Twenty minutes later, the Hokage's office.
After a hurried knock on the door, the Chunin previously responsible for on-site coordination hurried in with a face covered in sweat and a tense expression, immediately bowing as he reported.
"Lost again?"
The third Hokage saw the other party's expression and already had a premonition in his heart, but he still asked.
"Y-yes, Hokage-sama! Jonin Kono has also been defeated!"
The Chunin's voice carried disbelief.
"Explain carefully. What happened?"
The third Hokage leaned forward slightly, his expression becoming completely serious.
Kono Ayumu was not like Ran Tsukiko, who had only recently been promoted to Special Jonin. He was a genuine Jonin who had been tempered through war!
"Understood!"
The Chunin swallowed and described rapidly: "After Jonin Kono arrived, he was very cautious. He judged that Mr. Isshin's physical abilities were extremely strong, so he didn't choose to engage in close combat. Instead, he first pulled back to create distance and attempted to probe and suppress from mid-range using Wind Style Ninjutsu."
"A very reasonable tactic."
The third Hokage nodded.
"But the problem appeared right there!"
The Chunin's face showed a mixture of lingering fear and confusion. "That client, Mr. Isshin, when facing Jonin Kono's Wind Style Ninjutsu, didn't make any attempt to dodge or defend! He simply endured the attack of the Wind Style head-on and rushed forward!"
"Hm?"
"That's right, Hokage-sama, he rushed forward! Extremely fast! When the Wind Style struck his body, aside from tearing his clothes, it seemed… it didn't seem to cause any obvious damage!"
The Chunin's voice grew increasingly urgent. "Jonin Kono had clearly never encountered such a completely unreasonable fighting style before. On top of that, the client directly endured his Ninjutsu, which made him worry about the client's safety. His rhythm was disrupted for a moment, and he was briefly caught off guard. In that instant, the opponent closed the distance!"
"After getting close, Mr. Isshin's sword strikes were too fierce, too fast, and the strength behind them was unbelievably great. Jonin Kono struggled to parry, and the several collisions forced him to retreat repeatedly. He could only rely on his rich combat experience and the Teleportation Jutsu to barely maneuver and look for an opportunity, but… during one clash, Jonin Kono was knocked back several steps and tried to regain his stance. At that moment…"
The Chunin's voice stopped here, and the expression on his face became extremely strange, mixed with absurdity.
"What?"
The third Hokage pressed.
"But… Mr. Isshin fired a gun."
"Oh? So he fired a shot to create a decisive opening… wait!"
Hiruzen Sarutobi followed the line of thought and said that reflexively, then suddenly reacted, his eyes widening as his pipe nearly slipped from his hand.
"What did you say?! Fired what?!"
"Yes, Hokage-sama, this Mr. Isshin fired a gun."
The Chunin said with a mournful expression, repeating to confirm the absurd fact. "A very strangely shaped firearm, something like a large-caliber short rifle."
Time goes back ten minutes to the third training ground.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Seven rapid explosions in succession, with almost no interval between them, tore through the air and drowned out all the cries of surprise!!
A thick smell of gunpowder instantly spread through the air.
Already forced into a bitter fight by Isshin's unreasonable charge and storm-like close-range attack, Kono Ayumu had his nerves stretched to the limit. When that ferocious short-barreled firearm suddenly appeared in the opponent's left hand, his mind truly went blank for a split second.
He had imagined that this battle might involve Swords, Spears, Halberds, even Kunai, Shuriken, Senbon, or all kinds of exotic weapons.
But a firearm?
This kind of rigid ranged weapon had already been proven during the ninja wars to be far less efficient than Explosive Tags and Ninjutsu. It had long been looked down upon by ninja, and even by samurai.
This completely exceeded the combat common sense and expectations of Kono Ayumu, and even everyone watching.
That fatal instant of blank shock caused him to miss the best moment to use the Teleportation Jutsu to evade.
'What the hell kind of firearm is this? Why are the bullets this fast!?'
Jonin Kono was horrified. At the critical moment, relying on his superb combat instincts, he made a blocking motion, but…
"Pff!" "Pff!" "Pff!"
Several clusters of blood suddenly burst from Kono Ayumu's shoulder, arm, and thigh!
They were not vital points, but the sudden, intense pain and impact completely destroyed his bodily balance and chakra flow.
"Ugh!"
Kono Ayumu groaned. His movements inevitably became distorted and sluggish.
And Isshin, this man who had absolutely no samurai spirit in battle, seemed to have been waiting for this very moment.
The katana in his right hand turned into a piercing flash of cold light and surged forward!
Using the broad side of the blade, carrying the enormous momentum of his charge, he smashed solidly into Kono Ayumu's chest and abdomen!
"Boom!"
A dull, heavy sound.
Kono Ayumu was like someone struck by a giant battering ram. His entire body lifted off the ground and flew backward more than ten meters before crashing heavily onto the ground, rolling several more times before barely stopping.
He struggled to get up, but the churning agony in his chest and abdomen and the wounds caused by the bullets prevented him from gathering strength for the moment. He could only stare with unwillingness at the tall figure in the field who stood there sheathing his blade.
The entire field fell into a brief, vacuum-like silence.
It was as if everyone's voices had been sucked away by those gunshots and the heavy blow that followed.
But in the next second, an even greater wave of noise and anger erupted like a volcano!
"Despicable!!"
"Shameless bastard! What kind of match is this?!"
"You actually used a firearm!? That's a sneak attack!"
"A disgrace to samurai! There's no honor in that!"
"No martial virtue! Get out of Konoha!"
Roars, curses, and contemptuous jeers surged toward Isshin from every direction.
Many of Konoha's ninja were furious. The older ones were somewhat restrained, but the hot-blooded younger ones were red-faced, as if they had been deeply insulted.
How could a samurai like you use a firearm?
Didn't you see that Konoha's ninja were respecting your identity as a samurai and trying their best to use swordsmanship to compete with you?
Meanwhile, Shinichi had already silently passed through the angry crowd and arrived beside Kono Ayumu.
He crouched down. With a suitably serious and concerned expression on his face, his hands quickly took on a gentle green glow of medical chakra.
He crouched down, his face showing just the right amount of solemnity and concern. His hands quickly covered with soft green medical chakra light as he skillfully began to treat Kono's wounds, stopping the bleeding, relieving pain, and carefully guiding the shallowly embedded bullet out with the delicate techniques.
These injuries only looked exaggerated.
After treatment, he would probably be able to move normally in about ten to fifteen days, and there would not be any lasting aftereffects.
"Thanks, Shinichi."
Kono Ayumu panted heavily. His face was pale, and his voice carried frustration and bitterness.
"Unfortunately… I disgraced the village."
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