The flickering lightning was especially vivid against the dark night sky. Two figures clashed fiercely in the ruined village, moving so fast that even an average ninja could only see two streaks of lightning flickering through the ruins.
However, this time Haseo, who usually held the speed advantage, couldn't gain any control in battle at all. In fact, he was constantly being pressured.
Because the Kumo shinobi currently fighting Haseo was also incredibly fast… and without the ability to use ninjutsu, Haseo couldn't even pull off a half-baked *Flying Thunder God* technique.
Although Haseo managed to avoid fatal blows, every time his opponent's fist grazed his body, the sudden blunt impact caused bruises on his muscles… His opponent was both fast and incredibly durable, making this battle extremely difficult for Haseo.
Well then, let's try breaking through the defense first.
Haseo twisted his waist again, narrowly dodging a punch packed with immense force. Then, his enemy suddenly lifted his knee. As if anticipating the move, Haseo placed one hand on the knee, dispersing the shock while pushing himself backward.
At the same time, a blade of lightning extended from Haseo's palm. With a swing of his arm, Kurika slashed diagonally upward from the lower abdomen toward the side of the enemy's body.
But this time, the normally unstoppable blade only caused ripples across the chakra cloak covering the enemy's body, causing no actual damage whatsoever.
Both were Lightning Release techniques, but clearly, the strength of Haseo's move fell short.
If comparing chakra intensity alone, due to its unique bodily corrosion principle, Haseo's chakra was definitely far superior to that of regular ninja, naturally exceeding that of his current opponent. However, once converted into techniques, the relative strengths weren't so straightforward anymore.
Chakra is just chakra. Although stronger chakra generally produces stronger techniques, it's not always a direct correlation—the amplification effects vary between different techniques… Taking a more extreme and illustrative example: Haseo's chakra was certainly stronger than Might Guy's, but would his Kurika surpass Night Guy?
Landing lightly, Haseo quickly dashed away again because his opponent was already chasing after him.
It was obvious—his enemy wanted to stick to him like glue.
Haseo gritted his teeth. What the hell? How do you fight a tank when you're an assassin?
His opponent's durability and resistance were way too high, while Haseo had neither physical penetration nor magical penetration.
But just then, backup arrived.
[Silver Light Falling Blade] — A dazzling and fierce blade of light instantly slashed toward the enemy from all directions, momentarily surrounding the one-armed ninja in a spherical curtain of light...
Such a dramatically higher attack frequency, combined with nimble footwork and refined swordsmanship, could only belong to one person—Sakumo Hatake.
Yet after slashing wildly for a while, Hatake realized he'd accomplished nothing either.
He pulled back briefly and moved to flank the enemy with Haseo, one on each side, attempting to keep him off balance.
"Where are the Seven Ninja Swordsmen?"
"Haseo asked Hatake."
"Most of it's been handled. My teammates can take care of the rest," Hatake replied. Obviously he hadn't finished fighting those Mist ninjas, but upon noticing the crisis on Haseo's side, he quickly withdrew to provide support.
"Your attacks are ineffective against him," Haseo mused silently to himself. "I could at least give someone a decent massage; all you're doing is pounding steel for no reason."
Then, while switching positions left and right with Sakumo Hatake, Haseo extended his only remaining movable hand, briefly grasped hands with Sakumo Hatake, and then flung him backward.
"Hatake, help me with the seals."
At this point, Hatake Sakumo's hands were already stained with Haseo's blood. This coordination between them couldn't even be called tacit understanding—if he didn't know which seals to form next, he might as well forget ever receiving his pay again.
Boar-Dog-Bird-Monkey-Ram, Ninjutsu: Summoning Jutsu.
Haseo's blood served as proof for the summoning contract, and although Sakumo Hatake's chakra wasn't familiar to Katsuyu, as long as there was Haseo's blood, the summoned creature would respond to the call...
The summoned beast Katsuyu possessed extremely high intelligence, so when facing special summonings, it would judge whether or not to respond — trust or distrust towards Haseo was the most important criterion influencing such judgment.
Thus, an image of Katsuyu emerged from midair, followed immediately by an abnormally vast amount of chakra surging toward Haseo.
