bookbashuk Chapter 85 Counterattack
Chapter 85 Counterattack
Chapter 85 Counterattack (Two-in-one chapter)
Seeing the retreating green-haired ninja, Taiichi wasn't about to give him a chance. He rushed forward and launched an upward strike at the groin of the green-haired Takagi, forcing him to retreat repeatedly. Then he swept his arms left and right, attempting to break through his defense.
However, the green-haired Takagi had already gotten a chance to catch his breath. His kunai defense was impenetrable, blocking left and right, rendering Taichi's attacks completely useless.
In just a few exchanges, Taiichi realized he had chosen the wrong way to attack; this green-haired ninja was more like a taijutsu-type Jonin.
He just hasn't recovered yet, and I only have a slight advantage because of the first move. Once he gets used to my attack, this close-quarters combat will surely kill me immediately.
What's more, the other side still has two Chunin who haven't caught up yet!
Good things don't work, but bad things do.
Just as he thought of those two Chunin, Tai caught a glimpse of them rushing towards him out of the corner of his eye.
Seeing this, Taiyi no longer hesitated and immediately added a little more to the one-handed hand seal skill.
【One-handed hand seal Lv1 (78/100)】
Instantly, a wealth of knowledge and experience about one-handed hand seals flooded his mind, merging into his brain and his entire body. He immediately mastered the skill he had already studied to a near-perfect degree, and even surpassed it.
Taking advantage of his offensive initiative, Taiyi subtly adjusted his position, positioning the green-haired ninja so that his back was to the two Chunin. He held his sword in his right hand and slashed rapidly to attract the green-haired ninja's attention, while his left hand secretly began forming hand seals.
Another heavy slash aimed straight at the face of the green-haired Takagi, but he had completely adapted to Taichi's fighting style by now and easily defended against the attack.
He had just seen Asata and the others arrive, and he was about to retaliate and tear this brat to pieces.
Just then, a sudden sense of alarm rose in Takagi's mind, and goosebumps rose all over his body. He sensed that he was about to face death.
Without a second thought, the green-haired Takagi followed his instincts and quickly retreated to avoid the attack.
At that very moment, Taiyi, who was still wielding his sword, suddenly spat out a large number of fireballs from his mouth.
"Damn it, it's that move from before. When did he form the hand seals? I didn't even notice!" But then she remembered that Taiichi suddenly switched to a one-handed attack, "Could it be—"
Faced with this area-of-effect attack, the green-haired Takagi could only retreat at high speed, attempting to escape the exaggerated fireball attack.
Asata and his companion, who were already close to the battlefield, saw Jonin Takagi entangled with the brat and were excitedly rushing forward to finish him off. However, Captain Takagi, who had been fighting well, suddenly retreated, and then a barrage of fireballs rushed towards them.
Now, no one was thinking about finishing off the enemy anymore; escaping was their top priority. But the two had already rushed too close, and their reactions were a beat too slow.
Only after the green-haired Takagi rushed past them did the two stop and retreat as well.
But it was already too late. The fireball had already landed and exploded not far behind them. Although they only grazed the aftershocks of the explosion, the strong impact still caused them to cough up blood and fall to the ground.
Once the explosion subsided, the green-haired Takagi returned to check on them. Seeing that the two had only suffered minor injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief.
These two ordeals left him with psychological trauma. Although that kid wasn't as strong as him, he had a lot of tricks up his sleeve and could catch him off guard every time.
Seeing the empty scene again, green-haired Takagi's brow twitched with anger. "Are they dead? If not, get up and keep chasing!"
Seeing the two of them dawdling on the ground for ages without getting up, the green-haired Takagi's veins throbbed with anger: "Hurry up, do you think I'm afraid to kill someone?"
As expected, the threat of a Jonin was quite effective. The two immediately stood up despite the pain. By this time, the three of them had already been delayed for a while, so the green-haired Takagi did not wait any longer and took the lead in chasing after them.
The remaining two exchanged a glance, both looking helpless, yet unable to ignore the threat of a Jonin, and could only give chase. However, their speed was noticeably slower than before.
Taiyi, fleeing at breakneck speed, was unaware of what was happening behind him. He hoped the green-haired Jonin would maintain his rage, allowing the distance between them to widen further, giving him a better chance to hold out longer, or even—
At this moment, Taiyi, who had plenty of chakra, did not hesitate to consume it and created another shadow clone to ambush on the road, while his main body continued his escape.
Meanwhile, Taiichi, the shadow clone, used Earth Dive to hide in the ground. He waited for more than five minutes before he sensed a figure quickly passing by above. After a while, the Jonin had already run far away, and Taiichi emerged from underground and climbed back up to a nearby tree to hide again.
