176-180

Chapter 176: Shifting Times

The wind rustled through the trees. Seimei and Koharu Shuji stood facing each other, separated by a dozen meters, a palpable killing intent hanging in the air.

The insects that had resumed their chirping after the other ninja left fell silent once again due to this murderous aura.

Suddenly, both of them moved. Koharu Shuji swiftly threw several kunai at Seimei.

The three tomoe in Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly, instantly discerning the kunai's trajectories. He swung his short sword, deflecting all the kunai with a series of clangs.

In the next moment, Koharu Shuji appeared before Seimei, thrusting a kunai at his neck's artery from a tricky angle.

It was too late for Seimei to block with his sword. He dodged sideways, narrowly avoiding the attack.

Koharu Shuji pressed his advantage, twisting his wrist and changing the thrust into a slash aimed at Seimei's collarbone.

Seimei stepped back, evading the attack once more.

Koharu Shuji stepped forward, keeping pace with Seimei, and swung his kunai again, aiming for Seimei's throat.

Seimei tilted his head back slightly, dodging the attack by a hair's breadth. He could even feel the sharp air against his throat.

Koharu Shuji continued his relentless assault, forcing Seimei to dodge repeatedly.

At this moment, Seimei felt like he was back to their first encounter a few months ago. Koharu Shuji's use of the kunai was still simple, efficient, and sharp, embodying the essence of "danger" in short weapons.

But unlike before, Seimei now had his own understanding of the "strength" of long weapons.

With this realization, Seimei stopped solely dodging and started counterattacking with his short sword.

Back then, even with all his might, he could only barely defend against Koharu Shuji's attacks.

Now, after just a dozen exchanges, he had turned the tables, forcing Koharu Shuji to defend.

The sounds of metal clashing filled the air as kunai and short sword met repeatedly.

Koharu Shuji's expression was serious. Although he seemed calm, his heart was in turmoil.

During their brief encounter two days ago, he had only witnessed Seimei's improvement in ninjutsu and shuriken throwing. He assumed it was a natural growth due to Seimei's Sharingan evolving to Three-Tomoe.

But now, after this exchange, he truly felt Seimei's progress.

He would never have believed that the clumsy kid from a few months ago could wield such swordsmanship if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes.

The difference was simply too great.

However, after the shock came a strong killing intent.

He had a deep hatred for the Uchiha clan and didn't want to see any new geniuses rise from it.

So, today, no matter what, he had to kill Seimei here.

It was a pity that Konoha had discovered their encirclement plan in advance, forcing Han and the others to leave. Otherwise, he would have had a better chance.

Now, it all depended on how well Chika cooperated.

With this thought, Koharu Shuji glanced at Chika, who had disappeared, and waited for its surprise attack.

Seimei's Sharingan had reached the limit of Three-Tomoe, and his perception far surpassed ordinary people. He naturally noticed the disappearance of the strange creature.

He had previously observed that it seemed to be able to conceal its presence, and now it seemed to be true.

'In that case, I need to be careful of its sneak attacks.'

With this in mind, Seimei focused part of his attention on the subtle movements around him.

At the same time, his attacks didn't stop.

He was well aware that Iwa was surrounding the area. If this battlefield were discovered, he would be in big trouble.

So, he had to end this quickly.

...

Clang, clang, clang

Another series of clashes between kunai and short sword rang out.

But then, there was the sound of clothes being torn.

Rip

Koharu Shuji looked down at his torn clothes, his eyes filled with seriousness and lingering fear.

Just now, Seimei had feinted, launching two consecutive sword strikes. If he hadn't reacted in time, his kidneys would have been pierced.

The pressure on him was mounting.

On the contrary, Seimei was fighting more and more effortlessly.

The reason was simple. As time passed, he was gradually seeing through Koharu Shuji's movements.

No matter how Koharu Shuji dodged, Seimei could find the best attack angle, making the fight easier for him.

