Chapter 173 - Gangshan.

The situation on their side turned unfavorable for Tōshirō in the blink of an eye. Even though she wanted to help, she couldn't get there in time. She could only watch helplessly as Tōshirō fell into the enemy's trap, her pretty little face turning pale due to the sudden change in the battle. Even the two tomoes in her Sharingan began to spin slowly due to her anxiety!

She was worried about her teammate's safety and the battle at hand. She knew that if Tōshirō's situation changed, the enemy could immediately free up a jōnin and a special jōnin to fight. On her side, apart from herself, there was no extra strength to contend with the opponent. Those comrades without Sharingan would just hold them back!

Phew...

Fortunately, the worst did not happen. Tōshirō managed to dodge the enemy's attack, and the three-tomoe Sharingan that almost appeared slowly calmed down.

At this moment, Tōshirō was standing in a strange one-legged stance on the handle of his ninja sword, his body straight. The ninja sword was thrust into the ground, supporting his entire weight.

"So close!"

Looking at the danger so close, Tōshirō couldn't help but sweat on his forehead. It was extremely dangerous just now. If he hadn't used the gap of the jutsu to support himself with his ninja sword, that fall could have been fatal. Even so, his pants near his calf were torn by the sharp spikes of the earth, and through these holes, one could faintly see blood oozing from his skin...

At this moment, Tōshirō was immensely grateful that he was an Uchiha! Without the visual assistance of the Sharingan, he wouldn't have been able to catch the flaw in the jutsu so quickly and escape with just some scratches.

Just as he was about to adjust his posture, there was a rumbling sound like an earth dragon flipping over. The ground started to tremble slightly!

"What's this?"

Seeing the changes in front of him, he didn't dare to hesitate and immediately dropped to the ground, ready for the enemy's next attack. Before he could stabilize his footing, the enemy's offensive continued, with a momentum that seemed determined to take him down.

"Talk about karma!"

Facing the continuous attacks, Tōshirō didn't know how to describe his feelings. Just now when he had surprised the enemy, his attacks were relentless. He didn't expect that in the blink of an eye, the enemy's attacks would mirror his own relentless assault.

Before he could sort out his feelings, two huge figures emerged from the ground and attacked him! These constructs made of earth and stone, covered in wild grass and vines, were massive. Without any comments, he turned and fled. The jutsu the opponent used was beyond his current capacity. If he were in good condition, he could handle these two.

But now...

Seeing the two dragon-like monsters, each over thirty meters long and three to four meters thick, moving through the earth as if it were mud, he could only avoid them. Out of chakra, he had no choice but to flee quickly.

At this time, the Iwa-nin jōnin Gangshan, hiding underground, had used an A-rank Earth Release: Double Earthstone Dragon. The Earthstone Dragon Technique originally was a B-rank Earth Release ninjutsu, which created an earth and stone dragon to attack enemies. Thanks to the density of earth, few defensive techniques could block it. It could also liquefy the earth around it, allowing it to move through the ground effortlessly, with significant destructive power. Moreover, this jutsu had been specially enhanced by jōnin Gangshan. Normally, this technique could only create one earth and stone dragon at a time, but now there were two chasing Tōshirō.

Gangshan himself barely qualified as an elite jōnin, achieving this level around the age of thirty. Despite his talent and effort, his progress was limited due to Iwa's less developed training system compared to Konoha's and its conservative culture.

For example, when Gangshan was up for promotion or wanted to exchange his merits for higher-level secret techniques, he faced numerous obstacles. The higher-ups, often from ninja clans, would find various excuses to turn down his applications, leading to his deep but powerless resentment. He couldn't just lash out and get rid of these village leaders, especially since he had family responsibilities now. Such competition existed everywhere, even in Konoha. How much more so in Iwa!