Chapter 50: Chapter 50
Tatsuya looked at the man, who appeared rather ordinary with sleek black hair pulled back.
He didn't recognize him as any notable character from the Naruto story, but his memory wasn't perfect. Maybe he'd just forgotten this man.
'Judging by his chakra volume, he's at least a Jonin,' Tatsuya thought.
The man frowned at Tatsuya's reply. He had used the {Water Style: Mirror Reflection} jutsu to conceal himself within the water's surface reflection. Yet somehow, this boy knew his exact position.
Only a few could see through such an advanced technique, and those who could typically possessed the Byakugan's eyes. But this boy did not have the pale eyes of the Hyūga.
"Done daydreaming?" Tatsuya taunted, seeing the man lost in thought. Without wasting a moment, he dashed towards the man and threw a chakra-coated punch aimed at his liver.
The Mist Jonin, seeing the attack, quickly focused his eyes and blocked the fist with his left forearm. He immediately regretted the decision, wincing in pain from the aftershock.
Despite the block, the force of the blow sent shockwaves through his body, propelling him back several meters.
Biting down the pain, he quickly retaliated, performing hand seals and launching a barrage of water bullets from the surrounding sea, each projectile as sharp as steel.
Tatsuya's Byakugan allowed him to calculate the trajectories of the deadly water projectiles, and he gracefully weaved between them, his movements fluid like the water itself.
"We're in the sea—he literally has an endless supply to fuel his water release," Tatsuya thought as he narrowly dodged another high-pressure jet spray. Even with his Byakugan's enhanced vision, the sheer volume of attacks made defending exceedingly difficult. "I have to get in close range to beat him."
He swiftly launched a cluster of smoke bombs, engulfing the area in a thick haze while simultaneously creating two shadow clones to flank the enemy ninja.
The Mist Jonin tensed at the sudden smokescreen obscuring his vision. "Can't let the kid get inside my guard! His taijutsu will be too difficult to deal with at close quarters." He rapidly moved through hand seals to try dispelling the concealing clouds of smoke.
'Just a little more and the jutsu will be complete—Aack!' His thought was cut off as a powerful fist suddenly exploded through the vapor, slamming brutally into his abdomen and launching him tens of meters back across the churning waves.
"Argh!" The Mist Jonin groaned, realizing the boy had struck his stomach's Tenketsu points with deadly accuracy, disrupting his chakra pathway system. The agonizing blow felt like it had ruptured his liver, but he couldn't afford to falter now.
With blood leaking from the corners of his lips, the Mist ninja desperately tried to expel the foreign chakra obstructing the flow through his tenketsu points, but it was proving more stubborn than anticipated to dislodge. 'Damn! This is Gentle Fist!'
'I can't give him another clear shot,' the man thought, chewing his lips as he rapidly formed a new series of hand seals. Upon completing the last seal, he slammed his palm to the surface, summoning a massive wave from the depths that surged towards the obscuring fog, aiming to crush and drown the boy beneath its titanic weight.
But before the towering wave could engulf him, Tatsuya smoothly altered his stance, chakra swirling around him as he unleashed the Hyuga clan's ultimate defense.
{Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Palms Revolving Heaven}
A spherical dome of spinning chakra surrounded him, deflecting the crushing tsunami with its rotation and dispersing the water harmlessly in all directions.
Capitalizing on the momentary distraction, the Mist Jonin unleashed a burst of speed, his kunai knife glinting with a sharp chakra coating as he rushed towards Tatsuya, aiming to incapacitate the boy before he could counter.
Just as the razor-edged kunai was about to connect, a body abruptly erupted from beneath the water's surface, grabbing the man's weapon hand in an iron grip.
"His shadow clones didn't get destroyed by my jutsu?" the Jonin realized with a start. But before he could react further, another clone suddenly materialized behind him, powerful arms locking around his waist to restrain him in place.
"Shit!" The Mist ninja cursed, finally understanding Tatsuya's ploy. But it was too late—he saw the real Tatsuya, fist cocked back as the boy twisted his hips, channeling every ounce of momentum into a piledriving straight punch aimed directly at his jaw with knockout force.
SLAM!
But just as the earth-shattering impact should have crushed bone and rendered him unconscious, the man's body rippled and dissolved into a puddle of water.
