Whoosh… whoosh…

Ayaka and Hanabi flicker through the forest at the outskirts of Konoha as they follow the trails left behind by Mizuki. ​​

Since Mizuki was in a hurry to escape, he didn't have enough time to erase his trail.

"Um… Ayaka! Is it alright to leave her behind?"

Hanabi stares at Ayaka's back.

"Humph… It's fine. We don't even need her. Won't we hold her back if she teams with us?" Ayaka snorts and continues to move forward.

"Ah!"

Hanabi stares at Ayaka's back for a while.

'Ayaka's words make sense. We approached her nicely, but she rejected our goodwill.'

Hanabi comes to understanding and follows Ayaka.

Whoosh…

Both of them continue to flicker through the forest and soon arrive in an area full of bamboo trees.

Clang… clang…

They hear multiple clashes through the forest.

"Looks like we are already there!"

Ayaka and Hanabi slow down and monitor their surroundings.

Swoosh…

A shadow looms over both of them as the sound of something wheezing through the air enters their air.

They raise their head and notices a giant boulder quickly approaching them.

Whoosh…

Ayaka and Hanabi jump back in the air and evade the boulder.

BANG…

The boulder crashes into the ground and raises a cloud of dust and debris.

Ayaka takes out a kunai from her pocket and raises her guard.

"Byakugan!"

Hanabi activates her Byakugan to search for the source of the attack.

"Hey, Fujin! Aniki asked us to stall the enemies and buy him some time! Are these little girl enemies?" Two giant hulking figure walks out of the forest.

"Look at the headband on their forehead! Aniki told us that anyone with that headband is our enemy!" Fujin points towards Ayaka and Hanabi.

The dust settles down to reveal the giant boulder.

"Such a giant boulder!" Ayaka's eyes widen in surprise.

Her expression turns serious as she confronts the Legendary Stupid Brothers.

'Their physical strength must be terrifying if they can lift something so heavy!'

Ayaka analyses the situation.

"Hanabi! These two must be the accomplice of the target. They both seem to be physical type combatants, so be careful with them in close combat!" Ayaka warns her.

"Alright!" Hanabi focuses on the stupid duo and scans their tenketsu points to search for a weakness.

"Little girls! We won't allow you to chase after Aniki. If they captured Aniki, then we won't get our food." Raijin menacingly stares at the girls.

Haah…

He presses his left leg on the ground.

Rumble…

The ground crumbles under the pressure of his feet.

Bang…

Raijin shots himself towards Ayaka.

"Shoulder Charge!"

"This is bad!"

Swish… swish…

Ayaka quickly makes some hand signs.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu"

She spews out a giant ball of fire towards the charging Raijin.

BANG…

The fireball slams into Raijin and engulfs his upper body in flames. Raijin ignores the fireball and continues his charge as the fire incinerates his upper garments.

"Does he not feel any pain?"

Ayaka wryly stares at the charging mass of flames.

Swish… swish…

She quickly makes more hand signs and slams her palm on the ground.

"Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld"

Ayaka changes the ground in front of her into a mud pool. Raijin blindly charges through the swamp, but the sticky mud kills his momentum. He comes to a standstill as the sticky mud ensnares him in a place.

Ayaka infuses more chakra into her jutsu as Raijin slowly sinks into the ground. He wildly flails his arms to free himself, but his struggle pulls him deeper.

Phew…

Ayaka heaves a sigh of relief.

"That was a close call!"

On the other side,

Hanabi takes a Taijutsu stance as she confronts Fujin.

"Gentle Fist: Eight Trigram Sixty-Four Palms"

Haah…

"Two Palms"

"Four Palms"

"Eight Palms"

"Sixteen Palms"

"Thirty-two Palms"

She uses the secret gentle fist technique of the Hyuga clan to seal Fujin's Tenketsu points.

Huff… Huff…

Hanabi breathes heavily as she stares at Fujin.

Haha… haha…

"Stop it! It tickles. Stop!"

Fujin giggles as Hanabi hits his tenketsu points. She finishes the rotation of her Gentle fist.

"What was that for?"

Fujin scratches his head.

Growl…

His stomach growls as he relieves some pressure.

Psst…

Fujin farts loudly, and his lips widen in a smile.

"That helped me with the digestion of breakfast. Now, I am hungry for lunch!"

He pats his stomach like a gong.

Ah!

Hanabi silently stares at her hands.

'I am sure I finished the rotation of Gentle Fist: Eight Trigrams Sixty-Four Palms. But why is he still standing as if nothing happened!'

Doubts appear in her mind as she stares at a smiling Fujin.

'Did I do something wrong?'

