RedX43
patreon
[Konoha2] Chapter 85: Elite Jōnin, Taken Down!
🕑 Added 2025-06-15 18:08:35 +0000 UTCWith a single Earth Release: Opening Earth Rising Excavation, the area where Hajime had been buried erupted once more. From the ground where vines had previously been surging wildly, rocks now shot up rapidly, forming a small volcano-like mound.
The next moment, a mass of shattered wood—along with Hajime himself—was launched skyward from the "volcano’s" mouth, soaring high into the air.
Shu! Shu! Shu!
Earth Release – Rock Cannon!
One by one, the Iwa-nin opened their mouths and fired stone bullets straight at Hajime, who was midair.
The coordination in this counterattack was exceptional.
In such a situation, it would be near impossible for anyone to block or deflect such a dense barrage.
But Hajime had Sky Step.
With a clap of both palms, he stabilized himself in midair using air currents. Then, stepping through the air as though walking on solid ground, he flickered across the sky, effortlessly dodging all incoming stone bullets.
Watching this, Yami instantly understood why Hajime dared to stay behind alone to hold them back—
He had aerial capabilities similar to the Third Tsuchikage.
While weaving through the bullets, Hajime formed hand seals midair:
Wind Release – Great Breakthrough!
He opened his mouth and exhaled downward—an intense torrent of air surged to the ground, churning up a massive storm.
This technique, of course, couldn't deal any real damage to the Iwa-nin, but it did generate thick billowing dust, shrouding the entire battlefield.
“Trying to escape?” Yami frowned.
But before he could react, a sensory ninja nearby shouted, “Be careful! A powerful chakra signature is coming!”
At that very moment, a sharp, piercing buzz echoed through the air.
Without hesitation, Yami formed hand seals, and from the earth before him rose a towering rock golem.
The rock giant swept its massive arm through the smoke, dispersing it—just in time for the Iwa-nin to see a Wind Release: Rasenshuriken descending from the sky.
“That chakra level…”
The Iwa-nin all broke into cold sweats at the overwhelming force they could feel from it.
Yami’s face turned grim as he commanded the rock golem to raise its hand and strike the incoming Rasenshuriken.
The golem’s hand collided with the Rasenshuriken—after a brief pause, the hand shattered, and the Rasenshuriken detonated in a massive explosion. A blinding sphere of energy rapidly expanded, swallowing the golem and rolling outward toward the retreating Iwa-nin.
But just as it reached its maximum, the sphere imploded, followed by a violent outward shockwave of wind.
Several Iwa-nin, who had just landed, were instantly blasted away by the roaring storm.
Hiding behind a wall, Yami’s expression was grave:
“This guy… I didn’t expect his Wind Release to be this strong on top of Wood Release. The intel was wrong!”
As the storm died down, Yami leapt onto the wall and looked skyward.
No sign of the target—did he escape? He frowned.
But then—
“Lord Yami, watch out!” came a warning from a comrade.
His heart skipped a beat as he leapt into the air—just in time, for massive vines shot up from the ground, aiming to ensnare him.
Though the first strike missed, the vines still chased him into the sky.
Midair, Yami twisted and punched the oncoming vines, triggering massive explosions as one after another shattered into fragments.
Explosion Release – A Kekkei Genkai!
As he landed, a sharp whistle cut through the air—he dodged just in time as two blades flew by, barely grazing his body.
They were Hajime’s long and short swords.
Hajime charged out from the ruins of a collapsed building, forming hand seals. Behind Yami, where the two swords had landed and stabbed into the ground, blades of wind suddenly burst forth.
Unfortunately for Hajime, a wall rose up behind Yami just in time to block the attack—support from another Iwa-nin.
Without pause, Hajime pressed his hands together:
Wood Release – Nativity of a World of Trees!
Massive vines burst from the ground, rapidly forming a forest. The vine trees slithered like serpents, launching at every surrounding Iwa-nin.
Yami swung his fists, blasting apart the vines one after another. “Spread out!”
