"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet!"
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Ino, cooperating with her Shadow Clone, continuously used advanced Ninjutsu, forcing the exhausted Raiga Kurosuki to retreat repeatedly.
Her direct combat style was effective, its only drawback being its high Chakra consumption.
Asuma, coordinating with her Water Release, relied on his Chakra Blade and Wind Release Ninjutsu. Against the heavily injured Raiga Kurosuki, he gained a decisive advantage after just four or five exchanges.
Both sides were masters of close-quarters combat, fighting at high speed. Raiga Kurosuki, having lost too much blood, simply couldn't keep up with Asuma's pace.
Raiga Kurosuki's Lightning Blade in his right hand slashed towards Asuma's neck. Asuma quickly leaned back, pushed off with both feet, and without even standing up, fiercely kicked towards the enemy's ankle.
Raiga Kurosuki let out a strange cry, ignored the kick, and reversed his grip on the Lightning Blade, stabbing towards Asuma's heart.
Asuma rolled, moving to the side, and swung his right hand, taking advantage of Raiga Kurosuki's wide-open guard to inflict a large wound on his left rib.
No blood flowed out, as Raiga Kurosuki's body had already nearly run dry.
"Surrender, you can't win," Asuma said in a deep voice.
"Lose? Win? Are you Konoha Village Ninja still fixated on such narrow viewpoints?" Raiga Kurosuki sneered, "I just want to live!"
Before he finished speaking, Ino's Water Dragon Bullet rushed over again.
The Water Dragon Bullet directly struck Raiga Kurosuki's back, causing the Hidden Mist Village Rogue Ninja to lose his balance. Asuma swung his blade again, and a right arm tightly gripping the Lightning Blade flew high into the air. Raiga Kurosuki, disoriented from severe blood loss, staggered two more steps before collapsing into the mud, never to rise again.
That was really tough!
Ino, from a distance, wiped sweat from her forehead.
Such a battle-hardened elite Jonin was truly difficult to fight. Fortunately, this guy was a bit deranged, and Asuma was fully suppressing him. Otherwise, Ino and her two teammates alone really wouldn't have been able to defeat this madman.
Often, madmen are harder to deal with than normal people, because you don't know what they're thinking.
"Is this guy really the leader of the Land of Rivers' ronin? Why is he so powerful?" Choji was very puzzled. Even now, he didn't know the enemy's true identity.
In his opinion, he had provided very little help throughout the entire battle, and the enemy's strength had severely shaken his confidence.
Shikamaru cleared up his confusion: "Don't overthink it. If I'm not mistaken, this guy is one of the former Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from Hidden Mist Village. They are an absolute elite force in Hidden Mist Village. It's not that we're weak, it's that the enemy is strong."
Ino also comforted the chubby boy: "If you hadn't run wildly with that boy named Ranmaru, this guy wouldn't have lost his mind. A Ninja who loses his mind will definitely have his strength drop significantly. I didn't run as far as you did. So, in the entire battle, you were the key."
Choji, being a child at heart, immediately perked up. He asked, beaming, "Really? Is that true?"
Asuma and Shikamaru both smiled and nodded. Choji was overjoyed: "Then let's go eat barbecue to celebrate when we get back to the Village?"
Asuma gave a dry laugh: "...Alright."
Eating barbecue back in the Village was just a plan; the current problem was how to deal with Raiga Kurosuki and Ranmaru.
The Lightning Blade was confiscated immediately. Ino had both Water Release and Earth Release, and had developed the nature transformations for both. Shikamaru had Fire Release and Earth Release, with Fire Release still under development. Choji only had undeveloped Fire Release. Asuma, on the other hand, could skillfully use both Fire Release and Wind Release Chakra natures. None of the four of them possessed Lightning Release Chakra.
Kakashi could simply bury the kubikiribocho somewhere, and if no one mentioned it, the matter would be over. If you asked him where he buried it? He'd feign ignorance and say he didn't know. Anyway, Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't tattle. But Asuma couldn't do that; he couldn't hide the truth from his own father.
Asuma lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and said, "None of us can use the blade, so it definitely has to be handed over to the Village. Don't worry, the Village will definitely give us a reward."
Ino felt a little regretful. The power of the Lightning Blade was obvious, but without Lightning Release Chakra, she really couldn't use it. Currently, she had no plans to learn Lightning Release, nor did she intend to abandon her long-range, turret-style combat for a close-combat route. A Ninja Blade isn't a staff; to use a Ninja Blade to release Lightning Release Ninjutsu directly without hand signs, like Raiga, she estimated she would need to raise her own Lightning Release level very high.
Furthermore, this blade was too crucial to Hidden Mist Village. Given the Third Hokage's consistent policy of appeasement, it would surely be returned, unless Ino became a Rogue Ninja for the sake of this blade...
The Lightning Blade was taken by Asuma. The remaining problem was how to deal with Raiga Kurosuki and Ranmaru.
"I'll send a messenger hawk to ask the old man what his opinion is."
Asuma wrote a letter while Shikamaru and Choji tied up the unconscious Raiga Kurosuki and Ranmaru.
Raiga Kurosuki had lost an arm, making it clear he couldn't perform hand signs. Performing single-handed hand signs like Uchiha Itachi, or using feet to perform hand signs like Jiraiya? It's not to look down on him, but he truly didn't have that ability.
Unable to perform hand signs, many Ninjutsu couldn't be used. Just look at Orochimaru to see how important hands are to a Ninja.
With one arm gone, a Ninja was essentially crippled by more than half.
Asuma, being the Third Hokage's son, was not proficient in Sealing Technique, but he knew a little.
He placed a Sealing Technique formula on Raiga Kurosuki's lower abdomen, sealing his Chakra pathways.
Unable to use Chakra, unable to perform hand signs, missing an arm, and tied up with ropes—if he could still escape like that, it would truly be a miracle.
Ranmaru didn't seem to have much combat ability, but he was able to block Ino's perception and disrupt Shikamaru's Shadow Imitation Technique, so he should have some tricks up his sleeve.
Shikamaru and Choji were on the side, figuring out how to tie up the cute boy.
Ino had no interest in boys. She handed over all seven Kurosuki Family captives to Asuma to deal with, calling it "cleaning up the battlefield." In reality, she dashed into the Kurosuki Family's stronghold to scavenge for their gold, silver, and treasures.
Oxalis Mine was a gold mine. These guys used mercury to dissolve ore and extract gold, which was clearly a small-scale, workshop-style extraction method.
A pungent smell permeated the mine.
Ino covered her nose and first searched Raiga Kurosuki's room. This guy had collected quite a few Lightning Release Ninjutsu and Water Release Ninjutsu. She didn't look closely and just took them all.
She found approximately five million in paper currency at the Kurosuki Family's stronghold, and twenty boxes filled with various jewels, jade, and silks. However, she didn't see much gold. Instead, she found a large pile of empty boxes marked with the character "Fire" in a hidden warehouse.
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