A moment later, the shadow clone sensed two figures approaching from afar. Both were clearly in poor condition, their pace appearing rather perfunctory. After the two passed under the large tree where the shadow clone was hiding, Taiyi seized the opportunity and swiftly charged at one of them with his sword.
The sound of the attack startled the two Chunin. They hurriedly turned around and were immediately panicked when they saw that the attacker was Taiichi. Wasn't this kid being chased by Lord Takagi? How did he end up here?
Before the two could figure it out, Taiyi's short sword had already approached one of them.
Asata, seeing the short sword so close at hand, finally regained his composure and parried the attacking sword with his kunai at the last second.
Knowing how powerful this kid was, he had no intention of attacking. He simply swung his sword repeatedly, not seeking merit, but only avoiding mistakes.
At this moment, another Chunin who was traveling with them also reacted and quickly approached to join the battle.
Taiichi, the shadow clone, noticed the two's conservative fighting style and quickly realized that they were probably intimidated by his endless array of tricks.
Taiichi was happy to keep them hanging on here. As long as he could keep these two Chunin here, it would be the best news for his main body.
Taiyi, the main body, continued to flee, but as time passed, he noticed something amiss. The fact that he hadn't received any memories of the shadow clone's disappearance puzzled him.
But upon further reflection, he realized the answer: being able to hold off two Chunin would undoubtedly create a better fighting environment for himself.
Having made up his mind, Taiichi continued his escape mission.
But having previously added attribute points, he still had plenty of stamina, and thus escaped for another half hour.
Taiyi finally sensed the movement of the pursuers from afar. Before he could see them, Taiyi formed a hand seal and created another shadow clone. This shadow clone did not stop at all and rushed straight ahead of Taiyi, fleeing into the distance.
Taiyi, the true form, stopped in his tracks, turned around and looked in the direction from which the enemy was coming, panting heavily.
Green-haired Takagi glared at the brat who was panting a short distance away, gritting his teeth: "Damn brat, weren't you supposed to be a fast runner? Why aren't you running anymore?"
"Hey, you green-hatted uncle, why are you chasing me like this? I don't even know who your little brother is. You must have mistaken me for someone else." Taiichi, panting heavily, didn't forget to provoke the green-haired ninja.
"You foul-mouthed brat, I'll tear your stinking mouth apart!" The enraged green-haired Takagi charged forward, brandishing his kunai, without even catching his breath.
Seeing the green-haired ninja who showed no sign of stopping and was ready to fight, Taiichi's lips curled into a barely perceptible smile. He drew his sword and charged forward.
The sounds of clashing weapons rang out continuously. As expected, in a head-on clash, Taiyi was clearly inferior. From the very first exchange, Taiyi found himself on the defensive.
Green-haired Takagi fully utilized the characteristic of kunai being short and dangerous, constantly closing the distance between Taiichi and the two, repeatedly stabbing Taiichi's head, neck, heart and other vital parts with his kunai.
Taiichi was ultimately too weak, and faced with the green-haired man's pressure, he quickly had to shrink his defensive perimeter, his short sword barely managing to block the enemy's attacks. But prolonged defense inevitably leads to defeat, and soon Taiichi began to suffer injuries.
Another straight thrust was barely parried by Taiichi, but Takagi clearly felt the force of the parry weaken, and the kunai still grazed past Taiichi's left hand, adding another wound to Taiichi's left arm.
"Kid, let's see how long you can last?" Green-haired Takagi couldn't help but laugh as he saw his attack succeed again.
Looking at the new scratches on his body, Taiyi remained silent. Taking advantage of the green-haired man's pause in speaking, he prepared to form hand seals and release a ninjutsu.
"Haha, how could I possibly grant your wish?" Takagi naturally saw through Taiichi's plan and rushed forward without thinking, his kunai gleaming with a sharp, cold light as he slashed towards Taiichi's neck.
Taiichi parried with his sword, sparks flying from the impact of the kunai. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Takagi cut inside Taiichi's side, his free hand forming a fist that struck Taiichi's chest. At this moment, Taiichi could only bend his arm to block, and a heavy punch landed on Taiichi's sword-wielding arm, almost knocking the short sword out of his hand.
Takagi landed a successful blow, and using the recoil as leverage, he grinned and spun around, pressing down hard with his left elbow on Taiichi's right rib.
"Crack." The sound of bone breaking was clearly audible.
Taiichi staggered backward, blood spilling from his mouth. At that moment, Takagi rushed forward, using his elbow as a spear, and delivered a powerful elbow strike straight to Taiichi's chest.
Just as Taiyi regained his footing, he managed to cross his arms to block, but with a "bang," he was sent flying by the elbow.
"Kid, let's see if you're still alive now!" Green-haired Takagi didn't give Taiichi a chance to breathe and rushed towards the direction where Taiichi landed, wanting to give him the final blow.
