Chapter 400 Don’t Give Up, You Can Do This!

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Beating the soldier around had made him careless. He had thought he could keep attacking without worrying about a counterattack, and his companions were paying for that mistake. Kagehisa tried to stand, furious with himself for letting it happen.

"Leave Hinata alone!"

Goki roared and kicked the soldier in the head, following up with several explosive punches. He threw himself between the man and Hinata, attacking before the polearm could come down again. But the soldier was only pushed back a little.

Goki tried to keep pressing him, unwilling to let him turn back toward her. The soldier caught his leg before he could land another kick and slammed him into the ground like a ragdoll, over and over again. Goki tried to break free, but he couldn’t get a proper hit in from that position.

"Hahahah! You’re soooo weak! SO WEAK!"

The Super Soldier laughed loudly, making Kagehisa grit his teeth in fury. Goki had gone in to protect Hinata, and now he couldn’t escape either. Kagehisa tightened his grip on his spear.

They had trained for years to get this far, learning techniques and pushing themselves through every fight. Watching this man overpower them and laugh about it made him even angrier.

"These bastards...! They didn’t gain all this power through training or years spent mastering their arts. They just got injected with something, and now they’re stronger than us?! This is unfair...! This isn’t true martial arts! And it certainly isn’t the true path!"

He leaped forward, blurring as he suddenly split into dozens of clones. Each clone brought its hands together, conjuring several ninjutsu spells at once. They spread out before the soldier could turn toward them all, taking positions on either side of him and behind him.

Kagehisa wasn’t going to rush straight into another punch. This time, he would make the bastard defend himself from more attacks than he could keep track of!

Fire Breathing Art, River Flood Art, Wind Cutter Art, Crushing Sand Art, and more bombarded the Super Soldier from every angle. Flames struck his barrier as water rushed around his feet, while blades of wind and bursts of sand hit from the sides.

Whenever he faced one group of clones, the others kept attacking. He couldn’t swing his polearm at them without leaving another side exposed, so he stayed behind his barrier and endured the spells.

"Aaaggh! Annoying!"

The Super Soldier groaned. His barrier held firm against the spells, but Kagehisa broke through a weak spot behind him, his Demonic Spear creating a vortex as he rapidly spun it in his hands. The clones had kept the soldier looking in every direction except the one that mattered.

Kagehisa drove his spear forward before the man could reinforce the barrier, putting all his effort into breaking through that opening.

CRAAASH!

"G-Gaaaahhhh! It hurts!!!"

The Super Soldier screamed in horror as the spear pierced his back and tore a rib free.

"D-DIE! DIE! DIE ALREADY!"

The Super Soldier screamed, releasing a massive shockwave of psychic power in every direction and sending Kagehisa, his ninja, and everyone else flying. Kagehisa lost his footing before he could pull back, his attack interrupted by the blast.

He held on to his spear as he hit the ground, but the clones weren’t able to keep casting. Their barrage stopped, giving the soldier room to move again.

Kagehisa slowly stood back up, planting his spear against the ground to steady himself. He looked toward his companions, checking that they were still moving.

They had already taken too many hits, and attacking on his own hadn’t stopped the soldier from knocking them all away again. He wanted to go straight back at him, but leaving the others behind would only make the same thing happen.

"Master! We have to fight as one!" Ren called out, slowly getting to his feet. He was still struggling to stand properly, but he kept his eyes on Kagehisa. They couldn’t keep giving the soldier separate targets. If one of them attacked, the others had to be ready to follow up instead of waiting until someone got hurt.

"More soldiers...!" Goki said. "Damn it, if it weren’t for this stupid fucker, we would’ve conquered this place easy peasy!" He turned toward the approaching reinforcements, then back toward the Super Soldier. Fighting that man was bad enough without another group joining in. They needed to stop the soldiers from surrounding them while they were still trying to recover.

"Now’s not the time to hesitate...!" Hinata said, placing her hands on the ground. She stayed low, keeping her injured leg out of the way as she prepared the summon. Ren was right. They had to work together, and someone needed to give them room to do it. "Flood Toad King!"

A giant blue toad with a beard made of foam was summoned, opening its mouth and unleashing a powerful flood of spirit water toward everyone.

In mere seconds, the water flooded everything. Even the Super Soldier couldn’t resist the current and was swept farther away, weakened by the spirit water. He tried to plant his feet, but the ground beneath him offered no support.

Every attempt to stand ended with him being pushed back again. He still had his polearm, yet swinging it wasn’t going to stop a flood! For once, he had to worry about staying on his feet instead of attacking them.

"Kagehisa-sama, he’s yours!" Hinata said.

"Thank you, Hinata!" Kagehisa laughed, charging at the soldier with his clones. "Come on now! Where did we leave off?!" Hinata had given him the opening he needed, and he wasn’t going to let the man recover before using it. His clones followed him through the flooded ground, spreading out as they approached their target.

"Tsk! Trash like you thinks you can go against me?! Don’t make me laugh!!!" the Super Soldier roared. He smashed the ground in anger, shattering it and sending water and chunks of stone flying everywhere.

Kagehisa dodged the debris and quickly appeared behind him. The soldier had cleared some of the water away, but he had also taken his eyes off the approaching clones, giving them the opportunity they needed to strike.

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