into the air, its color changing from orange-red to a blinding white-hot blaze.
[Great Fireball Jutsu: Aaaah! This is amazing! Mikami-chan, yes, just like that! Let everyone witness my power! (She dances excitedly in the sea of fire.)]
[Great Fireball Jutsu Affection +2! Current affection: 93/100 (Infatuated)]
This fighting style was actually kind of similar to Minato's.
Get close in an instant, then kill before the enemy can react.
Mikami Yuu's Substitution Technique wasn't as fast as Flying Thunder God, and neither he nor Kakashi had reflexes anywhere near Minato's level, but fortunately, the enemies they were facing were only a few chūnin. In a normal fight, the outcome would be hard to call. But here, with careful planning against an unsuspecting target…
To the three Rain ninja, this was a nightmare.
"Water Style: Wild Water Wave!"
"Water Style: Water Formation Wall!"
The two Rain ninja managed to release their Water Style at the very last second, but it wasn't enough to stop the overwhelming wall of heat rushing toward them. Instead, it generated a huge amount of scorching steam in the air, leaving them burned, half on fire, and robbed of their vision all at once, throwing them into momentary panic.
Kakashi took that opportunity to rush in, drawing the White Fang short blade and cutting down one of the Rain ninja in an instant.
"Ugh—!"
"My eyes!"
"Damn it, put out the flames!"
At the same moment Kakashi moved,
Mikami Yuu also burst out from behind the rock where he had been hiding. As he ran, he formed the hand seals for Water Clone, splitting into four bodies and charging the Rain ninja.
At that point, the Rain ninja still hadn't recovered. They couldn't even tell whether the ones attacking them were shadow clones created by one person or whether two different people were attacking. After all, Mikami Yuu and Kakashi were both white-haired, around the same age and height, and hard to make out through the haze.
Still, as trained ninja, they weren't so easy to break. They kept struggling to resist.
Mikami Yuu drove his water clones forward as shields and watched as two of the three clones were taken out by one of the Rain ninja—one got slashed with a kunai, and another was kicked apart.
At the instant the water clones burst apart, Mikami Yuu felt a blazing warm current surge through his entire body out of nowhere, flooding his limbs and bones and sharply boosting his strength. His speed and neural reaction speed also rose, to the point where everything around him seemed to slow down.
—[Clone Technique: One-Man Army]!
The Rain ninja had just finished dealing with two water clones when he suddenly saw a white blur close in at terrifying speed. The short blade in Mikami Yuu's hand came down like a war hammer, carrying a heavy gust of wind with it!
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The Rain ninja hastily raised his kunai to block, but every collision made his arms shake violently and numbed his hands. He staggered back again and again, roaring for help from his last remaining teammate:
"Damn it! Help me!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—!
"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet!!"
The last Rain ninja cast a jutsu while throwing several shuriken, trying to seal off Mikami Yuu's escape path. But just as the Water Fang Bullets were about to pierce through Mikami Yuu from behind, his figure vanished again and reappeared behind the first Rain ninja.
"What?!"
That Rain ninja stared at the incoming water bullets in horror and twisted desperately to dodge, only to be struck in the back by another Great Fireball from Mikami Yuu. He screamed and rolled across the ground.
By then, Kakashi had already finished off his opponent and came over to assist. With the two of them working together, it didn't take long to eliminate the remaining three Rain ninja.
Afterward,
Mikami Yuu crouched down and started searching through the Rain ninja's gear and clothing. He found several kunai, shuriken, a stack of explosive tags, two packs of rations, two swords, and one ninjutsu scroll.
[Detected potential romanceable target: "Water Style: Water Formation Wall." Time-limited encounter triggered!]
Good, good, good.
Sure enough, looting bodies was the real path to wealth.
The scroll recorded the exact jutsu that one of the Rain ninja had used just now—Water Encampment Wall.
That guy had probably only learned it recently and hadn't mastered it yet, so he kept the scroll on him for reference. Now it had conveniently fallen into Mikami Yuu's hands. Too bad the other Rain ninja's Water Fang Bullet hadn't dropped as well, or he could have gotten even more out of this.
Still, one jutsu was enough. Greed bit off more than it could chew. Besides, there would be more chances to leave the village in the future.
After finishing his looting,
Mikami Yuu stood up and immediately met Kakashi's scrutinizing gaze.
"That technique from earlier… the one that instantly switched our positions. What was it?"
"Oh, that? You could say it's a jutsu I developed myself—a personal-style evolution of Substitution Technique. It lets me instantly swap places with a pre-placed object within a certain range. But it has heavy limitations."
"For example?"
"The range is only about forty meters. Any farther and it won't work. And the chakra cost is several times higher than normal Substitution. Just that one switch with you, plus the earlier uses for evasion and attack, already drained me badly. My chakra's almost bottomed out now—I'm even starting to feel dizzy."
Mikami Yuu deliberately cut the effective range in half and exaggerated the chakra cost.
After all, information about a ninja's jutsu was every ninja's secret. Even teammates usually didn't reveal it lightly. But Kakashi was reliable enough, and Mikami Yuu also wanted to use this chance to build a little trust with him, laying the groundwork for "learning from" him later.
Kakashi was silent for a few seconds, his dead-fish eyes revealing little emotion. Then he said, "The effect is impressive. But an unfinished jutsu is dangerous. I'll keep it secret for you, but I'd recommend telling Minato-sensei. He might be able to help you complete it."
"I'll think about it."
Mikami Yuu nodded.
At that moment,
Inuzuka Tsume arrived from the other side of the woods, dragging along a bruised and battered Fujiwara bound up like a dumpling, with an equally scruffy-looking Obito following beside her.
~~~
Patreon(.)com/Bleam
— Currently You can Read 70 Chapters Ahead of Others!