Defeating Pakura

Shinji's gaze suddenly sharpened.

The two tomoe that had been spinning in his pupils suddenly began to tremble violently.

The two black tomoe spun rapidly, stretching as though an invisible force deep within his eyes were sketching them into shape.

The next moment—

A third tomoe slowly emerged at the edge of his pupil, forming a triangular arrangement with the first two before finally stabilizing.

The world became clear once more in his eyes, as though a high-definition image had leaped straight into razor-sharp 8K resolution. Every tiny movement Pakura made, every contraction of her muscles, even the paths Chakra took through her meridians, was broken down into slow motion.

The Chakra within him seemed to ignite, and the aura around him grew increasingly sharp. The gap in strength between him and Pakura was visibly shrinking, his power already infinitely close to that of a jonin.

"So this is the power of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan?"

I can do this.

Shinji stopped evading. With a flick of his wrist, he gripped two Kunai.

The next second, he stomped hard on the ground. His figure suddenly split apart, and eight identical figures instantly surrounded Pakura from every direction. Each carried a real presence, their afterimages solid and undispersed.

"That's the technique that appeared in the earlier battle?!"

Pakura's expression changed drastically as a figure suddenly flashed through her mind—the Uchiha clansman recorded in the intelligence reports, the one who had shone brilliantly in Konoha's battle against Mist.

"Are you Body Flicker Shisui?!"

Shinji remained silent, inwardly mocking her.

How could he possibly be Shisui? Otherwise, how could they have forced him into such a miserable state earlier?

He secretly guessed that Shisui had probably already awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan. With just one look, he could likely kill Pakura instantly.

Shinji steadied his mind. Not only did his movements not stop, they grew even faster. The ocular power of his Three-Tomoe Sharingan was unleashed to its fullest, his real body and phantoms constantly switching positions.

At that moment, all eight figures raised their hands and hurled Shuriken at once.

The sounds of tearing air came in a dense barrage, their trajectories tricky and vicious, displaying the Uchiha Clan's superb mastery of ninja tool throwing.

For a moment, Pakura could not distinguish the real body from the phantoms at all.

"Damn it!"

Pakura wildly swung her Kunai to block them. Blades collided, sending sparks flying.

The terror of the Phantom Body Flicker Technique lay in its ultimate application of Sharingan genjutsu. It did not merely manipulate sight—even touch could be deceived.

What the enemy touched might be nothing more than an illusion woven by genjutsu, or it might be the true body itself.

Pakura's attacks on Shinji either struck a false body, leaving only ripples in the air, or she believed she had seen through the real body when she had actually fallen into a genjutsu trap and mistaken a phantom for the real thing.

"If that's the case, then I'll destroy them all! Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"

"Hah!"

Pakura roared, Chakra surging into her fist like a raging tide as she slammed it viciously into the ground.

Boom!

The violent explosion instantly swept through the area, swallowing every phantom whole.

Shinji did not dare lower his guard. He rapidly retreated, barely escaping the blast radius.

Pakura's Explosion Release was completely different from Deidara's clay explosions. She specialized more in Taijutsu; only whatever her fists touched would trigger those horrifying explosions capable of tearing everything apart.

As the smoke cleared, Pakura seized the opening and charged forward. Her Kunai pierced toward Shinji's heart with a howling gust of wind.

"Brat, die!"

But just as the Kunai was about to strike, Shinji's figure suddenly vanished, transforming into more than a dozen crows that scattered in every direction.

These were Shinji's Ninja Crows. He had long since combined them with the Substitution Technique.

Immediately afterward, even more crows swooped out from the shadows, forming a dark mass as they circled overhead. Their piercing caws rose and fell without end.

Pakura stared fiercely around her, her pupils contracting, yet she could not find any trace of Shinji.

"Brat, where are you?"

Before her words had even faded, the crows filling the sky suddenly changed direction and dove at her like a rain of black arrows.

The next instant, the crows' bodies twisted violently. Their wings transformed directly into rapidly spinning Shuriken, crashing down in a sky-covering barrage.

