Chapter 122: The Growth of Three Disciples
Ishiro quickly noticed the change in the situation and began observing his three disciples closely. When he saw that they didn't hesitate much before taking action, he was reasonably satisfied. As the team leader, Kajiyama Ri's decisiveness was certainly a positive.
But soon after, Ishiro began to feel somewhat disappointed. Why?
Because while the three disciples thought they were stealthily approaching the enemy, their opponent had already detected them. This Kirigakure chūnin appeared to be quite experienced. Upon noticing the trio's approach, he didn't immediately take action. Instead, he pretended not to notice and calmly began scouting the area for favorable terrain.
Seeing this, Ishiro shook his head and began quietly closing the distance. He had a bad feeling—the three disciples might be about to suffer a loss.
But this time, Ishiro was proven wrong.
When the trio closed to about one kilometer away from Yukizaburō, Kajiyama Ri suddenly halted. From the subtle change in the enemy's movement, as reported by Tomoe, he sensed something was off.
The slight variation in the target's walking pace hadn't escaped Kajiyama's sharp eyes. After a moment of thought, he made a call:
"We've been exposed. Start a direct assault."
"Kawakita, close the distance and tie him up. Tomoe, you and I will stay thirty meters behind. When we get within five hundred meters of the enemy, start forming hand seals."
"You cast Wind Release: Breakthrough. When the hand seals are nearly complete, shout a warning so Kawakita can dodge."
"I'll follow your jutsu with Water Pressure Line. We aim to end this in one strike."
"Regardless of whether it works, Tomoe, keep pressuring him with projectiles. I'll support Kawakita with ninjutsu."
Both Kawakita and Tomoe nodded in agreement.
Kajiyama took a deep breath. "Go!"
At his signal, all three broke from cover and charged toward Yukizaburō at full speed.
Seeing them abandon stealth and come at him head-on, Yukizaburō cursed. "Damn it." He still hadn't found an ideal battleground.
Though he had sensed their approach earlier, this was the first time he saw their figures clearly—and to his surprise, they were just three kids, fresh out of the academy.
Letting out a breath of relief, Yukizaburō first scanned the surroundings and, seeing no sign of a supervising jōnin, began his counter-charge.
As a seasoned chūnin, he knew he couldn't afford to wait passively. That would hand control of the battle to the enemy. Instead, he surged forward, prepared to shift directions at any time.
He had full confidence—three fresh genin couldn't possibly defeat him. As long as he maintained control over the battle rhythm, he would win easily.
But soon, Yukizaburō realized things weren't so simple. As they closed in, the two in the back suddenly began weaving hand seals simultaneously.
"Wha—!?" Yukizaburō was shocked. Learning even one jutsu was no small feat. Did I run into a team of geniuses? But something didn't feel right.
He'd seen real prodigies before. Even as new genin, they carried themselves with unmistakable confidence—a manifestation of their strong will. These three, however, lacked that aura.
If they weren't prodigies, how could two of them already be capable of casting jutsu? It didn't make sense.
Regardless of the answer, one thing was clear—he couldn't afford to take the brunt of two jutsu head-on. Aware that he'd lost the initiative, Yukizaburō didn't retreat blindly. Instead, he angled his approach sideways, breaking from a head-on path.
He knew most ninjutsu were straightforward. By moving obliquely, evading would be much easier.
Sure enough, Kajiyama's plan was thrown off. At about fifty meters away, Tomoe completed her hand seals first and cast Wind Release: Breakthrough. Kawakita, already alerted, dashed aside just in time.
Wind Release: Breakthrough had a decent range but limited coverage. Yukizaburō, having shifted his path and avoided getting pinned by Kawakita, easily dodged the gust with a burst of speed.
But Kajiyama had timed everything precisely. Just as Yukizaburō evaded the wind blast, a water line shot toward him.
Simultaneously, Tomoe and Kawakita threw shuriken and kunai to cut off his escape routes.
