Smack!
The flaking clump of earth crashed heavily onto the lake's surface. Its Water Clone body had already been dried out by the instant heat, and in an instant, it split apart. Nourished by the lake water, it turned into several smaller, dark, soggy clumps of earth that slowly sank to the bottom.
"Wha..."
Just then, a cry of alarm was cut off the moment it burst out.
Uchiha Nobuhiko's eyes widened. A wisp of blazing white light drifted from his rippling pupils like fire.
Then, his left eye suddenly opened even wider.
It looked as though the eyeball itself was about to pop out.
Reflected in his eye at that moment was a face he knew all too well.
The face of a boy.
Tap!
Just then, a foot lightly touched down on the water before him. Ripples spread outward from either side of the two of them.
"Taki... Chiba."
As the ripples spread, Uchiha Nobuhiko parted his lips slightly and uttered those words.
"What is going on? You can't possibly still have that kind of strength, and you can't possibly possess Space-Time Ninjutsu. Even if you had learned it, you couldn't possibly use it under those circumstances. You..."
Then, completely out of character, every expression on his face twisted slightly as he demanded an answer.
It was almost a hysterical demand.
At that moment, Taki Chiba maintained the posture of someone who had just leaped down and landed. One hand rested on Uchiha Nobuhiko's right shoulder, his entire body seeming almost ready to crash into him. Chiba's left hand was slightly bent, his index and middle fingers pressed together and lightly against the spot beneath Uchiha Nobuhiko's left brow bone, while his thumb pressed against his left cheekbone.
As if he had appeared out of thin air! Yes,