"Clang... clang..."
The gleaming Ninja Swords crossed, colliding in the shape of an X. They trembled from time to time, producing the scrape and clash of metal.
Their speed was almost identical!
The Sharingan really was a bug-level ability.
Feeling the force transmitted through the back of the reverse-gripped Ninja Sword pressed against his right arm, Chiba clenched his teeth slightly. What move will he use this time?
He should have realized that my refusal to use Space-Time was meant to catch him off guard.
But with the intelligence Taki Chiba has displayed, there's no way he wouldn't understand that not using it now doesn't mean I can't use it at all. He'll be on guard to some extent. There must be another trick coming!
At the same time, feeling the force on the back of the reverse-gripped Ninja Sword pressed against his right arm, the Masked Man's Three Tomoe Sharingan slowly began to turn.
At that moment, both men stepped forward, swung their arms, and slashed. Their right knees and right toes collided and braced against each other, their bodies leaning forward as though all their weight had been concentrated into their clashing right hands and the reverse-gripped Ninja Swords within them, like two sides of the same mirror.
Genjutsu Eye! Yet in that instant, Chiba's heart tightened. Lightning flashed through his eyes, filled with emerald Higure, and he suddenly turned his head to the side.
He dodged it!
At the instant Chiba shifted his gaze, a trace of regret flashed across the Masked Man's face beneath his mask as his Three Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly.
"Creak!"
Then came the sound of feet twisting against the scorching sand with great force. The Masked Man's expression abruptly changed beneath his mask, and the regret instantly turned to shock.
"Crackle!"
At