161 - 165

Chapter 161: Three vs. Three

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh~

As soon as Seimei steadied himself, three kunai shot towards him from a distance.

The attacker was none other than the Iwa-nin Jonin who had used the Earth Style: Earth Shore Return to counter his Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique.

After a few moments of recovery, he no longer looked as disheveled as before.

At the same time, he rejoined the siege against Seimei.

But Seimei had finally gained some initiative; how could he let himself be trapped again?

With a thought, he fully activated the Sharingan's insight ability.

In an instant, he understood the flight paths of the three kunai.

"Wait!"

Seimei was about to dodge when he suddenly noticed something amiss. There seemed to be a paper talisman attached to the handle of each of the three kunai.

Seimei focused his gaze and saw that those talismans were explosive tags, faintly glowing with fire, seemingly already activated.

Almost without hesitation, Seimei reached into his ninja tool pouch, and three kunai appeared in his palm, which he then forcefully threw.

The kunai flew extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, they reached the Iwa-nin's kunai, colliding with them precisely.

Clang, clang, clang~

Three crisp metal clashing sounds rang out, sparks flew, and the six kunai spun and scattered in all directions.

Then, deafening explosions erupted as the explosive tags on the three kunai detonated, transforming into three massive fireballs.

The fireballs compressed the surrounding air, creating powerful shockwaves that forced Seimei to retreat several steps.

As Seimei finally regained his footing, the ground beneath him gave way. He looked down and saw that the ground seemed to have softened, making it difficult to stand steadily.

'Ninjutsu?'

Seimei thought to himself and quickly looked towards the other two Iwa-nin Jonin.

He saw that the scythe-wielding Iwa-nin was squatting on the ground, his hands pressed against the earth, clearly performing some kind of ninjutsu.

Without thinking, Seimei immediately leaped to the side.

At the moment his feet left the ground, the area within three meters of him rapidly transformed into a swamp.

It was easy to imagine that if he had stayed where he was, he would have been trapped in it. Fortunately, he reacted quickly, otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

From this, Seimei realized that these three were not only well-coordinated in close combat but also quite good at ranged attacks.

'I can't let them lead me by the nose.'

Thinking this, Seimei dodged several shuriken thrown by the Iwa-nin who had used the Earth Style: Earth Spear earlier.

Then, he fixed his gaze on the Iwa-nin Jonin who had just tried to trick him with the explosive tags.

If he was not mistaken, this gap was the perfect time for the opponent to launch an attack.

Sure enough, as he looked over, the opponent was forming hand seals.

The moment their eyes met, Seimei activated the Sharingan's hypnotic ability, causing the opponent's hand seals to involuntarily stop.

Although he was quickly awakened by his companion, Seimei had already bought himself some time.

Immediately, he rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, opened his mouth, and unleashed the ninjutsu - Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.

Fireballs resembling phoenix flower seeds flew out, and under his control, they split into three groups like fire spirits, smashing towards the three Iwa-nin Jonin.

This magnificent scene attracted the attention of many, including the three Iwa-nin Jonin who were the targets.

But in their eyes, this was not magnificent but dangerous.

To completely suppress these three, Seimei had used over 200 chakra points this time, creating nearly 150 fireballs.

It was only because his Sharingan had evolved to the limit of the Three-Tomoe that he could control so many fireballs.

Seeing dozens of fireballs heading straight for them, the three Iwa-nin Jonin used various methods, either dodging directly, using ninjutsu for defense, or meeting them head-on.

In any case, after a chaotic scramble, they managed to block the attack.

However, Seimei didn't give them a chance to breathe. He crossed his hands and once again used the Shadow Clone Technique.

Instantly, his figure split into three, each rushing towards one of the three Iwa-nin.

"What?"

Seeing Seimei so casually use the Shadow Clone Technique, the three Iwa-nin Jonin were astonished.

They could sense that even if the three of them joined forces, Seimei was not without a fighting chance.

In this situation, using the chakra-consuming Shadow Clone Technique was clearly not a wise choice.

In a sense, their thinking was not wrong.

Using the Shadow Clone Technique in battle was indeed a choice that most people wouldn't make unless absolutely necessary, as it consumed a lot of chakra.

But Seimei was different; he had the Chakra Absorption Technique.