Seimei estimated that if Koharu Shuji didn't change his tactics soon, he could finish him off in a few minutes. It all depended on Koharu Shuji's choices now.

Time ticked by.

As the battle progressed, Koharu Shuji started to sustain injuries, while Seimei's attacks grew fiercer.

Just as he found an opportunity to land a critical hit, he suddenly sensed subtle movements beneath his feet.

If he hadn't been constantly alert to his surroundings, he might not have noticed it so easily.

Without hesitation, Seimei jumped back.

In the next moment, the scaled creature silently emerged from the ground, its mouth wide open as if to swallow Seimei whole.

However, Seimei reacted faster, and the creature only swallowed an afterimage.

But Koharu Shuji seemed to have anticipated this and had prepared a follow-up attack.

He formed hand seals and spat out a large cluster of vacuum spheres, like bullets.

The tomoe in Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly. Even though these vacuum spheres were transparent, he could see them clearly.

He flickered, dodging all the attacks.

Not only that, but he also took the opportunity to throw three shuriken, aiming for Koharu Shuji's throat, heart, and abdomen.

To Seimei's surprise, all three shuriken were blocked by the strange creature.

It flicked its tail, deflecting the shuriken.

It wasn't just the fact that it blocked the attacks for Koharu Shuji that caught Seimei's attention, but also the perfect timing of its actions.

This indicated that it possessed a high level of intelligence.

He couldn't afford to ignore it in the subsequent fight.

These thoughts flashed through his mind. Seimei looked at Koharu Shuji and formed hand seals, as if preparing to cast genjutsu.

Koharu Shuji didn't dare to face it head-on and quickly averted his gaze.

At this moment, Seimei used the same trick he had used on Han against Koharu Shuji.

He changed his hand seals, transforming the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique into Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

Countless fireballs erupted from his mouth, splitting into two streams. One-third targeted the creature, and two-thirds targeted Koharu Shuji.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 177: The Kill

"What?" Koharu Shuji exclaimed in shock as he saw the numerous fireballs hurtling towards him. "How is he so fast?"

But there was no time to ponder.

As the fireballs closed in, Koharu Shuji pushed off the ground and retreated, narrowly avoiding the attack.

As for the creature...

It sensed the danger and burrowed into the ground, disappearing.

Unable to sense its presence, Seimei temporarily ignored it and focused on Koharu Shuji.

Before Koharu Shuji could regain his footing, Seimei used the Body Flicker Technique to appear before him, thrusting his short sword towards his heart.

Caught off guard, Koharu Shuji could only swing his kunai to deflect Seimei's attack.

Slash

The blade grazed Koharu Shuji's waist, leaving a deep wound. Blood gushed out, instantly soaking his clothes.

Enduring the pain, Koharu Shuji swung his kunai to counterattack.

However, before he could move, Seimei had already anticipated his action and vanished from his sight.

Seeing this familiar scene, Koharu Shuji became highly alert, trying to sense everything around him and be wary of attacks from his blind spots.

Seimei had used this move multiple times in their previous encounters, and Koharu Shuji had gained some experience dealing with it.

Whoosh

The sound of a blade piercing the air.

Koharu Shuji felt a chill down his spine. He quickly turned and retreated, raising his kunai to block Seimei's sword strike.

"He'll probably disappear again and attack from my left or right," Koharu Shuji thought, observing Seimei's feet and trying to predict his next move.

However, to his surprise, Seimei didn't vanish as usual but remained in place.

"What's going on?"

Just as Koharu Shuji was puzzled, a sense of danger washed over him.

He looked up slightly and saw a pale blue chakra ball in Seimei's left palm.

As a Jonin, he had good knowledge and immediately recognized it as a high-density chakra sphere.

Being able to condense chakra to such a degree meant its destructive power was definitely not weak.

"I can't take this head-on!" Koharu Shuji concluded instantly.

He pushed off the ground and retreated rapidly.

