A deep sapphire jet burst forth, faster than the eye could track —like lightning tearing the night sky —straight for the Tanuki Jonin's face, magnifying in his pupils!
Before the ultimate piercing force even reached him, the cold already stung his skin like needles.
"What?! Too fast!"
The Tanuki Jonin saw the lethal blue reflected in his eyes; that instant of distraction had cost him the perfect moment to dodge.
"Captain —watch out!"
"Move!"
The two flanking Chunin screamed in horror, too late to help, forced to watch the devastating blue lance bear down on their leader.
He couldn't evade!
"Aaaargh—!!"
At death's door the Tanuki Jonin roared like a beast, savage resolve flashing in his eyes —if he couldn't dodge, he'd meet it head-on!
His long blade ignited, every ounce of fire-natured Chakra poured in without reserve.
"Konoha-Ryū Kenjutsu: Fire Release: Dragon Flame Slash!"
Raging flame coiled round the steel like an infuriated dragon; with an upward sweep he sent the fire dragon roaring to meet the sapphire spear.
"Boom—!!!"
Water and fire clashed at their extremes!
A tearing shriek and detonation erupted together.
Yet the Hard Water Whirlblade's ultra-compressed penetration clearly held the upper hand.
After barely an instant the blue lance brutally ripped through the flame dragon's core.
The Tanuki Jonin could only watch, stupefied, as the unstoppable water spear punched straight through his proud Dragon Flame Slash.
The lethal blue flare filled his wildly contracting pupils.
"What?! Impossible!"
He shrieked in disbelief —this was completely outside his expectations.
"Thud—!"
The remaining force of the Hard Water Whirlblade drove into his right chest, boring a ghastly hole straight through.
His body convulsed; blood gushed as he toppled backward, eyes wide with shock and unwillingness.
One careless instant —and he'd suffered such a crushing defeat!
"Captain!!"
"Sir—!!"
The two remaining Chunin, seeing their leader's chest pierced and his body crash down, were paralysed with terror, their cries thick with disbelief.
Even the captain was crippled… what hope had they? At that moment Tejima Shinichi halted his frantic retreat, staring in astonishment at the fallen Jonin and the two clearly rattled enemies.
He hadn't expected a hasty all-out counter to actually cripple a Jonin.
A sudden urge to counterattack surged through him.
The balance was broken!
Without hesitation he snapped his right hand up, Chakra once more surging and gathering within.
"Whir—!"
A sphere of compressed blue Chakra spun into being at his palm, humming shrilly.
The highly condensed energy churned the surrounding air.
Tejima Shinichi lifted his gaze, showing the first smile since the fight began.
"Hahaha… now the tables have turned!"
He shot forward, whirling Rasengan in hand, arrow-straight for the rattled Chunin on the left.
The Chunin's eyes reddened; survival instinct overrode fear and his fingers flew through seals at top speed.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere!"
A high-pressure wind sphere blasted out, meeting the oncoming Rasengan head-on.
"Bang!"
The two energies collided at point-blank range, exploding; chaotic blades of wind and Chakra shrapnel sprayed in every direction.
Tejima Shinichi never flinched, ploughing through the blast-wash and bursting out of the smoke and turbulence.
His right sleeve was shredded, skin criss-crossed with fine cuts, yet his eyes stayed razor-sharp.
More terrifying still: in his left palm a second blue Rasengan had already formed.
"N-no… impossible!"
The Chunin watched Shinichi —looking like death itself —loom through the smoke, the swirling orb of doom inches from his face, and screamed in despair.
In his eyes the world shrank to that ever-growing blue blaze and Shinichi's ice-cold visage.
"It's over."
Shinichi slammed his left palm forward!
The Rasengan smashed square into the mask.
"Crack—!!"
With a sickening crunch the sturdy mask shattered; the face beneath caved like a watermelon hit by a hammer —distorting, bursting apart.
Red and white fragments of skull and brain splattered wildly under the spiralling force.
The headless corpse spasmed once, then crumpled.
Another Root Chunin, dead.
Shinichi straightened slowly, flicked gore from his left hand, and turned to the last enemy —pale, trembling, backing away in terror.
No mercy. His right hand rose and the familiar whine returned as a lethal Rasengan formed instantly.
He lunged, killing intent blazing, straight for the final target.
In the Chunin's widening pupils Shinichi's sprinting figure and savage grin looked like a demon crawling from hell.
The spinning blue orb swelled to fill his entire vision.
"Die!"
Shinichi snarled, the Rasengan about to slam into the man's chest.
"Mind Transfer Jutsu!"