"So fast."
Shion didn't see clearly, but she saw the attacker coming at her perfectly—the speed Furina displayed far surpassed his, arriving in front of the priestess from afar in just the blink of an eye.
Furina's earlier guess had been correct. Because she had omitted hand seals for her ninjutsu, the attackers didn't know the powerful Water Release just now was cast by her alone—they thought it was from Kakashi, Guy, or the others who had gone out to meet the enemy.
That was also why the opponent dared to act alone against Shion. In his view, the ninja who had unleashed the powerful Water Release was already pinned down by his comrades, so he should take this chance to complete the mission.
But Furina's performance just now was undeniable. Realizing that the ninja left behind to guard the priestess wasn't so easy to deal with, the attacker preparing to strike Shion directly felt some hesitation unconsciously.
He could see his comrades were struggling—likely no match for those ninjas. If he got held up here too, the mission might fail, and they could even end up wiped out.
With other thoughts in mind, the person rushing this way involuntarily stopped. As the leader, he still needed to weigh the pros and cons at this moment.
Though he had stopped, Furina had no intention of letting up. He'd almost run right up to her face—if she didn't act now, even she would feel it was inappropriate.
Seeing Furina's figure turn into an afterimage and vanish from beside Shion, the attacker thought "not good" and instinctively used Earth Release: Hardening Technique to reinforce his defense. This choice was clearly correct.
"Bang!"
Right after he activated Hardening Technique, a kunai appeared from behind him, stabbing toward his heart.
The strike missed. Furina retreated, no longer tangling with him. Though she could easily keep suppressing him with raw strength, it was rare to encounter a turtle-type opponent—perfect for experimenting with her ninjutsu.
"It seems you're better at speed."
Perhaps because Furina had backed off, the attacker mistakenly thought she wasn't good at offense, dispelling his original plan to retreat. Instead, he maintained Hardening Technique while beginning to form hand seals again.
Facing the attacker's "misunderstanding," Furina just gave a light laugh, with no intention of explaining. Facts would prove everything.
Actually, the attacker's "misunderstanding" wasn't baseless. By common sense, a student who looked like they'd just graduated from the academy would struggle to excel in everything—there would always be weaknesses. For example, excelling in speed would mean shortcomings elsewhere.
And with Mōryō's power boosting them, their strength was naturally more comprehensive. That was why he dared to stay.
But unfortunately, Furina couldn't be judged by ordinary standards. Trying to measure her with common sense was doomed to go wrong.
"Heh." Noticing the opponent preparing ninjutsu, a continuously spinning light blue sphere appeared in Furina's hand. What ninjutsu it was went without saying—it was naturally the Rasengan.
But after the Rasengan formed, the changes didn't stop. Its color gradually shifted from light blue to deep blue, and its shape also began to change.
From a round sphere, it gradually flattened, elongated, and finally formed sharp points at both ends, overall taking the form of a javelin.
Well, a javelin. Since Furina didn't know what shape would be best, she simply made it into a form more suited for offense first.
The nature transformation of Water chakra is shape transformation. Thus, after adding Water nature transformation to the Rasengan, its form could be freely adjusted.
This allowed it to increase in power while becoming more suitable for combat—no longer like the attribute-less Rasengan that required hand-rubbing and charging forward, greatly improving convenience. But currently in the ninja world, she was probably the only one who could achieve this.
"Water Release: "
"Fire Release: Great Stream Fire"
Honestly, after seeing this move from Furina, the attacker who was forming seals already regretted his earlier decision. Though he didn't recognize the ninjutsu Furina used, no matter how he looked at it, it wasn't ordinary. Plus that chakra nature transformation...
The one who blocked their four-man combo ninjutsu earlier was probably this kid on the opposite side. They'd targeted the wrong person from the start.
After realizing the earlier Water Release was most likely cast by Furina alone, the thought of retreating filled the attacker's mind again. He immediately acted on it—after using his ninjutsu, his figure quickly retreated, planning to use the flames as cover to withdraw.
"You came all this way—why leave in such a hurry?"
Though the opponent's figure grew farther, Furina wasn't anxious. She first sidestepped to dodge the flames rushing toward her, then closed one eye, calmly aimed for a moment, and finally threw the "javelin"-transformed Rasengan in her hand toward him.
The instant the javelin left her hand, the attacker—who had already retreated some distance—suddenly felt his hair stand on end, as if targeted by something extremely dangerous. He naturally also noticed the "water javelin" Furina had thrown at him and knew the bone-chilling feeling just now came from this attack.
Though the "water javelin" was extremely fast and unavoidable, making his body instinctively feel uneasy, his heart actually relaxed quite a bit. His earlier choice was correct, and he'd already pulled to a safe distance. As long as he blocked this move, he could...
While he was thinking, the "water javelin" had already arrived nearby. The near-suffocating sense of lethality on it felt like the grim reaper pressing down, constantly oppressing his thoughts and preventing him from continuing his previous line of reasoning.
"Earth Release: Multiple Mud Wall"
As the "water javelin" rapidly closed in, the prepared attacker used his life-saving ninjutsu. But to his shock, the several mud walls he summoned were pierced through like paper by the "water javelin," and his mood was pierced along with them.
Though the mud walls didn't do much, they at least slightly slowed the "water javelin," giving him time to react so he wouldn't die unclearly.
"Earth Release: Hardening Technique"
Perhaps because he was out of tricks and had no other means, in the end he pinned all his hopes on the Hardening Technique that had successfully blocked Furina's attack earlier.
With his full power driving it, the effect of Hardening Technique was pushed to his limit. Feeling this unprecedented sensation, he finally felt some sense of security in his heart.
"It'll work."