Battle's End

"That's the Sharingan!"

Chudo recognized the scarlet pupils in Uchiha Jin's eye sockets, a single tomoe slowly rotating within them.

The Uchiha Clan's famed Sharingan.

There were probably few in the ninja world who did not recognize it.

But Jin, who had unexpectedly awakened the Sharingan, was not happy at all. He gritted his teeth and spoke in a low voice.

"I really have to thank you for this."

If awakening the Sharingan required being pushed into a life-or-death crisis like this, he would rather not have awakened it.

Jin was terrified of dying.

And the result was brutally gruesome.

Large portions of his skin had been destroyed. His body was either charred black or raw red, and the rise and fall of his internal organs could even be seen. He looked like a person who had been flayed alive.

What kind of top ten torture was this?

At the same time, intense pain flooded his mind, only to be suppressed by the adrenaline in his body.

Without immediate treatment, injuries like these were basically an advance appointment with the King of Hell.

Jin took a deep breath.

Six Paths Immortal Thief.

A massive amount of Chakra inside his body began to vanish, while the skin across his body rapidly regrew. In only two breaths, the outer layer of his skin had completely recovered.

He really had been farsighted.

Without Six Paths Immortal Thief, he would have been dead for sure.

"This kind of technique..."

Chudo narrowed his eyes at Jin, who was recovering so quickly. He had heard that only someone in Konoha named Tsunade possessed a technique with such overwhelming recovery power.

Now there was a second person.

"Round two."

Little White poked its head out from Jin's tattered sleeve. Opening its mouth, it slowly spat out the Kusanagi Sword.

Little White had retrieved the Kusanagi Sword Jin had lost during the battle.

At that moment, Chudo's attack arrived.

"Earth Release: Stone Dragon!"

A huge amount of earth and rock gathered beneath the ground into a massive stone dragon, which flew over from one side of the forest.

Jin swiftly turned to look into the forest.

The tomoe in his Sharingan rotated.

"I see you."

The ability of a one-tomoe Sharingan was insight. It could even see the flow of Chakra.

The Chudo standing before Jin had already turned into mud.

Earth Clone Jutsu.

Facing the stone dragon as it roared forward on fierce winds, Jin lowered his body and gripped the sword hilt with both hands.

As his breathing intensified, sparks spilled from the corner of his mouth.

He formed hand seals through breathing, converting Chakra into flames.

This was Flame Breathing.

"Fourth Form! Blooming Flame Undulation!"

Flames ignited along the blade. Jin forcefully swung his sword around, and the flames became a spiral as they slashed toward the stone dragon.

The next moment.

The flames collided with the stone dragon, kicking up a violent gale. Fire and earth met and produced a lava-like substance, which sprayed outward with the wind.

Jin quickly retreated, trying to escape the range of the flying lava.

Just as he rapidly backed away, he suddenly looked down at the ground.

"Didn't I say it? I see you!"

Jin gritted his teeth and leaped from the ground. The flames on his sword blazed even more fiercely, sparks spilling from his mouth.

"Flame Breathing! Third Form! Blazing Universe!"

The flaming blade slashed down from above.

The ground split apart beneath the scorching flames, revealing Chudo inside with a gloomy expression.

Chudo's body turned into mud beneath the violently flaming blade.

The remaining mud was burned to ash by the flames.

Revealing an Explosive Tag burning within.

It really was one trap after another.

Did these ninja not know how to fight fair and square?

Jin swung his sword in an instant.

As the blade light flashed past, the Explosive Tag split in two and could no longer detonate.

In the distance, Chudo knelt on one knee on the ground. There were scorch marks on his hair and back; even though he had shifted in time, he had still suffered some injuries.

Jin's performance was making him increasingly astonished.

"Nintaijutsu!"

Chudo found the Uchiha before him more and more troublesome. The Sharingan, powerful recovery abilities, and this Nintaijutsu.

Any one of those could create a fairly formidable ninja.

Yet all of them were in the hands of one person.

If he had that many techniques, he would have long since become an Elite Jonin of Iwagakure.

Damned Uchiha.

"It's not over yet!"

Jin stomped powerfully against the ground. Flames coiled around his blade before gradually spreading across his body.

A crater appeared where his feet had stepped, and flames continued to burn on the footprints without fading.

Chudo merely blinked once, and Jin was already before him.

"Flame Breathing! First Form! Shiranui!"

The burning blade slashed toward Chudo, and Jin could even see the terror on his face.

But just as he reached Chudo, Jin suddenly stepped into empty air. The ground was only covered by a cloth trap, with a hollow pit beneath it.

"Damn it! I got played again."

Before he could fall, Chudo had already finished forming hand seals.

"It's over!"

"Earth Release! Great Sealing Technique!"

Chakra formed a massive boulder in the sky.

The next moment, it came crashing down with howling winds.

This was the only A-rank ninjutsu Chudo had mastered. Even those worthy of being called Kage could only die with resentment beneath this enormous rock.

"So this is a jonin!"

What a complete old schemer!

Jin grabbed the fixed earth spikes within the trap with both hands. The pit below was packed with sharp earth spikes; one careless move and his body would be riddled with holes.

He looked up at the boulder, which was exactly the same size as the trap.

He could feel despair welling up in his heart.

But he had not given up.

"Tekkai!"

