Feeling the intense heat coming from the front, Karu didn't hesitate for a second. He swiftly dodged to the side, avoiding the fireball's attack. But before he could regain his footing, several faint whooshing sounds pierced through the rain.
Though the noise was barely audible in the downpour, Karu, whose senses were heightened due to the battle, quickly sensed the danger. He backflipped just in time, narrowly dodging the incoming attack.
Kunai clattered to the ground with a sizzling sound.
"Hm?"
Hearing that familiar sound, Karu's face darkened. His peripheral vision caught sight of an explosive tag burning on one of the kunai.
In the nick of time, Karu kicked off the ground, launching himself away like a missile.
Boom!
A loud explosion followed. A flash of fire erupted, and a powerful shockwave rippled out from the center of the blast.
In mid-air, the shockwave hit Karu, sending him flying even further.
Cough, cough!
After landing, Karu coughed lightly, with a trickle of blood oozing from the corner of his mouth, a sign that he hadn't escaped unscathed.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
More kunai flew toward him.
"Again?"
Hearing the familiar whistling sound, Karu snorted coldly. His hands flew into a series of seals before he slammed the ground, raising a two-meter-wide stone slab in front of him.
Ding, ding, ding!
The kunai struck the stone slab with sharp, metallic sounds. Even the subsequent explosive tags couldn't penetrate the rock and harm Karu behind it.
Seeing this, Seimei wasted no time. His hands moved swiftly, completing a series of seals, before spitting out hundreds of small fireballs with his Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
Seimei manipulated the fireballs, splitting them into two waves that flanked Karu from both sides.
As the fireballs closed in, Karu leapt backward, widening the distance between him and the attack.
Without hesitation, he formed seals while still in mid-air. As soon as he landed, his hand slammed the ground, unleashing the Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld technique.
Instantly, the already rain-soaked ground beneath Seimei softened into thick, sinking mud, resembling a gaping abyss ready to swallow him whole.
In the critical moment, Seimei gathered chakra into his feet and leapt onto a nearby tree, avoiding the trap.
He quickly jumped again, just as the tree beneath him was consumed by the mud, landing safely on another tree.
However, this gave Karu an opening.
Before Seimei could regain his footing, Karu hurled several kunai straight at his vital points.
Luckily, Seimei's Sharingan locked onto the trajectory of the kunai in an instant. With minimal movement, he dodged all of the attacks.
For a brief moment, the battlefield seemed to fall silent.
Seimei stood on the tree, Karu below, roughly 20 meters apart, staring at each other without making a move.
Time ticked by.
The rain suddenly intensified, obscuring Seimei's vision.
"An opportunity!"
Seeing this, Karu made his move. His body darted forward, using the surrounding trees to close the distance between him and Seimei like a nimble monkey.
Despite the upward angle, Karu covered the 20-meter gap in the blink of an eye.
With a powerful punch, Karu aimed at Seimei. Seimei sidestepped, and Karu's fist crashed into the tree trunk behind him.
Boom!
The tree exploded into splinters, and Seimei felt the sting of sharp wood fragments hitting his face.
But Karu wasn't done. As soon as his first punch missed, he swung his left fist toward Seimei's abdomen, the chakra of his explosive release radiating ominously from his knuckles.
Sensing the massive chakra buildup in Karu's fist, Seimei knew he couldn't take it head-on. He kicked off the branch, propelling himself backward toward the ground.
Karu moved to pursue, but Seimei wasn't about to let him maintain the upper hand.
Before he hit the ground, Seimei quickly formed seals and prepared to unleash the Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique.
As Karu followed him down, Seimei released a thin but intense line of fire straight at him.
"Not good," Karu thought, immediately forming seals and using the Substitution Technique. He left a stone in his place and sped up his retreat to dodge the incoming fire.
Boom!
The fire collided with the stone, shattering it into pieces.
However, Karu managed to use the moment to hide behind a large tree.
Huff, huff...
Karu was breathing heavily, his chest heaving as he thought, "That was close!"
Just then, a faint, meter-long wind blade silently sliced through the tree and struck Karu's body.
In an instant, blood gushed from the wound, staining the puddles at his feet red.
Only then did the pain hit him, and Karu looked down to see a long, deep cut across his chest.
On the other side, seeing this, Seimei lowered his hands, a hint of relief on his face.
Despite Karu's quick movements to evade the Dragon Fire Technique, Seimei's Sharingan had tracked every action. After Karu used the Substitution Technique, Seimei had already formed seals and unleashed the Wind Release: Gale Blade.
Fortunately for Karu, the thick tree absorbed most of the wind blade's power. Otherwise, Seimei's full-strength attack would have sliced him in half.
Still, the damage was enough. Though not cut in two, Karu was rendered completely incapacitated.
As Seimei closed in, Karu used the last of his strength to form seals, executing the Earth Release: Hiding in Rock Technique.
"Whoosh!" Seimei arrived at the tree.
Looking at the now-empty spot where Karu had vanished, Seimei's expression darkened.
This was the second time.
The last time had ended the same way—just when Seimei had gained the upper hand, Karu had slipped away right under his nose.
And now, even after wounding him, Karu had still managed to escape.
"But there won't be a third time..." Seimei swore silently.
Steeling himself, Seimei gripped his short sword once more, scanning the surroundings.
In the downpour, the battle raged on.
This squad of Iwa-nin was clearly formidable, and the Konoha forces had repeatedly failed to break free from their grasp.
But now, that was about to change. With Seimei joining the fray, the tide of battle shifted dramatically.
Aside from Karu, whose fighting style countered Seimei's, none of the other Iwa-nin were his match.
Even the Jōnin were powerless against him, unless they fought together.
But the remaining Konoha Jōnin weren't about to give them that chance.
As a result, Seimei was able to unleash his full power.
Within minutes, the Iwa-nin forces, especially the Chūnin and Genin, had begun to crumble under his onslaught.
Without the support of these lower-ranking shinobi, even the Iwa-nin Jōnin were forced to retreat.
Finally, Seimei and his comrades broke through the last line of defense and entered the buffer zone around the Wind Willow Town outpost.
While the path ahead wasn't entirely safe, it was far less dangerous than the relentless ambushes they had faced.
The only question weighing on their minds now was why there had been no response to their call for reinforcements after an entire day.
That's right, the moment they had encountered the first wave of enemies, they had sent a message to Wind Willow Town requesting backup.
But even now, there was no sign of any help.
This left Seimei and the others with a growing sense of unease.
plz support me if you can.
patreon.com/Mano99
all the fanfic is 30 chapter a had and you will get 1 chapter everyday.