As long as he could ensure that he absorbed enough chakra after the battle, the Shadow Clone Technique could be used as a regular combat tactic.

Moreover, his shadow clones mainly relied on swordsmanship and the Sharingan to fight, rarely using ninjutsu, so their chakra consumption was not as exaggerated as others.

That's why he dared to use the Shadow Clone Technique so casually.

Now, with Seimei and his shadow clones, there were also three on his side. In this three-versus-three situation, the Iwa-nin Jonin couldn't surround him, and he could take this opportunity to execute his tactics.

However, achieving the same effect as before was unlikely.

After all, the three Iwa-nin Jonin on the field knew that two of the three were his shadow clones, so they wouldn't be as restrained as the previous enemies he had encountered.

Therefore, the shadow clones definitely couldn't last too long.

'I must take one of them out before the shadow clones disappear.'

Thinking this, Seimei and his two shadow clones each faced one of the Iwa-nin Jonin, and the battle instantly erupted.

The sounds of clashing metal rang out on the field. The one facing Seimei's real body was the Iwa-nin Jonin named Sugimura Dairo.

He wielded his scythe, constantly blocking Seimei's attacks, occasionally counterattacking, trying to figure out which was the real Seimei.

In response, Seimei's reactions were unremarkable, just like his two shadow clones, not allowing any of the opponent's attacks to land on him.

At the same time, he also avoided direct confrontation.

In this way, neither Sugimura Dairo nor the other two Iwa-nin Jonin could determine which opponent was the real Seimei.

However, this situation couldn't last too long. Shadow clones were still shadow clones, and their ability to withstand damage was fundamentally different from a real person.

With the strength of the three Iwa-nin Jonin present, as long as they were willing to pay a certain price, they could still injure the shadow clones.

Once that happened, the real one would be easily distinguishable.

And Seimei was waiting for this opportunity.

As long as he could mislead these Iwa-nin into mistaking a shadow clone for his real body, he could seize the chance to go all out and catch Sugimura Dairo off guard.

If he timed it right, even an instant kill wouldn't be difficult.

As for why not take advantage of the two shadow clones holding off the other two Iwa-nin Jonin to forcefully kill Sugimura Dairo in front of him?

The reason was simple: the opponent was currently too vigilant and had some understanding of his tactics. Even a forced kill wouldn't be accomplished in just a few minutes.

By then, the other two Iwa-nin Jonin only needed to pay a certain price to break the shadow clones and could once again surround him.

That would be completely得不偿失!

Therefore, Seimei didn't choose to brute force it.

Of course, if the opponent never attacked the shadow clones, he wouldn't be polite and would definitely go for the kill.

Now, it depended on the opponent's choice.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 162: The Kill

It turned out that the three Iwa-nin Jonin didn't have that much patience, or rather, the two shadow clones didn't give them the chance.

Combined, the three Iwa-nin Jonin were indeed quite powerful, even putting some pressure on Seimei. However, when separated, they were relatively average.

And the shadow clones Seimei created, in terms of close combat ability alone, were no weaker than ordinary Jonin.

Therefore, after a period of entanglement, all three felt the pressure.

So, they began to unanimously look for opportunities, attempting to defeat Seimei's shadow clones with minimal cost.

The two shadow clones inherited Seimei's memories and naturally knew his plan.

Therefore, after sensing the Iwa-nin Jonin's intentions, they immediately made changes, deliberately revealing some subtle flaws.

They didn't make it too obvious.

After all, people tend to believe their own judgment, and they would become suspicious of answers that came too easily.

Sure enough, when the Iwa-nin Jonin, who was one of the main attackers before, seized that fleeting opportunity, he almost didn't hesitate and immediately launched an attack.

To cooperate, the shadow clone fighting him changed his expression drastically, quickly retracting the short sword he was about to thrust out, barely blocking the Iwa-nin Jonin's attack.

But this also caused the sword, which should have inflicted a more severe wound, to only graze the opponent's skin.

The Iwa-nin Jonin glanced at his wound, becoming even more convinced of his judgment.

So, he no longer hesitated and began to attack with all his might, while the shadow clone could only passively block.

Seeing this scene, the other two Iwa-nin Jonin thought that Seimei's real body had been found.

Therefore, they also increased the intensity of their attacks, attempting to defeat Seimei's shadow clones and then assist their teammate in besieging and killing Seimei.

