"Drip!"
"Drip!"
"Drip!"
Crimson blood continued to spill, running down his tattered clothes, passing over the pale chest faintly visible through the torn holes before falling to the ground. Drop by drop, it formed a line, falling once every few seconds before finally soaking into the earth before his right foot and bent knee, which seemed somewhat stiff.
How...
At this moment, Higure's sidelong glance slowly widened. Reflected in his eyes was the youth bent forward, his entire body seemingly frozen, as well as the figure behind him that looked exactly like Higure, both wrists pressed together in a downward slashing posture, utterly motionless. His mouth slowly fell open.
When...?
How had he done it? As his mouth opened wider, confusion gradually surfaced in his widening eyes.
I see. With both wrists joined, the two sleeve blades first merged into one for the slash. If I ducked, the upper blade would slash upward at an angle and swing back to cut off my lowered head. Meanwhile, the lower blade would use the upward thrust of the upper sleeve blade to alter its attack path, curving down from above to slash at my shoulder, abdomen, or vital points on my back.
As expected of an Iwagakure taijutsu expert. That strike contained a second-stage, three-part attack. Such instantaneous control wasn't something an ordinary taijutsu ninja could manage! Then, he used himself as bait, so...
The one behind me must be a clone!
At the same time, as doubt filled Higure's eyes, Chiba's eyes, which had been looking behind him, slowly began to turn back toward where Higure was crouching.
"Crack!"
Just as the thoughts in Chiba's mind came together, a cracking sound rang out from behind him.
"Crack! Crack! Crack crack crack!"
Following that sound, a series of cracks rang out. The