Goodbye! Dimensional Slash

Concealed by the Rain Curtain, a blade that had nearly blended into nature failed to strike Gojo Yoru.

When he saw a bizarre-looking rat suddenly emerge from the ground beneath the Rain Curtain, Gojo Yoru instantly realized something was wrong.

The scene was as eerie as Team 7 seeing a snow rabbit in the forest during the first arc of the Original Work.

Unable to see his enemy, Gojo Yoru's first thought was not where the enemy was hiding, but to disrupt his own Chakra flow and prevent himself from falling under a genjutsu.

To his surprise, he really had fallen under a genjutsu.

Fortunately, Gojo Yoru reacted quickly. Facing the incoming slash, with Space-Time Chakra already flowing through his body, he did not use Phasing to evade. Instead, he turned into an afterimage and vanished soundlessly.

"Such fast Body Flicker..."

Tokiya, whose figure had emerged, looked with mild surprise at Gojo Yoru, who had opened a gap of more than ten meters between them. He had not expected this brat, who excelled at Earth Body Flicker, to possess such speed even on open ground.

Because the rain was so loud, Tokiya did not notice that Gojo Yoru's Body Flicker had actually made no sound.

"Looks like he's a tough one."

Seeing Tokiya in a vest and forehead protector, with a breathing mask over his face, vicious eyes, and a Summoned Beast at his side, Gojo Yoru tore off his raincoat, took out the Chakra Blade sealed inside his wristband Storage Scroll, and stared at him gravely.

Although he had experienced the aura of death many times under Orochimaru, none of it had pressured him as heavily as this.

The Survival Exercise had ultimately been nothing more than an exercise.

This battle was Gojo Yoru's first true fight to the death since arriving in this world.

His opponent even seemed to be the most troublesome kind of genjutsu specialist in the Ninja World. One lapse in attention, and he might fall into the other man's hands.

"Brat, hand over that scroll, and I'll leave you an intact corpse," Tokiya said coldly.

Gojo Yoru held the Chakra Blade in one hand while keeping his other hand hidden within the sleeve of his open-front trench coat. He wore a provocative smile. "If you have what it takes, take it from my corpse."

"As you wish."

The moment he spoke, Tokiya turned into a puddle of water.

The next second, Gojo Yoru became two and a half Gojo Yoruses, his body severed at the waist.

Even the Rain Curtain was torn open by the slash.

Gojo Yoru lowered his head to look at his body split in two and muttered, "What a fast blade..."

With a splat, the two halves turned into mud and fell to the ground, soon washed away by the rain.

Then, three Gojo Yoruses emerged from the ground not far away and charged Tokiya.

Tokiya merely glanced at the three Gojo Yoruses before sneering. "Clone Technique? Save ninja games for your next life."

After saying that, Tokiya took out three Senbon and threw them.

If assassins did not have to be cautious, he would not even have bothered dispersing the three Phantom Clones before him, which Yin Release Chakra could not touch.

The Senbon passed straight through them as expected. Just as Tokiya was about to join forces with his Summoned Beast and search for Gojo Yoru's true body, he suddenly realized something, and his expression changed drastically.

"Something's wrong!"

Looking at the three Gojo Yoruses who had already charged before him, Tokiya's eyes were filled with shock. Yet his movements were still swift as he took out a pellet from his Ninja Tools pouch and flicked it at the ground.

With a bang, purple smoke enveloped Tokiya and the three Gojo Yoruses.

Swish, swish, swish—

The poisonous smoke had barely emerged before several flashes of blade light scattered it.

It was not Gojo Yoru's doing, but Tokiya's.

Tokiya flew out of the poisonous smoke. The instant he landed, he used Body Flicker to appear atop a rocky hill. Then, forming a seal with one hand, he looked at the three Gojo Yoruses who still had not dispersed, his face darkening. "What kind of clones are these? They're not Phantom Clones, nor are they genjutsu. The real body isn't among them either. Could this be some special Secret Technique or Kekkei Genkai?"

