Eighteen: Who Says You Can't Stab Someone Without a Tip

"BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!"

A scorching dragon of fire roared through Tea House City, its searing sparks landing on the incoming webs and instantly reducing them to ash.

Uchiha Sakuya carried Tsunade on his back, landing atop a pavilion. His eyes swept the surroundings, where seven or eight Amegakure ninja wearing gas masks had descended, surrounding him completely.

"There are so many of them."

Sakuya grumbled, "I've already killed a few, yet there are still this many... and every single one of them is a Jonin, tch."

"Many of them are Jonin from smaller nations who joined Amegakure to serve under Hanzo."

Tsunade whispered into Sakuya's ear.

The warm, gentle breath against his ear made Sakuya's body stiffen in discomfort, yet he felt the two points of contact on his back becoming increasingly distinct.

Is she already this terrifying at only twenty-three?

Sakuya felt a jolt in his heart.

However, this was not the time for such thoughts.

As the flames on the ground gradually burned out, the toxins lingering in the air began to surge toward them once more.

He had given his gas mask to Tsunade, leaving him with no way to resist the poison.

He could not afford a prolonged battle.

He had to escape.

"Whoosh!"

Accompanied by the sound of tearing air, a white web shot toward Sakuya.

Sakuya pushed off the pavilion with his toes, spinning into the air while carrying Tsunade, his hands weaving seals at high speed.

Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!

He spat out a torrent of scorching flames that collided with the web. As the web incinerated, Sakuya used the momentum to retreat, flipping mid-air to smash a fist into the face of an approaching Amegakure ninja. He kicked off the man's body and landed in an open space.

The other Rain ninja followed closely, their webs, Water Style, and Wind Style techniques striking Sakuya's previous position almost instantly.

Dust and debris exploded outward as Sakuya leaped up, landing on the city wall and sprinting at full speed.

Tsunade held tightly to Sakuya's neck, watching the young man fight to the death against these Amegakure enemies while carrying her.

"Don't even think about running!"

Kidoyun, the leader, had finally arrived.

He spat a mass of white webbing from his mouth, hurling it toward Sakuya.

The web exploded instantly in mid-air, transforming into white shards that rained down around Sakuya.

Sakuya's Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly in his pupils. He swayed left and right while carrying Tsunade, dodging the webs and other enemy attacks as he sprinted along the city wall.

"Trying to leave the city? Ha, no way!"

Kidoyun noticed Sakuya's intent and a savage, wild grin appeared on his face. He pressed his six arms together, then slammed himself onto the ground, his mouth puffing up.

The next moment.

He spat out a series of small webs from his mouth, firing them like a machine gun with a rapid pop-pop-pop-pop sound toward Sakuya.

However, with Sakuya's Sharingan, he could react to the webs no matter how fast they were.

He held Tsunade with his right arm and formed a hand blade with his left, destroying every incoming web.

Compared to the previous single-shot webs, these rapid-fire ones were faster but significantly weaker in power.

Sakuya dodged another web and found a clean patch of the wall to stand on.

I've revealed these Sharingan; he should know I'm from the Uchiha Clan.

Since he knows, why is he still using this method of attack?

He knows it's ineffective against me, yet he continues to do it because...

Sakuya's gaze sharpened. He looked down abruptly and realized that his feet and his left hand were completely covered in the residual liquid from the webs he had just destroyed.

The substance dripped onto the city wall, rapidly solidifying into a sticky slime.

Disgusting!

Sakuya shook his hand violently to fling the slime away, but as he spread his fingers, he felt a strong resistance.

"Haha, didn't expect that, did you?"

Kidoyun laughed hideously, "This is the unique slime of our Tsuchigumo Clan."

He explained their clan's special ability to Uchiha Sakuya: "This is a weapon made from blood extracted from our own bodies. We can use it as webs to attack enemies, but when others come into contact with it, it turns into the stickiest substance in the world. Your left hand is already covered in it, isn't it? Your fingers can barely move now—can you still weave seals?"

He took the opportunity to weave seals at high speed.

"And your feet are covered in it too, right? Your speed will slow down. In that case, can you still dodge this move!?"

As his mouth opened, a golden web transformed into a sharp blade, lunging straight for Sakuya's face.

Ninja Art: Spider Sticky Gold!

Watching the incoming slime, Sakuya took a deep breath.

While supporting Tsunade with his right hand, he closed his eyes.

Has he given up on resisting?

What a pity. The Uchiha Clan is still better off captured alive.

Seeing him like this, Kidoyun felt a twinge of regret.

However, since he had managed to capture Princess Tsunade this time, it could be considered...

The next moment, Sakuya opened his eyes. As the Three-Tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly within them, he exhaled a massive dragon of fire.

Fire Style: Great Dragon Fire Technique!

"Nani!!?"

The fire dragon incinerated his spiderwebs almost instantly. At the same time, Sakuya stomped his foot heavily against the wall, launching himself into the air while opening his mouth once more.

A colossal fireball, ten meters in diameter, erupted from his mouth and surged straight toward Kidoyun's face.

Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!

BOOM!!!

The immense flames engulfed Kidoyun's figure.

Choking on a breath, he stumbled out from the smoke and dust.

Of his six arms, only three remained, and his body was covered in wounds.

He gasped for air, staring fixedly at Sakuya, his mouth agape in disbelief.

"Your fingers... they clearly couldn't move anymore... why are you..."

"Who said you must weave hand signs to release ninjutsu?"

Sakuya sneered, "Ever seen a hand-signless ninjutsu? You ignorant bumpkin."

So-called hand signs are, on the surface, complex movements of the fingers; in reality, they are a means of guiding the chakra within the body to flow and arrange itself along fixed meridian paths through specific gestures.

When this process is repeated, the body gradually becomes familiar with the trajectory of the chakra until it forms muscle memory. By then, the moment the seal is formed, the technique follows.

The Sharingan's ability to copy ninjutsu relies on its insight to see through the opponent's sequence of hand signs, analyzing the patterns of their chakra flow to make the technique its own. The Byakugan's observation works on the same principle.

Powerful ninjas, however, can make chakra flow according to these patterns without hand signs, thereby releasing ninjutsu.

The principles behind one-handed seals and hand-signless ninjutsu are the same.

But while the theory is simple, breaking free from muscle memory to perform hand-signless ninjutsu is incredibly difficult.

In the vast ninja world, aside from the former God of Shinobi, Hashirama Senju, who could simply clap his hands together and manifest whatever he shouted, who else could perform hand-signless ninjutsu?

Tsunade gazed at Sakuya's profile, her expression complex.

As far as she knew, not even the Hokage in all of Konoha could perform hand-signless ninjutsu, yet this Uchiha clansman before her...

Noticing her gaze, Sakuya turned his head and offered her a faint smile.

"I couldn't do it before," he said.

"But in a moment of desperation, I learned."

"Eh?"

"After all, I have to protect my important partner."

Sakuya withdrew his gaze and looked back toward Kidoyun, his tone light and casual, yet carrying an unquestionable weight.

"Because you are here, I am capable of anything."