However, it was this slight change that gave Seimei an opportunity.

Whoosh~

The short sword in his hand thrust out.

Sugimura Dairo's pupils contracted. He felt that Seimei's sword was countless times faster than before, and he couldn't block it in time, only able to quickly dodge.

Slash~

The sound of a blade cutting through flesh rang out.

Seimei's short sword left a shallow wound on Sugimura Dairo's arm.

Sugimura Dairo didn't have time to check his injury because Seimei's second attack had already arrived.

He saw Seimei twist his wrist, the short sword changing from a thrust to a slash, aiming directly at the carotid artery in Sugimura Dairo's neck.

Sensing the danger, Sugimura Dairo quickly crouched down to dodge.

A few strands of hair fell as Seimei's sword missed.

However, he wasn't disappointed because he had already seized the initiative in the battle, and there would be plenty of opportunities later.

Seimei swung his sword again and again. Sugimura Dairo was a step behind, then another step behind, completely overwhelmed by Seimei's pressure.

The other two also noticed the commotion here and instantly realized they had been tricked. They attacked the shadow clones even more fiercely.

However, the shadow clones, contrary to their usual behavior, no longer sought to actively attack but instead dodged with all their might, entangling their opponents and preventing them from escaping.

Time passed second by second. Finally, when Seimei thrust out his sword again, Sugimura Dairo couldn't react in time and his shoulder was pierced.

At that moment, their eyes met.

Instantly, the genjutsu activated.

Sugimura Dairo felt a wave of drowsiness wash over him, his eyelids fighting uncontrollably, making him desperately want to sleep.

"No, I can't sleep!"

Thinking this, Sugimura Dairo gritted his teeth and bit his tongue.

Drops of blood spilled from the corner of his mouth. With the sharp pain as a stimulus, Sugimura Dairo finally broke free from the genjutsu and gradually regained consciousness.

The moment he woke up, a small palm appeared before his eyes.

"What?"

Before Sugimura Dairo could react, Seimei slapped his face.

The next moment, a powerful suction force came from Seimei's palm.

The chakra in Sugimura Dairo's body flowed rapidly through his meridians, converging towards his face.

Then, through the chakra points in Seimei's palm, it entered his body and was ultimately converted into his own chakra.

Clearly, Seimei was using the Chakra Absorption Technique.

Sugimura Dairo felt the chakra in his body rapidly draining away like water released from a dam.

At the same time, a feeling of weakness spread through his body, making him unable to muster any strength.

At first, Sugimura Dairo could still struggle a bit, but within a few breaths, he completely lost the ability to resist.

Feeling the abundance of chakra within him, Seimei moved his hand down and gripped the opponent's neck.

Crack~

A crisp sound of bone breaking echoed.

Sugimura Dairo's head tilted to one side, and he gradually lost his life.

Looking at Sugimura Dairo's corpse, Seimei let out a slight sigh of relief.

Although he didn't achieve an instant kill on Sugimura Dairo as planned this time, it didn't take too long either.

And the extra time spent allowed him to gain over 10,000 chakra points for free.

So, overall, it was acceptable.

But just because he could accept it didn't mean the other two Iwa-nin Jonin could.

Although they weren't blood-related to Sugimura Dairo, they had cooperated for so long and had developed some feelings.

Now, Sugimura Dairo suddenly died like this; how could they accept it?

Of course, there was also their worry about their own fate.

In fact, they really should be worried.

Because right after killing Sugimura Dairo, Seimei relentlessly launched an attack on another Iwa-nin Jonin.

Originally, dealing with one shadow clone was already tough enough for him. Now, with Seimei added to the mix, the outcome was self-evident.

In just a few minutes, Seimei completed the kill.

During this time, although the opponent desperately fought back, in the end, he only managed to take down the shadow clone and couldn't inflict any damage on Seimei.

As for the third person...

Before Seimei could make a move on him, he defeated the shadow clone and tried to support his teammates, only to be entangled by two Konoha Chunin.

That's right, two Konoha Chunin.

These two were sharp-eyed. Seeing Seimei busy dealing with another Iwa-nin Jonin, they decisively took action and intercepted the Iwa-nin Jonin who had just broken free from the shadow clone's entanglement.

