Judging from Tella's expression, he clearly wasn't going to let Hyuga Arin off easily.
And Hyuga Arin had no intention of slinking back to Konoha in disgrace.
He counted the explosive tags on him—there were still more than thirty.
"That's enough."
He glanced around the cave. There were no signs of recent habitation; it seemed Nagato hadn't been here for a long time.
Hyuga Arin walked out of the cave, found a suitable area nearby, and began setting traps.
A jōnin was still human.
Just because he couldn't win head-on didn't mean he couldn't win at all.
In the real world, a single kunai could end a jōnin's life.
Let alone explosive tags.
Hyuga Arin sat cross-legged on a tree branch, head tilted up toward the sky.
For once, the rain in the Land of Rain had stopped. Yet the dark clouds still hung low and dense, casting a heavy gloom over the land.
The air was damp and uncomfortable—hardly a pleasant place to live.
After a long while—
"He's here."
"Byakugan!"
The veins around Hyuga Arin's eyes bulged as his pale irises shifted into a stark black-and-white world.
Chakra gathered in his eyes.
Focus—Gyo.
This refined version of Gyo didn't just turn his Byakugan into something like a camera; it also granted extremely powerful dynamic vision.
Enough to rival the Sharingan, at least to some extent.
In the distance, a figure sped forward, landing on a nearby tree.
Tella frowned as he looked at Hyuga Arin, his gaze sweeping the surroundings.
Seeing Hyuga Arin openly waiting for him, he didn't need to think much to know traps had been laid.
"Looks like you're ready," Tella sneered.
With just a glance, he spotted no fewer than five traps.
Did this kid really think Rain Country jōnin earned their rank for nothing?
Sure, jōnin from small nations were generally weaker than those from the great villages—but they still climbed up through blood and fire.
Killing him with traps alone? A pipe dream.
Hyuga Arin stood up and pulled out a massive, fan-shaped blade with a hole in the center—large enough to slip a hand through.
He placed his hand into the hole, and the blade unfolded into a gigantic shuriken.
A Fuma Shuriken.
Hyuga Arin grinned.
"Boss fight start."
He hurled the Fuma Shuriken toward Tella.
Tella sprang upward from his spot, neatly dodging the massive weapon.
Suddenly, Hyuga Arin pulled both hands apart, yanking on steel wire. The Fuma Shuriken abruptly changed direction, chasing after Tella.
Tella rapidly formed hand seals.
"Water Release: Condensed Water Technique!"
Water gathered in his hands, forming a blade. He swung it down hard, forcibly blocking the Fuma Shuriken.
Hyuga Arin's lips curled.
From the shadow of the Fuma Shuriken, another one burst forth.
"Shadow Shuriken Technique!"
This time, Tella couldn't defend in time. The shuriken sliced cleanly through his neck.
"Bang!"
Tella's body instantly turned into a puddle of water.
Hyuga Arin immediately dropped the wire and leapt to another tree branch.
From above, Tella suddenly descended, water blade slashing downward.
"Slash!"
The branch was severed. Several explosive tags drifted in the air, their fuses burning.
"Boom!"
The explosion swallowed Tella whole.
"I saw you coming," Hyuga Arin said calmly, his Byakugan clearly tracking Tella as he used the Water Body Flicker to escape the blast.
"Water Release: Rain Tiger at Will!"
Dense rain poured down from the sky.
On the ground below, Tella looked coldly at Hyuga Arin perched in the tree.
"How many explosive tags did you use?"
"Take a guess," Hyuga Arin smirked. "They're all waterproof, by the way."
Tella quickly formed seals.
"Water Release: Rain Manipulation Technique!"
The falling rain began to swirl around him. Holding the Ram seal with one hand, he charged straight toward Hyuga Arin.
"Using water flow to dampen the explosive force, huh?"
Hyuga Arin understood the tactic instantly—but by then, he had finished forming his own seals.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!"
A blazing dragon erupted from his mouth and surged toward Tella.
Midair, Tella continuously swung his blade, water slashes flying out to collide with the fire dragon, creating thick clouds of steam.
The fire dragon dissipated.
Tella landed in a crouch on a tree branch, eyes scanning the fog-filled surroundings.
"A jōnin is just—"
Hyuga Arin's mocking voice echoed from within the mist.
The fog blocked Tella's vision—but it couldn't block the Byakugan.
Suddenly, Tella tilted his head slightly, dodging a kunai that flew out of the fog. He noticed the explosive tag attached to it.
"Boom!!"
Another explosion erupted.
This time, Tella didn't use Water Body Flicker. Instead, he relied on the water flowing around him to block the blast.
Even so, the shockwave sent him flying.
His body slammed into steel wires suspended in midair. The wires wrapped tightly around him, pulling two shuriken at either end into a spinning motion.
As the wires coiled tighter, the shuriken drew closer and closer.
But even so, Tella had enough time to form the hand seals for Body Flicker.
The bound Tella turned into a puddle of water.
The real Tella reappeared on the ground, instantly slashing his blade to the left.
"I see you too."
Hyuga Arin burst out of the fog, wielding two blades—only for one of his arms to be cleanly severed.
"The fog may not block your vision," Tella said coldly, "but Rain Tiger at Will is a sensory technique."
Hyuga Arin gritted his teeth against the pain of losing his arm. He let go of his blade and lunged forward, wrapping both arms around Tella's leg.
Blood sprayed from his severed left arm.
He looked up and grinned.
"So what?"
He tore open his clothes—revealing burning explosive tags strapped beneath.
Tella's pupils shrank.
"You lunatic!!"
"Boom!!"
The explosion erupted at point-blank range.
Hyuga Arin protected himself with chakra, while Tella was shielded by flowing water—but the shock still heavily injured them both.
At the same time, the ground beneath them collapsed, and both fell downward.
Hyuga Arin had already dug out a hollow underground.
Inside the subterranean chamber, Hyuga Arin and Tella staggered to their feet, both in a sorry state.
But Hyuga Arin was far worse off—one arm gone, his body soaked in blood.
"And you thought you could take me with you?" Tella sneered. "You can't do it."
He hadn't expected Hyuga Arin to be this insane—to try dragging him into death together.
Hyuga Arin ignored him, instead glancing upward at where they'd fallen from.
The entrance was already sealed by collapsed earth.
This underground space had become a sealed chamber.
"Can't I?" Hyuga Arin grinned. "Look at your feet."
He pulled out a Greater Mana Potion and drank it, replenishing the chakra he'd burned to survive the blast.
Tella looked down.
Explosive tags.
His pupils contracted sharply.
"This is all my explosive tags!! Hahahaha!" Hyuga Arin laughed wildly and detonated them without hesitation.
"BOOOOM!!!"
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