After serving up a full Bone Grinding Ash combo.
Uchiha Ci wiped the sweat from his forehead.
Watching the blazing Dragon Fire Prison, he let out a faint breath.
At this point in the fight, both his mental and physical strength were nearly at their limit.
From yesterday until now, he had not had a moment to rest.
After being woken by an Exploding Tag in his sleep, he had not been given much time to react at all.
1C1B, combined with Uchiha Style: Silk Thread Shurikenjutsu, had nearly drained Uchiha Ci's stamina and Chakra Reserves.
Still, as he watched the blazing Dragon Fire Prison billow black smoke, a nagging doubt rose in his heart.
After all that fighting, he had not actually felt much pressure.
And Moroi, a Special Jonin-level Fuinjutsu user, had not shown any of the ability he should have possessed.
Besides, Fire Style had always been a merciful ninjutsu.
Could his opponent really be that weak? Had he really been killed just like that?
The sudden turn of events on Uchiha Ci's side caught the three people confronting each other in the rear completely off guard.
Especially Great Elder Uchiha Setsuna.
Honestly, when he saw Uchiha Ci push Uchiha Seiichiro away and stay behind alone, his heart had nearly leaped into his throat.
Uchiha Ci's shuriken skills did indeed carry a little of his own youthful flair.
But his opponent was a Jonin.
When he was trapped inside Kumogakure's barrier, Uchiha Setsuna's heart skipped a beat. This is bad!
Uchiha Ci could never be a match for a Kumogakure Jonin.
Yet, in only a few moments,
The situation reversed!
Amateurs watched the spectacle; experts saw the technique—
Uchiha Ci's response at the critical moment, along with that dazzling Uchiha Style: Silk Manipulation Shuriken Jutsu, had successfully transformed the weak C-Rank Ninjutsu, Dragon Fire Technique and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique.
It could practically be called an elevation of ninjutsu!
As C-Rank Fire Style techniques, Dragon Fire Technique and Phoenix Sage Fire Technique had glaring flaws.
They emphasized broad range and strong suppression, but their power was scattered.
Yet with this move, Uchiha Ci used Ninja Tool Thread to guide the dragon fire, then used shuriken to evolve Phoenix Sage Fire into Phoenix Sage Fire Flower Claw Red. He concentrated the scattered fireballs at a single point and successfully fused the power of both C-Rank techniques into one.
He unleashed power comparable to an A-Rank Ninjutsu!
And once the Ninja Tool Thread was pulled taut, its sharpness was astonishing.
When the heavenly net closed in,
It was almost no different from dozens of ninja blades cutting down at once!
This chain of Combined Ninjutsu made Uchiha Setsuna slap the table in amazement. Even if he personally tried to recreate such an operation,
It would probably be no big deal!
This kid's combat talent was simply terrifying!
The move he had taught Ci only moments ago, Uchiha Ci could already use with impressive form.
The kid was practically buzzing with swagger!
"Moroi!" Among the three from Kumogakure, Dodai cried out in alarm, horror in his eyes.
Who could have imagined that Uchiha Ci would complete such a series of feats—defeating someone above his rank and overcoming the strong as the weak—in only a few moments?
"Damn it! That brat actually got Moroi..."
Dodai's expression turned incomparably ugly. His face was black as the bottom of a pot, veins bulging on his forehead. He nearly could not hold himself back from rushing forward and punching the little brat inside the barrier to death with Lava Style: Rock Fist.
He understood that if they lost Moroi like this, then even though Ramui and he could steadily suppress Uchiha Setsuna, they would never be able to force him into a deathtrap!
Then this mission would very likely end right here.
"Calm down!" Ramui, who was even older than Uchiha Setsuna, grabbed Dodai's shoulder and said calmly,
"Dodai, don't act rashly. Finish what we came here to do!"
"Moroi isn't as weak as you think. Look carefully—the barrier hasn't shattered yet."
"Moroi is still alive!"
Even as he said that, Ramui's brows remained tightly furrowed.
That was because Uchiha Ci's offensive had been far too swift, strike after strike linked together, leaving no time to react.
Of all martial arts under heaven, only speed was undefeated.
Moroi was a Barrier Squad ninja whose abilities mostly lay in techniques.
Even an old-established Jonin like him would find it difficult to form Hand Seals and adapt in time against such a rapid assault.
He could only respond move for move.
His heart grew heavier by the moment.
