Chapter 89: Fire Release: Combustion Blast
As she engaged them, three more Wind Clones appeared and tried to ambush her.
Though none succeeded, they inflicted more damage on her.
Kaito remained hidden, observing the battle, and thought, "Not bad, she's gotten much stronger. But my Wind Clones are difficult to deal with. Is that all, though? This battle seems a bit too easy."
On the battlefield, Mieko was bleeding from multiple wounds. She was furious.
"Why can't he fight fairly? I'll show him what I can do!"
She gritted her teeth, endured the pain, and formed several hand seals. Performing hand seals with her chakra points partially sealed was extremely painful.
Kaito saw her wince in pain, and he could feel her chakra surging!
One of the Wind Clones, having exhausted its chakra, performed Wind Release: Great Breakthrough.
Its intensity was low due to insufficient chakra, but it still knocked Mieko off balance and sent her tumbling to the ground.
This Wind Clone also dissipated as its chakra ran out.
Seeing her vulnerable, another Wind Clone appeared and unleashed Wind Release: Wind Blast at her.
However, before the technique could reach her, she successfully stood up, leaped upward, and landed on a tree branch.
She shouted, "Fire Release: Combustion Blast!"
Hearing the word 'combustion,' Kaito's Wind Clones became alert. But no explosion occurred immediately.
"Hmm, where's the explosion?"
Only a gentle breeze passed through the area.
Realizing something was wrong, they immediately began sensing for Mieko's chakra.
Soon, both the Wind Clones and Kaito noticed that Mieko seemed to have released a gas, which was spreading rapidly throughout the entire forest.
Kaito's Wind Clones hadn't detected this gas earlier because it was colorless and odorless.
Kaito wondered, "What kind of technique is this?"
But he had no clue, thinking, "Well, whatever. I'll find out soon enough."
Then he moved deeper underground using Earth Release.
About ten seconds later, the gas had spread within a sixty-meter radius around Mieko.
All of Kaito's Wind Clones were within this area. The five or six Wind Clones that had already revealed themselves were at a loss but continued their attacks.
Seeing the Wind Clones charging at her, Mieko smirked and said, "Let's see where your real body is hiding!"
As soon as she finished speaking, she exhaled a small flame. The flame ignited the gas, causing it to rapidly expand and generate a powerful explosive wave!
The flames carried by the expanding gas reached up to one hundred meters around Mieko, and soon the entire area exploded in a firestorm!
The flames destroyed all eighteen of Kaito's Wind Clones instantly. It ignited every tree in the area! And the fire seemed to be spreading even further!
Both Kaito and Hodaka were stunned by the scene of destruction!
Kaito was shocked by what he witnessed.
"What the hell? All my clones were destroyed. What kind of technique is this?"
Hodaka was also amazed by the immense destruction, thinking, "When did Mieko become this strong?"
He quickly calmed down and continued his analysis.
"However, this technique shouldn't work on me. Even if these gases are colorless and odorless, my Byakugan would notice the released chakra-infused gas. That way, I can move out of range before she ignites it."
Kaito also calmed down and further analyzed the technique.
"Hmm, the heat generated by the explosion seems to have dissipated quickly. Only the surrounding trees are burned. So if I were to take this head-on, it shouldn't kill me, but I would be severely burned."
"Wind Clones are too fragile, so they were all dispelled by the technique."
Kaito, still hiding underground, analyzed further and sighed.
"I've never seen or heard of this technique. It's probably something the Uchiha Clan taught her. I really shouldn't underestimate any jutsu that wasn't shown in the original series."
"There are many other techniques in this world, and if used properly, they can be extremely lethal—especially when I know nothing about them! Although the destructive power of this technique is quite impressive, it can be easily nullified by simply blowing the gas away with Great Breakthrough."
"But it's because I knew nothing about this technique that all my Wind Clones were destroyed. I wonder if she deliberately called out the name of her technique..."
Renjiro nodded with a smile, very pleased to see Mieko successfully counterattack in such an unfavorable situation.
"Her performance this time was excellent. I anticipated her counterattack, but I didn't expect it to be this successful."
"Kaito felt the battle was too easy, so he let his guard down and played around instead of going all out to defeat her quickly. This gave Mieko an opportunity to use this move."
Then Renjiro looked at where Kaito was hiding underground, with a complex expression on his face.
"He's really too cautious. Although he did relax his guard a bit, he was always in a safe position."
"While this is good for ensuring his survival, he misses out on opportunities to gain important combat experience. After all, if he never encounters an emergency during a spar, it will be difficult for him to handle one during an actual mission."
"It's a pity that I can't make him more proactive in sparring matches. Hopefully, this won't cause him problems in the future."
After using the technique, Mieko collapsed to her knees on the ground.
The jutsu had consumed most of her chakra. And she also had to use fire-protection techniques to shield herself from burns. So her chakra levels dropped drastically.
Kaito did not overlook this situation. So he used about sixty percent of his remaining chakra to create a Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone emerged from the ground, confirming that the gas had dispersed completely.
The Shadow Clone then created five Wind Clones.
They spread out, approaching Mieko from all directions, while the Shadow Clone returned underground.
The first Wind Clone arrived where Mieko was positioned and looked at her.
Her chakra reserves were extremely low, and her body was covered in small wounds, many of which were still bleeding. She looked back with her Sharingan activated and saw it was another Wind Clone.
Kaito's Wind Clone said, "Give up. You're too injured to continue fighting."
Mieko snorted and shouted, "As if I'd surrender to someone who's afraid to show his face!"
Kaito's Wind Clone chuckled. "Even if I hide from you and don't attack, you'll lose consciousness from exhaustion or blood loss."
Mieko smiled defiantly and scoffed, "I've already eliminated all your Wind Clones once. I'll do it again until you fight me yourself!"
Saying this, she began forming hand seals again. But four more Wind Clones appeared around her, all attacking her and disrupting her jutsu.
Previously, only Kaito's Wind Clones had seen her hand seals from a distance, so he didn't know the exact sequence she used to perform that technique.
But it didn't matter—he no longer wanted to give her any chances.
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