However, Seimei pursued relentlessly, his left hand's Rasengan aimed at Koharu Shuji's abdomen.

At the critical moment, Koharu Shuji used the Substitution Jutsu.

Boom

Seimei's left hand hit Koharu Shuji's position, but it only shattered the rock left behind by the Substitution Jutsu.

Koharu Shuji's eyelids twitched. He was glad he hadn't tried to block it; otherwise, he would have been severely injured.

Seimei turned, locked onto Koharu Shuji's new location, and was about to give chase.

But at that moment, the creature suddenly emerged from the ground in front of him, lunging at him.

Seimei ducked, avoiding the creature's bite.

As the creature flew over his head, Seimei raised his sword to attack.

But then, the creature twisted its body, and its thick-scaled tail whipped towards him.

From the whistling sound, Seimei knew he couldn't withstand this attack.

He jumped up with all his might, leaving his original spot.

Crack

The creature's tail slammed into the ground, creating a crack. The force behind the attack was immense.

Seimei's eyes twitched slightly. He quickly formed hand seals and used the Fire Style: Fireball Jutsu, launching a massive fireball at the creature.

The creature couldn't dodge in time and curled up, using its tail to protect its relatively soft abdomen and head, relying on the thick scales on its back to resist the attack.

Boom

The fireball hit the creature and exploded.

The powerful shockwave sent the creature flying, crashing heavily onto the ground.

Hiss, hiss, hiss

The creature writhed and screamed in pain, its body engulfed in flames.

Seeing this, Seimei didn't hesitate. He immediately started forming hand seals for a second attack.

But at that moment, a sense of crisis arose.

Seimei glanced at Koharu Shuji and saw a wind blade forming in front of him, then flying straight towards Seimei.

The wind blade was incredibly fast. Seimei didn't have time to think. He turned his body and spat out the fireball he was about to unleash towards the incoming attack.

Whoosh

The sound of air being torn apart.

The fireball was sliced in half by the wind blade before it could travel far. Its internal structure was disrupted, and it exploded into a cloud of chakra, dissipating.

The wind blade, almost unaffected, continued towards Seimei.

The three tomoe in Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto the wind blade's trajectory. He lunged to the side.

Slash

Blood splattered.

The wind blade grazed his left arm, leaving a deep wound that exposed bone.

Seimei's eyes turned cold, but instead of attacking Koharu Shuji, he charged towards the creature with his sword.

He realized that this creature was the biggest obstacle to defeating Koharu Shuji. If he didn't kill it, it would continue to interfere.

In that case, he wouldn't hold back.

The creature was currently in a weakened state after his previous attack, presenting a perfect opportunity.

"Chika!" Koharu Shuji shouted anxiously.

Hearing his master's voice, the creature endured the pain and tried to flee.

As for burrowing...

Seimei was already close, leaving it no chance to do so.

Seeing the creature running on its six legs, Seimei quickly took out his remaining kunai, wrapped them with explosive tags, and threw them.

With his mastered Shuriken Throwing Technique and the Sharingan's prediction, Seimei easily landed the kunai where he wanted them.

As the creature ran, a kunai suddenly appeared on a tree trunk in front of it.

Seeing the burning explosive tag, the creature quickly changed direction, attempting to run to the right.

However, as soon as it turned its head, it saw another kunai with an explosive tag.

The creature was startled and changed direction again.

But it was met with yet another kunai and another burning explosive tag.

Hiss

The creature let out a terrified scream as all three explosive tags detonated simultaneously.

Three loud booms echoed, and the creature was blasted backward.

While it was still dazed, a short sword pierced its right eye and penetrated its brain.

Screech

The creature let out a painful cry and shook its head violently, throwing Seimei off.

Mid-air, Seimei pulled out his short sword.

Brain matter and blood splattered from the creature's wound.

In this state, there was no chance of survival.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 178: Replication and Revenge

"Chika!"

