In the flash of thoughts, the water spear finally struck home. The Hardening Technique did not produce the effect the attacker had imagined; the defense covering his body was pierced the instant it made contact.
Looking at the water spear embedded in his body, the attacker involuntarily widened his eyes. But soon he realized that although intense pain kept coming from the pierced area, that was inevitable. The important thing was that it wasn't a one-hit kill.
"After throwing it, next should be pulling out the spear."
Watching the attacker with the water spear still stuck in him continue retreating into the distance, Furina gave a light laugh, extended her hand toward his fleeing direction, and then clenched it fiercely.
At the same moment Furina acted, the attacker also sensed something wrong, but it was already too late. In the next instant, the water spear lodged in his body erupted in a massive explosion, blasting open a huge hole in his chest.
After stepping forward to confirm the opponent was truly dead and hadn't faked death with some method, Furina turned her head to look at the other ongoing battles.
Guy and Kakashi naturally had no issues; they were handling things very easily. Kakashi even glanced at her in his spare moment.
She suspected that if those two got serious, they would have dealt with their opponents long ago. Dragging it out until now was purely them slacking off.
Compared to them, Team 3's three members weren't having it so easy. Lee had already opened the Eight Gates, Neji's eyes had veins bulging, and they were clearly going all out.
Fortunately, the opponent's strength wasn't particularly great. Under full effort, the three gradually gained the upper hand. Finally, with Tenten providing cover, Lee and Neji flanked from left and right to defeat the enemy.
After their fight ended, the "dragging" Kakashi and Guy quickly finished off their own opponents one after another. Clearly, they had been holding back earlier; otherwise, the battles could have ended much sooner.
But even if you two wanted to give them experience, you could have finished your own opponents first. What if something unexpected happened while dragging it out like that? Seriously.
"My dear students, well done."
After finishing their respective opponents and regrouping, Guy didn't hold back in expressing his praise. He had seen the strength of the attackers just now; defeating such opponents was enough to prove they were gradually developing the ability to stand on their own.
Facing Guy's approval, Lee immediately got excited. Tenten was in roughly the same state. Even Neji, who usually appeared quite indifferent, showed a smile on his face, clearly in a good mood.
"Don't look at me. I'm perfectly aware you could have handled those guys easily. Haha."
Noticing Furina's gaze turning toward him, Kakashi still had his usual dead-fish eyes, showing no emotional fluctuation at all, acting as if it was only natural. It made her want to punch him.
After sighing about how people change and Kakashi had changed too, the regrouped team set off again on their journey.
The attackers just now were, without surprise, sent by Mōryō. Since the opponent thought this way, it meant the seal on his body hadn't been broken yet, which was why he sent people to "intercept" them.
Overall, things were still okay. The worst-case scenario hadn't happened.
...
"You all have a misunderstanding about me. I was just saving my stamina for dealing with Mōryō later, so I held back earlier to avoid consuming too much and affecting the later battle."