The balance between offense and defense had shifted.
That brief exchange just now had been extremely dangerous for Hagoromo.
In the battles he had experienced so far, he had almost always held the speed advantage. Hagoromo was faster than his opponents, which meant he usually seized the initiative the moment combat began.
Coupled with his habitual use of Lightning Release—an attack style that left little room for counterattacks—his fights often ended with a single decisive blow.
But now, for the first time, he was facing an enemy who also specialized in speed.
And for a moment, he found himself unaccustomed to it.
If he were to use everything at his disposal—including abilities beyond the scope of ordinary ninjutsu—defeating, or outright killing, this enemy wouldn't be particularly difficult.
But he wouldn't do that.
Ninjutsu against ninjutsu.
A ninja fighting as a ninja.
This was one of the combat principles Hagoromo had temporarily set for himself.
Which naturally raised a question—
Isn't it stupid to hold back when you have an advantage? Do ninja battles really require this kind of fairness?
The answer was no.
This had nothing to do with psychological equality or moral fairness.
Hagoromo's insistence on prioritizing ninjutsu had a very clear purpose.
After all, there was no evidence—so far—that he was an idiot. His actions had to be understood rationally.
The reason was simple:
Real combat training.
Using his ultimate trump cards would indeed make short work of an enemy like this—but Hagoromo wanted to sharpen himself through battles like these.
Even without knowing this world's future in detail, Hagoromo understood one thing clearly:
Someday—almost certainly—he would face enemies far stronger than this one.
And those enemies shared a common trait—
Their "cheats" would be far more outrageous than his own.
To put it bluntly, this world contained monsters capable of slicing a planet in half like a watermelon.
Could Hagoromo do that?
No.
And when someone with cheats ran into someone with even stronger cheats—
Cheats alone wouldn't solve the problem.
When that day came, he would still have to fall back on ninjutsu itself.
And it would be impossible to suddenly cram training at the last second and expect to win.
Which was why—from now on—he had to adapt fully to fighting as a ninja.
Battle after battle.
Life-or-death encounters fought on ninja terms.
Perhaps, through this process, he would eventually discover jutsus even more powerful than his innate advantages.
"Lightning Release and Fire Release," the masked Fūma ninja said calmly. "According to the intelligence we have, those are the two elements you use."
He didn't press the attack as Hagoromo retreated. Instead, his gaze lingered on Hagoromo like that of a predator eyeing prey trapped in a cage.
"Unfortunately for you," he continued, "the Land of Rain is not a place where either Lightning Release or Fire Release can shine."
'We.'
Hagoromo didn't respond verbally, but his mind caught on a single word.
We.
That wasn't something a lone ninja should say.
A subtle sense of unease crept in.
Is there some organization collecting information on me?
Have parts of my combat profile already been analyzed?
Hagoromo didn't believe himself to be that important—so why would this be happening?
The questions lingered, but now wasn't the time to pursue them.
Capture and interrogate the enemy?
Impossible.
Against an opponent of this caliber, holding back meant courting death.
The enemy was strong—but Hagoromo felt no fear.
He wasn't bloodthirsty, but he didn't fear battle either. Years in this world had long since forged his resolve.
So instead of retreating—
Hagoromo surged forward again, lightning crackling across his body.
As if deliberately toying with him, the masked ninja didn't meet his charge head-on this time. Instead, he retreated.
Ten meters.
He flicked a kunai toward Hagoromo.
Hagoromo didn't even slow down. He simply tilted his head slightly, letting the projectile pass harmlessly by.
Thrown weapons alone weren't enough.
But then—
A sharp warning flared in Hagoromo's mind.
His lightning-wreathed right hand shot up toward the back of his neck, and he caught a returning kunai cleanly between two fingers.
Remote control?
Chakra threads?
Puppet jutsus?
Several possibilities flashed through his thoughts—
Before he realized he'd overthought it.
A nearly invisible wire was tied to the ring at the end of the kunai.
In any other environment, it would've been hard to notice.
But in this torrential rain, droplets clinging to the wire betrayed its presence instantly.
A trick like this posed no threat.
Hagoromo tossed the kunai aside and kept charging.
Five meters.
The enemy continued retreating while facing him—but no matter how skilled, moving backward couldn't outpace a frontal charge.
This time, however, the masked ninja didn't choose taijutsu.
Instead, as Hagoromo closed in, the enemy completed a sequence of hand seals.
He inhaled sharply—
And expelled a violent torrent of water.
Water Release: Water Turbulent Wave!
Hagoromo had already been watching his hand seals. He'd anticipated this move.
Almost simultaneously, Hagoromo's own hand seals completed.
Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
A blazing sphere of fire gathered before Hagoromo, compressing briefly before the core shot forward like a flaming arrow.
At a distance of barely five meters—
Water Release and Fire Release erupted together.
In principle, Water Release countered Fire Release.
But that rule only applied to jutsus of equal rank.
Hagoromo's B-rank Fire Release colliding with a C-rank Water Release posed no theoretical problem.
Water and fire clashed violently.
Even through his mask, Hagoromo felt the searing heat. In that instant, his rain-soaked clothes and hair were completely dried.
His breathing grew heavy—an oppressive sensation, almost suffocating.
Under the Fire Dragon Flame Bullet, the enemy's Water Release—and even the rain within the jutsu's range—instantly evaporated.
Amid the cold downpour, scorching steam exploded outward.
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