"Brat, while I still haven't changed my mind, hurry up and crawl back to Konoha." The Kirigakure jōnin's eyes were full of contempt. "Otherwise, I'll tear you into pieces and throw you into the sea to feed the sharks."
The Mist ninja behind him burst into laughter. Even the tall, thin man with bandaged hands let out a breath of relief.
That was right. Their captain was a genius of the Hōzuki clan, Lord Hōzuki Sakugetsu.
So what if a twelve-year-old brat had luckily beaten Scarface?
"You're a captain too?" Shin-chan also sized him up. This person didn't seem any different from the Mist ninja he had met earlier.
"Hōzuki Sakugetsu." When he stated his name, there was an arrogance in his voice that sounded completely natural. "Don't compare me to trash like Scarface."
The faces of the Konoha ninja instantly turned pale.
Of course they had heard of the Hōzuki clan.
They were one of Kirigakure's most mysterious and terrifying families. Their Hydrification Technique could turn their bodies into liquid, making them immune to all physical attacks. They were the nightmare of countless ninja.
"Be careful! He's Hōzuki Sakugetsu!" one Konoha ninja cried out. "The Hydrification Technique is their clan's secret technique. Ordinary attacks are useless against him!"
Hōzuki Sakugetsu raised an eyebrow, seemingly quite pleased that his name had reached Konoha. "Oh? Looks like you're not completely stupid. But so what if you know?"
Before his voice had even fallen, his body suddenly turned into a puddle of clear water. It flowed rapidly through the cracks between the stones on the ground and instantly appeared in front of the Konoha ninja who had shouted the warning.
The clear water condensed back into human form. His right hand had already turned into a sharp water blade, stabbing straight toward the other man's throat.
His speed was astonishing.
That Konoha ninja did not even have time to react. He could only watch helplessly as the water blade grew larger in his pupils.
Just then, a kunai tore through the air and accurately pierced through the water blade.
Water splashed in all directions. The form of the water blade was forcefully scattered for an instant, but immediately condensed again.
Then a hand landed on the Konoha ninja's shoulder.
A faint wave of dizziness struck him. When he came back to his senses, he found himself standing on a rock ten meters away.
The water blade stabbed empty air, and the contempt on Hōzuki Sakugetsu's face finally faded a little.
"Your speed is rather fast..."
Before he could finish speaking, a flash of red appeared before his eyes. That red figure was already standing beside him.
Without even thinking, Hōzuki Sakugetsu turned into a puddle of clear water and retreated backward, re-forming into human shape five meters away. His face was filled with shock and uncertainty.
He had not seen at all when that brat had moved.
Shin-chan shook the kunai in his hand. "Your water looks sticky and gross. It's not fun at all."
"Not fun?" Hōzuki Sakugetsu's expression finally became serious. "It seems I underestimated you."
His hands quickly formed seals.
"Water Style: Water Gun Technique!"
A high-speed rotating water bullet condensed at the tip of his index finger and shot toward Shin-chan's forehead with a sharp sound of tearing air.
The power of this strike was enough to easily pierce through thick rock.
However, the water bullet only passed through an afterimage.
"I'm behind you."
A light voice came from behind Hōzuki Sakugetsu.
Hōzuki Sakugetsu's pupils suddenly shrank. Without hesitation, he once again turned into a puddle of clear water.
The kunai swept through the spot where he had just been standing, only scattering a few droplets of water.
"Physical attacks are useless against me." Hōzuki Sakugetsu's voice came from all directions, carrying suppressed anger. "As for you, you can dodge once, but can you dodge ten times? A hundred times?"
That puddle of clear water rapidly spread across the ground, growing wider and wider. A massive water spear, fully three zhang long, condensed in midair.
Hōzuki Sakugetsu's voice came from within the water spear. "I'd like to see how you save those pieces of trash under this kind of power!"
The Konoha ninja closed their eyes in despair.
The next second, they heard Hōzuki Sakugetsu's incredulous cry.
"What?"
When they opened their eyes again, they saw a scene they would never forget for the rest of their lives.
The water spear had stopped in midair, less than an inch away from Shin-chan's body.
Black symbols spread from Shin-chan's right hand like vines. The enormous water spear was now pinned in the air, unable to move in the slightest.
"H-how is this possible..." Hōzuki Sakugetsu's voice came from that mass of clear water, filled with terror and disbelief. "My Hydrification Technique... my chakra..."
He could clearly feel the chakra inside his body being locked down by those black symbols.
His liquid body, which had once moved as freely as he pleased, had now become as heavy and stiff as solidified cement. He could not move even a fraction.
"You... what sealing technique are you using?!"
Shin-chan tilted his head and thought about it very seriously. "Hmm... how about, the Super Chakra-Locking Sealing Technique Specifically for Dealing with Bad Guys Who Turn Into Water and Run Around Everywhere So Not Even a Single Drop Can Escape."
The black symbols tightened more and more. That mass of clear water was forced to condense back into human form.
Hōzuki Sakugetsu knelt on the ground, his face deathly pale, his entire body trembling nonstop.
He desperately tried to mobilize his chakra and turn into water again to escape, but not even the slightest trace of chakra in his body could flow.
The Hydrification Technique he was so proud of had actually been completely crippled by a twelve-year-old brat using a sealing technique with a ridiculously strange name.
"Impossible... This is absolutely impossible..." Hōzuki Sakugetsu muttered in despair. "I'm a genius of the Hōzuki clan... How could I lose to a brat...?"
Shin-chan ignored his muttering and turned to look at the remaining Mist ninja.
The tall, thin man with bandaged hands was now so frightened that all color had drained from his face.
Even Lord Hōzuki Sakugetsu had been defeated in one move. If people like them rushed forward, wouldn't that be no different from throwing their lives away?
"Run! Hurry and run!"
No one knew who shouted first, but the remaining Mist ninja turned and fled, wishing their parents had given them two extra legs.
Shin-chan sighed, took several kunai from his ninja tool pouch, and casually threw them out.
The kunai cut through the air, flying in different directions and accurately stabbing into the ground ahead of the Mist ninja's escape routes.
"Flying Thunder God Technique."
The red figure vanished from where he stood.
The next second, Shin-chan appeared in front of one of the Mist ninja.
He stretched out his hand and lightly pressed it against the man's stomach. Black symbols instantly spread outward. Before that Mist ninja could even scream, he fell headfirst onto the ground.
Then came the second, the third...
The entire process took less than three seconds.
When Shin-chan appeared again in the center of the rocky beach, the Mist ninja were already lying neatly on the ground. All of them had their chakra locked down by sealing techniques.
The rocky beach fell deathly silent.
The five Konoha ninja all stood rooted in place, dumbfounded.
What had they just seen?
A twelve-year-old boy had crippled a jōnin of the Hōzuki clan in just a few moves, then taken care of all the remaining Mist ninja in three seconds.
Was this... really something a human could do?
The tall, thin man with bandaged hands was the last one to fall.
His final thought before losing consciousness was:
Captain Scarface... your defeat was not unjust...
Not unjust at all…