What happened next was simple. After Seimei finished off the second Iwa-nin Jonin, he joined the fight and quickly dealt with this one as well.

Just like that, with just one misjudgment, the three Iwa-nin Jonin perished one after another, truly proving the saying - details determine success or failure.

At the same time, this also illustrated the cruelty of battles between ninjas. Often, a tiny mistake could decide the outcome of the entire fight.

Of course, this had a prerequisite: both sides in the battle belonged to the category of "humans."

For ninjas who surpassed the realm of ordinary people, like Uchiha Madara, Senju Hashirama, and later Naruto and Sasuke, this logic didn't apply.

For them, the amount of chakra and the strength of their ultimate moves were the key factors in determining victory or defeat. Minor flaws in battle were simply not important.

Just like when Uchiha Madara fought Might Guy, he was a bit arrogant at the beginning and was seized upon by Might Guy, receiving a brutal beating and almost dying.

And the result?

He recovered quickly.

So, for them, a small mistake was still acceptable.

Chapter 163: The Plan Begins

After killing all three Iwa-nin Jonin, Seimei scanned the rest of the battlefield, observing the situation.

In the last few battles last night, it seemed that the Iwa-nin's upper echelon had received orders to retreat early on, so their resistance wasn't very strong.

Without their leadership, the lower-ranking ninjas naturally wouldn't exert themselves.

Coupled with their superior numbers, the casualties in each battle were significantly lower than in the first stronghold battle.

Therefore, even now, they still had over four hundred people remaining.

On the contrary, although Iwagakure had gathered many people at this third-line camp, their total number was only around two hundred.

So, the battles on the field were still mostly in their favor.

Even among the Jonin, except for him fighting multiple opponents, the rest were outnumbered.

Although the Iwa-nin had gathered elites from the previous camps, they were still somewhat inferior compared to them.

After all, they had prepared in advance, and the elites they gathered were far from what Iwagakure could hastily assemble.

If not for this, the higher-ups wouldn't have confidently assigned them the subsequent containment mission. After all, it was obvious that the reinforcements Iwagakure was about to send would definitely not be weak.

If their strength wasn't sufficient, it wouldn't be containment but rather a suicide mission.

The command center naturally wouldn't let them die in vain, so the personnel allocation was exceptional.

And this was one of the reasons why the casualty rate was so low last night.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Seimei looked past the Jonin and finally locked onto the Iwa-nin Chunin with outstanding combat abilities.

Compared to the Jonin who were being besieged, these Chunin were the real trouble because no one could restrain them.

In just these ten minutes, many Konoha ninjas had died at their hands. Seimei had to slow down this trend.

It wasn't that he cared deeply about these Konoha ninjas, but they had another tough battle ahead, and the team couldn't afford too many losses.

After all, no matter how powerful he was, he was still just one person. He was counting on these people to draw fire when Iwagakure's reinforcements arrived, so he couldn't let too many of them die!

With this in mind, Seimei leaped out, heading straight for an Iwa-nin Chunin.

"What was that?"

Yamaguchi Ishihashi was fighting a Konoha Chunin when he suddenly felt a dark shadow flash past him. He instinctively wanted to look in that direction.

However, the next moment, an extremely dangerous feeling came from his side, sending shivers down his spine.

Almost without hesitation, he immediately dodged to one side, and then, in his peripheral vision, he saw a short sword thrusting through the air.

This made him break out in a cold sweat.

Judging by the position of the short sword, if he hadn't reacted quickly, it wouldn't have been air that was pierced, but his heart.

"Who was that?"

Yamaguchi Ishihashi wondered, turning his head to look in the direction of the sword, trying to find the wielder.

However, all that was left was a corner of a garment; the person holding the sword had already vanished.

Yamaguchi Ishihashi was about to continue searching.

The next moment, the familiar sense of crisis struck again.

"Oh no!"

Yamaguchi Ishihashi was terrified and quickly dodged.

Slash~

The blade grazed his arm, leaving an inch-deep wound.

"Ugh~"

Yamaguchi Ishihashi groaned, enduring the sharp pain, and thrust his kunai in the direction the sword had come from, his eyes also looking that way.

However, he saw nothing.

Whoosh~

Another sword thrust came from behind. Even though Yamaguchi Ishihashi desperately dodged, his flesh was still cut.

