Izumi pointed at Asenyi and asked with a smirk, "Do you feel the pain when those Exploding Tags detonate? They hurt a lot, right?"
Asenyi snapped back to his senses and grunted, "Yeah, you're right. It's not like the usual Exploding Tags I've seen before."
Izumi's lips curled into a satisfied smile. "Exactly! These are specially made by me. I'll keep using them from now on."
Asenyi sneered, narrowing his eyes. "Hmph. Don't think I'll fall for that so easily. Even if you turn your body into paper, your main body still takes damage if hit. Your upper body flinching when the tags explode is proof enough."
Izumi's smile turned sinister. "Oh, you're quite observant. But that's exactly the trap I set up to fool you. I'm done talking to you now—Fire Release: Exploding Flame Array!"
She slammed her palm against the ground, and instantly, countless Exploding Tags erupted around Asenyi. They surged forward at an even faster speed than before, a relentless barrage of explosive traps.
Asenyi's eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, weren't all those traps cleared? When did she—oh, right! When she turned into paper earlier, she split into three parts. One section exploded, another sent tags into the ground. Talking to me just now was to buy time to set up the traps! Damn it…"
Despite being surrounded, Asenyi ignored the flying Exploding Tags attached to him and dashed fiercely toward Izumi.
Izumi hesitated for a split second before detonating the tags. The explosions rocked the ground violently, and Asenyi stumbled, injured from the blasts. But he quickly shook off the pain, stood up, and charged at her relentlessly.
"Troublesome… he's too fast!" Izumi muttered. "Is he trying to get close so I can't detonate the tags safely? He seems strong, but he's also cunning."
Determined, Izumi concentrated spiritual energy into her palm and collided it with Asenyi's incoming fist.
"Raiton Ninjutsu: Raiyaku Tsuribito!" she shouted, executing the Spiral Palm technique.
The two attacks slammed together with a deafening impact. Asenyi's eyes widened in shock. "She actually blocked my fist… and why does her attack make my arm want to spin uncontrollably?"
Izumi focused her strength, channeling all her power, chakra, and spiritual energy into her rotating arm. She delivered a devastating one-inch punch, the force spiraling like a cyclone into Asenyi's body.
Asenyi was caught off guard. His body spun violently from the force, and he was sent flying backward. Blood spat from his mouth as he crashed through a line of trees, leaving a long, deep trench carved into the earth where he rolled.
Izumi watched with satisfaction. "Combining martial arts with chakra manipulation… this spiral force is something you only see in novels, but it works!"
She eyed her hand, noticing small fractures forming from the exertion. Shaking it, she quickly applied a healing talisman, accelerating her recovery. Thanks to the Senju clan bloodline running through her veins, she healed rapidly.
Meanwhile, Asenyi groaned in frustration, clutching his broken right arm. Despite his powerful physical defense, the punch had severely damaged him.
"Damn it! How could I lose to a young girl?" he growled, bloodshot eyes burning with rage.
Channeling a surge of chakra, he prepared for another attack. Suddenly, an afterimage flickered in front of Izumi's eyes. Before she could react, Asenyi appeared beside her, launching a punch at her head.
Izumi quickly turned her body into paper, dodging the strike and intending to turn the paper into Exploding Tags to trap him again.
But before the paper could reach him, Asenyi vanished once more and swung a punch toward her head.
Izumi hastily formed a shield using special bandages inscribed with talismans. Though she blocked the blow, the force sent her flying backward.
Before she could land, Asenyi reappeared behind her and delivered a powerful kick.
The part of Izumi's body that was hit immediately began transforming back into paper, fragmenting.
"No! I can't keep taking hits like this," Izumi thought desperately. "He's targeting my main body. If I keep transforming, it'll be dangerous."
She quickly created countless paper clones to confuse him, but he dispelled them all with ease.
The sky was filled with exploding tags, but none of them managed to hit him.
"Damn it! The paper is too slow in the air!" Izumi's Sharingan eye scanned and analyzed his every movement, helping her to dodge his relentless attacks.
She then combined the Divine Movement Talisman with the Exploding Tags, and as expected, their speed increased by more than one level.
The barrage of Exploding Tags bombarded Asenyi again. After the explosion, Asenyi charged at Izumi using his old trick once more.
Izumi could only dodge; she dared not detonate the tags again, fearing the explosion would harm her own paper form.
A faint disappointment crossed Izumi's face when she noticed the ink on her tags did not stick to Asenyi. Instead, the ink disappeared into his Lightning Chakra, leaving her puzzled.
But there was no time to ponder. She quickly evaded another attack.
"No! I can't keep going like this!" Izumi thought anxiously. Her Sharingan focused on his Lightning Chakra Mode, and an idea struck her.
"Nin-Taijutsu, a move that usually takes years of training to master. What if I try it?"
She recalled the chakra flow patterns throughout his body when he used Nin-Taijutsu, memorizing every detail.
Mobilizing lightning-style chakra, Izumi covered her entire body with it. A sharp pain immediately shot through her, but she endured it.
"Ugh! It hurts so much! But with my spiritual power combined, and my strong chakra control, I should be able to learn Ninjutsu quickly," she thought. "Besides, Divine Ink and spiritual power temper my body, so it should adapt fast."
After several painful attempts, she finally succeeded.
Her body glowed a light blue, covered with a gentle aura of lightning chakra. A large amount of chakra radiated outward, but excess energy quickly retracted into her body.
Though she lacked the overwhelming lightning aura that Asenyi possessed, the amount of lightning chakra covering her was just right. Her hair floated, entwined with faint sparks, giving her an ethereal, sacred appearance under the night sky.
"Ah, my whole body aches," Izumi muttered, grimacing as she endured the pain.
Summoning her remaining strength, she charged at Asenyi.
"Hm! So fast!" Asenyi exclaimed in surprise. Even Izumi was surprised by her new speed.
She overshot her target and tumbled, rolling across the ground. The lightning chakra covering her body faded as the effect disappeared.
Asenyi stared at her incredulously. "How is this possible? Even the Sharingan can't learn this move so quickly! Using it once is hard enough—chronic pain, nervous system disruption, even paralysis or worse. And why does she look different from me? And her speed... it's too fast!"
Izumi got up, smiling confidently. "Again!"
Her body crackled with blue lightning once more as she repeated the technique.
She suddenly realized, "So that's how it works. It only increases speed and power, but defense isn't boosted much. To increase defense, I need to envelop my body with a larger amount of chakra, which will increase both offense and defense but slow me down. So, I must balance speed, defense, and attack power by adjusting how much lightning chakra I distribute."
The lightning chakra faded from her body, and she rubbed her aching neck. "Your move really hurts to use."
Asenyi's eyes narrowed sharply. "Have you learned this move before?"
"No," Izumi answered, smiling brightly. "Today was my first time."
Asenyi's expression darkened. He closed his eyes tightly, then suddenly snapped them open and roared, "How is this possible?! How could she learn our technique so quickly?"
He charged at Izumi recklessly, his own lightning chakra blazing..
Izumi's entire body shimmered with electric blue light again. She swiftly dodged his attack, a confident smile on her face as her hand glowed faintly blue.
"Hehehe, thanks to your move, I've become stronger. There are still many ways to develop lightning techniques—it seems I have a lot to explore," she thought eagerly.
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