"My back is in your hands, Nawaki-kun!"
The words had barely fallen—
Baixing sprang off the tree trunk, leaping onto another tree ahead. His gaze fixed on the upper branches of a tree some distance away.
Tap—
"Well, well."
"Konoha ninjas really are troublesome."
"You should be a chūnin, right? Your alertness and reaction speed are things no genin could possibly have."
From behind a thicker tree farther ahead came the faint sound of footsteps. A red-haired man emerged, arms crossed, stepping onto the trunk.
He wore a Kirigakure forehead protector with its flowing-water symbol, and a brown, lightweight close-fitting cuirass. Compared to Kumogakure's heavier, sturdier armor, Kirigakure favored agility and mobility.
The man was brimming with confidence as he looked straight at Baixing.
"Let me tell you one more thing."
"I may only be a Kirigakure chūnin right now…"
"But once this mission is over, I'll be promoted to Special Jōnin."
"So the opponent standing before you isn't someone at mere chūnin level."
Baixing replied calmly, "Impressive."
Seeing the boy remain so unperturbed, a large vein popped on the man's forehead. He clenched his fists tightly.
"Before you die, I'll introduce myself."
"So you can die knowing who killed you!"
Shk—!
Twin blades slid from their sheaths and into his hands, accompanied by the man's ferocious gaze.
"My name is Ringo Ameyuri."
"In hell after your death, don't forget this name."
"Oh, I'm—"
Before Baixing could finish introducing himself, Ringo Ameyuri charged forward.
"The name of some insignificant chūnin isn't worth remembering! Die!"
Baixing: "..."
He silently sidestepped off the tree trunk, evading the vertical slash, inwardly thinking how ridiculously over-the-top this guy was.
Still… that name sounded oddly familiar.
Before he could think further, while still midair he caught a flash of blue light in the dust and debris ahead.
"Lightning Release—chakra-based cellular activation?!"
"Only Lightning Release ninjas who've mastered the element can use that."
"Very impressive."
Baixing praised him again.
Ringo Ameyuri, now standing on the tree trunk with his long blade slung over his shoulder, turned back with an even smugger grin.
At that moment, a nearby thick tree trunk developed a V-shaped gash. With a crack, it collapsed to the ground.
"Sharp eyes. Go on—tell me your name. Someone with perception like that is worth me, a future Kirigakure jōnin, remembering."
"..."
"My name is Baixing. A Konoha genin."
"Mm~~~ Mm?! Mmm!!!"
Ringo Ameyuri dragged out the sound, then finally processed the words genin. His expression instantly twisted.
"You're a genin?!"
"That's impossible!!!"
He, a future jōnin, had wasted so much time on a mere genin. If word got back to the village, his comrades would laugh him to death.
"Uh…" Baixing scratched his cheek awkwardly from atop another tree. "Sorry. I really am a genin."
"But I'll fight you seriously. Don't worry."
"..."
Ringo Ameyuri fell silent for a moment, his face sinking into a dark, unreadable expression.
"I'll kill you."
"Huh?"
"I'LL KILL YOU!!!"
Slash!
Ringo Ameyuri activated his Lightning Release again, supercharging his body. He surged forward and cleaved through the spot where Baixing had been standing.
Before Baixing even touched the ground, Ringo accelerated again and lunged in pursuit.
"A genin has no right to be on my kill list! DIE!!!"
Midair, with nowhere to land, the black-haired youth wore a panicked expression as Ringo closed in.
Crack—
Blinded by rage, Ringo Ameyuri failed to notice immediately that Baixing had used the Substitution Technique.
Only a second later did he realize something was wrong, a rustling sound reaching his ears.
From another position, Baixing fired six shuriken.
"This kind of attack is embarrassing!"
Ringo Ameyuri thought they were aimed straight at him—but the shuriken brushed past his body instead. Before he could react, a faint glint reflected off steel wire and flashed into his eyes.
"So that's it! Don't even think about it!!"
Ringo Ameyuri immediately slashed through the steel wires, preventing Baixing from binding him.
But at that very moment, a Shadow Clone hidden on a tree trunk seized the opportunity.
