The ice dragon came with fierce momentum, and Haku, who followed closely behind, also seemed to be gathering strength through his high-speed sprint; his next Iai Slash would surely be world-shattering.
Chōjūrō, who considered himself fierce, roared like a small puppy to Ino's ears, then drew the Ninja Blade from his back; the two blades, one above and one below, formed a giant sword like a flounder, this was the Hidden Mist Village's Ninja Blade, "Twin Blades: Hiramekarei"!
Hiramekarei is the largest of the Seven Ninja Blades of the Hidden Mist, and after absorbing the user's Chakra, it can emit Chakra light blades and Chakra light spikes, making it the only Ninja Blade among the Seven Ninja Blades with long-range attack capabilities.
The ice dragon was in front, with the two Hidden Mist Ninja on the left and right flanks, charging in a wedge formation; they were targeting Ino's weakness of not being good at close-quarters combat.
Using Water Release on a seemingly endless lake offered a huge advantage, while using other Ninjutsu would be a great disadvantage.
The enemies were coming with fierce momentum, and Ino worried that the Water Formation Wall would not be enough, so she had to create earth out of thin air.
She and her Shadow Clone each performed Ninjutsu.
"Water Release: Water Formation Wall!"
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Then came a loud "boom."
First, the three-meter-high Water Formation Wall was frozen solid by the ice dragon, and in less than a fifth of a second, it was shattered, with ice crystals sparkling dazzlingly in the sunlight.
However, crashing into the Water Formation Wall consumed most of the ice dragon's energy, and when it hit the Earth Flow Wall, although the impact caused numerous spiderweb-like cracks, the ice dragon was already starting to falter.
The Earth Flow Wall was riddled with craters, and Chōjūrō roared, raising Hiramekarei high like a heavy hammer, striking the upper third of the Earth Flow Wall.
The earth wall collapsed with a crash.
Ino's two defenses were breached one after another.
Chōjūrō's strike also consumed a lot of his strength and was repelled by the Exploding Water Colliding Wave used by the Shadow Clone.
Haku moved like lightning, continuing his charge by stepping on the water.
Haku stomped his left foot hard on the earth wall to gain leverage, increasing his sprint speed by another level; he completely abandoned his own defense, and the samurai sword in his hand emitted a dazzling white light, an incredibly brilliant Iai Slash aimed at Ino's neck.
What greeted him were three Kunai flying in a triangular formation, with Exploding Tags tied to their handles.
"Huh?" Ino realized something was wrong halfway through the Kunai's flight.
The Kunai pierced directly through Haku's body but did not explode; instead, they passed through the air.
An illusion!
Damn it! Ino cursed.
These people from the Hidden Mist Village really don't play fair! They must have some guaranteed way to pass through the genjutsu labyrinth ahead; what seemed like two enemies in front of Ino was actually three, as Ranmaru was also present, and she was currently fighting one against three!
Haku's sharp blade came from her diagonal rear; the two Shadow Clones were at their limit just holding back Chōjūrō and couldn't help her, so she had to rely on herself.
"Water Release: Water Severing Wave!"
Ino didn't know if Ranmaru's Bloodline Limit could confuse her vision, so she spat out a silver stream of water, sweeping it across the diagonal rear in a fan-shaped area.
"Crack, crack, crack" several sounds of breaking ice mirrors were heard; her judgment was wrong, and she could only slightly shift her body in the critical moment.
"Puff" a long, ink-black blade pierced her shoulder from the left side.
Ino gritted her teeth, grabbing Haku's blade with her left hand, letting the sharp edge cut her palm, not allowing him to withdraw the blade.
Haku valued this weapon greatly, preferring to lose his life rather than fail to withdraw the blade.
A flaw appeared in the originally tight battle plan, and Ino, being ganged up on by three people, finally found an opportunity.
Both Ino and Haku were not strong, both weaklings, but at this moment, strength was not important.
She couldn't hide her trump card anymore; she unleashed the Chakra she had accumulated, took a deep breath, and then aimed at Haku, spitting out several gusts of wind.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
This was a B-Ranked Wind Release Ninjutsu collected by the Yamanaka Clan; there are very few C-Ranked Ninjutsu in the Wind Release Ninjutsu system, and any with a bit of lethality are B-Ranked in difficulty to learn.
At this point, the two were too close, and Ino's Vacuum Sphere unleashed a large amount of Chakra, like bullets, aimed directly forward, firing out densely.
Haku was like someone encountering a shotgun at close range, taking multiple hits to his body; he used his left arm to protect his face at the critical moment, resulting in a deep, bone-visible bloody hole in his left arm, and multiple injuries to his shoulder, thigh, and calf, with his white kimono instantly stained red with blood.
At the last moment, he fiercely stabbed with his drawn blade.
Ino quickly used Water Shunshin to twist her waist and dodge, but she was still half a beat too slow, and Haku's thrust left a bloody wound on her lower abdomen.
Ranmaru's Red Eye obscuring effect completely disappeared; both were types with low strength and poor taijutsu, but very fast, and they fought quickly on the water for over twenty exchanges.
Ino had an additional wound on her right leg, and Haku's left arm had completely lost sensation, dangling limply at his side.
Haku ignored his own injuries, inverted his blade's hilt, and, as if going for a mutual kill, fiercely stabbed Ino's left eye with his samurai sword.
Ino also became ferocious; she let the blade pierce her palm, then forcefully pushed it outwards.
"You temporarily learned two sword techniques? But you are still my defeated opponent!" Ino had already figured out that only three of Haku's sword techniques were truly sharp: the downward slash, the upward strike, and the Iai Slash, which must have been taught by Zabuza; his other sword techniques were quite ordinary.
Ino, risking injury, raised her left foot and fiercely kicked Haku's chest; this kick directly aggravated the wound in Haku's lower abdomen caused by the Vacuum Sphere, and blood gushed out of the wound like a torrent, making Haku scream in extreme pain.
This kick was the last straw that broke the camel's back; Haku was kicked seven or eight meters away, floating on the water, bleeding all over, and after two attempts, couldn't stand up.
Ino had taken a stab to her lower abdomen, another to her right leg, and her left palm was pierced through.
Within five minutes of their exchange, she had rendered Haku unable to fight, but she herself was also heavily wounded.
Debridement, medication, bandaging, and the Shadow Clones protected the main body as it quickly retreated.
On the other side, Chōjūrō had no intention of pursuing, merely guarding Haku and re-establishing distance.
Facing a companion who was even more feminine than a woman, Chōjūrō was a bit flustered, not knowing what he should do.
Help bandage his wounds? Would he have to tear his clothes? Would he see something he shouldn't?
"I'm fine." Haku was stronger than he expected, seemingly intending to draw his blade and fight again, but Chōjūrō would never let him fight again; with these injuries, if he fought again, he might die from excessive blood loss.
Ranmaru emerged from the air, his face filled with anxiety, but he also didn't know how to treat the wounds.
Ino shouted into the air: "Hey, senior, this guy from the Yuki Clan has lost his ability to fight; let him out."
The next second, Haku's figure became blurry and soon disappeared, leaving only Ino, Chōjūrō, and Ranmaru on the field.
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