Rin's feet also began to leave the ground.
She was pressed back against the rough bark of a tree, her left arm hoisted high and firmly bound to the trunk. Her posture was awkward and miserable, but for the moment, her life was not in danger.
"Rin!"
Kakashi shouted in a low voice, instantly pushing his forehead protector upward to reveal the two-tomoe Sharingan beneath. In his eyes, the world slowed down as powerful dynamic vision captured every potential movement of the enemy. At the same time, his body had already assumed a sprinting posture, ready to rush in for a rescue.
"I'm fine—just stuck!"
Rin hurriedly shouted back. She struggled with all her strength, but this spider silk was no ordinary web.
What bound her felt like strands of steel wire—exceptionally tough. Not only did her struggle fail to free her, it actually caused the restraint around her wrist to tighten even further.
Seeing this, Rin pulled a black kunai with a metallic sheen from her shinobi pouch.
Chink!
She stabbed the kunai into the white spider silk, producing the sound of metal striking metal.
The white silk bent slightly under the stab, but no matter how much force Rin applied afterward, she could not pierce it through.
It was completely impossible!
Rin's heart jolted. This was the first time she had ever encountered such an enemy. What kind of material was this spider silk made of?
Was it some kind of kekkei genkai as well?
"Hehehe, don't waste your effort anymore. My spider silk, spun by yours truly, is unbelievably tough, strong enough to pull two elephants without snapping."
Hibiki laughed loudly as he looked at Rin.
A woman, trying to break free from his spider silk?
Kiyohara turned his gaze toward the speaking Hibiki.
The massive, furry brown spider beneath him, had an abdomen that continuously writhed, giving birth to one small spider after another, each immediately thrown into the battle.
'Is it a summoned beast contracted by the opponent?'
Kiyohara observed Hibiki's six arms, which hung or bent slightly like the walking legs of a spider.
This instantly reminded him of Orochimaru's Sound Four—there was one among them named Kidōmaru, who also had dark brown skin.
"You're from the Six-Armed Spider Clan of the Land of Rice Fields, aren't you?"
TN: I know it's not an og bloodline limit but apparently it is here.)
A flood of information flashed through Kiyohara's mind.
The Land of Rice Fields was a small country bordering the Land of Fire, so small that it did not even have its own shinobi village. It was only after Orochimaru defected from Konoha that he manipulated and bribed the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields, allowing him to establish Otogakure there.
Unlike the one-country-one-village system of other nations, Otogakure did not truly obey the daimyo of the Land of Rice Fields. Orochimaru chose the traditional route of usurping power from below, stabbing the daimyo in the back and taking over the territory. In the end, the Land of Rice Fields became one of Orochimaru's main bases.
Of course, at this point in time, the Land of Rice Fields was still intact.
Although it had no shinobi village, it did have shinobis within its borders. Numerous clans coexisted, the environment was complicated, and it was common for shinobis to become mercenaries or rogue shinobis just to survive.
"Heh, so you've heard of us?"
A cruel smile curled at the corners of Hibiki's mouth.
He seemed to enjoy the wary, faintly fearful looks of his prey. With his six arms either crossed over his chest or hanging naturally at his sides, he looked down from above and spoke in a raspy voice, "You little brat from Konoha have some knowledge. That's right—I am Hibiki of the Six-Armed Spider Clan from the Land of Rice Fields. Remember this name, so you won't be clueless about who to complain to when you meet the Sage of Six Paths in the Pure Land."
He paused, sweeping his gaze across the temporarily restrained Rin and the battle-ready Kiyohara and Kakashi, his tone growing cynical and resentful. "Hmph. You ninjas from great villages only know how to start wars for your own benefit. Flames of war spread everywhere, and small countries like ours get caught in the middle. Life is miserable—fields destroyed, trade routes cut off. If we don't find ways to earn extra money, how is our clan supposed to survive?"
"Stray Konoha squads like you can fetch a very good price—especially when there's a little brat with a Sharingan."
His gaze finally locked onto Kakashi's crimson left eye, greed growing ever thicker.
He had thought it was just an ordinary squad—never expected such a pleasant surprise.
"Hehehe, the price of a Sharingan in the black market has always been sky-high."
Although Kakashi having only one Sharingan struck Hibiki as somewhat strange, he didn't dwell on it too much.
One Sharingan was still a Sharingan—more than enough to sell for a great price.
"Ninjutsu: Spider Binding!"
As he spoke, Hibiki's cheeks puffed slightly.
Then, in an instant, he spat out a mass of white spider webbing that spread toward Kiyohara and Kakashi.
Both reacted extremely fast, retreating backward the moment the web shot toward them, narrowly avoiding the sticky, dangerous silk.
Kakashi immediately formed seals, and a wall of earth rose from the ground.
Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!
The spider web slammed into the earthen wall, instantly leaving deep dents upon impact.
It was obvious that this web carried tremendous force.
Crack crack crack—
Kakashi rapidly calculated his remaining chakra.
