A Brutal Fight

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"What..."

In terror, Iwamata flew toward Naoki against his will.

Naoki forced himself upright from the ground and barely used Eight Trigrams Palms.

A rapid series of palm strikes rang out.

Iwamata was knocked away by Naoki's Gentle Fist and crashed into the mud not far away.

"Cough, cough..."

After completing the set of Gentle Fist strikes, Naoki coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Although he had intentionally taken the hit to lure Iwamata into showing himself, the injuries on his body were real. In truth, he had not expected Iwamata's mud whips to be so powerful. With the added momentum of being slammed down from midair, his organs had been injured directly. Even now, pain still churned through him, and his head swam.

After breathing for a while, Naoki said evenly, "Stop pretending. I know you are not unconscious."

Hearing that, Iwamata stopped pretending and flipped up from the mud. Suspicion filled his face as he asked, "Brat, what was that move just now?"

Naoki clicked his tongue lightly. "Why would I tell you?"

"That is fine. In a moment, I will make you say it."

As he spoke, Iwamata slowly drew the short blade at his waist.

Iwamata was worthy of being an elite jonin of the Hidden Stone. When Revolving Will had seized him just now, he had secretly used Earth Release to harden parts of his body. Because of that, although Naoki's Gentle Fist had sealed some of his chakra points, it had not caused much physical damage.

Having his chakra pathway system disrupted only prevented him from using ninjutsu. As an elite jonin, Iwamata was still first-rate in taijutsu and swordsmanship even without chakra.

And Naoki was clearly badly injured, so Iwamata felt he held a great advantage and that the situation remained under control.

At that moment, Naoki said nothing more. He calmly took out a scroll marked with the character for "three" and summoned the Third Kazekage human puppet in front of Iwamata.

"That is...?"

Looking at the cloud of Iron Sand floating around the Third Kazekage human puppet, Iwamata stared in shock.

As a shinobi who had experienced two Shinobi World Wars, Iwamata had far more experience than an ordinary shinobi. After only a quick glance, he recognized the Hidden Sand's unique kekkei genkai: Magnet Release.

Exposing the Third Kazekage human puppet in this situation was undoubtedly risky, so Naoki wasted no words and immediately drove the puppet to attack.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Drizzle!

In an instant, the Iron Sand filling the air turned into sharp senbon and shot toward Iwamata like rain.

Iwamata's short blade danced in his hand, weaving brilliant arcs. With shrill metallic clashes, he actually blocked the vast majority of the Iron Sand senbon.

Naoki's brows tightened.

He had thought that sealing Iwamata's chakra would let him end the battle quickly. He had not expected Iwamata's swordsmanship to be this refined.

However, one short blade clearly could not block an endless rain of Iron Sand senbon. A moment later, Iwamata's limbs, waist, and abdomen were pierced with needles of Iron Sand.

Iwamata gritted his teeth and shouted, "Secret Art: Blood Explosion Technique!"

The Blood Explosion Technique was Iwamata's unique secret art. After activating it, the amount of chakra in his body would surge, and he could break free from most genjutsu, restraints, seals, and similar ninjutsu.

As the secret art activated, Iwamata's face flushed bright red, as if he were drunk.

Naoki instinctively sensed danger and quickly retreated.

In his Tenseigan vision, the chakra inside Iwamata's body looked like a burning flame, surging and violent.

The feeling was somewhat familiar, like Guy under the Eight Gates. But Guy's chakra flow while using the Eight Gates still followed traces and patterns. Iwamata's chakra was completely chaotic and berserk, as if it might swallow him whole at any moment.

Clearly, this secret art carried extreme side effects. And techniques like that often possessed frightening power, enough to change the flow of battle.

In only a few breaths, the chakra pathways Naoki had sealed with Gentle Fist were forcefully reopened by Iwamata. Then his hands formed signs so quickly they blurred.

"Earth Release: Mud Dragon Barrage!"

"Earth Release: Earthen Spear Barrage!"

"Earth Release: Mud Whip Bind!"

With Iwamata's killing intent filling each low shout, three large-scale Earth Release ninjutsu activated almost simultaneously.

Mud bullets howled toward them, silent earthen spears rose without warning, and mud whips cracked through the air, attacking Naoki and the Third Kazekage human puppet from every direction.

Facing such an all-around assault, even with the Tenseigan, Naoki was not confident he could dodge everything. More importantly, he was injured. He could only choose defense.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand Defense!

The Iron Sand immediately formed a sphere around Naoki and the Third Kazekage human puppet, protecting them inside.

Countless mud bullets, earthen spears, and mud whips slammed into the Iron Sand sphere one after another, producing deafening crashes.

Inside the sphere, Naoki half-crouched on the ground and calmly considered his options.

Explosive secret arts could not last long. Normally, as long as he dragged things out, victory would inevitably tilt toward him.

But considering how carefully the Hidden Stone had arranged this ambush, the enemy might not be limited to the four-man beheading unit they had seen in the Land of Demons.

If more Hidden Stone shinobi were involved, then continuing to stall could become either advantage or danger. It was difficult to say.

After weighing it briefly, Naoki decided to end the fight quickly even if he had to take some risk. The Third Kazekage human puppet was far too sensitive. If the Hidden Stone learned of it, the trouble would be enormous.

Having made his decision, he immediately drove the Third Kazekage human puppet to use its strongest technique.

Magnet Release: Iron Sand World Method!

More than half the Iron Sand from the defensive sphere was pulled away in an instant, becoming sharp iron spears that branched and extended toward Iwamata.

Seeing countless iron spears pierce toward him, Iwamata's already ferocious face filled with madness.

He actually abandoned defense completely and poured everything into Earth Release, seemingly determined to drag Naoki down with him.

Naoki could not immediately judge his true intent, but with the fight having reached this point, there was no time to change plans. A contest between life and death allowed no divided attention.

Almost at the same time, both sides' attacks struck.

Iwamata's entire right shoulder was pierced by an iron spear, and branching spears struck his limbs. He looked as if he had been impaled on the iron shafts, blood running along them and staining a large stretch of mud red.

On Naoki's side, using Iron Sand World Method had removed too much Iron Sand from the defensive sphere and left an opening across half of it. Although it blocked most of the mud bullets and mud whips, one earthen spear slipped through the gap and stabbed into his right thigh.

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