"Boom!" Sand exploded beneath his foot, creating a massive crater as Saitama shot toward Tawara like lightning, leaving behind a blue-white blur across the night sky.
"Swish!" The slash missed by inches, as if slicing through space itself. The air buzzed with high-voltage chirping, like a thousand birds screeching!
"Boom!" Tawara's fist struck empty air before slamming solidly into the sandy ground, leaving an impact crater and sending yellow sand spraying into midair.
"Hmph, not bad," Tawara sneered, locking eyes with Saitama from a distance.
[Fire Release: Great Fireball Jutsu!] With practiced speed, Saitama formed the required ninja hand seals and exhaled a gigantic fireball supercharged with extra chakra. The blazing inferno sped across the desert toward Tawara, scorching heat engulfing the enemy's position in moments.
"Hmph!" Tawara scoffed at this attack, easily evading such ninjutsu with his speed. Bending his legs then pushing off, he sidestepped the fireball effortlessly.
"Huh?" Still midair from his last move, Tawara sensed danger.
"Zzzzt!" As though thousands of birds screamed together, a powerful white light flashed in Tawara's vision, stabbing directly toward his chest—life and death balanced on a razor's edge!
"Ahh!" Roaring furiously, Tawara wildly circulated his chakra. Air currents formed around his body as his lateral movement accelerated once more.
With his Sharingan activating, Saitama instantly predicted the enemy's movement path. Following suit, his right hand targeted the enemy's chest precisely.
"Pfth!" Yet Saitama's right hand merely grazed past the enemy's left waist, leaving only an extremely deep wound upon their body.
"What happened?" Saitama felt slightly puzzled. He'd clearly predicted the enemy's movement path, so why hadn't he landed a hit? Thinking this, he prepared to strike again for a decisive killing blow.
"Swish!" A sharp whistle sliced through the air as one of the ninja fighting against Gekko Masano rushed to help. He kicked hard toward Saitama's chest, forcing him to retreat.
Ducking narrowly, Saitama performed two consecutive backward flips to increase distance.
"You alright?" Gekko Masano also arrived at his side, visibly wounded but still full of spirit.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Saitama glanced at the three Suna ninja standing together, frowning.
"Pft!" Surrounded by two ninja, Soma made a split-second mistake and got wounded. Barely dodging another attack, Soma wiped blood from the corner of his mouth.
Glancing sideways at another battle, Soma realized he must rely on himself now. Gritting his teeth, he tightened his grip on the sword, let out a battle cry, and charged forward. Only persistence would offer any survival chance.
Though Saitama's precise strike missed the vital points, it crippled most of Tawara's combat ability. His body weakened from the lightning burn, his wound turned black and blood kept pouring out uncontrollably.
Tawara clenched his wound tightly, tensing the surrounding muscles to suppress the pain. Two allies stood by his side, while Tawara's face turned pale and clammy with pain.
"What happened, Tawara?" Hyakujin asked, a Suna ninja wielding a sickle whose weapon was now horizontally positioned before him.
"I got careless. Looks like you guys will have to work hard for now. I'll provide backup from here."
Tawara endured the excruciating pain, his eyes locked on Saitama.
"Watch out for that kid's speed and his Lightning Release," Tawara warned finally.
Nagare and Hyakujin both nodded solemnly. This next fight was really going to be tough. Even when they had teamed up before, they hadn't managed to defeat Gekko Masano. Now they had to face an even stronger opponent—Saitama—and neither of them felt confident.
"Hiss!" Electric arcs flared as Saitama and Gekko Masano dashed forward from either side, their movements swift and nimble. Saitama had seriously injured a Jonin, giving them a chance to turn the tide. They were determined to seize this opportunity and completely shift the battle in their favor.
"Swish!" Drawing his blade, Saitama slashed at the Ninja wielding the sickle.
"Clang!" The massive sickle blocked the path forward, rendering Saitama's strike ineffective.
"Hiss! Hiss!" Electricity exploded, surging along the Ninja sword and transferring onto the sickle.
"Boom!" Enduring the electric current coursing through him, Hyakujin kicked powerfully with one foot, striking the sickle and sending it flying upward. Its blade swept toward Saitama.
"Slash!" The upward swing forced Saitama to retract his sword. Without pause, the sickle continued its arc toward Saitama's face, leaving him no choice but to abandon his attack and leap backward.
Meanwhile, Gekko Masano resumed combat against Nagare. Tawara had already covered his wound and retreated the moment Saitama and the other Ninja rushed in. Unless absolutely necessary, he had no intention of rejoining the fight. His waist injury prevented him from using even a third of his strength, and intense battle would only worsen it further.
