Chapter 1014: Judgment

The counter-attack shields around Su Xiao expanded. He arched his body in mid-air and dodged the two water droplets at an incredible angle. Compared to hard-topping with the counter-attack shield, dodging with the Intuition ability was wiser.

Su Xiao landed, mud and water splashing under his feet. Because the surrounding snow had been melted by lava, the ground within a hundred-meter radius had become muddy.

Through the exchange with Hozuki Mangetsu, Su Xiao discovered one thing, and that was that Hozuki Mangetsu might be stronger than Terumi Mei.

Moreover, after Terumi Mei withdrew from the battlefield, she wasn't watching the show, but went to support Chojuro. Now the situation had become: if Su Xiao didn't solve Hozuki Mangetsu as soon as possible, Amu had the possibility of being killed by Chojuro and Terumi Mei together. By then, Su Xiao would face the siege of the three.

Terumi Mei and the three all had rich combat experience. Just as the battle started, they figured out the situation on the field and thought of countermeasures.

Thoughts raced through Su Xiao's mind. Bubu Wang was sitting in command over at Amu's side, and blocking Terumi Mei and Chojuro for 5 to 10 minutes was no problem. Now it depended on whether Terumi Mei solved Amu first, or Su Xiao solved Hozuki Mangetsu first.

Hozuki Mangetsu wasn't easy to solve. His fighting style was completely different from the Hozuki clan. Most of the Hozuki clan liked close combat with enemies, using the advantage of body hydration to defeat enemies.

Hozuki Mangetsu was different. He was clear that although the hydration ability was good, this ability would encounter a nemesis sooner or later. So he arranged bubbles that could explode around himself. After the enemy approached, he would immediately detonate the bubbles to force the enemy back. As for the damage the bubbles caused to him, he could use hydration to immunize.

It was difficult for Su Xiao to get close to Hozuki Mangetsu. That kind of bubble couldn't hurt him, but the knockback force was very strong. Moreover, the long-range attack ability of 'Water Gun Empty Drill Bullet' couldn't be underestimated. Every time he was knocked back, Hozuki Mangetsu would take the opportunity to attack him.

Not only that, that child clone was also very strange. Su Xiao's Intuition ability clearly sensed that after Hozuki Mangetsu used the child clone, his chakra consumption was at least one-third.

Hozuki Mangetsu's chakra amount was weaker than the Raikage's, but it was more than ten times that of Sasuke's. This kind of chakra amount, although not as exaggerated as the Raikage's and Kisame's, was definitely not a small number.

With such a massive consumption of chakra, would the child clone be a simple move?

Not all battles required rushing forward head-on. Su Xiao would test first when he didn't understand the enemy. Only after roughly understanding the enemy's abilities would he choose to get close to the enemy.

Bubbles, Water Gun Empty Drill Bullet, child clone—these were the three abilities Hozuki Mangetsu was most proficient in. These three abilities vaguely gave Su Xiao a familiar feeling. He seemed to have seen them somewhere, but couldn't remember for a moment.

Bubbles and Water Gun Empty Drill Bullet were a combination. While the bubbles knocked back, Hozuki Mangetsu used Water Gun Empty Drill Bullet to attack. As for the child clone, its role was unknown for the time being.

Su Xiao had to figure out the role of this child clone as soon as possible. He vaguely had a feeling that Hozuki Mangetsu's bubbles and Water Gun Empty Drill Bullet were both self-preservation abilities, ensuring that he wouldn't be killed by the enemy within a certain amount of time.

Simple self-preservation wasn't enough to defeat the enemy. That is to say, the child clone was Hozuki Mangetsu's main attack method. The chakra amount consumed by this thing was almost the sum of the total chakra of two jonin.

Dozens of counter-attack shields overlapped above Su Xiao. Unless it was a critical moment, Su Xiao wouldn't block the counter-attack shields around him. That looked like a perfect defense, very beautiful, but that was the choice of a combat novice. Doing so would increase the range of attacks he had to bear.

