Border Encounter (3)

"What a troublesome guy!"

Seeing that his ultimate Vacuum Sword had failed to land a sneak attack, Shirokumo Hayama did not choose to press his advantage against Uesugi Shinji. Instead, he pressed his palms together to perform a Clone Technique, his body instantly splitting into ten as he sprinted in every direction.

Just then, a crosswind blew through, whipping up a flurry of fallen leaves that swirled and danced in the surrounding air.

Uesugi Shinji let out a cold snort, his hands rapidly weaving seals to complete an area-of-effect ninjutsu in an instant.

"Ice Release: Ice Shard Rain!"

Massive quantities of ice shards instantly condensed around Uesugi Shinji's body, whistling through the air as they flew toward the sky before raining down upon the ground, blanketing a large area nearby.

Under the dense, wide-range barrage of the Ice Shard Rain, most of Shirokumo Hayama's clones were pierced through. These were not Shadow Clones with physical bodies, but rather intangible illusions.

Shirokumo Hayama was cautious by nature; although his stamina and chakra reserves were exceptional, he rarely used Shadow Clones or other physical clones that required splitting his chakra.

For the purpose of creating chaos and drawing an enemy's attention, ordinary illusionary clones were more than enough!

Controlling the massive volume of ice shards to sweep through Shirokumo Hayama's clones, Uesugi Shinji observed with cold eyes while quickly pinpointing the one figure that had raised a weapon to deflect the shards—this was clearly the real body.

He stomped his foot, utilizing the Body Flicker Technique to arrive at the side of Shirokumo Hayama's true form, crouching slightly to launch a sneak attack with his wakizashi toward the opponent's waist.

As the saying goes, an inch longer is an inch stronger, but an inch shorter is an inch more dangerous. The reason Uesugi Shinji chose a wakizashi—a blade with a length between a standard katana and a dagger or kunai—was precisely because he valued its agility.

This sneak attack came from a tricky angle, and Shirokumo Hayama, currently busy blocking the ice shards, seemed unable to defend in time.

A chilling arc of light flashed, and Shirokumo Hayama's body was sliced in two at the waist!

However, what Uesugi Shinji failed to notice was that there was no terror of death on Shirokumo Hayama's face; instead, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.

With a soft sound, the body of Shirokumo Hayama, cleaved in two, did not suffer the gruesome fate of blood spraying or entrails spilling; instead, it dissolved into a wisp of breeze and vanished into the air.

He mixed a physical Wind Release clone among the illusionary ones to pass off the fake as the real!

Uesugi Shinji's expression darkened. He knew that the renowned Shirokumo Hayama wouldn't be such an easy opponent to finish off, so while he had held back thirty percent of his strength during the strike, he had also kept his focus on the surrounding movements.

By now, he had already spotted hundreds of leaves swirling and gathering behind him, condensing into the form of Shirokumo Hayama in the blink of an eye.

It turned out that the crosswind that had whipped up the fallen leaves when Shirokumo Hayama used his illusionary clones was also of his own making, intended to coordinate with his unique Leaf Substitution Technique to hide his true form!

Shirokumo Hayama's expression was stern, his eyes overflowing with killing intent as his katana thrust fiercely toward the center of Uesugi Shinji's back.

Because his strike was too fast, even though Uesugi Shinji detected the movement, it was too late to block. He could only do his best to control his body and dodge, avoiding vital organs to minimize the damage he would sustain.

Having survived numerous life-or-death crises, Uesugi Shinji remained calm, even as he prepared himself for a final, desperate struggle.

"Shirokumo Hayama, truly worthy of being an elite jonin from Konoha, the greatest village in the ninja world! It seems I have no choice but to rely on that technique I haven't used in a long time!"

He shifted his body slightly, causing Shirokumo Hayama's katana to miss his heart and avoiding the fatal blow.

Having landed the hit, Shirokumo Hayama prepared to finish his opponent off while remaining wary of a desperate counterattack, only to suddenly see the body before him instantly turn into an ice sculpture and collapse stiffly to the ground.

"Ice Release Substitution?" Shirokumo Hayama felt a jolt of alarm, and at that moment, a gust of wind struck from behind his head.

Without time to think, Shirokumo Hayama instantly pulled his katana from the ice sculpture. With a flexible flick of his wrist, he gripped the blade in reverse, spun around, and unleashed a Vacuum Sword in the direction of the incoming wind, carving out a sharp blade of air that shredded the attacker.

The attacking figure was identical to Uesugi Shinji, but after being struck by the wind blade, it shattered into a sky full of ice shards—clearly, this was also an Ice Release clone.

"Damn it!"

Shirokumo Hayama felt as if he had fallen into an ice cellar; he realized he had been tricked.

A sharp pain erupted in his chest, and as Shirokumo Hayama looked down, he saw a frost-covered blade tip protruding from his chest, having pierced through his back.

Because of the Ice Release chakra coating the blade, the blood on his chest instantly congealed, making the wound appear deceptively clean. However, Shirokumo Hayama's heart had already been pierced, and the Ice Release chakra had completely frozen his heart and the surrounding blood.

The heart is the pump that drives blood through the human body; now that this pump was frozen, the circulation of blood throughout his body ceased, and he naturally lost the ability to act.

At this moment, Shirokumo Hayama was not only on the verge of death but also lacked the strength to even attempt a final counterattack.