"Hiss!" Saitama felt a sharp sting across his face, but with enemies closing in, he couldn't afford to deal with it.
"Haha! Kid!" Seeing that he had just grazed Saitama's face, Hyakujin gave a sinister grin, then raised the sickle and charged at him.
The sickle slashed downward from above, its blade gleaming ominously.
"Boom!" It struck the ground where Saitama had stood, leaving behind a massive crater in the sand.
"Thrust!" Kicking off with his right foot against the enemy's weapon, Saitama propelled himself upward, soaring over Hyakujin's head.
"Slash!" Flipping midair over the enemy, Saitama drove his blade downward, aiming straight at the crown of Hyakujin's head.
"Clang!" The sickle matched Saitama's speed. With a flick of his wrist, Hyakujin deflected the strike, sending Saitama tumbling sideways.
"Die!" In such fast-paced Jonin combat, there was no time for Saitama to steady himself before the sickle slashed toward him again, roaring through the air toward his chest.
"Thrust!" Saitama kept retreating. Fighting someone with that kind of weapon wasn't easy. That exaggerated weapon created a wide area of damage when swung, and clashing directly with it drained too much strength.
Saitama kept dodging left and right, evading the enemy's attacks from all directions. Though the enemy's offense was fierce, such relentless strikes must be draining a lot of energy too. Saitama aimed to wear him down by enduring.
"Do you think I'm an idiot, kid?" Swinging the sickle once more, Hyakujin forced Saitama to leap back evasively, wearing a relaxed expression on his face.
"Hmm?" A slight confusion stirred within Saitama. It seemed the enemy had figured out his plan. Indeed, such a simple trick was too basic for a Jonin to fall for.
Arcs of electricity crackled around him. Since Saitama knew the enemy had already figured out his intent, he no longer planned to continue.
"Still haven't noticed yet?" Hyakujin said mockingly as he slung his giant sickle over his shoulder, eyes never leaving Saitama.
Saitama furrowed his brows—something wasn't right. Gripping his sword tighter, the electric arcs flared violently as he braced for another strike.
"Deng!" A large pit exploded in the sand as Saitama rushed forward, swinging his blade at his opponent.
"This is...!?" Still just a couple of steps away, Saitama already sensed something off—his chakra flow hesitated slightly, and numbness spread through his body with every pulse of chakra.
"Shua!" He plunged the sword into the sand, gripping its hilt tightly while staring at Hyakujin.
"When did this happen…?" Narrowing his eyes, Saitama slowed his chakra flow—the numbness crawling through his body eased immediately.
"You think I didn't notice what you were doing? I let your chakra keep flowing so my poison would seep through your entire body!" Hyakujin took the sickle off his shoulder, grasping it firmly with his right hand while pointing it at Saitama.
A sudden sharp pain across his face hit him like a lightning bolt—now he got it. He remembered the wound left by the sickle slicing past his cheek earlier. Touching his left cheek with his left hand, he felt only a tiny cut. Guess that's the lesson here—always watch out for Sand ninja weapons. Fixing his gaze upon Hyakujin's giant sickle, such a massive weapon was clearly designed to injure enemies—even the smallest wound would be dangerous.
Saitama's expression grew serious as he yanked the ninja sword from the sand with a swift "Shua!"
"Now, you can die! Brat!" With a voice filled with killing intent, Hyakujin suddenly increased his speed, rushing toward Saitama.
"Hu!" The sickle sliced through the air with a tremendous sound, howling directly toward Saitama.
"Sisi!" More electric arcs burst forth as Saitama locked onto his enemy with the Sharingan. His blade slashed along the sickle's path straight toward Hyakujin.
"Ci!" The sickle struck Saitama's left shoulder; half the blade embedded itself into his body but couldn't penetrate further, while Saitama's blade pierced directly into Hyakujin's left chest, lightning flashing fiercely around the blade!
"Puh!"
"How...!?" Hyakujin couldn't believe it. This kid had definitely been poisoned—how could his speed and reaction still be this fast?
Eyes fixed on the wound on his chest, Hyakujin felt his strength draining away, and his grip on the sickle weakened, the handle slipping from his now powerless hands.
"Peng!" Enduring dizziness, Saitama kicked the enemy hard in the abdomen, sending him flying. At the same time, his sword felt lighter as blood streamed down the blade onto the sandy ground.
"Haaah!" Kneeling on the ground, the enemy's corpse lying not far away, Saitama gasped heavily, a bizarre-looking sickle still sticking out from his shoulder.
