Normally, a ninja wouldn't shout out the name of their technique during battle—but the reason Kiyoshi did so was actually to signal Yuzuki.
Yuzuki immediately understood and formed hand seals swiftly, ready to coordinate with his teammate.
Just as Mikoto dodged another Rock Pillar Spear and landed on the ground, she was instantly surrounded and bound by a dense forest of rising stone pillars.
Earth Style: Rock Pillar Prison!
In this situation, her only option was to escape upward into the air. But at the same time, a massive water dragon came roaring toward her with tremendous force.
With the rain-soaked terrain of the Land of Rain enhancing it, the technique's power had risen to another level.
The dragon could easily pulverize solid stone in a single strike. If Mikoto chose to escape upward, she'd collide directly with the Water Dragon Jutsu.
This move was far more powerful than the Needles of Falling Rain earlier—there was no way her defensive techniques could withstand it.
She had nowhere left to run. Even so, Mikoto didn't simply give up.
If she couldn't dodge it, then she wouldn't try. Her hands flew through a rapid sequence of hand seals—clearly intending to use ninjutsu to counter the attack.
"In this situation, I'd like to see what you can possibly do!"
"Even if you try using a fire-style jutsu, there's no way you can block my Water Dragon Bullet!"
Kiyoshi shouted with smug confidence. His partner, Yuzuki, also smiled, just as certain of their victory.
In the past, no matter how strong their opponents were, once caught in this combination move, none had been able to resist.
"Mikoto-sensei!" Seeing the scene unfold, Ayame's expression changed dramatically. Instinctively, she tried to charge forward but was quickly stopped by Minato.
"Calm down, Ayame! You won't be able to help at all—in fact, you'll just distract Mikoto-senpai." Minato's voice was strained with frustration. He knew all too well that he was still too weak.
When facing powerful enemies, he couldn't do anything to help.
Under the watchful eyes of the three Genin, Mikoto completed her hand seals, raised her head, and unleashed a stream of roaring flames that transformed into a giant fire dragon—clashing head-on with the water dragon.
'Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!'
This was also a B-rank jutsu. In Mikoto's hands, its power should've rivaled the Water Dragon. But don't forget—the environment of the Land of Rain was a natural disadvantage for fire-style users.
Worse still, Mikoto had cast the jutsu hastily, without time to unleash its full potential.
And inherently, water-style techniques counter fire-style ones.
So the result was inevitable: the moment the two dragons collided, the fire dragon was instantly extinguished.
Thick steam exploded outward, blanketing the area and obscuring everyone's vision.
The water dragon roared on, crashing straight into Mikoto.
Boom! The sheer impact shattered the stone pillars that had bound her.
Mikoto was launched dozens of meters away. When she finally hit the ground, blood trickled from the corner of her lips—clearly injured.
Fortunately, the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet had absorbed at least most of the Water Dragon's power.
So while Mikoto was hurt, she hadn't lost her ability to fight.
The clash between the two elemental dragons had created such a massive disturbance that even Aoshi and the female Kirigakure jonin—who had been fighting at a distance—were enveloped in the rising steam.
The Mist-nin woman's face lit up with joy. She recognized the technique's presence and knew it came from her ally.
From her perspective, that Uchiha woman had definitely taken a critical hit—either gravely injured or dead. The tide of battle was clearly turning in their favor.
But Aoshi's face darkened with concern.
He didn't believe Mikoto would fall so easily, but the situation had definitely taken a turn for the worse. He couldn't afford to waste any more time.
With that thought flashing through his mind, Aoshi resumed his assault on the female Mist-nin jonin.
Taking advantage of the reduced visibility from the lingering mist, he silently retrieved several explosive tags from his system's storage space.
These tags had come from a blue orb reward and were stored conveniently in the system's inventory. With just a thought, he could instantly access them—much easier than a traditional ninja tool pouch.
As the two clashed, Aoshi took the opportunity to slap the explosive tags onto her body.
By the time she noticed, it was too late to react—she could only watch helplessly as several tags detonated at once.
Boom!
Boom!
Boom!
The explosive tags were powerful enough to kill an ordinary ninja outright. And these had detonated at point-blank range. Even if she survived, she'd no longer be able to fight.
The force of the explosion blew away the mist. Covered in blood and with one arm broken, the female jonin cried out in agony.
Aoshi ignored her screams. Forming hand seals again, he quickly unleashed another technique.
Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!
Unlike Kiyoshi's version, which required forty-four hand seals, Aoshi only needed six to cast it. Not only was it faster—it was just as powerful as Kiyoshi's.
"Die!" Kiyoshi and Yuzuki charged toward Mikoto, determined to finish her off while she was weakened.
Mikoto knew she stood no chance in her injured state. She immediately began retreating to avoid them.
While she frantically tried to devise a way out, a roaring water dragon suddenly appeared and slammed into both enemies.
Boom!
Caught completely off guard, the two were flung dozens of meters and crashed hard into the ground—severely wounded.
The sudden turn of events left Mikoto stunned.
It wasn't until she saw Aoshi still holding his seal formation that she finally exclaimed in disbelief, "Aoshi, when did you learn such a powerful water-style jutsu?"
"I learned it from Uncle Kosuke."
Over the past month, Aoshi had been training in Konoha-style Willow under Kosuke, and during that time, he'd also learned a few water-style techniques.
His goal was simple: to gain a legitimate reason to use the Water Dragon Jutsu openly.
"I see." As someone who knew Aoshi well, Mikoto was familiar with Kosuke and knew he had trained under him.
"Good thing you were here. Otherwise, our entire team would've been wiped out."
Who would've thought a simple C-rank escort mission would turn into a deadly battle against twenty rogue ninja—including three jonin?
If not for Aoshi's last-minute heroics, none of them would've made it back to Konoha alive.
"That's right, Aoshi-senpai. We really owe you this time." With the enemies defeated, Minato and the others approached, their faces full of relief.
Their eyes sparkled with admiration and disbelief.
They were shocked that Aoshi, a medical ninja, possessed such overwhelming strength. He had practically defeated every enemy by himself.
Naturally, this led to awe and reverence.
Among them, Tomoki looked particularly sheepish. Thinking back to the arrogant things he had said to Aoshi before departing on the mission, he wished he could crawl into a hole.
With Aoshi's level of strength, he clearly didn't need Tomoki's protection. Just not getting in his way would've been enough.
Everyone except Minato had been injured, so once the battle was over, Aoshi immediately began treating them one by one.
[Healing complete: Uchiha Mikoto — Reward: 1 Gold Orb]
[Congratulations, you have obtained Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu.]
[Healing complete: Yukimura Tomoki — Reward: 1 White Orb]
[Congratulations, you have obtained 10 chakra points.]
[Healing complete: Sasaki Ayame — Reward: 1 White Orb]
[Congratulations, you have obtained 10 chakra points.]
Meanwhile, Minato noticed someone else approaching and quickly drew a kunai, ready to defend.
"Who's there?!"