Grind is My Ninja Way

Several hours passed in a flash.

It was evening.

The sky poured down with torrential rain.

Seimei and the others, drenched in the rain, arrived in a jungle.

The constant fighting and fleeing had left everyone exhausted and in desperate need of rest.

"Qing Shan!"

Nara Shi Shui looked at Hyuga Qing Shan beside him and spoke.

Hyuga Qing Shan understood what he meant, nodded, and forced himself to focus. He raised his hands to his chest and activated his Byakugan once again.

The next moment, the veins on both sides of his eyes bulged, and everything within a kilometer came into his vision.

After a while, he closed his Byakugan and said in a deep voice, "There are no large enemy forces within a kilometer, only a few scattered ninjas are monitoring."

"Great!"

Hearing this, Nara Shi Shui breathed a sigh of relief, then turned to Seimei and said, "Seimei, those monitors are up to you. Qing Shan, you provide support."

"Okay."

Hyuga Qing Shan responded, while Seimei remained silent and walked straight out of the group.

The continuous killing had left him physically and mentally exhausted, and Seimei didn't want to say another word.

Seeing Seimei leave, Nara Shi Shui nodded to Hyuga Qing Shan, signaling him to follow.

Soon, the two left the main group.

Well...

To say it was a large group was a bit of an exaggeration.

Over the past day, in order to avoid being held back and surrounded, they hardly stopped running.

However, doing so increased their marching speed but also left many Konoha ninjas who were entangled along the way unable to receive reinforcements, and ultimately they could only be captured or killed by the overwhelming Iwa ninjas.

Therefore, the group suffered severe losses.

Compared to the beginning, their numbers were now about half, and they could hardly be called a large group anymore.

...

About fifteen minutes later.

Seimei returned from the other side.

His expression was still numb, and when he saw Nara Shi Shui, he just nodded at him without saying a word.

From behind, Hyuga Qing Shan said, "All the monitoring points within a kilometer have been eliminated. We have at least half an hour of rest time."

Having fewer people also had its advantages, that is, they could run fast enough that the main Iwa force couldn't catch up.

Now, with no monitoring points and heavy rain, it would take the Iwa ninjas even more effort to find them.

Of course, this was assuming they didn't rest here, as the situation here had likely been reported by the Iwa ninjas responsible for monitoring.

So, if they wanted to rest, they had to travel a bit further.

Thus, the Konoha team set off again soon.

Not long after they left, a few more Iwa reconnaissance teams arrived.

They carefully examined the traces on the ground and then chased after Seimei and the others in the direction they had left.

Behind them was the main Iwa force.

Now, the Iwa ninjas weren't just three hundred-man squads. After a day of pursuit and interception, their numbers had already exceeded seven hundred.

And this was after Seimei and the others had killed quite a few along the way, otherwise, there would be even more.

They checked the markers left by the reconnaissance teams and also chased after Seimei and the others in the direction they had left.

In this way, the two sides engaged in a battle of wits, chasing and fleeing, and an entire night quickly passed.

...

The next day.

Morning.

Seimei and the others looked at the hundred or so Iwa ninjas blocking their path, their expressions quite grim.

They were about to escape the Iwa pursuit and enter the radiation range of the Kaze柳 Town stronghold, but suddenly this group appeared to block their way, and no one was happy about it.

If it were just an ordinary hundred-man squad, it wouldn't be a problem. Although they also had about the same number of people left, they had absolute confidence in defeating the opponent.

But these Iwa ninjas in front of them were not ordinary.

Not to mention that almost none of them were Genin, their spirit and fighting spirit alone were not comparable to ordinary ninja teams.

Undoubtedly, this was an elite squad.

And the Iwa ninja leading them confirmed this. It was none other than the Iwa Jonin, Kari, who had fought with Seimei not long ago.

Upon seeing the opponent, Seimei knew that today's hurdle wouldn't be easy to overcome.

As long as the opponent had a bit of sense and didn't engage in a head-on confrontation with him, their side would inevitably suffer heavy casualties.

Seimei was wary of Kari, but little did he know that Kari was also wary of him.

Kari had witnessed the battles over the past day.

Seimei's performance was incredibly impressive. The losses he alone inflicted on the Iwa ninjas were almost a quarter of their total losses.

And yet, Seimei showed no signs of fatigue.

This made Kari very wary of him.

Because of this, he carefully selected the subordinates responsible for intercepting Seimei and the others this time, organizing a group of elites before daring to come.

In the rain.

The two sides faced off.

Someone shouted "Kill!", and the battle instantly erupted.

They started with a volley of kunai, but everyone was elite, and such attacks obviously couldn't cause much damage to the other side.

Fortunately, neither side had high expectations for this round of attacks, treating it as a mere greeting. The subsequent close combat was the focus.

"Kill—"

Both sides shouted and clashed, and the fierce battle began.

Seimei, wielding a short sword, killed two people in an instant. Kari was no slouch either, directly punching two large holes in two Konoha Chunin.

Seimei didn't try to stop him because that would only make the opponent even more reckless.

Only by killing with the same ferocity could he force the opponent to focus on him and engage in a head-on confrontation.

Facts proved that he was right.

After he killed six Iwa Chunin in a row, Kari finally couldn't resist and charged towards him.

This time, Seimei didn't deliberately dodge and just waited quietly for the opponent to approach.

Finally, the two clashed.

His sword was fast and accurate, and coupled with his perfect timing, Kari had to dodge in advance every time he was attacked.

Similarly, the explosive chakra on Kari's fists also made Seimei extremely vigilant, not daring to let them touch him at all.

Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, the battle between the two was like a performance. Every attack missed, looking quite comical.

However, this was just an illusion. In reality, both were highly focused.

The reason there were no punches landing or swords piercing flesh was that if such a thing happened, it would mean at least one person was seriously injured.

So, without absolute certainty, neither Seimei nor Kari would let the other touch them.

Time passed by.

Seeing the situation on the field becoming increasingly tense, Seimei knew they couldn't drag it out any longer because if they did, they would inevitably be surrounded by the main Iwa force.

Therefore, they had to, like in previous battles, disengage from the battlefield as quickly as possible.

With this in mind, Seimei no longer hesitated. He dodged Kari's attack once again, then took a step back and suddenly increased the distance between them.

Next, he formed hand seals and performed the ninjutsu - Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique! at the fastest speed.

Their previous battle had already cleared a large area nearby.

So, Seimei didn't have to worry about hurting his own people and could directly use ninjutsu.

The only pity was that because of the rain, the power of his fire jutsu was weakened, and he had to consume more chakra to make up for the difference.

Fortunately, he had enough chakra and didn't have to worry about this consumption.

(End of Chapter)