Chapter 184: Hyūga
Ishiro's previous move was not so much a display of superior swordsmanship as it was purely leveraging his understanding of the Water Trumpet ninjutsu.
Ishiro's understanding of this C-rank ninjutsu far surpassed his opponent's; he knew the Water Trumpet's power and weaknesses. That was why Ishiro, with his not-so-professional sword ki, could shatter the ninjutsu with a single slash, and at its very source no less.
Then, under the opponent's dumbfounded gaze, he beheaded the other Genin who was about to complete his hand seals with a single stroke.
"Kume, retreat quickly! I'll hold him off!" Before this Genin, who was almost scared witless, could regain his senses, the urgent voice of his Jōnin captain reached him.
Under normal circumstances, given the strength Ishiro had displayed, it would be impossible for them to escape. However, this was near the Kirigakure camp. In just a little while, their reinforcements would arrive. That was why this Jōnin captain wanted to fight for a chance of survival for his subordinate.
"Quite united, aren't they? It seems Kirigakure hasn't implemented the 'Bloody Mist' policy yet. So, did the Bloody Mist truly begin after the Fourth Mizukage, Yagura, came to power? Hmm, that's Obito's fault," Ishiro still had the presence of mind to ponder these irrelevant matters.
Hearing this, the Genin did not disappoint his captain. He indeed regained his senses in time and quickly retreated, hoping to create distance from Ishiro.
And the Jōnin captain, at this moment, also re-engaged with extreme speed.
Ishiro tilted his head, looking at the kunai with an exploding tag in the Jōnin's hand. He knew the opponent was going to fight desperately and wouldn't easily let him pursue that Genin.
Thus, Ishiro simply gave up the chase. Then, under the opponent's despairing gaze, he formed three hand seals at a speed of 5.5-6.0 seals per second and unleashed a water pressure line, accurately hitting the Genin's body just before the opponent could intercept.
Watching his last subordinate slowly fall, this Kirigakure ninja's final shred of hope was extinguished. He directly ignited the exploding tag, then spread his arms and lunged towards Ishiro.
"Genjutsu: Body Paralysis Technique!" Ishiro cast a C-rank genjutsu he hadn't used on an enemy for a long time.
Although this genjutsu was low-ranked, its effect when used by Ishiro was extremely good. The Kirigakure Jōnin, who was still in a state of high-speed movement, was directly immobilized on the spot.
Ishiro hadn't improved this genjutsu over the years. To maintain it, Ishiro still needed to keep the hand seal. Originally, Ishiro used senbon hidden in his shoes to coordinate with this genjutsu, but now it was unnecessary.
Because the exploding tag in the opponent's hand was about to detonate.
Sure enough, accompanied by a violent explosion, this Kirigakure Jōnin died by his own hand before he could even break free from the genjutsu.
Without a second glance, Ishiro directly activated the Light/Heavy Rock Technique and once again flew close to the ground, leaving this place.
The Light/Heavy Rock Technique didn't excel in short-distance speed. Ishiro did this not to leave quickly. If Ishiro wanted to shake off the Kirigakure ninjas as soon as possible, the best choice at this moment would have been to fly away. In fact, he wouldn't even have had to engage the Kirigakure ninjas earlier.
Ishiro's purpose in using the Light/Heavy Rock Technique was to reduce the traces he left behind.
Ishiro didn't want to leave just like that, but he also didn't want to be easily caught by Kirigakure. What Ishiro hoped for was to lure out the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, memorize their chakra fluctuations, and then use his original sensory ninjutsu to tail them from afar, rather than foolishly waiting at the entrance of their camp like before.
Not long after Ishiro left, several Kirigakure squads arrived at this location one after another. But to their disappointment, after a careful search, they found no trace of Ishiro. Helplessly, they could only report Ishiro's situation upwards at the fastest speed.
Before long, Raiga Kurosuki and Jinpachi Munashi, two of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist who were currently engaged in battle with ninjas from the Hyūga camp, received the news. Jinpachi Munashi raised an eyebrow and said, "Heh, Konoha has finally sent out a decent fellow. I'll go meet him."
Raiga Kurosuki, however, was somewhat hesitant. "We don't even know where the opponent is. I'm afraid there won't be enough time to search for this person's tracks now. Don't forget the mission Lord Third Mizukage personally assigned us."
"Tch." Jinpachi Munashi snorted but didn't dare to defy the Mizukage's will.
After thinking for a moment, Jinpachi Munashi said, "Since the opponent has finished scouting, he will definitely return to his camp. Let's split up and wait, see if we can intercept him."
Raiga Kurosuki felt this method was feasible. Regardless of whether Ishiro was intercepted by them on his way back to camp, it wouldn't delay their main task. So he said, "No problem. I won't choose a spot; I'll just stay here. You go elsewhere."
Jinpachi Munashi didn't care about such trivial matters. He shouldered his Blast Sword, Shibuki, and sped off in one direction.
Jinpachi Munashi didn't go far before selecting a highland with a relatively open field of vision.
Although the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were all quite mad, it was undeniable that their combat intelligence was not low.
The position Jinpachi Munashi chose was a necessary passage on several of the closest routes between the Kirigakure camp and the Hyūga camp. The view here was open. As long as Ishiro passed nearby and his stealth skills weren't high, there was a high probability he would be discovered by Jinpachi Munashi.
As for whether Ishiro would choose other routes? Obviously not. Ishiro wasn't really trying to avoid Kirigakure and return to the Konoha camp. Ishiro wouldn't even hide his figure; on the contrary, Ishiro was almost swaggering through the forest.
