Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Lightning Through the Mist!
Chapter 35: Lightning Through the Mist!
The revelation of Aotaka's lightning-style technique had fundamentally changed the tactical landscape of their battle. Mizuki Hōzuki's confidence had been replaced by calculating wariness, her body language shifting from aggressive pursuit to defensive positioning as she reassessed her opponents with sharp focus.
"Lightning style disrupts my Hydrification Technique," she muttered, her voice carrying the grudging tone of someone knowing that the odds had shifted against her.
"Clever little genin." She spat from her vantage point, knowing she would have to fight at long range now, or target the other two first before she tried to deal with the lightning kid.
But rather than retreat or show fear, Mizuki's response demonstrated why she had survived as a Hidden Mist ninja, making it to the rank of a Chunin in the bloody mist village. Her tactical mind immediately began adapting to the new threat, her fighting style evolving to counter their unexpected advantage.
"If close combat is too dangerous," she said, her hands forming seals with practiced efficiency, "then I'll kill you from a distance."
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" she called out, her chakra flaring to life.
Multiple projectiles of compressed water materialized around her, each one spinning with deadly force before launching toward the three genin with precision that spoke of extensive combat experience. The water bullets moved through the mist like guided missiles, their trajectories calculated to force the team apart and destroy their defensive formation.
"Scatter!" Kōzaru shouted, his enhanced senses detecting the incoming attacks just in time to avoid catastrophe.
The coordinated assault forced them to abandon their back-to-back formation, each genin diving in different directions as the water bullets impacted the ground where they had been standing. The compressed water struck with enough force to crack stone, leaving small craters that demonstrated the technique's lethal potential.
"She's trying to split us up," Tatsuma realized, his voice carrying the grim understanding of someone who recognized a tactical trap. "Divide and conquer!"
"Exactly," Mizuki's voice drifted through the mist from a new position, her movement patterns now focused on maintaining distance while preparing her next attack, still keeping herself concealed from the group in the dense fog.
"Much easier to kill you one at a time."
But Kōzaru wasn't about to let her dictate the terms of engagement. His enhanced sense of smell cut through the mist's concealment, tracking her scent even as she moved to different positions.
"I can smell her," he whispered urgently to his teammates. "She's moving to our left, about thirty meters out."
Yuki, perched on Tatsuma's back, gave a soft bark of confirmation, her own enhanced senses corroborating Kōzaru's assessment. The small white and tan ninja hound's ears twitched as she tracked their opponent's movement through the fog.
"Riku, circle around," Kōzaru commanded, his voice barely audible. "Guide Aotaka to a flanking position."
The larger ninja hound puppy immediately understood, his silent padding through the mist carrying him and Aotaka toward their opponent's blind spot. Riku's enhanced senses made him nearly invisible in the fog, a perfect scout for their coordinated assault.
Kōzaru knew that Mizuki would be listening for any movement so she could attack, knowing that she didn't know she had less advanatge in this fog than he did. With that Kōzaru stepped on a twig, snapping it on purpose as to draw her attention.
"There you are! Water Style: Water Whip Jutsu!" Mizuki called out, her chakra signature flaring as she targeted Kōzaru with a serpentine tendril of crushing water.
But Kōzaru had anticipated the attack, his enhanced smell giving him precious seconds of warning. Body Flicker Technique! His form blurred through the mist, the water whip missing him by inches as he closed the distance with explosive speed.
"Too slow!" he shouted, kunai flashing in his hands as he appeared within striking distance of the startled chunin.
Mizuki's eyes widened in surprise, her liquid form rippling as she barely managed to avoid his kunai strikes. "How did you—"
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Tatsuma's voice cut through her confusion as multiple copies materialized from the mist, Yuki barking directions from his back to guide the clones through the fog.
"There!" Yuki's sharp bark indicated Mizuki's position as she tried to retreat from Kōzaru's relentless assault and slashes.
[Chakra: 196/196 - 146/196]
The shadow clones moved with coordinated precision, their attacks forcing Mizuki to divide her attention between Kōzaru's close-range pressure and the approaching duplicates. Her superior technique and experience were being challenged by their teamwork and the ninja hounds' sensory support.
"Water Release: Water Wall Jutsu!" she called out desperately, trying to create barriers between herself and the multiple attackers.
Although Mizuki's Hydrification Technique made her invulnerable to physical attacks, it still had a limit, and avoiding attacks all together was better that being warn down.
However, Kōzaru's enhanced senses allowed him to track her movement even through the water barrier. His smell-based tracking was unaffected by visual obstructions, and he used Body Flicker again to appear at her flank just as she thought she had gained breathing room.
"Behind you!" he called out, not to warn her, but to signal his teammates.
"How did you!" She yelled in surprise, her own fog working against her now.
Riku's soft growl echoed through the mist as he guided Aotaka into position, the ninja hound's perfect coordination allowing the lightning-wielding genin to approach undetected while Mizuki was distracted by Kōzaru's assault.
"Water Style: Water Bullet Jutsu!" Mizuki launched another barrage, but this time her targets were scattered across multiple positions, her chakra spreading thin as she tried to handle the coordinated pressure.
Two of Tatsuma's shadow clones dispersed in puffs of smoke as the water bullets found their marks, but the technique had served its purpose—keeping Mizuki's attention divided while Yuki continued to bark out positional updates from her perch.
Yuki's excited barking guided Tatsuma's remaining clones as they pursued their target through the swirling mist.
Kōzaru pressed his advantage, his enhanced smell allowing him to predict her movements before she made them. The scent trail she left behind was like a roadmap through the fog, and he exploited it ruthlessly, tracking her with ease.
