At the Fujiwara Mine, a flash of light appeared inside the Uchiha lodging, and a figure in an Uchiha robe materialized.
Uchiha Shin let out a long breath and reached for his chest. A fresh wound there was slowly dripping blood. It wasn't deep—barely more than a minor injury—but even a light touch made it sting fiercely.
He grimaced and let out a small cry before muttering, "I've spent my whole life hunting geese, and today one pecked my eyes out. By the way, when did the Hyuga Clan get a girl like that? How come I've never heard of her in the original story?"
He thought it over, but couldn't figure it out. Then he said, "As expected, it's all the system's fault. If this damn system hadn't suddenly issued a mission to draw out the mastermind, I wouldn't have stupidly jumped out. To hell with all those ambushes!"
"Wait... the system...?"
Shin was suddenly startled. He remembered that the system had only issued its second mission: escape their encirclement. By rights, using the Flying Thunder God Technique to get here should have completed it. But why hadn't he received the mission reward?
At the same time, he keenly sensed that the whole building was far too quiet—unnervingly quiet. He had suddenly appeared here, so Uchiha Tadashi and the others couldn't possibly have failed to notice. They couldn't be out at this hour, either. Unless...
As the thought occurred to him, the Sharingan in Shin's eyes began spinning again.
A flash of cold light, and Shin's body was sliced in half at the waist.
"Target: Uchiha Shin. Kill confirmed!" A calm voice came from behind him. Even without turning around, Shin could picture the deadpan expression of the person who'd coolly said those words.
"Damn you, Hyuga Tamamo! You even set up a chain of ambushes? One of these days, I'm going to hang you up and beat you!" The Sharingan in his eyes began spinning wildly. His severed body suddenly turned into a flock of crows, which circled and flew away.
"What's going on?"
Hyuga Kazama, who had been keeping watch here, stared at the sight in bewilderment. It was the first time in his life he'd ever encountered something so bizarre.
"An illusion from the Sharingan? But I was careful the whole time. I never once met his gaze!"
The crows cawed as they flew out through the window, one after another. On a distant branch, they gathered together and re-formed into Shin.
"Heh, Itachi's Crow Clone really is the ultimate life-saving technique. It's only a C-rank jutsu, but it's more useful than an A-rank one!"
He rapidly formed Hand Seals, his Sharingan especially conspicuous in the night.
Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!
A solid-looking fire dragon shot out, aimed at the building below. He had already placed Flying Thunder God Formulas all around the area. This was his home turf now. As long as he destroyed the house where his opponent could hide, the man would be like an insect caught in a spider's web, slowly bound up until he died.
With a thunderous explosion, the house below was blasted into pieces. A dark figure leaped high into the air and landed on the grass. His Byakugan fixed intently on his opponent in the tree. He could now understand why two Elite Jonin from his clan had failed to take Shin down together. These never-before-seen techniques were simply too bizarre.
"Hey, you're pretty quick at hiding!"
Shin spoke in a mocking tone, then changed tack. "Honestly, that girl from your clan has a decent brain. This chain of ambushes caught me somewhat by surprise. But it doesn't matter. The plan was good, but she overlooked one thing!"
"What did she overlook?" Hyuga Kazama held his blade ready, his Byakugan scanning the area around Shin as he searched for the best moment to strike.
"She shouldn't have sent only one Jonin to ambush me here. If you were an Elite Jonin, I wouldn't waste my breath talking to you. Let me show you the true power of the Flying Thunder God Technique. Damn, you're so far below an Elite Jonin. Fighting you is frustrating as hell."
Before he'd finished speaking, three kunai came at him from three different directions.
Hyuga Kazama swept his blade, blocking two. From the perspective of his Byakugan, he easily dodged the third with a sidestep. He sneered. "You're all talk... Hm?"
A flash of light. Uchiha Shin appeared beside him in an instant, caught a kunai in reverse grip, and stabbed at him. Hyuga Kazama hurriedly swung his blade to counter, but his opponent vanished again.
"Behind me?" His Byakugan caught sight of Shin, and Hyuga Kazama quickly changed his stance to meet the attack. But Shin vanished once more, appearing at his left.
