A Sinister Killing Blow

When Torikaze woke from his nap, it was still early, around three o'clock. The sleep had left him feeling thoroughly refreshed.

There was still plenty of time before his spar with Chisato, so there was no rush to head over. He decided to try developing a new ninjutsu instead.

As for Cloud Release, he had only just mastered it and was not yet proficient. Besides, he had not even learned all the Cloud Release ninjutsu recorded by his clan, so there was no need to develop anything new yet.

Crystal Release, on the other hand, had been granted by the system and had already fused with his body. Using Crystal Release was as natural as breathing, so he naturally needed to develop more ninjutsu for it.

But the process was undoubtedly tedious. He might repeat something over and over, only for the final result to remain unsatisfactory. Fortunately, Torikaze had the Genius buff, which greatly reduced the difficulty of developing ninjutsu.

More than an hour passed, and the sun had begun to sink. Torikaze finished his work, changed into a fresh set of clothes, and prepared to head out.

There were no servants in the house, but Torikaze hired people to clean it every so often. How could the dignified head of a clan possibly work as his own janitor?

Torikaze and Chisato had agreed to spar atop the Hokage Rock Faces that evening. Doing it in the village would attract too much attention, and an ordinary spar was not worth making such a fuss over.

It was time for the academy to let out, and Torikaze ran into several former classmates along the way. They all asked in confusion why Calm Bro had not been coming to class lately.

Torikaze dodged the question instead of answering directly.

What, was he supposed to tell these children, who had been in school for less than a month, that he had already become the Lord Hokage's disciple? That would probably crush them.

He had originally wondered whether he might run into Maruboshi Kosuke and the other two, but he did not see them even after passing the academy. So Torikaze simply headed up the mountain.

"Ugh, traveling without Flying Thunder God really is a little slow."

Come to think of it, the mountain was quite tall. Chisato had experienced that firsthand that morning, while Torikaze had caught a ride with Tobirama Senju and been carried up, so he had not really noticed.

After climbing for nearly twenty minutes, he finally reached the summit. The sky had gradually turned dusky yellow, and looking down over all of Konoha from here carried a unique sort of charm.

Before long, Torikaze heard movement on the path up the mountain. He figured Chisato had arrived, but he still remained on guard.

Only when Chisato came into view did he relax.

"Sorry, Torikaze-kun. I kept you waiting," Chisato said apologetically.

She had been the one to invite Torikaze to spar, yet she was the one who had arrived late.

"It's fine. I only got here a little while ago."

"Shall we begin?" Torikaze asked.

"Eh, there's no need to be in such a hurry, is there? By the way, Torikaze, have you found your own Will of Fire?"

Chisato had always felt that Torikaze's way of thinking was worth learning from. Although she had already formed some views of her own regarding the question assigned by the Lord Hokage, she still wanted to hear Torikaze's thoughts.

"Only a rough outline. It'll take a long time to perfect. It isn't something that can be formed overnight, nor can it be explained in just a few words."

Hearing that, Chisato could only nod.

"Let's start already. I have a feeling there's something off about this place."

More specifically, the feeling had appeared only after Chisato arrived—a sensation like blades against his back.

"Then here I come." As she spoke, her pupils spun and transformed into three tomoe.

Facing Torikaze, Chisato did not hesitate to activate her Sharingan and enter her strongest state!

From Torikaze's battle with Kyo, Chisato had understood how strong he was. She did not dare underestimate him.

She dashed forward and appeared before Torikaze in a single stride, slashing at his arm with the kunai in her hand.

Torikaze did not panic in the face of Chisato's slash. He twisted aside to evade it, then grabbed her arm on the return motion.

Just as he was about to throw her, Chisato suddenly exerted force and broke free of his hold, leaping into the air and throwing three shuriken.

Crystal Release—Crystal Mirror Technique.

A pale pink, transparent crystal mirror appeared between Chisato and Torikaze, completely blocking the shuriken Chisato had thrown.

Crystal Release—Mirror Shadow Technique.

Torikaze's figure abruptly vanished. Even after landing, Chisato could not detect him at all with her Sharingan.

"Damn it! Where is he?"

A bead of sweat slid down from Chisato's temple. She had thought that activating her Sharingan would let her suppress Torikaze for a while, but she had still underestimated him.

"Found you!"

Just as Chisato noticed something unusual in the Crystal Mirror, Torikaze emerged from within it. His upper body was outside while his lower body remained in the mirror, as though he had been severed at the waist.

Crystal Release—Hexagonal Shuriken Wild Dance. After completing the hand seals, Torikaze flung out countless crystal shuriken. They scattered like heavenly maidens strewing flowers, leaving no way to evade.

Seeing this, Chisato knew that if she did not respond with everything she had, defeat would be inevitable.

Fire Release—Great Fireball Technique!

A massive fireball surged from her mouth. It was the Uchiha Clan's signature ninjutsu, the Great Fireball Technique! Chisato truly deserved to be called a Genius of the Uchiha Clan—the fireball she released was more than twice the size of Kyo's.

The crystal shuriken filling the sky met the blazing fireball, and both sides canceled each other out, vanishing into nothingness.

Torikaze still kept half his body hidden inside the mirror, looking ready to duck back in and flee at any moment. Chisato could do little about it.

Fire Release—Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!

Chisato spat five fireballs toward Torikaze in midair. They were as beautiful as phoenix sage flowers, but hidden beneath that beauty was the Uchiha Clan's specialty: shuriken!

The Phoenix Sage Fire Technique concealed the shuriken within the flames, making them difficult to detect.

But this move was not particularly effective against Torikaze. Just as he was about to be struck, his body slowly withdrew into the mirror.

The Crystal Mirror struck by the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique only developed a few minor cracks; it did not shatter.

After sensing that the attack outside had ended, Torikaze had barely poked his head out when a kunai struck him squarely in the head, piercing straight through his skull and embedding itself deep inside!

Torikaze's body immediately went limp and hung in midair. A killing blow!

"Torikaze!" Chisato was completely stunned by the sight before her. Her mind went blank.

She had not seen where the kunai had come from before it pierced through Torikaze's head.

Fear filled Chisato's heart as she turned to look toward the woods, yet her Sharingan found nothing unusual.

But she could not chase after the killer either—Torikaze was still hanging in midair! She did not know if he could still be saved.

Yet when Chisato looked back at Torikaze, she found that the blood-covered Torikaze had already turned into a crystal statue, with the kunai embedded in the statue's head.

Chisato collapsed to the ground, gulping down air as though she had survived a disaster.

Torikaze is all right! That was her first thought. After all, she had seen this move before, just yesterday.

Sure enough, the half-body crystal statue on the mirror slowly shattered, turning into fragments that fell away.

Then another Torikaze emerged from the mirror. He smiled and greeted Chisato.

"Sorry, Chisato. I made you worry."