Koharu Shuji cried out in distress as he saw Seimei's sword pierce the creature's head.

Unlike the typical partnership between ninja and their summoning beasts, Koharu Shuji and Chika shared a deep bond.

Chika had been with Koharu Shuji since his youth, a chance encounter that had accompanied him throughout his entire ninja career.

After losing his teacher and two comrades to Uchiha ninja in a mission, Chika became his closest companion.

It could be said that without Chika, he wouldn't have made it this far.

So, seeing Chika critically injured, he was enraged.

Without hesitation, Koharu Shuji formed hand seals again and used the same Wind Style jutsu.

A nearly transparent wind blade condensed and shot towards Seimei under his control.

However, having experienced it once, Seimei wouldn't fall for the same trick again. Although the wind blade was incredibly fast, he easily dodged it.

Moreover, he had observed Koharu Shuji's hand seals and chakra manipulation. And he had just awakened his Wind Style chakra.

This provided the foundation for replication.

He wasn't interested in other ninjutsu, but this jutsu, at least B-rank, piqued his interest.

Although he had already set his sights on the S-rank Wind Style: Rasenshuriken as his offensive Wind Style jutsu, it didn't hurt to learn another one.

After all, having more skills was never a bad thing!

Besides, developing the Rasenshuriken would take considerable time. This Wind Style jutsu could fill the gap in the meantime.

This jutsu had a long range, decent power, and excellent speed, making it a valuable addition.

Seimei wouldn't miss this opportunity. He activated his Sharingan's copying ability and replicated the jutsu.

While dodging the wind blade, he glanced at his status panel.

As expected, a new jutsu had appeared in his skill list.

Moreover, its proficiency had skipped the Lv0 "uninitiated" level and directly reached Lv1 (1/200) "beginner" level.

This meant he could now use this jutsu, although it might not be very proficient yet.

This was the first time Seimei had tried using the Sharingan's copying ability.

How should he describe it?

It felt quite amazing!

It was as if he had instantly seen through the entire process of the jutsu's execution and copied it into his own body, allowing him to reproduce it to some extent.

He guessed the reason it was only at the beginner level was because his understanding of Wind Style jutsu was still shallow.

Also, he hadn't mastered the shape and nature transformation of Wind Style chakra yet, so this was the best he could do.

Once he improved in those aspects, the proficiency of copied jutsu might directly jump to Lv2 or Lv3, or even Lv4.

In any case, it definitely wouldn't be low.

The only surprise was that the copied jutsu had no name.

Yes, there was only a string of garbled code in front of the proficiency level, not the jutsu's name. It seemed that because he didn't know the name of the jutsu, it wasn't displayed.

However, this wasn't bad news.

At the very least, it meant that the information on the panel was based on his own knowledge and wouldn't randomly display things he didn't understand.

Putting these thoughts aside, Seimei named the jutsu "Wind Style: Wind Blade".

The garbled code on the panel flickered and changed to [Wind Style: Wind Blade: Lv1 (1/200)].

After doing this, Seimei closed the panel and looked at Koharu Shuji again.

Koharu Shuji was still maintaining the posture of releasing the jutsu.

Everything that had just happened occurred in an instant.

With his fully evolved Three-Tomoe Sharingan at full power, Seimei's reaction speed was several times that of an ordinary person. Naturally, he could think about many things in a very short time.

Koharu Shuji, unaware that his jutsu had been secretly copied by Seimei, was still anxiously looking at the creature.

Seimei wouldn't miss such an opportunity. After dodging the second round of attacks, he dashed forward.

First, he used the Sharingan's hypnotic ability to force Koharu Shuji to look away, then swung his sword at his head.

At this point, no matter how worried Koharu Shuji was about the creature, he had to deal with Seimei's attack with all his might.

However, after the previous battles, Seimei had already figured out his habits and fighting style, and his attacks were now incredibly fluid.

Although Seimei's left arm was injured, it didn't affect his swordsmanship.

