Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
Several Earth Dragon Bullets flew at incredible speeds, producing a heavy, ear-splitting sound as they tore through the air.
These Earth-style chakra-formed projectiles were extremely dense. Combined with their velocity, even a single hit would easily shatter human bones.
Minato's expression changed instantly upon recognizing the hand seals Nawaki used—he immediately knew which ninjutsu technique was coming.
Earth Dragon Bullet was an advanced B-rank ninjutsu, yet Nawaki appeared to execute the Earth Dragon Bullet effortlessly.
It seemed his strength had improved drastically compared to a year ago.
"That guy Nawaki is actually starting off with the Earth Dragon Bullet... Guess there's no helping it. His opponent is Minato-kun after all."
Shurou remarked, naturally familiar with Nawaki's techniques as his teammate, while instinctively observing Kushina's expression beside him.
Kushina's eyes remained calm, showing no sign of worry for Minato at all.
It was absolute trust, stemming from her deep understanding of Minato.
With the Earth Dragon Bullet's speed, even an average Chunin—though capable of reacting—would have no chance of dodging them completely.
And just one direct hit would severely wound an opponent.
"Instant Flash!"
Yet the Earth Dragon Bullets suddenly lost track of Minato, landing several meters before his position. A flash of golden light streaked past, leaving everyone completely unable to follow his movement.
[BOOM! BOOM!]
Within less than a second, the projectiles crashed onto the ground, creating several small craters.
No one present could keep up with Minato's speed—not even Nawaki himself.
"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"
Just as Minato was about to close in, Nawaki—who already expected his terrifying speed—immediately cast Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall right after launching the Earth Dragon Bullets.
[CRASH! CRASH!]
In an instant, four hardened mud walls erupted from the ground around Nawaki, enclosing him within.
[Rustle...]
Minato halted his Instant Flash, abruptly stopping his momentum.
"Impressive! To raise four walls of [Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall] simultaneously—truly remarkable!" Minato genuinely praised. He had long heard that the Senju clan excelled in both Earth and Water Release techniques.
For someone Nawaki's age, mastering Earth-Style Wall wasn't particularly surprising.
But constructing four walls at once showed that Nawaki's command of Earth-style ninjutsu had reached an impressive level.
For someone Nawaki's age, it was truly extraordinary.
Still, what intrigued Minato more was how Nawaki intended to attack next.
Earth-Style Wall blocked the enemy's advance but also limited one's own offensive capabilities.
So Minato immediately distanced himself from the barriers, anticipating that Nawaki might use Yomi Swamp to turn the battlefield beneath him into a quagmire.
However, contrary to Minato's expectations, there was no Yomi Swamp.
Instead, at one moment, Nawaki suddenly vanished entirely from Minato's sensor abilities.
After fusing with the Nine-Tails' chakra, sensing energy had become an instinctive ability for Minato rather than something he needed to consciously activate.
Because the Mud Wall blocked Shurou and Kushina's view, they both circled around it and found Minato standing alone several meters away from the wall.
Just then…
The ground beneath Minato's feet suddenly began to tremble.
"Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique!"
The earth cracked open. Before Minato could even move, the ground beneath him gave way and swallowed him whole.
Swish!
In an instant, someone leaped from the broken earth—revealing Nawaki.
"You were careless, Minato."
Nawaki grinned. He knew Minato's speed—combined with how fast Yomi Swamp spread—would make him hard to pin down.
But this Double Suicide Decapitation Technique was difficult to detect—it was a strategy he had been developing for quite some time.
Yet as he savored his victory, the Minato buried underground—leaving only his head exposed—suddenly vanished with a "poof!"
"A Shadow Clone?" Nawaki blinked in surprise.
Swish!
At that moment, another flash caught the eyes of Shurou and the others.
"Excuse me, Nawaki Sempai."
Under the pale glow of the rising moon, a dark kunai gleamed coldly as Minato pressed it against Nawaki's throat from behind.
Nawaki's eyes widened in shock. The Minato dragged underground had only been a Shadow Clone.
Seeing this outcome, the three onlookers froze for a moment.
The tide of battle had shifted in an instant.
"Your speed is indeed impressive…"
Nawaki muttered. Minato had used the clone to distract him while hiding behind a nearby Mud Wall.
The moment that clone vanished, Minato reappeared directly behind him. Though it had only been several meters, Nawaki hadn't even begun to react.
Compared to their pure-taijutsu sparring match two years ago, both had grown immensely—especially in terms of jutsu usage and experience.
"But... you haven't won yet."
Nawaki continued, and the figure before Minato crumbled into a pile of dirt.
"A Mud Clone?"
Minato murmured softly, simultaneously turning his gaze toward a certain direction. Even underground, he sensed a massive amount of chakra gathering.
Boom!
From that spot, a figure burst out of the earth.
"What terrifying chakra."
Kushina felt it too. At that moment, the chakra Nawaki was gathering felt incredibly intense.
[Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!]
Nawaki spat forth an enormous torrent of water from his mouth like a cascading waterfall, instantly sweeping toward Minato.
"To be able to use such a powerful Water Release technique without any nearby water source?"
Even Minato was stunned internally.
[Water Release: Great Waterfall Technique!] is one of the most powerful Water Release techniques—a high-level A-rank jutsu. Mastering it at his age was truly extraordinary.
However, being able to perform a water-style jutsu at this level without any nearby source of water was the most astonishing part.
Even within Kirigakure itself, shinobi capable of using the Waterfall Technique without water would likely be extremely rare—like a needle in a haystack.
This instantly reminded Minato of someone—The Second!
The Second not only developed the Flying Thunder God Technique and roamed the ninja world with unmatched speed, but he was also known as the strongest user of Water Release techniques during his time.
Nawaki's proficiency in Water Release had already shown potential rivaling that of The Second.
Whoosh!
A massive surge of water, roaring like a waterfall, rushed toward Minato with thunderous force.
At this moment, not only Kushina but even Shurou and the other teammate were stunned into silence.
They'd never imagined Nawaki could pull off such a powerful Water Release technique.
Swish!
Under such an overwhelming torrent, even Minato was forced to activate Instant Flash and retreat backward. Yet the current moved incredibly fast, chasing him relentlessly as if determined to swallow him whole.
He was forced back into the dense forest of Training Ground Seven, where the surging water uprooted massive trees and ravaged everything in its path like a raging flood.
...
...
Was supposed to make up a chapter today, but I'm too drained. I'll take a break and post it tomorrow instead. (To be continued.)
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