Wielding his weapon, Hanzo struck Yahiko, sending him flying. With a single hand, he ford a seal while raising the fingers of his left hand slightly in front of him.
Beneath Yahiko's feet, explosive tags suddenly appeared, fluttering through the air as they rushed toward his body.
Fire Style: Exploding Fla Formation!
This technique involved setting a trap with explosive tags buried beforehand. When soone stepped into the trap, the caster could instantly control the tags to attach themselves to the intruder, detonating to inflict significant damage.
Previously, Yahiko had fallen victim to this very attack. His body had suffered severe burns over a large area. Surviving even a few breaths longer afterward was entirely thanks to Konan tirelessly sustaining him with dical ninjutsu.
When did this happen?
Yahiko imdiately sensed danger. Watching the explosive tags flying toward him, his eyes widened in shock.
He had been cautious and focused during his battle with Hanzo, yet he failed to notice when Hanzo had set such an extensive trap beneath the ground.
But there was no ti to dwell on it now. As soon as the explosive tags began to rise, they ignited under Hanzo's control through his hand seals.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
A series of explosions erupted just in front of Yahiko, one after another, engulfing the area in flas and high temperatures. The shockwaves, laden with heat, surged through half of the hall like a fiery windstorm.
"Yahiko!"
Konan instinctively tried to rush forward, but Kakuzu stopped her with an outstretched arm.
"As a dical ninja, don't create more trouble!" Kakuzu growled, as two black tendrils of Earth Grudge Fear extended from his body, piercing the ground. Monts later, he retrieved the corpses of two Mist ninjas, glaring at her.
"But…" Konan hesitated. Controlling a paper shuriken, she swiftly neutralized a Mist ninja who had appeared behind her. Even so, her gaze remained fixed anxiously in Yahiko's direction.
"He's fine," Kakuzu said while keeping his eyes on the battlefield.
Yahiko was no match for Hanzo. Although the battle appeared intense, it was clear that Hanzo had simply been assessing Yahiko's abilities after realizing he couldn't imdiately take him down.
On the other side, the boy with the Rinnegan was managing to suppress Yagura Karatachi, the renowned shinobi of Kirigakure, who also had a substantial bounty on the black market.
However, even with the advantage, he could only hold his ground against Yagura's expertise in Water Release techniques. Defeating Yagura and then joining Yahiko to confront Hanzō would still take ti.
"Are you okay?" Konan asked while standing back-to-back with Kakuzu, briefly glancing toward Yahiko.
As the fiery explosion and smoke cleared, Yahiko's figure remained standing. His body showed no signs of severe burns or injuries, let alone being severely damaged.
Although he appeared a bit disheveled, his injuries were surprisingly minor—almost negligible.
"How is that possible?!"
Hanzō, too, was taken aback by the scene before him.
The power of the Explosive Fla Formation largely depended on the number of explosive tags buried in the ground.
Although the traps he set during the battle weren't as powerful as those ticulously prepared beforehand, they were still formidable.
Even a jōnin caught in such an explosion would typically suffer critical injuries, if not outright death.
But soon, Hanzō noticed sothing unusual around Yahiko—a faint, invisible barrier that shimred briefly amidst the dissipating flas and smoke.
To confirm his suspicion, Hanzō flung his chain-scythe at Yahiko.
The scythe struck an invisible wall in front of Yahiko and bounced back as if it had hit solid steel.
"So, it seems you've mastered so kind of unique ninjutsu?"
Recalling the odd sensation he had felt during their earlier taijutsu exchanges, Hanzō caught the rebounding scythe and narrowed his eyes.
"Or perhaps… awakened a rare Kekkei Genkai?"
As he spoke, Hanzō carefully observed Yahiko's expression.
Standing in place, Yahiko's heart pounded in his chest. He looked at Hanzō with lingering fear.
As expected of the man known as the Demigod! To have set up such a trap mid-battle without any sign of detection—and to have caught him off guard—was truly beyond his expectations.
If not for the ability granted to him by Kagetsu, which allowed him to create invisible walls monts before the explosion, Yahiko might have ended up like he did the last ti.
In fact, being at the center of the explosion might have resulted in even worse injuries this ti.
If it had been an even larger-scale formation of explosive tags like before, the air walls he created might have suffered significant damage.
The explosion's power shook the air wall, making it teeter on the verge of collapse. He gritted his teeth, desperately pouring his chakra into the barrier in front of him to stabilize it.
Water Style: Water Collision Wave!
Hanzo quickly ford hand seals with his fingers and unleashed a powerful stream of water toward Yahiko's direction. The water column slamd into Yahiko, battling against the invisible barrier in front of him.
A few monts later, the invisible barrier shattered, and the flowing water engulfed Yahiko, pushing him toward the wall on the other side of the hall. Yahiko's body was violently thrown against the wall by the force of the water.
The jutsu worked, but Hanzo's expression grew more cautious.
Though the Water Collision Wave had successfully struck Yahiko, its power wasn't proportional to the chakra Hanzo had poured into it.
So of the chakra was disrupted, or perhaps even lost. This caused the water technique's power to be greatly diminished.
Yahiko's ability to summon an invisible barrier, without needing hand seals, and his ability to interfere with or even absorb so chakra, was a peculiar skill. In close quarters, it could even disrupt the release of jutsu.
Hanzo speculated about Yahiko's abilities.
When they first t, he didn't have these skills!
...
"It seems like your companions are at a disadvantage."
The voice of Karatachi Yagura clearly reached Nagato's ears. During the battle, he had noticed this young and formidable ninja in front of him, whose gaze would often drift toward his own comrades.
He quickly used this observation to try and force Nagato into a difficult position.
Shinra Tensei!
Through Kagetsu research with his eyes, and a deeper mastery over the Rinnegan's powers, he had beco quite proficient at using the eye techniques in battle.
The next mont, as Karatachi Yagura swung his hook-like weapon, a large water mirror appeared before him.
Suddenly, another Nagato stepped out from the mirror, mirroring his movents and releasing the sa technique.
Water Mirror Technique: Shinra Tensei!
Two identical powers collided, and after a brief mont of stagnation, a more violent rebound occurred, sending both Nagato and Karatachi Yagura staggering back at the sa ti.
After steadying themselves, they exchanged a glance, both recognizing the trouble in each other's eyes.
****
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