Naruto: From Novice to Grave

With the addition of two teams of Konoha ninja, the situation instantly reversed.

Seeing that the situation was not good, the Mist Ninja hiding in the water decisively turned and ran away, rushing towards the dense fog not far away, completely ignoring the five companions who were still fighting hard behind him.

Teammates? What teammates? Do we ninjas from the Village of Blood Mist even have such things?

At this moment, he profoundly implemented the essence of the four-word strategy of "collapse, retreat, sell, slip away".

Higashino Makoto gave chase, ignoring his teammates' battle as well. They held an absolute advantage in all three battlefields; only Gekko Hayate and Uzuki Yugao might need a little more time, but with Ebisu's help, victory was assured.

If he still can't defeat his opponent, or even gets injured, then it can only be said that this is the price of growth. He wants to protect his teammates as he sees them, but he won't be a babysitter, constantly thinking about protecting his teammates and not getting any training.

In the ninja world, if you want to live longer than others, your own strength is always the best guarantee. Higashino Shin won't be by their side all the time.

The fleeing mist was fast in the water, but not as fast as Higashino Makoto. After chasing for a few steps, he jumped into the air and swung his sword downwards a few times.

The nearly invisible wind blades emitted by 【Wind Release: Shadowless Sword】 pierced the water's surface like cannonballs, penetrating shallow water before disappearing into the ground, blocking the Hidden Mist's escape route.

The underwater ninja was terrified, if only he could sweat underwater.

If he had taken just one more step forward, he would have been cut in two by the sharp wind blades.

It seemed that he wouldn't be able to escape smoothly without taking down the little devil behind him. With that in mind, he decisively leaped out of the water, creating a splash as his hands quickly formed hand seals.

Water Release: Thousand Kills Water Flight

The splash he created transformed into a dense spray of water needles, shooting towards Higashino Makoto, who hadn't yet landed. He intended to turn this despicable Konoha brat into a pincushion in mid-air.

You're in mid-air, let's see how you dodge.

Higashino didn't need to dodge. He didn't even use "One Corner of the Great Wall" to create a chakra shield for defense. Instead, he activated the Levitation Technique, raising his body into the air and moving horizontally at high speed.

While dodging the dense water needles, he arrived directly next to the Mist Ninja.

What the hell? You think you can fly?

The beautiful and gentle-looking Mist Ninja, who was only about 20 years old, was stunned for a moment. Could a ninja really do that?

Could it be that, like the Sand Village puppeteers, they used chakra threads to tie themselves to something and swing up there? But there's only blue sky and white clouds above them, so where could they be tied to? Do you have some deceased uncle in heaven helping you?

Despite the unexpected turn of events, his fighting instincts remained sharp. Facing Higashino Makoto's attack with a slash, he created two ice kunai with his hands to block the downward strike.

Then his expression changed. The opponent's blade was condensed with a high density of chakra and was exceptionally sharp. It not only easily cut through his hard ice kunai, but the blade extending from the chakra also split his body in two from top to bottom.

The two bodies and Higashino Makoto landed on the water's surface together, and then, with a "plop," they turned into splashes of water.

It was a water clone, which was no surprise to Higashino. His opponent had been hiding in the water the whole time, not running away, and was looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

Therefore, ninja battles are intelligence wars; the enemy doesn't understand Higashino Makoto and knows nothing about his methods.

Hidden underwater is useless against ordinary sensory ninjas, especially since Higashino Makoto uses natural sensory perception. But since the opponent wants to counterattack, let's give him that chance.

As soon as he landed on the water, ice mirrors suddenly appeared out of thin air all around him. The ice mirrors spread at an astonishing speed, and in the blink of an eye, they surrounded him.

[Ice Release: Demonic Mirror Ice Crystal]

It's a ninjutsu that feels familiar and nostalgic, but Higashino wouldn't be foolish enough to stay inside and experience Rong Momo's torture.

While the opponent's ninjutsu was being formed, he immediately charged in one direction, slashing through an ice mirror with a swift wind blade and escaping.

Ice Release is quite amazing, but the user's strength is a bit lacking, and they can't use speed to trap him. In terms of speed, he won't lose to anyone... Ah! So cold.

"I've got you."

Just as he emerged, a figure suddenly appeared from beneath the water, grabbing Higashino Makoto's ankles with both hands. Then, Higashino Makoto was frozen solid by unleashing his full Ice Release technique, turning him into an ice sculpture.

"Go to hell, you wretched brat." The young Mist Ninja slowly rose from underwater, facing Higashino Makoto, looking at the figure in the ice sculpture, and cursed angrily.

Although her expression was fierce, her slender figure and beautiful, delicate features made her look like a charming woman being coquettish.

"You continue, I can still do it!"

Suddenly, Higashino Makoto, inside the ice sculpture, spoke, and at the same time, one of his hands broke through the solid ice and reached out to grab the Mist Ninja.

The other person was startled and grabbed Higashino Makoto's hand, yelling, "Die! Die! Die!"

He yelled and desperately activated his Ice Release ability, freezing his opponent into a giant block of ice once again.

This was probably the last of his chakra he could extract. After finishing the spell, he felt that the little devil inside was no longer moving. He let out a long breath and collapsed onto the water.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his spine, and then he lost all feeling in his body. His brain could no longer control his body, and he fell onto the water and began to sink.

As he fell, he saw a little devil behind him pointing his index finger at him.

【Wind Release: Wind Finger Spear】

Higashino Makoto fired a chakra bullet into his spine. The sharp nature of the wind-style chakra exploded within a small area, completely severing the central nervous system within his spine.

To put it simply, he didn't die, but he became a cripple, suffering from high-level paraplegia below the neck, and will spend the rest of his life in a wheelchair, if he ever has a second half of his life.

The old man was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see dead people, so he spared his life.

"Looks like this is all you're capable of," Higashino Makoto said, lifting him up.

"What have you done to me, you wretched brat? What kind of evil ninjutsu are you using? Why can't I move?"

"I don't need to tell you."

At this moment, the shadow clone trapped in the ice finally couldn't hold on any longer and exploded with a 'bang,' sending back a large amount of memories to the main body.

Higashino Shin closed his eyes and experienced the clone's sensations, then smiled happily: "So, this is Ice Release. Bloodline Limit is truly amazing."

Yes, if he hadn't wanted to experience the feeling of Ice Release, he wouldn't have been able to fight his opponent for so long; those first few wind blades would have killed him.

Higashino Shinichi was born with wind and water chakra, and he has mastered them to a very high level. He also wants to try out ice release.

Even if you don't use it for combat, it's very convenient to use as an air conditioner in the summer or to drink iced beverages.

For this purpose, he even allowed the other party to grab his body twice, so that he could personally experience the activation process of the Ice Release Bloodline Limit.

The ninja from the Yuki clan of Kirigakure desperately felt her numb body and pleaded in a softer voice, "Can...can I still be healed? You must be able to, right? If...if you can heal me, I'll do anything. I can acknowledge you as my master."

Higashino looked down at that stunningly beautiful face and suddenly became furious: "You think you can fool me? Don't think I don't know you're a man, a man! You bastard!"

After saying that, he punched the other person unconscious.

What a tragedy! How come the Snow Clan keeps producing such bizarre effeminate men? If Higashino stays with these kinds of people for too long, he really can't guarantee that he won't become gay in the future.

These guys don't even need to disguise themselves to get into the women's bathhouse; they can just show their faces. If there were live streams in the ninja world, they could swindle the top spender out of everything without even needing makeup.

Damn it, no wonder Kirigakure wiped out all those monsters later on; keeping them around seriously affected the village's birth rate.