While eliminating the Sensor Ninja, Haseo had already closed in on the remaining three Uzumaki ninja. At this distance, a ninja like Haseo was no longer simply "dangerous"—he was lethal.
However, once he had pressed in this close, Haseo inevitably faced certain disadvantages. As he drew nearer to Mokkō, the density of the chakra chains filling the space around her became incomparable to what they had been from afar.
Like swarming snakes in an underground nest, the glowing chakra chains surged forward in dense layers. Even Haseo was forced to retreat a single step before lightly, swiftly, and agilely weaving through the gaps between the chains.
Surrounded by Lightning Release's characteristic blue glow, Haseo darted rapidly between the silver links of the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Though both glowed brightly, they clashed like moonlight spilling over fields and icy flame licking across the plains.
In the midst of this intense assault, Haseo's figure curved along the smallest arc imaginable, instantly moving from Sannai's flank to Ka-jin's back. All of this occurred within the blink of an eye, as if the Adamantine Sealing Chains had not slowed his speed at all.
Given that he was carrying a massive scroll strapped to his back during this maneuver, pulling it off was truly impressive.
Yet just as Haseo prepared to advance further, a sudden instinctual sense of danger struck his heart.
Setting aside Sakumo Hatake, among the three Uzumaki ninja in this Temporary Team, the one with clearly the strongest individual ability appeared to be Mokkō, who possessed the Adamantine Sealing Chains. Right now, she was using this sealing technique purely as an offensive ninjutsu.
Sannai was the Sensor Ninja—her job was to track the enemy in real-time and pass intel to her team before they even saw the threat. Such individuals were essential to every ninja squad because when ninja teams clashed with unknown enemies, the ability to instantly obtain enemy intel significantly increased the team's combat effectiveness and chances of victory.
So then, what exactly was Ka-jin doing?
A thought suddenly flashed through Haseo's mind. He immediately released the long sword wrapped in lightning chakra from his grip, letting its blade pierce into the ground. Then, lifting his leg, he stomped downward—not touching the earth itself, but instead stepping onto the hilt of his sword.
With that motion, half the sword's blade buried itself into the ground, while Haseo himself launched upward into the air.
At that moment, countless black blotch-like mysterious characters emerged from the earth, climbing up along Haseo's sword blade and covering over the lightning radiance.
[Binding Curse Technique]... I knew it...
Haseo twisted his body midair, smoothly drawing a second long sword from behind his back. He gave Ka-jin's shoulder a light tap with the flat of the blade and said,
"That's number two."
Then he turned, landed steadily, and withdrew backward.
Having a Sensor Ninja and a core damage role in the team naturally meant they needed someone for crowd control as well—just like Nagisa Nara in Haseo Squad before.
However, Ka-jin's Binding Curse Technique was clearly quite different from the Shadow Binding Jutsu of the Nara clan. While the Binding Curse lacked the flexibility of the Shadow Binding, it was instead an extremely strong form of control—one that couldn't be broken free from easily.
The difference between hard control and soft control is that with hard control, once you're caught, you're done for. Soft control at least gives you a chance to struggle… Nagisa often had trouble maintaining control over those stronger than him, but such a thing would never happen under Ka-jin's curse technique.
If Haseo had taken just one more step forward, he definitely would've crashed and burned—this time, beyond recovery.
Luckily, he reacted in time, so now only Mokkō remained.
Now, due to the interruption caused by the curse technique, the distance between them widened slightly again. After all, this was just training, so Haseo couldn't really use any high-damage mid- or long-range Ninjutsu attacks. Using Kurika to strike Mokkō—who lacked agility—was very suitable, but could he actually do it?
Firing off an Exploding Water Colliding Wave was already pushing it.
So Haseo planned to continue using the same approach as before: close in, then finish the battle safely.
But just as he prepared to move forward again, Sakumo Hatake rushed over once more.
Haseo could only temporarily retreat. As he looked at the Lightning Release chakra gleaming on Sakumo's Chakra-infused Tanto, he thought inwardly, "Come on, just a bit more effort—you'll soon be able to use your Lightning Cutter."