"Six Paths Immortal Thief!"

"Gate of Opening! Open!"

He strengthened his defenses with all his might, intending to withstand this ninjutsu head-on. This was the confidence he had in his own strength.

"I refuse to believe you can kill me!"

He flipped his body and stood atop the sharp earth spikes. His hands tightly gripped the sword hilt, his fingers turning white and veins bulging.

"Flame Breathing!"

Jin rested the sword on his shoulder.

"Ninth Form!"

Flames spiraled around Jin protectively. The earth spikes beneath his feet instantly shattered, and Jin transformed into a roaring dragon of fire that charged toward the boulder above.

"Rengoku!"

The divine dragon formed of flames crashed into the boulder.

"Boom!"

The power of this strike actually forced the boulder to stop, leaving a clear sword mark across its surface.

"Break for me!!"

The flames burned fiercely, turning the entire boulder red-hot as the surrounding temperature rapidly rose.

Unfortunately!

The sword mark did not expand. Though it looked like stone, it was more like ironstone. Its toughness did not yield in the slightest beneath Jin's blade.

"It's useless."

Chudo maintained his hand seal. This ninjutsu required the ninja to constantly supply it with Chakra.

Its power would also grow stronger as time passed.

Chudo only needed to keep supplying Chakra.

Just as he had said.

The massive boulder soon began pressing downward again.

The force Jin had generated was nearly spent. The flames gradually faded, and his body fell straight down.

He flipped and landed atop the earth spikes.

Jin gave Chudo a deep look.

"The next time we meet will be the day you die."

"There won't be a next time!!"

Chudo went all out as well. Faced with such a talented ninja,

this was the greatest respect he could offer.

Iwagakure would also lose a future great enemy.

As he watched the boulder descend.

Jin tore away the remaining fabric from his sleeve, revealing a strange tattoo.

He still had one final move.

One specially meant for escaping.

"Reverse Summoning Techni—"

"Wind Release! Violent Wind Palm!!"

A violent gale suddenly swept through, accompanied by a red figure.

"Die a hundred times over!!"

With chains wrapped around her arm and a powerful current of wind behind her, Kushina shot toward Chudo even faster.

This was her full-power strike.

Even Tsunade would not dare take this blow head-on!

Chudo quickly changed his hand seals.

"Boom!"

His body turned into mud that scattered through the air.

Chudo appeared in the distance, his expression exceptionally ugly.

Seeing the two of them, he already knew what had happened to his students. Those two had been ninja the village thought highly of.

Yet they had fallen here.

Without a supply of Chakra, cracks gradually appeared on the descending boulder. The cracks grew larger and larger, and as chunks of stone fell away, the failure of the ninjutsu was already clear.

"You two really are..."

Looking at Minato Namikaze and Kushina, Jin did not know why a smile appeared on his face. The Chakra he had prepared for the Reverse Summoning Technique flowed back into his body.

"Ridiculously stupid!"

"We would never abandon our companions!!"

Kushina shouted angrily at Jin.

Minato Namikaze scratched his cheek awkwardly behind her.

Had Kushina yelled at the wrong person? Shouldn't she have shouted that at the enemy?

"As long as you're happy."

Jin did not care. He looked up at the descending boulder. Even though it had cracked apart, it still carried tremendous momentum and would not be easy to stop.

"Rumble..."

As the boulder fell, Jin was completely buried beneath it.

Minato Namikaze and Kushina showed no concern at all. They only stared fixedly at Chudo in the distance.

Just as they expected.

A burst of flames erupted from the shattered boulder.

The flames carried Jin out. He flipped through the air and landed before the two of them.

He too stared at Chudo in the distance.

Team 7.

Regrouped.

"Third round."

Jin and Minato Namikaze charged forward at the same time, crossing the distance between both sides with a single Soru.

Blade and kunai struck at Chudo in tandem, preventing him from smoothly using ninjutsu.

Chudo's taijutsu was also fierce. Even while surrounded by the two of them, he could knock one back and try to make time to form hand seals.

But whenever one person was driven back, Kushina would immediately rush in to take their place.

Compared to the other two's taijutsu attacks, Kushina was actually the greatest threat.

Chudo did not dare take her head-on and could only choose to evade.

What he needed to do now was block the three of their vision, but Jin's Sharingan was locked firmly on him. The moment he showed any sign of breaking away,

Jin would rush at him.

Chudo gritted his teeth. His battle with Jin earlier had wasted too much of his stamina and Chakra, and for the moment, he could not find an opening amidst the three-person assault.

But just because he could not find an opening did not mean Team 7 could not.

Kushina's foot came crashing down from above.

"Heavenly Foot of Pain!!"

A massive crater instantly appeared in the ground.

"Good chance!"

The scattering dirt and rocks obscured everyone's vision. He was about to use this moment to conceal himself.

But someone was faster than him.

"Flame Breathing! Fifth Form! Flame Tiger!"

"Steel Cutting Flash!"

The burning flames took the form of a fierce tiger, its body swelling several times larger as it was swept along by the raging wind.

This strike was incredibly fast and incredibly powerful.

Chudo had no time to react. Looking at the tiger already before him,

he smiled calmly.

Then he was swallowed by the Flame Tiger.

There were special circumstances today, so this chapter came late. There'll be another chapter soon.

Sorry for posting so late, everyone.