'A water clone?! Shit, he must have swapped with it during the chaos of that wave!' Tatsuya frowned.
"Protect the main!" Suddenly both of Tatsuya's remaining shadow clones shouted in unison, rapidly encircling his back as a forewarning roar sounded. Reacting on instinct, they coated their hands in a sheath of chakra just in time to intercept an onrushing torrent of hyper-compressed water.
The sheer force behind the Water Dragon Bullet technique was immense, bursting both clones into smoke the second they made contact with the churning deluge.
Seeing the stream of water, Tatsuya rapidly expanded his lungs and spat out his own {Fire Release: Flame Bullet jutsu}. The two attacks collided, creating a thick steam that blanketed the area.
"I can't keep matching his water release when he's drawing power from the whole ocean," Tatsuya thought, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
{Fire Release: Fireball}
Suddenly, another burst of fire collided with the water dragon.
From the corner of his eye, Tatsuya saw Yumiko helping him. "It seems she finally dealt with that guy," he thought.
Together, they were finally able to disperse the water dragon, but it created a thick fog, obscuring everything. But it wasn't a problem for someone like him.
Using his Byakugan, Tatsuya spotted the man diving deep underwater with two water clones. "He's submerged to confuse us."
Yumiko landed beside him, concerned. "Fighting him underwater will be extremely difficult. He seems highly skilled in maritime combat."
Below the surface, the furious Mist ninja rapidly formed hand seals. "Fuck! That boy must be a disguised Hyuga! Being pushed this far by kids..."
"Hmph! Let's see how you deal with this," he thought with an evil smirk.
As the last seal formed, the sea began churning violently into a massive whirlpool, pulling everything inwards.
"Something big is happening!" Yumiko yelled over the roaring vortex.
Tatsuya's Byakugan pierced through, identifying three chakra signatures below.
As he completed the hand seals, the sea around him started twisting and trembling. The water began to rise and form a massive whirlpool, pulling everything toward its center.
{Water Release: Grand Whirlpool Formation.}
While at the surface, Yumiko sensed something and quickly said, "There's something big happening under us."
Tatsuya focused his eyes and saw three chakra signatures all performing hand seals simultaneously.
"Which one is the real him? The one in the north is doing the hand signs for Water Bullet, but I don't recognize the other two." He frowned, concentrating harder. "But the one in the south is drawing much more chakra than the one in the west. He should be the real one." His hands took on a reddish tint as he prepared to strike.
At the same time, the whole sea erupted, forming a massive whirlpool that drew everything toward its center.
"Ugh!" Yumiko shouted, trying to hold her ground, but the swirl was too strong. She quickly lost her balance and was swept into it. A voice in her mind taunted her, {Should we sway? You'd die by drowning; it would be pathetic.}
{I said don't! We had a deal, right? Are you forgetting it?} she responded internally.
{Sigh… okay, if that's your wish,} the voice relented.
Tatsuya didn't try to help Yumiko; it would be a waste. He was using every bit of his focus to maintain his own balance, knowing that defeating the Mist Jonin was the only way to stop the whirlpool entirely.
'He should be in the center, that's the only safe zone,' he thought as he dove into the water, swimming with the current to head straight for the middle of the whirlpool.
Suddenly, he sensed multiple concentrated water jet shots coming at him. 'The north clone!' he thought, quickly bursting chakra from his feet to increase his speed immensely, dodging the multiple shots.
'This vortex is pulling me in, no way to escape the swirling currents!' Tatsuya thought, dodging another high-pressure water shot. The churning whirlpool severely slowed even his speed, and he didn't know how much longer he could evade while being dragged inexorably towards the center.
'Only one shot at this!' Gritting his teeth, Tatsuya expelled at least half his remaining chakra in a powerful burst from his back, propelling himself against the vortex's suction with everything he had. With a final surge, he broke free from the whirlpool's grasp, launching into the air at the very eye of the spiraling whirlpool before plunging back down towards the source.
From the corner of his Byakugan's vision, Tatsuya spotted their ship caught helplessly in the swirling chaos.
"Lash yourselves to the rigging, you dogs!" the Captain shouted, his voice rasping as he clung to the wildly pitching wheel. "We're being pulled straight into the eye! Hold on tight!"
He shook his head and dived straight to the centre and finally saw the man standing in the centre of the eye.
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