Yamaguchi Ishihashi counterattacked again, but there was still no one there!

Cold sweat dripped from Yamaguchi Ishihashi's forehead. He felt like this unknown enemy was like a ghost, only seeing its shadow but not its form.

This made him feel both terrified and frustrated.

If it were a fair and square fight, even if he lost, he would accept it. But what was this? Was he being toyed with like a monkey?

While he was still thinking, Yamaguchi Ishihashi was struck by another sword.

Finally, Yamaguchi Ishihashi erupted. He shouted and rapidly formed hand seals with both hands, seemingly preparing to use some ninjutsu.

However, before he could complete the hand seals, a short sword had already pierced his back, penetrating his heart.

Pfft~

A mouthful of blood spurted out.

Yamaguchi Ishihashi looked at the sword tip protruding from his chest, his face filled with unwillingness and disbelief.

Just now, he wasn't really planning to form hand seals and use ninjutsu but was trying to lure the enemy into attacking with this method.

Based on the speed of the previous sword strikes, he was absolutely confident that he could avoid the next attack, and he could take this opportunity to counterattack the enemy.

But he truly didn't expect the enemy's speed to increase so much, catching him completely off guard, turning the opening he deliberately left into a death sentence.

"I'm... not... reconciled..."

Yamaguchi Ishihashi struggled to utter these words.

Then, as Seimei pulled out the short sword, his entire body fell heavily to the ground, completely lifeless.

Until his death, he never saw Seimei, who had killed him, with his own eyes. No wonder he had so much resentment!

Seimei glanced at the corpse on the ground, said nothing, casually flicked the blood off the blade, and nodded at the stunned Konoha Chunin beside him.

Then he used the Body Flicker Technique and rushed towards another Iwa-nin Chunin.

In this way, within a short ten minutes or so, Seimei consecutively killed over twenty skilled Iwa-nin Chunin, greatly reducing the potential casualties of his own team.

During this time, some Iwa-nin Jonin tried to stop him, but they were all intercepted by the Konoha Jonin fighting them.

Although according to the unspoken rules of the battlefield, Seimei, as a Jonin, shouldn't actively attack lower-ranked ninjas.

But...

The Iwa-nin were at too much of a disadvantage. Even if they saw what Seimei was doing, they couldn't retaliate in the same way.

Naturally, this couldn't deter Seimei.

The battle continued, and Seimei was still targeting the Iwa-nin Chunin. Any who showed outstanding performance couldn't escape his deadly hands.

This made many Iwa-nin Chunin afraid to reveal their true strength even if they had it.

For a time, the battles between the Chunin and lower-ranked ninjas showed a one-sided trend.

But thinking about it, Konoha originally had the advantage in numbers.

Now, those Iwa-nin who dared to stand out were all dealt with by Seimei, so how could the situation not tilt in Konoha's favor?

After a few more minutes, there were less than a hundred Iwa-nin survivors.

Just as Seimei was about to switch targets and attack the Iwa-nin Jonin, a voice suddenly appeared in his mind.

No, not just in his mind, all the surviving Konoha ninjas on the battlefield heard this voice.

"Everyone, immediately execute Plan C!"

Seimei recognized this voice; it belonged to a Yamanaka clan Jonin in the team.

At this time, he was probably using the Mind Transmission Technique to connect with everyone and convey Nara Shikaku's, the mission commander's, orders.

And the so-called Plan C was to contain Iwagakure's reinforcements to support the all-out counteroffensive launched by the other strongholds.

'In other words, Iwagakure's reinforcements are almost here.'

With this thought, Seimei immediately followed the plan, rushing out of the battlefield and heading in the direction he had come from.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 164: Enemies on a Narrow Road

Meanwhile, the other Konoha Jonin also began their tasks.

Some of them suddenly disengaged from combat and quickly dispersed, organizing the Konoha Chunin and Genin on the field to retreat.

Yes, retreat.

Their mission was to contain Iwagakure's reinforcements, not to die. Fighting while retreating was undoubtedly the best option.

Staying here any longer had no meaning other than being surrounded and annihilated.

And all of this was planned.

Therefore, the Konoha team reorganized very quickly. Not long after receiving the order, they formed over a dozen small squads with Jonin as the core.

