Do You Want to Dance Too?

Ōnoki hovered in the sky, watching the two battlefields in the distance.

The battle between Hatake Sakumo and a group of Uchiha was evenly matched. The Konoha shinobi had limited range, and for some reason, they were fighting cautiously, just like the Iwa shinobi. As a result, not many Iwa shinobi had been killed.

Their chakra was steadily dwindling. Overall, the Iwa shinobi still had a slight advantage.

As time passed, the group might even be captured alive.

But elsewhere,

Uchiha Yuji was on a killing spree. More than a hundred Iwa shinobi had already died at his hands, and the longer the battle went on, the less willing the Iwa shinobi near him were to fight.

He was using Taijutsu for the most part, but normally, it couldn't be this deadly without consuming a great deal of chakra.

The same was true of the Eight Inner Gates. Opening each [Gate] inside the body required more chakra to support it, allowing the body to unleash greater strength.

Their side's will to fight was waning, and their numbers were rapidly dwindling.

But it was all right.

"L-Lord Tsuchikage, Uchiha Yuji's chakra hasn't decreased at all." The sensory ninja's voice trembled. Amid the clamor of the battlefield, even Ōnoki wondered if he'd heard wrong.

"What? What did you say? Are you sure?"

His three questions grew louder and louder, until the sensory ninja could only nod repeatedly.

"I've confirmed it more than three times, and I contacted the other sensory ninja as well. They all got the same result! He's a monster! That guy's a monster!"

So that strange feeling really had been a sense of foreboding.

His comrades were being killed one after another, yet the man surrounded by them showed no sign of injury or chakra loss. It was as though killing Iwa shinobi was as easy for him as breathing.

This hopeless reality was enough to make anyone break down.

"Calm down, Gato!" Ōnoki gripped his shoulder firmly and looked straight into Gato's eyes with a resolute gaze.

The spirit and vigor Ōnoki displayed helped steady Gato, but fear still lingered in his eyes.

The young sensory ninja had never experienced war.

"Ordinary shinobi will have a hard time giving him any trouble. Let us handle him, Third Tsuchikage." Ganga made his suggestion in a low voice.

The ranks of Genin, Chunin, and Jonin represented enormous differences in combat strength. Well, in Konoha, the strongest fighters were often Genin.

The Iwa shinobi's regular forces didn't include Jonin. Ordinary fighters couldn't match Iwa in a full-scale battle, but smaller groups in a large-scale conflict had trouble dealing with powerful opponents.

To solve this problem, Iwa gathered its powerful Jonin together to deal with problems the regular forces couldn't handle.

"That man is strong. Ganga and the others might not be able to take him down. Let me help, too," Hanzō said gravely. "If I can land just one punch, I can finish him."

As a member of the Iwa shinobi's special forces, the demolition squad, Hanzō was slender, but his slight frame concealed tremendous strength.

The demolition squad had always been a rare unit. They weren't assigned to plans that involved swarming an opponent and wearing them down.

Given the strength Uchiha Yuji had just displayed, it was clear the time had come to send them in.

Ōnoki nodded slightly. "I'm counting on you, Ganga. I'll support you when the time is right."

"Leave it to us." Ganga looked thoroughly dependable, standing a head taller than Ōnoki, who was floating in midair.

As soon as Ganga finished speaking, Hanzō hurried toward the battlefield.

His urgency was entirely in keeping with the temperament of an Explosion Release user. Ganga hurried after him, though he was nowhere near as fast.

Iwa had fought in many wars, which had made its shinobi well-trained fighters. Even the rank-and-file shinobi usually had one or two techniques they excelled at, enough to easily overpower ordinary civilian-born Genin from Konoha.

But Uchiha Yuji was clearly not an opponent on their level.

He casually slapped away an Iwa shinobi who approached him. He looked as relaxed and unconcerned as if he were strolling through his own garden.

Hanzō seized his chance. With light steps, his slender figure weaved through the crowd, leaving the people he passed far behind. He punched Uchiha Yuji in the back.

But Uchiha Yuji suddenly felt an unfamiliar chakra flow into his body from behind.

Nothing happened.

To guard against a single Dust Release blast from Ōnoki, he had kept Zetton ready to absorb energy.

"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"

Hanzō shouted the name of his technique excitedly, but moments later, Uchiha Yuji—now charged with the chakra of Explosion Release: Landmine Fist—stood completely still. Nothing unusual happened.

Hanzō immediately tried to retreat.

But a pale hand reached for his throat as Yuji twisted around.

Hanzō sped up. The hand should have been easy to dodge, but it suddenly accelerated as well, clamping precisely around his throat.

Because of their difference in height and reach, Uchiha Yuji lifted him with ease.

"Do you want to dance too?"

Hanzō said nothing, but fear had already filled his eyes.

He wasn't some Genin or Chunin. He was Hanzō of Explosion Release, an elite Iwa Jonin! Yet his performance on the battlefield was no different from theirs.

That didn't mean he was too weak!

It meant the man before him was too strong!

"Good chakra. A good nature transformation, too. I like the look in your eyes as well. I enjoy seeing my enemies look at me like that." Uchiha Yuji was as calm as ever.

"If you'd hit me directly, even I might have had a hard time handling it. But you were a little unlucky."

With his free hand, Uchiha Yuji held his thumb and index finger a tiny distance apart.

"Monster." Hanzō couldn't believe his ambush had ended this way.

He was certain he'd poured in a massive amount of chakra and activated Explosion Release!

And yet it hadn't affected Yuji in the slightest. That was completely beyond the bounds of humanity! Even a Tailed Beast couldn't completely ignore his Explosion Release.

"Not a bad name." Uchiha Yuji accepted Hanzō's description without hesitation.

"Zetton has evolved to a certain extent. I might as well start with you."

His words were calm, but they made Hanzō's blood run cold. Every hair on his body stood on end against his will.

"It's called... Explosion Release: Landmine Fist, right?"

His right hand clenched slightly.

A thunderous explosion erupted from his hand. Smoke, streaked with pure white and blood red, billowed out. The hand gripping Hanzō had quietly lowered.

The wind carried the smoke into the distance, spreading fear in its wake.