"Fire Release: Powered Shuriken!"
Compared to pure Fire Release ninjutsu, this D-rank nin-taijutsu technique was perfect for the situation. A half-glowing, heat-radiating metal projectile tore through the air.
By the time Ringo Ameyuri realized what was happening, it was already too late.
Pssh!
"AAAAAAH—!"
Ringo Ameyuri screamed.
Baixing snapped the wire in his hand, watched as the Shadow Clone completed its task, nodded, and then—poof—it dispersed into white smoke. He calmly watched Ringo Ameyuri crash to the ground, still screaming.
"Sorry~ I don't have the Uchiha clan's Sharingan, so I can't track the exact movement of every wire."
"I only threw them out to scare you a bit. I didn't expect you to really believe it."
In short, without Sharingan-level dynamic vision, binding techniques like that were largely a gamble. If you were unlucky, the wires would tangle uselessly and accomplish nothing.
Below, the red-haired man endured the pain as he yanked the scorching shuriken from his back.
Squch—thud.
The sound of metal tearing free from flesh, followed by the shuriken hitting the ground.
"Damn it… If not for this layer of protection, my heart would've been pierced and I'd be dead on the spot!"
Ringo Ameyuri could feel that his brown vest had been punched clean through.
He then looked down at the still-warm shuriken. Its body was warped and slightly deformed by Fire Release chakra—clearly infused with fire-nature chakra during the throw.
"Damn you!!!"
"A mere genin actually managed to injure me!!!"
"That just now was a Shadow Clone, right?! How could a genin possibly use a B-rank jutsu?!"
"You Konoha liar!!!"
Baixing: "..."
He told the truth, but no one believed him. He won, and they still got angry.
His real goal here was simply to train himself—to learn how to fight during this year's Chūnin Exams without instantly one-shotting genin and getting eliminated too early.
Baixing cast a glance aside, ignoring the red-haired man's hysterical shouting, and looked toward Nawaki instead.
...
In terms of taijutsu skill, the two fighters were roughly evenly matched. But in age and experience, Nawaki lagged far behind the chūnin in front of him—and he wasn't ruthless enough yet.
Seizing an opening, the Kirigakure chūnin knocked the kunai from Nawaki's hand.
"Die!"
The enemy's voice rang in his ears. The next instant, a kunai flashed past, slicing off several strands of the brown-haired boy's hair, which floated down through the air.
"Don't underestimate Konoha ninjas!"
Dodging aside, Nawaki's hands blurred as he reinforced the side of his body with Earth Release chakra. He stepped in and slammed sideways into the Kirigakure chūnin—
Bang!
The chūnin felt a sharp pain in his abdomen as his body was sent flying backward.
Though already somewhat exhausted, Nawaki didn't relax. He pressed the attack immediately.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Three shuriken flew through the air. At the same time, the Kirigakure chūnin landed on a tree trunk, his kunai flashing three times with clang clang clang as he deflected them.
"Damn it! He's just a genin—how can his taijutsu match mine?!"
Before he could think further, another kunai came flying at him, trailing behind it a white sphere marked with the character "Poison."
"Crap!"
The Kirigakure chūnin had sharp eyes—he spotted the character before it detonated.
Puff!
The white sphere exploded, releasing a thick, blinding cloud of smoke. The Kirigakure ninja immediately held his breath and hurriedly pulled out a gas mask, putting it on.
But this was only Nawaki's feint—meant to throw the enemy into disarray. In the next instant, Nawaki followed up with another kunai, this one bound with an explosive tag, ensuring the enemy wouldn't be able to react in time.
Thud!
The kunai struck the chūnin's mask. It lacked the force to pierce through, but the explosive tag was clearly visible.
Out of the corner of his eye, the Kirigakure chūnin saw the unfamiliar color of the kunai handle and instantly realized he'd been tricked.
This wasn't poison gas!!
—They were too close.
If it really had been poison, Nawaki would've needed his own gas mask or to retreat from the area, giving the Kirigakure chūnin time to prepare.
Besides, no Kirigakure ninja would ever expect someone to use ordinary smoke right in front of a Mist ninja.
BOOOOM!!!
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