During this process, the Iwa-nin Chunin and Genin tried to obstruct them.

However, because their own Jonin were all entangled and there was no high-end combat power to deal with the Jonin in each Konoha squad, nor unified and effective command, they didn't cause much trouble.

A few minutes later, the Konoha ninjas successfully disengaged from the battle.

It was only then that the Konoha Jonin who were entangled with the Iwa-nin Jonin began to withdraw from the battle one after another.

Most of them joined the main force and moved together, but a few, like Seimei, rushed out of the formation and to the forefront.

They were all members of the combat team, responsible for clearing the way for the entire group.

As for why they were going back the way they came?

The reason was simple: this way, after their teammates from other strongholds broke through Iwagakure's defenses, they could rendezvous with them faster.

This would also ensure their safety.

Watching the Konoha ninjas gradually move away, an Iwa-nin Chunin looked at an Iwa-nin Jonin and said, "Captain, should we still pursue them?"

Hearing this, the Iwa-nin Jonin glared and shouted, "Nonsense! Of course we have to pursue them!"

With that, he organized the surviving Iwa-nin and began the chase.

Just like that, one side chased, and the other fled. Half an hour quickly passed.

At the forefront of the team, Seimei, who was rapidly advancing, suddenly stopped and then quickly retreated.

The next moment, several kunai shot from the front, pinning themselves to the tree branch where he had just been standing.

Then, a sizzling sound rang out as the explosive tags tied to the kunai rapidly burned.

The next moment, a violent explosion erupted, and several fireballs rose, instantly igniting the surrounding trees.

Seimei wasn't injured because he had dodged in time.

He stood on the tree branch, looking at the dense crowd of figures that suddenly appeared in front of him, and instantly knew that their path had been cut off.

"I wonder if there are enemies on the flanks as well?"

Thinking this, Seimei took out a whistle from his chest and quickly blew it according to a specific pattern.

This kind of whistle was specially made, and the sound it produced could travel a long distance.

Therefore, as long as they agreed on a code beforehand, they could transmit simple information over a certain distance.

However, the sound of this whistle was very easily recognizable, so it could only be used in situations like this where their presence was practically known. Otherwise, it would be easy to expose their location.

After sending the signal, Seimei put away the whistle.

In front of him, the Iwa-nin completely ignored his actions, seemingly believing they had them cornered, which gave Seimei a sense of foreboding.

However, he quickly put these distracting thoughts aside and focused on dealing with the situation at hand.

He scanned the Iwa-nin with his eyes. There were a total of twenty people: two Jonin, eight Chunin, and ten Genin.

If it were just these people, he still had a fighting chance, but...

Seimei looked into the distance, and through the gaps between the people and the trees, he could vaguely see more Iwa-nin gathering in the distance.

Obviously, these twenty people in front of him were just the vanguard; the main force was behind them.

"In that case, I can only retreat for now..."

With this thought, Seimei didn't hesitate at all. He immediately turned around, intending to leave first.

But at this moment, a sense of crisis suddenly washed over him, making his hair stand on end. Almost instinctively, Seimei leaned back.

The next moment, a cold, gleaming kunai whizzed past his eyes, the sharp air current almost tearing his skin.

'Wind Style?!'

This thought flashed through Seimei's mind, and then he glanced at the owner of the kunai from the corner of his eye.

In an instant, his expression froze.

No wonder, he recognized this person. It was the murderer who had killed Mizutani Shizuko, the young Jonin from Iwagakure - Kohara Shuji.

A few months ago, Iwagakure and Sunagakure had jointly attacked Konoha's main camp, causing significant losses to Konoha.

In response, Orochimaru planned a mission to attack Iwagakure's logistics transfer center.

It was during that mission that Mizutani Shizuko, in order to save him, was pierced through the throat by Kohara Shuji's kunai and died on the spot.

Even now, he still remembered her final gaze, filled with a longing for life.

At that time, he had made up his mind to kill Kohara Shuji and avenge her.

But back then, his Sharingan only had a single tomoe, and his proficiency in the Konoha-style Kenjutsu was only at Lv3.

Additionally, the Demonic Illusion: Shackling Stakes Technique and the three Fire Style ninjutsu were also only at Lv2 and couldn't be used effectively.

Therefore, Kohara Shuji easily overwhelmed him with simple close combat.

