Before Shimizu had even finished speaking, the remaining three Iwagakure ninja launched their attacks simultaneously.
One of them tested him with a kunai, another immediately began forming hand seals to perform a ninjutsu, while the third—clearly the squad leader—held a kunai and maintained a high level of vigilance.
It was obvious that Shimizu's earlier display—closing a distance of several dozen meters in an instant, suddenly appearing behind one of their comrades, and completing a lethal strike—had made the Iwagakure ninja deeply wary of his terrifying speed.
The next moment, a black, deadly kunai whistled past, barely grazing Shimizu's cheek.
He hadn't used the Body Flicker Technique to evade; he had merely relied on his exceptional reaction speed to dodge the attack.
Shimizu was waiting for the ninjutsu being prepared by the other Iwa ninja ... and guarding against the squad leader, who might seize any opportunity to strike...
The Iwa ninja finally completed his hand seals. Long, pillar-like rocks sprouted from the earth, completely enclosing Shimizu in the blink of an eye...
Earth Release: Earth Corridor!
This technique was often used to block an enemy's vision and restrict their movement.
"Got him!" the Iwa ninja who cast the jutsu said.
"He's not inside," the Iwagakure captain replied calmly. Then he scanned the surroundings. "The moment he left, he used a clone technique at the same time. There are two clones and one real body here."
However, the captain couldn't identify Shimizu's true body.
The opponent's hand seal speed had been too fast—so fast that even his perception had become confused, making it seem as if all three "people" were real.
And there was also that terrifying speed—the speed that had instantly killed one of his teammates.
Not to mention that incredibly destructive Lightning Release technique.
For this mission, the three teammates he brought along were all experienced chūnin with considerable strength.
...This opponent is definitely a Konoha Elite Jonin.
The captain felt a trace of pressure.
"Be careful—!" the Iwagakure captain suddenly shouted.
The three "Shimizus" attacked from three different directions, using Body Flicker techniques that seemed almost like instant teleportation, appearing behind the three Iwa ninja nearly at the same time.
The first "Shimizu" struck with a kunai, but the attack was instantly blocked. Another Iwa chūnin seized the opportunity and stabbed his kunai straight through the chest—only for the body to dissolve into rippling water.
It was a Water Clone.
The second "Shimizu" also attempted a kunai ambush on the Iwagakure captain, but the captain dodged and counterattacked lethally. With a poof, that "Shimizu" vanished.
It was a Shadow Clone.
He excels at Water Release too?!
That thought had only just crossed the captain's mind when a sharp chirping sound, like the cry of birds, suddenly rang out beside his ear.
He had just turned his head when his vision was flooded by dazzling blue-white lightning.
That same Lightning Release technique again…
In the blink of an eye, the lightning pierced straight through one of his subordinates.
The third one—this was the original!
As the ravenous lightning dissipated, the Iwa ninja lost all strength and collapsed. Shimizu tossed the corpse aside like a piece of discarded trash.
"..." The captain's forehead was matted with cold sweat.
If the first time had been an illusion, then the second time certainly wasn't.
The opponent had actually used that terrifying Lightning Release technique at the exact moment he activated the Body Flicker Technique.
A seal-less Lightning Release jutsu?!
And it just happened to be a lightning technique that countered their Earth Release!
In the brief moment he hesitated, Shimizu formed hand seals again. In just one second, with only three seals, he completed Lightning Release: Chidori Sharp Spear.
High-voltage electricity wrapped around the index finger of Shimizu's left hand, and a blue-white bolt of lightning shot from his fingertip instantly.
The light was dazzling—and deadly.
With a pfft, more than four meters away, his third subordinate's heart was pierced through.
A corpse collapsed to the ground with a thud.
"Losing focus in the middle of battle… and you call yourself a jōnin."
Shimizu pulled out a kunai, pointing its sharp tip at the last remaining Iwagakure captain.
He said slowly, "It seems you lot are just common small fry... To think a squad like this dared to infiltrate so deep into the Land of Fire. Are you scouting for intel?"
An elite squad consisting of one Jonin and three veteran Chunin, referred to as "small fry."
The last Iwa ninja instinctively swallowed hard.
Can I win?
Probably not…
The opponent's speed was something he simply couldn't match.
I'll really die.
So this was the gap—an ordinary jōnin was nothing in front of an elite jōnin.
"I'll be taking you back to Konoha. Your intel will be ours sooner or later." Shimizu's gaze shifted to the Iwa ninja he had wounded but spared earlier.
He said in a deep voice, "But if you tell me now… I can spare your life."
"…Really?!" The Iwagakure ninja's eyes seemed to hold a desperate longing for survival.
"I keep my word."
"…Then what about my companion?"
"If you tell me everything, you can take him with you."
"Is that true? How am I supposed to believe you?" the Iwa ninja asked, still in disbelief.
"I swear in the name of Konoha."
The Iwa ninja seemed to make a difficult decision. He slowly walked toward his companion and said,
"My name is Dōto, a jōnin of Iwagakure Village in the Land of Earth."
He slowly helped his injured companion up and spoke softly:
"This time I was ordered to lead a team into the Land of Fire…"
Then, in the literal blink of an eye, both men vanished from Shimizu's field of vision.
Reacting instantly, Shimizu dashed to the spot where the two had vanished.
To his shock, he discovered that the two Iwagakure ninja were truly gone.
There was no trace of them in his sensory perception either.
It was as if they had evaporated from the world.
Space-time ninjutsu?
Or some kind of trick that bypassed my perception?
Space-time ninjutsu...
Shimizu immediately rejected the idea.
In the original story, those capable of touching the forbidden secrets of space were extremely rare.
And this world wasn't absurd enough that a random Iwagakure ninja he met would possess such a heaven-defying ability.
So if they had disappeared instantly from sight…
…it had to be some kind of illusion or concealment trick.
And something that could block his sensory detection.
Shimizu suddenly recalled an Earth Release technique used before by Orochimaru and White Zetsu, which had perfectly evaded his sensing abilities.
Could it be the same principle?
But the opponent hadn't formed hand seals.
Nor had there been any preparation time.
Could it be a clan secret technique?
Shimizu slowly closed his eyes and carefully sensed the changes in the surrounding environment, trying to detect any subtle clues in the wind or movement.
Those two couldn't have gone far.
...
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