The three people fighting all slowed their attacks in unspoken agreement, their peripheral vision fixed tightly on the battlefield within the Deathmatch Barrier.
Although it was only a Genin's fight.
It had unknowingly affected the entire battlefield, and even Kumogakure's entire strategic deployment in the Land of Hot Water!
Inside the barrier.
Black smoke roiled as flames raged.
Dozens, perhaps hundreds, of razor-sharp threads cut toward the center at high speed under Uchiha Ci's control!
The scene looked utterly one-sided.
Uchiha Ci, a Genin who had not awakened the Sharingan, had actually suppressed Moroi, Kumogakure's Special Jonin, through his own strength alone!
But Uchiha Ci's expression soon changed.
He immediately sensed that something was wrong!
The Ninja Tool Thread cutting toward the center of the sea of fire should have sliced Moroi into pieces as easily as pork.
But now, it had struck resistance, like a taut elastic cord snapping against a tightly layered Yarn Ball.
The more it tangled, the tighter and thicker it became, yet it could not advance another inch inward.
Just then, the center of the firestorm suddenly churned.
Then an icy voice that pierced to the bone rang out—
"Brat, don't tell me you think you've already won?"
As those words fell,
A pattern resembling a Summoning Circle abruptly spread out from the center of the flames.
Uchiha Ci's pupils instantly shrank as he saw the pattern.
He released the threads and flicked his wrist, drawing another eight shuriken from his Ninja Tool Pouch and hurling them toward the center of the fire!
"It's useless!" Moroi's indifferent voice rang out.
As he spoke, his figure gradually emerged from the fire.
Though "emerged" was perhaps not quite accurate.
From Uchiha Ci's perspective, the firestorm itself was fading.
As though someone had pressed a toilet plunger, the flames throughout the sea of fire spiraled clockwise toward its center, toward Moroi's position.
Moroi merely knelt on one knee, one hand pressed fiercely against the scroll on the ground, his eyes cold as he shouted,
"Fire Seal Jutsu!"
As his words fell, the entire sea of fire was sealed into that tiny scroll by Moroi.
At that moment, the eight shuriken Uchiha Ci had thrown were already flying toward him.
Yet Moroi remained unhurried, forming the Ren Seal and pressing both hands into the air.
He unfolded a spherical array.
"Binding Array!"
This was the technique that had blocked Uchiha Ci's Ninja Silk from cutting through.
Then Moroi rose to his feet and advanced toward Uchiha Ci step by step.
His hands continued forming complex Hand Seals.
Uchiha Ci instantly sensed something was wrong and instinctively tried to leave where he stood.
However,
Moroi spread his hand and roared, "Brat, where do you think you're running?!"
A Law Seal formed in Moroi's hand, and he slammed it viciously onto the ground.
"Lightning Kill Bind!"
Winding Electric Current immediately raced toward Uchiha Ci, forming a ring-shaped technique beneath his feet.
A single character—"lightning"—appeared clearly!
Then four whips formed from Electric Current suddenly wrapped around Uchiha Ci's limbs, binding him tightly!
The current surged through his body. Uchiha Ci wanted to move, but it was useless.
Half his body had already gone numb, and even opening his mouth had become exceedingly difficult.
"Heh heh, brat, do you have anything else to say?" Moroi sneered as he questioned him.
Uchiha Ci looked up at the sky, with ten thousand curses in his heart and no idea how to voice them.
The ancients truly had not deceived him.
Fire Style really was a merciful ninjutsu!
Smoke meant no damage, smoke meant no damage!
Moroi slowly approached, drew his long blade, and lifted Uchiha Ci's chin with a teasing expression as he mocked,
"You Uchiha just love these flashy but impractical moves."
"But unfortunately, you ran into me!"
Moroi sneered coldly, holding his blade across Uchiha Ci's throat as he declared,
"Your flashy tricks end here!"
Yet Uchiha Ci's expression gradually twisted in the face of Moroi's overwhelming confidence.
He wanted to laugh wildly, but he did not dare laugh too early, so he could only hold it in.
The more he held it in, the more twisted his expression became.
Uchiha Ci opened his eyes slightly wider.
His gaze held seventy percent mockery, thirty percent disdain, and ninety percent composed calm.
The corner of his mouth curled upward. Looking at Moroi's face, he could not help but let out a sinister chuckle.
He said softly,
"Is that so?"
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