Ichū Bu noticed that the kid ahead not only didn't run away but even dared to charge at him. He laughed in extreme anger:
"Brat, I'm going to eat you alive."
He gripped his Kunai tightly with both hands, his Killing Intent almost tangible, as he charged toward Hyuga Aokawa in a rage.
The two were like arch-enemies heading for a final decisive battle, both moving toward each other with Killing Intent.
However...
Halfway there, Hyuga Aokawa suddenly stopped, his body sliding strangely toward the side and rear, vanishing behind a thick tree trunk.
The next moment!
Ichū Bu felt as if something was wrapped around him.
Boing!
A crisp sound of steel wire snapping rang in his ears.
Then, more sounds of steel wire snapping followed one after another, like falling dominoes.
His pupils shrank, and he thought to himself, 'Oh no!'
Immediately after, out of the corner of his eye, he saw seven or eight Explosive Tags on the surrounding tree trunks bursting with blinding light simultaneously!
Scared out of his wits, he formed hand signs almost instantly to activate the Body Flicker Technique.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions rang out in succession!
Flames and shockwaves instantly swallowed the area where he was, and dust scattered everywhere.
Whoosh!
A wretched figure barely managed to stumble out from the dust and smoke—it was Ichū Bu!
Even though his reaction was extremely fast, the range of the explosions was too dense, and he still got hit!
His right shoulder along with his entire arm had disappeared, the wound was charred and blurry, and blood was gushing out like a fountain!
The intense pain almost made him faint, and his entire face was as pale as paper.
He could only futilely clutch the wound with his left hand, panting heavily, as pea-sized beads of sweat rolled down his forehead.
"This vicious brat."
He cursed through gritted teeth, his crimson eyes staring fixedly at the smoke ahead, not daring to relax for a moment.
Those elusive light arrows had left too much of a psychological shadow on him!
Sure enough!
Whoosh!
A blue-white light arrow shot out from the smoke, aimed at his vital points.
"Bastard..."
Ichū Bu was both shocked and angry. At this moment, jumping in mid-air, he had nowhere to hide and could only desperately swing the Kunai in his left hand to parry!
Clang!
A crisp sound! The light arrow was knocked away, hitting a tree and kicking up wood chips.
He was just wondering why the force from the light arrow was much weaker than expected.
The next instant.
A faster and more violent light arrow took advantage of his body's stiffness after the parry.
At a very tricky angle, it shot into his abdomen.
Ichū Bu felt like he'd been hit by a heavy blow, and his entire body was slammed from the air onto the ground by the huge impact!
Waaah!
A mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of internal organs was spat out.
As soon as he hit the ground, before he could even catch his breath.
Several Shuriken had already followed and shot toward his eyes.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Relying solely on the instinct of years of fighting, he used his Kunai to dangerously knock away all the Shuriken.
And the very next second after he completed the parry.
A figure, like a ghost, appeared behind him with the Body Flicker Technique!
"Such a fast Body Flicker!"
Ichū Bu was horrified!
These successive attacks! And this Body Flicker Technique!
Is he really just a Ninja Academy Student who isn't even a Genin?
Greatly alarmed, he forced his body to twist.
The Kunai in his left hand struggled to parry upward!
Clink!
Sparks flew!
He barely blocked the fatal blow aimed at his throat.
The next instant, he felt a huge force coming from his abdomen.
Bang!
The already bloody wound was made even worse after being kicked by Hyuga Aokawa.
"Ah!" Ichū Bu retreated a few steps, kneeling on the ground in pain.
Before Ichū Bu could recover, Hyuga Aokawa was already in front of him again.
Holding a Kunai, he stabbed fiercely at the kneeling Ichū Bu.
The pain on Ichū Bu's face instantly turned into horror, and he hurriedly raised his Kunai to parry.
Unexpectedly, Hyuga Aokawa flipped his wrist again, bypassed Ichū Bu's parrying Kunai, and stabbed directly at his throat.
Oh no!
Ichū Bu thought to himself that it was bad.
But at this moment, his Move was already spent; it was too late.
He instinctively wanted to use his right hand to stop Hyuga Aokawa's Kunai.
But only an empty shoulder responded to him.
Puchi!
The dull sound of a blade entering flesh rang out.
Hyuga Aokawa stabbed the Kunai into the other's body without holding back any strength.
Blood splattered!
Ichū Bu tilted his head back, clutching the Kunai in his throat with his only left hand.
His eyes were wide open, and his mouth made a sizzling sound, but he couldn't say anything.
His body straightened involuntarily, and then he fell powerlessly to the ground.
Hyuga Aokawa also sat slumped on the ground, exhausted.
The physical foundation of his previous self was still too weak, and plus he was only about ten years old.
Encountering a Ninja in his prime like this, his strength and stamina couldn't keep up.
Luckily, he had the Holy Arrow to bleed the opponent out first; otherwise, it would have been really hard to fight.
After a brief adrenaline rush, intense pain surged in.
He then realized that the wound Keiko had helped him bandage had all burst open under such high-intensity combat.
He endured the pain and used the Pressure Point Technique to seal the blood vessels around the wound.
Heh-chuh!
His vision went dark, and the immense pain came in waves like knife cuts, almost making him faint.
He panted rapidly and continuously, sweating all over.
It took a full quarter of an hour for him to recover.
Holding his wound and frowning, he endured the pain to stand up, scavenged the valuable items from Ichū Bu's body, and tied them to himself.
Then he quickly headed toward Konoha Village.
Not knowing how much time had passed.
Konoha Village at the foot of the mountain finally appeared in Hyuga Aokawa's blurred vision.
From the time he was injured until now, he had basically relied on willpower to hold on until here.
"No wonder the survival rate and combat effectiveness of a Ninja squad increase significantly after being equipped with a Medical Ninja."
Ninjas are creatures with high attack and low defense; except for some cheaters, as long as the others are seriously injured, they basically lose their combat effectiveness.
It's fine to encounter a teammate like White Fang, but if it's Mizuki, you'd be sent straight away.
If I knew some Medical Ninjutsu, even if it was just the simplest Healing Technique, I would have been lively and kicking long ago.
I must learn some Medical Ninjutsu for self-protection if I get the chance.
He walked down the hill mechanically and staggeringly, and then struggled to climb another hill.
This was already the fourth hill he had climbed.
Those two bastards Hashirama and Madara, they didn't even go abroad to fight.
Causing so many valleys to the north of the Village, it's exhausting every time I return to the Village from this direction... He thought randomly as he staggered toward the Village gate.
Konoha Village Gate.
Izumo Kamizuki and Kotetsu Hagane were still just Ninja Academy Students, so the Konoha Gatekeepers today were naturally someone else.
The ones on duty today were Yūhi Shinku and Umino Ikkaku.
The two were startled when they saw Hyuga Aokawa covered in blood.
They hurriedly got up to support him.
Yūhi Shinku turned to Umino Ikkaku and said quickly, "Ikkaku, you continue to stand guard, I'll take him to the Hospital."
After saying that, she grabbed Hyuga Aokawa and disappeared with a Body Flicker Technique.