How... How...

Behind me? With the suddenly vanishing sturdy figure reflected in the light of the Curved-and-Straight Sword, along with the streak of lightning imprinted on his retina, Chiba abruptly looked back. His left hand, which had reached into his Ninja Tool Pouch, snatched out a kunai. Gripping it in reverse with one hand, he suddenly stabbed behind him.

"Whoosh!"

Yet in the next second, Chiba's expression changed slightly. He abruptly halted, then, as his body slid, flung his sword aside and turned, his gaze falling on the space that had been behind him.

Nothing? The moment his gaze settled, his brows furrowed. He clenched his teeth slightly, his expression growing colder. At this moment, there was no one where he stood.

Both Twin Sparrow Flash and the kunai meant as the second strike had missed.

Still too fast! Chiba slowly clenched his teeth. In that instant just now, even with the enhanced dynamic vision brought by the accelerated flow of Chakra while in the critical state of Gate of Pain Mode, he still had not caught sight of the old Kumogakure ninja. All he had seen was the lightning lingering on his retina. While that lightning had vaguely revealed the direction in which the man had moved, it ultimately could not determine his final position.

Although I still can't catch sight of him...

Chiba lightly pressed the hand holding the kunai against the ground. After leaving a trail through the flattened grass, he stopped, his entire body shifting into a crouched, ground-bracing posture. As he slightly raised his head, his gaze had already fallen upon the place where Hirohiko and Yukina had originally stood behind him.

Damn it!

So fast!

At that moment, Hirohiko's brows abruptly drew together. His eyes slowly widened, and an uncontrollable trace of horror gradually surfaced in