Chapter 119:
"You're still just as simple as ever, Boruto," Mitsuki said as one of his kagune pierced Boruto's Shadow Clone. With a sweeping blow, he sent Boruto's real body flying. "You really haven't improved at all during this time."
"Boruto!" Sarada called out in concern, a single tomoe Sharingan flaring in her eyes. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Mitsuki, with his back to Sarada, lightly jumped to evade her ninjutsu attack.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"
A water dragon surged toward Mitsuki midair.
His four kagune crossed in front of him, blocking the Water Dragon Bullet. As he did so, Mitsuki tilted his head and looked off into the distance. "You two are such a nuisance."
The two in question were Juuzou Suzuya and Kōsuke Hōji—also known as Haku and Zabuza.
"Heh, well, dealing with ghouls is our job after all," Kōsuke said as he opened his white suitcase. A large sword appeared in his hands.
Landing on the ground, Mitsuki cracked his knuckles and charged straight at the two of them.
"Juuzou, get behind me!"
Kōsuke raised his sword to block Mitsuki's kagune, swinging it forcefully to knock him away.
Against normal shinobi, things might've been evenly matched. But Mitsuki was a ghoul—so even if his kagune were restrained, he still had his hands free to perform ninjutsu.
"Hidden Shadow Snake Hands!"
As he was knocked back, Mitsuki quickly formed hand seals. From his right hand, white serpents extended and shot toward Kōsuke.
"Hah!" Kōsuke swung his blade again, slicing the snakes apart. Meanwhile, Juuzou, who had moved to gain some distance, hurled throwing knives to force Mitsuki on the defensive.
Although a ghoul's regenerative ability allowed Mitsuki to quickly heal his wounds, he'd learned the hard way in past encounters not to get cocky.
Juuzou's throwing knives were coated in a liquid specifically designed to counter ghouls.
"Mitsuki!"
Boruto hesitated, unsure whom to help.
"Don't forget our mission, Boruto," Shuyu reminded him, tugging on his arm.
"Shuyu's right, Boruto. Let's take Kuro and get out of here," Sarada added. Just from Mitsuki's combat style, it was clear that neither she nor Boruto could take him on anymore—even working together.
"Damn it!"
Boruto shot Mitsuki one last glance, then ultimately chose to escort Kuro back to the Hidden Leaf Village.
At the moment, the only ones still facing Mitsuki were Kōsuke and Juuzou from the G organization. As for the Ability Beast, it was being held off by the Warden Mui and the Governor of Hōzuki Castle.
In truth, Mitsuki and Kōsuke hadn't truly gone all out in their previous encounters.
Zabuza, having been coerced into joining G, was like most overworked wage slaves—doing the bare minimum whenever possible.
"The Ability Beast is retreating!"
At Mitsuki's command, the Ghoulish Evil Ginseng let out a screech and leapt out of Mui and the Warden's encirclement.
Trailing behind Shuyu and Sarada, Boruto remained silent. Sarada occasionally glanced back at him.
"Everyone, be careful!"
Shuyu's sudden warning snapped them to attention. Trusting their shinobi instincts, Sarada and Boruto instinctively dodged a black shadow attack from the other side.
"Who are you?"
While dodging, Shuyu flipped out a shuriken and flung it at the attacker.
"Yoru," the man replied as he knocked the shuriken aside with one of his own. "And Kuro... it's really not easy to find you."
Kuro gasped sharply at being singled out.
"H-He's with the bandits! You have to protect me!"
"Hmph, so you're the ones Konoha sent to protect Kuro?" Yoru chuckled. "You've all been duped by him. I'm actually the second-in-command of the bandit group. As for this guy? He's just a low-level member who ran off with our money."
"In that case, we'll take you both back to the Hidden Leaf," Shuyu said, his eyes flashing with a fully matured three-tomoe Sharingan.
"Hmph. There's three of us—you think you can take us alone?" Boruto said confidently.
"Who said I came alone?"
No sooner had Yoru spoken than Mitsuki and the Ability Beast arrived.
"Mitsuki!"
"As agreed, only Evil Ginseng will join the fight."
Ignoring Boruto, Mitsuki addressed Yoru. Evil Ginseng stepped forward.
"You people from S.H.I.E.L.D. sure have terrible customer service," Yoru muttered, hands spread in exaggerated exasperation.
Evil Ginseng had been lent to the bandits by S.H.I.E.L.D.
It went something like this—
"I have this great treasure I can lend you. What? You don't want it? Ever heard of forced sales? No? Well, how about a fist the size of a sandbag?"
"I'll handle Evil Ginseng. You two take care of Yoru."
Shuyu quickly gave orders.
"Wait, what about me? Doesn't that mean no one's protecting me?"
Shuyu gave Kuro a sidelong glance and continued, "Everyone, stay sharp!"
The beast's attacks were simple—only spraying corrosive venom. The only real threat was its physical toughness.
After a brief exchange, Shuyu had already figured out Evil Ginseng's attack pattern and began handling it with ease.
Things weren't going as smoothly for Boruto and Sarada. Even with two people, Yoru's ninjutsu was extremely tricky.
"Someone outside the Nara Clan using shadow techniques?" Sarada panted after dodging another strike.
Yoru's shadows didn't just attack directly—they could even control Sarada's and Boruto's shadows for sneak attacks.
Though each control only lasted a moment, it still disrupted their rhythm significantly.
"He's a pain to deal with," Boruto said beside Sarada.
"Every jutsu has a weakness," Shuyu reminded them.
While battling the Ability Beast, Shuyu was still closely observing Boruto and Sarada's situation.
After all, Sarada was his niece.
"The weakness in Yoru's jutsu..." Sarada frowned in thought. "Thirty seconds."
"What?"
"I've been counting. There's a roughly thirty-second interval between each of his shadow attacks. And he has to keep his hands in a seal when using shadow jutsu—he can't move."
"So that means if we push in for close combat during that window, we can shut him down," Boruto said, picking up her train of thought. "My shadow just finished its strike."
"Mine's about due too. Boruto, next, we'll split up and attack from both sides. That way, one shadow won't be able to mess with us both at once."
"Got it."
"Damn... if only it were a full moon..."
Yoru's Shadow Moon Technique only reached full power under a full moon.
Although their progress was slow, Boruto and Sarada were steadily closing the gap.
At last, Yoru made a decisive choice—he transformed his shadow into a longsword, readying himself for close-quarters combat with the two.
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