If it weren't for the mission ending at a critical moment, and him escaping the battle at the cost of injury and reaching the side of a Konoha Jonin, he would probably be dead now.

Since then, he had decided that he would definitely avenge this in the future.

Originally, he was still thinking about finding an opportunity to investigate the opponent's whereabouts after this mission ended.

Unexpectedly, he encountered him now.

It was truly a case of enemies on a narrow road!

As for how the opponent got close to him?

Seimei recalled the scene of the opponent's sneak attack just now; how similar it was to back then.

Obviously, the opponent most likely used the Camouflage Technique, a stealth technique, this time as well.

It was only because he reacted quickly and tilted his head back in time to avoid the attack, otherwise, he might have been instantly killed.

Various thoughts flashed through his mind. Seimei looked at the person in front of him with cold eyes, as if looking at a dead man.

Being stared at like this, Kohara Shuji didn't show any fear, even faintly excited.

From the look in his eyes, Seimei knew that the opponent also recognized him.

"That's for the best. If the opponent didn't even remember who I was, then even killing him wouldn't be meaningful."

Seimei thought to himself.

At the same time, Kohara Shuji suddenly twisted his wrist, retracting the kunai that was thrust out at an angle, and then slashed horizontally, aiming directly at his throat.

If it were in the past, he might not have been able to react to this.

But now...

Seimei abruptly activated his Sharingan and, at the moment of using the genjutsu, pushed off the tree branch with his feet, retreating backward.

Kohara Shuji saw Seimei's blood-red Three-Tomoe Sharingan and immediately looked away.

Although his hand movements didn't stop, without visual guidance, they inevitably slowed down a bit.

It was in that instant that Seimei avoided the attack and appeared on another tree branch.

(End of Chapter)

Chapter 165: Departure

"Hehe, Uchiha brat, your strength has improved quite a bit in a few months, hasn't it?" Kohara Shuji stared at Seimei, speaking somewhat provocatively.

Seimei didn't fall for it. There were too many Iwa-nin on the field, and fighting here would give him no advantage.

Although eager for revenge, Seimei still decided to leave first.

Of course, it would be even better if he could lure Kohara Shuji away.

Thinking this, Seimei immediately activated his Sharingan, about to release the genjutsu.

Seeing this, Kohara Shuji quickly averted his gaze.

Seizing this opportunity, Seimei raised his hands, formed the "Mi" hand seal, and used the Body Flicker Technique. His speed surged, and his figure instantly disappeared from the sight of the Chunin and Genin.

However, this was only in the eyes of the Chunin and Genin. The Jonin could still clearly see his movements.

Although Kohara Shuji had averted his gaze in advance to avoid the Sharingan's genjutsu, the other two Iwa-nin Jonin in the distance had not.

Therefore, the moment Seimei used the Body Flicker Technique to escape, those two threw the kunai in their hands.

However, this couldn't stop Seimei from leaving.

In mid-air, Seimei sensed the danger and instantly turned his head. With just a glance, he locked onto the flight paths of the two kunai.

Then, he reached into his ninja tool pouch, took out two kunai, and forcefully threw them.

Clang~ Clang~

Two crisp metal clashing sounds rang out as the kunai thrown by Seimei collided with the kunai thrown by the two Iwa-nin Jonin in mid-air.

Sparks flew, and the four kunai spun and scattered in all directions.

The danger was eliminated, and Seimei was about to accelerate his departure.

But at this moment, several subtle whistling sounds approached.

Seimei looked towards the source of the sound and saw that Kohara Shuji had somehow gotten close and thrown several shuriken at him.

Looking at these shuriken, Seimei keenly realized that it was too late to throw shuriken to intercept the incoming ones like he had done before.

So, he immediately dodged.

Seimei twisted his body, and without any surprise, he avoided all the shuriken.

Dodging attacks of this level was not a challenge for him with his Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

But after dodging, Seimei's expression wasn't very good.

The reason was simple: during this delay, the Iwa-nin Chunin and Genin in the distance had already thrown their kunai and shuriken.

The tomoe in Seimei's Sharingan spun rapidly, and he quickly spotted several explosive tags among them.

If these exploded, the commotion wouldn't be small.

"Are they completely disregarding the exposure of their location?"

