CHAPTER 57

A Fierce Battle with the Leader of the Hot Water Ninja

Chihiro moved with precision, seeking out the leader of the Hot Water Village ninja with intent carved into every step.

This leader wasn't just another Jonin—he was the strongest shinobi the Hidden Hot Water Village had to offer. While numerous Cloud shinobi were stationed here, few were of the elite caliber. Most were Chunin or Genin, with a sprinkling of regular Jonin. The true core of Kumo's forces—the elite Jonin and high-tier strategists—had been deployed elsewhere. Hot Water Village was considered a low-risk outpost.

After all, who would've predicted that the Leaf would strike here rather than a more fortified Cloud stronghold?

But that gamble cost them.

The Hot Water ninja leader locked eyes with Chihiro. No words. Just the silence of killer's instinct. He launched into hand seals without hesitation.

"Water Release: Water Hail!"

From his outstretched palms, dozens of high-velocity water bullets shot out. Chihiro dodged immediately, flipping backward as the bullets tore craters into the earth.

Without missing a beat, Chihiro hurled kunai laced with explosive tags. The resulting blast kicked up a thick veil of smoke.

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!"

Chihiro moved quickly, forming seals. In the smoke, stone columns rose like fingers from the earth, locking into place to form a cage around the enemy.

"Water Release: Trumpet Cannon!"

But the enemy had already leapt skyward. A vortex of pressurized water burst from his mouth, smashing the pillars and slamming into Chihiro's location.

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Wall!"

Chihiro slammed his palms down, erecting a wall of stone just in time to absorb the torrent. Then, like thunder following lightning, he raised his blade toward the airborne shinobi.

"Breath of Lightning: Fifth Form – Heat Lightning!"

Electric arcs crackled across the blade, then fired off in rapid bursts, cutting through the sky like searing comet trails.

The Hot Water leader's eyes narrowed. He'd been observing Chihiro long before this encounter and already had a rough grasp of the boy's elemental affinities. This Lightning-style technique was fast—too fast.

But he was ready.

"Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"

The leader clapped his hands together, slicing open the air with razors of wind that intercepted and dispersed the incoming lightning.

Chihiro's eyes glinted. So, this guy wasn't just a Water Release user. His Wind Release was quicker—his real specialty.

Fine then.

"Fire Release: Dragon Fire Technique!"

Chihiro's hand seals were quick and crisp. A focused stream of flame shot toward the enemy.

Boom.

Smoke.

A flaming log spiraled to the ground—Body Replacement Technique.

Sharingan spinning, Chihiro scanned for chakra signatures.

Ping.

A kunai zipped toward him from the treeline.

"Wind Release: Gale Palm!"

The air exploded with pressure. The kunai's speed tripled, a lethal blur aimed for his vitals.

Body Flicker.

Chihiro vanished in a flash and reappeared low to the ground, landing in a crouch.

Then—he struck.

"Breath of Lightning: Fourth Form – Distant Thunder!"

Electricity burst from his body as he bolted toward the source of the kunai, Sharingan locked on the figure crouched on a tree branch.

Blade flashing, he slashed—only for the enemy to melt into a puddle.

A water clone.

From the shadows:

"Water Release: Water Prison Technique!"

The liquefied remains surged upward, forming a swirling sphere around Chihiro, locking him inside a watery tomb.

The Hot Water ninja stepped forward, kunai in hand, eyes full of grim certainty.

"It's over," he muttered.

But Chihiro didn't flinch. He raised his sword within the prison, eyes burning with intensity.

"Breath of Lightning: Sixth Form – Electric Rumble!"

Lightning slashed out in all directions, disrupting the chakra-bound water structure and tearing it apart. Chihiro launched backward, creating distance.

The Hot Water leader frowned, deeply unsettled. "A Lightning Release technique with no hand seals… That's a problem."

If Chihiro had needed seals, he'd already be dead. But seal-less ninjutsu? That was unpredictable—lethal.

He studied the Konoha shinobi more carefully now. The boy couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen… yet he already fought like a seasoned Jonin.

"There really are too many monsters in the big villages," the leader muttered bitterly. "First Jiraiya and Orochimaru, now this one... And that blonde brat—still rough, but clearly a genius."

He looked back at Chihiro with a mixture of envy and awe.

"Lightning, Fire, Earth, Water… and the Sharingan. All that before adulthood. If he were born here in Hot Water, he could've changed everything."

He remembered the Second Shinobi War's devastation. Hidden Rain had Hanzo. That one shinobi gave a minor village the power to resist the Great Nations.

Hot Water had no Hanzo.

But if they had someone like Chihiro…

Chihiro wasn't impressed by the man's silence. He wasn't here to inspire dreams.

That kunai earlier? A trap. A decoy to bait Chihiro into chasing the water clone. The real enemy had set up the Water Prison in advance.

Smart.

But not smart enough.

Time to return the favor.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Chihiro summoned a massive dragon from the surrounding moisture. It roared across the battlefield, spiraling toward its target.

The Hot Water leader wasn't backing down.

"Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!"

Two dragons of identical size slammed into each other midair.

Boom.

Chihiro smirked.

He wasn't finished.

"Breath of Lightning: Fifth Form – Heat Lightning!"

The lightning surged from his blade into his water dragon just before collision. When the dragons exploded, Chihiro's lightning-infused dragon turned the resulting downpour into an electric hazard.

Raindrops glittered like stars—each one charged with chakra.

The Hot Water leader's face fell.

There was no shelter.

There was no time to run.

He was completely exposed.

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