Kusamori was getting beaten down.
He lashed out with a kick at one of the Akishimas—his foot passed straight through the body. At the same time, another clone slammed a fist into his lower back, sending him flying.
He rolled across the ground and barely managed to regain his footing before even more Akishimas rushed in, continuing their relentless assault.
With no way to tell which attacks were real, Kusamori was forced to adopt the dumbest possible strategy—
Block everything.
Fists and kicks fell like rain.
"Damn it… how am I supposed to fight this?" Kusamori retreated again and again, teeth clenched.
The Waterfall Clone Technique wasn't terrifying in itself, but without a counter, it was a nightmare.
"…Wood Rain."
He had no choice but to pin his hopes on his subordinate. Last time, it had been Wood Rain who finished off the poisoned enemy.
But—
Where the hell was Wood Rain?!
Kusamori scanned the battlefield. There was no sign of Wood Rain—not even the sound of fighting.
That bastard didn't run away, did he?!
Several Akishima clones charged again, surrounding Kusamori and pounding him back step by step until he leapt onto a tree, looking down at the sea of Akishimas below.
Waterfall clones were technically earth-based… so trees should work against them, right?
The answer came immediately.
The clones turned as one and began attacking the tree itself.
Boom! Boom!
The massive trunk shook violently. In seconds, the tree was smashed and snapped in half, forcing Kusamori to leap away.
"You've got to be kidding me!!"
He jumped to another tree.
They smashed that one too.
He jumped again.
They followed, their speed never slower than his.
The battlefield kept shifting—back toward the area where they had originally been hiding.
"Don't even think about running!" a chorus of Akishimas shouted as they pursued him relentlessly.
Kusamori glanced back at the black mass of figures behind him. Not daring to slow down, he finally reached a familiar spot—and felt a flicker of relief.
Why the hell had he dragged the fight away earlier?
Instead of retreating further, he abruptly reversed direction, leaping down from the tree and charging straight at Akishima.
His body passed through multiple clones. One of them suddenly leapt high into the air, kunai raised, aiming straight for Kusamori's back.
"It's over!"
Kusamori's stamina and chakra were nearly depleted. With Akishima's clone chakra flooding the area, he couldn't distinguish the real body at all.
That hesitation gave Akishima his opening.
The real Akishima was already behind him.
One thrust through the back—
Just as the airborne Akishima was about to strike, his body froze midair.
His pupils shrank.
Kusamori turned around, a cold smile on his face.
He launched a flying kick that smashed Akishima straight out of the air.
The body flew backward—then suddenly stopped—and dropped heavily to the ground.
Wrapped tightly around Akishima's ankle was a loop of steel wire.
And attached to it—
"An explosive tag?!"
BOOM!!
Kusamori leapt back as the explosion tore through the area. The surrounding clones vanished one by one.
He dropped to one knee, letting out a long, shaky breath.
This place was filled with traps designed by Hyūga Ming.
Without those traps, he never would have turned the situation around.
As the smoke cleared, Akishima—also kneeling at a distance—frowned deeply.
The blast had hit him from afar. It hurt, but not badly. The explosion had also severed the wire around his ankle.
He no longer dared to move carelessly.
Shifting his attention away from Kusamori, he finally noticed the steel wires stretched throughout the area.
If he hadn't been so completely focused on the fight, he would have noticed earlier.
"…Why didn't you use this terrain from the start?" Akishima demanded.
Kusamori awkwardly looked away.
The traps weren't his.
His pride—and his insecurity—had made him unwilling to rely on something Wood Rain had prepared.
And later…
He'd completely forgotten about them.
The fight had been too intense. If he hadn't been pushed to the brink, it wouldn't have crossed his mind at all.
"So you deliberately made me ignore this place…" Akishima growled. "What a vicious plan."
One of his men had already died to a trap here. He'd assumed that was the only one.
He never imagined there were this many.
If the battle hadn't gone on so long without triggering anything, he wouldn't have dismissed the area entirely.
What are you even saying?!
Listen to yourself!!
If Kusamori were that clever, he wouldn't still be a mere chūnin.
But… results were results.
It had shaken Akishima badly.
So why couldn't it count as Kusamori's plan?
Kusamori bared his teeth in a grin—one he'd learned directly from Hyūga Ming.
Then he charged.
This time, he was going for the kill.
He knew exactly where every trap was—both the obvious ones and the hidden ones.
Akishima hurriedly blocked with his kunai. The blades clashed again and again, sparks flying.
The tide had turned.
Now it was Kusamori pressing the advantage.
Akishima had to watch his footing for traps while defending against Kusamori's attacks. Forced back step by step, he was quickly losing ground.
This couldn't continue.
If the fight stayed here, he'd either die by Kusamori's hand—or get blown apart by a trap.
He scanned the trees.
Because of the rain, the hidden wires were hard to spot, but after careful observation, he found a few gaps.
If he broke through there, he could shift the battlefield.
Akishima leapt.
He was just about to land on a distant branch—
"Don't even think about it!"
Kusamori jumped after him, slashing with his kunai.
The blade passed straight through Akishima's body.
"…Damn it."
A clone.
The real Akishima had already escaped the trap zone, soaring toward another tree.
Just as he reached the branch—
Someone was already standing there.
Hyūga Ming grinned down at him.
"Surprised? Didn't expect this, did you?"
Akishima narrowed his eyes.
A mere genin. Not part of the plan, but in close combat, he was confident.
Just a genin.
Gentle Fist: Mountain-Shattering Strike!
Ming's palm slammed into Akishima's abdomen.
Akishima's eyes bulged.
The force transmitted through that strike was monstrous—far beyond genin level, beyond even most chūnin.
BOOM!
Akishima was blasted downward.
Steel wires snapped tight around his body midair, pulling him straight into the trap field—explosive tags already bound along the lines.
BOOM!!
Firelight illuminated the forest.
[Experience +1869]
Hyūga Ming looked down calmly from above.
On the ground, Kusamori stared up at him, completely dumbfounded.
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