Seimei wondered.

But then he thought, they had already seen him transmit the information back, so why would they care about exposure anymore?

Perhaps they never intended to hide from the beginning.

'In that case...'

Seimei pushed off the tree branch with his feet and retreated backward while rapidly forming hand seals with both hands.

Then, he took a deep breath and forcefully exhaled, mixing in Wind Style chakra.

The next moment, a violent airflow rapidly formed in front of him, transforming into a whirlwind that swept forward, uprooting all the flowers, plants, and trees in its path.

Once again, Seimei used the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough with full power.

It had to be said that this technique was truly a battlefield clearing marvel.

Under this level of storm, the kunai and shuriken thrown by the Iwa-nin couldn't maintain their flight paths and were all swept away in the opposite direction.

Boom, boom, boom~

Successive explosions rang out within the storm, but they didn't affect the storm in the slightest.

From this, one could see just how powerful the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough that Seimei used was.

It wasn't until a few breaths later that Seimei stopped using the technique.

And at this moment, a kunai suddenly flew from his right side, aiming directly at his neck.

In response, Seimei sneered as if he had anticipated it.

Then, he slightly leaned back, avoiding the kunai, and simultaneously kicked out, hitting Kohara Shuji's abdomen.

That's right, the one who launched the sneak attack was Kohara Shuji.

In an instant, Kohara Shuji was sent flying backward.

Seimei flicked his hand and threw three shuriken, aiming at the opponent's throat, heart, and lower abdomen, three vital points.

In mid-air, Kohara Shuji sensed the danger and, enduring the sharp pain in his abdomen, raised his hands and instantly used the Body Replacement Technique.

Clang, clang, clang~

The three shuriken hit Kohara Shuji but only produced crisp metal clashing sounds.

Poof~

With a puff of chakra smoke, Kohara Shuji's body transformed into a stone.

Seimei's gaze shifted, locking onto a large tree in the distance.

At this moment, Kohara Shuji was hiding behind that tree.

Although the opponent was very quick in hiding after using the Body Replacement Technique, his movements were still captured by the Sharingan.

And as for the sneak attack just now, Seimei had indeed sensed it in advance.

The reason why he was almost hit earlier was that Seimei hadn't activated his Sharingan and his attention was focused on the twenty Iwa-nin in front, allowing the opponent to get close.

But just now, when he was using the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough, he didn't forget about Kohara Shuji in the distance and kept him in his peripheral vision.

Although the opponent's Camouflage Technique was quite proficient, it was still not enough in front of his evolved Three-Tomoe Sharingan.

Seimei had discovered him early on but was simply too busy using the Wind Style: Great Breakthrough to deal with him.

Otherwise, the opponent wouldn't have had a chance to get close.

Of course, there was also an element of playing along.

That kick from Seimei wasn't light. Although he wasn't skilled in hand-to-hand combat, his 11 points in Constitution meant his strength was no less than that of an average adult Jonin.

Kohara Shuji, having taken that kick, couldn't be completely unaffected. At the very least, he would definitely be significantly impacted in the short term.

But even in this situation, the opponent could still dodge his three shuriken thrown from such close range, which was enough to prove his strength.

Cough, cough, cough~

A coughing sound came.

Seimei looked towards the sound and saw two Iwa-nin Jonin standing up amidst the wreckage.

Around them, some other Iwa-nin were also emerging from the broken branches and fallen trees.

Seimei withdrew his gaze, took one last look at the large tree Kohara Shuji was using as cover, formed hand seals again, and used the Body Flicker Technique.

In an instant, Seimei's figure vanished.

The two Iwa-nin Jonin in the distance exchanged glances but didn't choose to intercept him.

Let alone whether they could stop him or not, based on the strength Seimei had just displayed, even if they did stop him, they wouldn't be his match.

After all, they were just Tokubetsu Jonin who specialized in tracking and reconnaissance, with limited frontal combat capabilities. To deal with Seimei, they still needed Kohara Shuji.

Since he wasn't making a move, they naturally wouldn't either.

"Wait, where's Kohara Shuji?"

Suddenly, the two looked towards where Kohara Shuji was hiding, only to find that he had disappeared at some point.

They looked at each other, instantly feeling uneasy, and quickly reported the situation here to their superiors.

(End of Chapter)