(2 chapters in one)
Don't destroy armies, don't destroy cities, just kill people!
For thirteen years, Otonashi had only pondered the small matter of killing, so he was proficient in assassination, proficient in demolition, and proficient in frontal confrontation!
Boom—
A distinct surge of turbulent chakra erupted, sweeping through the forest like a strong wind, forcing Dai to turn his head to avoid it while his pupils sharply contracted.
From a cunning hungry wolf to a man-eating fierce tiger, the speed of the transformation was unbelievable.
'Are all Konoha youths monsters?'
He thought he had caught a genius assassin, but when Otonashi opened the Third Gate, he realized that even in a direct confrontation, his level had reached Jonin.
No, not just an ordinary Jonin.
This person was only twelve or thirteen years old. If he grew up, what would he become!
At this thought, his left hand holding the sword vibrated. Before he could speak, several cold glints flashed. The flying needles actually arrived before his eyes as if teleporting, several times faster.
"Lightning Blade!!"
A majestic surge of lightning-attribute chakra instantly enveloped the blade. The forest was immediately illuminated, and a bright 'Z'-shaped blade mark remained in the foggy night, yet it blocked all the hidden weapons.
With a few light clangs, Dai, who suddenly looked up, saw Otonashi, biting his sword and crouching, suddenly turn around and disappear into the fog in an instant.
"Trying to escape!?"
His body moved faster than his brain. He instantly chased after him, only to find that under some secret technique, the opponent's speed was actually a notch faster than his own.
The Eight Gates Release was closely related to the user's constitution. Otonashi, possessing the Senju physique, was almost equivalent to Might Duy's Sixth Gate!
Powerful strength filled his body. Each leap could create shallow pits, flying several meters.
The joints felt heavy due to the reaction force. Otonashi rushed towards the edge of the fog, turning his head to see the Kumo-nin chasing closely behind.
Only ten meters, and the distance couldn't be increased!
'Indeed, several times stronger than an ordinary Jonin.' His heart tightened, and he sprinted forward again. After a hundred meters, the fog had thinned considerably, yet it slowly extended outwards.
The young Zabuza couldn't keep up at all! And this Mist Assassination Technique, no matter how large its range, had boundaries!
Otonashi, running like he was on wind and fire wheels, was stretching the battlefield, willing to trade combat endurance to escape the pincer attack first.
Boom—
At this moment, a bolt of lightning struck fiercely ahead, splitting the giant tree under Otonashi's feet in two from the center. Losing his footing, his entire body inevitably fell towards the ground. Then, upon landing, the seal was already formed.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Encampment Wall!"
The ground surged, and a semicircular protective shell made purely of rock immediately enveloped him. However, just as it formed, his vision suddenly brightened again!
A second lightning strike followed closely, instantly shattering this B-rank auxiliary ninjutsu into pieces. Residual electricity and flying stones splashed everywhere. Otonashi, crossing his arms in front of his chest, was instantly sent flying backward, his body slightly numb, but his mind incredibly clear.
'Forced him to use two A-rank ninjutsu to intercept!'
Otonashi landed, his legs carving two shallow marks on the ground. Relaxing his mouth, he formed seals with both hands. When finished, the falling steel sword was正好gripped tightly and raised above his head.
Ninja Art: Wind Blade!
Clang!!!
Like the sound of a muffled bell, Otonashi's knees sank. He saw the crackling Lightning Blade above his head firmly blocked. The light illuminated Dai's face, full of incomprehension.
His A-rank ninjutsu wasn't just about flashy effects. The overflowing electric current was fundamentally indefensible. Dai looked closely, only to see that the Lightning Blade hadn't actually struck the opponent's sword edge, because a transparent high-speed airflow was dissipating the lightning.
Ninjutsu cancellation!? What kind of monster is this!?
He couldn't figure out how much chakra this teenager, who used shadow clones and activated secret techniques, had. At this moment, he felt his hand lighten. Sensing something was wrong, he quickly tilted his body down.
Whoosh—
The soft sound of air being cut echoed by his ear. Otonashi, seeing his momentary distraction, withdrew his force, then pointed the sword tip at the opponent's head. The wind-attribute chakra cunningly extended to pierce the brain, but Dai reacted beforehand.
'Truly experienced.'
Cursing inwardly, his peripheral vision caught the opponent's mangled right arm. Pushing off the balls of his feet, he passed by Dai's right blind spot.
