Blood Release: Crimson Scale Leap.
Yuji pushed the blood through his body at accelerated speed, driving himself into a heightened state.
He routed more blood into his eyes to sharpen his dynamic visual capture. It was this method that had allowed him to put Yagura under real pressure in close quarters.
The system had given him advantages, but Yagura had years of training and combat experience behind him that couldn't simply be erased. Elite Jonin was not a label attached lightly.
The ground shook as Yagura released Water Release even in the dry terrain, a large torrent sweeping outward and washing across the surrounding area. The two Hidden Mist ninja moved with it, stepping across the water surface and closing from both sides.
The water reached Yuji first. It didn't hit him directly but disrupted his footing and reshaped the terrain beneath him.
He swung both hands and two drops of blood launched to either side, driving toward the flanking ninja.
Both exploded into water.
Water Clone Jutsu.
They had anticipated the Blood Release and built their approach around it.
His eyes dropped toward the water still spreading across the ground. A hand came up from beneath the surface and closed around his ankle, pulling hard.
At the same moment the water behind him converged and a Hidden Mist ninja emerged from it, a spike already descending toward his back.
The blade plunged in.
The body exploded into white smoke.
Clone Jutsu.
The Hidden Mist ninja's expression broke.
The one in the water came up immediately, scanning outward. Yagura was already moving at the far end of the spread, weapon in hand, closing on Yuji's real position.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet."
The two Hidden Mist ninja formed the seals together and launched simultaneously. Two shapes built from surging water came in from either side, coordinating with Yagura's direct approach.
Yuji worked through it as his threads clashed with Yagura's weapon. No battle plan had been established before this. The three of them were improvising entirely from experience, and the result was something very close to a designed strategy anyway.
Every action served double purpose. Yagura's Water Release created conditions for the other two. Their Water Dragon Bullet gave Yagura cover for close-range pressure.
If someone died to his Blood Release, the death itself became a tool to open a window for the survivors. The coordination was tacit and continuous, built from years of operating together rather than from any instruction given before the fight.
Yagura used the close-range entanglement to restrict Yuji's movement options, making avoiding the incoming Water Release difficult.
Yuji pulled his hands back and stepped away cleanly.
The two water dragons came down and hit the ground where he had been standing.
Yagura landed nearby and his eyes sharpened.
Something registered.
"Careful!"
The warning came out fast.
A shape moving at the edge of visible speed had already crossed the ground and arrived in front of the two Hidden Mist ninja.
Blood Release: Wing King.
Crimson Scale Leap had his physical output elevated. Winged King layered acceleration on top of it. The combined effect pushed his burst speed to a level that made his body appear smeared across the space it passed through.
The sequential water techniques had left both Hidden Mist ninja fully exposed, their chakra spent and their positions fixed.
They had not anticipated this speed.
Death Waltz.
Threads spread through the air around both of them and then pulled inward all at once, the motion like a small storm compressing to a point.
One Hidden Mist ninja was caught completely. What remained of him was not worth describing.
The second lived.
The first had read the situation in the breath before the threads closed everything off. He understood he was not getting out.
He used what was left of his ability to push his companion clear before the binding sealed the last available gap, sacrificing himself to open the exit.
This was the difference between elite and ordinary ninja.
The moment Yuji killed one, Yagura was already blocking him again.
"Stay away!"
He said it in a low voice, directed at his remaining companion.
With Yuji's speed at this level, any subordinate caught in close range had no realistic means of coping. Even Yagura himself had found it difficult to accurately track the movements in that instant.
Without further discussion, the two of them divided roles immediately. Yagura took the primary engagement while the remaining Hidden Mist ninja maintained distance and applied long-range pressure.
The fight that followed was no longer purely Taijutsu. Yagura brought Water Release into the close-quarters exchange continuously, using Ninjutsu to restrict and damage, Water Clones to obstruct and delay.
He had observed Yuji attempting several times to break off and redirect toward his companion. He closed each attempt off before it could develop.
But as Yuji's speed pushed higher, the pressure on Yagura doubled. Some of his Water Release attacks were failing to connect.
The sustained Ninjutsu output was accelerating his chakra consumption in a way that a pure Taijutsu exchange would not have.
Clang, clang, clang.
Yagura swung the Coral Staff and knocked aside a spread of flying knives. His chest was rising and falling visibly now. He was breathing hard.
He had also noticed the shift in Yuji's approach. The threads were no longer the only tool. Flying knives had entered the pattern, thrown with real precision, a developed secondary skill.
Yagura's pupils contracted sharply.
He caught Yuji's pouncing attack on his staff, registering the blood-colored short dagger in the boy's hand, then dropped immediately into a crouch as Yuji's other hand swept downward.
Chakra Scalpel.
Yagura flashed back. The lingering fear settled into his chest for a moment.
He had nearly let himself forget that this boy was a Medical Ninja.
He took stock while the distance held.
"His Taijutsu is very strong. At this speed, his close-combat strength has been amplified exponentially. He has abilities that aren't accounted for in the intelligence, and they appear to be derived from his Kekkei Genkai as well.
But the most concerning thing isn't any single technique. It's his stamina consumption and recovery rate. Both are abnormal. His condition is still remarkably good. Some kind of Medical Ninjutsu, possibly."
He looked at the staff in his hand.
The collision with the blood blade had left a cut mark in the Coral Staff's surface. Whatever that short dagger was composed of, its edge was extraordinary.
"He hasn't used the long-range Blood Release Ninjutsu the intelligence described. Not once."
Yagura narrowed his eyes.
One more thing. The speed had dropped slightly from its peak. Whatever was sustaining that output, it had limits, and the chakra reserves behind it appeared to be approaching them.
"Retreat!"
Just as Yuji moved to press again, Yagura turned and ran.
He called to the supporting Hidden Mist ninja as he went, and the two of them broke away together at full speed.
Three against one, and one of the three was dead. By any measure, they had lost.
Yuji's eyelids twitched.
They were running.