Golden lightning flew toward Fūmori Masaki like a sharp arrow. Fūmori Masaki struck back without fear. The blades collided for only an instant before his opponent immediately withdrew her blade, turned her body, and arrived at Fūmori Masaki's side, slashing at his head.
Fūmori Masaki understood his opponent's intention; she did not want to give him the chance to unleash the Ninjutsu he called Wind Reversal again. Therefore, she only struck and immediately withdrew, shifting her position to launch attacks from other directions.
Fūmori Masaki immediately turned to block the attack. As expected, his opponent withdrew once again, using the method of activating body cells with Lightning Release to launch high-speed attacks time after time.
Fūmori Masaki had to block them one by one. This was the first time he had encountered such a situation. To avoid harming himself, the range of the Wind Reversal technique was limited. His opponent seemed to have learned from their previous battle, as every position she shifted to was outside that range. Even if he were to forcibly detonate it, it would just be a pointless waste of Chakra.
Fūmori Masaki sighed inwardly. She was truly worthy of being the junior sister of the Third Raikage. Although she had never appeared in the manga, that did not mean Kumogakure lacked young experts other than the Third Raikage.
The battle here drew the attention of the others. In their eyes, a streak of golden lightning was constantly leaping back and forth around Fūmori Masaki, while Fūmori Masaki himself was also constantly changing his position to intercept his opponent. This kind of high-speed battle truly offered a thrilling visual experience.
"Masaki, are you okay?"
Satomi merely glanced over, her attention mostly focused on her own opponent, but she couldn't help but worry about Fūmori Masaki's situation. Although Fūmori Masaki had said that as long as he didn't give a signal, it meant he could handle it, but looking at his opponent's posture, did that mean Fūmori Masaki didn't even have the chance to give a signal?
In reality, Fūmori Masaki was not under that much pressure. On the contrary, that feeling of hot blood surging through his body had arisen once again. Last time, his opponent had truly been caught off guard, which was why he had defeated her in one move. Now that they were fighting properly, he could demonstrate his true strength.
"I can't always let you hold the initiative, can I?"
Fūmori Masaki's eyes flashed slightly. After parrying her slash again, he launched an attack toward Sora almost at the same time.
Sora was startled; her opponent's attack speed was just as fast. After blocking, not wanting to be hit by that Ninjutsu, she had no choice but to dodge. Yet, her opponent seemed to be prescient, changing his attack direction and forcing her to move.
In Fūmori Masaki's perception, the slight tremors in Sora's muscles created ripples, allowing him to judge her next move. Previously, Sora had been the one pressing Fūmori Masaki, but now it was the other way around; Sora was being forced to move everywhere by Fūmori Masaki.
This situation was just like having a Sharingan, Fūmori Masaki thought. Now he finally experienced firsthand what kind of advantages a Sharingan user had; it was practically like using a cheat code.
Sora hadn't expected to be overwhelmed like this. A surge of anger rose in her heart as she kept looking for opportunities, hoping to seize the initiative back from Fūmori Masaki.
However, no matter what she did, she couldn't regain the initiative. Instead, because of her impatience, she gave Fūmori Masaki an opening. While he parried her long sword, he kicked her in the abdomen.
Sora was kicked into a tree and then fell down, collapsing to the ground, gasping in pain. The force of Fūmori Masaki's blow was immense and controlled with great precision. The power penetrated into Sora's body, and she felt like she was going to vomit; her internal organs seemed to be spasming.
Fūmori Masaki breathed a sigh of relief; this high-speed battle was over. However, he hadn't been happy for too long. By his estimation, Sora should have lost her ability to fight, but she suddenly turned around, her hands already formed into seals, and shouted, "Lightning Release: Lightning Strike!"
In an instant, blinding lightning condensed. Fūmori Masaki's vision was filled with intense light. Twisted arcs of lightning surrounded him from all directions. He hurriedly dodged to the side. Fortunately, with his sensory abilities, he could see all the lightning clearly. Even the parts he couldn't avoid were very few, and he easily broke them with his blade.
Fūmori Masaki looked at Sora, who had flipped up from the ground and leaped to a distant tree, and said, "Truly surprising. I thought you would run away immediately."
"I still have the strength to fight, so why would I choose to run?" No matter how unwilling she was in her heart, Sora had to admit that she was a step behind her opponent in Taijutsu combat. However, Ninjas didn't only use Taijutsu; she still had Ninjutsu she could use.
"Is that so? Then let me witness your Ninjutsu—I'd like to say that, but we should go." As Fūmori Masaki spoke, he was already retreating.
Sora was slightly stunned. She looked back and saw that her companions had arrived. Facing numerous enemies, Fūmori Masaki and the others should choose to retreat and preserve their strength. By the time she turned her head back, Fūmori Masaki had already disappeared.
"Sora, are you alright?" one of the Kumogakure Ninja who had arrived hurriedly asked.
"I'm fine." Sora shook her head and touched her aching abdomen. Fūmori Masaki's blow was truly powerful. If she hadn't hurriedly condensed Lightning Release Armor, she probably wouldn't have been able to get up at all and would have just been sitting there waiting for death.
Seeing Sora's pale complexion and her movements, this Kumogakure Ninja immediately understood that Sora was not as unscathed as she claimed. He said, "Sora, you rest for a while first. We will go pursue those Konoha Ninja, and afterwards, you should return to the main unit."
After speaking, he waved to his subordinates behind him and took them to pursue Fūmori Masaki and the others. Sora wanted to go with them, but she knew that in this terrain, Taijutsu was crucial. She didn't have the strength to go now; returning to the main unit and coordinating with others to use Ninjutsu was the best method.
Sora had no choice but to take the other wounded back to the main unit. As she hurried back, she bit her lip. She had lost to that Konoha Ninja once again. This time it wasn't an accident; it was a fair and square defeat. She didn't look for excuses to defend herself, only feeling that her skills were inferior.
Sora decided that after returning, she would summarize the experience of this battle. If she encountered this Konoha Ninja next time, she must not lose again!
After Sora and Fūmori Masaki and the others returned to their respective main units, the battle had already entered its final stage. Too much time had been dragged out. No matter how many people the Samurai Corps needed to assemble, they should have finished preparations by now. In other words, the Kumogakure Ninja's surprise attack plan had failed; at least, it had failed on this route.
Hahn assembled the remaining Kumogakure Ninja and launched one final assault, throwing a large amount of Lightning Release Ninjutsu. However, under the opponent's various Ninjutsu, they did not achieve very good results. Perhaps they had gained something, but without breaking the defensive line, it was meaningless. And when he saw the Samurai Corps appear, Hahn decided to retreat.
After Hyūga Kei reported that the Kumogakure Ninja Squad had left, Senju Touka breathed a sigh of relief. This delaying operation could be considered a success. The enemy had lost their target, and now that the Samurai Corps had assembled and were blocking the road, if they didn't want to suffer heavy losses, the Kumogakure Ninja could only choose to return to the other Kumogakure Ninja Squads.
"Be thankful, everyone. The enemy's plan has been shattered, and you have survived," Senju Touka said to the remaining survivors of the Third Unit. "But don't be happy too soon. We will rest for a while, and then go to rendezvous with the other units. By then, it will be a real, major battle. Rest well for now."