With Sakumo constantly harassing him up close and Kongo's Adamantine Sealing Chains disrupting from afar, and restricted by the rules of sparring practice, Haseo couldn't use powerful techniques. Though two members of his squad were now eliminated, the fight still seemed winnable.
Both Sakumo Hatake and Mokkō were thinking the same thing at this moment.
Yet not everyone shared this opinion.
Sannai opened her mouth as if to say something, but eventually chose to leave the training grounds without speaking. Earlier, she had been confused about which Elemental Chakra Affinity Haseo was using, which left her feeling disoriented because she couldn't determine it. Now though, she felt like she understood something—Haseo wasn't using just one Element; he was channeling all five Elemental Chakra Affinities at once.
As soon as he started forming Hand Seals—whether one seal or two—the next moment was sure to see an actual technique unleashed… Unfortunately, Sannai was a bit slow in realizing this, and since she was already effectively "dead," this information could no longer reach her teammates in time.
Before exiting, she glanced back one last time at Mokkō… Well, she no longer needed to pass this intelligence to the other side anyway.
Because their distant support had disappeared, Sakumo was gradually forcing Haseo back in close combat. Unexpectedly though, the next moment, Haseo—who mainly focused on defense and counterattacks—suddenly launched an offensive against him, turning the tide into a sudden flurry of attacks like stormy rain.
Behind him, the supporting presence vanished. Instantly sensing this, Sakumo hastily turned around to look and found Mokkō surrounded by three versions of Haseo… They were Shadow Clones.
To be precise, it was the Water Clone hidden underwater moments ago, the Earth Release Clone bursting up from the ground, and the Shadow Clone who had finished hand seals the fastest.
So the battle was back to one-on-one. But now the roles had flipped—Haseo's long sword slashed left and right, his spinning steps guiding the blade up and down so fast it was nearly impossible to defend.
Haseo moved with elegance, yet each strike he delivered carried immense force. He changed attack points according to a unique rhythm, pulling the entire flow of battle into his own tempo.
Only Sakumo Hatake—who excelled at sword techniques—was able to intercept Haseo's relentless series of attacks. For a while, the sharp ringing sound of blades clashing echoed continuously.
Seriously? He used to specialize in ninjutsu, but now he had to start learning Taijutsu, and even sword techniques on top of that? Totally unfair! Even though there was some similarity between Taijutsu and swordsmanship, what Sakumo Hatake thought at this moment was… hadn't he just said earlier that it had been a long time since he last physically trained?
Haseo seemed to have completely forgotten about that statement himself; instead, he was now thinking about praising Sakumo Hatake.
No wonder he'd go on to become the Legend of the White Fang—he actually managed to block such an intense offensive. With both sides attacking and defending evenly, fighting back and forth with rhythmic metallic sounds... So then, this sword style must probably be the so-called [Blacksmith Sword Style]. (Though you'd think he was forging steel instead of slicing through air.)
Danger—parry and block.
Danger—parry and block.
Sakumo Hatake kept repeating this process. Just as he finally spotted an opportunity to launch a counterattack, suddenly something struck his back. Moments later, lightning chakra surged from Haseo's left hand...
[Lightning Release · Kurigara] pressed against Sakumo's throat.
Right now, an energy blade was way more dangerous than a regular one—who even knew if Haseo's hand was steady enough to hold it right?
Sakumo wasn't too worried about getting his head chopped off, but... wasn't there a deal not to use moves like this 'cause they're too risky?
Oh, correction—it was supposed to be not using this move specifically against Uzumaki.
However, even without that slash, Sakumo Hatake knew he had already lost. Looking behind, he realized he had collided with Haseo's [Earth Dragon Bullet Technique].
Once this technique erupted, he'd be blasted away instantly.
This was the difference between a Taijutsu-focused ninja and Haseo—a ninja who could still find time to finish hand seals mid-attack amid fierce pressure... Now that's just plain cheating.
<><><><><><><><>
Thank you for reading! Your support will keep me updating!
~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** this weekend!
<><><><><><><><>
~ 100+ Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon!
~ More *Free* Chapters and Books Available on Patreon!
patreon.com/Tansnovel
<><><><><><><><>