"Take this! Double Fly Slash!"
From Mangetsu Hozuki's perspective, wielding the Hiramekarei, he was relentlessly pursuing Uchiha Shisui. Yet, this man had the audacity to ignore him, dodging instead to confront those insignificant weaklings.
How could such disregard be tolerated?
His excitement surged, adrenaline coursing through his veins as his blood boiled with an almost primal fervor. The exhilaration of battle consumed him, spreading like wildfire from his mind to his trembling limbs. His body, already quivering with anticipation, began to convulse uncontrollably under the overwhelming thrill.
In that moment, his rage turned into a guttural roar, a long and unbroken cry of determination.
With both hands gripping his strange, uniquely shaped ninja swords, Mangetsu channeled the chakra within him. Unlike before, the blades did not grow larger but instead retained their original form, as though conserving their destructive power for the decisive strike.
However, a thin, sharp wave of sword energy radiated from the blade of the Hiramekarei.
"Aaargh!"
With immense power and a sweeping range, the unleashed sword energy surged toward Shisui's back. Yet again, Shisui dissolved into a flurry of crows, evading the strike with his characteristic swiftness.
Undeterred, Mangetsu continued his relentless assault. He gripped the Hiramekarei tightly in both hands, his figure beginning to rotate steadily. The massive influx of chakra into the weapon caused it to pulsate unnaturally, as though it were alive.
This infusion of power slowed his rotation, making it less agile than before. However, Mangetsu had no need for speed; he was surrounded by his so-called "teammates," who intercepted Shisui's clones and shielded him from their attacks.
"This idiot!"
As Mangetsu's body spun faster and faster, the weight of the Hiramekarei seemed to overwhelm him, lifting him into the air. His form, now airborne, hurtled toward Bitao with an unstoppable momentum.
Watching this reckless display, Mei Terumi could no longer contain her frustration.
"Forget about Mangetsu! If the Hozuki clan wants answers later, let them come to me!" she snapped. Her voice carried an edge of authority, though it was tinged with irritation.
After issuing her sharp directive, Mei turned her focus back to the battlefield, issuing a firm reminder: "And remember... stay vigilant against the enemy's illusions!"
Considering the opponent's mastery of genjutsu—so advanced that even Ao, with his Byakugan, might fail to notice before it was too late—Mei couldn't help but add a note of exasperation.
"In fact... everyone, be cautious of your teammates as well!"
She knew all too well that guarding against Shisui's elusive illusions was nearly impossible. Instead, she found it more practical to brace for the possibility of sudden betrayal from those closest to them.
'Uchiha men are as troublesome as ever,' Mei thought with a sigh. It was no wonder Konoha feared the Uchiha clan. A bloodline filled with such exceptional talent would unsettle the leadership of any village.
Pushing aside her thoughts, Mei swiftly formed a series of hand seals with practiced precision.
"Water Style: Super Water Dragon Bullet."
"Let's see you handle this!" she said, her tone laced with icy determination.
Meanwhile, Mangetsu, carried aloft by the centrifugal force of his spinning Hiramekarei, had leaped into the air. Twin sword auras, glowing faintly with concentrated chakra, trailed behind him like streaks of blue light as he prepared to strike down Uchiha Shisui and his elusive clones.
Before Mangetsu could land his decisive blow, an enormous water dragon—nearly 100 meters long—materialized. With a roar of crashing waves, it surged forward and engulfed Mangetsu entirely, rendering his attack futile.
"Saved!"
Watching as Mangetsu, Bitao, and their subordinates were engulfed by the massive water dragon, the Kiri Ninjas collectively breathed a sigh of relief.
Mangetsu's devastating slash moments earlier had fully showcased the immense power of Hiramekarei. Even as elites of Kirigakure, they had felt utterly helpless against the genius of the Hozuki clan wielding such a formidable weapon.
"Watch out behind you!"
Just as the immediate threat posed by Mangetsu had been neutralized, Bitao's relief turned to alarm. Her expression shifted dramatically as she urgently called out a warning to her comrades.