After speaking, Tokiya looked toward the Summoned Beast beside him, whose head had emerged from the ground, and asked, "Did he get away?"

When the rat shook its head, Tokiya asked again, "Can you smell those three down there?"

The rat shook its head once more. It was unclear whether it could not smell them or whether there was no true body among them.

As he watched Tokiya communicate with his Summoned Beast, Gojo Yoru maintained the same blank expression as the Phantom Clones, pretending to be a mere projection, while inwardly feeling a chill of lingering fear.

That was close. I almost got caught off guard!

This guy really isn't simple.

When others first noticed something was off about the Phantom Clones, they could only react passively.

Tokiya, however, had chosen to throw a poison-smoke bomb.

Fortunately, after Gojo Yoru created Phantom Clones that could not be sensed through Chakra, he had developed a habit of using full-body Phasing to blend in among them.

As long as he entered the Phasing state, even the strongest sensory abilities could not detect Gojo Yoru's Chakra. They would only mistake him for a Phantom Clone.

Genjutsu was ineffective against Phantom Clones, and likewise ineffective against Gojo Yoru when he had merged into space.

The moment Gojo Yoru saw Tokiya take out the poison-smoke bomb, he heightened his vigilance and did not reveal his true body to attack Tokiya.

Otherwise, he would have inhaled the poisonous smoke.

That man's Summoned Beast could burrow underground and track his location even through torrential rain. It was clearly no ordinary rat.

It definitely knew that his true body had not left.

If he attacked again with the Phantom Body Flicker Technique and Tokiya discovered that his true body was hidden among them, Tokiya would surely deduce that he possessed the ability to merge into space. Once his information was exposed, dealing with him would become much harder.

He could easily flee with Earth Body Flicker and Phasing, but the Space-Time Chakra of a Genin-level shinobi could only sustain full-body use for a few minutes at most.

The rat's range of smell was unknown. He could not use that method to exhaust his strongest energy, or death would be inevitable if he was caught.

Only he and that man were here. Nagato was still young, and Black Zetsu and White Zetsu, who could use the Mayfly Technique to merge with the earth, should be secretly protecting Nagato or monitoring Uchiha Madara.

His battle with this man should not be so unlucky as to draw their attention at just this moment.

Kill him!

Gojo Yoru made his decision at once, and his gaze changed.

The next second, Gojo Yoru and the two Phantom Clones slowly sank into the ground under Tokiya's watch.

"Squeak, squeak..."

Before long, the rat cried out.

Tokiya immediately formed seals and used the Water Body Flicker Technique to vanish from the top of the rocky hill.

When he appeared again, he was on the rain-soaked ground. Not far ahead, Gojo Yoru was running away with his back turned.

Tokiya did not immediately attack. Instead, he used the Rain Curtain to cast a genjutsu, allowing invisible Yin Release Chakra to seep into Gojo Yoru's brain.

The next second, Gojo Yoru's steps paused slightly before he continued running wildly, as though he had not noticed he had fallen under a genjutsu.

Sensing that his opponent's current Chakra did not possess the ability to instantly break free from his genjutsu, Tokiya still did not approach. Instead, he formed seals and manipulated the rainwater into a rapidly rotating Water Pillar that shot toward Gojo Yoru.

Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!

The Water Pillar struck Gojo Yoru, but with a crisp bang, the target turned into a cloud of white smoke.

Seeing this, Tokiya's face darkened again.

Just as he prepared to continue searching for Gojo Yoru's true body, a casual glance from the corner of his eye made his expression abruptly change.

"Goodbye!"

Three Gojo Yoruses had somehow positioned themselves to his left, right, and rear, each assuming an iaijutsu stance.

Grinning at Tokiya, the three Gojo Yoruses turned into three black streaks that crisscrossed around him.

Several seconds later, Gojo Yoru appeared before Tokiya, turning his back to him as he sheathed his blade.

With a click, the final section of the blade slid into its sheath.

Tokiya's frozen body became covered in countless lines like a puzzle, before chunks of flesh and blood fell away piece by piece.