Body Flicker Technique! He appeared at her new position before she could fully establish her defences, kunai striking out in a series of precise attacks that forced her to remain in constant motion.
"How are you tracking me?" Mizuki demanded, her voice strained from the relentless pressure, taking a few hits as her body burst into water before she attempted to counter with her own kunai.
"Trade secret," Kōzaru replied grimly, his enhanced senses detecting the subtle changes in her scent that indicated fatigue and rising desperation as he dodged a swip of her kunai, and blocking another that knocked him backward a few feet.
A water whip lashed out at him, but he was already moving, his nose leading him away from the attack before it could connect. The graze across his shoulder sent pain shooting through his arm, but he pushed through it, maintaining his relentless assault.
[Health: 154/154 - 135/154]
"Water Release: Water Bullet Jutsu!" she called out again, targeting Kōzaru with a rapid-fire barrage that forced him to use Body Flicker repeatedly to avoid the crushing projectiles.
But each evasion brought him closer to her position, his enhanced senses allowing him to navigate the mist with supernatural precision. Mizuki's attacks were becoming more desperate and less accurate as she struggled to deal with an opponent who seemed to anticipate her every move.
"Now!" Kōzaru shouted, his nose detecting the crucial moment when her chakra signature flared with defensive technique preparation.
"Lightning Style: Charged Blade!" Aotaka's voice erupted from the mist as Riku's guidance brought him into perfect position.
The lightning-charged blade cut through the fog with crackling energy, Mizuki's eyes widening in shock as she realized the flanking manoeuvre had succeeded. Her attempt to create a water wall was too slow, her chakra already committed to defending against Kōzaru's frontal assault.
"Impossible," she gasped, her liquid form beginning to ripple as the electrical energy approached.
But Tatsuma's remaining shadow clones struck from yet another angle, their coordinated assault guided by Yuki's barking directions. The small ninja hound had proven invaluable, her enhanced senses allowing her to coordinate the attack from her elevated position on Tatsuma's back.
Yuki barked triumphantly, her tail wagging as she watched their tactical plan unfold perfectly.
Mizuki's Hydrification Technique began to falter under the pressure, her chakra control disrupted by the need to defend against multiple simultaneous attacks. The mist started to thin as her concentration wavered, her signature technique losing its effectiveness.
"The Hidden Mist," she whispered, her voice carrying the bitter understanding of someone who had been outmanoeuvred by superior coordination.
Aotaka's lightning-charged blade found its mark, the electrical energy coursing through her body and completely disrupting her liquid form. Her Hydrification Technique was negated entirely, trapping her in a solid state that made her vulnerable to the technique's full lethality.
"For the Village Hidden in the Leaves," Aotaka said grimly, his blade twisting to ensure the technique's effectiveness as the lightning continued to course through her body.
Mizuki Hōzuki's eyes went wide with shock and pain as the electrical energy completely overwhelmed her chakra network. Her body spasmed once, twice, then went completely still as the lightning-style technique proved fatal, her chakra signature extinguished in a brilliant flash of electrical energy.
The Hidden Mist Jutsu collapsed immediately, the thick fog dissipating to reveal the clearing in its natural state. For the first time since the battle began, they could see clearly, and the sight that greeted them was both triumphant and sobering.
The lifeless body of their opponent lay at Aotaka's feet, his lightning-charged blade still crackling with residual energy. The brutal efficiency of the killing technique was both impressive and horrifying, a reminder of what shinobi combat truly meant.
"We did it," Tatsuma said, his voice carrying the exhausted relief of someone who had just survived a life-threatening encounter. "We actually beat a Mist level Chunin."
"Coordinated assault," Kōzaru confirmed, his enhanced senses detecting no remaining chakra signature from their defeated opponent. "Just like we planned." He said, knowing that this was a critical moment in their development.
Yuki barked proudly from Tatsuma's back, her tail wagging as she celebrated their victory, jumping off before she ran over to Kōzaru. Riku padded over to join them, his own satisfaction evident in the way his ears perked up with pride, both of them getting a stroke behind the ears for a job well done from Kōzaru.
"Good work, both of you," Kōzaru said, scratching behind Riku's ears. "Your tracking and coordination made this possible."
System notifications appeared in their interfaces:
[COMBAT VICTORY] Enemy Defeated: Mizuki Hōzuki (Level 13) Experience Gained: 500 EXP.
The experience gain was substantial, reflecting the danger they had faced and the skill required to overcome a chunin-level opponent through teamwork and tactical thinking. They had grown stronger through the trial of genuine combat.
But their victory was tempered by the sounds of ongoing battle nearby, where Shibi continued his desperate fight against the two remaining Mist ninja. The sounds of clashing techniques and desperate manoeuvres reminded them that their mission was far from over.
"Sensei," Kōzaru said, his enhanced senses detecting the intensity of the nearby combat. "He's still fighting the other two chunin at once."
"Should we help?" Tatsuma asked, though his chakra levels were low from the shadow clone techniques and their battle.
"We help by securing the objective, and causing a distraction." Aotaka replied, his mind already focusing on their primary mission. "The hawks. If we can retrieve them, and cause a distraction for long enough, Sensei can focus entirely on one of them, that should turn the tides."
The logic was sound, but the sounds of battle made it clear that time was running short. Their sensei was engaged in a desperate struggle that could turn deadly if the enemy gained any advantage.
The rescued hawks and the intelligence they carried still needed to be secured, but their teacher's life hung in the balance against two experienced chunin who had proven capable of matching a jōnin through coordinated tactics.
Team 15 had won their battle, but the mission was far from over.