On the other hand, Koharu Shuji's previous waist injury had impacted his movements, and his strength had significantly decreased.

Furthermore, without the creature's interference, Seimei could focus entirely on the fight.

So, he quickly gained the upper hand.

For a time, Koharu Shuji could only defend.

However, the principle that "a prolonged defense will inevitably lead to mistakes" applied everywhere.

In the subsequent fight, despite Koharu Shuji's efforts, he couldn't avoid getting more and more injured, and his condition worsened.

Finally, when he was once again dealing with an attack from Seimei's blind spot, he was a step too slow. Seimei seized the opportunity and pierced his lower back with his sword.

"Ugh!"

Koharu Shuji groaned, glancing back to see Seimei standing calmly behind him.

Tsk

Seimei pulled out his short sword without hesitation and was about to strike again.

But at that moment, Koharu Shuji suddenly shouted and turned around, thrusting his kunai at Seimei's neck with a reverse grip.

Clearly, he was trying to take Seimei down with him.

Seeing this, Seimei didn't dodge. He retracted his sword and precisely blocked Koharu Shuji's kunai.

Logically, Koharu Shuji had two choices now. One was to continue his attack and try to injure or even kill Seimei.

The other was to retreat immediately and protect himself.

However, he did neither. Instead, he grabbed at Seimei with a狞笑: "Let's die together!"

A sizzling sound came from his chest as several explosive tags ignited.

Obviously, these weren't attached just now.

Before turning around, he had already prepared a second suicidal move, attaching explosive tags to his chest and activating them.

At such a close distance, even if the explosive tags weren't on Seimei, the explosion would be enough to kill him.

However, facing such a crisis, Seimei's face remained calm.

Although Koharu Shuji's actions were subtle and done with his back to Seimei, Seimei had sensed them early on.

How could he be so easily tricked?

Before Koharu Shuji's hand could touch him, Seimei pressed his left hand onto his abdomen, and the Rasengan in his palm instantly erupted.

Koharu Shuji felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and vomited a mouthful of blood.

Then, his entire body was sent flying backward like a windmill.

"No—"

Koharu Shuji cried out in despair.

But soon, his voice was drowned out by a series of explosions.

Crimson flames rose, instantly engulfing him.

Boom

When Koharu Shuji landed again, he had been reduced to a charred and disfigured corpse.

His revenge fulfilled, Seimei stood silently, feeling a sense of relief.

In this world, there were only a few people and things he cared about. Now that one of them was settled, he naturally felt lighter.

That's all for today.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 179: Swift Kill

Seimei rested briefly, then began tending to his wounds.

The other injuries were minor and easily healed with his near-perfect Healing Jutsu.

However, the deep gash on his left arm from the Wind Style: Wind Blade was a different story. The bone was almost visible.

And to quickly kill Koharu Shuji, he had forcefully used the Rasengan with his left hand, further aggravating the injury. It wouldn't heal in a short time.

"Well, I'll recover as much as I can," he muttered, placing his right hand on his left arm. Yang Release chakra from the Healing Jutsu gathered around the wound, stimulating cell division and growth.

Moments later, the deep wound closed.

Of course, it was only a superficial healing.

If he exerted too much force with his left arm, the wound would reopen.

But given the current situation, it was impossible for him not to use his left arm later.

After some thought, Seimei took out a bandage from his ninja pouch, applied ointment, and wrapped it around the wound.

This way, he could mislead the enemy into thinking his left arm was severely injured, giving him an advantage in a crucial moment. It would also help stop the bleeding if the wound reopened during combat. It was a win-win situation.

He quickly finished bandaging.

Then, he scanned the surroundings and collected some kunai and shuriken, putting them into his ninja pouch.

He had almost used up all his kunai and shuriken in the previous battles, so he needed to replenish his supply.

After that, Seimei was about to leave.

But then, as if remembering something, he flashed to a nearby dense forest.

Following some traces, he found a Konoha ninja.

