"You Rocks shinobi are completely insane!!"
The instant Yagami sensed Hunter pressing explosive tags onto the earth wall, and Kagerō moving again behind it, he understood everything.
So that was their plan.
They had deliberately started with a simple defensive Earth Style wall, making it look like they were only trying to buy time.
Meanwhile, Hunter had hidden himself inside the wall and secretly attached explosive tags to it.
Then one of them leaped up from behind the wall to draw Yagami's attention.
And finally, Kagerō shattered the rear section of the wall with a palm strike, setting off the explosive tags embedded in the front.
What had looked like a basic defensive jutsu had actually been turned into a carefully layered kill trap.
It was a simple plan, but executed perfectly.
If someone lacked sensory ability—or even hesitated for a single instant—they would have been caught head-on without fail.
The explosion erupted at point-blank range.
Shockwaves and shattered stone blasted outward, swallowing everything in their path.
But the one standing there was Yagami.
"Clang—"
"Boom!!"
At the exact moment the wall exploded, Yagami swung the lightsaber in his hand.
A massive golden slash, nearly eight meters high and several meters wide, tore forward in an instant.
The shockwave and flying rubble from the explosion were completely wiped away under that single slash.
And without losing any momentum, the attack surged straight toward Hunter in midair and Bunya below.
"Nani!?"
Hunter's face twisted in shock.
He had never imagined that their flawless coordination would be broken so easily.
Nor had he expected a counterattack this fast.
"Explosion Release: Mine Fist!"
With no time to dodge, Hunter drew back one fist and slammed it directly into the incoming golden slash.
His Explosion Release detonated whatever it struck.
"BOOM—!!!"
"Gahhhhh!!"
The upper half of the golden slash exploded apart under Hunter's kekkei genkai.
But the force of the blast, combined with the remaining impact of the slash, sent him flying backward through the air.
"Hunter!!"
Kagerō, who had barely avoided the strike from the ground, snapped his head up at the scream.
Blood scattered through the air as Hunter's body was blown away.
"There's an opening."
Yagami burst through from behind the fading slash and appeared right in front of Bunya, who had looked up at the worst possible moment.
The lightsaber in Yagami's hand came down instantly.
Clang!!
A sharp metallic crash rang out.
A pair of arms crossed in front of Bunya and blocked the strike.
Two silver Hidden Blades were strapped to them.
"Don't think you're getting through that easily!"
Hokō gritted his teeth, his expression twisting violently as he held Yagami's blade back with crossed arms.
Bunya broke out in a cold sweat.
The moment he came back to himself, he kicked off the ground and retreated at once.
Even while leaping backward, his hands were already flying through seals.
"Aaahhhhhhhhhhh—!"
"Am I really that easy to hold back?"
Yagami said coldly.
He tightened his grip with one hand.
Then, drawing on the monstrous physical strength granted by his body, he forced the blade down with a violent surge of power.
"Boom!"
Hokō was crushed straight to his knees.
"Ugh!!"
His knees slammed into the ground.
Pain twisted across his face, and cold sweat burst from his forehead instantly.
"Hokō!"
"Hokō!!"
Only then did the other three fully snap out of the sudden turn in the battle.
They rushed forward at once to support him.
"Too slow."
Yagami's voice rang out sharply.
Armament Haki instantly coated the light Sword.
Then he drove even more force into his arms and pressed down again.
"Pshhh!"
"AAAAAHHHH!!"
A scream tore through the battlefield.
The blade punched straight through Hokō's right shoulder.
Blood burst out across his body at once.
And in the instant that pain shattered his focus, Yagami suddenly pulled back—
then drove the blade down even harder.
The lightsaber carved through Hokō's shoulder, split past his collarbone, and tore all the way down into his torso.
The scream cut off.
His eyes lost their light.
Then his body collapsed backward onto the ground.
The clash had lasted only a moment.
The Iwa shinobi had been too slow to save him.
Before they could reach him, Hokō had already been cut down where he stood.
"Earth Style: Stone Spears!"
Bunya landed from his retreat and slammed both palms onto the ground with an angry roar.
At once, four sharp rock spears erupted from the earth around Yagami—from the front, back, left, and right—stabbing toward him from every direction.
"Clang—"
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Yagami answered with nothing more than a casual swing of his blade.
The four spears were sliced apart instantly, broken into chunks before they could even touch him.
"Earth Style: Rock Fist Technique!"
At that moment, Tōshi had already closed the distance.
His right arm was encased in hardened stone as he drove a brutal punch straight at Yagami's face.
"Boom!!"
Yagami caught the strike by gripping the sword hilt with one hand and bracing the flat of the blade with the other.
Even so, the sheer weight behind the blow forced him a step backward.
"Oh?"
"It takes guts to charge me head-on."
Yagami smirked.
Then he suddenly pushed forward with explosive force, sending Tōshi flying up into the air.
At the same time, he raised his left hand and fired a laser straight at him.
"Boom!!"
The instant the light flashed, Tōshi's eyes widened in terror.
He reflexively threw his rock-covered fist in front of himself.
The laser struck it directly—
and a violent photon explosion erupted in the air.
His entire body was blasted away like he had been hit by a charging beast, accelerating even faster as he was hurled into the distance.
"Tōshi!!!"
Kagerō, who had been in the middle of weaving signs to counterattack, shouted in horror.
The battle had turned in an instant.
Out of Iwagakure's six jōnin, one had already been killed, one badly wounded, and another blown away.
Everything had happened far too fast.
Yagami's overwhelming strength pressed down on the battlefield like a mountain.
And for the first time, Kagerō felt a truly crushing weight settle in his chest.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 300 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.