Chapter 159

Now I had to hiss as I repelled the punch, scraping the skin off my knuckles against the stone. I nearly missed the retaliatory kick between my legs, but I managed to dodge sideways in time, bracing my thigh and channeling chakra into the area just moments before the blow landed.

Thanks to this, I not only avoided most of the damage but also surprised my opponent, who clearly hadn't faced enemies able to withstand such monstrously powerful kicks without visible consequences. I seized the moment and forcefully drove my heel down onto his nearest leg.

The crack that followed was music to my ears, but the moment of triumph came at a cost — Goto didn't miss the almost imperceptible pause and, ignoring the pain in his limb, delivered a direct punch to my stomach, sending me flying several meters away.

Rolling on the ground and nearly losing my katana, I barely managed to catch my breath and get back on my feet when I had to urgently leap sideways to avoid a pile of flying rocks — the jonin had wisely used the respite to kick up the ground in front of him with his healthy leg and send it hurtling in my direction with a powerful strike.

— Suiton: Teppodama!

My counter jutsu splashed harmlessly against the stone armor, and the shinobi was almost done with a large series of seals.

— Doton: Sandou no Jutsu!

Oh crap! Realizing that I couldn't escape from the rising earth plates on both sides, I decided to go straight through.

— Odama Rasengan!

The enormous chakra sphere that appeared in my hands penetrated the stone slab like a knife through butter, and I swiftly slipped through the hole just moments before two massive twenty-by-twenty-meter slabs crashed together with a deafening roar, almost flattening me. But a new burst of chakra from the other side warned me that this was not over.

— Doton: Iwa Yado Kuzushi!

Chunks began to break off from the towering slabs, turning into a real stone avalanche that I had to hurriedly escape from.

— Shunshin!

Reappearing fifty meters from the collapse, I formed a few seals and just as the exhausted Goto appeared atop the created pile, I exhaled sharply.

— Katon: Endan!

Then, without stopping, I exhaled again, but this time air.

— Fuuton: Daitoppa!

Blown up by the wind, the fire flared and turned into an advancing wall of flame, forcing the jonin to retreat and giving me a few moments to catch my breath. Running a glowing green palm over my stomach and instantly healing all the damage, I surged forward. It was time to finish off Goto; his last series of techniques nearly took me out. Uzumaki or not, those two massive slabs would flatten even tougher guys than me.

Taking advantage of my ability to track the opponent's location, I followed the waning combined technique. As the heat began to diminish and the wall of fire crested the piled-up hill, I accelerated and jumped straight through the flames, having previously released a chakra layer all over my body to protect myself from most minor burns. Thanks to the goggles, I didn't even need to squint during this maneuver, and emerging from the flames directly in front of the jonin, I gained the necessary moments for an attack.

— Ninjutsu: Kage Mane no Jutsu!

Caught in my shadow, Goto froze, and I raised my right hand with the seal.

— Ninjutsu: Kage Nui no Jutsu.

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