Yukizaburō's expression turned serious. Evading a single C-rank jutsu was one thing—but dodging both a jutsu and a barrage of projectiles was dangerous.
So he made a decision he would later regret.
He chose to block the jutsu head-on.
From the seal sequence and execution, he assumed the water line was another C-rank jutsu. Given the low power of Tomoe's earlier wind technique, he figured this one wouldn't be much stronger.
Yukizaburō was a taijutsu-type ninja skilled in kenjutsu. He thought he could block it.
But he had misjudged. While Water Pressure Line was technically C-rank, its pinpoint power was nearly on par with a B-rank jutsu.
When Yukizaburō slashed at the front of the water line with his sword, the immense force shattered his blade and staggered him sideways, nearly knocking him over.
Though he wasn't wounded, he'd lost his best weapon and his balance.
Suddenly, the battlefield was no longer in his favor.
Tomoe, following Kajiyama's orders, launched another wave of projectiles. Kawakita seized the chance and rushed in.
Kajiyama, having startled Yukizaburō with his last attack, began forming seals again.
Now Yukizaburō was in serious trouble. He had spare weapons in his pouch, but no time to draw them. While dodging Tomoe's shuriken, he was caught by Kawakita.
Normally, Yukizaburō wouldn't mind close combat—in fact, it was his specialty.
But this was different. Among the three, Kawakita was the only one capable of matching him in melee. If he got caught up fighting Kawakita, the other two would snipe him from range.
Worse, the water line jutsu's strength had deeply unsettled him.
If given a choice, he would've rather taken out the other two first.
Now, faced with Kawakita's charge, Yukizaburō fought back fiercely, hoping to push him back in one blow.
Yet once again, things didn't go his way.
Though Kawakita's physical prowess was average, his swordsmanship was solid.
One-on-one, Yukizaburō could have easily killed him in under a minute. But he didn't have a minute. Even if Kajiyama was slow, he wouldn't take that long to complete his jutsu.
And Tomoe kept throwing projectiles, preventing a quick victory.
Desperate, Yukizaburō made a bold move. He let Kawakita slash his left arm, drew two explosive tags with his right, and charged at him recklessly.
Startled by the sudden aggression, Kawakita instinctively backed off.
Yukizaburō seemed to follow through—but at the moment Kawakita retreated, he spun and dashed toward Kajiyama and Tomoe instead, the explosive tags already lit.
The tide of battle turned once more.
If Yukizaburō reached them, the two ninjutsu-users would be finished. A taijutsu-focused chūnin in close range was a death sentence.
From afar, Ishiro began forming hand seals—ready to intervene.
But then he stopped.
Because what he saw next surprised even him.
Tomoe, realizing the danger first, made a split-second decision to shield Kajiyama with her body—willing to die to buy him time.
If Kajiyama could get off another jutsu, they might hold out long enough for Kawakita to return.
To Ishiro's shock, Kajiyama managed to simplify the Water Pressure Line hand seals mid-battle—cutting one seal. It wasn't much, but it was significant for someone who had only recently learned the technique.
And then came Kawakita.
Having realized that his retreat had endangered his comrades, Kawakita pushed past his fear—and something inside him clicked.
Ishiro saw it clearly: as Kawakita threw his sword at Yukizaburō, a faint blade glow shimmered along its edge.
That brief flash of sword energy caused Yukizaburō to misjudge. He thought he could dodge the flying blade with a slight lean—but the hidden blade wave slashed across his waist.
Though the blade itself missed, the resulting wound was no less serious. Yukizaburō knew immediately—his internal organs were damaged.
Even if he managed to kill the genin, he wouldn't survive.
In despair, he hesitated—and in that moment, Kajiyama finished his jutsu.
A water line shot forward and burst Yukizaburō's head like a melon.
The explosive tags never reached Tomoe. Without propulsion, they merely blasted the area, knocking her and Kajiyama back a few steps.
Seeing this, Ishiro released his hand seals and smiled in satisfaction.
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