Chapter 150: Targeting the Cloud Shinobi

Chapter 150: Targeting the Cloud Shinobi

This time, Kitsuchi was persuaded with surprising ease. Truth be told, he also felt uneasy about facing off against a near-Kage-level opponent.

Now that Ishiro had come up with a plan to avoid direct confrontation, Kitsuchi was more than supportive.

In his view, even if Minato Namikaze ended up relocating to Iwa's main frontline, it wouldn't be a big problem. Against a large-scale shinobi army, even a Kage-level ninja wouldn't dare to attack alone.

Besides, once the village realized Minato had been reassigned, they'd likely dispatch Ikura to balance things out—or perhaps even Ōnoki himself might make a move.

And if Minato ended up stationed on another battlefield entirely, that would be even better in Kitsuchi's eyes.

Thus, Kitsuchi assigned Ishiro a mission: seek out traces of Cloud ninja, and if safety could be assured, even try provoking their main force.

With official approval, Ishiro happily set off on his assignment.

Originally, he'd already planned to find some Cloud ninja to study Lightning Release stimulation methods from. Now that he had the perfect excuse, he certainly wasn't going to let the opportunity slip by.

Since the Eastern Division base was established, their policy toward Kumo had been one of repulsion, not eradication. As a result, after several encounters, Cloud ninja became increasingly bold in their reconnaissance. While they still avoided approaching too closely, they had clearly grown lax in masking their presence.

It had even gotten to the point where Kitsuchi's desk held detailed activity maps of nearby Cloud shinobi.

So with all this intel, finding the Cloud ninja wasn't difficult for Ishiro—especially with his sensory ninjutsu.

Not only could he locate enemy ninja with ease, he could also distinguish their chakra natures.

While Cloud shinobi were known for their Lightning Release, not all of them specialized in it. For instance, the first two he encountered clearly didn't possess lightning chakra.

Ishiro handled such irrelevant targets with brutal efficiency: he ambushed them using Porcelain Release.

These two chūnin weren't alert enough to guard against an elite jōnin like Ishiro. They didn't even get the chance to run before their lives were ended.

Without even bothering to clean up the battlefield, Ishiro moved straight to the next target zone marked in the intel. There, he found two more Cloud ninja. But these weren't as careless as the previous pair.

According to his chakra senses, one of them—a jōnin—possessed both Lightning and Wind Release, while the other chūnin also had Lightning chakra.

That was a bit of a problem. If it were just one, Ishiro could easily kill one and capture the other. If it were two chūnin, he might be able to capture them both.

But a jōnin and a chūnin? Capturing both simultaneously would be difficult.

He needed a clever plan to separate them.

Before he could devise one, however, the enemy made the first move.

The jōnin had detected Ishiro's sensory scan, and the two previously quiet chakra sources suddenly surged.

> "Huh? They noticed?"

This was the first time Ishiro's sensory ninjutsu had been detected by a non-Kekkei Genkai user. This jōnin clearly had sensory abilities—and more unusually, the ability to counter-detect chakra scans.

> "I got careless. I still haven't adjusted fully to my transformed body. I should've used Porcelain-infused chakra for sensory techniques."

After all, Porcelain Release was a bloodline limit; its chakra was more refined than standard types and harder to sense.

But now that he was exposed, there was no other option but to fight.

Feeling the two Cloud ninja approaching, Ishiro immediately activated Porcelain Release to engage.

He wasn't the naive rookie he once was. He understood the shinobi world well—high offense, low defense, and many fights were decided by tactics rather than brute strength.

There were countless examples of the weak defeating the strong. Ishiro had no intention of becoming a statistic.

As the two enemies closed in, he quickly decided: kill the chūnin, capture the jōnin.

To pull that off under the jōnin's watchful eye, he needed overwhelming force—his strongest technique: Porcelain Release.

He drew out a massive amount of chakra and launched a wide-scale mud flood, surging toward the enemy.

The sheer magnitude of the jutsu drew a deep frown from the jōnin who was now only about 100 meters away.

"What is this technique? It resembles Sand jutsu, but it's not sand… And it feels different from Earth Release."

"Has Iwa developed some sort of secret technique?"

