Mist Disperses

"Now that the outcome is decided, please close your eyes in peace!" Qi Shuang curled his lips, holding the ice needle and extending it towards his opponent's neck.

"No... I can't... I can't die here... How can I... die at the hands of a brat like you..." Seeing the ice needle getting closer, the person from the Inuzuka Clan's eyes widened, roaring in unwillingness.

Immediately after, he struggled to pull out a kunai, attempting a final, desperate resistance.

"Hmph! A dying struggle!"

Qi Shuang's eyes sharpened. Just as the opponent's kunai was raised, he preempted it by plunging the ice needle into the man's neck.

The ice needle, nearly ten centimeters long, was entirely inserted into the man's neck under his force.

The man's eyes snapped wide open. The kunai he had just raised fell back into the water. After twitching twice, he clutched his neck with one hand, and with the other, trembled as he pointed at the child before him.

He wanted to say something, but no sound came out. Only red blood seeped from his nose and mouth. His eyes, filled with unwillingness and rage, slowly dimmed, his consciousness gradually blurring.

"Woof woof woof..."

Faintly, he seemed to hear a few familiar barks.

"Is this what death feels like?"

"Perhaps, this is for the best... At least, it won't be alone anymore..."

Immediately after, Qi Shuang on the river saw his opponent, who had been filled with unwillingness and rage, reveal a smile of relief before slowly sinking into the river.

Just as he was in a difficult battle with the person from the Inuzuka Clan, Kamiya Ki on the other side encountered big trouble.

Because of the Sharingan's genjutsu, he dared not attack head-on, fearing that a single oversight would lead to irreversible consequences.

After all, while the "Mist Technique" could obscure vision, it couldn't completely block it.

In this thick fog, with a visibility of about two meters, there was still some sight.

Considering that the Sharingan's genjutsu required a clear view of the opponent's eyes to activate, a distance of about one meter should be enough for the opponent to cast it.

Therefore, to be safe, he always chose to attack from behind his opponent.

Even so, he felt as if every strike he made was dancing on the tip of a knife, fraught with danger.

Since his first attack, he had already ambushed Uchiha Tai six times.

However, the Sharingan was simply too powerful.

His speed was already at a disadvantage compared to the opponent. Even with the fog obscuring them, launching sneak attacks, he still couldn't gain an advantage under the Sharingan's dynamic visual prowess.

Especially from the first attack until now, he felt the opponent was becoming increasingly composed in defending against his assaults.

This was the result of the opponent gradually figuring out his attack rhythm.

He knew he was in danger.

Once his opponent completely deciphered his attack rhythm, he would face a counterattack, possibly a fatal one.

But he had no choice.

Knowing that each attack brought him closer to death, he still had to attack.

Because the opponent's strength was a level above his, escape was simply a pipe dream.

He wasn't confident he could survive and reach the Konoha ninja's camp's perimeter.

His only hope was to wish that Qi Shuang would "luckily" kill that Konoha Chunin again and come to his aid.

Although he knew this hope was ridiculous, he couldn't help but think it.

Just then, a playful voice echoed through the dense fog.

"What's wrong? Scared?"

"You've only made six moves, maybe your next one will kill me?"

Immediately after, a burst of unrestrained laughter came from the fog.

"Hahaha..."

"Arrogant!" Kamiya Ki, hidden in the mist, couldn't help but frown.

However, he could only retort verbally; the opponent had the right to be arrogant in front of him.

Then, he picked up his kunai and quietly moved behind Uchiha Tai, preparing to launch another attack.

But for some reason, the closer he got to the opponent's back this time, the more intense the feeling of dread in his heart became.

"Am I really scared?" He glanced at his own hand, which was holding the kunai and trembling slightly, muttering to himself.

"Forget it, I'll try this one last time. If it doesn't work this time, I'll give up completely!" Looking at the figure not far away, he gritted his teeth.

After six sneak attacks, he hadn't even grazed the opponent's clothes. To make him give up now, he was truly unwilling.

He wanted to try one more time.

Holding his breath, he gripped his kunai and Shunshin'd behind Uchiha Tai.

Just as his kunai was about to land on the opponent's neck, a flash of silver light shot into his eyes.

It was the opponent's unsheathed short sword.

"Not good!" he thought, sensing disaster.

The opponent had clearly figured out his attack rhythm and was preparing to counter.

He immediately retreated, wanting to end the attack, but unfortunately, it was too late.

A playful voice sounded in his ear.

"Did you really think I couldn't do anything to you just because you attacked from behind?"

"Sharingan: Genjutsu!"

At the same time, Kamiya Ki saw a pair of red eyes reflected on the silver blade of the short sword.

Then, those red eyes rapidly enlarged in his mind, and the world spun. He felt as if he had arrived in a strange world.

Two blood-red moons hung high in the sky, emitting an eerie crimson glow that bathed everything around them in a bloody hue.

And he, like a stone statue, bathed in the red light, unable to move at all.

"I guarded against everything, but I still fell for it?" Looking at the two blood-red moons, he let out a wry smile.

He had attacked from behind, avoiding direct eye contact with the Sharingan, but the opponent wasn't an idiot.

After figuring out his attack rhythm, the opponent used the short sword's blade to refract light, making their eyes meet, and then cast a genjutsu on him.

Uchiha Tai slowly turned around, looking at his opponent, who stood frozen with a kunai raised, with a mocking expression. He sneered, "It seems I overestimated you!"

"You're even worse than the last Mist Ninja who used the Mist Technique. You ran out of chances after only seven moves!"

With that, he thrust the short sword into his opponent's chest and then kicked him flying.

On the other side, Qi Shuang, having just dealt with his opponent, saw the dense fog around them dissipating at a visible speed.

In just two breaths, the surrounding fog had almost completely vanished.

"Did something happen to Teacher Ki?" he frowned.

There were only two possibilities for this situation.

One was that Kamiya Ki had killed his opponent and dispelled the Mist Technique; the other was that Kamiya Ki had been killed by that Uchiha Tai, causing the fog to dissipate.

Comparing the two, he leaned towards Kamiya Ki having been killed.

After all, his opponent was a Jonin from the Uchiha clan, while Kamiya Ki was just an ordinary Mist Ninja Chunin.

Just then, a figure flew out of the thinning mist, and he immediately recognized the figure as Kamiya Ki!