An Iwagakure jonin was advancing rapidly under the cover of his teammates.
In this battle, they not only had to guard against Konoha's shinobi, but also against the fireballs coming from afar.
But as a jonin, as long as he stayed alert, those fireballs posed little threat.
Their power had already been demonstrated yesterday. There was no way they could have improved that much overnight.
He was fully focused on moving forward.
Just then—
A fireball shot toward him from the distance. It was clearly aimed at him.
But it was only a fireball.
He raised his kunai, preparing to knock it aside.
At that moment, the fireball suddenly swelled, transforming into the head of a massive fire dragon that roared straight at him.
Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike!!
"Damn—"
That was all the jonin managed to say before the fire dragon swallowed him whole.
In the distance, a notification flashed before Hyuga Akira's eyes.
[EXP 10561]
"Just as effective as I thought." Akira clenched his fist.
This was the first time he had killed a jonin from such extreme range.
In just one morning, including this jonin, he had already farmed over thirty thousand experience.
"Let's push for a hundred thousand today!"
Akira shifted his gaze to another jonin and began pouring chakra into a kunai.
Another Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike shot toward the distant Iwa jonin.
But this one reacted faster than the last, using Earth Body Flicker to escape. The erupting fire dragon instead devoured two nearby genin who failed to dodge in time.
[EXP 847]
[EXP 859]
"Not over yet!!!"
Akira's Byakugan instantly locked onto the moving jonin. A third Long-Range Fire Dragon Strike was already on its way.
The jonin who had just escaped danger turned and saw another fireball coming. As it blossomed into a fire dragon, he realized there was no way to dodge this time.
"So you're really determined to kill me…"
Whatever grudge this was, he gave up resisting and closed his eyes.
"BOOM!!!"
[EXP 19957]
"Level up."
Chakra surged back to full in an instant.
"This time I can fire four shots." Akira grinned. With the newly gained experience, he even had enough to level up once more.
He had achieved exactly what he wanted—sustaining himself through battle.
Just as he prepared to continue attacking, his attention shifted to the ground around him.
Several large chakra signatures were approaching underground.
Konoha shinobi wouldn't approach him from beneath the earth—they'd just run over directly.
"Looks like I've been noticed," Akira muttered, quickly grasping their strategy.
The fierce fighting at the front was meant to draw everyone's attention while a small squad tunneled behind to carry out a decapitation strike on him.
If successful, they could even launch a surprise attack on Konoha's rear.
But for that plan to work, the front lines had to fight fiercely enough to hold everyone's focus—which meant heavy casualties.
"They're really willing to pay the price," Akira said, raising his hand.
Right now, he was in perfect condition.
A surprise attack? Not happening.
God's Left Hand, Demon's Right Hand.
He picked up an explosive tag in his left hand. Chakra drained rapidly as explosive tags began forming one after another, scattering throughout the watchtower.
After finishing, he threw several kunai around the area.
These were real ones.
"Trying to use stealth against a Hyuga… you've got guts."
They had no idea there were Hyuga branch family members in the Konoha trenches, so to avoid detection they had taken a long detour.
When they reached the vicinity of the watchtower, one jonin emerged first, rapidly forming hand seals.
"Earth Release: Stone Dragon!"
Countless rocks formed into a massive dragon, comparable in scale to a Water Dragon Bullet, surging toward the top of the tower.
Seeing the approaching stone dragon, Akira's mouth twitched.
"These guys don't play fair…"
All those explosive tags he'd painstakingly made!
"Swish!"
His figure vanished, leaving behind only a substituted kunai.
The stone dragon smashed heavily into the watchtower.
"BOOM BOOM BOOM!!!"
A chain of explosions tore through the structure, reducing the upper half of the tower to rubble.
Akira used the Substitution Technique, landing on the ground—only for a pair of hands to suddenly burst out from beneath the earth.
He vanished again, reappearing at another kunai's location.
One after another, Iwa shinobi emerged from underground.
"One, two, three, four, five, six… They really think highly of me—sending six jonin," Akira said, baring his teeth in a grin.
With this much commotion, the trench line must have already been alerted. All he had to do now was hold out.
He still had one level-up left as a safety net.
Six jonin—forget counterattacking. Survival was the only objective.
"Earth Release: Earthen Spears!"
Sharp stone spikes erupted beneath Akira's feet as two Iwa jonin charged straight at him.
"Trying to kill me instantly, huh?"
Grabbing a spike, Akira flipped upside down—then vanished.
From the predictive instincts of Gentle Fist, he knew staying there meant certain death.
He landed and tilted his head slightly.
Earth Release: Rock Staff.
A stone club swept past his ear and slammed into the ground behind him.
At the same time, two jonin coordinated their assault and engaged him in close combat.
But—
Akira pivoted to the right. One Iwa jonin lunged past him, eyes tracking Akira's movement even as his body overshot.
Twisting midair, the jonin kicked toward Akira—
And Akira raised a finger, pointing upward.
It was as if the jonin had delivered his leg directly onto Akira's strike.
Another jonin attacked from behind. Akira suddenly crouched—one advantage of still being small.
The attacker's kunai stopped inches from the abdomen of his immobilized ally.
As jonin, they had the control to halt their attacks instantly.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Dragon Technique!!"
Akira took a deep breath and unleashed a massive fire dragon at point-blank range.
At this distance, none of the three could escape.
"BOOM!!"
Akira was blasted backward, large areas of his body badly burned. Without his high defenses, it would have been far worse.
The two Iwa jonin were not so fortunate.
[EXP 18773]
[EXP 19872]
They had never expected Akira to fight in such a suicidal manner.
Even the most fearless shinobi wouldn't choose that style unless driven to desperation.
"Earth Release: Heavenly Falling Clay!!"
The air above Akira distorted, layers of crimson clay descending from the sky to crush him.
He twitched a finger.
The surface of his body was already charred black. He had completely lost the ability to move. His skin was carbonized, and his internal organs were steadily failing.
Even without the enemy's jutsu, death was not far away.
Unless—
"Level up!!"
◇ I'll be dropping one bonus chapters for every 10 reviews. comment
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ You can read the ahead chapter on P@treon if you're interested:
patreon.com/KuroTL