"Five o'clock—no, seven o'clock!"
"Blackwater! It's right behind you!"
Bitao, a petite yet curvaceous kunoichi with a childlike charm and an air of vulnerability, was far from ordinary. Beneath her delicate appearance lay the heart of a ruthless ninja.
Unlike the bloodline limits of fierce clans such as the Hozuki or Kaguya, her unique heritage granted her an exceptional affinity with water. Even the water molecules suspended in the air acted as her "eyes," providing her with perception abilities far surpassing those of ordinary shinobi.
Despite the elusiveness of Shisui's clones combined with his body-flicker, she could always pinpoint his location whenever his real body appeared.
"Special sensing abilities," Shisui muttered, offering his opponent a rare moment of acknowledgment.
Without hesitation, however, he tightened his grip on the ninja blade in his hand. There was no room for mercy—not even for someone with such a deceptively innocent demeanor.
"Could it be," he thought grimly, "that the bloodline of the Funato clan will end by my blade?"
As the ninja blade inched closer to her throat, Funato Bitao, the last living descendant of the Funato clan, refused to accept such a grim fate.
"Water Flash Technique!" she cried, her voice tinged with desperation.
Shisui's keen eyes caught the faint glint of crimson on the tip of his blade, and his gaze shifted instinctively to a small puddle about ten meters away.
"She escaped... barely," he murmured, his voice calm but laced with acknowledgment.
Fueled by sheer determination, Bitao had executed the Water Body-Flicker with a speed she had never achieved before.
Now, only her turquoise hair and pale, ghostly face emerged from the puddle. Trembling, she reached for the shallow wound on her neck, her hand slick with warm blood.
Her delicate features twisted in pain, her expression resembling a crumpled flower.
Although both possessed bloodline limits, the chasm between her unparalleled affinity for water and the Uchiha's Sharingan was insurmountable.
Her opponent's eyes could effortlessly trace her high-speed teleportation movements, pinpointing her trajectory with precision and striking at her neck in a world moving faster than she could fully process.
In contrast, she had to rely solely on instinct to evade the deadly strikes of his blade.
Swish, swish, swish!
Fortunately, at that critical moment, a large contingent of Mist Ninjas arrived, surrounding the enemy and providing her a reprieve. Without their intervention, she was certain her fate would mirror that of Heishui and her other fallen comrades—reduced to a lifeless, gradually freezing corpse.
"Did you really think this jutsu could trap me?"
Within the mouth of a massive water dragon, Mangetsu seemed unfazed by the attack enveloping him.
For a ninja of the Hozuki clan, water was not a threat—it was an ally, a trusted companion.
Swish, swish, swish!
Sword energy erupted from the Hiramekarai in his hands, and with a flurry of slashes, he cleaved the water dragon into scattered fragments. The remnants splashed harmlessly as he prepared to resume his pursuit of Uchiha Shisui.
However, before he could act, the fragmented water underwent a startling transformation.
A faint green hue shimmered within the scattered droplets, which then coalesced as if guided by an unseen force. In an instant, the splashes merged into a massive water sphere, enveloping Mangetsu and trapping him within its liquid confines.
"Water Transformation Technique."
For Mangetsu Hozuki, such a Water Release technique posed little threat. All he needed was to meld himself into the water, becoming part of it, and the attack would dissipate.
But something about this technique felt... off. The faint green hue in the water seemed oddly familiar, stirring a vague memory.
"Have I seen this before?" he thought.
However, his musings were interrupted.
"Even your mind is falling under his control?"
Mei Terumi's voice was barely audible, almost a murmur, as she observed Mangetsu diving into the water sphere. Her expression was unreadable, but her hands moved swiftly, forming a series of seals. The light green tint within the water sphere began to deepen, turning into a sinister, dark green.
"Please, Terumi-sama... have mercy!"
A voice broke the tension—strained, desperate. Among the Hozuki clan members encircling Mangetsu, a middle-aged man, older and more seasoned than the others, stared at the darkening sphere with growing alarm. His eyes twitched uncontrollably, betraying his unease.
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