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"Wind Style: Snare!"
"Eight Trigrams: Air Palm!"
A powerful gust of wind, visible to the naked eye, roared out as a spiraling force erupted from Hirito's palm. The force of the attack was like a tornado, cutting through the ground ten meters ahead.
Kachacha!
The spikes that had erupted from the ground were instantly shattered, torn to pieces by the immense wind pressure. The strong wind suppressed the scattered debris, preventing any further danger.
At the same time, Hirito's Byakugan pinpointed the chakra fluctuations from Hanara's location. Using Shunpo, Hirito vanished into the wind, moving silently toward his opponent.
On the other side, thanks to Nonō's ninjutsu buffering, Minato and Nonō avoided any direct injuries. However, Minato, who had been shielding Nonō, found that his shoulder had been grazed by one of the erupting ground spikes.
What's this? Did I just get hit by friendly fire? Minato thought, wincing slightly from the pain.
"Gentle Fist Art: Eighty-Four Palms!"
Chi!
Hanara's eyes widened in shock as Hirito appeared silently behind him. Close combat was the Hyuga clan's specialty, and in just a few swift movements, Hirito sealed four of Hanara's chakra points before ending the fight with a kunai to the throat.
After confirming Hanara was truly dead, Hirito deactivated his Byakugan just as Shinichi appeared from the shadows.
Shinichi inspected Minato's injuries. "It's not too serious, just a scratch."
"Nonō, can you give him a quick treatment?"
Nonō nodded, but her chakra reserves were low after using several jutsu earlier in the fight. She managed to release a faint green light using her [Healing Technique], but Minato's injury only healed slightly.
Watanabe Shinichi, meanwhile, pressed his hand on Hanara's head and used his chakra to destroy the rogue ninja's brain tissue. This was to ensure no one could retrieve information from Hanara's memories later.
"You never know what strange abilities other ninjas might have," Shinichi muttered. "Better safe than sorry."
With the body secured, Shinichi pulled out a sealing scroll and stored Hanara's corpse within it.
"Let's find a hotel to rest for a bit. After that, we'll turn in the mission," Shinichi instructed. "And you three can take some time to reflect on the battle."
Later, in a quiet room at the hotel, the three young ninjas sat together, summarizing their experiences from the battle.
Nonō knew her taijutsu skills weren't particularly strong, but her use of Shadow Clones to scout had been effective. The problem was that her ability to keep up with Minato during battle was lacking. Minato's speed and reaction time were far superior, making it difficult for her to coordinate properly.
Thankfully, Nonō had made the right decision by staying on the sidelines at the start of the battle, waiting for an opportunity. When she saw Minato use Fire Style, she followed up with Wind Style, creating a combination ninjutsu that greatly enhanced the power of their attacks.
Still, both of them had made small but careless mistakes. Things they had learned from textbooks but forgotten in the heat of battle.
Hirito, on the other hand, relied heavily on his Byakugan to track the enemy's chakra and warn his teammates in time.
His close combat was flawless—he had practiced Gentle Fist relentlessly, and the Eight Trigrams: Air Palm ability had enhanced his taijutsu immensely. Hirito couldn't find any faults in his performance during the fight.
However, there was one thing that bothered him.
"The kunai is really uncomfortable for cutting throats. It's too short," Hirito said thoughtfully.
"Even though I can use chakra to extend the range of the kunai, it consumes a lot of chakra."
He sighed, "It would be nice to have a ninja sword that's the right length…"
Hirito had some experience with blade techniques. After all, mastering weapons was just an extension of mastering taijutsu.
Minato, on the other hand, had different concerns.
"I feel like Fire Style is too straightforward… It's powerful, but relying on Nonō's Wind Style every time to form a combination jutsu doesn't feel right," Minato said, deep in thought.
"It would be better if I could create Shadow Clones—one to use Fire Style, and the other to use Wind Style. That way, I'd be able to support myself in battle…"
"I need to find a chance to ask Shinichi-sensei for some Wind Style techniques."
After lunch and another healing session from Nonō, Minato's injury was fully healed. Watanabe Shinichi headed out to exchange Hanara's body for the bounty.
When he returned, he had a noticeably bulkier wallet.
One up, one down, Shinichi tossed his wallet into the air, clearly in a good mood.
Money gave courage to heroes, and now that his pockets were full, Shinichi's spirit had returned.
But before he could do anything else, Hirito raised his hand. A small suction force emerged from his palm, and the wallet that Shinichi had thrown into the air flew straight into Hirito's grasp.
"Whoa! What kind of jutsu is that?" Nonō exclaimed in surprise.
"It's not a jutsu," Hirito explained calmly. "It's just an application of chakra control. Just like when we use chakra to stick to tree trunks or walk on water, I used chakra to create suction."
"Still, the suction was pretty strong! You pulled it from over two meters away!" Minato added, impressed.
Hirito shrugged. "It's not as powerful as it looks. I can only attract small objects. Anything heavier would be difficult."
In terms of suction power, Hirito thought to himself, nothing beats Planetary Devastation. Even Universal Pull can't compare.
Shinichi didn't seem upset about his wallet being "stolen." Instead, he was contemplating Hirito's impressive chakra control.
"Well, since we have some extra money now, why don't we buy something?" Hirito said, dividing the bounty into three equal parts and handing some to both Minato and Nonō.
As Hirito handed back the now-empty wallet, Shinichi grumbled, "Don't I get a share as the teacher?"
Hirito looked at him with mock confusion. "But this mission was completed by the three of us, wasn't it? Sensei, how can you have the nerve to take our hard-earned money?"
Shinichi muttered under his breath, "I helped with the information, didn't I? Information is valuable!"
Hirito thought for a moment, then reluctantly pulled out a 1,000 ryo note.
"That's all you get. Any more, and I'll start thinking you're exploiting child labor."
Snap!
Shinichi snatched the money out of Hirito's hand, satisfied. "1,000 ryo is still money!"
He then glanced at Minato and Nonō, who quickly stuffed their shares into their wallets before Shinichi could make any further claims.
(End of the Chapter).
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