Shinji leaped out from midair, one hand held before his mouth as blazing Chakra erupted forth—

Great Fireball Technique!

Flames and Shuriken arrived together. His figure flickered once more, vanishing completely from sight.

Pakura rolled away in a sorry state, barely evading the fierce assault. Yet when she rose, she had lost sight of her target once again, and irritation immediately rose within her.

"He vanished again... this slippery little brat."

She was a ninja who possessed the Explosion Release Kekkei Genkai. With Taijutsu and explosions combined, she had never feared close combat.

Yet this Uchiha brat before her refused to confront her head-on. He only kept harassing her with genjutsu and Body Flicker techniques, leaving all her brute strength with nowhere to go.

However, the air several meters in front of Pakura suddenly twisted and rippled.

Shinji's figure slowly emerged out of thin air.

Pakura's pupils shrank sharply as she cried out in shock, "You! How is that possible?"

"You actually know the Camouflage Technique? That's a secret technique of Iwagakure!"

Shinji's eyes snapped wide open, and surging Dojutsu power poured forth like a tidal wave, striking directly at Pakura's mind.

Illusion Technique: Demonic Binding Prison!

Within the dim, oppressive crimson genjutsu space, seven or eight massive stone wedges crashed down, brutally pinning Pakura's limbs, chest, and back.

In reality, Pakura instantly froze in place, her entire body trembling violently as excruciating pain swept through her.

"Damn it, this is genjutsu!"

He had completely forgotten that the Uchiha Clan were masters of genjutsu.

But he could not really be blamed. Since the battle began, Shinji had fought with Body Flicker, ninja tools, and ninjutsu, never once revealing any true Dojutsu genjutsu.

Aside from the Phantom Body Flicker Technique, the Illusion Technique: Demonic Binding Prison was currently his strongest killing move.

The gap in intelligence had ultimately sealed Pakura's defeat.

Shinji braced himself on his knees, gasping heavily. The Chakra within him was nearly exhausted, and his whole body shook uncontrollably.

This was the most perilous fight to the death he had faced since crossing over.

But he had won.

His opponent had even been an Iwagakure jonin, though his methods had involved a measure of calculation and ambush.

He lowered his head to look at the nearly transparent, gauze-thin fabric beside him, and a relieved smile slowly appeared on his lips.

[Item: Invisibility Cloak (Consumable)]

[Type: Special Ninja Tool]

[Effect: Continuously infuse Chakra to distort light. An excellent tool for sneaking through doors and picking locks, or slipping into a lady's chamber at night.]

[Note: Uses remaining (1/2). Can last up to one hour per use.]

He had exchanged it from the System Shop in the previous round. He had originally thought it would not be very useful, but it had unexpectedly played a decisive role here.

Shinji forced himself upright and slowly walked over to the immobile Pakura, drawing the Kunai from his waist.

"I don't know any Camouflage Technique. As for why I can turn invisible... perhaps you'll find out once you reach the Pure Land."

His wrist dipped slightly, and cold light flashed.

Blood sprayed out as Pakura's body crumpled limply to the ground.

"I never... thought I'd... lose to a brat like you!"

Still carrying that unanswered doubt to her death, the Iwagakure Explosion Release jonin fell completely silent.

Shinji put the Invisibility Cloak back into his inventory, then crouched beside Pakura's corpse and searched it for a while. To his surprise, he found two ninjutsu scrolls.

One contained the Lightning Style: Lightning Net Detonation Technique, while the other held Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall.

He unceremoniously stuffed both scrolls into his backpack.

Murder and arson made men rich. If he exchanged these two techniques through the system, they would be worth at least tens of thousands of Points.

After hesitating for a moment, he still took out a Sealing Scroll and sealed Pakura's corpse inside as well.

"It might come in handy someday."

A corpse with a Kekkei Genkai was worth quite a lot.

"People like Orochimaru are collecting Kekkei Genkai corpses, aren't they? I'll find a chance to sell it to him!"

Shinji shook his head, no longer lingering. He turned and dashed away at top speed.

"Saving Rin comes first!"