Crack~
The sound of the ground splitting echoed.
Dense cracks, like spider webs, appeared beneath Qingming's feet. His leg muscles tightened and released.
Then, he shot forward like a cannonball.
At this moment, the water dragon was just about to strike.
Boom~
A dull thud resounded.
The massive water dragon crashed into the ground, shattering a large area of earth.
A large amount of dry branches, decayed leaves, and soil fragments were sent flying like bullets, scattering in all directions.
Qingming reacted swiftly. Before these secondary projectiles could reach him, he quickly withdrew his blade and performed hand seals, casting the ninjutsu—Earth Style: Hardening Technique!
In an instant, a faint glow enveloped his body, making his skin more compact, almost like jade.
The soil fragments struck him, but they caused no harm.
It seemed that Horikawa Hiroshi had anticipated this. He immediately shouted to the other Mist Village jonin not far away, "Yūhiro!"
Upon hearing his call, the retreating Kawanada Yūhiro quickly formed hand seals and cast a ninjutsu.
Bright lightning flashed, and a lightning spear, about the size of an infant's arm, appeared, shooting toward Qingming at an incredible speed.
Qingming immediately noticed his movement.
Upon recognizing the lightning ninjutsu, he focused all his attention.
As everyone knows, Lightning Style is the natural counter to Earth Style, capable of breaking through the hardness of earth techniques.
If it had been an ordinary Lightning Style ninjutsu, Qingming would have been confident that his perfected Earth Style: Hardening Technique could withstand it.
But judging by the form of the jutsu, it was clearly a high-powered offensive technique.
Therefore, Qingming couldn't afford to be careless.
Thinking quickly, he swiftly retreated, increasing the distance between himself and the attack while simultaneously performing hand seals. Just before the lightning spear reached him, he cast the ninjutsu—Chakra Armor!
This was a defensive technique Qingming had created by referencing the Tailed Beast Cloak, using Wind Release chakra as the base.
Theoretically, it could perfectly counter the Lightning Style.
In practice, it nearly did.
The lightning spear struck the faint blue Chakra Armor on his body, dimming its color slightly, but it failed to cause any harm to Qingming beneath it.
With that, Qingming relaxed and turned his attention to Horikawa Hiroshi and Kawanada Yūhiro.
At this point, both of their faces were grim, clearly shocked that despite their coordinated efforts, they still hadn't harmed him.
However, Qingming didn't care about what they thought. As the saying goes, if someone treats you with kindness, you should respond in kind. Since they were so eager, he wouldn't back down.
With a thought, Qingming raised his hand and quickly performed hand seals, casting the ninjutsu—Earth Style: Earth Pillar Spears!
Countless rock spikes surged from the ground, controlled by him, and struck at the two Mist Village jonin from all angles.
Horikawa Hiroshi and Kawanada Yūhiro reacted quickly and managed to move out of the way before the most dangerous first wave of attacks.
As for the subsequent attacks—
Truth be told, any jonin, as long as they were cautious, wouldn't fall for it.
However, not getting hit didn't mean they wouldn't be affected.
Under Qingming's deliberate control, the rock spikes managed to separate the two jonin by a significant distance.
"Now!"
Suddenly, Qingming's eyes lit up as he stopped using the technique.
The next moment, he drew his long sword.
A flash of blue light appeared.
Qingming immediately used his "Instant Sword Art" to rapidly close the distance with Horikawa Hiroshi, who was not skilled in close combat.
Realizing the danger, Horikawa Hiroshi instinctively retreated, preparing to have his partner engage with Qingming while he found another chance to attack from a distance.
Unfortunately, Qingming would not give him that opportunity this time.
Almost as soon as Horikawa Hiroshi retreated, Qingming's chakra erupted, his leg muscles tightening, and his speed shot up like lightning as he closed the distance between them.
"Watch out!"
Kawanada Yūhiro noticed the problem and quickly shouted a warning.
At the same time, he threw his kunai, aimed directly at Qingming's heart, hoping to force him to abandon his attack.
Unfortunately, Qingming wasn't about to let the opportunity slip away.
Glancing at the incoming kunai, Qingming made a slight shift to avoid the deadly strike. Then, he immediately swung his sword at Horikawa Hiroshi.
By this time, it was too late for Horikawa Hiroshi to dodge.
With no choice left, he raised his kunai to block.
Though he wasn't skilled in close combat, it all depended on who he was fighting.
When compared to Kawanada Yūhiro, Horikawa Hiroshi's taijutsu was undoubtedly superior.
But when compared to a typical chunin, his close combat abilities far exceeded theirs.
This was the real gap between a jonin and a chunin.
Every jonin might have their own specialty, but in the three basic ninja skills—taijutsu, ninjutsu, and genjutsu—they all had no clear weaknesses.
Of course, if they had weaknesses, they wouldn't have become jonin.
However, fighting against Qingming wasn't just about having no weaknesses; one also had to be proficient in all aspects.
And it was clear that Horikawa Hiroshi didn't possess this ability.
Whoosh~
The long sword was swung.
Qingming seized the moment and unleashed both his "Shadow Sword Art" and "Illusion Sword Art."
Instantly, three real and three illusory sword strikes appeared, all aimed at Horikawa Hiroshi.
Though Horikawa Hiroshi had been on guard, facing so many sword strikes at once, he still panicked slightly.
He steadied his nerves and quickly discerned the three illusory sword strikes, ignoring them, and began dodging or blocking the remaining three real strikes.
Qingming frowned slightly, muttering to himself, "As expected, the proficiency of 'Shadow Sword Art' is still not enough. Even when paired with the perfected 'Illusion Sword Art,' there are still flaws."
This flaw, though insignificant against lower-ranked shinobi, was a bit problematic against a jonin.
Fortunately, the purpose of using "Shadow Sword Art" with "Illusion Sword Art" was only to distract his opponent; it wasn't necessary to land a hit.
After all, even someone who was more skilled in close combat, like Kawanada Yūhiro, was only able to have his clothes torn by Qingming's "Shadow Sword Art." What could Horikawa Hiroshi, who was less capable, do?
As expected, after Horikawa Hiroshi discerned the three illusory strikes, he only blocked one of the real ones.
As for the other two…
He tried to dodge, but failed.
He heard two "slash" sounds as his clothes were torn, and shallow wounds appeared on his left shoulder and right waist.
Though the wounds weren't deep, blood began to seep through.
That was already enough.
Almost in the next instant, Qingming reached out with his left hand, and as Horikawa Hiroshi's movements were affected, he slapped him across the chest.
The "Rasengan" exploded on his chest, sending him flying. The sound of cracking bones was faintly heard.
Clearly, he wasn't going to survive.
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