Bloodline limits rarely came to mind—after all, they were rare, difficult to develop, and new ones almost unheard of in recent years.

Though he didn't know exactly what he was facing, the jōnin knew one thing for sure: he couldn't charge in recklessly or allow the mud to spread unchecked.

He unsheathed his blade:

Lightning Release – Thunder Disperse.

With a single slash, he didn't launch blade energy, but rather a wave of electricity. When the lightning struck the mud, Ishiro immediately lost control over that portion.

What's more, the lightning spread rapidly across the mud's surface. A massive section in front of them became inert and collapsed to the ground.

Ishiro's eyes narrowed—he hadn't expected that.

"That shouldn't have happened. Porcelain Release is a fusion of two chakra natures… it shouldn't be so easily countered by Lightning Release."

He sensed the fallen mud. The chakra link was still there, just temporarily severed.

"Ah… Lightning Release paralysis effect. It disrupts chakra flow."

"So Lightning Release can interfere with ninjutsu chakra constructs to some degree… How enviable."

But he also sensed that the attack had a high cost. The jōnin's chakra fluctuation during that slash was at least double what Ishiro had expended for his mud flood.

And this wasn't the end of it.

Normally, when dealing with such a wide-area jutsu, the best approach was to break through the center. If it had been Fire, Wind, Water, or Earth, losing a chunk of the middle would've crippled the jutsu.

But Porcelain Release mud could bend at will under Ishiro's control.

While retreating using taijutsu, he kept both hands in hand seals, redirecting the remaining mud from the sides into a second pincer attack.

Because he was unfamiliar with the technique, Ishiro needed to maintain hand seals to control it.

Fortunately, the mud was fast. The chūnin wasn't particularly agile, and the jōnin didn't dare stray too far from his comrade.

Before the two could get close, the mud had already cut off their advance.

The jōnin could try to use Thunder Disperse again, but he knew the truth—he had started charging for that move well before the initial clash.

Had Ishiro not cast his jutsu first, that lightning slash would've been aimed directly at him.

But Ishiro had faster hand seals and attacked first. The jōnin had no choice but to repurpose his move as a counter.

Now? There was no time to charge it again.

Still, as a seasoned shinobi, the jōnin calmly analyzed the situation for weaknesses.

"Never seen or heard of this jutsu before. Wide-area, fluid in form, requires constant hand seals…"

"Chakra fluctuations are strange. It conducts Lightning Release, but less than Water Release."

"Tch… could this be a bloodline limit?"

Realizing this, the jōnin cursed himself for charging in so recklessly.

Dodging alongside his subordinate, he barked,

"Kuromaya, return to the village. Report that we've encountered a shinobi using a Water-Earth fusion Kekkei Genkai. His hand seals are extremely fast."

Peering through the thinning mud, he added,

"Also, he's young. Probably hasn't had the bloodline for long."

"Yes, sir."

The chūnin named Kuromaya hesitated but quickly understood the importance of this intel. He turned and sprinted toward the sea.

Once he reached the ocean and submerged, he would be virtually untraceable. No one could track a determined shinobi through open water.

Though Cloud ninja weren't known for Water Release, as warriors who crossed the sea, they were more than capable of surviving in it.

Of course, Ishiro noticed Kuromaya trying to flee, but he couldn't go after him immediately. If he shifted focus to the chūnin, the jōnin might either intervene or attack directly.

If the jōnin chose to attack, Ishiro would be caught off guard by his superior speed.

But Ishiro wasn't worried—he had sensory techniques. As long as the chūnin didn't get too far, he could be tracked later.

All he needed to do was finish the jōnin quickly.

Could he?

Ishiro believed he could. The mud that had been disrupted by Lightning Release was already re-establishing connection. The recovery speed was accelerating.

More importantly—the jōnin hadn't noticed.

Feigning urgency, Ishiro controlled the unaffected mud to swing around and attack from the front.

The jōnin's strategy was now pure delay. As long as his subordinate escaped, his mission was a success. If Ishiro lost composure, perhaps he could even seize an opening to retaliate.

He didn't strike back aggressively. Instead, he used his sword in tandem with lightning chakra, scattering several smaller mud attacks while retreating step by step…

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