140-If One Doesn't Work, Use Two!

Hiro swiftly formed a series of hand signs and slammed his palms into the ground.

"Earth-Style: Mud Wall!" he shouted.

A thick wall of mud erupted from the ground, forming a barrier between him and the incoming flames. The fire crashed against the mud wall, the heat causing steam to rise as the mud hardened into a protective barrier.

The fire continued to rage, but the mud wall held strong. Hiro took a deep breath and steadied himself.

'I can't let my guard down,' he thought 'Renjiro's not holding back anymore.'

When Renjiro saw Hiro creating the Earth wall, he just mused, 'Does he really think he could outlast me in a battle of chakra?'

Determined to prove his dominance, Renjiro decided to pour more chakra into the two jutsus he was using.

The increased chakra increased the intensity of the two jutsus working in tandem. The heat and wind became more intense, which caused a web of cracks to form on the wall Hiro had created and pieces of the wall started to crumble.

Seeing his wall was failing, Hiro thought, 'I need to contain this fast.'

With a determined expression, Hiro created four more shadow clones. The clones dispersed in different directions, and each of them, like Hiro, used the Earth-Style: Mud Wall Jutsu. The earth walls surrounded Renjiro and his two shadow clones, forming a circular barrier.

This confused Renjiro, who wondered, 'What are they trying to do? My attacks are only heading towards one direction.'

Hiro, noticing the puzzled look on Renjiro's face, thought with a smirk, 'Let's see how you like it when the tables are turned.'

Hiro deactivated the earth wall he had been channelling chakra into, letting it crumble, and flickered away to his closest shadow clone.

Renjiro, seeing that Hiro was no longer in his attack range, deactivated the Fire Blast and Violent Wind jutsus. He shifted his focus to Hiro and his shadow clone, who were rapidly making a series of hand signs.

Renjiro tried to read the hand signs to prepare a jutsu to counter Hiro's next move, thinking, 'What is the jutsu he is planning on using?'

Renjiro was not well-versed in Earth Chakra nature, but he was familiar with a number of Earth nature jutsus, especially those under A-rank, as he only witnessed and had not mastered most of them. It was a surprise when he didn't recognize what jutsu Hiro was about to perform.

Hiro and his shadow clone completed their hand signs and slammed their hands on the ground, activating their next jutsu. The ground around Renjiro began to tremble and shift. He could feel the vibrations under his feet growing stronger by the second.

The jutsu that Hiro had used was Earth-Style: Earth Burial. Like a massive slab of stone, the ground Renjiro was standing on flipped over, burying him underground.

The jutsu Hiro had employed was an A-rank earth barrier jutsu. It worked by utilizing the earth walls Hiro had erected to form a barrier that granted him partial manipulation of the ground within its confines.

Renjiro couldn't sense any of this because the chakra in the earth walls masked Hiro's chakra spreading through the ground inside the barrier.

When Hiro first came across this technique, he thought it would be useful in situations where he needed to buy some time to escape. Now, using it against Renjiro, he found it even more worthwhile.

With Renjiro trapped underground, Hiro dispelled all his shadow clones and kept his hands on the ground, reinforcing the jutsu.

'While I cannot outlast him since he has more chakra than me, leaving him stuck underground for as long as possible will tire him out,' Hiro thought.

True to Hiro's words, Renjiro was already sweating. He had tried using his fire jutsus, but they only made things worse. While fire-style required chakra to be activated, they also relied on the surrounding oxygen to amplify their power, thus consuming the limited oxygen Renjiro had.

Turning to his wind-natured jutsus didn't help either, as Hiro was reinforcing the ground above him, nullifying any damage Renjiro could inflict.

'The fact that my go-to chakra natures are weak against Hiro's Earth chakra nature is making this harder,' Renjiro thought, racking his brain for a solution.

'What lightning jutsu should I use? Wait! I could use that!' Renjiro's mind lit up when a thought flashed through it. 'But I still haven't completely mastered it yet!'

With a resolve born of necessity, Renjiro stopped using the wind jutsu he had been attempting. He closed his eyes and focused on his chakra. This was a risky move, but it was his best shot at breaking free.

When Renjiro was working on the Rasengan, he realized that the Chidori was easier to learn compared to the more advanced forms of the Rasengan.

This was no surprise considering the story behind the jutsu's conception. However, Renjiro had been focusing more on the Rasengan, so he only managed to perform the Chidori a handful of times without completely perfecting it.

But with his current circumstances, he thought, 'Using it would be the best option since it directly counters the earth jutsu Hiro is using.'

Renjiro began gathering chakra in his left hand, quickly transforming it into lightning nature.

"Chirp! Chirp! Chirp!"

The high concentration of electricity produced a sound reminiscent of many birds chirping. Feeling that the chakra concentration was at a suitable level, Renjiro leapt up and struck the ground above him with the Chidori.

The Chidori worked better than Renjiro expected, cutting through the ground like butter. However, the ground was too thick for Renjiro to break through in one hit.

'It works, but it is still not enough. If one doesn't work, let's see if two will,' Renjiro thought as he began channelling chakra into both his hands, intending to use the Chidori with both hands.

It was hard since the pain on both his hands brought by not mastering the jutsu intensified. However, Pain was not a new experience to Renjiro, so he continued channelling chakra into his hands

Once he was done, Renjiro leapt up again, repeating what he had done a couple of seconds before, striking the ground above him with the Chidori in both hands.

The combined power of the dual Chidori was immense, and this time, the ground shattered completely, sending chunks of earth flying in all directions.

Hiro, who had been reinforcing the earth above Renjiro, felt the ground tremble and saw cracks spreading rapidly.

"What is he doing now?" he muttered, realizing that Renjiro had found a way to counter his jutsu.

The earth barrier collapsed, and Renjiro emerged from the ground, lightning crackling around his hands, his eyes filled with determination.

"You didn't think I'd stay buried forever, did you?" Renjiro said, a smirk playing on his lips.

'He managed to break out of my jutsu? I should have expected him to have another trick under his sleeve. I don't think I need to continue it's already clear who the winner is.'

Hiro was momentarily stunned but quickly recovered. "You managed to break out again. Impressive, Renjiro," he admitted.

Renjiro asked, "Do you concede, Hiro?"

Hiro stood there for a moment, catching his breath. Reinforcing the ground had taken much of his stamina "I concede. You got me, Renjiro."

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