"Saitama! Watch out!" Nearby, Gekko Masano saw Saitama kneeling and turned his gaze toward Tawara, who was approaching fast.
Saitama's expression turned grim. The poison inside his body clouded his thoughts, making chakra circulation problematic. Ever since falling to the ground, Saitama had noticed the sneaking figure of Tawara nearby, but he no longer had the strength to pick up his sword, forced to kneel there watching helplessly as his foe approached closer.
"Hmph, kid!" Tawara's waist was soaked in blood, his face pale—only slightly better off than Saitama. Staggering forward, he drove a kunai into Saitama's back with his right hand while wrapping his other arm around Saitama's neck.
"Phuh!" The piercing pain jolted Saitama back to awareness. For a moment, the chakra within him overcame the effects of the Suna ninja's poison.
"In the end, I'm the one who wins!" Tawara whispered close to Saitama's ear, his warm breath brushing against it, his voice low and weak.
"No, I win!" Gritting through the pain, Saitama forced out a powerful surge of electricity from his body, channeling it directly into Tawara who was pressed tightly against him.
"Krraa!" The lightning crackled like shrieking birds before erupting with intense force.
"Ughhh!" Unprepared to dodge and completely unanticipating that Saitama still had the strength to retaliate, Tawara took the full blow. His body convulsed violently as the electricity surged through him, his head falling limply onto Saitama's shoulder.
Thus ended Saitama's battle—one shoulder pierced by a sickle, the other supporting the limp head of an enemy.
"Saitama!" Gekko Masano broke away from his opponent. Facing only one Suna ninja in single combat, he hadn't come out worse.
Landing beside Saitama, Gekko shoved Tawara off his shoulder and threw him onto the sand. In one swift motion, he plunged his blade into Tawara's chest before calling out to Saitama.
"Yes, sir..." With great effort, Saitama raised his head slightly, offering a pained and ghastly smile.
"It's alright now—hang in there!" Seeing how badly injured Saitama was, Gekko felt a sudden tightening in his chest.
Turning to glance at the last Jonin he'd driven back, Gekko's expression hardened, his eyes sharpening further.
Nagare, watching Gekko's rising battle spirit, showed a hint of fear. He was the only Jonin left on his side, and even he himself couldn't defeat a Konoha ninja. Glancing toward the other side, he saw their two Chunin still hadn't managed to take down the other Konoha ninja. Nagare realized this fight wasn't going well—the odds of victory were slim unless reinforcements arrived.
"You two, Muramasa and Kurasuki, retreat first!" After shouting the order, Nagare made his decision to pull back.
With a sudden burst, he shot off under Gekko's watchful gaze. The other two ninja likewise abandoned Soma and fled. Though they had inflicted countless wounds upon him earlier, Soma's strong will kept him standing.
Once the Suna ninja left, Gekko did not give chase—he himself was exhausted, and Saitama needed his protection here.
Meanwhile, Soma tightened his grip on his sword, and the moment his enemies disappeared from sight, he collapsed onto the ground. Still, he had endured, and survived!
"Captain… help me get this out of my shoulder…" Saitama's eyelids grew heavier, his voice fading.
Gekko glanced down at the embedded sickle, then gripped the blade firmly with both hands and slowly pulled it out.
"Tsk!"
Blood oozed from the wound. Saitama's brow furrowed slightly, his eyes narrowing as [Lightning] crackled like thunder across his shoulder. The wound blackened and stopped bleeding. Throughout the entire process, Saitama showed no reaction at all, as if it weren't his own body.
Only one kunai was left. Saitama knew he couldn't keep going. Repeated use of chakra had sped up the poison's spread throughout his body. Moving was getting harder by the second.
"Captain…" He passed out before he could finish speaking, his body collapsing forward into Gekko Masano's arms.
"Soma, can you still move?" Gekko Masano laid Saitama face-down on the sandy ground, then walked over to Soma's side.
"Teacher… barely." Without even moving his fingers, Soma managed only a bitter smile. His battle efforts had nearly drained all his strength. Wounds covered his body, leaving dark bloodstains in the sand beneath him.
Gekko glanced back at Saitama, recalling the departing Suna ninja. He knew this was the moment to decide. The Hidden Sand would return soon, and with two severely injured comrades, he wasn't sure they could escape the territory at all. Perhaps taking just one person still offered a chance. His eyes fell on his apprentice at his feet—his only student. Though lacking talent, the boy possessed an unyielding spirit. Hard work was the only strength Soma had shown throughout his training.
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~ Every 50 Powerstones = **4 Bonus Chapters** on the weekend!