Su Xiao's footsteps moved quickly. That child clone kept punching at him. Although the speed and strength weren't weak, they couldn't threaten Su Xiao yet.

As for Hozuki Mangetsu, he kept holding his hands flat, the Water Gun Empty Drill Bullet already prepared, ready to fire at Su Xiao at any time. This was a very smart choice. Rather than attacking randomly, it was better to maintain the threat like this.

Wind pressure hit his face. While dodging a punch from the child clone, Su Xiao gathered a stream of Blue Qing Qing Gang Ying energy on his leg and kicked at the child clone.

Bang!

The child clone was kicked away, and a few drops of transparent liquid splashed on Su Xiao's face. Su Xiao's brows furrowed. He sensed high temperature, but this high temperature wasn't enough to scald his skin. However, the temperature of the child clone should be higher.

Blue Qing Qing Gang Ying clung to the surface of the child clone, and after a period of time, it dissipated in the air.

Seeing this scene, Su Xiao's eyes narrowed. Unlike what he imagined, the child clone wasn't an energy body, but composed of a mass of liquid.

Seeing Su Xiao kick the child clone away, Hozuki Mangetsu furrowed his brows. He also sensed that Su Xiao wasn't easy to deal with. If it were an inexperienced enemy, they would definitely slash at the child clone subconsciously. Once the child clone bore a sharp weapon attack, the enemy's end would definitely not be good.

After the child clone was kicked away far, its shape was somewhat twisted, but it quickly recovered and rushed toward Su Xiao again.

Su Xiao looked at the child clone, then looked at Hozuki Mangetsu, and finally looked at his own lower leg. A small amount of light yellow liquid was stuck to his trouser leg.

Su Xiao's fingers brushed over his lower leg. His fingers paused. The temperature of this light yellow liquid was higher than imagined. He rubbed his index finger and thumb together and smelled his fingers in front of his nose.

"Oil?"

The child clone was covered with a layer of oil that had almost reached the boiling point. As for the inside... it was water! After taking a kick from Su Xiao before, the water inside the child clone splashed onto his face, and that was boiling hot water.

Su Xiao carefully observed the child clone. At this time, he discovered that the child clone expanded from 1.2 meters high to 1.9 meters high, very much like a fat version of Hozuki Mangetsu.

The outside was oil, the inside was water. After bearing an attack or moving, the volume of the child clone would expand. This wasn't a supernatural phenomenon, but a physical phenomenon.

First, the child clone was wrapped in a layer of oil on the outside. As it moved or bore an attack, the temperature of the oil would rise rapidly. Now that layer of oil, about 2 centimeters thick, already had a very high temperature. As for the water inside, it would gradually be evaporated into water vapor by the high temperature of the outer oil. Therefore, the volume of the child clone would expand, and after expanding to the critical point, this thing would perform a large-scale steam explosion!

Before the battle started, Hozuki Mangetsu let Terumi Mei change the temperature nearby. This was paving the way for the child clone. If it were in a forest frozen in ice and snow, the oil on the surface of the child clone would quickly solidify and wouldn't boil at all. Now, changing the terrain was already impossible. The Water Gun Jutsu that Hozuki Mangetsu prepared was to prevent Su Xiao from moving quickly, thereby changing the battlefield position.

Thinking of these characteristics, Su Xiao knew what the child clone was. This was a very famous ninjutsu, named 'Steaming Danger Tyrant' (Joki Boi).

The reason why the Second Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone Village was wrapped in bandages all over his body was because he had been injured by the Steaming Danger Tyrant before, his skin burned by high temperature. Having no other choice, he wrapped himself into a mummy, which showed the strength of the Steaming Danger Tyrant's lethality.

Steaming Danger Tyrant, the strongest ninjutsu of the Second Mizukage, known as the infinite explosion ninjutsu. As for why Hozuki Mangetsu could use this jutsu, the answer was very simple: the Second Mizukage was named Hozuki Gengetsu.

Hozuki Gengetsu, Hozuki Mangetsu—there might be a direct family relationship between the two. It wasn't strange to have inheritance in ninjutsu. ===== CHAPTER 1015 =====