CH_29

Poof! Jakkō, who'd been dragged underground, suddenly turned into a Substitution Log.

『Not bad, this guy!』

But the other one was unlucky—he'd stopped breathing just a few seconds after being pulled under! These Iwa-nin were way too fast…

That left four Konoha chūnin in total—and the Iwa jōnin hadn't spent much chakra at all…

With the two Iwa-nin having pushed into the crowd, the Konoha genin scattered in all directions to keep their distance.

Tōji had already pulled Natchi to take cover on top of one of the "wagons," lying flat.

"Aren't we going to help…" Natchi asked a stupid question.

"We will—but not yet. Especially you—your fighting style relies on taijutsu, which means getting up close. How many hits from those Iwa jōnin can you take?" Tōji kept his eyes locked on the two Iwa-nin as they charged back toward the Konoha shinobi, not even looking at Natchi as he answered.

"Two hits?" Natchi sounded almost serious…

The four Konoha chūnin simply couldn't match the two Iwa jōnin in taijutsu—they tried to use jutsu to deal damage instead.

Jakkō seemed to only know one technique—【Fire Release: Great Fireball】. He'd used it three times already, with no other jutsu in sight.

『Could this guy have only learned one Fire Release technique?』

Of the other three chūnin, one had used a C-rank Water Release jutsu twice, one had used a Water Release jutsu once, and the third was currently using—【Lightning Release: Earth Walk】!

This Lightning Release chūnin was the key to turning things around!

Though these chūnin couldn't pull off combination jutsu, right now all they needed was for the two Water Release users to set up the environment so the Lightning Release user's attack could hit the Iwa-nin.

Even if it didn't do much damage, the lightning's paralysis effect would slow the Iwa-nin down—and that might open an opportunity!

These guys had all been conserving chakra—and it took losing two chūnin for Tōji to finally see what they were capable of…

But it seemed Tōji didn't need to point it out—because Jakkō had been weaving behind the other chūnin during the fight, moving his lips several times.

The "schemer" knew that in a major disadvantage, the only way to close the gap was to use elemental affinities, then find an opening for a killing blow.

Tōji's impression of Jakkō suddenly improved quite a bit.

"Natchi—keep an eye on the Lightning Release guy. The moment his jutsu lands, we move!" Tōji wasn't about to forget Natchi when it came to dangerous stuff.

"Got it! I knew you'd have a plan. You're something else, Tōji." Even with his voice lowered, Natchi couldn't hide the excitement in his tone. The guy was actually getting fired up.

『Doesn't know how to spell 'death,' does he—a genin always thinking about taking down a jōnin…』

『Fine. The world needs this kind of hot-blooded fool anyway.』

Tōji and Natchi quickly and quietly repositioned onto the "wagon" closest to the fighting.

A number of Konoha genin on the field had already been "killed in action." Saying "killed in action" was generous—they'd just been standing too close, and the two Iwa-nin had prioritized those easy kills.

The chūnin, now on guard and ready to throw out jutsu at the first sign of danger, were holding up the Iwa-nin's advance.

After all, the two Iwa-nin were here for a quick raid—efficiency was key!

Jakkō suddenly charged toward one of the Iwa-nin—to Tōji, it was clearly a decoy move…

But the Iwa-nin in the middle of the fight couldn't see that—and they had their pride as jōnin.

So both Iwa-nin simultaneously moved two steps toward Jakkō, swinging their "Rock Fists" in a pincer attack!

Poof! Expecting it, Jakkō turned into a Substitution Log in a puff of smoke!

"【Lightning Release: Earth Walk】!" The Konoha Lightning Release chūnin struck immediately!

The Iwa-nin, realizing they'd been tricked, couldn't dodge in time…

Because the 【Earth Walk】's lightning was guided by the water already pooled on the ground—making it even faster!

One of the Iwa-nin, grimacing through the pain of the electric shock, gritted his teeth and said, "Got outsmarted, huh!"