Thorn watched the battle unfold from his elevated position, his eyes following every movement and every exchange between the village warriors he had trained and the demon's followers who had come out to stop them.
The demon's followers fought using various elemental techniques . fire and earth attacks. They were certainly powerful and effective techniques for fighters of their level, and they were not to be underestimated.
Even so, the warriors whom Thorn had trained by focusing primarily on strengthening their physical abilities while improving their coordination, speed, and chakra control were keeping up with those techniques well. They did not recklessly confront the elemental attacks head on. Instead, they responded with precise, swift strikes at the right moments and calculated evasions that avoided unnecessary exhaustion while preserving their stamina for as long as possible.
Still, Thorn could clearly see that it would be difficult for them to end the battle quickly. Their level was not high enough above their opponents to secure a rapid victory. The progress they had made during their training was real and significant, but it had not reached the point of overwhelming superiority that would allow them to win decisively without attrition. They would only emerge victorious after a relatively long battle of endurance whose results would ripen gradually.
Even so, he was not worried. Their side still had a trump card that had yet to be played.
His gaze shifted toward Hinako, who stood behind the warriors with her hands joined together, gathering her chakra to its absolute limit. Her entire body was perfectly prepared, and her eyes followed the battle with unwavering concentration as she searched for the ideal moment to unleash the new technique she had learned from him over the past year. She waited patiently instead of rushing, and that alone proved that she had fully understood what he had taught her about the importance of timing when using decisive techniques.
Fwooosh.
A web of dense black lines burst from her hands, cutting through the space between her allies at incredible speed without harming a single one of them before racing toward the demon's followers behind them. Moving too quickly for its targets to react, it wrapped tightly around four of them, forming complete cocoons that pinned their limbs firmly against their bodies and left them utterly incapable of moving. They collapsed to the ground, completely restrained.
"Well done."
Thorn muttered quietly as he continued observing with vigilant eyes.
At that same moment, however, he noticed the two followers who had escaped her technique. They had sensed the approaching black lines at the very last instant and managed to evade them with swift, precise movements. The moment they realized that four of their companions had been trapped by the blonde girl's technique, they immediately made a decision.
They darted past the village warriors confronting them and rushed straight toward Hinako at the rear. Their objective was obvious: eliminate her first, then free their companions from her sealing technique.
Closing the distance in an instant, one launched a massive earth-style attack while the other unleashed an enormous wave of fire at the same time. The two attacks came from different angles, converging on her simultaneously.
Thorn, who had been watching the entire scene from above, remained calm. He had not limited Hinako's training to fuinjutsu alone. He had also taught her another fundamental technique of the Walt family . the Fine Chakra Threads, one of the family's signature combat techniques that relied on extraordinary chakra control to produce razor-thin, incredibly sharp and durable threads that could be manipulated with exceptional precision.
In truth, he had not been entirely certain that she could use this technique efficiently in a real battle under this level of pressure. However, another factor had changed that calculation considerably. The gift his father had sent her shortly before the battle . the beautiful golden crown of roses was not merely an ornamental accessory or a symbol of status. It possessed practical properties that helped regulate the wearer's spiritual energy, dramatically enhancing their chakra control far beyond what they could naturally achieve.
After Hinako had put on the crown before the battle, she immediately realized that her control over all of her techniques had reached an entirely different level. Greater precision, smoother control, and the ability to perform techniques more effortlessly while consuming far less chakra.
Fwooosh.
A web of fine chakra threads burst from her fingertips. Though impossibly thin, the threads possessed extraordinary sharpness and durability. They collided with the incoming attacks and shredded them into countless fragments before they could reach her. The earth attack crumbled into tiny pebbles that scattered in every direction, while the massive wave of fire was sliced apart into small tongues of flame that quickly died out.
Before the two enemies could react or prepare another attack, the very same threads coiled around them in a swift circular motion, binding them tightly before violently pulling them together. They crashed onto the ground, securely restrained with no possibility of escaping.
Thorn silently observed the completed scene. The first four enemies remained trapped inside their cocoons, utterly helpless, while the last two lay bound tightly by the chakra threads. Seeing the outcome, he felt a quiet sense of satisfaction.
His efforts had not been in vain.
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