The two crossed paths. Otonashi's raised right leg came down fiercely again.
Bang!
The muddy ground instantly sank by more than a foot. The huge reaction force made him stop abruptly. Then, twisting his waist, the long sword slashed back!
Oboro-zuki (Hazy Moon)!
Turning slash to the neck! Aiming for the time lag caused by the enemy's injured right arm. The sword didn't hit, but Otonashi felt a sharp pain in his back first. His peripheral vision caught a tall young man with cold eyes.
'Zabuza? So fast!'
The exchange of several rounds took less than ten seconds, yet this Zabuza had already emerged from the fog and struck him.
Being hit in the back made Otonashi stumble. The whistling blade, however, only cut off a few strands of silver hair. He saw Zabuza behind him change to a thrust, while the Kumo-nin in front, who had crouched down, launched a backward kick. Caught in the pincer attack, the teenager didn't even think and threw himself flat on the ground.
Shua—
Two streams of air passed close to the back of his head. Slapping one hand on the ground, he instantly rolled away from between the two.
"Interesting."
Zabuza faded back into the fog. Dai turned and saw the teenager squatting several meters away, his eyebrows slightly raised, and immediately rushed forward.
Holding a sword makes it impossible to use ninjutsu. Then use a storm of close-quarters combat to chop him into meat chunks!
The relentless enemy attacked again. How could Otonashi not understand that this person saw the heavy burden of the Eight Gates Release? He didn't clash head-on and rolled backward.
One slash! Two slashes! Three slashes!
Lightning left scorched marks on the ground. If not for the speed boost from the Eight Gates Release, Otonashi would already be decapitated. But he wasn't doing well either. Residual electricity numbed his body, and he felt his back suddenly hit something hard.
Shua—Clang!!
A dazzling Lightning Blade chopped down from above, splitting the giant tree from the center, and then firmly pinned Otonashi to the ground.
The lightning was blinding, illuminating the two faces only a dozen centimeters apart. Their eyes met, seeming to clash with killing intent in mid-air. They remained locked for a moment, then Otonashi, holding the sword with both hands, suddenly exerted force.
Up!!
----------
With two hands against one, the power brought by the Eight Gates Release was already several times stronger than this elite Jonin. However, Dai simultaneously withdrew his force, not clashing head-on. As his whole body floated lightly upwards, he actually released his left hand holding the sword.
Abandoning the sword and leaping back, he clasped his hands together in front of his chest.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Flash!"
The moment Otonashi saw him clasp his hands, he knew it was bad. Digging the tips of his feet into the mud and pulling, the immense force brought up the earth like a curtain!
Crackle—
In just an instant, the entire forest became as bright as day. An intense ray of light appeared before Otonashi's eyes, enough to blind them. At the same time, the figure in the mist reappeared, the ghostly Mist assassin slashing horizontally with his ninja sword from the side.
Dai landed on the ground, raised his hand, and the straight sword that had been blasted away earlier spun and landed in his palm. He looked for a moment, his brows slightly furrowed.
He saw the falling dust settle, and the teenager was squatting on the ground as if he had eyes in the back of his head. The Mist assassin's slash missed, and he quickly disappeared.
Retreating immediately after a missed strike. The current genius assassin was not yet as reckless as he would be later with the Executioner's Blade. But just as he hid in the mist, he realized something was wrong. Lowering his head slightly, he saw several burning explosive tags stuck to his waist.
???
Boom!!
The sound of an explosion faintly echoed in the mist. This made the elite Jonin's mouth twitch, but he saw the teenager placing a green hand [likely indicating medical ninjutsu], and the twitching became more obvious.
"You even know medical ninjutsu..." He gasped for breath. Releasing multiple high-power ninjutsu consecutively had made him tired. Dai was increasingly confused; why did this teenager show no signs of exhaustion yet?
"If you could just die, I would be very grateful to you."
Raising his sword, he suddenly realized he couldn't delay any longer. But he saw Otonashi say nothing, shake his head boredly, yet his eyes were unprecedentedly firm.
Full power annihilation!!
This kind of mind, this kind of power, he would definitely be a future Hokage!
His aura swelled to the extreme. Shaking off fatigue, casting aside hesitation, the Jonin charged like thunder.
