Konoha Notes

Chapter 180 Gap
calm
Darui gripped the hilt of his knife tightly.

The other party's words were indeed harsh, but he could not let such blatant provocation disturb his composure.

Don't get provoked...

Darui's gaze returned to focus. Since the other party claimed they wouldn't attack first, he would start by testing them with the most basic physical techniques.

Once the thought was made up, Darui exerted force with his feet and shot out like an arrow, his giant sword cutting through the wind as he aimed straight at Shuuji's shoulder and neck.

"Physical skills? That's not my forte."

Before Shuji could finish speaking, his right hand had already gripped a kunai in reverse, tilting it upwards at an angle.

clang!
A clear, crisp chord sounded.

Darui's pupils contracted slightly; the recoil from the weapon in his hand was heavier than he had expected.

Using the force transmitted from his weapon, Darui twisted his body with his waist and abdomen, flipping his wrist to change his slash into a sweeping attack. However, his movement was abruptly halted as he stood still.

Xiu Si's left hand had somehow become like an iron clamp, firmly gripping his wrist that was holding the knife, instantly stopping his subsequent exertion of force.

Immediately afterwards, Darui saw Shuji casually put the kunai in his right hand back into the ninja tool pouch behind him and release his grip on Shuji's left hand.

Throughout the entire ordeal, the other person's feet remained firmly planted in place, without moving an inch.

"His power far surpasses Darui's," the Fourth Raikage said in a low voice from the observation panel.

Xi and Jie both wore solemn expressions. Even though Darui hadn't yet mastered the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, his ability to wield such a wide giant sword demonstrated his formidable strength, surpassing that of ordinary ninjas.

In a clash of pure physical strength, he was defeated so decisively.

Darui took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the shock in his heart. He looked at Shuuji, who remained calmly standing in place; the other seemed genuinely intending to remain passive.

He was outmatched in strength, and his reaction speed, which he had just displayed, was also superior. It seemed there was no need to continue this probing exercise in physical combat.

He slung the giant sword back behind him, leaped back a few steps, and created some distance. Since taijutsu wouldn't work, he'd use ninjutsu.

"Water escape·Water chaos!"

"Thunder Release·Grateful Wave!"

A torrent of water gushed from his mouth, and almost simultaneously, dazzling lightning merged into the water, forming a wave of water mixed with blinding electric snakes, rushing towards Xiu Si.

On the observation stand, Iruka instinctively held his breath. It was precisely this perfectly coordinated ninjutsu that restricted the effectiveness of Konoha-ryu swordsmanship, leading to their swift defeat.

After Shuuji set up targeted individual training programs, they discussed countermeasures privately. They concluded that if they mastered Earth Release ninjutsu, relying on sturdy earth walls to block the water flow would be the safest method.

Because Darui's techniques primarily rely on water flow to generate additional damage from lightning, rather than penetrating lightning attacks.

“Captain Shuuji is a master of ninjutsu. Earth Release: Earth Wall is a simple technique for him,” said Hayate Gekko, coughing lightly twice.

However, when faced with the sweeping combined attack of water and electricity, Shuji did not use the Earth Flow Wall as he had anticipated.

He simply raised his hands, forming hand seals so fast they almost left afterimages.

"Water Release·Water Dragon Bullet Technique."

The next moment, a water dragon, far larger than the turbulent water waves and so solid it seemed to possess life, roared up from behind him and crashed headlong into the lightning-filled water waves.

Boom!

An even more powerful and violent current of water instantly engulfed and swallowed the water and electricity released by Darui, and then swept back in an unstoppable manner!

Mixed with the chakra injected by Shuji, the recoiling water wave became even more powerful, and instead rushed towards Darui himself, the caster!
Darui's expression changed drastically. He immediately stopped the continuous output of Lightning Release chakra and hurriedly formed hand seals to try and counter. But it was too late.

He was released by himself, but was hit hard by the amplified and manipulated waves, which sent him flying backward and crashing heavily into the wall at the edge of the training field with a thud.

The water flowed out of control, spreading wildly, and the entire training ground instantly became a vast expanse of water.

Darui struggled to his feet from the icy water, soaking wet and breathing heavily, his face covered in water droplets, and a dull pain shooting through his chest from the impact.

Shuji remained standing in the same spot, looking at the somewhat disheveled Darui, and commented, "Water Release and Lightning Release are excellent tactical combinations. It is precisely because the flow of water is difficult to stop that the conductivity and area-of-effect damage of Lightning Release can be maximized."

"However, this is on the premise that one's water-style techniques are powerful enough to control the situation."

Samui frowned slightly. To defeat Darui's magic in this way—this guy, though arrogant, has the right to be arrogant.

The power and chakra are beyond what Darui can currently achieve.