Taiichi, having landed, used the momentum to roll and get up. Feeling his arm, which was so weak he could barely hold the sword, he turned and ran without hesitation, disappearing from the green-haired ninja's sight through the trees behind him.
"Run, how much longer can you run?" A loud, arrogant laugh came from Takagi's mouth, a laugh filled with the exhilaration of finally getting revenge.
With that, the green-haired Takagi followed the trail left by Taiichi and chased after him.
This pursuit was surprisingly easy. After only a hundred meters, the green-haired Takagi saw Taichi kneeling on the ground ahead, trembling and curled up, looking like he was about to die.
Takagi had no doubt; he could clearly feel that the elbow strike had broken Taiichi's ribs, and now it was probably bleeding internally.
A ferocious smile appeared on his face, and the pleasure of revenge filled his whole body. Takagi swung his kunai and thrust it straight at Taichi's back.
At this moment, Taiichi, who had fallen to the ground, seemed to realize something. He struggled to turn around and looked at the kunai that was so close to him. Suddenly, he grinned and revealed a triumphant smile.
You've been tricked!
7th Outpost.
After running for more than an hour, Yangping finally arrived at the outpost and, after some verification, was allowed to enter the camp.
He didn't have time to search for Captain Yamaguchi; ignoring the astonished looks of others, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Captain Yamaguchi, come quick, I'm in trouble!"
-
In an instant, everyone in the already small camp rushed out, wondering what had happened to Yangping.
Captain Yamaguchi heard the commotion and came out of his tent. When he saw that only Yohei had returned, his heart sank and a bad feeling came to his mind.
He quickly came to Yangping's side, grabbed Yangping who was about to speak, and dragged him to the central tent.
"Tell me, what's going on?" Captain Yamaguchi asked, while Jonin Chiba in the center of the tent stared at Yohei.
"We followed that fleeing ninja all the way to a cave—"
As Yangping recounted the events, Yamaguchi Seisuke and Chiba came to understand the seriousness of the situation. It was clearly a premeditated border harassment aimed at depleting Konoha's manpower and disrupting its border defenses.
"I will immediately notify the village and issue warnings to the surrounding outposts," Jonin Chiba immediately decided.
"No~ Captain, hurry up and save Taiichi! He's going to die if we're any later!" Yangping grabbed Captain Yamaguchi's sleeve and pleaded anxiously.
"Alright, Yangping, calm down!" Captain Yamaguchi shouted.
He then turned to Chiba and said, "Chiba, Yangping is right. How many more men can we spare from the outpost to go with me to the rescue?"
Chiba pondered for a moment: "In last night's battle, the entire outpost participated, and many people were injured, but if it were just one or two people, it should be fine."
As she spoke, Chiba stepped out of the tent and, seeing the Chunin busy tidying up the camp, called out, "Yuka, Yuta, you two come here!"
Upon hearing this, the two ninjas who were carrying supplies immediately put down their items and ran towards the tent: "Lord Chiba, is there anything you need to instruct us brothers on?"
"Come with me." With that, he walked back into the tent.
"Yamaguchi Jonin, these two brothers are among the best in our outpost. Let them go with you!"
"Yuka, Yuta, Taichi is being chased by the enemy while escorting intelligence back. You two go with Jonin Yamaguchi to rescue him," Chiba instructed the two brothers.
"Yes."
"Don't worry, sir. It was Brother Taiyi who treated our injuries. We will do our best to help." The older brother, Youjia, said solemnly.
Jonin Chiba nodded, then turned to Yamaguchi Seisuke and instructed, "Jonin Yamaguchi, you must act within your capabilities. The intelligence that Yohei brought back says there are quite a few enemies!"
"Yes, I'll be careful!" Captain Yamaguchi nodded in response, then led the three men out of the tent.
Outside the tent.
"Captain, shouldn't we call Saori? More people mean more strength!" Seeing that they were about to set off, Yangping immediately caught up with the captain and asked.
Captain Yamaguchi stared at Yangping with an expression that said, "We're going to rescue people. If it weren't for needing you to lead the way, I wouldn't even want to lead you."
Yangping blushed, realizing his strength had been underestimated, but then he suddenly activated his Sharingan and glared at Captain Yamaguchi, saying, "Captain, I've awakened my second tomoe, I won't hold you back."
Hearing Yangping's words, even the Yujia brothers were surprised. Yangping was only eleven or twelve years old, and he had already awakened the second tomoe. He could be considered a little genius.
"Good, good, at least he won't be a burden anymore." Captain Yamaguchi was happy for Yohei when he saw those Sharingan eyes, and then quickened his pace to leave the outpost.
Led by Yang Ping, the group quickly headed towards the place where he and Taiyi had separated earlier.
Looking at the kunai so close at hand, Taiichi smirked, "You've fallen for it!"
