Chapter 43: The Ice-Release Shinobi
Imamura Koazuki stood at a dilemma: his team of three was under constant surveillance by an unseen enemy sensor. This meant a lot of their usual tactics were off the table. And because they were the ones initiating hostilities, they couldn't rely on many defensive measures, either.
They couldn't just sit around doing nothing. Imamura Koazuki had no choice but to form hand seals once again, creating a Water Clone to probe the area. In truth, this maneuver was unwise: they hadn't even formally clashed yet, and he was already creating a water clone, costing him a considerable chunk of chakra. He briefly regretted his decision.
With Koazuki's water clone moving forward, extremely alert to potential traps, Ishiro continued monitoring with his sensory technique. The plan on the Fifth Squad's side was to let the trap array do as much of the work as possible. After all, their side had time on its side.
The water clone advanced deeper into the trap zone, suspiciously destroying any sign of a mechanism with kunai or even paper bombs. Though seeing it wrecking trap after trap made Ishiro uneasy, he stayed hidden. If they acted prematurely, they'd be playing straight into the enemy's hands.
When that water clone had destroyed nearly dozens of traps big and small, it finally set foot in a specially chosen area. Ishiro immediately activated over a dozen triggers simultaneously. Everything was timed to strike as soon as the clone stepped into range. The nature of the attacks was broad-area strikes. Even if such attacks merely scratched a real human, they'd be fatal to a clone.
As anticipated, the water clone raised a Water Formation Wall to shield itself from the incoming kunai, senbon, and scattered debris. Unfortunately for it, right after blocking a large wave of projectiles, three paper bombs hidden among them exploded. The clone had to cast a Body Flicker technique, narrowly escaping the bulk of the blast.
Yet in so doing, it landed right where Ishiro wanted it – and a final volley of projectiles rained down. Having expended so much effort, the water clone was struck repeatedly. Dozens of lesser impacts demolished it. The clone vanished with a splash.
Seeing his clone's defeat, Koazuki and his two companions were dismayed. They hadn't expected the clone to accomplish much – only to flush out an enemy or two. But it turned out the target side had specifically prepared anti–clone measures. That left Koazuki stuck again: sending another clone would just waste more chakra, whereas simply withdrawing felt equally pointless – they still hadn't forced even a glimpse of the enemy.
Meanwhile, Water-Release user Mizunotsuki Kagami grew tired of the stalemate. Possessing a Kekkei Genkai, he wasn't about to accept such a stalemate as normal. He formed hand seals to cast a B-rank Ice-Release ninjutsu: Thousand Ice Senbon. At once, a colossal flurry of ice needles formed in midair, easily in the tens of thousands.
From his sensor vantage, Ishiro was alarmed. Kagami's jutsu was slow to start, but the scale was terrifying – a single B-rank technique had produced a veritable storm of ice projectiles. He shouted for the rest of Team Five to prepare: "Number Four!" and then hastily lifted an iron plate to shield his head.
An instant later, tens of thousands of icy needles hammered into the entire zone of traps. If this had been a broad-area Suiton, most would have lost momentum upon hitting the ground. But now every single one of these ice needles stabbed well into the earth, each burying itself tens of centimeters deep.
Team Five's booby traps, half of them set below ground level, were all annihilated by that piercing hail. Though the four had prepared – they'd quickly grabbed their iron plates or hunkered behind stone cover – it still revealed their location. Mizunotsuki Kagami, controlling the ninjutsu, could sense subtle feedback from the needle impacts and deduce where they'd had to take cover.
With the trap array wiped out, the four saw no point in remaining prone. They emerged from their hiding spots. Sure enough, Koazuki gave no quarter, launching a B-rank Suiton: Exploding Water Colliding Wave at the newly exposed positions.
But Kitsuchi, thanks to Ishiro's timely warning, had been readying a jutsu. Ishiro's earlier "Number Four!" referred to prearranged codes. Right after the ice storm ended, the squad jumped clear of their holes, while Kitsuchi slammed both hands down in a B-rank Earth-Release: Earth Flow Rampart. The ground underfoot formed a small earthen mound a few meters high, forcibly elevating them above Koazuki's tide.
Koazuki's water wave crashed mightily against the artificial hill, spraying chunks of soil – but after that, it lost momentum. Realizing a single wave was far from enough, Koazuki frowned. That technique required considerable chakra; and if that invisible foe turned out to be a Jōnin, matters would only get worse.
Finally, from vantage on top of their mini hill, Team Five spotted the enemy trio. The adult was presumably Koazuki, while the other two – Kagami and Kawano Oda – stood by him, eyes locked on. Kitsuchi stepped up to confront Koazuki, leaving Kagami and Oda to face Ishiro, Tanaka, and Shouhara.
No words were exchanged. In a blink, Koazuki and Kitsuchi engaged each other. Meanwhile Kagami and Oda charged up the small hill. Ishiro quickly snapped into action, forming hand seals for his newly refined Water Thread technique, while Shouhara and Tanaka hurled a barrage of shuriken. Kagami didn't flinch; he cast an Ice Wall – a mere C-rank ninjutsu – but thanks to Ice Release's formidable might, that simple barrier blunted Ishiro's entire Water Thread as well as the barrage of projectiles.
Observing this, Ishiro's heart sank. So that's the power of an Ice Release user. Their B-rank ninjutsu earlier had the destructive force of an A-rank. Even a basic C-rank ice barrier was blocking Ishiro's improved Water Thread, which could otherwise penetrate his own Earth-Style Wall. The synergy of dual natures truly lived up to its fearsome reputation.
Not giving them time to regroup, Kagami hopped clear of the ice barrier, quickly weaving signs for a moderate C-rank technique: Ice Lance Thrust. Alarmed, Ishiro performed signs for the Earth Spear Gun in a hurry, meeting Kagami's midrange assault with a flurry of earthen spikes. The twin blasts collided repeatedly. The earthen spikes mostly shattered on contact, but it slowed the ice spear's impetus enough that Ishiro's squad could dodge.
The next second, Tanaka and Shouhara flanked Kagami from both sides, forcing him to watch three corners at once. Realizing the quick-moving Tanaka was the more dangerous, Kagami pivoted slightly to keep track of her. Yet he swiftly singled out Shouhara – slower and lacking complicated ninjutsu – as the easiest kill. Steeling himself, Kagami motioned for Oda to coordinate and pressed forward.
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