Two consecutive attacks were easily blocked by taijutsu, and the opponent's proud combination of ninjutsu was broken head-on. Judging from the opponent's relaxed posture, they probably hadn't even started to use their real tactics yet.

Darui's hand holding the knife trembled slightly, not from fear, but from a growing sense of powerlessness within him. The gap was greater than he had imagined.

What about Black Lightning? If Black Lightning, representing a higher stage of Lightning Release nature transformation, is used, could it break through the opponent's defense? Or... Storm Release?
He was still hesitating, his thoughts in turmoil.

"boom!"

A loud crash interrupted his thoughts. On the observation deck, the Fourth Raikage smashed the stone steps beside him with a single punch, sending fragments of stone flying everywhere.

He jumped to his feet, his roar echoing like thunder across the training ground: "Stop dawdling there, Darui!" "What's the point of thinking so much at a time like this! Fight with all your might! Show me your mettle!"

As if doused with a bucket of cold water, Darui shook his head violently, banishing all those distracting thoughts. The BOSS had come to watch the battle, not to see him act so cowardly and pathetic!
Without further hesitation, black lightning gathered in Darui's palm, transforming into a thunder beast.

"Thunder Release·Black Spot Cha!"

The black thunder beast shot out of his hand, tearing through the air and heading straight for Xiu Si.

Faced with this change representing another aspect of the nature of Lightning Release chakra, a hint of interest flashed in Shuji's eyes.

At this point, it's not appropriate to use Lightning Release to fight head-on, since his Lightning Release is only at a standard level.

"Tudun·Tuiliu City Wall."

He pressed one hand against the ground beneath the water.

Rumbling--

With a deep rumble, the ground beneath Xiu Si's feet and in front of him suddenly rose! A huge, thick earthen wall rose from the ground, not just to defend a single point, but to completely change the local terrain!

The black-spotted lightning, representing a higher-level lightning nature transformation, slammed violently into the suddenly rising earthen city wall. Blinding black lightning exploded, sending earth and rocks flying, leaving a deep, charred crater in the thick wall.

Even though Lightning Release is effective against Earth Release, in the face of such a large-scale change in terrain, an attack targeting a single point will ultimately fail to shake this massive whole.

After exhausting its energy, the black thunder beast flickered a few times unwillingly before finally dissipating into the air.

Darui, slightly out of breath, looked at the towering city wall and the figure standing on it, completely unharmed.

He had used every technique imaginable—taijutsu, a combination of standard ninjutsu, black lightning—except for Storm Release, yet he couldn't even make his opponent move an inch.

The gap is too big.

He slowly lowered his hands from the hand seal, picked up the fallen knife, and put it back on his back.

Darui looked up at Shuji and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Mr. Shuji! Attack! Let me see how an even more powerful ninja attacks!"

Shuji looked at the still-burning flame in his eyes and nodded slightly.

“You used water and lightning techniques,” he stated calmly. “My water and lightning techniques are also limited in their innovation.”

"Therefore, we can only use the third type of escape technique, with some modifications."

He formed another hand seal, and a shadow clone appeared beside him.

"Water Release·Water Crush Wave!"

From the mouth of the clone, a water column, more concentrated and with a stronger impact than the previous water turbulence, shot straight toward Darui below the field.

Almost at the same time, Shuji's main body also completed the hand seals.

"Wind Release·Cyclone!"

What he exhaled was not a violent tornado, but a highly compressed, rapidly rotating powerful airflow that merged into the water column.

Torn and accelerated by the gale, the water's form suddenly changed, transforming from a thick column of water into a massive, roaring waterspout.

At the same time, countless fine water needles and lines, cut by the wind blades, filled the large space between the two.

This is not over yet.

Lightning crackled from Shuji's body, merging into the countless water droplets in every inch of space in front of him.

Zizzi——!
Every tiny water droplet, carried by the wind and moving at high speed, becomes the perfect vessel for lightning.

A terrifying electric grid, incredibly vast and intricately detailed, interwoven with blinding blue-white lightning, instantly enveloped the entire space within Darui's field of vision, as if the entire training ground had become the core of a thunderstorm.

There is nowhere to hide, nowhere to escape.

The thick, lightning-stirred waterspout roared toward where Darui stood.

On the observation deck, lightning suddenly erupted from Ai's body, and his muscles tensed.

However, just a moment before the ferocious composite ninjutsu was about to engulf Darui—

The wind suddenly stopped.

The water vanished into thin air.

Only faint blue flashes of electricity, occasionally leaping and eventually disappearing in the air, proved that the terrifying scene just now was not an illusion.

Shuji stopped all his techniques and calmly looked down. Darui remained standing in the same spot, but his face was pale, his chest heaving violently, staring blankly at the empty space in front of him, as if he had not yet recovered from the ninjutsu that had just seemed like a natural disaster.

"I suppose that concludes the instruction?"

　I'm awake now, and I've finished writing.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)