Wind Style Armor!
A short while later, Taiyi and the others arrived near Sunagakure's temporary camp and carefully observed from the shadows.
If they could locate the puppet master's true body now, everything later would become far easier.
Unfortunately, the enemy wasn't careless. Even though this was their own encampment, it was still deep in the wilderness, and the Suna shinobi remained as vigilant as ever.
Finding no real leads, Taiyi and the others grew anxious about Shirō's situation. Unable to wait, Nakamura took action, quickly forming hand seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet!"
He didn't bother checking for traps or alarm seals. They had no time to carefully disarm them. Instead, Nakamura chose to strike head-on, letting his jutsu trigger every alarm at once while scattering the enemy's forces.
A Jonin rushed forward to intercept him, and Nakamura immediately led him away to create a separate battlefield.
"Who are you people?!" The Sand shinobi barked, Kunai clashing against Nakamura's.
The fight erupted into a rapid exchange—blades clanging, shuriken whizzing between them. Suna Jonin pressed hard while probing for information. In war, every hidden village fought differently; identifying an enemy could offer a crucial edge.
"You don't need to know!" Nakamura snapped, delivering a sharp back kick that sent Jonin sliding back.
"Wind Release: Wind Cutter Technique!"
Rather than release the jutsu as raw wind blades, Nakamura infused it into a spinning shuriken, gaining subtle control over its flight path. He even twisted its trajectory midair for unpredictable attacks.
But the Jonin wasn't easily rattled.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
Instead of clashing ninjutsu directly, he angled the gust downward, vaulting into the air to avoid the attack while buying precious seconds to weave more seals.
As he descended, chakra gathered at his fingertips—clearly preparing something far stronger.
Nakamura narrowed his eyes. Based on Sunagakure's known repertoire, he guessed that Jonin was preparing Wind Release: Wind Blade, an A-rank technique famed for its cutting power.
He countered swiftly.
"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"
The ground beneath the Jonin softened and collapsed into a mire, threatening to swallow him whole. Struggling against the mud, the enemy slashed aside the muck with his chakra-forged blade, forcing his way forward.
Still, the swamp had given Nakamura the extra time he needed.
His fingers danced through an unusually long sequence of seals—evidence of a complex, experimental jutsu of his own design.
Finally, he slammed his hands together.
"Wind Release: Wind Style Armor!"
A cyclone of air burst around him, compressing into a tight, swirling sheath of high-pressure wind that encased his body.
This technique was Nakamura's personal creation—born from tragedy. Years ago, he had watched a teammate die instantly from a stray shuriken piercing his heart. That moment made him realize that shinobi, for all their killing power, had precious little to protect themselves.
He swore then to craft a technique that would grant a defense equal to their offense. Over time, he conceived Wind Style Armor: winds dense enough to deflect weapons and alter the course of incoming attacks.
The armor wasn't perfect. He could gather the wind, but once dispersed, it couldn't be reformed without starting from scratch. Offensive potential was limited as well. Still, it fulfilled his first goal—protection. And for Nakamura, that was enough.
He had even tested it against S-rank offensive techniques and found it could withstand at least one direct hit at full strength—a remarkable feat for a self-made jutsu.
Now, the Sand Jonin bore down with his Wind Blade, aiming directly for Nakamura's head. He wasn't reckless; he avoided striking center mass, wary of defensive trickery.
But as the blade entered the sphere of compressed air, its path twisted violently, diverted into Nakamura's armored torso instead.
"What—!? Impossible!" Jonin gasped.
That was the true strength of the armor. The swirling airflow warped trajectories, protecting against even precise strikes. The drawback was that Nakamura's own projectiles were similarly affected, but in close combat, it gave him the edge he needed.
While his opponent reeled in shock, Nakamura moved.
Wind chakra surged down his right arm.
"Wind Release: Beast Wave Palm!"
He drove his palm forward, releasing a concentrated gale that struck the Jonin square in the abdomen. The man's body convulsed, blood spraying from his lips as the force tore through his defenses.
He collapsed, defeated.
Elsewhere, with Nakamura having drawn away the Jonin, Taiyi and the others launched their own assault against the remaining Sand shinobi.
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