He knew full well—fighting within a forest born from Wood Release was suicidal.
However, just as he attempted to break free, Hajime locked onto him.
In fact, the entire purpose of casting Nativity of a World of Trees was to prevent the other Iwa-nin from interfering while he focused on targeting Yami—an Earth Release expert and wielder of the Explosion Release kekkei genkai.
Hajime wanted to take him down.
Forming a one-handed seal with his left hand, he drew both swords from the ground with his right. The short sword went back into its sheath, while he held the long sword in hand and unleashed several Wind Blades toward Yami with a single sweep.
Yami swung his arms, smashing through some of the vines, then quickly dodged two of the wind blades. The remaining ones he punched apart with Explosion Release, shattering them with sheer force.
Hajime also noticed that Yami had employed Hardening Technique—and its toughness was no worse than Kakuzu’s Earth Spear.
Without hesitation, Hajime closed the distance, his blade enveloped in high-speed Wind Release chakra.
In terms of cutting power, it even surpassed unleashed wind blades.
But it had to be said—Yami, a veteran elite from the same era as Danzo, was incredibly strong.
In close combat, his Explosion Release allowed him to clash head-on with Hajime’s blade without flinching.
Even with Hajime controlling the vines to assist his assault, he still couldn’t take Yami down quickly.
Suddenly—
Yami grabbed Hajime’s sword with his right hand, blood dripping freely, and launched a powerful punch with his left toward Hajime’s face.
A trade of injury for victory!
Usually, it was Hajime who used this tactic on others—he hadn’t expected to be on the receiving end today.
But he didn’t pull his blade back. With his left hand, he dropped the hand seal—a Rasengan formed instantly, colliding with Yami’s punch.
Boom!
Rasengan vs. Explosion Release—
The collision caused a massive shockwave. Both of their sleeves shredded in an instant, and the surrounding vines were blasted apart.
Hajime’s arm went numb, while Yami’s arm was covered in spiral-shaped wounds, rendering it temporarily useless.
Yami released the long sword and leapt backward. His bloody right palm slapped the ground:
Summoning Technique!
A sealing formula spread outward, and with a burst of smoke, a pangolin emerged, its claws as sharp as blades, lunging straight at Hajime.
But in the very next second, the pangolin’s eyes went blank and its claws drooped—it was cleaved in two by a single stroke of Hajime’s blade and vanished with a poof.
Yami, meanwhile, had already retreated at high speed.
Hajime sheathed his blade and pulled out two shuriken. With a breath, he infused them with Wind Release chakra, and hurled them at the fleeing Yami.
Yami dodged, but vines in motion snagged the shuriken, then flung them again in a second wave of attacks.
He barely avoided the first one, but with a grim expression, punched the second—trying to stop it with brute force, even though it was imbued with Wind Release.
Boom!
The shuriken was knocked aside, but the bones of Yami’s right hand were now visible.
With both hands disabled, he could no longer defend himself effectively.
Hajime re-formed a one-handed seal and charged into battle, blade in one hand, clashing with the other Iwa-nin that rushed toward him.
The vines danced violently as Yami tried to leap away again and again—but there were simply too many attacks from all directions.
Meanwhile, all of Yami’s comrades had been tied down by Hajime.
After several evasions, Yami finally failed to escape the barrage—his arms and legs were bound by the vines one after another.
Immediately, he felt the chakra in his body being drained at an alarming rate.
“No…!”
“It’s absorbing chakra?! If this continues…”
Yami's eyes widened in shock, and he roared, “Retreat!”
“Fall back immediately and attack from the outside!”
“These vines can absorb chakra—the longer we fight him in here, the stronger he gets!”
Up until now, Hajime had focused solely on Yami, and had only been stalling the other Iwa-nin, so none of them had yet been captured or had their chakra drained.
But the moment they heard Yami’s frantic warning, their expressions turned grave.
Should they continue fighting… and try to rescue Yami?
Or abandon their commander, and retreat?
(End of Chapter)
