The sound of rushing wind came from the direction of Iwagakure.
One figure after another landed around the rocky platform where Shinichi stood.
On the edge of the platform, on the rock walls, and along the higher mountain paths, dozens of Iwagakure ninja appeared, surrounding him from every direction.
Their eyes swept over the black-clad figure in the center of the platform, then shifted to the four comrades kneeling farther back, gasping for breath. Their expressions changed at once.
"Only one person!?"
"Are you kidding me!?"
"A brat dares to attack Iwagakure?!"
Angry shouts erupted from the crowd.
A scarred Iwagakure jonin glared at the captain behind Shinichi and roared, "Ishikawa! What happened to the four of you?! You couldn't even stop one person?!"
Ishikawa, the captain, trembled. He propped himself up and looked at the scarred jonin, then at the figure who had kept his back to them from beginning to end.
His lips moved in despair, but no sound came out.
Stop him? How were they supposed to stop someone they could not even move against?
That figure had only stood there, releasing chakra like a mountain pressing down on them.
Resist? They could not even move a finger.
Ishikawa lowered his head, not daring to meet his comrades' eyes. The trembling of his shoulders gave away the fear in his heart.
Shinichi did not look back. His gaze swept across the surroundings.
Thirty-seven people.
Six jonin, and the rest were all chunin. Their formation was loose, but they had still blocked every path of retreat.
"Heh."
A wild, arrogant smile curled at the corner of Shinichi's mouth.
"So this is what it feels like... No wonder Madara could smile while facing the whole Shinobi Alliance."
Because being surrounded by enemies while knowing he could crush them at any time...
"It really does feel damn good."
The moment his voice fell, the scarred Iwagakure ninja roared again.
"Attack!"
"Don't use ninjutsu! Ishikawa and the others are still behind him! Suppress him with taijutsu!"
At his order, thirty-seven figures moved at once.
In an instant, cold light flashed. Kunai, short swords, fists, and kicks came at him from every direction as dozens of people rushed toward the center of the platform.
Shinichi looked at the Iwagakure ninja closing in from all sides, and his grin widened.
"Hahahahaha!"
His laughter rang across the platform, drowning out the sound of rushing wind and the roars of the Iwagakure ninja.
"Good! Come at me!"
The laughter stopped abruptly, leaving only battle frenzy in his eyes.
"Then... let's warm up a little before the real fight."
He moved his right foot half a step back, leaned forward slightly, and let his hands hang naturally at his sides.
"I hope you can at least let me stretch my limbs a bit."
With that, Shinichi stomped down. Fine cracks spread across the platform, and his figure instantly vanished.
The scarred Iwagakure ninja at the front only saw a blur before a powerful hand clamped onto his head.
Shinichi had already appeared in front of him. The ninja's eyes widened.
'So fast! This speed isn't human!'
The thought had barely appeared when Shinichi swung his right arm, lifted him up, and threw him hard.
Boom!
"Argh!"
His body smashed into the crowd like a cannonball. Two Iwagakure ninja were knocked away by the impact, and screams rang out at the same time.
"Tsuchiya!"
The Iwa ninja roared in anger. Their surprise only lasted for half a second before the encirclement tightened again, and several attacks closed in on Shinichi.
A ninja with a short sword leaped up, his blade flashing toward Shinichi's neck.
Shinichi tilted his head slightly, and the blade grazed past his hair.
In the next second, his left hand shot out like lightning and grabbed the ninja by the throat. His grip tightened.
"Gah!"
The ninja's eyes bulged, and his consciousness flickered from the pressure.
"Heh..."
Shinichi looked at him and sneered. Then he used both arms and swung the ninja in his hand like a weapon in a violent horizontal sweep.
Bang, bang, bang, bang!
Four ninja at the front were struck in the waist and abdomen, flying backward into their companions as screams rose one after another.
This time, the Iwa ninja completely panicked.
"How is this possible..."
"This taijutsu... we're no match for him at all!"
"He's too fast! We can't hold him back!"
Amid the cries of alarm, the remaining Iwagakure jonin's expressions changed. They finally gave up on suppressing him with taijutsu and shouted...
"Everyone, pull back! Prepare ninjutsu! Use a large-scale Earth Release blockade!"
At the command, the Iwa ninjas immediately understood and began forming hand signs.
Seeing them switch to ninjutsu, the excitement in Shinichi's eyes grew even stronger. He had no intention of waiting for them to finish their hand signs.
His hands blurred through two signs.
Tiger. Rabbit.
"Water Release: Great Exploding Water Colliding Wave!"
With a low shout, Shinichi spat out a massive torrent of water formed from his vast chakra. It instantly turned into a wave dozens of meters high, roaring toward the group of Iwagakure ninja.
The current swept forward with terrifying speed. Wherever it passed, debris on the platform was washed away, and mist filled the battlefield.
"His hand signs are that fast?!"
"No... look at the scale of it!"
"Block it!"
The Iwagakure ninja shouted in alarm.
The remaining thirty or so Iwagakure ninja completed their signs at the same time and slammed their palms onto the ground.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Nearly thirty rock walls rose from the ground, layering one after another to block the torrent.
Earth countered Water. By normal logic, they should have won this clash.
But in the next instant...
Boom!
The torrent slammed into the first rock wall. The wall did not even hold for a second before it shattered.
Then came the second, the third, the fourth...
The jutsu was unstoppable. The Iwagakure ninja watched helplessly as their combined Earth Flow Walls, which should have been strong enough to block an A-rank ninjutsu, collapsed like paper before the torrent.
"Impossible!"
"How can Water Release crush Earth Release on this scale?!"
"It's his chakra... that amount of chakra isn't normal!"
Someone finally noticed the key point, but it was already too late. Their cries were drowned out by the roar of water.
The final rock wall shattered.
With nothing left to stop it, the raging water slammed into the Iwa ninjas.
"Argh!"
"Cough!"
"No..."
Most of the Iwagakure ninja were hit by the current and sent flying, crashing heavily into the rock wall behind them. Screams rose one after another.
After the water receded, bodies lay scattered beneath the rock wall.
More than twenty bodies were soaked through, their ribs broken and their chakra pathways damaged. They could not even move a finger, and could only groan on the ground.
Only seven or eight ninja barely managed to stay on their feet. They were completely drenched, and their eyes were filled with terror.
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