Outer Style: Dream Bullet

Chunin and Genin relied more heavily on taijutsu in battle, and it was not simply because they lacked chakra.

Slowness was ninjutsu's greatest original sin.

Only by increasing one's chakra reserves, learning to simplify hand seals, forming seals one-handed, or taking advantage of the gaps between an enemy's attacks to form seals in combat could one truly use ninjutsu well.

All of those techniques depended heavily on experience or talent.

Thus, at the Chunin and Genin stages, ninjutsu could only display its greatest value in ambushes. In a real fight, ninjutsu-focused shinobi held no particular advantage.

It was like football.

Drag those useless clowns from the national team onto an empty pitch, and even the defenders and goalkeeper could show off Marseille turns, stepovers, and all sorts of tricks. They could take shots at a goal fifty meters away and score nine out of ten.

But in an actual match, where the situation changed by the second and opposing players fought and interfered with them, the gods of the neighborhood pitch immediately revealed their true colors.

Shinobi were no different.

It was not enough to simply know how to use ninjutsu.

You had to use it properly in battle, under the enemy's interference, and make it deliver the value it was meant to. Only then could you be said to truly know how to use ninjutsu.

Those capable of that were either geniuses or Jonin with extensive combat experience.

Kurokawa was a Chunin who leaned more toward ninjutsu. Otherwise, he would not have been selected for the team tasked with ambushing Tsunade.

During the battle, Kurokawa repeatedly tried to widen the distance and capitalize on his advantage in ninjutsu, only for Uchiha Mai to close the gap again and again, forcing him into close combat.

They were in a forest, where the terrain was complex and clearly favored taijutsu-oriented shinobi.

Still, Kurokawa came from Kumogakure. Even if he specialized more in ninjutsu, his taijutsu was far from poor—he could even be called outstanding.

Likely influenced by the Raikage's lineage, Kumogakure rarely produced shinobi whose taijutsu was completely abysmal. Almost everyone there could throw around a few taijutsu techniques.

In the Fourth Great Ninja War, all those A's and B's from Kumogakure were decent at ninjutsu, taijutsu, and swordsmanship. Their individual strength was very high.

He was tall and powerfully built, yet he was being suppressed in taijutsu. Kurokawa felt utterly stifled, but there was nothing he could do.

This little brat was fast, strong, and able to pull out every kind of technique with effortless ease. In terms of taijutsu, other than being somewhat lacking in durability, he had almost no weaknesses.

Poor durability could be compensated for with speed and agility. An evasion tank was still a tank. As long as the enemy could not hit him, he was tough enough.

"Kurokawa, why is it taking so long to deal with one little brat? Finish him quickly and come support us!" On the other side, the Hidden Cloud Jonin was already drenched in sweat and nearing the end of his rope.

Requesting reinforcements!

Master Minato, relying on his masterful Body Flicker Technique, handled the siege of four opponents with ease. He could even seize openings in their defenses and counterattack.

His speed was so great that it left behind streaks of afterimages. At a glance, it looked as though Master Minato alone had surrounded the enemy team.

At this point, Master Minato was starting to resemble a budget version of Senju Tobirama.

Aside from Water Style and various forbidden techniques, Senju Tobirama's proudest technique was Flying Thunder God Slash. As the name implied, it was Flying Thunder God plus swordsmanship.

He used Flying Thunder God to get close to an enemy, then killed them with a single slash. Madara's younger brother, Mai's great-grandfather Uchiha Izuna, had been slain by Senju Tobirama's Flying Thunder God Slash.

Compared to Senju Tobirama at this stage, Master Minato was merely a bit slower and hit with a little less force.

It was no big deal. Against mere Jonin and Chunin, he could scrub them to death all the same.

Narita Daisaku and the other three had been surrounded by Master Minato, and the pressure on them was enormous. Was Kurokawa, who was being beaten down by Uchiha Mai, any different?

I want to request support too.

But Narita Daisaku was the captain, a Jonin. Kumogakure had rules: subordinates were not allowed to talk back to their superiors.

"Yes, I'll deal with him immediately." Kurokawa could only grit his teeth and accept the order. As long as I widen the distance and use a ninjutsu capable of killing him in one strike, everything will be fine.

After another brief stalemate, Kurokawa finally found an opportunity. He forced Uchiha Mai back with one move, then immediately retreated about twenty meters, rapidly forming hand seals as he prepared to finish his opponent with ninjutsu.

"Die!"

This time, I, Kurokawa, will never be interrupted again.

During the repeated cycles of having the distance opened up and then closed again, Kurokawa had already roughly calculated Uchiha Mai's maximum burst speed.

At this distance, as long as I focus entirely on forming seals, there is absolutely no way this little brat can interrupt me again with the speed he has shown!

The humiliation of being suppressed for so long would soon be washed away in an instant.

Little brat, this is what a Kumogakure Chunin is like. Battles between shinobi are not simply about competing in strength—they require brains too. Do you have this kind of calculating ability?

Kurokawa had not even formed two seals before he had already decided how he would show off after killing Mai.

"Pretty smart."

When the forced-back Uchiha Mai saw Kurokawa withdraw to a rather delicate distance and begin forming seals at high speed, he could not help but smile.

You were waiting for this moment. So was I.

[Gongshoudao] activated. Payment: 300,000. Duration set to 2 seconds.

During the fight just now, Uchiha Mai had continuously used [Gongshoudao], usually setting it at 50,000 per second. It was a highly cost-effective amount, increasing his speed by roughly thirty percent.

This time, the cost per second surged to 150,000. Yet because of diminishing marginal returns, the speed increase only rose from roughly thirty percent to thirty-five percent.

What could a five percent increase in speed do? Sometimes, it could do nothing. Sometimes, it could do a great many things.

In an instant, Uchiha Mai burst forth at a speed just slightly faster than before. He passed through layer upon layer of obstacles, closed the distance between them, and arrived before Kurokawa.

"What?"

Kurokawa, whose seals were nearly complete, turned pale with shock. Why? Why was he even faster than at his previous top speed?

"The one who is really going to die is you!"

Uchiha Mai threw back his head and laughed wildly, raising one arm and curling his five fingers into a claw before slashing downward at Kurokawa's throat.

Do not ask why he was laughing wildly. It was the Uchiha racial talent. An Uchiha who did not laugh wildly had no soul.

At the critical moment between life and death, Kurokawa abandoned his hand seals and desperately twisted his neck to evade. Unfortunately, he still failed to avoid it completely. Four claw marks, deep enough to expose bone, were torn across his chest from his left shoulder to his right waist.

After practicing all kinds of taijutsu techniques for so long, and with the dual boosts of chakra and [Gongshoudao], Uchiha Mai's claws were nearly comparable to kunai.

Just as Kurokawa thought he had escaped disaster, Uchiha Mai's slashing claw snapped back at high speed, and his wrist smashed viciously into Kurokawa's throat.

Tremendous force struck him. Kurokawa's laryngeal cartilage and airway were shattered outright, and the fragments of cartilage pierced into his carotid artery, causing massive bleeding.

Mai Style Ancient Martial Arts: Outer Style: Dream Bullet.

It was a move Uchiha Mai had developed long ago but never had the chance to use, simply because it was too lethal.