Chapter 30

"Suiton: Baku Suihousha!"

With only one sixteenth of the remaining reserve, the technique nonetheless successfully hit the attackers who didn't expect such treachery. Due to the close distance, it didn't cause much damage, and they even had a chance to surface from under the wave. However, my last clone jumped forward and dispersed, delivering an electric discharge into the water.

The result was quite predictable. Kanade and her partners were lucky that there wasn't much chakra left in it after using the jutsu; otherwise, they would have needed serious treatment. The water quickly receded from the training ground, leaving three coughing and twitching figures in the mud. To my surprise, the dog managed to escape the affected area and was now successfully hanging from a tree, using chakra.

"Ryo, I'll kill you!" Tsume hissed, finally getting rid of the water that had hit her off guard.

"Cough, cough," spitting out a lump of water with grass that somehow got into his mouth, Rotaro conveyed the depth of his hatred with a single glance, but he didn't say anything, preferring to try to clean his katana smeared with mud.

"Unexpected outcome," Kanade spoke up, struggling to get to her feet and looking with disgust at her hair, now devoid of its tie and covered in a decent layer of mud. "But the application of techniques was unexpected and effective, especially using Raiton to enhance Suiton's offensive abilities."

"And defensive ones too," I added.

"And that too," agreed Hyuga. "Did you plan this in advance or was it improvisation?"

"I planned it — after the last two sparrings, I studied your ways of interaction well and devised a rough plan with several variations," I explained to her. "Then all that remained was to wait for the right moment and act."

Since the time I started defeating even Kanade, not to mention her partners, she made it a rule to arrange battles three against one to "prevent me from rusting" and allow others to practice against a much stronger opponent. Until this time, I shamefully failed in numbers, simply unable to fend off attacks from all sides. And what's most nasty — I can only use elemental ninjutsu (Kage Bunshin aside) and taijutsu, otherwise I would quickly be entangled by shadows, subjected to needle stabbing or choking. Where's the justice in that? True, the fact that training seals are still on me warms my soul.

"And when did you manage to master Raiton?" Tsume inquired, dismally examining her dirty clothes.

"I haven't mastered it yet, but since Sensei made it a habit to block all my Doton techniques with Doruyu Heki, I had to worry about using the opposite element," I shrugged. "We don't have anything powerful in the clan library, but even such weak techniques came in handy."

I modestly omitted the fact that one of them was obtained from an Uchiha Jonin.

"Alright, let's clean up and call it a day," Hyuga shook her head. "Ryo?"

"Yes, yes, let's do it."

Forming seals, I performed the technique.

"Suiton: Mizu Rappa!"

Dousing each of my teammates and the dog with a strong stream of water, I washed off the clinging mud and nodded satisfactorily — with the proper skill, techniques of this element can be applied not only in battle. Honestly, I wouldn't have thought to use them like this if not for Sensei's hints.

However, there could have been another intention — after the impromptu shower, the clothes clung to the girl's figure very seductively, accentuating her impressive assets. Along with her occasional interest in me, it's quite possible that Hyuga has decided to open the season for hunting "geniuses," albeit acting very cautiously and unobtrusively. I doubt she came up with it herself — it shows an experienced hand, and the girl doesn't stand out in this regard, and she doesn't have a boyfriend yet.

"Great," Kanade brushed wet hair from her face. "And now, how about going to the hot springs? There's an excellent place nearby."

Hmm, nearby? Isn't that where I've been before? And today happens to be a mixed bathing day... Looks like attempts to see me without a mask haven't been abandoned.

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