So, when Ishiro approached this high slope, he was immediately discovered by Jinpachi Munashi. Jinpachi was first stunned, then flew into a rage. Ishiro's behavior showed a complete disregard for them, the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist.
With anger clouding his judgment, Jinpachi Munashi no longer hid his figure. He lifted his Blast Sword with one hand and charged down towards Ishiro from his elevated position.
Ishiro naturally quickly spotted this tall figure, dragging an exaggeratedly large sword and filled with rage.
"He's wearing an eyepatch over his left eye. That should be Jinpachi Munashi. The weapon in his hand must be the Blast Sword, Shibuki," Ishiro accurately judged.
To be honest, after transmigrating for so long, Ishiro had a deep impression of the main plot and some major characters of the original story. And as he came into contact with more and more related intelligence, Ishiro had already etched them deep into his memory.
But for characters like the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist, who appeared as a group and served as background characters upon their debut, Ishiro's impression had long since faded. But it didn't matter; Iwagakure's intelligence system had detailed records, and Ishiro had memorized the intelligence on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist again over the years.
The Iwagakure intelligence records on the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist were very detailed, so Ishiro had a countermeasure in mind the moment he saw Jinpachi Munashi.
Although the ability of the Blast Sword, Shibuki, was peculiar, it needed close combat to exert its maximum power. Although the vast number of exploding tags it contained also had a long-range attack effect, it was far inferior to its power in close combat.
Thus, Ishiro immediately began to change direction, moving towards the front-side while starting to cast a ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!" Ishiro cast a Fire Release jutsu he wasn't very proficient with, aiming to prematurely detonate any possible exploding tag attacks.
Sure enough, upon seeing Ishiro's large-area Fire Release, Jinpachi Munashi frowned slightly and didn't approach further, instead choosing to dodge.
Ishiro's current chakra reserves were increasing at an astonishing rate; he could now completely disregard the consumption of a mere B-rank Fire Release jutsu. So this time, Ishiro extravagantly controlled the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique for a prolonged output.
One small fireball after another continuously spewed from Ishiro's mouth, attacking the dodging Jinpachi Munashi.
This was the benefit of having abundant chakra. The Ishiro of the past wouldn't have dared to waste chakra so recklessly in battle.
While spewing small fireballs, Ishiro tried to bypass Jinpachi Munashi from the side. However, this intention was soon discovered by Jinpachi.
"Damn it!" Feeling like he had been tricked, Jinpachi Munashi flew into a rage and immediately swung his Blast Sword to smash away the incoming fireballs one by one. At the same time, he began to advance towards Ishiro's direction, braving the Fire Release, attempting to intercept him.
"Hehe." Ishiro chuckled lightly.
If Jinpachi Munashi had done this from the beginning, he might have succeeded in intercepting him with the long-range attack capability of the Blast Sword, Shibuki. But now, Ishiro dispelled the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, mobilized his chakra to perform the Lightning Release stimulation method, then suddenly accelerated, instantly rushed past Jinpachi Munashi's blockade.
After passing Jinpachi Munashi, Ishiro didn't stop and directly rushed towards the direction of the Hyūga camp. He had to act like he was a Konoha ninja.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Blade!" Just as Ishiro broke free from Jinpachi Munashi and was about to leave, two white flashes suddenly appeared to his front-side. One shot towards him, while the other blocked his path forward.
"This kind of attack, is this Raiga Kurosuki's Lightning Swords, Kiba?" Ishiro didn't dare to meet a Lightning Release attack head-on with his physical body, so he hastily stopped his advance.
After dodging the two swift but inflexible lightning blade attacks, Ishiro quickly evaded towards a direction away from Raiga Kurosuki. At the same time, Ishiro was sizing up the newcomer.
Ishiro's memory of Raiga Kurosuki from his previous life had faded, but he had some impression of the two lightning swords in the newcomer's hands. It was precisely these two lightning swords that confirmed the newcomer's identity.
"This is troublesome." Raiga Kurosuki was unlike Jinpachi Munashi. Jinpachi wasn't skilled in speed, and with the weight of the Blast Sword, speed was even more of a disadvantage for him. But Raiga Kurosuki specialized in Lightning Release. Judging from the fact that he could escape from the user of the Eight Inner Gates' Gate of Death in the original story, one could imagine his speed was definitely not weak.
It was easy to shake off Jinpachi Munashi, but it wouldn't be easy to shake off Raiga Kurosuki.
Being blocked by Raiga Kurosuki, Jinpachi Munashi, now infuriated by his earlier embarrassment, launched a powerful attack.
"Blast Sword Art: Explosive Landmine Burial!" A large scroll of paper rapidly spread towards Ishiro's area, and this large scroll of paper was covered with exploding tags.
"I really don't know where these exploding tags come from. If it's a summoning jutsu, then is this paper with exploding tags prepared in advance and placed in some summoning array?" Ishiro wasn't particularly flustered by this attack from the Blast Sword, Shibuki. On the contrary, Ishiro felt this was a good opportunity to escape.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!" Ishiro first cast a circular Earth-Style Wall around himself, then cast another earth jutsu, "Earth Release: Underground Lurking Technique."
A single Earth-Style Wall couldn't block this ultimate move from the Blast Sword. But the Blast Sword's attack was an explosion, and explosions have a process from weak to intense. Ishiro's Earth-Style Wall was enough to support him until he could use the Underground Lurking Technique to escape.
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