Chapter 49: The Heart of a Strongman

Chapter 49: Chapter 49: The Heart of a Strongman

Impaled on the iron spears, Iwamata coughed up blood as he spoke weakly.

"I... My instincts weren’t wrong. You really are a threat!"

Hyuga Kagami, meanwhile, pressed one hand against the wound on his right leg while bracing himself against the ground with the other, his gaze locked firmly on Iwamata.

Judging from the chakra fluctuations within Iwamata’s body, he still possessed considerable vitality. The weakness he was displaying right now was very likely nothing more than an act.

Hyuga Kagami would never underestimate an elite jōnin who had survived the war, so he didn’t make any rash moves.

Iwamata continued feebly, "Heh... You really are a cautious one. Aren’t you going to come over and finish me off?"

Suspicion immediately rose in Hyuga Kagami’s mind.

"Is he trying to lure me closer?"

Before Hyuga Kagami could think any further, Iwamata suddenly tore himself free from the iron spears.

As though he hadn’t been injured at all, he abruptly spun around and nimbly fled toward the depths of the forest.

"He’s trying to escape!?"

Hyuga Kagami froze for an instant before immediately realizing—

"I absolutely can’t let him get away!"

The secret of the Third Kazekage Human Puppet could not be allowed to leak out. Almost instinctively, Hyuga Kagami thrust both arms toward the fleeing Iwamata and unleashed Wheel of Will at full power!

Under the tremendous pulling force, Iwamata was barely able to resist before he was dragged straight toward Hyuga Kagami.

Ignoring his own injuries, Hyuga Kagami unleashed a full sequence of Eight Trigrams Palms with everything he had. Every strike was aimed at a vital point—he was determined to completely eliminate this powerful enemy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The dull thuds of palms striking flesh echoed throughout the forest.

From the sensation transmitted through his strikes, Hyuga Kagami could tell that Iwamata hadn’t had time to use an Earth Style hardening technique this time. Even if this sequence of Eight Trigrams Palms hadn’t shattered the vital meridians around his heart, it had unquestionably inflicted severe damage on his internal organs.

Just as Hyuga Kagami expected, after taking the barrage, Iwamata’s body went limp like a lump of mud and slowly collapsed at his feet.

Just as Hyuga Kagami let out a long breath of relief, Iwamata suddenly sprang up from the ground and wrapped his arms around him.

In a hoarse voice, he said, "Young genius of Konoha... come with me to the afterlife."

Hissss...

Amid the hissing sound of fuses igniting, Hyuga Kagami finally realized that Iwamata had actually modified his own body, implanting numerous specially made explosive tags beneath the surface of his skin.

By using the flow of chakra within his body to mask the chakra signatures of the explosive tags, he had managed to evade Hyuga Kagami’s detection.

Looking at Iwamata, whose expression remained calm even in the face of death, Hyuga Kagami suddenly understood.

From beginning to end, Iwamata had never intended to escape.

The reason he had pretended to flee was, in fact, to force Hyuga Kagami to pull him closer—

so that he could carry out this final strike.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The blast unleashed a violent shockwave that swept across a vast stretch of forest. Everything in the surrounding area was flattened, smoke and dust billowed through the air, and even the earth trembled beneath the force of the explosion!

In the distance.

After dealing with the last enemy using genjutsu, Shisui stepped forward and finished him off with a stab, ending his life.

By this point, nine corpses lay scattered around him.

Of those nine, one belonged to a member of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit, while the other eight were dressed as wandering shinobi. They appeared to be among the wandering shinobi in the Land of Bears who were secretly being supported by Iwagakure.

Just as Shisui sheathed his short sword and prepared to search for the other members of Team Eleven, a tremendous explosion suddenly erupted in the distance.

The ground shook violently beneath his feet, causing him to stumble.

"What happened!?"

Startled, Shisui immediately rushed toward the source of the explosion...

Elsewhere.

Kakashi pulled his right hand out of his opponent’s heart, then casually flicked it to the side, splattering the blood clinging to his hand onto the ground.

Panting heavily, he turned his gaze toward the direction of the explosion.

With his experience, he could naturally tell that an explosion of this magnitude was far beyond what an ordinary ninjutsu or explosive tag could produce.

His expression immediately darkened.

The fierce battle just now had completely exhausted Kakashi’s chakra. Although he had managed to kill all nine enemies, he himself had nearly lost all ability to fight.

Even so, he didn’t hesitate.

Dragging his injured leg, he limped toward the direction of the explosion...

At the final battlefield.

Guy clutched his injured left arm, his expression grave.

Surrounded by enemies, he was worried not only about the battle before him, but also about the other members of Team Eleven.

As far as he was concerned, if the enemy had sent nine shinobi just to surround and attack him, then the others might be facing even more enemies.

Suddenly, a tremendous explosion thundered through the distance, immediately drawing the attention of everyone on both sides.

Guy’s heart sank.

A terrible premonition rose within him.

Meanwhile, the member of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit leading the enemy group went pale. Without another thought for the injured Guy, he abandoned the fight and led the eight wandering shinobi in a desperate rush toward the source of the explosion.

Guy froze for a moment before following after them...

At the center of the explosion.

Once the dust finally settled, Hyuga Kagami’s figure slowly emerged.

He calmly swept his gaze across the surroundings, then let out a soft sigh.

At the very last instant, Hyuga Kagami decisively used Wheel of Will to repel Iwamata.

However, Iwamata’s self-detonation had been far too powerful. Even Wheel of Will couldn’t repel all of the shockwaves and flames in time. As a result, Hyuga Kagami was still badly injured by the aftermath of the explosion, suffering multiple fractures and burns across his body. He looked utterly battered.

As for Iwamata, nothing remained of his body.

Only a shattered Iwagakure forehead protector lay forlornly on the ground.

Dragging his injured leg behind him, Hyuga Kagami staggered over, picked up Iwamata’s forehead protector, and slipped it into the ninja pouch at his waist.

He had won this battle to the death!

A year ago, in Iwamata’s eyes, Hyuga Kagami had been nothing more than an insignificant nobody who could be killed with a casual strike. Iwamata hadn’t even considered him worth wasting the extra chakra required to use ninjutsu.

Yet today, one year later, Iwamata was dead.

Dead at the hands of that very same nobody.

For a moment, Hyuga Kagami found himself in a daze, his heart filled with emotion.

This battle had also been his first time facing an elite jōnin head-on. Although he had ultimately broken the deadlock with a surprise attack using Wheel of Will, his overall performance throughout the battle had still been more than respectable.

Of course, that was excluding the part at the very end where Iwamata had managed to fool him.

After putting away the Third Kazekage Human Puppet, Hyuga Kagami sat cross-legged on the ground and began bandaging his wounds, his expression so calm that it looked as though he were merely tying his shoelaces.

At that moment, a group of nine shinobi hurriedly appeared before him.

At the head of the group was a member of Iwagakure’s Beheading Unit, while the other eight were all dressed as wandering shinobi.

The Iwagakure shinobi swept his gaze across the battlefield before shouting at Hyuga Kagami, trying to sound fierce despite the fear in his voice.

"Damn it! Where’s our captain!?"

Having finished bandaging his wounds, Hyuga Kagami slowly rose to his feet and replied calmly,

"Haven’t you already seen the answer for yourself? Why bother acting so surprised?"

"Th-That’s impossible! How could our captain possibly lose!?"

"The reason he lost was because he ran into me. That’s all."

With those words, Hyuga Kagami charged straight at them without the slightest hesitation.

Hyuga Kagami had gained much from his battle with Iwamata, but his greatest gain of all was—

the fearless heart of a true strongman!