Tejima Shinichi, already nearing Ishikawa Village, jerked to a halt.
Ahead, on the open ground a few hundred meters from the village gate, a dozen corpses lay strewn about —the very mountain bandits they had come to eliminate.
The stench of blood was thick enough to turn the stomach.
Under the moonlight every corpse bore a single, clean wound —kills too precise for villagers or infighting.
Tejima Shinichi's pupils shrank.
In the instant that thought flashed, his hands were already forming seals.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Poof! Poof! Poof! Poof!
Four Shadow Clones popped into being, backs to his original, sweeping the silent darkness.
"Show yourself!"
His icy voice rolled through the night.
Answer came as five figures slipped soundlessly from behind trees and rocks.
Matching animal masks, standard Ninja garb —every escape route sealed.
Shinichi's gaze swept the five.
Disciplined, coordinated, purposeful.
At least four Chunin and one Jonin…
"Who are you?" he demanded coldly. "What business have you in the Land of Fire?"
The masked Ninja said nothing.
After a breathless pause, the leader —tanuki mask —spoke at last:
"Tejima Shinichi."
He spoke the name outright.
"Your gifts should not rot beneath a sun that blinds."
Understanding struck Shinichi like lightning.
"Root…!" His eyes froze, a scornful laugh escaping. "Danzo Shimura sent you, didn't he?"
The clash in the Hokage Office… that cur had held a grudge after all.
The tanuki-masked Jonin neither confirmed nor denied. "Darkness is the soil where true strength grows. Come quietly; we'll take you where you belong."
"Where I belong?" Shinichi's lips curled. "To be branded like you with a tongue-seal and turned into a tool that can't see daylight?"
A flicker of emotion crossed one Root Ninja's eyes, yet they stayed silent.
Shinichi pressed on, voice like frost. "What I can't fathom is why that mangy hound Danzo keeps hounding me. Because I'm young and easy prey? Because my parents were no-name Ninja he can twist at will?"
His gaze swept the five, openly contemptuous.
"Hokage-sama slapped him down in public, yet he dares not face the Hokage —so he pulls this gutter trick on a fresh Genin? Pathetic."
The tanuki-masked Jonin's stare hardened. "Insult Lord Danzo —another crime. Since you won't surrender… move! Capture him; cripple him if he resists."
At his order the four Root Chunin blurred into after-images, Kunai whistling for vital points.
Four Chunin, one Jonin watching.
Shinichi's face was stone. "Flattered… then bring it!"
His four Shadow Clones sprang forward, each intercepting a Chunin; steel rang and fists collided.
While his clones fought, Shinichi's real hands finished their seals.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"
Chakra surged as an oversized earthen dragon roared toward the melee.
"That scale—?!" A Chunin, tangled with a clone, paled.
The Jonin slammed his palms together. "Earth Release: Earth Formation Wall!"
A thick rampart of rock shot up, blocking the dragon's path.
The dragon smashed into the wall—
BOOOOM!
A thunderous blast lit the night; stone and soil rained outward.
Lights flickered in nearby Ishikawa Village at the roar.
Dust drifted aside; the Earth Flow Wall lay shattered, the four Chunin wind-blown but unhurt.
The tanuki-masked Jonin lowered his hands, gaze grave. "A monster indeed… your Chakra reserves are startling."
He drew the short blade at his back and stepped forward. "But Ninja battles aren't won on Chakra alone. I'll show you the true gap between Jonin and Genin."
Shinichi felt the pressure yet grinned, unflinching. "Chakra? True —there's more to Ninja than volume."
His hands lifted; vast Chakra surged like an awakened titan, rippling the air. "But watch when that 'mere' volume erupts!"
Even as he spoke he formed new seals—
"Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!"
The A-rank Jutsu, super-charged, became a tsunami that crashed down, sealing every escape.
The tanuki-masked Jonin's eyes widened, composure finally cracking beneath the deluge
The tanuki-masked Jonin's pupils shrank; facing this tsunami-scale Water Release that blotted out the sky, he roared at once:
"Combined Defense! Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
The order snapped out, and the well-trained Root Ninja reacted instantly. Including the Jonin, all five slammed their palms to the ground in perfect sync.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Five thick earthen walls rose one after another, standing side-by-side to meet the surging flood.
