"Die!" The Hidden Rock Jonin swung his sword, aiming to kill the Konoha Ninja before him.
Thinking he was about to meet his end, the injured Konoha Ninja instinctively closed his eyes. However, years of training caused him to quickly reopen them. He felt no pain. Before him stood a blonde ninja who had appeared out of nowhere, blocking the Hidden Rock's strike.
Clang!
The sound of metal clashing echoed. The Hidden Rock Jonin realized the sudden appearance of the Konoha Ninja had unexpected strength. No matter how much force he exerted, he couldn't drive the blade forward.
Mutsuki focused his breath a little more, unleashing greater strength. In an instant, he pushed aside the Hidden Rock Jonin's blade and swiftly kicked him in the chest.
Bang!
Under the forceful impact, the Hidden Rock Jonin was sent flying backwards.
"Are you alright?" Mutsuki turned around, slightly smiling with concern at the injured Konoha Ninja.
Looking at Mutsuki's warmly smiling face, the injured Konoha Ninja felt a strong sense of déjà vu, but he didn't have time to think much. He quickly replied, "I can still move on my own. You don't need to worry about me. That Hidden Rock is coming again."
"Don't worry, I'll take care of him." Mutsuki lifted his glasses with his left hand, revealing a confident smile.
He didn't want to reveal too much of his strength. Otherwise, Mutsuki could have easily taken down the Hidden Rock Jonin the moment he charged in. Killing a Jonin with his current abilities was too simple.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears!"
The Hidden Rock Jonin ran swiftly while forming seals.
Mutsuki, with his Byakugan activated, which provided him with a 360-degree field of vision, had exceptionally strong observational skills. As the Hidden Rock Jonin formed seals, he instantly sensed the ground beginning to shift.
Mutsuki grabbed the injured Konoha Ninja and threw him towards an empty area, then swiftly dodged himself.
Boom! Boom!!
In the next instant, three large and sharp rock spikes appeared exactly where Mutsuki had just been standing.
Taking advantage of Mutsuki's evasion, the Hidden Rock Jonin immediately swung his sword towards Mutsuki's eyes.
Clang!
Mutsuki's kunai firmly blocked the incoming sword.
"Damn it, his reflexes are so fast!" The Hidden Rock Jonin cursed inwardly, unable to stop himself from thinking in shock.
Originally, he had expected Mutsuki to be caught off guard while saving someone, but in reality, Mutsuki handled it with ease.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!
Each move was critical. Using his kunai, Mutsuki relied on the powerful observational abilities of his Byakugan and the enhanced physical abilities from the Breathing Technique to leave numerous bloody scratches on the Hidden Rock Jonin, while remaining unharmed himself.
"He's skilled with short blades!" With more wounds appearing on his body, the Hidden Rock Jonin decided to change his battle strategy and use ninjutsu against Mutsuki.
However, just as the Hidden Rock Jonin slightly distanced himself, Mutsuki used ninjutsu.
"Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Jutsu!"
With just a Tiger Seal, three enormous fire dragons, each three meters tall, erupted from Mutsuki's mouth and swiftly charged towards the Hidden Rock Jonin, biting at him.
Watching the rapidly approaching three huge fire dragons and feeling the scorching heat, the Hidden Rock Jonin's expression turned to shock.
He hadn't even seen Mutsuki form seals, yet Mutsuki had unleashed such a terrifying Fire Release technique. This wasn't just a skilled user of short blades; this was clearly a Fire Release expert.
Mutsuki's ninjutsu was executed too quickly, with perfect timing. The coverage of the Fire Release was vast, leaving the Hidden Rock Jonin powerless to dodge. He could only mobilize his entire body's chakra, hoping to withstand this calamity.
The Earth Chakra Nature Transformation could make the body even more resilient. Although it couldn't achieve the offense and defense balance of Earth Spear, it provided formidable defense while still possessing decent power. As an exceptional Hidden Rock ninja, using Earth Release to harden his own body was achievable.
If the Hidden Rock Jonin had encountered an ordinary Konoha Jonin, perhaps he could have escaped unscathed. Unfortunately for him, he faced Mutsuki, and not just any Mutsuki, but Mutsuki who was ready to establish his authority over some Jonin.
No matter how the Hidden Rock Jonin struggled, it was futile. From the beginning, Mutsuki used ninjutsu that could kill even a Jonin with explosive potential.
Even if the Hidden Rock Jonin fought with the same explosive potential as Obito, he still couldn't withstand Mutsuki's Fire Release. Unless the Hidden Rock Jonin used high-level tactics to counterattack, Mutsuki's recent Fire Release was indeed unstoppable.
"Ahh!"
As soon as the fire dragons made contact with the Hidden Rock Jonin's body, he immediately sensed the burning flames engulfing him, unable to resist letting out a painful scream. His Earth Release Hardening couldn't withstand Mutsuki's fire.
But the attack didn't stop there. The destructive power of the Great Dragon Fire was among the strongest in all Fire Release techniques. Soon, the three fire dragons completely swallowed up the Hidden Rock Jonin. Bright orange-red flames blossomed on the battlefield, and the Hidden Rock Jonin fell silent, leaving only ashes scattered on the ground.
Such a dazzling Fire Release is rarely seen on this battlefield, attracting the attention of many Hidden Rock Ninja and Konoha Ninja.
"Such powerful Fire Release!" A Hidden Rock Ninja looked at the figure instantly turned to charred black in the flames, their eyelids twitching.