He had never fought an enemy like this before. With such an intelligence gap, if it were any other shinobi, he would have already taken them down. But now, he had to be cautious of the enemy's unknown methods.
As a shinobi with limited chakra, he always had to plan carefully.
He had already used Chidori once, as well as Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall.
That meant the chakra he had left was only enough for two and a half more Chidori.
In other words, he could only unleash a full Chidori two more times!
In the next instant, Kakashi leaned forward slightly, his Sharingan locking onto Hibiki.
Then he leapt, stepped off a tree, and pushed off hard, charging straight at Hibiki.
With the added momentum from descending from above, Kakashi's speed increased even further.
At the same time, Kiyohara quickly formed hand seals and released a sand-iron spear to provide feint support for Kakashi.
"Spider Nest Bloom!"
Hibiki spat out several small spider webs in rapid succession toward Kakashi, blooming in the air like flowers.
To Kakashi's eyes, all of this slowed to a crawl.
While still in midair, he swung Chidori, using the arcs of lightning gathered in his hand to shred the spider silk.
However, this jutsu had an inherent flaw.
Excessive speed made it difficult for the user to precisely control direction.
The Sharingan's dynamic vision compensated for this—but some things, even when seen clearly, could not be avoided.
Hibiki's six arms were revealed, each palm's five fingers connected to white spider threads.
That meant he was simultaneously manipulating thirty spider threads!
All six arms moved at extreme speed, fast enough to leave afterimages.
These threads did not flail about randomly. Under his precise control, they instantly wove together in midair into layers upon layers of webs—some large, some small, some tough, some sticky—blocking Kakashi's charge path from every angle.
Even Kiyohara's sand-iron spear was bound in place.
Hibiki's manipulation of these spider threads was so smooth and natural that it was practically equivalent to using Manipulated Shuriken Technique.
Kakashi's Chidori cut through multiple layers of webbing like a hot knife through butter, lightning flashing as severed threads flew everywhere.
But there were simply too many spider threads, and their toughness drastically slowed his speed.
More importantly, Hibiki's tactics were extremely insidious. Some extremely thin, nearly transparent threads silently wrapped in from the sides and below, targeting Kakashi's seal-forming right hand and his legs.
"No… Too late!"
Just as Kakashi cleared the webs above him with Chidori, the threads under Hibiki's control wrapped around his ankle from below.
Rip!
Although Kakashi desperately tried to dodge as he landed, his right wrist was still tightly bound by several tough strands of spider silk.
The sharp chirping of lightning abruptly ceased as the electric light dispersed. Kakashi's hand was tightly wrapped, cocooned by spider silk.
With a loud thud—
Kakashi's right hand was pinned to the tree, just like Rin's.
"Huff—"
Hibiki panted heavily and stuffed a soldier pill into his mouth.
He had not dared to underestimate Kakashi at all, unleashing a full combo right from the start.
"Looks like you're not very good at Sharingan genjutsu, kid. You had me worried for nothing."
Hibiki let out a vicious grin.
He then refined his chakra, causing it to flow from his fingertips into the spider silk.
Spider Cocoon!
This was a capture jutsu that used spider silk to form a cocoon, trapping the enemy inside. The sticky threads within the cocoon wrapped around the target's entire body, imprisoning them completely.
Because the spider silk tightly encased the target, once trapped, the enemy's movements were completely restricted.
By injecting additional chakra into the threads, he could increase the cocoon's density and further constrict the silk—eventually strangling the captured target to death.
"Kakashi!"
Rin cried out in alarm.
Kakashi's gaze sharpened. In an instant, his left hand pulled a kunai from his shinobi pouch and viciously slashed at the spider silk binding his wrist.
Flowing chakra adhered to the kunai, flashing like white light.
Even without his short blade, Kakashi could still display some of the blade techniques he had learned from his father, Hatake Sakumo, using a kunai.
Unlike Rin, Kakashi immediately cut through many of the spider threads.
"It's useless!"
Hibiki laughed smugly.
"These spider threads are made from a special bodily fluid mixed with my chakra. The moment they contact air, they rapidly harden and become as strong as steel. So tell me—are you faster, or am I faster?"
These threads were bodily fluids, so his chakra consumption was very low. Even if they cut them, he could simply cover them again.
All of this happened in the blink of an eye.
From the moment Kakashi charged forward to when he was bound and slammed back, only two or three seconds had passed.
Kiyohara hadn't been idle either. During this time, he continued using Lightning Release ninjutsu to assist Kakashi, releasing electric arcs, but the time window was too short and Hibiki managed to evade them.
"Do you really think you two brats can defeat me in such a short time?"
Hibiki recovered his chakra and then fired another web at Kakashi, binding his other hand as well.
By now, he had expended a great deal of chakra.
Even so, Hibiki was still confident he could finish off Kiyohara.
This was the confidence of thirty years of survival, thirty years of honed ninjutsu.
Even though his clan was small, he was still among the stronger ninjas of the Land of Rice Fields.
Everyone knew that the strongest member of a squad was usually a Uchiha with a Sharingan.
