White Fang Sends His Regards

The Akatsuki members who had appeared were not in great shape either; having chased the mountain fire all the way, their faces were equally blackened by the smoke.

But compared to the bedraggled Root members, they were undoubtedly the side resting at ease.

Karasuba had already stripped off his shirt from the heat, revealing sharply defined pectoral and abdominal muscles.

He quickly formed four hand seals, then drew the longsword from his back in one motion.

Blade out, fire rose!

Flames clung to his edge as he slashed forward, the arc of fire like an extended blade glow, surging and blazing fiercely toward the Root ninja Wu before him!

Karasuba was the first Akatsuki member to recognize and follow Shiba Seika, so Shiba Seika had never been stingy in sharing the Kenjutsu insights he had gained.

Later, after acquiring the techniques traded from the Uchiha clan, Shiba Seika taught him many Fire Release moves.

One time, seeing Karasuba's talent in both Kenjutsu and Fire Release, Shiba Seika casually mentioned trying to attach flames to the blade—so every strike would be a blazing explosion, perhaps yielding surprising results.

At the time, Shiba Seika was just speaking offhand, but to his surprise, a few days later Karasuba had actually worked out some insights!

Now, with his self-created Blazing Blade Style unleashed, even the seasoned Root ninja from Konoha were stunned speechless.

But at the same time, the cornered Root launched their own counterattack.

The most vicious member of the team, Luo, was the first to target Shiba Seika.

"So you're the brat scheming against us?!"

He tore off his mask in one motion, shook off the sweat, and roared as he lunged at Shiba Seika!

Root members were normally forbidden from removing their masks during missions to avoid exposing their true identities.

Luo's move was a last-ditch gamble, determined to silence the boy before him!

He had had enough of this night's humiliation!

As he charged forward, he rapidly formed hand seals, mentally calculating the cruelest way to tear the boy apart.

But just as he was one seal away from completing his jutsu, the calm youth in the distant firelight appeared before him as if teleported!

It was Genjutsu!

Shiba Seika had layered Genjutsu!

He used it to blur Luo's perception of distance!

Though it had no actual killing power, it caught him off guard and threw his timing into chaos!

This was Shiba Seika's understanding of Genjutsu: not only Genjutsu that kills with a glance is good Genjutsu—unexpected deception and misdirection can sometimes be more practical than pure destruction!

Now, as Shiba Seika's blade came down, Luo, having misjudged the distance, completely miscalculated the engagement time and found himself in a dilemma.

Completing the hand seals meant betting whether the blade or the jutsu would land first within a single step.

In the end, he didn't dare take that gamble.

Because within a single step, Shiba Seika's blade was both swift and ruthless!

Forced to abandon the seals, he stopped and retreated, while one hand hooked a Kunai from his Ninja Tools pouch.

"Clang! Clang! Clang!"

A rapid series of metallic clashes erupted through the forest.

Luo stepped back, constantly parrying Shiba Seika's slashes with his Kunai.

At first, he hadn't taken this Rain Ninja brat seriously.

Even while blocking, he kept taunting.

"You wouldn't happen to be that stray Shimura brat Lord Danzo is looking for, would you?"

But after several exchanges, his expression gradually turned grim. Reluctantly, he hooked another Kunai with his other hand, forced to alternate blocks.

His words also began to betray unease.

"Brat, what kind of sword style is this?! You're not from the Shimura clan!"

After a few more moves, sweat beaded thicker on Luo's face and the back of his head, dripping down his forehead, forcing him to squint.

His feet shifted constantly, trying to create distance, but he never succeeded.

His tone shifted from doubt to outright terror.

"Damn brat! You really want to kill me?! Stop! Ryōma, save me!!"

Yūno Ryōma could only release a jutsu from afar to support him.

"Wind Release: Vacuum Jade!"

But as a member of the Yūno clan, most of Ryōma's strength lay in his insects; his standard ninjutsu was barely passable.

Shiba Seika didn't even acknowledge the incoming Wind Release bullet.

The Vacuum Jade pierced his left shoulder, but he didn't even blink, his right hand smoothly continuing its slash!

"Pfft!"

That blade landed on Luo's left shoulder in the same spot, but the injuries were worlds apart!

Vacuum Jade merely pierced Shiba Seika's shoulder, but his blade had sunk deep into Luo's scapula, cleaving straight into his chest cavity!

Luo's pupils instantly dilated to their maximum.

In a daze, he finally remembered where he had seen such a swordsmanship before.

"This is... White Fang's... How can you—?"

Though Shiba Seika had never actually crossed paths with Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo, he still curled his lips into a brilliant smile at the man before him, twisting the knife even as he withdrew his blade.

"White Fang, far off in the Pure Land, asked me to send his regards to Root's members. When you used rumors to drive him to his death back then, did you ever think this day would come?"

Blood sprayed from the split chest, yet it still couldn't hide the shock in Luo's eyes.

In his final moment before falling backward, he rasped weakly, "How do you know? Who... are you?"

Root Jonin, codename Luo, confirmed dead!

At that moment, what little morale remained among Root's members plummeted to freezing point!

At the brink of life and death, Yūno Ryōma erupted fully, forcibly commanding his insects to swarm all the Akatsuki members who had revealed themselves!

But the only thing that greeted him was three synchronized voices.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Yūno Ryōma swore he had never hated the Uchiha clan's signature jutsu as much as he did in that instant!

He quickly pulled his swarm back.

In truth, not many bugs had been burned to death, yet sharp pain still flared across every part of his body.

His raised insects were in revolt!

Even if they had dodged the oncoming fireballs, flames now raged in every direction around them. The licking fire serpents gave even a ninja trouble, let alone the bugs!

They were frantically protesting to him, refusing to work in such an environment.

Some even threatened to turn on their master if he didn't flee this sea of fire immediately.

One could say Shiba Seika had chosen the battlefield perfectly. Without this inferno, the few of them might not have stood a chance against a Konoha elite Jonin and Root's supreme commander!

"Damn it! At least... at least I need to cut down the weaker ones first. Leave that Shimura-looking kid and the one with the fire sword for last." Even in this extremely disadvantageous situation, Yūno Ryōma still racked his brain for a countermeasure.

But the next moment, a scene that plunged him deeper into despair unfolded—

Shiba Seika pressed his right hand to his injured left shoulder, healing himself, then extended his left hand toward Masuda Ikki, who had been wounded while barely holding off the rest of Root. His tone was stiff.

"Bite my hand. Now."

Though confused, Masuda Ikki didn't dare question it. He closed his eyes and bit down.

And then, in the next instant, both sides stared in shock as Masuda Ikki's wounds visibly healed at a remarkable speed!

At that, Yūno Ryōma's heart sank even deeper.