First gaining support from Hatake, and subsequently from Katsuyu as well, Haseo attracted the attention of other Kumo ninja who rushed over upon noticing the situation.
Leading them was actually a boy appearing no more than eleven or twelve years old.
"Pye, stop!"
Meanwhile, the armless Kumo ninja, named Kamio, had already sensed something painfully familiar from Haseo — the feeling of that chakra was unforgettable for certain Kumo ninjas. Therefore, he attempted to prevent the teenager from offering assistance, but by then it was already too late.
"Hatake, block that big guy!"
Haseo lunged toward the boy while shouting at Sakumo Hatake, "Block that big guy! The armless ninja is charging straight at me!"
On the battlefield, no one gets mercy — not by age, not by gender. Everyone's a killer once they step in... If one dies merely out of compassion, that would truly become the ultimate mockery.
That the youth could participate in such a mission clearly marked him as naturally gifted, however... he was simply too young. This battlefield wasn't truly a place meant for someone his age, let alone standing directly in front of Haseo.
"Friend, borrow your hand for a moment."
Haseo shot forward in a flash, slipping into the boy's range and taking control of his fingers in an instant. Guided by Haseo's knuckles, seal after seal was formed:
[Chakra Mode: Wind Release - Roaring Blast - Shadow Blade of Kuji]
Using the enemy's own hand to channel Two-Tails' chakra, Haseo instantly entered his Wind Nature Chakra Mode. Razor-sharp Wind Release immediately expanded outward within a three-meter radius, engulfing the young ninja.
It was as if countless Tenpenshoga had pierced through him simultaneously—tiny wounds of various depths instantly covered the young ninja's body, from which blood immediately spurted out.
The figure had become drenched in blood.
Kids like that genin were always reckless. There were even Leaf Jonin around his age who, after mastering a high-speed Lightning Release technique, charged headfirst into enemies without hesitation on the battlefield.
This ninja was relatively lucky—he had a teacher with unmatched speed across the Ninjutsu World. Without that advantage, he would've just been another casualty... From this, it could be seen that so-called geniuses were often those who loved tempting death the most.
Even Haseo himself was no exception. When he first learned Lightning Release: Mikage, hadn't he charged headlong into battle without thinking?
At this moment, Haseo then shook his head again—no. Although wind countered lightning, he felt this fighting method wasn't right. Immediately, he changed hand seals and transformed his Chakra Mode into [Tenson Seichū].
Only then did he release the other ninja's hand.
Although this ninja might be a genius from Kumo, genius was cheap—it held no value. Therefore, he crumpled limply to the ground.
"Pye!"
The armless ninja became especially furious. He swung his remaining arm like a whip, smacking Sakumo Hatake aside as if swatting a fly, and charged straight at Haseo.
Meanwhile, Haseo's surrounding Chakra Cloak had already shifted into Earth Release's darker hues. However, using Earth against Lightning didn't mean Haseo aimed to master counter-elemental techniques. It was simply...
When facing heavily armored cavalry, the best weapon wasn't a finely sharpened blade but rather a heavy bone club—a hard shell shouldn't be cut with a sword but smashed with a hammer. This was an elementary concept.
[Tenson Seichū] was precisely the heaviest, most powerful hammer.
He bent his arm as his surging chakra filled and propelled it forward. In the next moment, his fist accurately struck the incoming armless ninja.
Then Haseo thrust his body forward, driving his entire arm downward. The two clashed, locked together for a moment before Haseo's strength overpowered his opponent's momentum. Then, as if overturning mountains themselves, Haseo swung his arm once more with tremendous force.
In an instant, the enemy's bulky body was ruthlessly driven sideways straight into the ground.
"Boom!"
The massive impact rang out across the battlefield like a thunderclap, shattering eardrums. Dust soared rapidly outward, and in an instant, a huge crater formed. Cracks extended outward, destroying all structures nearby.
The armless ninja, hit directly, spat out a large mouthful of blood, and his qi immediately began weakening.
Those who witnessed this couldn't help but feel their hearts lurch—this brutal counterattack was nothing short of a massacre—not a ninja battle, but a one-sided execution.
Turns out, only a madder Berserker can take down another Berserker.
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