How could Otonashi dare to face him head-on? He leaped backward, his hands rapidly forming seals, the ninjutsu interval extremely short.
Earth Release: Quicksand Technique!
Earth Release: Earth Spike Rip!
The ground loosened, sinking his legs, and in an instant, spikes rose like a hedgehog again. However, a single slash passed, cutting them all in two!
Dai, charging forward, looked up and saw another Earth Flow Wall rising ahead, and not just one layer!
While marveling at the strength of this person's ninjutsu, he also chuckled lightly. Crossing the index and middle fingers of both hands, he created a shadow clone. While the main body remained still, the clone rushed towards the Earth Flow Wall. Then, his eyes widened, and his seals formed like afterimages!
"Ninja Art: Thunderclap Burst!!!"
The clone, carrying half of the Jonin's chakra, stepped onto the multi-layered Earth Flow Wall. The chakra in its body transformed into lightning attribute. In the blink of an eye, an azure sun rose in the forest!!
Boom—
The azure sun rose, and countless twisting, flashing 'sunlight' rays spread outwards. The light was so bright people couldn't open their eyes. Within a hundred meters, everything was repeatedly washed over by high-energy lightning.
The Earth Flow Walls cracked layer by layer. The blue light illuminated the white-haired teenager's astonished face. Before he could even scream, he was instantly engulfed.
"It's over. Thank you again for gifting me meritorious service."
Dai panted like an ox. This trump card ninjutsu placed a huge burden on him. He could have won slowly with swordsmanship, but he didn't dare to delay any longer.
Who knew how much potential this teenager had! The best way to avoid unexpected failure was a thunderous strike!
Looking ahead, there was nothing but scorched earth and burning trees. Thinking about it, it made sense. Unless the Hokage himself came, no one could withstand this attack. Even metal would melt.
But after taking three steps forward, he stopped abruptly again. It wasn't intuition, but the fact that there was nothing on the scorched patch of ground. A person could be burned to charcoal, but the sword would definitely remain.
"Could it be!?" Dai suddenly turned around, but his peripheral vision caught a black shadow suddenly rushing out from the sandy ground created by the Quicksand Technique earlier. His whole body was scorched black, but that head of white hair was extremely conspicuous.
Shadow Clone! A superb Shadow Clone!!!
Confused for a moment, how could the battle-hardened Jonin not understand what had happened?
'That kicked-up earth wasn't to defend against the lightning flash, but to quietly escape. But why didn't that Mist ninja...'
He figured it out. It wasn't that Zabuza deliberately didn't tell him, but the explosive tags either killed or injured him. Not only did it cut off intelligence, but it also made him determined to use his strongest attack, and then—
He missed his ultimate!! (Lit: "He opened big empty")
The sword light was like an arrow. He didn't even have a chance to think about the Quicksand Technique and Earth Spike Rip that followed. Staring at Otonashi less than ten meters away, his eyes turned bloodshot.
"Want to kill me? It's not that easy!!"
A moment's daze shortened the distance by two meters, but how could an elite Jonin not be a survivor of a hundred battles? His body had already reacted automatically, and driven by the will to survive, his speed was extremely fast!
Can't catch up!
Even with Otonashi's Third Gate open, the distance between them wasn't closing. Letting this chance slip meant certain death, but—
I already anticipated it!
Holding the sword in one hand, the other hand held a finger vertically before his nose.
"Lightning Body!!"
Arcs of electricity flickered on his body. Eight Gates within, Lightning Body without. One released chakra limits, the other stimulated muscles, making his entire person suddenly faster by another level!
One-handed seal!?
Dai was wrong. This composite secret technique, which should have been used from the beginning, had been hidden by Otonashi until now. In fact, at the start, the latter could have completely escaped with this move, and he wouldn't have been able to catch up.
Which meant, Otonashi had planned to kill him from the beginning, and it was a guaranteed kill!!
Shua—
The air was torn open. The white-haired teenager instantly closed the distance to two meters. This speed was too fast for him to block. He could only see the blue light and white hair enlarge in his pupils, only having time for one last thought.
Darui.....
Pfft!!
The sword tip pierced through his forehead, carrying a spray of red and white matter out the back of his head, its momentum unceasing until it pinned him to a scorched tree ten meters away.
Otonashi leaned forward, looked at the opponent's frozen eyes, and slowly averted his gaze.
"You're welcome."