'Hold on, Night Owl!'
Sora inwardly shouted, increasing his speed another threefold as he swiftly charged towards the battlefield where Night Owl and the bald Kumo-nin were fighting!
His entry was completely unexpected, his speed so fast it left only an afterimage on the sandy ground.
The bald Kumo-nin, who was fully focused on suppressing Night Owl, clearly did not anticipate that Sora could resolve the situation with Yumiko so quickly and come to support.
It wasn't until Sora closed in to within a few meters, the sharp rush of air from his fist hitting his face, that he jolted in alarm!
"Earth Style, Earth Wall!"
The bald Kumo-nin possessed extremely rich combat experience. Though startled, he did not panic. He abandoned his pursuit of Night Owl and slammed both fists into the ground!
Boom!
A thick earthen wall instantly erupted from the ground, blocking the space between him and Sora!
But Sora's target was never a direct attack on him!
Sora's figure did not pause in the slightest. Like a swimming fish, he slid along the edge of the earthen wall, his right leg, transformed by dragonification and wrapped in bandages, sweeping fiercely like a steel whip towards the bald Kumo-nin's lower body!
This strike was powerful and heavy, carrying the violent power unleashed after opening the third Gate!
"Hm?!"
The bald Kumo-nin's pupils contracted. He clearly hadn't expected Sora's change of move to be so fast and so tricky!
But he was exceptionally skilled in Earth Style hardening techniques and powerful frontal assaults. Though caught off guard, he could only hastily gather part of his chakra into his legs for hardened defense while retreating backward!
Thud!
Sora's leg whip slammed hard into his hardened shin, producing a dull impact sound!
The bald Kumo-nin felt his shin go numb, his body stumbling uncontrollably. Although he wasn't seriously injured, his offense was completely disrupted, and a slight flaw appeared in his previously perfect defensive posture.
'So hard! This bald guy's defense is ridiculously abnormal!'
Sora exclaimed inwardly in surprise. This was the first ninja he had encountered who completely defied the Naruto world's usual "high attack, low defense" rule.
He felt as though his kick had swept against solid alloy, the recoil making his own shin ache slightly.
"Green Snake!"
The pressure on Night Owl suddenly lessened. She seized the chance to retreat and catch her breath, her voice carrying a trace of fatigue and surprise.
She hadn't expected Sora to deal with the troublesome kunoichi so quickly.
Sora gave her a slight nod, but his gaze remained fixed on the bald Kumo-nin who had just steadied himself. He said in a low voice,
"Together. Let's finish him first!"
"Okay!"
Night Owl agreed without hesitation, tightening her grip on the kunai again.
However, just as the two prepared to attack the bald Kumo-nin together—
"Heh, thinking of two against one? Have you asked me?"
A cold voice suddenly came from the side and behind them!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
Several lightning-wrapped senbon shot toward the backs of Sora and Night Owl like venomous snakes!
Both of them tensed instantly and were forced to abandon their attack, dodging rapidly to either side!
Sizzle sizzle sizzle!
The lightning senbon embedded deeply into the sandy ground where they had just stood, emitting sizzling electrical sounds.
Sora stabilized his stance and looked up. He saw that the tall, thin Kumo-nin Jonin had appeared at the edge of the battlefield at some point, staring at them with a teasing gaze, like a cat playing with mice.
Meanwhile, over at Grey Wolf's location—where he should have gone to finish the job—there was currently no movement at all.
Sora quickly glanced over with the corner of his eye and saw that Grey Wolf was still lying there, though his chest seemed to be faintly rising and falling.
'Alive? This guy… thinks Grey Wolf no longer poses a threat, so he prioritized coming for us?'
Sora instantly understood.
The tall, thin Kumo-nin licked his lips, looking at Sora with a flash of surprise and greed in his eyes.
"Brat, I didn't expect you to deal with Yumiko so quickly… seems you're hiding quite a few secrets. Capturing you might be more valuable than that Suna brat."
He had originally thought that dealing with a Tokubetsu Jonin–level brat would be easy for Yumiko, or at least result in a stalemate. He hadn't expected her to be counter-killed in such a short time.
That made him extremely interested in Sora.
As for feeling sorrow or anger over Yumiko's death? That didn't exist. In Kumogakure, from top to bottom, strength was supreme. Dying only meant you weren't strong enough—nothing worth caring about.
"Raiga, stop the chatter and subdue them quickly!"
The bald Kumo-nin twisted his numbed shin and spoke in a deep, muffled voice. The way he looked at Sora now carried clear seriousness and irritation.
Being forced back by a brat made him feel deeply humiliated.
"Got it, Ganko."
The tall, thin Kumo-nin named Raiga sneered coldly and swung his hands again, firing several more lightning senbon to block Sora and Night Owl's paths of movement.
The situation instantly turned into a two-on-two!
Yet the pressure on Sora and Night Owl did not decrease at all—on the contrary, it increased!
One possessed astonishing defensive power and terrifying strength: Ganko.The other had extreme speed and tricky, bizarre attacks: Raiga.
With these two working together, the effect was absolutely greater than one plus one!
'Troublesome… these two must have very tight coordination.'
Sora's mind raced. 'I have to break their rhythm!'
"Night Owl, I'll be the main attacker. You restrain the thin one!"
Sora shouted in a low voice, without hesitation raising his chakra again!
'Fourth Gate, Gate of Pain, open!'
Boom!!!
Even more violent green energy steam erupted from Sora's body! The powerful chakra airflow blasted sand and dust into the air!
His skin began to turn red, blood vessels bulging slightly. Fortunately, with Sora's constitution and recovery ability, the burden of opening four Gates was far lighter than it would be for ordinary people!
"What?! He can power up again?!"
Shock flashed through Raiga's eyes.
"This brat… what kind of monster is he?!"
Even the usually steady Ganko's expression grew even more serious.
After all, even among Jonin in Kumogakure, not everyone was familiar with the secret technique known as the Eight Gates.
"Here I come!"
Sora roared lowly, his figure vanishing instantly!
When he reappeared, he was already in front of Ganko. His dragonified fist, carrying a piercing shriek as it tore through the air, smashed fiercely toward his opponent's face!
His speed was more than twice what it had been before!
"Earth Style, Rock Fist!"
Ganko roared angrily, neither dodging nor retreating, his massive rock fist smashing forward to meet it head-on! He had absolute confidence in his own strength and defense, reinforced multiple times by Earth Style!
Thud!!!
The two fists collided, producing a deafening explosive sound!
This time, Ganko's expression changed drastically. He felt an unimaginable surge of power coming from Sora's seemingly small fist, numbing his arm. The rock covering his fist actually developed fine cracks!
His entire body staggered backward—step, step, step—retreating three full steps before barely stabilizing himself!
'How is this possible?! His strength… increased by this much in an instant?!'
Ganko was inwardly horrified.
But Sora's attacks were like a raging storm, giving him no chance to catch his breath at all!
Fists, feet, elbows, knees—every part of his body turned into a lethal weapon, unleashing a continuous, relentless assault around Ganko!
The speed was so fast that only trails of green afterimages could be seen!
Boom boom boom!!!
Dull impact sounds rang out without pause!
Ganko pushed his Earth Style hardening technique to its absolute limit, his entire body seeming to transform into a rock giant as he barely defended against Sora's fierce onslaught. Yet every block made his arms tremble violently, and the sandy ground beneath his feet continuously exploded into craters, clearly bearing immense pressure.
He was actually being completely suppressed by Sora!
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━