"Why is there a fifth one!?"
Behind Kazetsuchi, Kyoichi's earth clone dispelled the Camouflage Concealment Technique and revealed itself. Leaning close to Kazetsuchi's ear, he whispered, "It's simple. One aboveground, one underground—acting in perfect sync. For sensory types like us without dōjutsu, that's not so easy to tell apart."
"...Pff!"
Kazetsuchi coughed up a mouthful of blood.
So simple...!
And yet, it was true—among the four chakra signatures he had sensed earlier, one of them had indeed felt slightly off from the other three. But as Koeda Kyoichi had said, it wasn't easy to distinguish. After all, all of those solid clones originated from Kyoichi himself. Chakra from the same source, when clustered close together, could absolutely lead to a misjudgment.
Still—
To be taken in by such a petty trick... how infuriating!
But no matter how unwilling he was, nothing could change his mortal wound. At least he wasn't dying clueless. After spitting out two more mouthfuls of blood, his head slumped to the side. His breath ceased, and his soul departed to the Netherworld, there to report to the fallen elders of Iwagakure.
At the same time—
The long blades and kunai struck home against Kyoichi's earth clone, shattering the construct into dust in an instant.
But regrettably, even that could not change the fact that their sensory ninja had been eliminated.
"Damn it!"
Slate's face darkened to the extreme, his expression so stormy it seemed he could wring water from it.
Again. Just like last time—
The first to fall was the sensor.
Last time, it was precisely because his sensory-nin had been taken out that he had lost any way to pierce the Camouflage Concealment Technique. The result had been a crushing defeat at Kyoichi's hands, his men wiped out to the last, leaving only himself to flee in disgrace. Was history about to repeat itself today...?
And not only Slate—
The other Iwa-nin were equally grim-faced. As tokubetsu jōnin and full jōnin, they were far from inexperienced rookies. They knew full well that in battle, the first priority was always to target the enemy's sensory and medical shinobi.
Which meant—
They also knew exactly how disastrous it was to have their own "eyes" gouged out by the enemy. Especially when the foe commanded a camouflage technique capable of near-perfect invisibility. To think they could rely on the drizzle alone to reveal such an enemy's position?
Far too passive.
"Don't waste time! Take down that woman with the blue-violet hair first!"
Slate roared.
Forcing away the unease gnawing at his mind, his killing intent locked firmly onto Konan. He immediately formed hand seals, unleashing the secret technique Earth Release: Underground Submarine Voyage, burrowing beneath the battlefield to approach her from below. His comrades sprang into action as well.
One of them pulled out a scroll to seal away the corpse of their fallen sensor, while the rest surged forward to assault Konan.
"Earth Release: Moving Earth Core!"
One Iwa jōnin abruptly halted more than ten meters from Konan, his hands flying through seals. In an instant, the ground beneath Konan gave way like an elevator plunging, dropping her downward.
This move wasn't inherently lethal—on the battlefield, it was often used to dig trenches.
But—
In coordination with comrades skilled in earth-style subterranean techniques, it could produce devastating results.
Just as now—
As the ground fell away, Konan, caught off guard by this non-lethal ninjutsu, was dragged down by gravity into the pit. The depth of the technique wasn't infinite, of course—it couldn't drag someone all the way to the earth's core. For a ninja, escaping such a hole was no great challenge.
But just as Konan prepared to leap free—
A figure suddenly burst from the pit wall, long blade thrusting straight for her.
It was, admittedly, a sudden strike.
But—
Sheets of white paper fluttered like snow, and the blade struck nothing solid. The lack of any resistance on the edge made Itaichi's heart lurch. A clone? No... wrong. Even solid clones had substance. This sensation was like stabbing air, a phantom!
So—
Just a basic Clone Technique?
But if it were only that, how could it have been affected by the Moving Earth Core just now?
"Dance of the Shikigami: Paper Spear!"
From midair, sheets of white paper gathered into the form of Konan's upper body, a spear gripped tightly in her hands as she lunged down at Slate.
Clang!
The spear only tore through his clothes, failing to pierce his back, which had suddenly hardened into a stony gray, like solid rock.
Earth Release: Stone Skin Technique.
A type of earth hardening jutsu. Unlike top-tier techniques such as Earth Spear or Bronze Bell, which combined offense and defense, Stone Skin was a more ordinary hardening method. Its defensive power couldn't match those superior arts, nor did it carry offensive traits—it could only shield the user.
Fortunately for him, Konan's paper spear lacked the destructive force to break through.
"A hardening technique?"
Her strike having failed, Konan frowned slightly.
Indeed, shinobi from the great villages were formidable. This one could rival even the likes of Gōu and Tōu—elite ame jōnin whose names bore the character "Rain," a mark of distinction personally bestowed by Hanzo of the Salamander.
As expected, a great village was a great village.
"Dance of the Shikigami: White Wings!"
Countless sheets of paper whirled behind Konan, assembling in a heartbeat into a pair of snow-white wings. With a single beat, she soared upward from the pit like a crane taking flight.
Failing to kill Slate didn't tempt her to linger.
She knew well that the enemy had superior numbers. If she stayed behind, greedy for a single kill, the likely result would be one-for-one—slaying an enemy only to be slain by the rest.
And indeed—
The instant she broke free of the pit—
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears!"
From below, sharp stone spikes erupted from the pit walls, even piercing Itaichi's hardened body. Thanks to his Stone Skin, he was unharmed. But had Konan remained below... well, such mere physical attacks could never harm her!
Her Dance of the Shikigami granted her an innate resistance to purely physical damage.
What a wasted chance.
Konan glanced back at the pit.
Had she realized sooner that their attacks remained so crude, so limited to simple physical strikes, she might have risked finishing off the Iwa-nin below. But now... such a perfect opportunity was unlikely to come again.
A second later—
"Everyone be on guard! Purely physical attacks won't work on her!"
From the pit, Slate's shout rang out, warning his comrades of the reason their strike had failed.
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