Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
As soon as Haori finished speaking, the kunai in his hand shot out at high speed.
The kunai seemed to fly in a haphazard pattern, even colliding with one another as their paths crossed through the air.
But Kari didn't dare let his guard down for a moment. Haori had already caught him off guard once, and he would never believe the kid was doing anything pointless.
Still, he didn't curse Haori as "sneaky" or anything like that.
A ninja was supposed to use every advantage he had and do whatever it took to defeat his enemy!
Instead, he cursed the Iwagakure shinobi who had sent him here.
They hadn't even figured out who the opponent was, let alone what his abilities were. It was downright fatal!
Clang, clang, clang—
After colliding in midair, the kunai abruptly changed their flight paths and surrounded Kari from every direction, leaving him no way out.
At the sight of this, Kari's expression changed. He swiftly drew a Ninja Sword.
He was a jonin, after all. Though he preferred relying on his Kekkei Genkai, that didn't mean he was bad with a sword.
As the kunai came at him from all directions, Kari wielded his sword in a dazzling flurry. Amid the shrill clash of metal, he deflected every kunai.
"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"
Haori didn't let up either. He rapidly formed Hand Seals, and a massive fireball roared toward Kari.
"Hmph!"
Kari snorted. While deflecting the kunai, he raised his left hand, concentrating chakra in it.
"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"
The chakra surged through him, and an invisible shock wave spread out, striking Haori's fireball.
Flames scattered in an instant as the fireball was destroyed before it could reach him.
But Kari wasn't happy in the slightest. He sensed that the Uchiha kid might have figured out his weakness.
Explosion Release could be used in many ways. Whether for ranged blasts or close combat, its use depended entirely on the fighter's habits.
Kari preferred close combat, so his Explosion Release could only show its full strength at close range.
But he'd run into an awkward problem: he needed to get close to make the most of his abilities, yet his opponent was an Uchiha with the Three-Tomoe Sharingan.
Worse, his opponent seemed to have figured out his fighting style and was deliberately keeping his distance. Kari didn't dare rush in.
"This is a complete mess. Those bastards..."
For a moment, he was caught between advancing and retreating.
Apart from cursing the people who'd sent him here without giving him any intelligence, he couldn't think of anything else to do.
Still, he wasn't too worried. This was their territory, and reinforcements would arrive soon.
Besides, Haori was just a kid. His chakra couldn't possibly hold out against this kind of fighting!
Unfortunately for Kari, he was clearly mistaken.
Haori had indeed figured out Kari's problem. And though Haori's current tactics consumed a lot of chakra, he could sustain them.
He was an Uchiha, after all. His powerful spiritual energy meant he had plenty of chakra; he wouldn't run out after using just a few jutsu.
Haori had his own plans, too. He couldn't afford to keep dragging things out with Kari. He needed to find an opening and finish him off as soon as possible!
For a while, the two kept maneuvering against each other.
Kari tried to wear Haori down while repeatedly attempting to close in and end the fight, while Haori countered with Shuriken, kunai, and ninjutsu.
Roar—
Just as their battle reached its peak, a beastlike roar suddenly rang through the forest.
At the same time, a strange chakra spread throughout the entire forest.
Feeling that chakra, Haori and Kari both paused for a moment, their expressions changing in different ways.
"That's... Tailed Beast chakra?"
Haori murmured. Though he'd never witnessed a Tailed Beast's power being unleashed, this chakra seemed to strike a chord deep within him, making him instantly recognize what it was.
"A Jinchuriki has arrived to guard the rear. This changes everything..."
Haori now seemed to truly understand what his actions behind enemy lines had done to the war as a whole!
Before this, he hadn't really felt the impact.
He'd forced Namikaze Minato to arrive late and left Kakashi facing more enemies, but both situations had been resolved without a hitch.
Afterward, he'd even received Namikaze Minato's protection, and life had been relatively easy. He hadn't felt surrounded by danger.
But the sudden appearance of a Jinchuriki now made it clear that their situation was worse than he'd imagined!
"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"
The instant Haori's attention wavered, a sinister grin appeared on Kari's face.
He charged forward, his fist glowing with chakra as he drove it straight at Haori!
Haori seemed momentarily dazed, but his attention remained fixed on the battle.
In fact, that brief lapse was just an act for Kari's benefit.
A Jinchuriki had appeared. He had to end the fight even faster!
The instant Kari attacked, Haori's body darted sideways. At the same time, he reached out to grab Kari's wrist.
Kari kept his head slightly lowered, refusing to meet Haori's gaze, so Haori couldn't use the Sharingan's genjutsu on him.
But that also restricted Kari's movements, allowing Haori to deal with him more easily.
That showed just how intimidating the Sharingan was!
"Hmph!"
Kari wasn't a rookie. He immediately saw what Haori was trying to do, and the chakra around his fist began to swell and flare.
Seeing that Kari was about to detonate his Explosion Release right there, Haori abruptly stopped his hand, spun around, and kicked Kari in the stomach!
Boom—
An explosion rang through the air. Kari's body flew backward, and though his stomach throbbed with pain, he quickly regained his footing.
"Kid, you're out of chances!"
Watching Haori stand motionless, Kari spoke in a cold voice.
"I don't know exactly how many of you there are, but you're behind our lines. Do you really think you can escape?"
"I don't know about that, but there's one thing I'm sure of."
Haori looked straight at Kari. When he saw the man turn his head away again, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"You won't live to see how it ends!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Haori suddenly raised his hand. In an instant, Kari felt his body tense up against his will.
"What is this...?"
Kari's expression changed drastically. In the glow of the flames around him, he finally noticed that his body had somehow been wrapped in fine steel wires.
The wires were nearly invisible to the naked eye. They had been carried in by the kunai and Shuriken Haori had thrown earlier.
"You..."
Kari's expression changed drastically. Now he understood why Haori had immediately used ninjutsu to drive him back after throwing the kunai: it had been to keep him from noticing the wires.
It was clear he'd been set up from the very beginning!
"You think you can hold me with this? Dream on!"
Kari roared. Chakra surged wildly through him, and a glow of chakra appeared around his fist.
But Haori controlled the wires, forcing Kari's head up against his will.
"Don't bother struggling. The moment you faced the Sharingan, your fate was sealed."
In an instant, the Three-Tomoe Sharingan appeared in Kari's field of vision, and a sinister force forced its way into his mind.
Within his consciousness, the world had changed completely.
The sun in the sky had become a huge, crimson Three-Tomoe Sharingan, slowly turning!
At the same time, Haori swiftly formed Hand Seals. Flames raced along the steel wires, taking the shape of a fire dragon that rushed straight at Kari, who had fallen into a daze.
As the fire dragon converged around him, scorching flames instantly swallowed him whole!
"Ah!"
The intense pain jolted Kari out of the genjutsu. His shrill scream sounded as if it had come from the depths of hell, echoing across the wilderness.
P.S. The war in the Land of Grass is finally about to wrap up. It's time to head back and make preparations—and recruit some people, too.
A rookie writer humbly begs you to keep reading. Read-through numbers at this point determine everything for a book; if you save it for later, it's easy for the book to die.
Thanks, everyone! Orz