Although he had never seen a white-haired Uchiha, the Sharingan on this brat could not be fake.
'So he mistook Kakashi for a Uchiha?'
Kiyohara thought silently.
Battles between shinobis were also battles of intelligence.
Hibiki was born in the Land of Rice Fields, an even smaller country than the Land of Rain or the Land of Steam.
To put it bluntly, it was a remote, impoverished backwater—so it was normal for him to lack broader knowledge.
After all, Kakashi had not yet earned the title "Copy Shinobi Kakashi" or become widely known.
"Kiyohara, Kakashi—if it really comes down to it, retreat first!"
Rin shouted to Kiyohara.
Hibiki's goal was to capture them; in the short term, their lives were not in danger.
"No, Rin. This enemy isn't that strong—the problem is that we lack information. Kiyohara, buy me a few seconds."
Kakashi said.
Ninken had already gathered around him to prevent further attacks from Hibiki.
He had just figured out Hibiki's combat habits. With just a bit more familiarity with his information, Kakashi was confident he could defeat him in a single move.
"Alright. I'll hold him for those few seconds."
Kiyohara replied.
Though he felt it wouldn't even take that long.
The reason the fight had dragged on wasn't because Hibiki was especially strong, but because his techniques were non-mainstream and poorly documented.
Under normal circumstances, either Kiyohara or Kakashi could defeat him.
Shinobis from small countries like this, emboldened by a bit of secret clan jutsus, often became arrogant, thinking that shinobis from great villages were nothing special.
Hibiki's battle strategy was correct—first neutralize the team's healer, Rin, then deal with the apparent main damage dealer, Kakashi with the Sharingan.
But he had overlooked one thing.
That was the fact that Kiyohara was also—
a kekkei genkai user.
At this moment, in Kiyohara's eyes, Hibiki could no longer be called a human being.
He was a walking bundle of military merit.
"The corpse—no, the merit—is talking."
Kiyohara murmured softly.
"?"
Hibiki wore an expression that clearly said, "Is this brat's brain broken?"
He stomped his foot, and the summoned giant spider rapidly scuttled toward Kiyohara.
"Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation!"
White vapor escaped from Kiyohara's mouth.
At this moment, the magnetic field began to rotate.
After inheriting the complete Magnet Release talent, the range from which Kiyohara could draw power had expanded significantly.
Compared to last time, he could now be said to have perfectly mastered the magnetic field within his borrowing range—and set it into motion!
The magnetic fields affected by Magnet Release ninjutsu were pried loose and stirred.
The earth's magnetic field only needed to be integrated into his body in the tiniest amount to grant Kiyohara the ability to wield a powerful magnetic force.
It gave him the sensation of drawing power directly from the earth as long as his feet were on the ground.
As long as his chakra was sufficient, Kiyohara could prolong the duration of using magnetic field power.
Enhancing physical energy, on the other hand, would expand the capacity of that magnetic power.
With over two chakra units at present, Kiyohara had more than enough to deal with a Hibiki who had already expended a great deal of chakra.
And so—
Kiyohara's figure vanished from the eight compound eyes of the giant spider.
As it stood there in confusion, attempting to carry out its master's orders but unable to locate its target—
"Damn it, how can this guy be so fast?!"
Hibiki also failed to see Kiyohara's whereabouts from behind.
Only fading afterimages remained, slowly dissipating due to visual misperception.
"If I can't find you, then—Spider Nest Domain!"
Hibiki formed seals with both hands, spitting out clumps of white spider silk one after another, spreading them out to form a massive web.
To Hibiki, these webs were as sensitive as nerves, capable of detecting even the slightest vibration in the air.
That was because the spider threads were actually hollow, with his chakra continuously flowing inside them!
"There!"
Suddenly, Hibiki issued an order to the summoned giant spider.
At the same moment, Kiyohara's figure appeared beneath the giant spider.
A massive sand-iron fist condensed around his own fist as he leapt upward, punching straight at the spider's lower jaw.
This was an idea Kiyohara had drawn from Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique.
The difference was that he replaced earth chakra with iron sand, condensing it using magnetic force.
BOOM!
A deafening explosion echoed through the forest.
In Kakashi's, Rin's and even Hibiki's stunned, ghost-seeing expressions, Kiyohara's punch sent the massive body of the giant spider flying more than ten meters into the air.
During "Magnet Release: Magnetic Field Rotation," in addition to using repulsion to accelerate, Kiyohara also gained a boost to his physical strength.
This was essentially the power of the magnetic field, applied to his physical body through special means.
Next, Kiyohara waved his hand. The black fist attached to his right hand dispersed and reshaped into the form of a long spear.
Magnet Release: Iron Sand Giant Needle!
As the summoned giant spider fell, the black spear pierced straight through its abdomen.
BOOM!
The giant spider dissolved into a cloud of white smoke.
When a summoned beast sustains damage beyond its limit, the Summoning Technique is automatically released.
(End of Chapter)
TN: Land of Rice Fields is the land that will eventually become the Land of Sound after Orochimaru took over.