Chapter 29: Judgment
The counter shields around Su Xiao expanded. He arched his body mid-air, dodging two water droplets at an impossible angle. Rather than relying on the counter shields to withstand the attack, it was wiser to evade using his Instinct ability.
Su Xiao landed, mud splashing under his feet. The surrounding snow had been melted by the magma, turning the ground within a hundred meters into a muddy mess.
Through his clash with Kizuki Zangetsu, Su Xiao discovered one thing—Kizuki Zangetsu might be stronger than Terumi Mei.
Moreover, after Terumi Mei left the battlefield, she wasn’t just watching; she went to support Chojuro. The situation now was that if Su Xiao didn’t eliminate Kizuki Zangetsu quickly, Amu might be killed by the combined efforts of Chojuro and Terumi Mei. Then Su Xiao would face a three-on-one siege.
Terumi Mei and her group were all experienced fighters. From the start of the battle, they had assessed the field and devised a counter-strategy.
Thoughts raced through Su Xiao’s mind. Amu had Bubu Wang backing him up, so holding off Terumi Mei and Chojuro for five to ten minutes was feasible. The question was whether Terumi Mei would take down Amu first, or Su Xiao would take down Kizuki Zangetsu first.
Kizuki Zangetsu wasn’t easy to deal with. His fighting style was completely different from the rest of the Kizuki clan. Most Kizuki members preferred close combat, using their water-body transformation to defeat enemies.
Kizuki Zangetsu was different. He knew that while the water-body ability was useful, it would eventually meet its counter. So he surrounded himself with explosive bubbles. When enemies approached, he detonated the bubbles to drive them back. As for the damage the bubbles caused him, he could negate it with his water-body.
Getting close to Kizuki Zangetsu was difficult for Su Xiao. While those bubbles couldn’t hurt him, their knockback force was strong. And the ranged attack of the “Water Gun: Barrage” couldn’t be underestimated. Every time he was pushed back, Kizuki Zangetsu would seize the opportunity to attack him.
Not only that, but the child clone was also eerie. Su Xiao’s Instinct ability clearly sensed that after Kizuki Zangetsu used the child clone, his chakra reserves had dropped by at least a third.
Kizuki Zangetsu’s chakra reserves were weaker than the Raikage’s but more than a dozen times greater than Sasuke’s. While not as exaggerated as the Raikage or Kisame, it was still a significant amount.
With such a massive chakra consumption, could the child clone be a simple technique?
Not every battle required charging in headfirst. When Su Xiao didn’t understand his enemy, he would probe first. Only after gaining a rough understanding of the enemy’s abilities would he choose to engage in close combat.
Bubbles, Water Gun: Barrage, and the child clone—these were Kizuki Zangetsu’s three most proficient abilities. They vaguely gave Su Xiao a sense of familiarity, as if he had seen them somewhere before, but he couldn’t recall at the moment.
The bubbles and Water Gun: Barrage were a combination. The bubbles knocked back while Kizuki Zangetsu attacked with Water Gun: Barrage. As for the child clone, its purpose was still unknown.
Su Xiao needed to figure out the child clone’s function quickly. He had a faint feeling that Kizuki Zangetsu’s bubbles and Water Gun: Barrage were both defensive measures, ensuring he wouldn’t be killed within a certain time frame.
Pure defense wasn’t enough to defeat an enemy. That meant the child clone was Kizuki Zangetsu’s main offensive method. The chakra it consumed was nearly the total chakra of two jonin.
Dozens of counter shields stacked above Su Xiao. He wouldn’t surround himself with counter shields unless it was critical. That might seem like perfect, all-around defense, but it was a rookie’s choice. Doing so would increase the area he was exposed to attacks.
Su Xiao’s steps moved quickly. The child clone kept throwing punches at him. While its speed and strength weren’t weak, they weren’t enough to threaten him.
As for Kizuki Zangetsu, he kept both hands raised, Water Gun: Barrage ready to fire at any moment. This was a smart choice—rather than attacking wildly, maintaining constant pressure was more effective.
The wind pressure hit Su Xiao’s face. As he dodged a punch from the child clone, he gathered a surge of Cyan Steel Shadow Energy in his leg and kicked the clone.
Bang!
The child clone was sent flying. A few drops of transparent liquid splashed onto Su Xiao’s face. He frowned. He felt high heat, but it wasn’t enough to burn his skin. However, the clone’s temperature was likely much higher.
Cyan Steel Shadow Energy clung to the clone’s surface before dissipating into the air after a moment.
Seeing this, Su Xiao narrowed his eyes. Unlike what he had imagined, the child clone wasn’t an energy construct—it was made of a liquid mass.
When Kizuki Zangetsu saw Su Xiao kick the clone away, he frowned. He also sensed that Su Xiao was troublesome. If it were an inexperienced enemy, they would instinctively slash at the clone. Once the clone suffered a sharp weapon attack, the enemy’s fate would be grim.
After being kicked far away, the clone’s form twisted slightly but quickly recovered and charged at Su Xiao again.
Su Xiao glanced at the clone, then at Kizuki Zangetsu, and finally at his own calf. A small amount of pale yellow liquid clung to his pant leg.
He ran his fingers over his calf and paused. The temperature of this pale yellow liquid was higher than he expected. He rubbed his index finger and thumb together and brought his finger to his nose to sniff.
“Oil?”
The child clone was covered in a layer of oil nearly at its boiling point. As for the inside… it was water! After Su Xiao’s kick earlier, water from inside the clone had splashed onto his face, and it was scalding hot.
Su Xiao observed the clone closely. He noticed that it had expanded from 1.2 meters tall to 1.9 meters, resembling a bloated version of Kizuki Zangetsu.
Oil on the outside, water on the inside. After taking hits or moving, the clone’s volume expanded. This wasn’t supernatural—it was a physical phenomenon.
First, the clone was wrapped in a layer of oil. As it moved or endured attacks, the oil’s temperature rose rapidly. Now, the roughly 2-centimeter-thick oil layer was extremely hot. As for the water inside, it was gradually vaporized by the oil’s high heat, turning into steam. That’s why the clone’s volume expanded. Once it reached a critical point, the thing would undergo a massive steam explosion!
Before the battle began, Kizuki Zangetsu had Terumi Mei alter the temperature in the area. This was to set the stage for the clone. In the freezing forest, the oil on the clone’s surface would solidify quickly and never boil. Changing the terrain now was impossible. The Water Gun: Barrage that Kizuki Zangetsu had prepared was to prevent Su Xiao from moving quickly and altering the battlefield’s location.
With these characteristics in mind, Su Xiao knew what the child clone was—a famous ninjutsu called Steam Danger Might!
The Second Tsuchikage of Iwagakure was covered in bandages because he had been injured by Steam Danger Might. His skin was severely burned by the high heat, forcing him to wrap himself like a mummy. This showed the lethal power of Steam Danger Might.
Steam Danger Might was the Second Mizukage’s ultimate technique, known as an infinite explosion ninjutsu. As for why Kizuki Zangetsu could use it, the answer was simple: the Second Mizukage was named Kizuki Gengetsu.
Kizuki Gengetsu and Kizuki Zangetsu—they might be direct relatives. It wasn’t strange for there to be a transmission of ninjutsu between them.