Up in the air,

Izuna notices Hanabi's dilemma and shakes his head.

"Gentle Fist causes severe internal damage to the victim by inflicting damage on their chakra pathway system through injecting your chakra in target's body.

However, if the chakra of your opponent is stronger than yours or their chakra is malleable, then they can easily ignore the damage caused by gentle fist thus rendering it completely ineffective."

He turns towards the Legendary Stupid Brothers.

"These stupid brothers have a mutated physique which passively absorbs chakra to strengthen their body. As such, they have zero to no knowledge of Ninjutsu but they can overcome this weakness solely on their physique."

Izuna deactivates his Sharingan as he completes the inspection of the Legendary Stupid Brothers.

'I intended to seek for a solution to my problem by examining the body of these brothers but it seems like we are built different.'

He sighs helplessly.

'Still, the raw strength of these brothers is comparable to Tsunade's. But that's it! They don't have enough brain juices to properly utilize that brute force.

Nonetheless, they will prove to be quite a challenge for the girls since these brothers can tank hits quite easily. Also, Hanabi's gentle fist is perfectly countered by their physique.'

Huff… Huff…

Hanabi breathes heavily as she wryly stares at Fujin.

"Raijin!"

Fujin turns towards Raijin, who is slowly being pulled into the ground.

AHHHH…

His pupils turn white. Nerves pop on his forehead.

"Fujin!"

Fujin's pupils also turn white, with nerves popping on his forehead.

He slowly lifts his hand in front of his chest. A bluish and reddish aura surrounds the brothers as they rile up their chakra.

"This is bad!"

Ayaka's expression turns ugly.

"Hanabi! Quick, get away from them!"

AAAHH…

BANG…

Both brothers slam their fists on the ground.

RUMBLE… RUMBLE…

The ground trembles as a huge cloud of dust and debris rises in the air.

Crack… crack…

Ground cracks beneath them and the nearby tree uproots one by one.

Whoosh…

Ayaka quickly jumps in the air and avoids the attack, but Hanabi is a step too late.

Fwoosh…

She is sent flying towards a rock with a sharp edge.

"Hanabi!"

Shiing…

Ayaka activates her Sharingan and quickly makes some hand signs while in mid-air.

"Shadow clone Jutsu"

She makes a shadow clone. The shadow clone uses her body as a platform and launches itself towards Hanabi.

Bang…

It slams into Hanabi and alters her trajectory.

Poof…

The clone hits the sharp rock and dispels whereas Hanabi slams into a nearby tree and falls down.

BAM…

Ayaka also slams into a tree and falls down.

Cough… cough…

She coughs a little bit of blood as the shock waves of the previous attack rattle her internal organs.

Swoosh…

The dust and debris settle down to reveal a giant bowl shape crater.

The idiot brothers are menacingly standing in the middle of the crater as they glare at the girls.

"FOOD! We need more food!"

They charge towards the girls. The ground cracks from their stomps.

"Genjutsu: Sharingan"

Three tomoes revolve in her eyes as Ayaka casts a genjutsu on the brothers.

AH!

The stupid brothers halt in their track. Their eyes turn completely white and they are stuck in a stupor.

Huff… Huff…

Ayaka breathes heavily and deactivates her Sharingan.

'I have used quite a lot of chakra with that last genjutsu. My chakra control is still very terrible.'

She slowly stands up and walks towards Hanabi.

"Hanabi! Hanabi! Are you alright, Hanabi?!" She vigorously shakes Hanabi.

Argh…

Hanabi clutches her head and slowly opens her eyes.

"My head hurts. Earlier, I passed out from concussion."

"Here! Take this!"

Ayaka takes out a chakra pill from her storage and passes it to Hanabi.

Both of them swallow the pill and slowly recover their chakra and heal themselves.

'If only I had all of my ninja equipment and scrolls.'

Ayaka complains in her mind.

On the previous day, Izuna has confiscated all of her seals, tools, and scroll given to her by Kushina and Izuna.

"You shouldn't overly depend on these tools. They are not a part of your personal strength. I will take them away for tomorrow's test."

That was his explanation.

Hmph…

"That cheapskate brother of mine!"

She grumbles in her mind.

------------

In the mid-air,

Izuna has a pained expression as he stares at Ayaka's condition.

"I am sorry, Ayaka! Bear with it. I don't want my love and care to turn into your weakness. This is a cruel world where only strength matters. So, your Onii-chan has to be harsh on you!"

He tightly clutches his fists and grits his teeth as he holds himself back.

He turns towards the Stupid brothers.

"You two like to be punching bags, right? I will get back to you later!"