The two battlefields of the west and center of the valleys remained in a standoff.
In the west, Inori quietly set up for a last stand, powering through her wound through will as she prepared to go out with a bang.
Zee and her subordinates, assuming time was still on their side, cautiously awaited her next move.
In the valley's center, Dodai and his remaining subordinate blocked Tsunade from advancing towards the western battlefield, his rubber jutsu proving too effective against the Senju princess, at least in terms of delaying her.
But this calm was soon broken.
A massive explosion in the distance.
The signal from Shiki for every party involved that all their plans were about to be utterly derailed.
'That direction . . . What the hell is that brat doing!?' Abandoning all thoughts of helping Inori, the Senju princess dashed through the valley.
But she was stopped once again.
'Lave Release: Rubber Net'
Veering off to the side with a body flicker, Tsunade barely avoided Dodai's entrapment jutsu.
"We have yet to finish our business princess Tsunade." Dodai calmly stated though his mind was racing.
'Everything is going off script.'
He thought of his temperamental comrade currently engaging Inori.
'Make the right tactical decision Zee.' He prayed, focusing on pinning Tsunade.
'That fool Dodai. Can't he even deal with a few elite genin? Does he realize he's only getting a chance to make up for his failure due to that girl Zee?'
*
Speaking of said girl, the moment the explosion happened, her thoughts were clear.
'How the hell did you fuck up Dogan!?' With gritted teeth, she turned towards her subordinates.
"Change of plans! We'll be going after the primary target as well!" She commanded and without a moment's waste, body flickered into the valley, her two attendants shadowing her.
The kumo jonin had twisted expressions, they had lost two comrades and had the enemy pressed and out of options but they had to retreat?
None of them was happy but they knew better than to disobey orders and so, they followed after their leader.
"Fuck!" Inori shouted out loud. All her preparations for a last stand were utterly wasted.
Expanding her sensory range, she noticed even the exit of the valley was no longer blocked, every Kumo shinobi seemed to be going for the south exit.
'Dodai is fighting with someone in the middle of the valley though . . . That chakra . . . So familiar.'
Suddenly, light flashed inside Inori's mind.
'Tsunade!? What's she doing here!?'
But there was no time for doubts.
Dragging her injured body, she forcefully activated body flicker, aggravating her injuries and headed towards the Senju princess's position.
*
'Good. The girl made the right call.' Dodai thought to himself.
He had managed to get Tsunade away from the main path to the south exit so Zee would not come across his battle and proceed towards Dogan without interference.
Alas, when he made this decision, Dodai had been thinking Inori would take the opportunity to escape but the Violet Rose was instead heading straight for him.
*
Back to Shiki's battle that had rapidly shifted into a direct duel.
The boy had been sent flying, though with minimal damage.
But, as he was in an enclosed space, crashed at high speed into a wall as a result, leaving him disoriented and coughing up blood.
Dogan knew his strike had not been effective but the wall crash stunned his opponent.
Body flickering without delay, he rushed the stunned Shiki, ready to deliver the final blow.
And he did.
With the ruthlessness expected of a seasoned shinobi like him, Dogan slammed his fist into Shiki's chest, aiming at the biggest target to prevent a last minute dodge.
Blood flowed from Shiki's mouth as the punch sank him deeper into the wall.
The feedback of bone cracking was precisely what let the Kumo Elite Jonin feel his blow's effectiveness.
It was over.
That kind of damage was enough to put even the toughest of shinobi down, only anomalies like jinchuriki and the like take that kind of punishment.
"Unfortunately I couldn't take him alive. A strong shinobi worthy of being targeted indeed." Dogan spoke with a sigh of relief and acknowledgement, deactivating the Earth Spear jutsu that had been hardening and empowering his body the whole time.
He had just eliminated a most fearsome genius that would have definitely become a massive problem for his village.
But . . .
As he pulled back his fist from Shiki's bruised chest, a sign of internal bleeding . . .
The unthinkable happened.
With unnatural speed, a movement completely devoid of chakra, just raw physical strength.
Before Dogan could even react, it hit.
The first thing the elite jonin registered was the impact on his cheek as he was sent flying and tumbling across the ground.
Pulling himself out of the imprint his body left on the wall, Shiki gave off a presence so utterly inhuman that the Kumo jonin was chilled to his very core.
'He cannot be allowed to live. For the sake of the village, I must kill him at any cost.'
Such thoughts dominated Dogan's mind.
The stimulant that had allowed him to fight through his injuries was running out, the aftereffects had already started to creep in.
But he could not afford to hesitate.
"For Kumo!" With a shout, he popped another stim cocktail pill, an act that would surely claim his life after the effects passed.
In that moment however, Dogan's very soul screamed at him that exchanging his life for the monster in front of him was worth it, or else his dear village would pay a heavy price for their actions today.
Shiki straightened out his battered body, his rational mind telling him that he should barely be able to move.
But his instincts, the ones that should have been screaming about the pain and saying that he should just crumple to the ground and die, gave a completely bizarre response.
The boy felt it.
Multiple fractures, internal bleeding, torn muscle yet his very blood told him such "minor" injuries were of no consequence to his combat ability.
A cold hollow expression settled on Shiki's face as he took a fighting stance, one different from his usual.
'Earth Release: Earth Spear'
With three quick hand seals, Dogan hardened his body again but just before he could charge to end the little monster once and for all . . .
Said little monster came to him.
Shiki did not mold chakra from physical and spiritual energies.
Such techniques could not even be called taijutsu as that still involved focusing chakra on relevant parts of the body.
Pure physical techniques were what the unfortunate souls incable of using chakra had to resort to despite how inferior they were . . .
At least that should have been the case.
With bizarre footwork, Shiki closed the distance faster than he did with Flicker Flash.
Dogan could barely process the boy's movement when a clawed hand reached for his throat.
But the jonin's battlefield reflexes kicked him and raised a solid block, his right leg assuming position for a devastating counter already.
But just before impact, Shiki's arm moved and twisted in a seemingly impossible way, snaked around Dogan's guard and tore at the man's throat.
Despite boasting toughness that could tank a Rasengan, Shiki's seemingly normal fingers managed to tear through the Kumo jonin's hardened skin, almost cutting his through open.
Still, the damage was minor and so, Dogan's swift counter came as expected.
Swinging his right leg around in a roundhouse kick, the jonin clashed with Shiki's block, a guard made with his arms and no chakra bursts or even just channeling.
But despite expecting the same feedback of cracking bone as before, Dogan felt the feedback from his kick was all wrong.
'It's like hitting Dodai-sama's rubber . . .'
Flipping through the air, Shiki casually landed back on the ground, same hollow expression, no damage to be seen.
Support was approaching but their personal clash was still not over.
+++++
Hey, Author here!
Just a reminder that you can read up to a FULL MONTH ahead of this site on pa-treon.
I'm trying to become a full time Author now and I'm not going to be starting any new novels just so I can make sure this one is properly completed.
Find those sweet advanced chapters on pa-treon.com/lusoba without the -