Boom!
Seeing that disguise was no longer possible, the "Iwa ninja" standing before Uchiha Mikoto and Might Dai immediately dispelled his Transformation Technique.
The man revealed underneath was a young, fair-skinned blond ninja.
"What a hassle," the man said coldly.
"The intel was wrong. Your team leader hid his strength quite well."
Ritsu had never expected that a B-rank mission—simply capturing an Uchiha ninja—would run into a Konoha genin who had been pretending to be weak.
"My attacks won't be as gentle as before."
"Stop bluffing!" Mikoto snapped.
"You were already struggling against the two of us earlier. What difference does dropping your disguise make?"
The tall girl stood confidently beside Dai.
Dai, however, had become serious.
Just now this ninja had fought them evenly using only taijutsu, without even using ninjutsu.
"Believe whatever you want," Ritsu said.
His hands began forming seals.
"Just try not to die."
"My mission target."
With the final seal completed, eight yellow lightning spheres—each two or three times the size of a fist—appeared before the blond ninja.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Spheres!"
"Lightning Release!" Mikoto shouted to Dai.
"Move!"
She immediately leapt away.
Dai prepared to dodge as well—
But when he turned around, he saw the carriage behind him.
In that instant he remembered the sinister smile the blond ninja had just shown.
Dai spread his arms wide and stood before the carriage.
"Dai!" Mikoto cried out.
She turned and saw him standing there without moving.
Unable to use ninjutsu, he seemed determined to block the attack head-on and protect the client.
"I'm sorry!" Dai shouted.
"But I will never drag my comrades down or let our first C-rank mission end in failure!"
"This is my ninja way!"
"How foolish," Ritsu sneered.
He hadn't expected Konoha ninja to be so stupid that they would sacrifice their lives for a mission target.
Inside the carriage window, Mizutani Shōto trembled.
He knew Konoha ninja were professional—but this was ridiculous.
These Konoha ninja really are amazing!
At the front of the carriage, A-Jin, helping his unconscious brother, stared in shock.
Then—
"Don't even think about it!"
The blonde girl beside the carriage rapidly formed hand seals.
Just as the eight lightning spheres were about to strike Dai—
A thick wall of earth suddenly rose before him.
"Earth Release: Barrier Wall!"
It was a C-rank earth technique, a weaker version of the B-rank Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall.
The wall wouldn't last long.
As the lightning spheres began breaking through—
The client was moved.
The guards were stunned.
The blonde girl finished her jutsu and tackled Dai to the ground.
In the next moment—
Mizutani's face froze.
The earth wall shattered instantly, and the remaining lightning spheres flew toward the carriage.
"I—!!!"
"I TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID ABOUT KONOHA NINJA BEING THE BEST!"
Mizutani immediately crouched.
The lightning spheres struck the wooden carriage walls.
Several scorch marks appeared on both the outside and inside.
"Damn it!" Mizutani shouted.
"This is how you protect a client?!"
"The carriage is made of solid wood," Yakushi Nono explained as she stood up.
"Wood conducts electricity poorly. And this C-rank lightning technique isn't strong enough to penetrate the carriage."
Nearby, the cracked two-centimeter earth wall—which had already lost its chakra support—collapsed into dirt.
"Oh… so that's how it works," Mizutani muttered awkwardly after examining the burn marks.
They were only surface-level scorch marks.
"I guess I misunderstood you."
"But wait… you and Mr. Dai are both genin, right?"
"How come he didn't know that?"
Might Dai: "..."
Sorry for being the dumb student.
"Hmm. Didn't finish them off," Ritsu clicked his tongue.
"But I've roughly figured out their strength."
His previous attack had never been intended to kill them.
It was simply meant to test the abilities of this genin squad.
Ritsu's green eyes swept across the blonde girl.
She was clearly a support-type ninja.
Her earth technique had been weak, but her seal speed was fast, which was why she managed to save that foolish thick-browed man.
As for that thick-browed man—
He hadn't used any ninjutsu from the start.
Probably just a useless taijutsu-only ninja.
Ritsu then looked toward the Uchiha girl, who was forming hand seals.
"Looks like the only real opponent I need to—wait!"
He suddenly realized her seals were already complete.
Orange flames flickered before her lips.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Mikoto remembered Bai Xing's words from that night:
"When you encounter an enemy, finish them decisively. Don't get distracted."
BOOM!
The blazing fireball exploded, sending hot wind blasting outward.
Of course, the famously "never-kills-anyone" fire technique wouldn't defeat an elite Cloud ninja so easily.
Ritsu used Substitution Technique, landing safely in the grass.
He continued analyzing.
"C-rank Great Fireball… the Uchiha clan's signature technique."
"The power and range are strong."
"But with a genin's chakra, she can only use it once."
"Since she's Uchiha, maybe two or three times."
"In other words… fighting head-on before her chakra is exhausted is unwise."
He frowned.
"Where are Captain Ayai and Vey?"
"How are they taking so long to deal with a single genin?"
In the Forest
The two Cloud ninja stood atop separate trees, watching Bai Xing.
He was clinging sideways to a tree trunk using chakra, slowly stepping onto the branch.
"You're Cloud ninja, right?" Bai Xing said calmly.
"I remember Cloud Village didn't participate in the Second Ninja War."
"So why are you attacking us in the Land of Iron?"
Ayai glanced at the half-collapsed tree nearby.
Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
What kind of taijutsu was that…?
But he didn't bother answering.
"You think we'd tell you?"
"Even if your swordsmanship is impressive, this is where it ends!"
There were no civilians here anymore.
The animals had already fled after the earlier crash.
So—
Two versus one. The advantage is ours.
Ayai had no intention of competing with Bai Xing's swordsmanship.
His hands began forming seals.
"For ninja, swords are only support tools."
"The true power of ninja is ninjutsu."
"So remember the name of the one who kills you—"
"Kumogakure Jōnin Ayai, code name Thunder Lion!"
Bai Xing watched silently as this random thug finished twelve complicated hand seals.
Ayai grabbed the hilts of the twin blades hanging at his waist.
"Die!"
"Lightning Release: Thunder Lion Roar!"
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