CH_48

After just a few exchanges of taijutsu up close, sweat was already beading on Tōji's forehead.

"This is way too much to ask!" Tōji complained outright that Neru had set him up.

Neru, steady as ever, stayed just behind and to the side of Tōji, only using her hair to harass Ishimin. Clearly, the moment Tōji had stepped in, she'd immediately started slacking off.

Tōji knew all too well that at this rate, he'd be done for in less than two minutes.

『Alright… time to reuse an old trick. This brute of a girl doesn't seem too sharp.』 Tōji kept up his defense against Ishimin, slowly backing toward Neru's direction while plotting against his opponent in his head…

Crack! Another 【Earth Release: Decapitation Technique】!

It was the move Tōji used most often—that sneaky, underhanded little jutsu. But this time, it wasn't even Tōji himself who'd cast it—it was his Earth Clone from earlier!

Sure enough, Ishimin wasn't as sharp as her teammate—she fell for the same trick. Given how brute-force she was, she probably wouldn't stay trapped for long. But Tōji had no intention of just trapping her.

Boom! Even Neru, who wasn't far away, didn't notice Tōji's Exploding Tag had already detonated!

"Ahhh~!" Whether a single Exploding Tag could kill Ishimin was unclear—but her piercing scream made it seem like one of those three-thousand-ryō tags could definitely take out a chūnin.

"Ahhh…" Tōji also cried out in pain! He'd been slightly injured by his own Exploding Tag—even with the 【Hardening Technique】 still active and standing three steps away.

"Hey! Couldn't you have given me a heads-up before pulling something that brave?!" Neru, who'd nearly been caught in the blast, said with disdain. Of course, she was just talking—she was already checking on the unconscious Natchi.

Her intent to stay out of the other fights was obvious enough…

Tōji delivered a finishing blow to both Ishimin and the Iwa chūnin.

He took a moment to observe the rest…

Rawari was slightly losing ground—but Tōji really couldn't help him.

A bit further off, the other Konoha jōnin seemed to have taken down the Fire Release Iwa jōnin, though it was unclear if he was dead or alive.

Further still, among the remaining chūnin on both sides, there were only three left—one Konoha, two Iwa… The Konoha one looked like he was about done for, with one arm already cut off!

But that wasn't a big problem—the Konoha jōnin over there, apparently named Kokubō Kenji… would definitely be able to handle the remaining Iwa chūnin.

The only question was whether Rawari could hold on for another two or three minutes.

Tōji retreated to Neru's side, quietly swallowed a Soldier Pill, and used the 【Healing Technique】 on himself.

He'd keep enough chakra to make a quick escape at any time, but for now, he'd better take care of his wounds first.

After all, that woman Neru probably wouldn't "waste" her chakra on him.

But Tōji was wrong about that. Rawari's opponent wasn't some tokubetsu jōnin—he was a full-fledged jōnin who mastered both Fire Release and Earth Release, and had decent taijutsu to boot.

From the moment Rawari got injured, the last Iwa jōnin had become fiercer. No—it started right after the other Iwa jōnin was defeated. He'd suddenly gone all-out, catching Rawari off guard and landing quite a few light injuries.

Was this some kind of Iwa solidarity buff triggering an "Anger Boost"?

Tōji was anxious too. If he weren't so weak himself, he'd have rushed over to help. But for now, all he could do was retreat a few more steps back…

He watched helplessly as Rawari's defense crumbled. There wasn't much blood on Rawari—because the 【Rock Fist】 didn't cause bleeding directly—but who knew how bad his internal injuries were?

He glanced to the other side… that guy named Kokubō Kenji had finally finished off the two Iwa chūnin and was heading over to help Rawari.