"Suiton: Water Dragon!"
A massive water dragon roared, its fangs aimed at Takeshi. It was clear the man had decided to go all in.
He was wounded and alone, facing an enemy far stronger than himself. He even cursed himself for not walking away when he had the chance.
Takeshi, cunning as ever, threw three Hiraishin-marked kunai in a triangle around the jōnin, teleporting from one to the other to evade the dragon.
BOOM
The beast obliterated a tree, wooden shards flying everywhere, but the young ninja, unfazed, reappeared near the jōnin, his katana aimed at the man's throat.
"Shit…!"
He blocked the attack instantly with a water blade, the clash sending shimmering droplets into the air. His vision began to blur—a sign he was losing too much blood.
"Not bad," Takeshi thought.
The fight turned into a game of tactics and feints. Takeshi faked a frontal assault but used the Hiraishin to teleport behind him, his katana slicing into the jōnin's side.
Blood soaked the man's vest, but he countered with a torrent of water, forcing Takeshi to dodge using Body Flicker.
The jōnin, anticipating this, threw water-chakra infused shuriken at vital points.
"So predictable, old man."
Takeshi parried with his katana, but one blade grazed his thigh, blood trickling down his leg as pain twisted his face.
"Tch..! I need to be more careful."
While toying with his prey, Takeshi himself began to tire. His chakra reserves weren't limitless, and having used Hiraishin multiple times already, exhaustion crept in.
He wanted to see how far he could push himself, and the results were satisfactory overall. But with the possibility of facing the Raikage or other powerful Kumo ninjas in the future, this feat was hardly remarkable.
Sage Mode could help fill that gap—but he wasn't yet capable of mastering it.
"Suiton: Explosive Great Wave!"
Before Takeshi could even react, the jōnin drew from his final chakra reserves, spitting out an enormous surge of water.
Much of the battlefield was now submerged—but strangely, the water didn't drain away. Instead, it condensed into a massive orb.
"Damn… I need to finish this quickly, or that idiot will alert the others."
Takeshi took a deep breath, then lunged forward, using Hiraishin to teleport to what appeared to be a blind spot. He aimed a clean slash at the man's neck.
"Playtime's over."
A small smile appeared on the bloodied man's face. Takeshi raised a brow, puzzled by the sudden confidence. Suddenly, a water spear shot toward him—had he not reflexively twisted away, he would've been skewered like meat on a stick.
In the span of a breath, he backed off quickly.
"This… is starting to get problematic."
He figured out the technique's mechanism—the user could control the orb freely. Now that he thought about it, he recalled something similar from the original story—Kisame had created a water prison like this.
Luckily, the man before him wasn't at the tailless beast's level—and he was injured. That gave Takeshi a fighting chance. Still, it was a dramatic shift. A few minutes ago, he had been dominating the fight—now, he was the hunted.
SHWOOOM
Another spear aimed at his head was now deflected by his blade, but the impact launched him against a distant tree trunk—
BOOM
"At this rate, they'll be scooping me up with a spoon…"
Takeshi winced, spitting out a clot of blood.
"Shadow Clone!"
He quickly formed hand signs and summoned three clones. But that wasn't all—they synchronized their movements.
"Katon: Fireball!"
Three blazing spheres shot at full speed toward the jōnin, who raised a wall of water with a flick of his hand. Upon contact, thick steam billowed, obscuring both sides' vision.
"Perfect!" Takeshi grinned as he slipped into the fog. In moments like these, a Sharingan would've been a huge asset, but unfortunately, he was still far from affording such luxury.
The sound of clashing metal echoed through the forest, smaller and more numerous water blades than the earlier spears rained down, destroying everything in their path.
Blinded, the jōnin chose to bombard the area. With some luck, he might wound or even eliminate the little brat.
Takeshi, on his end, fought to survive. Using Hiraishin was useless—the attacks covered too wide an area, and his chakra was depleting rapidly.
He relied solely on kenjutsu now, guarding his vitals. Still, some spears struck him—one particularly nasty one to the thigh.
His clones were wiped out by the attack, leaving him alone once again as the mist slowly began to dissipate. He had to act—this really was his last shot. With all the noise they'd made, it was obvious that other ninja were already on their way.
"Shadow Clone!"
Two clones appeared. He sent the first charging through the remnants of the mist, aiming for the jōnin's chest—but it was instantly impaled by a spear to the head, bursting into smoke.
"Shit!"
Takeshi leapt from his position, darting through the trees. The dying jōnin noticed and unleashed a flurry of blades his way. Thinking he had finally killed his opponent, he stared—but the body vanished into smoke again.
"Where is he?" he growled, scanning the battlefield—until suddenly, he felt the cold bite of steel.
Takeshi's katana pierced through him, blood dripping rhythmically to the ground.
"H-How…!?"
His face filled with shock. The orb of water exploded behind him.
"You just fell into my trap, old man…" Takeshi muttered, pulling his blade from the man's chest as he collapsed heavily to the ground.
With the last of his strength, Takeshi vanished into the trees—leaving the body lying still behind him.