The Hidden Rock ninjas who knew that Hidden Rock Jonin wereespecially astonished. He was a Jonin who had mastered Hardening, yet he was directly burned to ashes by a ninjutsu.
"This ninja is so strong, actually killing a Jonin so quickly like this." A Konoha Ninja, injured by the Hidden Rock Jonin, exclaimed in amazement.
Just moments ago, several Chunin had teamed up and were quickly injured, but Mutsuki killed the Hidden Rock Jonin in just a few moves.
First, he engaged in a brief clash to save someone, then used a kunai to suppress the opponent's sword in close combat, and finally used a high-powered Fire Release to kill directly. The entire process probably took less than three minutes.
"Why does this ninja feel so much like Minato-sama?" Gradually, some observers began to notice the resemblance.
"I haven't heard that Minato-sama had such a powerful brother." Some were already starting to think that Mutsuki and Minato were brothers.
After all, they were still in the midst of war, so after everyone noticed, they would just quietly keep it to themselves and discuss such matters after the battle.
Using Fire Release to kill a Jonin, Mutsuki sighed. Such battles were also a challenge for him. He had to use the right amount of strength to disguise his abilities. Too much force was not acceptable, but too little was also ineffective.
The Hidden Rock ninjas were not fools. They noticed there was a Konoha ninja who was difficult to deal with, and they joined forces to attack Mutsuki.
However, Mutsuki had developed to this point and could be said to have almost no weaknesses except in terms of chakra. Even in terms of chakra, he was much stronger than these Chunin or ordinary Jonin, so no one could injure Mutsuki. He always managed to evade every attack perfectly.
Other Konoha ninjas on the scene were not idle either. The strong ones from their side would come over to help when Mutsuki was surrounded, easing the pressure on him.
In this situation, more and more Hidden Rock ninjas fell at Mutsuki's hands. Some were stabbed to death with his kunai, others were burned to death by his Fire Release, or struck down by his Wind Release.
Mutsuki was so powerful that the situation among the Konoha Ninja quickly turned for the better. More and more Konoha Ninja noticed their dazzling companion with golden hair.
On the same battlefield, what the Konoha Ninja could see, the Hidden Rock Ninja could also see.
Boom!
A loud explosion rang out. Without looking at the Konoha Jonin he had blasted into pieces, Gari focused his gaze on the golden-haired Konoha Ninja who effortlessly stabbed the Hidden Rock Ninja with a kunai.
Gari used Body Flicker Jutsu and appeared not far from Mutsuki. He smashed a Konoha Ninja with a punch and looked at Mutsuki calmly, saying, "It seems you're the strongest Konoha Ninja around here. Once I deal with you, I can quickly finish off the rest of the Konoha Ninja here."
"If you can manage it, feel free to try," Mutsuki said with a faint smile.
In the ninja world, there were those qualified to speak such words to him, but the Hidden Rock ninja in front of him was not one of them.
Although the Byakugan could see the chakra inside a person's body, Mutsuki still cautiously appraised the Hidden Rock Ninja before him.
[Name: Gari]
[Chakra: 31,000]
[Skills: Explosion Release (Mastery: 500/15,000), Earth Chakra Nature Transformation (Mastery: 1,500/15,000), Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears...]
As Mutsuki had anticipated, Gari was indeed an extremely powerful Jonin. Both his chakra amount and skill proficiency far exceeded that of an average Jonin.
However, it was unfortunate for him to encounter Mutsuki. Not only did Mutsuki have over 10,000 more chakra than him, but he also surpassed him significantly in skills.
Gari did not possess the Byakugan to see chakra or any Identification Jutsu to gather information, but he was very confident in his own abilities.
He was a member of the Hidden Rock Explosion Corps. The Explosion Corps held a special status within the Hidden Rock Village, being the strongest special forces unit. Each member selected to join the Hidden Rock Explosion Corps was a carefully chosen strong genius, and they must possess the Kekkei Genkai - Explosion Release.
In this war, Gari aimed to make a name for himself in the ninja world. During the Second Shinobi World War, he was young and hadn't practiced for long, so his strength was not great. But this time was different. He had trained extensively in Earth Release and his Kekkei Genkai, Explosion Release, achieving a high level of proficiency. In his mind, even in a village as filled with strong individuals as Hidden Rock, he could rank in the top twenty.
"Be careful sir. This person is Gari from the Hidden Rock Explosion Corps, extremely powerful. Don't engage him in close combat!" A Konoha ninja saw Mutsuki facing off against Gari and quickly warned aloud.
Konoha and Hidden Rock had been at war for some time, and both sides were aware of the emergence of strong new talents on the opposing side. For example, Minato from Konoha was quite renowned in Hidden Rock. Conversely, Gari, who possessed the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai and was exceptionally powerful, had also made an impression on many Konoha ninjas.
For ninjas, intelligence was as crucial as strength. To ensure Mutsuki was informed about Gari, some Konoha ninjas, even while under attack, were loudly transmitting information to Mutsuki.
"His jutsu causes things he hits to explode. Make sure not to let him get close!"
Upon hearing the voices of the Konoha ninjas, Gari sneered disdainfully. He knew all too well what the intelligence meant. "Don't let him get close" sounded simple, but executing it in battle was another matter entirely.
"Thank you all for the information. I will take care of this enemy," Mutsuki said with a calm smile.
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