It was the one who had tried to stop Han with the Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall but was sent flying along with the wall.

The ninja was covered in blood, with multiple injuries. If not for the slight rise and fall of his chest, Seimei would have thought he was dead.

He quickly approached and carefully examined the ninja's injuries.

Honestly, the situation wasn't optimistic.

The external injuries were manageable with his Healing Jutsu, but the internal ones were not.

Healing Jutsu was good for treating external wounds, but it was limited when it came to internal organ damage.

This Konoha Jonin had suffered a severe impact, causing internal bleeding and damage to some organs.

It was only because he was a ninja, able to sustain himself with chakra, that he was still alive. An ordinary person would have died long ago.

Of course, it was also because he wasn't directly hit by Han but only caught in the aftershock. Otherwise, he would be dead by now.

"Well, I'll do what I can," Seimei muttered, starting to treat the injuries based on his abilities.

First, he stopped the bleeding from the external wounds to prevent the ninja from dying from excessive blood loss.

As for the internal injuries, although Healing Jutsu couldn't cure them, it could stabilize them somewhat.

A few minutes later, Seimei finished the treatment, and the Konoha Jonin finally regained consciousness.

"Did you save me?" he asked weakly, looking at Seimei.

"Yes," Seimei nodded and briefly explained what had happened. "I've treated your external injuries, but I can't do anything about the internal ones for now."

Hearing this, Shinohara Kei sensed his own body.

As expected, his internal organs were aching.

Nevertheless, he thanked Seimei, "Thank you. If it weren't for you, I would probably be dead."

"You're welcome," Seimei replied.

As they were talking, a faint landing sound came, as if someone had jumped down from a tree branch.

"Shh!"

Seimei immediately made a silent gesture to Shinohara Kei.

Although injured, Shinohara Kei was still a Jonin and knew what to do.

He closed his mouth, then pointed at himself and the direction of the sound, nodding at Seimei.

Seimei understood. He flashed and hid behind a nearby tree.

A few moments later, four figures appeared - all Iwa ninja.

They saw the weak and injured Shinohara Kei lying on the ground and, without any words, threw several kunai at him.

Clearly, they wanted to kill him.

But this was exactly what Shinohara Kei wanted. He had signaled to Seimei to use him as bait to ambush the unknown enemy.

Of course, there was also a hidden meaning: if things went south, Seimei could abandon him and escape on his own.

But when Seimei saw the newcomers, he knew he didn't need to run, and Shinohara Kei wouldn't die.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh

He threw a few kunai, accurately intercepting the ones flying towards Shinohara Kei.

Seeing their attack blocked, the leading Iwa ninja shouted, "Be careful!"

He looked in the direction the kunai had come from.

However, all he saw was a pair of blood-red eyes.

'Sharingan?'

As his consciousness faded, the Iwa ninja thought of the name of those eyes. But in the next moment, a shuriken pierced his throat.

He regained consciousness, staring at the figure standing on a tree branch in the distance, his eyes filled with unwillingness.

"Captain!"

The other three Iwa ninja exclaimed. One of them immediately looked in the same direction.

The Iwa captain struggled to reach out, seemingly trying to stop him from looking.

But it was too late.

The next moment, the Iwa ninja froze, and another shuriken flew out, accurately hitting his throat.

Seeing this, the Iwa captain coughed up a mouthful of blood, his head slumped, and he died.

The other two reacted a bit slower and finally saw Seimei's figure.

When they saw the blood-red Sharingan, they understood how their captain and comrade had died and quickly looked away.

Seimei formed hand seals and swiftly used the Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

Countless fireballs, resembling phoenix flower seeds, flew out, surrounding the two Iwa ninja under Seimei's control.

The two dodged left and right, avoiding most of the attacks and only sustaining minor injuries.

But before they could catch their breath, Seimei appeared between them.

"What?"

They exclaimed in shock, seemingly completely surprised by Seimei's speed.

