"Mmm… seven choices, pick three…"
Staring at the new Keystone Runes, Huiye Lian thought for a moment—and quickly came up with two completely different builds.
The first build: [Glacial Augment] + [Fleet Footwork] + [Stormraider's Surge].
This would push his speed to an extreme, while also granting his chakra the Wind attribute.
The logic was simple: boost his own speed massively, then use Glacial Augment's slow to reduce the enemy's speed. With overwhelming kiting and control, he could keep the initiative in his hands the entire fight.
If Fleet Footwork and Stormraider's Surge both triggered at once, he could gain up to 75% increased speed—while the enemy he hit would be slowed to 85% of their original speed.
Back and forth, even if both sides started with the same base speed, within that five-second window where all three effects were active, the gap would widen into more than double.
At that ridiculous difference, an enemy under the slow wouldn't quite become a harmless wooden stake…
But they might as well be a target pinned to the ground.
And as for squeezing more skills into a limited "beat the dummy" window to output higher damage…
Huiye Lian was very experienced.
The downside was that this build barely increased his raw offensive power. Choosing it meant he'd be turning into yet another version of Namikaze Minato—fast enough to leave afterimages, but ultimately… a scratcher.
The second build: [Arcane Comet] + [Electrocute] + [Glacial Augment].
This would round out his chakra natures and push him toward the path of a pure ninjutsu-type shinobi who could flexibly use all elements.
Huiye Lian's innate chakra natures were Water, Earth, and Yang. Through the [Dark Harvest] talent, he'd acquired Yin.
If he gained Wind, Fire, and Lightning this time, he'd complete the full set of chakra natures.
The advantage was obvious: he could exploit [First Strike]—the ability to steal skill proficiency from others—to the absolute limit.
At the same time, possessing all seven transformations was essentially holding the key to the door of kekkei mora. From a growth ceiling perspective, it might even surpass the first build.
But thinking about the late-game bosses—every last one of them able to absorb or negate ninjutsu attacks…
And given that he didn't know how to evolve kekkei genkai into kekkei mora, nor was he the reincarnation of either of the Sage's sons—meaning no free "chosen one" cheats—
Huiye Lian felt it was safer to keep committing to a taijutsu-first route.
As for the remaining options…
Aftershock was basically worthless; he didn't lack survivability, nor did he need it to gain Earth chakra nature.
And Summon Aery…
Sure, it offered strong support. But he had no wide-area healing for multiple targets, and no plan to go to Shikkotsu Forest to learn medical ninjutsu from the slug sage.
How he was supposed to even trigger its effect was still a mystery.
"…Wait."
He frowned, then his eyes narrowed.
"The special version of [Biscuit] requires my chakra mixed in to achieve full effect…"
"If that counts as me providing healing to others…"
He wrestled with it for a while, then took a deep breath and finally chose:
[Stormraider's Surge] + [Summon Aery] + [Fleet Footwork].
"Please, please—let them link."
"If a minor rune like [Bone Plating] can have a special synergy with [First Strike], then [Biscuit Delivery] and [Summon Aery] having synergy isn't too much to ask, right?"
As he absorbed the runes and felt the strange sensation of a light, sharp wind forming within his body…
As he prayed that the special [Biscuit] would trigger Summon Aery's effect as he imagined…
His chakra suddenly trembled.
And across dozens of kilometers, it resonated with a distant target.
…
"Die, you damn Lava Release brat!!!"
"Cough—L-Lava Release… Corrosive Slime Technique!"
"AAAAAA—!"
A shriek cut through the battlefield as the attacker's body melted away.
Terumi Mei bit down so hard her lip split, her face twisting as she yanked the short blade that had pierced straight through her abdomen. Clutching the wound, she staggered back into Kirigakure's defensive line.
The battle on the main front was nearing its end.
There was no doubt about it.
This was Konoha's victory.
They had reclaimed most of the control over the Kannabi Mountain outpost. Only the southeastern corner remained under Kirigakure's hold—but looking at the Mist ninja, reduced to less than half their original number, every one of them injured and battered…
Everyone knew defeat was inevitable.
Mei didn't understand how it had turned into this.
