*Thwhip, thwhip, thwhip…* The penetrating power of the Senbon Shower was indeed exceptional.
It easily pierced through the miniature tornado without any resistance, immediately raining down upon the rapidly spinning binding water prison.
As expected of an absolute defense ninjutsu modified from the Hyuga Secret Technique: Rotation.
Under the effect of advanced Water-style shape transformation, it possessed a trace of the majesty of Water Style: Water Encampment Wall, easily deflecting every single senbon from the Senbon Shower.
The Senbon Shower came fast and ended even faster.
In a mere breath, the volley was over, and Sasuke Umino quickly deactivated his Rotating Water Prison.
The Rotating Water Prison offered immense defense, but its Chakra consumption was equally staggering.
In just a few short breaths, more than half of the Chakra in his body had been depleted.
As the Rotating Water Prison dissolved, the miniature tornado collapsed.
The resulting wind rustled the surrounding trees, sending down a flurry of leaves that danced across the battlefield, scattering some of the dense, murderous aura lingering in the air.
“We survived?!” Overjoyed, Inuzuka Ryo quickly checked his hands and feet, needing to confirm whether he was dreaming or if he had been turned into a pincushion.
“Thank goodness!” “As expected of the captain!
To think you’ve mastered such a powerful defensive Water Style.
That was incredible!” Tekudo and Koshino were also thrilled, relieved to be alive, and their admiration for their captain grew even deeper.
“Don’t just stand there gaping.
Fall back, now!” Sasuke Umino shielded the three of them, keeping a sharp eye out for any follow-up attacks.
“Impressive, Konoha Jonin.
You certainly have a few tricks up your sleeve.
I actually thought you couldn’t use ninjutsu, but it turns out you’ve been using tactical deception from the very beginning.” The dark-faced Special Jonin had thought his previous probing had laid bare his opponent’s capabilities—a Konoha Jonin who excelled only in trap mechanisms but lacked proficiency in elemental ninjutsu and taijutsu.
Now, however, it was clear that this ninja was at least highly skilled in Water Style.
With a hand seal speed of five per second, combined with his advanced Water-style shape transformation, he should have realized sooner that this was yet another tactical deception.
Were it not for this man’s obviously limited Chakra reserves holding him back, his Water Style alone would easily place him at Jonin-level combat strength.
*I must be extremely careful of his low-to-mid-tier Water Style.
Fortunately, I’ve retaken control of a Black Ant puppet.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t be his match.* *I must engage in close combat and deny him any chance to weave hand seals for Water Style.
Besides, his taijutsu is only at the level of an ordinary Chunin.
That is his weakness.* “Die!” With that thought, the dark-faced Special Jonin began controlling the Black Ant puppet.
Abandoning the puppet master’s ranged advantage, he launched a barrage of close-quarters strikes at Sasuke Umino.
Under the dark-faced Special Jonin’s coordinated puppet assaults, Sasuke Umino gradually began to lose ground.
Even the tempo of the battle began shifting toward the dark-faced Special Jonin.
Sasuke Umino’s Radar Jutsu finally began to lose its edge.
Clearly, in close combat, the Acoustic Radar Jutsu could still sense every incoming move, but sensing a tactic and reacting to it in time were two completely different matters.
Before, when the dark-faced Special Jonin had lost his puppet and was severely weakened by poison, his strength had only been on par with an elite Chunin, allowing Sasuke to fight him to a draw.
But now that he had regained control of a puppet, his combat strength immediately surged back to Special Jonin level.
Had he not actively abandoned his ranged advantage, Sasuke Umino would likely have been defeated by now.
To prevent Sasuke Umino from weaving hand seals for the Water Style ninjutsu he envisioned, the dark-faced Special Jonin clung to him tenaciously, utilizing relentless close-quarters combat.
This kept Sasuke trapped, unable to break away and retreat across the river.
Sensing an opportunity, Sasuke Umino finally seized a brief opening.
He commanded the Water Bat hidden inside his flak jacket to fly straight at the dark-faced Special Jonin’s face.
Though the Water Bat was only Genin-level and possessed very mediocre offensive power as a small summoned beast, its sudden, disruptive attack forced the dark-faced Special Jonin to expose a flaw.
“Shoot!” A somewhat exaggerated look of panic suddenly washed over the dark-faced Special Jonin’s face.
“Fish-Cleaving Slash!” Sasuke Umino seized the opening to unleash a lethal strike.
Cold, murderous intent gathered along the blade’s edge in a single, terrifying line.
“Captain, watch out!
That’s a puppet clone!” Inuzuka Ryo, who had already retreated to the opposite bank, caught a strange scent with his sense of smell and barked a tactical warning to Sasuke Umino.
“Oh no!” Yoru Gekko, possessing keen insight, also noticed the peril of the situation, panic flashing in his eyes.
“How dare you lose focus at a time like this!
Die!” The spiky-haired Jonin seized this brief lapse to deliver a killing blow: “Gale Slash!” Yoru Gekko scrambled to defend.
Although he barely managed to dodge, the wind-enhanced blade still slashed his right arm.
Crimson stained his sleeve instantly, exposing a deep wound that bared his bone.
With a loud clatter, his sword, the Obscured Moon, slipped from his grasp and hit the ground.
Sinking to one knee and stripped of his weapon, Yoru Gekko’s defeat was sealed.
On the other side, Sasuke Umino seemed to have just realized it was a trap.
Panic flooded his face as he tried to pull back his Fish-Cleaving Knife to defend himself.
“Too late!” The dark-faced Special Jonin sneered, looking like a mastermind whose scheme had succeeded.
*Clang!* As Sasuke Umino’s blade sliced across the dark-faced Special Jonin’s neck, the sound of metal striking metal rang out.
The Special Jonin reverted into a wooden Black Ant puppet, while the other Black Ant puppet nearby transformed back into human form, launching a sneak attack from behind the seemingly defenseless Sasuke Umino.
“Die!” Murderous intent burned in the dark-faced Special Jonin’s eyes.
He could already picture the beautiful scene of his kunai piercing Sasuke’s heart.
That Water Style Jutsu earlier blocked the Senbon Shower, but it also obscured his vision.
That was the perfect moment to execute this sneak attack strategy.
Even the shrewdest bird-catchers can have their eyes pecked out.
One who always walks by the river is bound to get their shoes wet.
You loved tactical deception so much, yet you were ultimately undone by it.
Now, taste what it feels like to be outsmarted.
Dying in your own domain of expertise must be fate’s cruel design.
“Heh.” Under the detection of his Acoustic Radar Jutsu, Sasuke Umino had anticipated this sneak attack long ago.
From the very beginning, he had played along, acting as though he had fallen right into the trap.
“Leaf Substitution!” Having cast his Substitution Jutsu ahead of time, Sasuke Umino easily evaded the blow.
The kunai plunged into a wooden log instead.
Infused with sharp Wind-style Chakra, the strike split the log clean in half.
“What?!
He dodged it?
How is that possible?!” The dark-faced Special Jonin was utterly dumbfounded.
How could anyone’s reaction speed be this fast?
Could he be an Elite Jonin?
Was it another tactical deception?
Is his true identity an Elite Jonin who specializes in trap-mechanisms and only pretended to be bad at taijutsu to toy with me this whole time?