Ino finally found Nadare Rouga, who had always claimed to be Kakashi-sensei's equal, after a considerable effort.
The person you're comparing yourself to, Kakuzu, is a hundred times more skilled than you.
"Konoha Village Ninja? To be able to find this place, does that mean that foolish woman Fubuki Kakuyoku was defeated by you?" Nadare Rouga, with his purple hair, green eyes, and tall stature, was the strongest of the Snow Ninja Village. He was waiting for a signal from his companions when he saw a woman he didn't recognize approaching from the other side of the snowy landscape. Her Ninja headband clearly showed her identity. As he spoke, a fierce killing intent emanated from him.
"You don't look like much. I heard you've fought Kakashi-sensei before?" Seeing him in person was different from hearing about him. Nadare Rouga had a strong malicious aura, but his actual abilities seemed quite ordinary.
Nadare Rouga sneered, "Kakashi? Just a defeated opponent. You ignorant child, today this will be your burial ground!"
He gritted his back teeth and began to form hand signs, but Ino was faster than him.
"Water Release: Heavenly Weeping!"
"Puff, puff, puff!"
Heavenly Weeping didn't require hand signs. In the blink of an eye, lightning-fast Water Release Chakra needles pierced Nadare Rouga's chest, lower abdomen, and neck, instantly staining half of his body with crimson blood.
The Chakra armor used by these Snow Ninja wasn't the traditional full or half-body armor. If one were to make a forced analogy, it was like a bunch of wires and a whole lot of electrodes connected together and put on, somewhat resembling a posture corrector from a previous life.
This was a technological device that stimulated the body's acupoints with electric current. Nadare Rouga's torso had no protection. Ino could feel that her Heavenly Weeping only pierced his skin and muscles; after that, on the outer layer of his nerves and Chakra pathways, the shield provided by the Chakra armor neutralized most of the damage.
It wasn't a physical defense, but more like an energy dissolution.
Fubuki Kakuyoku's earlier claim that the Chakra armor provided excellent defense against Ninjutsu wasn't an exaggeration.
"What the hell?" Nadare Rouga, who was still diligently forming hand signs, didn't know what had attacked him. Enduring the pain, he retreated repeatedly, his hands still meticulously forming signs.
Ino observed intently. She could tell that unlike the Female Ninja who relied on devices to stimulate the Gate of Joy, Nadare Rouga's Chakra stimulation device was on his limbs. He stimulated the Gate of Wonder and the Gate of Life to unleash his potential and enhance his combat abilities.
His movements were faster than expected, and his tolerance for pain was higher than that of an ordinary Ninja. As he rapidly retreated, he formed a dozen hand signs, finally releasing his Ninjutsu.
"Ice Release: Breaking Dragon Fierce Tiger!"
A fierce tiger made of ice and snow, carrying a biting cold wind, rushed out on all fours, roaring.
Ino's expression was serious; this Ninjutsu had some tricks to it. Facing the ice tiger, she also launched a counterattack.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow River!" This was a B-rank Earth Release Ninjutsu Ino learned from Tsunade, inherited from the Third Hokage. Jiraiya had modified this jutsu into the A-rank Ninjutsu, Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld.
Ino's hand signs were extremely fast. Earth Flow River instantly cracked the frozen ground, turning it into a muddy swamp. Nadare Rouga, along with his ice tiger, sank into it and was then swept away by the flowing mud.
The sudden appearance of the mud disrupted Nadare Rouga's combat rhythm. He had never seen such a strange Ninjutsu before.
He fumbled, trying to grab onto something to cling to.
Unfortunately, his feet found no purchase, and his body kept sinking. Soon, the mud reached his waist.
Ino's half-smile made this strongest Snow Ninja, who told everyone he was Kakashi's equal, extremely irritated.
Unable to bear it any longer, he gritted his teeth and formed hand signs: "Ice Release: One-Horned White Whale."
An ice block shaped like a whale burst out of the ice. Nadare Rouga grabbed the giant whale's horn, flipped onto its back, and used the Ninjutsu's momentum to escape the mire.
With most of his body covered in mud, his previous composure and elegance were nowhere to be seen.
Ino smiled; another Ninja who diligently formed hand signs. She loved fighting such Ninja the most.
She didn't use Ninjutsu again. Without waiting for the giant whale to land, her body was incredibly light. She moved through the many ice blocks stirred up by the giant whale, using them to leap.
Approaching within five steps, she jumped onto the giant whale's head, pulled out a Kunai, and used Water Release: Water Blade Slash. Water Release Chakra, with its piercing and sharp properties, covered the Kunai, making it like a short sword, which she thrust rapidly towards Nadare Rouga's heart.
Nadare Rouga's Taijutsu was unusually poor. Faced with the incoming water blade, he only knew to activate his armor to stimulate Chakra acupoints, then use high-speed sidesteps to evade.
Calling him an idiot, Ino changed her thrust into a slash.
The water blade cut a large chunk of flesh from Nadare Rouga's arm.
Before he could cry out in pain, Ino kicked him in the lower abdomen. This area had two bleeding holes from Heavenly Weeping earlier, and now it was directly hit by her Painful Sky Foot. As he flew backward, the wounds instantly burst open.
Standing on the white whale's back, Ino extended her arm, getting ahead of him, and pulled the Snow Ninja, who was still in mid-air, back. Her left hand clenched into a fist, and she punched him in the chest. Before Nadare Rouga's chest could spray blood, she pressed the Snow Ninja's head, making him upside down and facing away from her, then she side-kicked, aiming another blow at his spine!
With a crisp 'crack,' Nadare Rouga flew more than ten meters away like a kite with a broken string.
"I want you dead! Die, die!" Nadare Rouga lay in the snow. After taking one punch and two kicks from Ino, he seemed to want to stand up, but his chest was in immense pain. He tried twice and failed. Even more terrifying was the complete numbness in his lower body.
"Master Wolf, if there were blades down here, you'd already be dead. This isn't how you fight." Ino's voice sounded to his left.
"Earth Release: Earth Spikes!"
Did he still have a chance to live? Before Nadare Rouga could beg for mercy, he felt several thick, sharp spikes suddenly shoot up from beneath his body, crisscrossing and piercing him from multiple directions.
Didn't you say there were no blades down here? Why are you still using earth spikes?
Unable to comprehend Ino's thoughts, Nadare Rouga breathed his last, filled with confusion.
"Idiot, your Taijutsu is so bad, and you don't even try to practice? Relying solely on that broken armor is utterly useless."
Ino used her own Chakra to examine Nadare Rouga's corpse, which had seven or eight holes poked into it. The Chakra pathways in his hands and feet showed signs of atrophy due to frequent electrical stimulation. Without a body tempered through countless trials, trying to take shortcuts and attempting to open the Eight Gates seemed ultimately futile.
She stripped off the Chakra armor and took the body back to Santayu to report, which would allow her to claim another 'wear and tear' expense.
A quarter of an hour later, Shikamaru and the others also returned.
There was really nothing to say. With the three of them working together, including Hinata whose Dojutsu Power had greatly improved, they easily defeated the Snow Ninja Fuyukuma Hyoume.
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