She'd been suppressing that Aburame insect-user perfectly. Huiye Lian's bone clone had forced Konoha's main force—Pig-Deer-Butterfly included—into a brutal struggle. The remaining Konoha shinobi, compared to the Mist's fierce morale, were clearly disadvantaged in both numbers and strength…
Even if she, as the commander, had been tied down by the enemy's suicidal commitment and couldn't properly direct the whole battlefield…
It shouldn't have led to a complete collapse like this.
…Right?
Mei pulled out the last special [Biscuit] she'd kept hidden against her chest. Staring at Nara Shikaku—who could barely stand without support, yet still issued crisp commands with terrifying clarity—she recalled the glimpses of battlefield coordination she'd caught while fighting Aburame Shibi.
And she let out a long breath.
So that's why that insect-user was willing to sacrifice every last kikaichu just to hold me down…
He didn't want me to direct the Mist forces to link up with Lian's clone.
He wanted Pig-Deer-Butterfly's main force to lock the clone down and grind it into dust.
…Konoha's advantage over the Mist isn't just strength.
It's everything.
"Lady Mei! We have to retreat!"
A chunin whose right arm had been severed at the shoulder—barely holding on thanks to the standard [Biscuit] Huiye Lian left behind—ran up, shouting urgently.
"Konoha's forming an encirclement! If we don't leave now, we won't escape! You're Lord Huiye Lian's trusted adjutant—don't throw your life away here!"
"No. I can't leave first."
Mei forced herself upright, chewed the [Biscuit] down, and began forming hand seals at speed. Without looking up, she spoke to the chunin whose face was still twisted with panic—
"Someone has to stay behind and hold them off. Otherwise none of you will get out."
"My Lava Release and Boil Release are best at wide-area lethal techniques. Other than me, none of you can stop them."
"But, Lady Mei—"
"Go. That's an order!"
"…Yes."
The one-armed chunin forced the word out through clenched teeth.
He began relaying the order to the battered Mist ninja around them while retreating southeast—toward the one direction Konoha hadn't fully sealed.
"We won't let you get away! Human Boulder!"
Akimichi Choza—rolling back and forth across the battlefield, smashing the Mist formation apart—noticed the movement and immediately changed direction. He intended to force Mei back and break her large-scale technique before it could form.
But to Choza's shock—
Mei acted as if she hadn't seen him at all.
She completed the final seal, inhaled—then, one heartbeat before the boulder crashed into her, she shouted with absolute resolve:
"Lava Release: Corrosive Slime Technique!"
A tidal flood of violently corrosive acid blasted from her mouth, surging like a raging sea toward the Konoha shinobi.
The encirclement they'd struggled to form was instantly torn to shreds.
Even Nara Shikaku—caught off guard by Mei's willingness to throw her life away to force the technique through—nearly got swallowed by the acid wave.
Then—
Akimichi Choza's Human Boulder slammed into Mei's small frame with full momentum.
She flew like a ragged doll, thrown sideways through the air.
"Good job, Choza—"
Yamanaka Inoichi's praise hadn't even finished—
When Choza was hit squarely by the still-surging Corrosive Slime.
He lost control, crashed straight into an outpost building, then rolled on the ground screaming in agony.
"Wha—"
"Boil Release: Skillful Mist Technique!"
The river of acid no longer poured endlessly, but in its place a deadly acid mist—equally corrosive—spread over the battlefield like a shroud.
Inoichi didn't have time to wonder how Mei could keep using her bloodline limit after being hit head-on.
He hoisted the barely-walking Shikaku under one arm, grabbed the parts of Choza's body not soaked in acid with the other, and barked orders.
Konoha's forces withdrew without hesitation, abandoning the Kannabi Mountain outpost.
Inside the ruins of a watchtower, Mei finally stopped exhaling the acid mist.
She stared blankly at her own body—sent flying by Choza's charge, yet… completely unharmed.
She whispered, dazed.
"That feeling just now… was Lian's chakra…"
"Was that you protecting me?"
"Even while you were fighting the Nine-Tails' jinchuriki with your life on the line…?"
"Lian… I'm sorry… I'm sorry…"
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