The sudden appearance of Kisame Hoshigaki, Itō Uto, and Yuki Minazuki, all from the Hidden Mist Village, caused Mizushima Kimou and Ayase Mado of the Hidden Rain Village to turn pale.
The positioning of Kisame's three-man team was strategically flawless, completely cutting off their escape while placing them in a pincer with Veigar Koshima.
Just moments ago, Mizushima Kimou and Ayase Mado had launched a sneak attack on Veigar. But upon seeing the slaughtered Takigakure squad, their hearts were already filled with panic.
Now, having witnessed Veigar's power firsthand, the thought of retreating had already surfaced in their minds. Yet with their escape route blocked, terror took hold—they had nowhere left to run.
A single misstep here would cost them their lives.
At that moment, Kozuka Tachibana, who had been using the Earth Release: Earth Dragon Concealment Jutsu to lurk underground, had originally planned to launch a surprise attack on one of Veigar's shadow clones near Morita Daiku's corpse. However, upon observing the Mist Village squad's arrival from below, he immediately abandoned his plan and instead decided to escape.
As for his teammates, Mizushima Kimou and Ayase Mado? Kozuka Tachibana no longer cared. Whether they lived or died meant nothing to him—as long as he survived, that was all that mattered.
At the same time, he completely gave up on continuing the second Chūnin Exam. His new plan was simple—escape the Forest of Death as soon as possible and forfeit the exam.
As long as he lived, there would always be another chance to become a Chūnin.
Boom. Boom.
After absorbing three Life Essences using his shadow clones, Veigar dispelled them.
His reasoning was straightforward: first, to replenish his chakra, and second, to restore himself to peak condition by leveraging the energy absorbed from the Life Essences.
Against Kisame Hoshigaki, Veigar knew there was no such thing as being too prepared.
However, something unexpected happened. After absorbing the Life Essences from the slain Takigakure squad, the fusion rate between Phenomenal Evil Power and his body had just reached the 5% threshold.
In that instant, not only did his chakra reserves surge exponentially, but its potency also increased—his chakra now possessed five times the density of standard chakra.
Although there was no time to investigate the full extent of these changes, Veigar couldn't help but break into a charming, confident smirk at this stroke of good fortune.
That very smile became the spark that reignited the battle.
In the blink of an eye, Itō Uto and Yuki Minazuki, standing behind Kisame, simultaneously struck at Mizushima Kimou and Ayase Mado.
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
"Ice Release: Ice Shuriken!"
Combining Wind Release and Ice Release Kekkei Genkai, Itō Uto and Yuki Minazuki seamlessly fused their techniques together.
Gale-force winds carried razor-sharp ice shuriken, formed from condensed moisture in the air. The synergy of binding force and destructive power significantly amplified the attack's lethality.
Faced with this combined assault, Mizushima Kimou and Ayase Mado refused to sit idly by. They countered with their own defensive and retaliatory jutsu.
While Itō Uto and Yuki Minazuki attacked, Veigar also moved, and so did Kisame.
Activating the Teleportation Jutsu, Veigar's target was none other than Kozuka Tachibana, who was rapidly tunneling underground in an attempt to escape.
"Run! Run faster...!"
Panicked, Kozuka Tachibana urged himself onward, never daring to relax.
But just as he surfaced briefly to catch his breath after staying underground for too long, Veigar descended from the sky.
"Wind Release: Wind Blade!"
Infusing his ninjatō with Wind Release, Veigar extended its effective strike range to 150 centimeters.
The long blade plunged into the ground.
Kozuka Tachibana—who had barely surfaced—was instantly slain on the spot, unable even to let out a final scream. His body would never leave this place—his death site had become his grave.
The Life Essence that began to leak from his corpse was promptly devoured by Veigar in one swift motion.
At the same time, Kisame Hoshigaki launched his attack on Veigar, who had just slain Kozuka Tachibana.
As Veigar looked up, Kisame's menacing, shark-like grin grew closer.
Without hesitation, Veigar swiftly withdrew his embedded blade and met the attack head-on.
Clang—!
The forceful clash of two powerful ninjatō sent a deafening metallic echo reverberating through the forest. Neither warrior yielded an inch.
For a brief moment, their faces drew so close that they could hear each other's breathing.
Kisame grinned fiercely, his voice filled with amusement. "I'm Kisame Hoshigaki. Pleased to meet you."
It was clear—Kisame was still holding back.
Veigar's cold reply came swiftly. "Veigar."
If it weren't for the sheer intensity of their bloodlust and battle fervor, onlookers might have mistaken this scene for a polite spar between acquaintances.
In perfect sync, they both leapt back and—as if following a scripted duel—simultaneously sheathed their blades, forming hand seals.
"Water Release: Exploding Water Shock Wave!"
"Wind Release: Shuriken Technique!"
A torrential surge of chakra-infused water erupted from Kisame's mouth, rushing toward Veigar with crushing force.
In response, Veigar lightly exhaled chakra-infused breath onto his shuriken, imbuing them with Wind Release before launching them straight at Kisame.
The wind-charged shuriken sliced through the water surge, cutting Kisame cleanly into three pieces.
Unfortunately, the severed body was only a Water Clone—Kisame's real body had already repositioned itself the moment he cast Exploding Water Shock Wave.
But Veigar had never expected Kisame to be taken down so easily. The current state of battle remained well within his calculations.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Jutsu."
Kisame's voice echoed through the forest as dense mist rapidly spread.
The water from Kisame's earlier Exploding Water Shock Wave had created the perfect conditions for him to unleash the Hidden Mist Village's signature jutsu.
As the mist enveloped Veigar, his figure flickered between concealment and visibility.
Meanwhile, the Wind Release: Shuriken Technique Veigar had thrown earlier continued on its path, now interfering with Itō Uto and Yuki Minazuki's assault on Mizushima Kimou and Ayase Mado.
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