"That bizarre Space-Time Ninjutsu—is it those kunai?" Though he was only one person, he was attacking from three directions at once. Fighting off his discomfort, Hyuga Kazama dodged again.
Looking at the three kunai floating around him, he gritted his teeth and swung his long blade in a wide circle, trying to knock them away with a series of clangs.
"How is that possible?" To his shock, the three kunai were still circling him, untouched. Uchiha Shin's attacks continued without pause, leaving several shallow wounds on his body.
"Those are... Chakra Threads?"
At last, by the moonlight, Hyuga Kazama noticed that each kunai had an almost transparent Chakra Thread attached to its end, wrapped around him. No wonder he couldn't get rid of them.
"You figured it out?" A cold smile tugged at Shin's lips. After discovering the Flying Thunder God Technique's third level, he'd realized he couldn't mark other people with the formula yet, so he'd come up with this method. If he couldn't place a formula on his opponent, he could simply wrap the kunai around him instead.
A flash of light never stopped moving around Hyuga Kazama, and the attacks came like a torrential storm. All Kazama could do was keep blocking. He couldn't even touch the hem of Shin's clothes, let alone find time to cut the Chakra Threads. For the first time, he realized that a jutsu could be this powerful. A Special Jonin was keeping him, a Jonin, on the defensive the whole time. If the Warring States Period's shinobi heard that, they'd all laugh. What kind of nonsense was that?
"Rotation!" Hyuga Kazama finally couldn't take it anymore. Chakra gathered in his palms and spun rapidly. If the attacks continued, he wouldn't be able to hold out much longer.
A chakra shield appeared at once, severing the Chakra Threads attached to the three kunai. The reason he hadn't used Rotation from the start was that there was a brief recovery period after it ended. Judging by his opponent's performance, he didn't think Shin would pass up such a perfect opportunity.
With a flash of light, Shin teleported beside a kunai some distance away. His Sharingan turned slightly as he began calculating how long Rotation would last. He'd just fought two Elite Jonin and was still furious, so he might as well take it out on this man.
"No, this jutsu is too bizarre. I can't hurt him at all. The instant Rotation ends, I'll use the Body Flicker Technique to escape!" Hyuga Kazama had already decided to retreat. He'd become a Jonin; he wasn't the sort to stubbornly keep fighting. There was no shame in losing to someone stronger. The real stupidity was refusing to give up when you knew you couldn't win. People like that had all died back when they were Genin.
"Now! Body Flicker Technique!"
The moment Rotation ended, he saw a kunai flying toward him. He didn't dodge, instead using that moment to force chakra back into his body. Uchiha Shin suddenly appeared, caught the kunai in reverse grip, and drove it straight into Kazama's heart!
Thud...
The kunai sank three inches into his flesh. Hyuga Kazama activated the Body Flicker Technique and turned into a dark shadow, speeding away.
"Too slow!"
Shin's Sharingan turned slightly. With a cold laugh, he vanished and cut off Kazama's path.
Hyuga Kazama flickered in another direction, but Shin blocked him again. After several attempts, he gritted his teeth, threw out two smoke bombs, and filled the area with thick white smoke. Concealed by the fog, he used the Body Flicker Technique to flee.
Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!
A vast expanse of fire covered the route he'd taken. No large-scale A-rank jutsu was better suited to blocking the way.
"Goodbye, Hyuga Yujin. I'll remember your kindness in traveling a thousand miles to deliver your head. Rasengan!"
A huge force, spinning at high speed, tore through his back. He felt his internal organs being crushed to pieces. He didn't have a kunai. How did he catch up to me?
His Byakugan glanced down. A kunai was wrapped beneath his arm, attached to a Chakra Thread.
"W-when..." He spat out a mouthful of blood, mixed with bits of his organs. Those were the last words he managed.
Shin chuckled softly, understanding what he meant. "When Rotation ended. I actually threw out two kunai back then!"
"Double Shuriken Technique... I see. In the end, I lost to a basic D-rank jutsu..." That was his final thought before he closed his eyes.
Ding! You have successfully escaped the Hyuga Clan's encirclement! Reward: 3,000 points!
Ding! You have killed a Jonin of the Hyuga Clan! Reward: 5,000 points!
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