Swish

A sword flash, and one of them had his throat slit.

The other immediately counterattacked, but as soon as his kunai thrust out, Seimei vanished.

In the next moment, a strong sense of danger came from behind. He instinctively lunged forward, narrowly avoiding Seimei's sword strike.

But it was only one sword strike.

Seimei flickered repeatedly, his short sword thrusting from his blind spots. In the blink of an eye, he left several wounds on the Iwa ninja.

Seimei's speed increased, and the Iwa ninja gradually couldn't keep up.

Finally, after another sword strike from Seimei, the Iwa ninja failed to block in time and was pierced through the chest.

"You..."

The Iwa ninja wanted to say something, but Seimei didn't want to listen. He casually pulled out his short sword and ended his life.

All four Iwa ninja were dead. The entire process took less than a minute.

It wasn't that they were weak. In fact, the four Iwa ninja he killed were quite strong.

The leader was a special Jonin, and the other three, although Chunin, were also above average in strength.

The reason they didn't last a minute against Seimei was that they were caught off guard.

If he hadn't used his Sharingan to instantly kill the strongest special Jonin and another Iwa Chunin at the beginning, the battle wouldn't have been so easy.

They were simply too careless, and he was too strong.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 180: Chaos

After dealing with the four unexpected guests, Seimei returned to Shinohara Kei.

Seeing Seimei approach, Shinohara Kei struggled to get up and asked, "Are they taken care of?"

"Yes," Seimei nodded. "They were four Iwa ninja."

"Iwa ninja?" Shinohara Kei pondered. "That must have been an Iwa reconnaissance team. Based on the timing, they should be arriving soon."

Seimei agreed with his assessment. Based on their calculations, the Iwa ninja on the perimeter should be closing in on their location.

This meant the area was no longer safe, and they had to leave quickly.

Without hiding anything, Seimei shared his thoughts and asked, "Can you walk now?"

Shinohara Kei stood up, moved his body a bit, clutched his chest, and coughed twice. "As long as I don't exert myself too much, it should be fine."

Seimei nodded. "Alright, let's go."

"Okay," Shinohara Kei agreed, sighing softly. "I wonder how the main force is doing?"

Seimei heard his mumbling but didn't respond.

He believed it wouldn't be easy for the main force to escape this time. Since they failed to stall Han, it was almost certain that Han would intercept the main force.

Even though Han was alone, it would be very difficult for the main force to deal with him without adequate preparation.

And against a jinchuriki, ordinary attrition tactics were useless, so the Chunin and Genin in the team couldn't contribute much.

In fact, these people would become Han's shields, making it difficult for the Konoha Jonin to attack freely.

Therefore, delaying for a while wouldn't be difficult for Han.

The Iwa encirclement force was already five kilometers away and wouldn't take long to arrive.

Once surrounded, a major battle was inevitable.

Perhaps the large-scale conflict had already begun.

In fact, that was indeed the case.

While Seimei was killing Koharu Shuji and treating his own wounds, Han had already caught up with the Konoha main force.

He even withstood attacks from several Konoha Jonin, broke through a defensive jutsu jointly cast by two Jonin, and charged into the crowd.

The Chunin and Genin had never seen such a scene.

Before they could even react, they were terrified by the savage aura emanating from him, their combat effectiveness reduced to less than 70%.

This wasn't a big deal, as even at full strength, they couldn't break through Han's Tailed Beast Cloak.

But the problem was that their slower reaction speed made it even harder to dodge Han's charges.

And because there were no allies around, Han could go all out, causing significant casualties to the main force in a short time.

In contrast, the Konoha Jonin were somewhat restrained because they were surrounded by their own people and couldn't fight freely.

This made Han even more reckless.

Finally, Nara Shikamaru, along with several other Nara clan ninja in the team, used the Shadow Imitation Technique simultaneously to temporarily control Han.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Chunin and Genin quickly moved away from him, while most of the remaining Jonin surrounded and attacked Han.

