This close-quarters attack, without Yahiko's speed, would have made it impossible to complete the jutsu's release.
Then he would only have had his rhythm disrupted by the opponent's attack, putting himself at a disadvantage.
The samurai knew the weakness of a shinobi's hand signs, so he had been trying to use swift attacks to interrupt Yahiko's jutsu.
However, it was clear he hadn't expected Yahiko to be so fast.
Kaito, in the arena, was indeed astonished by Yahiko's hand sign speed. When a weakness transformed into a strength, it became incredibly difficult for him to attack.
Kaito himself gritted his teeth, thinking to himself, 'How can the Hokage's disciples all be so abnormal?'
But there was no other way; to win in battle, he had to seize the initiative.
He was inherently weaker than Yahiko, and if this stalemate continued, he would undoubtedly lose.
If he gambled on it, there was at least a chance!
As Kaito made his decision, the steel katana he gripped tightly erupted with a brilliant azure light.
Kaito lunged forward, charging towards Yahiko with a thrust.
Seeing this, Yahiko threw three kunai at him, but Kaito's steel katana easily cut them down.
"Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!"
Yahiko leaped backward and spewed several water orbs from his mouth, sending them crashing towards Kaito.
Immediately after, Yahiko jumped, quickly forming hand signs in mid-air, and softly said, "Boil Release: Skilled Mist Jutsu!"
A large amount of mist spewed from Yahiko's mouth, heavily enveloping the rapidly advancing Kaito, while Yahiko's own figure also vanished into the mist.
"This! What is this! Is it Hokage-sama's Cloud Release! Has Yahiko actually learned Cloud Release!"
Seeing the swirling mist in the arena, the villagers immediately cried out in alarm! This was something they were extremely familiar with!
Hokage-sama's ninjutsu involved controlling mist and clouds, and Yahiko was Hokage-sama's disciple, so it was perfectly normal for him to learn Cloud Release!
At this point, the villagers didn't care whether it was true or not; they simply started cheering!
However, many also felt that this wasn't Cloud Release; it looked very thin, no different from ordinary mist.
It seemed much more like Kirigakure's Hiding in Mist Jutsu.
Hashirama and Tobirama were also startled, but they quickly regained their composure.
"No, this can't be Cloud Release. The Kumotsuru Clan is a single-line succession. Torifu couldn't possibly pass down a Kekkei Tota like Cloud Release to his disciple. No matter what, Yahiko isn't Torifu's blood relative. It's impossible."
Hashirama stated with absolute certainty that for a clan to develop long-term and maintain its prestige, the most important thing was to ensure that its core secret techniques were only mastered by its own members.
If it became common knowledge, then even great clans wouldn't be respected.
The same applied to Cloud Release. If an outsider learned Cloud Release, then it would no longer be a rare jutsu, and the Kumotsuru Clan would no longer be a mysterious clan.
Tobirama and Mito agreed with Hashirama's words. They also believed that Torifu would not teach such a powerful Kekkei Genkai as Cloud Release to Yahiko, unless Torifu had already made Yahiko join the Kumotsuru Clan to remedy the clan's sparse population.
But that wasn't realistic either. So, they still leaned towards Yahiko using the Hiding in Mist Jutsu, or perhaps another Kekkei Genkai!
"Instead of us endlessly speculating here, why don't we ask Naori? She's not far from us," Mito said.
When Naori was called over, she was still holding Akihara in her arms.
As soon as Akihara saw Hashirama, he reached out his hands, wanting Hashirama to carry him: "Great-Grandpa!"
Hashirama, with a smiling face, took Akihara. "Ah, my good grandson, your big brother Yahiko is about to win. Are you happy?"
"Happy!"
Akihara was very sweet-mouthed, delighting both Mito and Tobirama.
Afterward, Hashirama directly asked Naori what exactly was going on with Yahiko.
Naori didn't try to hide anything. Instead, she spoke in a very low voice, barely audible to anyone but the few of them.
"While going through the clan's ancient texts, Torifu found a secret medicine that could awaken a Kekkei Genkai. He concocted it and gave Yahiko one dose, and that's how Yahiko awakened this Kekkei Genkai called Boil Release. It seems quite good."
The elders had to force themselves to understand for a moment, but then, upon closer thought, they realized it wasn't such a big deal.
After all, if they could concoct a 'Life Fruit' that let one live for another forty years, then this Kekkei Genkai was practically child's play.
Nothing was more valuable than life, so the elders weren't overly surprised.
"That boy Torifu, always coming up with things us old folks can't understand. But no matter, it's truly good that Konoha has another Kekkei Genkai prodigy."
They knew very little about the Kumotsuru Clan, but they were aware that even in the Senju Clan's oldest texts, deeds of the Kumotsuru Clan were recorded, and even then, the Kumotsuru Clan was already very powerful.
No one knew how long this clan's lineage had endured.
However, judging by the effects of these secret medicines, the Kumotsuru Clan must have been incredibly powerful in the past, otherwise, they wouldn't have been able to protect such a treasure.
Tobirama also sighed, "That boy is truly remarkable; he can come up with anything."
Records were useless; the key was being able to actually create them.
Naori let out a chuckle. "Torifu said it's quite difficult, so he only managed to make five of them, and he ran out of materials, so he might not be able to concoct any more in the future."
Hashirama nodded. "That's already very good. How to use them will certainly be up to you two as a couple. It's best to give them to trustworthy individuals, otherwise, it could cause a lot of trouble."
"Naturally."
Torifu, in the spectator stands, naturally had no idea what Naori and Hashirama were discussing. If he had known, he would have been extremely grateful that his ancestors came to the shinobi world and started a family in ancient times.
This allowed him to forcibly legitimize the system's items; otherwise, he truly wouldn't have known what pretense to use when utilizing them.
"Hokage-sama... what exactly is this?" Ōnoki was, of course, referring to Yahiko's ninjutsu.
Torifu didn't hide it, directly stating, "My Cloud Release and your Dust Release are both Kekkei Tota, while Yahiko's is a Kekkei Genkai. It lacks one type of chakra, and he calls it Boil Release."
"Boil Release, huh? Kekkei Genkai are truly profound. Even though it's just missing one type of chakra, the effects are worlds apart."
The Kage naturally all saw that this mist lacked various abilities like shaping and transformation; it simply couldn't compare to Cloud Release.
However, for a child, it was already extremely impressive. Yahiko's talent was on par with Konan's.
Mifune, who was standing nearby, heard Torifu's words and smiled, shaking his head. It seemed young Kaito was about to suffer.
None of a shinobi's Kekkei Genkai were easy to deal with. He estimated a victor would be decided very soon.