Chapter 102
Haruto Saito realized he needed to take back his earlier judgment of Inoi's strength. He had initially thought Inoi's combat abilities were on par with an elite jōnin with a reputation of around eight or nine thousand points. However, in terms of pure combat power, Inoi didn't even reach the level of an average elite jōnin! His close-combat abilities were utterly pathetic.
That was why Haruto had used Black Mist Flicker five times in a row, eliminating him in an incredibly short span of time!
Haruto had not expected his Black Armor to be able to withstand the attacks of an elite jōnin's kunai. He had never tested its defensive capabilities against such an opponent before.
But Inoi was undoubtedly one of the weakest elite jōnin in terms of combat prowess. He was an embarrassment to the rank! Haruto had even considered using Rasengan or his Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse) techniques, but he hadn't needed to.
"Pathetic," Haruto scoffed as he looked down at Inoi's corpse.
In reality, however, Inoi was far from useless. He was an outstanding elite jōnin—more valuable than a pure combat-type elite jōnin. His skills simply lay in a different domain.
It was similar to medical-nin. Even Konoha's elite medical jōnin had front-line combat capabilities that barely reached the level of an ordinary jōnin. Medical jōnin themselves were usually only at the level of a chūnin or even a mere genin in terms of raw combat ability. That was why Konoha had strict rules preventing medical-nin from going to the battlefield—they were valuable for healing but far too fragile in direct combat.
Of course, Tsunade was an exception and couldn't be compared to the norm.
Inoi, on the other hand, was a sensory-type ninja. His main abilities lay in perception, scouting, searching, and tracking. With the right hand seals, he could activate a powerful sensing jutsu that covered several kilometers. He could even control hundreds of scouting birds simultaneously. His mental energy was far superior to that of most elite jōnin.
Although Haruto had dismissed his combat abilities as weak, the truth was that he had only witnessed Inoi's lack of close-combat skills. He had not seen Inoi's full ninjutsu capabilities, nor had he given him the chance to use them. Even in close combat, Inoi was still on par with top-tier jōnin.
Inoi had died incredibly fast. Haruto had used all five of his Black Mist Flickers, and their entire exchange had lasted less than twenty seconds. Assassination was all about speed!