However, Han dodged the attacks when he could and endured them when he couldn't. His main goal was to continue pursuing the Konoha main force and prevent them from escaping.

Thus, the two sides fought intermittently, and the Konoha main force's progress was slow.

Finally, the Iwa encirclement force arrived. Although they hadn't completely surrounded the Konoha main force, they had at least caught up.

Escaping was no longer easy for Konoha. Unless they abandoned a large number of people, they couldn't break free.

And even then, escape wasn't guaranteed.

After weighing their options, Nara Shikamaru ordered them to defend their position and engage the enemy.

With both sides mixed together, Han couldn't attack recklessly anymore, and the Konoha casualties finally slowed down.

Although this meant they couldn't leave, Nara Shikamaru had calculated that as long as they held on for fifteen minutes to half an hour, reinforcements from Tiger Mountain camp would arrive.

Then, they would still have a fighting chance.

...

Meanwhile.

Elsewhere.

Before Seimei and Shinohara Kei reached the battlefield, they heard the sounds of fighting.

There were the clangs of metal from clashing ninja tools, the booms of exploding tags, and the screams and groans of injured ninja from both sides.

All sorts of sounds filled the air.

Seimei and Shinohara Kei exchanged glances and quickened their pace.

However, as soon as they stepped onto the battlefield, several kunai flew towards them.

Seimei's ears twitched, and he swiftly turned towards the source of the sound.

In an instant, the trajectories of the kunai were clear in his vision.

He then flickered, dodging all the attacks.

Not only that, but he also locked onto the attacker, an Iwa Chunin standing on a tree branch in the distance.

The moment their eyes met, the Iwa Chunin sensed danger.

But it was too late.

Seimei activated his genjutsu, and the Chunin froze. Seimei then threw a shuriken.

Whoosh

The shuriken flew out at high speed, accurately hitting the Iwa Chunin's throat.

With this fatal blow, the Chunin finally broke free from the genjutsu, but he could no longer make a sound.

He stumbled a few steps and fell from the tree branch.

Crack

A crisp sound of bone breaking. The Iwa Chunin's head hit the ground, and his neck snapped instantly.

Even in death, his eyes were filled with unwillingness.

Seimei shook his head, no longer paying attention to him, and turned to Shinohara Kei. "Your injuries haven't healed yet. Should I escort you to the medical team first?"

"No need," Shinohara Kei refused. "The situation is critical now. Others need your help more. Don't waste time on me."

"Is that so..."

Seimei pondered for a moment, then nodded. "Alright, take care of yourself!"

With that, he drew his short sword, flashed to a nearby bare rock, and swung his sword.

The next moment, blood appeared out of thin air, splattering on the ground.

Then, a figure materialized. It was an Iwa Genin who had used the Hiding in Rock Technique.

He had been hiding there from the beginning, either passively avoiding combat or cooperating with the Iwa Chunin on the tree branch.

In any case, Seimei had spotted him as soon as he arrived.

In fact, not only him, even the injured Shinohara Kei had sensed his presence.

However, both of them tacitly kept quiet.

This led to the Iwa Genin being caught completely unprepared when Seimei suddenly attacked, resulting in his instant death.

Of course, even if he had been prepared, it wouldn't have mattered.

The gap between him and Seimei couldn't be bridged by a little preparation.

Sheathing his sword, Seimei nodded at Shinohara Kei and walked into the battlefield.

After Seimei left, Shinohara Kei waited for a while, estimating that Seimei had cleared most of the enemies ahead, and then followed his footsteps onto the battlefield.

Although he didn't want to burden Seimei, he wasn't foolish enough to not take advantage of the situation.

He knew the path Seimei had taken would be safer than other areas. Following his footsteps would definitely save him some trouble.

Shinohara Kei wouldn't give up such an advantage.

Thus, the two entered the battlefield, one after the other.

(End of Chapter)