"Can you leave him to me?" Shisui stood in front of Yahiko, smiling as he made the request.
The control room's hall was vast, spacious enough that even the massive form of Ibuse didn't make it feel crowded.
At this moment, Hanzō stood atop Ibuse's head, looking down on them with a commanding and oppressive presence.
"Be careful!"
Yahiko hesitated, unwilling to step back. But the overwhelming aura radiating from the combined presence of Hanzō and Ibuse, coupled with their earlier exchange, made him painfully aware of the reality.
If Hanzō decided to fight with full force, Yahiko knew he stood no chance against him in his current state.
The legend of Ibuse was as renowned as Hanzō himself in the Land of Rain. Together, they were an inseparable myth.
If Hanzō unleashed Ibuse's poison, few in the hall would leave alive. Yahiko knew this truth all too well.
Shisui's request wasn't to undermine Yahiko but to accommodate his pride. This wasn't the Akatsuki's base, and the trouble they faced now stemmed directly from their actions.
If one looked deeper, after incurring a massive favor from Kagetsu, they had caused even more trouble for them. Worse still, this disaster required Kagetsu's personal intervention.
"An Uchiha brat, huh? Seems Konoha played me." Hanzō's gaze fell on Shisui's Sharingan, its crimson glow unmistakable.
In an instant, Hanzō vanished from atop Ibuse, using the water in the hall to reappear behind Shisui with a burst of speed.
Hanzō's extensive combat experience left no room for error. He had prepared for the Sharingan's visual prowess, choosing the simplest countermeasure: avoiding direct eye contact.
The Sharingan, despite its complexity in dojutsu, couldn't compare to the 360-degree view and unparalleled insight of the Byakugan.
Shisui swiftly formed a one-handed seal while wielding his short blade with the other. His form split into two, then four, each figure moving with precision.
A flash of silver streaked behind Shisui, and his body appeared to be cleaved in half by Hanzō's scythe.
Yet Hanzō didn't celebrate. His expression remained focused as he quickly adjusted his stance. His rotating body swung the scythe horizontally, slicing through two Shisui clones that had closed in for a direct attack.
However, the sensation from the scythe was empty, an illusion.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
However, the other Shisui clones attacking together with him seemed solid when Hanzo defended, but when he struck back, the confirmed solid clones turned out to be intangible illusions.
"I'm ambushed!"
Swinging the scythe in his hand, Hanzo's technique was as flawless as water flowing. At this moment, his mastery of the blade could only be described as an art form.
Despite being surrounded by seven or eight Shisui clones, Hanzo skillfully wielded his scythe, deflecting all the oncoming blades and retreating unharmed. His performance far surpassed the understanding of swordsmanship for most onlookers.
Breaking free from Shisui's encirclement, Hanzo didn't rush into the next wave of attacks. Instead, he cast an odd glance at his summoned partner, Ibuse.
Based on the tacit understanding between them, Ibuse should have attacked alongside him earlier, spitting poisonous mist.
This would have poisoned the enemy and, like the Hidden Mist Technique from Kirigakure, obscured the opponent's vision.
This would have saved Hanzo a lot of trouble dealing with the Sharingan.
But the plan fell apart from the start. Ibuse hadn't cooperated, standing frozen in place as if deaf to Hanzo's voice and commands. Only the blood-red eyes in its sockets stunned Hanzo.
"Sharingan!"
Was it caught in a genjutsu the instant it appeared? Another genius from Konoha, huh!
The moment Hanzo saw Ibuse's eyes trapped in genjutsu, he understood everything. Ibuse hadn't refused to cooperate; from the very beginning, it had been ensnared in the illusion cast by the Sharingan.
Being able to control a large and powerful summoning beast like Ibuse at this moment shows that this Uchiha kid's Sharingan power is monstrous!
Hanzō wasn't unfamiliar with battling the so-called Three Tomoe Sharingan. From his memories, those Uchiha eyes were never capable of controlling a summoning beast like Ibuse in an instant.
Water Style: Water Dragon Bullet Technique!
A water dragon, even larger than Ibuse, vividly rose from behind Hanzō. After opening its eyes in mid-air, it slithered and lunged downwards, crashing into the many Water Clones coming toward him.
Boom!
Like a flooding river, the water dragon devoured over a dozen Water Clones and slammed heavily into the ground, creating a deep crater.
The dragon's body dispersed upon impact but didn't disappear. Its massive form shattered into streams of water, rushing forward, scattering everything in its path.
Several unlucky Mist Ninjas were caught in the torrent, struggling but unable to resist the powerful force that threw them into the walls, breaking their bones.
The massive waves fell from the sky, crashing heavily into the ground, submerging the entire hall and forming a water lake.
"Your jutsu is quite peculiar."
Taking the opportunity to help Ibuse break free from the genjutsu, Hanzō stood on the water's surface, his hand holding the sickle near the creature's soft, somewhat clumsy head.
He then removed his mask and allowed the poisonous gas within his body to spread outward.
"Deceptive, yet real. One moment of carelessness, and your clones could take your life. Until I break your technique, no matter how fast or sharp my blade is, I won't gain the upper hand. Instead, I'll be caught between attacks, overwhelmed and struggling.
This technique must be closely related to your Sharingan, right?"
"Yes, Hanzō-san. My Body Flicker Technique can make every clone seem real, but when needed, every one can be the true body. If you can't identify my real body from the illusions, this technique can't be broken. And finding my real body is like looking for a needle in a haystack."
Shisui created many more clones, surrounding both Hanzō and Ibuse.
****
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