Green-haired Takagi sensed something was wrong when he saw that mocking smile, but the speed was too fast and the distance was too close, and the kunai still pierced straight into Taiichi's back.
With a "bang," a puff of white smoke appeared, leaving behind a bright blue water sphere. It turned out that the shadow clone had used its body to shield it.
At this moment, the water sphere, now freed from its restraints, began to surge wildly on its surface, as if something was about to burst forth from within.
Green-haired Takagi knew all too well it was a trap. Staring at the water sphere as if gazing at death itself, every hair on his body bristled. He retreated at an unprecedented speed, his hands moving with unprecedented speed, forming hand seals.
Water Release: Water Wall – this was the only defensive ninjutsu he knew. The moment he finished forming the hand seals, the azure water sphere exploded with a roar.
Countless water arrows shot out from the water sphere in all directions. This was the ninjutsu that Taiyi had just developed: Water Release: Wild Water Dance.
Because it was just developed, Taiyi wasn't very familiar with using this technique, so he had to create a shadow clone in advance to cast and compress the water sphere to maximize the power of the ninjutsu.
And there it was, the effect. Although the green-haired Takagi successfully deployed the Water Barrier, he was simply too close.
The water barrier shattered after only a moment under the piercing force of countless water arrows. With no further obstruction, the green-haired ninja could only gather all his chakra in his upper arms to protect his head and other vital areas in order to withstand the water arrow attacks.
"Puff~ Puff~ Puff~ Puff~ Puff~"
At least five water arrows hit the green-haired ninja. After the ninjutsu ended, Taiichi, the real Taiichi, emerged from behind a large tree 50 meters away.
Looking at the scene riddled with holes by ninjutsu, Taiyi couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. Even the big tree he had just dodged felt like it had been hit by water arrows, let alone the green-haired ninja who was so close.
Can't you see he can't even stand up straight now? He's swaying precariously, and there are many holes all over his body from which blood is gushing out.
"As expected, those who use clones are all wicked." Even now, the green-haired ninja still stubbornly insisted, "Kid, you also suffered some serious internal injuries just now, and broke quite a few bones, didn't you?"
"How about we call it quits?" The green-haired man tried his best to stall for time. If possible, he could accept the idea of stopping right there. At this moment, he was also afraid.
"Damn it, why haven't those two bastards caught up yet?" Only then did he realize that he still had two companions who hadn't appeared.
Hearing the green-haired ninja's seemingly pleading words, Taiichi said with a mocking expression, "Uncle Green Hat, you and I are indeed quite badly injured. Look, my arm bone is broken."
As he spoke, Taiichi raised his weak left hand, which had been broken by the green-haired ninja's elbow strike to the chest while he was trying to protect it.
Upon hearing this, the green-haired ninja's smile slowly blossomed. Just when he thought the two sides could really stop fighting, the scene before him made his eyes almost pop out of their sockets.
Taiyi first straightened and reset the broken bone himself, then formed a hand seal with his right hand, and the light of the Palm Immortal Technique shone from his palm as he pressed it against his injured left hand.
"Damn it, you even know medical ninjutsu." This time, the green-haired Takagi really broke down. In his emotional state, he spat out a mouthful of blood and could no longer stand up. His knees buckled and he knelt on the ground.
"Yeah, I study a lot usually, so I know a little bit of everything. Don't mind me, Uncle Green Hat." Taiichi was still teasing the green-haired ninja.
"Oh, right, are you still thinking about your two subordinates?" Taiichi asked the green-haired ninja with a look of sudden realization.
Upon hearing about his two companions, the green-haired Takagi instinctively looked up, hoping to hear some good news.
"Uncle in the green hat, those two of your subordinates are no good. They're slacking off. I held them off for over half an hour with just one shadow clone. It'll probably take another half hour for them to get here." Taichi continued to tease the green-haired ninja.
As expected, after hearing about the situation of his subordinates, the green-haired Takagi was so angry that he trembled all over. He said, "Why haven't the two of them arrived yet? They should have arrived by now, even if they are slow. So there's something else going on."
Enraged, the green-haired ninja, who had already lost too much blood, suddenly collapsed to the ground, his vision blurred.
Taiichi, watching the fallen green-haired ninja from afar, wasn't in a hurry. He slowly healed his own injuries, after all, there were still two Chunin to deal with.
Once his own injuries were mostly healed, Taichi finally remembered to finish off the green-haired ninja.
He picked up the dagger again and walked to the green-haired ninja's side, the tip of the dagger pointing downwards, about to pierce the green-haired ninja's back.
Suddenly, the green-haired ninja who had been lying on the ground flipped over, slammed his palm on the ground, and used the force of the impact to stand up. He then lunged at Taiichi in the face of the blade, which pierced straight through his abdomen, while the kunai in his hand pierced through Taiichi's heart.