As she engaged them, three more Wind Clones appeared and tried to ambush her.
Though none succeeded, they inflicted more damage on her.
Feng Zheng remained hidden, observing the battle, and thought,
“Not bad, she’s gotten much stronger. But my Wind Clones are difficult to deal with. Is that all, though? This battle seems a bit too easy.”
On the battlefield, Mieko was bleeding heavily. She was furious.
“Why can’t he fight fairly? I’ll show him what I can do!”
She gritted her teeth, endured the pain, and made several Hand Seals. Performing Hand Seals with her Chakra points half-sealed was extremely painful.
Feng Zheng saw her wince in pain, and he could feel her Chakra strengthening!
One of the Wind Clones, having exhausted its Chakra, performed the Great Breakthrough Technique.
Its intensity was low due to insufficient Chakra, but it still knocked Mieko off balance and dragged her to the ground.
This Wind Clone also dissipated as its Chakra ran out.
Seeing her helpless, another Wind Clone appeared and unleashed the Wind Blast Technique on her.
However, before the Ninjutsu could reach her, she successfully stood up, leaped upwards, and landed on a tree branch.
She shouted,
“Fire Release: Air Burst Technique.”
Hearing the word ‘burst,’ Feng Zheng’s Wind Clones became alert. But no explosion occurred.
“Hmm, where’s the explosion?”
Only a gentle breeze passed through the area.
Realizing something was wrong, they immediately began to sense Mieko.
Soon, both the Wind Clones and Feng Zheng noticed that Mieko seemed to have released a gas, which was spreading rapidly throughout the entire forest.
Feng Zheng’s Wind Clones hadn’t detected this gas earlier because it was colorless and odorless.
Feng Zheng wondered,
“What kind of Ninjutsu is this?”
But he had no clue, thinking,
“Ugh, well, whatever. I’ll find out soon enough.”
Then he disappeared underground.
About 10 seconds later, the gas had spread within a 60-meter radius around Mieko.
All of Feng Zheng’s Wind Clones were in this area. The five or six Wind Clones that had already revealed themselves were at a loss, but continued their attacks.
Seeing the Wind Clones charging at her, Mieko smirked and said,
“Let’s see where your main body is hiding!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she exhaled a small flame. The flame ignited the gas, causing it to rapidly expand and generate a powerful outward wind!
The wind carried the gas up to 100 meters around Mieko, and soon the entire area exploded!
The flames destroyed all eighteen of Feng Zheng’s Wind Clones. It ignited every tree in the area! And the fire seemed to be spreading further!
Both Feng Zheng and Hodaka were stunned by the scene of destruction!
Feng Zheng was shocked by what he saw before his eyes.
“What the hell? All my clones were destroyed. What kind of Ninjutsu is this?”
Hodaka was also amazed by the immense destruction, thinking,
“When did Mieko become so strong?”
He quickly calmed down and continued his analysis.
“However, this Ninjutsu shouldn’t work on me. Even if these gases are colorless, my Byakugan would notice the released gas. That way, I can move out of range.”
Feng Zheng also calmed down and further observed the Ninjutsu.
“Hmm, the heat generated by the explosion seems to have dissipated. Only the surrounding trees are burned. So, if I were to take this head-on, it shouldn’t kill me, but I would be severely burned.”
“Wind Clones are too fragile. So they were all dispelled by the Ninjutsu.”
Feng Zheng, still hiding underground, analyzed further and sighed.
“I’ve never seen or heard of this Ninjutsu. It’s probably something the Uchiha Clan taught her. I really shouldn’t underestimate any Ninjutsu that wasn’t used in the ‘Naruto’ series.”
“There are many other Ninjutsu in this world, and if used properly, they can be extremely lethal. Especially when I know nothing about them! Although the destructive power of this Ninjutsu is quite astonishing, it can be easily nullified by simply blowing the gas away with the Great Breakthrough Technique.”
“But it’s because I knew nothing about this Ninjutsu that all my Shadow Clones were destroyed. I wonder if she deliberately called out the name of her technique…”
Renjiro nodded with a smile, very pleased to see Mieko successfully counterattack in such an unfavorable situation.
“Her performance this time was excellent. I anticipated her counterattack, but I didn’t expect it to be so successful.”
Feng Zheng felt the battle was too easy, so he let his guard down and played around instead of going all out to defeat her quickly. This gave Mieko an opportunity to use this move.
Then Renjiro looked at where Feng Zheng was hiding underground, with a complex expression on his face.
“He’s really too cautious. Although he did relax his guard a bit, he was always very safe.”
“While this is good for ensuring his survival, he misses out on opportunities to gain important experience. After all, if he never encounters an emergency during a spar, it will be difficult for him to survive if he suddenly encounters one during a mission.”
“It’s a pity that I can’t make him more proactive in spars. Hopefully, this won’t cause him any serious harm.”
After using the Ninjutsu, Mieko knelt to the ground.
The Ninjutsu consumed most of her Chakra. And she also had to use fire-prevention techniques to protect herself from burns. So her Chakra levels dropped significantly.
Feng Zheng did not overlook this situation. So he used about sixty percent of his remaining Chakra to create a Shadow Clone.
The Shadow Clone emerged from the ground, confirming that the gas had dispersed.
The Shadow Clone then created 5 Wind Clones.
They spread out, approaching Mieko from all directions, while the Shadow Clone returned underground.
The first Wind Clone arrived where Mieko was and looked at her.
Her Chakra reserves were very low, and her body was covered in small wounds, many of which were bleeding. She looked back with her Sharingan and saw it was another Wind Clone.
Feng Zheng’s Wind Clone said,
“Give up, you’re too injured to continue fighting.”
Mieko snorted and shouted,
“As if I’d surrender to someone who’s afraid to show their face.”
Feng Zheng’s Wind Clone chuckled.
“Even if I hide from you and don’t attack you, you’ll lose consciousness from exhaustion or even blood loss.”
Mieko smiled triumphantly and scoffed,
“I’ve already eliminated all your Wind Clones once. I’ll do it again until you fight me yourself.”
Saying this, she began to make Hand Seals again. But four more Wind Clones appeared around her, all attacking her and disrupting her Ninjutsu.
Previously, only Feng Zheng’s Wind Clone had seen her Hand Seals. So he didn’t know the gestures she used to perform that Ninjutsu.
But it didn’t matter, he no longer wanted to give her any chances.