Rumble—!!!
The deafening impact shook the earth; the deluge slammed into the united Earth Flow Wall, sending geysers into the sky. The first three walls cracked all over and teetered, but after all they barely held against the savage strike.
Water streamed along both sides of the walls, turning the ground into a muddy mess.
One Chunin, relieved the assault had been stopped, let out a small breath.
Then the unexpected struck again!
Tejima Shinichi's icy voice cut through the roar of the water:
"Not finished yet! Earth Release: Earth Spike!"
His hands had long since finished the seals; he slammed them against the ground once more.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Before the five Root Ninja could steady themselves, the earth beneath them quaked violently. Countless huge, sharp stone spears —far larger than ordinary —burst out in a vast area, like a Forest of Death sprouting in an instant.
"What?! Such range?!"
The tanuki-masked Jonin's face twisted. Relying on a Jonin's reflexes, he flashed aside, narrowly dodging the lethal spear jutting from underfoot.
The other three Chunin also used their own means —leaping or rolling —escaping in sorry states.
But that Chunin who had relaxed a moment ago reacted half a beat too late.
Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!
A sickening tearing sound rang out.
Three massive stone spears skewered his body at once— through the abdomen, chest, and thigh.
The tremendous impact even tore his form, lifting and rending it.
Before the blood and scraps of organs could splatter, the still-surging current washed and diluted them, dyeing a wide stretch of mud crimson.
The broken corpse hung on the stone spears, a ghastly sight.
"Damn it!"
Another Chunin, seeing his comrade killed before his eyes, was so shaken his movements faltered.
That instant of hesitation was the opening.
Shinichi would never let it pass.
"Shadow Clone Technique!"
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Three Shadow Clones appeared beside the original, all overlapping in seals as Chakra blazed.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullet Technique!"
"Water Release: Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
Three mighty Jutsu dragons surged toward the four scattered enemies —water dragon roared, earth dragon charged, and the colliding wave crashed like a berserk tide.
Water dragon howled, earth dragon galloped, Exploding Water Colliding Wave raged like a furious sea.
The unavoidable ruinous combo left the shaken Chunin in despair. Twisting desperately, he barely avoided the water dragon, his body still airborne and momentum spent.
At the instant he thought he'd escaped—
BOOM!!
The solid earth dragon smashed squarely into his back.
Crack—!
A scalp-numbing bone-shatter echoed.
Before a scream could escape, he was hit like a mountain ramming him at full speed —chest and spine imploded into comminuted fractures.
The savage force hurled his body as though an unseen giant hand slammed him toward the ground.
BOOM!!!
Mud flew everywhere.
Pinned by the dragon's head, his form was ploughed across the earth, carving a shocking trench.
Where it passed, flesh pulped and bones shattered—he was nearly ground into a gory smear on the spot by sheer physical power.
And still it wasn't over!
The Exploding Water Colliding Wave surged right after; the violent current washed over the area.
The barely human-shaped remains were tossed in the savage tumble like clothes in a washer—bone shards and flesh pieces torn, stripped, and swept away. In one breath, nothing was left but crimson-stained mud and a few scraps of cloth; every trace of that Chunin vanished.
Not even bones remained.
Another Chunin —dead.
Within a few breaths, two of the four elite Root Chunin had been wiped out.
The tanuki-masked Jonin, relying on superb skill, threaded through the Jutsu gaps; though he avoided fatal wounds, his robes were shredded and he looked bedraggled.
He stared at Tejima Shinichi standing not far away, aura not the least diminished, and waves of shock finally surged in his heart.
Such Chakra reserves, such Jutsu strength, this savage, no-holds-barred style... a Genin?! With power like this, calling him Jonin wouldn't be the least bit exaggerated!
Shinichi calmed his surging breath and spat out a few cold words:
"Now, can you tell me exactly where the gap between a Jonin and a Genin lies?!"