บท 61: Chapter 61: One Wave After Another
Clearing his thoughts and shaking off the blood from his blade, Qingming turned his gaze toward Mizutani Shizuko and the Iwagakure Chunin she was fighting.
After twenty minutes of fierce combat, Mizutani Shizuko had clearly fallen into a disadvantage, with several superficial wounds now covering her body. As a female ninja, she didn't possess the same stamina as male ninjas, and to make matters worse, she was still underage.
As the battle wore on, her disadvantage became increasingly apparent, and she was now on the verge of defeat, desperately needing his help.
It was precisely because of this that Qingming had chosen to kill Nishimura Ishihei quickly. Otherwise, he could have easily dragged the fight out.
A sharp whistling sound filled the air as a kunai flew straight toward the Iwagakure Chunin.
On the other side...
Hirai Ichiro held his kunai, ready to deliver the finishing blow to Mizutani Shizuko when, suddenly, a kunai flew toward him from the side.
Sensing the danger, Hirai Ichiro swiftly dodged.
Once he confirmed his safety, he turned to look in the direction the kunai had come from.
What he saw gave him a shock.
He had been keeping an eye on Qingming's battle with Nishimura Ishihei, and just a moment ago, the two had been evenly matched. How had Nishimura Ishihei been killed so quickly?
Although Hirai Ichiro didn't know Nishimura Ishihei well, he had met him a few times and had a rough sense of his strength. Nishimura Ishihei wasn't the strongest Chunin, but he was definitely much stronger than Hirai Ichiro.
Yet now, he lay dead, killed by a kid.
Did that mean this kid was far stronger than he was?
And seeing that Qingming's clothes were still neat and clean only confirmed his suspicions.
But this wasn't something to be happy about. The stronger his enemy, the more dangerous his situation.
"What should I do?"
Hirai Ichiro's eyes darted around as he looked for someone to help him.
But to his dismay, the Iwagakure ninjas were already outnumbered, and after twenty minutes of battle, even fewer of them were left. Those who were still standing were all locked in fierce battles with two or three Konoha ninjas each, leaving no one to come to his aid.
"So, I'm on my own."
With this realization, Hirai Ichiro flung his kunai and quickly formed a series of hand seals, preparing to cast a jutsu.
Seeing this, Qingming dodged the kunai and immediately formed six hand seals: Rat, Tiger, Dog, Ox, Rabbit, Tiger.
He took a deep breath, gathered the Fire Release chakra in his throat, and rapidly fired it out like a machine gun.
In the next moment, countless flames, resembling the seeds of a phoenix flower, shot toward Hirai Ichiro, densely packed and unrelenting.
Witnessing this, Hirai Ichiro's hands froze in the middle of his own jutsu.
At that moment, only one thought filled his mind: "Why is he so fast?"
Yes, why so fast?
The answer was simple. Ever since Qingming had focused on improving his Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique among the three Fire Release techniques, his proficiency with it had soared. Though he only allocated about a quarter of his chakra each day to practice this technique, it had already reached level 3 (226/1000).
With such mastery, dealing with an average Chunin wasn't a matter of overpowering them; it was simply a matter of striking faster.
Just like now—though Qingming had started his jutsu slightly later, his technique was the first to land.
This left Hirai Ichiro in a terrible situation.
If he continued casting his jutsu, he'd be hit by Qingming's attack. But if he abandoned his jutsu, all the time he'd spent preparing it would go to waste.
For the sake of his own survival, though, Hirai Ichiro had no choice but to give up. He simply couldn't cast jutsu and dodge at the same time.
Thus, Hirai Ichiro immediately retreated, trying to evade Qingming's attack.
But as he tried to retreat, someone else had no intention of letting him escape.
From the side, Mizutani Shizuko, seizing an opportunity, decisively launched an attack.
Swish, swish, swish!
Several shuriken flew toward Hirai Ichiro, aiming for various vital spots on his body.
Sensing the danger, Hirai Ichiro frantically dodged.
Though he narrowly avoided Mizutani Shizuko's shuriken, one of Qingming's fireballs grazed his arm.
Instantly, a searing pain spread from his left arm, and Hirai Ichiro grimaced.
Qingming, ever perceptive, noticed this small detail and used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly close the distance, launching another attack from the right.
Desperately dodging, Hirai Ichiro did everything he could to avoid direct confrontation with Qingming.
But the more he dodged, the more relentless Qingming became, forcing him to engage. With his left arm injured, Qingming focused his attacks on that side, quickly gaining the upper hand.
Finally, after dodging several more strikes, Hirai Ichiro had no choice but to engage Qingming in close combat.
And as Qingming had anticipated, Hirai Ichiro soon found himself at a severe disadvantage, his left arm nearly severed in the process.
Drip, drip, drip.
Bright red blood dripped from Hirai Ichiro's arm, trickling down his hand and finally falling to the ground in small droplets.
Hirai Ichiro winced at the pain radiating from his left arm, but he didn't dare take his eyes off Qingming's sword.
In their brief exchange, Hirai Ichiro had already realized how skilled Qingming was with his sword.
It was no wonder Nishimura Ishihei had fallen to him. With swordsmanship like that, even a Jonin would have trouble taking him on.
Because of this, Hirai Ichiro kept his gaze firmly locked on Qingming, fearing that any moment of distraction would be his last.
But in reality, Qingming didn't need to rely on surprise attacks. With the current situation, a straightforward battle was enough to end things.
With that thought, Qingming leapt forward, his sword clashing with Hirai Ichiro's kunai in a rapid series of strikes.
Two minutes later, Qingming found an opening and plunged his sword into Hirai Ichiro's abdomen.
Splurt!
A mouthful of blood sprayed from Hirai Ichiro's mouth.
In his final moments, Hirai Ichiro activated an explosive tag, trying to grab Qingming's arm and take him down with him.
But unfortunately for him, he was already at the end of his rope, and his movements were slow. Before he could even make a move, Qingming had already leapt back, putting a safe distance between them.
A moment later, a loud explosion echoed through the air, and a ball of fire engulfed Hirai Ichiro.
It was only after this that Mizutani Shizuko approached.
The pace of the battle had been so fast that she hadn't had time to step in, so she had taken the opportunity to rest and recover her stamina.
Thanks to the superior endurance of ninjas, even this short rest had allowed her to regain a significant amount of energy.
As she approached, Qingming was about to speak when suddenly, another figure appeared beside them.
Mizutani Shizuko, still on edge, immediately raised her kunai in defense, while Qingming remained calm.
It wasn't that his reaction was slower than Mizutani Shizuko's—quite the opposite. He had seen the face of the person approaching and knew there was no need to act.
The newcomer was none other than their squad leader, Haruki Mori, a Special Jonin.
Without paying any attention to Mizutani Shizuko's overly defensive reaction, Haruki Mori issued a direct order, "Head to Sector E3 immediately and follow the command of Squad 2's captain."
With that, he sped off in another direction without delay.
Following Haruki Mori's footsteps, Qingming saw two Konoha Chunin who had just finished off their enemies taking a brief rest. It was clear that Haruki Mori was gathering more manpower.
However...
"Sector E3?"
"That's another route from Iwagakure's base to the logistics outpost, isn't it?"
"Could it be that Iwagakure has sent reinforcements again?"
The more Qingming thought about it, the more likely it seemed.
"Damn it! One wave after another!"
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