The light bullets kept raining down.
Explosions echoed without end, one after another, as the ground was blasted apart again and again.
Because of that massive attack, no one had been able to interrupt Yagami while he was building up power.
As a result, this barrage of light bombs was on a completely different level from his previous large-scale move, both in number and in duration.
By now, the bombardment had gone on for nearly ten full seconds, and there was still no sign of it stopping.
"Get us out of here, now!"
Hunter shouted sharply, his voice filled with urgency.
At this point, the earthen wall protecting them was already collapsing under the relentless barrage, shrinking lower and lower with every impact.
If they stayed where they were, it was over.
In just a few more seconds, the wall would be completely destroyed—and they would be buried along with it.
"Earth Style: Earth Dynamic Core!"
The instant Hunter finished shouting, he slammed both palms against the ground.
"Boom—!"
The surrounding terrain shook violently.
In the next moment, the ground beneath the Iwa shinobi suddenly gave way, forming a massive square pit as it dropped straight down.
The descent was immediate and brutal.
In the blink of an eye, they had sunk dozens of meters below the surface.
"…Oh?"
Yagami's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Not bad."
He could sense the Iwa shinobi dropping far beneath the ground, and because of that, he had no choice but to stop pressing the attack and descend from the sky.
At that depth, even if he doubled the duration of his current move, it probably would not be enough to seriously damage them.
The barrage finally came to a halt.
"Haah... haah..."
Inside the deep pit, the Iwa jōnin breathed heavily, their backs damp with cold sweat.
That had been too close.
If they had reacted even one or two seconds later, they would have been blown apart on the spot.
"That bastard's even stronger than I thought…"
Hunter turned and looked at the others, his expression darker than ever.
Hearing that, the faces of the other five jōnin turned equally grim.
They had not even managed to close the distance yet, and already they had been forced completely onto the defensive.
If any one of them had gone up against him alone, the result would have been obvious.
Instant death.
It would have ended no differently than the comrade who had already been killed.
"What the hell are we supposed to do now?"
Wenya glanced at the others, his voice tight with frustration.
"The enemy's strength is way beyond what we expected."
Before this, all of them had assumed that even if Yagami really was Kage-level, six jōnin working together—among them even elite jōnin—would still be enough to overwhelm him.
But reality had crushed that assumption.
Yagami was clearly not some ordinary Kage-level opponent.
His swordsmanship was terrifying enough on its own—
but even his ninjutsu was overwhelming.
Only now did they truly understand why he had spoken with such confidence before the battle.
Because he really did have the strength to back it up.
"We can talk about the rest later."
Hunter cut off the others before they could sink deeper into panic.
"First, raise the ground. Hurry."
His hands remained pressed firmly against the earth as he spoke.
At this moment, Yagami had already ended his technique. If they did not return to the surface immediately, then once he reached the edge of the crater and attacked from above, they would be trapped in an even worse position.
No one knew what he might do next.
After all, aside from what he had already shown, they still knew almost nothing about his abilities.
"Rumble—!"
At Hunter's command, chakra surged again.
The sunken earth beneath them began to rise, lifting them back up like a massive stone platform.
Their exchange had only lasted a few breaths.
By the time they returned to ground level, Yagami had only just descended from the air himself and landed not long after.
Otherwise, he would have already rushed to the crater's edge and launched another sweeping bombardment straight down at them.
"It seems I underestimated you."
Yagami drew his Heavenly Cloud Sword once more and began walking toward the Iwa shinobi at an unhurried pace.
"To survive that attack… you've got some skill."
His tone was casual, almost amused.
But to the Iwa shinobi, those words sounded like pure mockery.
They were jōnin.
Elite jōnin, even.
Men who formed the backbone of Iwagakure.
And yet in Yagami's eyes, surviving one attack was enough to earn them a passing remark?
Just that?
"Then we'll take that as praise."
Hunter stepped forward and answered coldly.
At the same time, he lowered one hand behind his back and gave a subtle signal.
The others caught it at once.
They exchanged quick glances, then began forming hand seals in secret.
What they did not know was that none of it escaped Yagami's perception.
He saw every movement clearly—
he simply could not be bothered to stop them.
"It is praise," Yagami said calmly.
"But only that."
The distance between them closed to ten meters.
The moment his voice fell, Yagami slammed his foot against the ground and shot forward.
This group of Iwa shinobi had proven tough enough to defend and dodge at range, so he decided to end it in close combat.
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
"Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!"
Two earthen walls rose at the same time.
One shot up in front of Hunter.
The other rose behind him.
In an instant, he was boxed in between them.
Yagami's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight.
Then, through his perception, he sensed Hunter suddenly pull out a thick stack of explosive tags and slap them onto the wall in front of him.
A second later, Hunter bent his knees and kicked off the ground hard, leaping upward.
"Earth Style: Rock Missile!"
"Boom—!"
A deafening crash followed immediately.
Behind the second wall, Ya had already been waiting.
The moment Hunter jumped clear, Ya slammed his palm into the wall behind him and shattered it in one strike.
The broken earth wall blasted forward under that impact and smashed directly into the wall covered in explosive tags.
The next instant, the tags detonated.
A far greater explosion erupted at once, forming a violent shockwave.
Countless chunks of shattered rock and clotted earth were caught in the blast and hurled outward in a wide fan, tearing straight toward Yagami like a storm of stone.
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