Mission Complete

"Where are you looking this time?"

The calm voice rang out again, followed immediately by a flash of cold light. The Blood Ninja's hairs stood on end. He flipped his left hand and drew a kunai, raising it in time to block the sword.

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the spot where Shin had been standing. At that moment, there was indeed no one there.

After the sword strike, Shin's figure appeared once more in the same spot, without warning, as if he had suddenly emerged from thin air.

"What kind of ninjutsu is that?" Cold sweat trickled from the Blood Ninja's nose. He couldn't track his opponent's movements, nor could he tell how the other man had suddenly appeared beside him. How could such a ninjutsu exist in this world? It made no sense.

Shin ignored him and waved the Heaven Cloud Sword in his hand, muttering, "As expected, it's not as easy to use as a kunai. Come to think of it, if Madara had been there for that slash just now, he'd have lost half his life at least, even if he didn't die. He wouldn't have gotten away with just a minor injury like this."

Shin tried swinging the sword a couple more times, then chuckled. "But it doesn't matter. I'll just use him for practice. It'll be good for improving my taijutsu."

With a thought, he vanished in an instant. When he reappeared, he was in front of the Blood Ninja, and the Heaven Cloud Sword in his hand flashed coldly as he slashed at him again.

The Blood Ninja reacted swiftly. He had already witnessed this bizarre attack twice. Though he still couldn't figure out the pattern behind his opponent's sudden appearances, he remained on guard and blocked at the fastest speed he could manage.

At a time like this, the more important it was to stay calm. His right hand thrust out with a kunai to parry the sword, while his left kunai stabbed straight toward his opponent's eyes.

It struck empty air!

The Blood Ninja's eyes narrowed. His opponent had been right in front of him, but once again he vanished in an utterly bizarre manner, without warning. Before a breath had passed, he appeared again, his sword slashing straight at the Blood Ninja's throat.

The Blood Ninja's heart leapt into his throat. He arched backward and narrowly dodged the strike, then thrust out his kunai without even looking, relying on instinct.

But... he still missed!

Before he could regain his footing, his opponent attacked again with sword in hand. The relentless strikes came one after another, each one bizarre beyond belief. The Blood Ninja couldn't even find an opening to counterattack.

Gritting his teeth, the Blood Ninja could only rely on instinct to defend himself. At that moment, ninjutsu and taijutsu were both useless jokes. He had no time to form hand seals for ninjutsu, and taijutsu was pointless when he couldn't even touch the other man's clothes.

The flashes of swordlight came faster and faster. The Blood Ninja could feel his opponent growing more practiced with the long sword, from the clumsy swings at first to the increasingly smooth ones now. Each strike was more than thirty percent stronger than the last.

From a distance, it looked like a flash of light was circling him and striking without pause. His opponent was nothing but a blur, and all anyone could see was the Blood Ninja waving his two kunai as he fought back.

In reality, the Blood Ninja could only defend himself passively. He had already been slashed countless times, and blood kept flowing from his wounds.

"This won't do. I can't keep this up!"

The Blood Ninja screamed inwardly in frustration. He had long since realized that this kid's taijutsu was nowhere near his own level. But that strange ninjutsu that let him appear without warning made it impossible to counterattack. If the two of them were to fight with taijutsu under normal circumstances, the Blood Ninja was confident he could take him down within ten minutes.

But that was all just wishful thinking. He had just blocked a slash from the left when another came from the right. Before the attack from the right had even landed, cold light glinted above him. It was as if countless enemies were attacking him from every direction. His hands moved so fast that the kunai formed an impenetrable screen, but it still wasn't enough.

After another slash opened a long gash across his shoulder, he roared, "Blood Secret Technique: Blood Barrier!"

It was one of the few secret techniques he knew that didn't require hand seals, but it came at a steep cost: it needed a large amount of blood.

All the wounds on his body suddenly sprayed blood wildly. The droplets hung in the air like mist, then instantly formed a curtain of blood around him, like a shield.

Protected by the barrier, the Blood Ninja could finally catch his breath. He had never imagined that one day he would be driven to such a state by a Special Jonin.

He shook his dizzy head. He was feeling light-headed from losing too much blood.

"The Blood Barrier won't last long. I have to think of a way to deal with him before it ends. There's no way a ninjutsu like this can let him appear anywhere for no reason. Otherwise, he'd be invincible. There has to be something I haven't noticed. Stay calm. I have to stay calm."

The Blood Ninja carefully recalled every moment of his fight with Shin, missing no detail, while his gaze swept over himself. There had to be something he had overlooked. A ninjutsu that made no sense like this couldn't possibly exist!

Suddenly, he noticed an odd red glimmer reflected on his right arm.

"What's this? Chakra Threads?"

His heart jolted. He looked closer and saw a kunai wrapped in coils of Chakra Threads around his right arm. He hadn't noticed it because the blood had stained the threads red.

At that moment, he suddenly recalled the kunai he had dodged at the beginning of the fight.

"His attacks were so fierce that he never gave me a chance to catch my breath. How could I have made such an obvious mistake?"

He yanked hard, snapping the Chakra Threads, then pulled off the kunai. It was slightly longer than the kind ordinary ninja used, clearly custom-made, and covered in intricate markings that he couldn't understand.

"So that's it!" The Blood Ninja crushed the kunai in his hand with a sharp squeeze.

In the distance, Shin chuckled and nudged the kunai he had placed on the ground at the start with his foot. "You finally noticed. You're not too stupid, after all."

His Sharingan spun gently, and his hands formed seals in an instant. The moment the Blood Barrier ended, he had already spewed out a fire dragon. "Fire Style: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"

Seeing his opponent start using ninjutsu, the Blood Ninja became even more certain of his guess. He crossed his hands to form seals. "Blood Secret Technique: Blood Light Wave!"

A huge mass of blood-colored light transformed into a wave and surged toward the fire dragon. With a thunderous boom, the two collided. The powerful shockwave swept outward, shattering the buildings on both sides of the street as easily as dry twigs. The townspeople with back doors had already fled through them, while those without had escaped through side windows. This time, not many people were hurt.

The explosion had barely faded when six kunai came flying toward him, their edges flashing coldly.

"Where is he?" The Blood Ninja's eyes darted around, searching for the place where Shin would appear.

Suddenly, a flash of cold light. Shin appeared in front of him, thrusting his long sword toward his heart.

The Blood Ninja barely managed to dodge a vital spot, but the sword pierced beneath his shoulder. He grinned. "Got you!" In an instant, the kunai in his hand plunged into Shin's heart. He let out a long breath inwardly. This was the only chance of victory he had been able to come up with after careful consideration: he could only kill his opponent while under attack. This time, it seemed luck was on his side again.

But before he could fully relax, Shin suddenly vanished in a puff of white smoke. At the same time, a kunai pierced the Blood Ninja's back from behind.

"How could... That was the Clone Technique? But why could the clone act on its own and even make the same expressions as the real one?" The Blood Ninja tried to turn around, but he couldn't. His consciousness gradually faded.

"This move is called Spiral Flash Super Round Dance Howl Type Three. All right, that was just me making stuff up. It's really just the simplest Shadow Clone combined with Flying Thunder God." Shin pulled his hand free, telling a cold joke that only he could understand.

"Ding! You killed a Jonin of the Kigen Clan. Reward: 5,000 points!"