Chapter 21: Earth Release — Earth-Style Wall (Expert Level)
This was the moment Izumo had been waiting for.
The instant his opponent's focus wavered, he activated the Body Flicker Technique. The kunai in his hand caught the light of the setting sun, reflecting a cold, fleeting glint as his figure blurred forward.
The precision granted by his expert-level taijutsu showed itself perfectly in that single heartbeat. Instead of aiming for the armored chest, his kunai shot toward the side of the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja's neck—his blind spot. A place the forehead protector couldn't shield. The exact location of the carotid artery.
"You little brat! How dare you!" the Iwagakure ninja roared, fury and shock twisting together in his voice.
His left hand stopped forming seals and lunged for Izumo's face, intending to drag him into death together.
But the lingering effect of Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field delayed his movement by half a second.
His fingertips barely brushed Izumo's bangs.
In the next instant, he could only watch as the kunai pierced straight into his neck.
A wet, hissing sound of blood spraying cut sharply through the quiet of the bushes.
The middle-aged ninja froze in place. The rage in his eyes slowly drained away, replaced by disbelief. His lips parted as if he wanted to say something, but only broken, leaking breaths escaped.
Izumo didn't hesitate.
He twisted his wrist, turning the kunai and completely severing the artery in his opponent's neck.
When the Iwagakure ninja's body finally collapsed to the ground with a heavy thud, Izumo staggered back half a step and leaned against the tree beside him, dragging in deep, ragged breaths.
To make Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field work that quickly, he had burned through at least twice his usual chakra.
He lowered his gaze to the sticky residue left on the ground.
Right on cue, a pale blue panel appeared before his eyes:
[Water Release: Starch Syrup Capturing Field: Beginner (Proficiency: 99/100)]
That sudden, high-precision attack had pushed his proficiency up by ten points. He was only one step away from reaching the expert level.
Izumo looked up toward the battlefield.
His eyes met the stunned gazes of several Konoha and Iwagakure genin.
The genin who had still been fighting just moments ago froze where they stood, their faces filled with shock.
Some of the Konoha genin murmured in disbelief, words spilling out without them even realizing it.
"Th-That's Izumo Kamizuki? He really just killed a Chūnin?"
"Am I seeing things? He's only nine. He just graduated not that long ago. How can he be this strong?"
"Even though he always got good grades at the academy, he was so quiet and humble. I never imagined he was hiding power like this…"
On the other side, the Iwagakure genin had gone pale, fear filling their eyes.
A Chūnin falling to the hands of a Konoha genin—
It was a crushing blow to their morale.
"Izumo! Are you okay?!" Kotetsu Hagane shouted from a distance.
Izumo lifted his head.
He saw that Kurenai had released her genjutsu and was now running toward him alongside Kotetsu, worry written all over their faces.
The two Iwagakure genin who had been fighting them were already down, their bodies lying motionless on the ground.
Kotetsu rushed closer. When he saw the middle-aged Iwagakure ninja's corpse, his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Y-You… you killed him? He was a Chūnin!"
Kurenai crouched down, her fingertips brushing the sticky residue on the ground. Her eyes shone with amazement.
"That was Water Release. You really cast a water ninjutsu that precisely in the middle of a taijutsu exchange? And this adhesive… it's way stronger than when you used it during training."
Izumo rubbed his wrist. When he'd blocked the earlier strike, he'd still taken a minor injury.
"I just got lucky," he said quietly. "He relied too much on his Earth Release, so he wasn't guarding against my Water Release at all."
Suddenly, Akimichi Doto's thunderous voice boomed from the distance.
"Izumo, run! A jōnin is coming!"
The expressions of Izumo and the others changed instantly.
They turned toward the sound and saw the Iwagakure jōnin who had been fighting Akimichi Doto knock aside the iron staff and charge straight at them.
The chakra fluctuations rolling off his body felt like dark clouds pressing down on their chests, making it hard to breathe.
Akimichi Doto followed behind him, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"Izumo, Kurenai! Get out of there! He's the Iwagakure team leader! You can't take him on!"
The jōnin's speed was terrifying.
In the blink of an eye, he was already standing right in front of Izumo.
His hand seals moved so fast they left afterimages behind. His chakra surged like a raging tsunami.
"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Spears!"
Massive stone lances erupted from the ground, tearing upward with a thunderous roar as they shot toward Izumo and his teammates.
The destructive power of this attack far surpassed the Earth Release: Earth Spear from before. If it hit them head-on, there wouldn't be anything left to save.
Kurenai and Kotetsu shut their eyes in despair.
Izumo's mind raced.
"It's too late. If I dodge, Kurenai and Kotetsu won't survive this!"
"Sempura, let's try this!"
Without the slightest hesitation, his hands flew through seals.
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall—Modified!"
On the pale blue panel before him, the words glowed softly:
[Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall: Expert (Proficiency: 108/1000)]
The ninjutsu that once could only create a simple, flat wall of earth began to change under his control.
The thick earthen wall no longer formed as a plain square. Instead, it curved and folded in on itself, rapidly shaping into a half-dome shield. Its surface was etched with fine, natural patterns, like a fortress of living stone.
The impact came in a deafening explosion.
The stone spears slammed into the curved Earth-Style Wall, sending shockwaves through the ground. The earth trembled violently as dust and soil blasted into the air, swallowing everything in a blinding cloud.
Akimichi Doto felt a chill run down his spine.
A full-power strike from a jōnin—
There was no way an Earth-Style Wall should be able to withstand something like that.
As the dust and smoke slowly began to clear, everyone's attention locked onto what stood at the center of it all…
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