Chapter 85: The Drawback of the Body Flicker Technique
Just as everyone thought the battle was pretty much over, the unexpected happened again.
Kisame's previously pained expression suddenly vanished. Then, taking advantage of Sasori's slight relaxation of his guard, he charged forward.
"Samehada: Shredding Slash!"
Although Sasori reacted at the last moment, he was still hit by Samehada's spikes, and more than half of his chakra was instantly absorbed.
Huff... Sasori clutched his injured arm, enduring the fatigue from the massive chakra drain. He looked at Kisame with a slightly dazed expression and asked, "How did you do that?"
Hearing this, Kisame raised the Samehada in his hand and gestured slightly, indicating that it was all thanks to it.
In fact, Kisame had noticed the problem as soon as Sasori's poison had begun to spread in the water.
However, just as he was preparing to escape, he came up with a plan: to pretend that he had been poisoned, in order to make his enemy let down his guard.
And the facts proved that this plan had indeed succeeded.
As for how Kisame himself had gotten rid of Sasori's poison, it was because while he was advancing under the cover of the shark, he had secretly used a kunai to make a cut on his own body. Then, using Samehada's ability, he had expelled all the poisoned flesh and blood from his body.
Then he had used Samehada to heal his wound, thus successfully deceiving the cautious Sasori.
Although this would undoubtedly cause him considerable damage, it was still better than being poisoned to death.
Sasori's gaze lingered on Samehada for a moment, and then he said coolly, "I surrender."
"A wise choice," Kisame said in a strange tone. He then swung Samehada and inserted it into his back, then turned to look at the referee on the wall.
"..." The Anbu referee nodded at him, then loudly announced the end of the match.
With that, the third spot in the top four was decided.
"Sasori doesn't have his human puppets with him now, so he can't use his full strength. It's only natural that he would lose," Kyosuke sighed, watching the two of them fight.
Then, after nodding to Minato and the Second Elder, he leaped down from the stands.
At the same time, his crimson eyes were fixed on Akatsuchi, who had also leaped down from the stands.
"Then, the final round of the quarterfinals... begin!!!" the referee announced, then immediately returned to the wall to watch quietly.
He had now discovered that the contestants in this Chunin Exam were too strong, so there was almost no room for him to intervene.
He might as well just enjoy the match from this VIP seat.
As for Kyosuke and Akatsuchi, they stood steadily on the still-receding water, staring at each other.
"..." Akatsuchi stared at Kyosuke with angry eyes for a moment, then quickly cast his ninjutsu.
It was only natural that he would show anger. After all, two of the Stone's ninja had died at the hands of Konoha in this exam. It was inevitable that a grudge would be formed.
However, his hatred was something Kyosuke would completely disregard.
The hatred of the weak would ultimately only bring harm to themselves.
Just like now.
Just as Akatsuchi's clay giant was climbing out of the water, a ferocious water dragon was already roaring toward him.
"Water Release: Water Dragon Jutsu."
Taking advantage of the terrain, Kyosuke effortlessly released this water-style ninjutsu.
Although his "Water Nature Transformation" was only at Level 1, it was more than enough.
Besides, this Water Dragon Jutsu was just a feint, so its power didn't really matter.
Seeing the water dragon coming, Akatsuchi controlled his clay giant to meet it head-on.
Although the clay giant was pushed back by the force of the water dragon's impact, it ultimately managed to crush it.
Just then, the sound of projectiles suddenly echoed beside Akatsuchi's ear.
Then, a few shuriken, tracing a bizarre arc, shot toward Akatsuchi, who was behind the clay giant.
"Hmph," Akatsuchi snorted. Then, a thick layer of rock suddenly enveloped his hand, and he knocked away the shuriken one by one.
"Earth Release: Rock Fist Technique."
After doing this, Akatsuchi quickly adjusted his stance, then raised his fist and swung it forward with all his might.
Clang!
The sound of rock and blade colliding suddenly echoed through the venue.
It turned out that when Akatsuchi had knocked away the shuriken, Kyosuke had used the Body Flicker Technique to quickly advance, hoping to seize his opening and end the match in one blow.
Unfortunately, this tactic of Kyosuke's had already been figured out by all the contestants, so this surprise attack ultimately came to nothing.
"A quick reaction," Kyosuke said with a light laugh, at the same time, his body slightly tilted back to create some distance.
But in his heart, he was not as relaxed as his face showed.
A miscalculation, Kyosuke sighed to himself.
The miscalculation he was referring to was two points.
First, Akatsuchi's strength had completely exceeded his expectations. If he hadn't used the acceleration from his speed just now, he probably would have been sent flying by his punch.
Second, this Level 2 Shisui-Style Body Flicker Technique had placed a considerable burden on his body. He could clearly feel this from the pain that was coming from all over his body.
He hadn't expected that the upgraded Body Flicker, while much faster, would also increase the burden on his body exponentially.
The operating principle of this special ninjutsu was quite different from that of conventional ninjutsu, so he couldn't freely adjust the chakra output to slow down or increase his movement speed. At least, with Kyosuke's current chakra control, he couldn't do it.
This meant that Kyosuke could no longer use the Body Flicker Technique recklessly.
His strongest ability had gone from a conventional offensive tool to a trump card that couldn't be used easily. The frustration in Kyosuke's heart could be imagined.
But no matter how frustrated he was, he had to accept reality and find another way to defeat his opponent.
Otherwise, if he continued to force himself to use the Body Flicker, he probably wouldn't have to fight in the subsequent matches.
Seeing Kyosuke retreat, Akatsuchi, who was unaware of the specific situation, remained on his guard.
After all, the high-speed clash between Kuro and Kyosuke had just happened. He couldn't afford to be careless.
At this time, the water level in the venue had gradually lowered due to the drainage system.
Not long after, the two of them were once again standing on solid ground.
Seeing this, Akatsuchi, without a second thought, formed hand seals again.
"Earth Release: Light-Weight Rock Technique."
This secret ninjutsu of the Stone Village was thus unleashed from his hands.
However, this jutsu was not cast on himself, but on the clay giant.
Instantly, the clay giant's movement speed increased significantly.
Although this would reduce its destructive power to a certain extent, as long as it could hold Kyosuke off, Akatsuchi was willing to make the trade-off.
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