Feng Shui Turns to Ice

"Cloud Ninja?"

Glancing at the massive crater behind him, the master of Uchiha Xiu turned his gaze back to the enemies before him. He counted them; there were eight in total, two of whom clearly radiated the aura of Jonin.

"Although Konoha has ninjas who understand Lightning Release, this style is definitely not theirs. You are Cloud Ninja, aren't you?"

He revealed a sinister smile.

"Are you trying to start a war?"

"If I recall correctly, your name is Uchiha Kongci, right?"

The young man smiled and pointed to his own forehead protector.

"I think your guess is meaningless. Look, we are also ninjas of Konoha."

"Boy, do not crack such low-level jokes in front of me. You will die."

Uchiha Kongci's eyes had already transformed into the three-tomoe Sharingan.

"Confess your identities honestly; that is the only way you might survive. Cloud Ninja appearing in Konoha Village—this is no small matter."

"I actually find it quite interesting how you keep mentioning Konoha. I am surprised that the Uchiha Clan is so 'dutiful'."

The young man took a slight step back.

"You are a true Jonin, so I am certainly no match for you, but my target is not you, and your opponent is not me."

Following these words, the two ninjas with the aura of Jonin stepped out from behind him. Their attitude made it clear to Kongci that they were his opponents.

"If you won't talk, so be it. Your corpses will be evidence enough."

Kongci licked his lips, his gaze turning dangerous.

"The mission the Clan Head gave me has finally become interesting."

"You will be satisfied. Now, Mr. Huiyue, shall we begin as well?"

"Screech!"

A sharp, ear-piercing sound of air being torn apart rang out. Qi replaced his verbal response with action. As he swung the short blade in his hand, the Wind-style chakra on the blade began to trigger a series of effects, ultimately manifesting as a large wind blade that swept directly through the ranks of the ninjas...

This was a technique he had only recently mastered—a manifestation of chakra nature transformation.

Everything in the path of the wind blade was torn apart and shredded, proving the level of control Qi now possessed over his chakra.

"What a fierce attack!"

This strike opened the prelude to the battle. The two Jonin lunged at Kongci simultaneously, while of the other six, only one rushed toward Uchiha Xiu, and the remaining five charged at Qi.

"Hmph!"

Seeing the two Jonin rushing toward him, Kongci struck first. With a wave of his hand, shuriken attached to steel wires enveloped the two Jonin from all directions, and at the same time, he formed a hand seal!

"Rumble..."

An incredibly violent explosion instantly swept across the entire area. Blistering heat waves surged everywhere. Aside from the three of them, everyone else dodged immediately, and likewise, the attack formations these people had prepared against Qi and Xiu were destroyed before they could even begin...

"What a powerful technique. The Uchiha Clan's shuriken and Fire Release are indeed fierce..."

Watching the scene before him with a sense of shock, Qi felt he finally had a clearer understanding of the Uchiha Clan's power in this regard.

"Over there, kill!"

Suddenly, four ninjas charged out from the thick smoke. Without any hesitation, they swung their blades at Qi!

These people appeared to be elites; the previous chaos had not caused them any harm, merely disrupting their formation.

"Qi-kun, if you don't mind me calling you that, you are indeed as described in the intelligence reports. Your strength is progressing very quickly. Although we are enemies, I admire you for this."

A figure suddenly lunged from above. Qi parried with a backhanded slash, and with a metallic clang, their weapons clashed. For a moment, both sides saw each other's faces clearly; the attacker was none other than the young man.

"I do mind!"

Applying force simultaneously, the two sprang apart. Qi threw several kunai, and attached to them were Explosive Tags...

"Boom!"

The thrown kunai exploded one after another, not only engulfing the young man's body but also catching the other ninjas who were trying to flank him. One of them, unlucky, was blown apart, his body left unrecognizable...

"How did he suddenly learn to use shuriken... Don't come over, all of you, fall back!"

The young man's eyelids twitched as he waved his hand to stop the remaining three.

Flicking his blade, he deflected another shuriken shot by Qi and pointed toward Uchiha Xiu, who was currently locked in combat with a companion.

"Go kill the other Uchiha ninja!"

"Yes!"

The three acknowledged the order and abandoned Qi, rushing toward Xiu.

"Do you think this is a teahouse, where you can come and go as you please?"

With a cold sneer, Qi threw another kunai with an Explosive Tag at the young man and kicked off the ground, intercepting the three of them.

Recently, for the sake of practicing shuriken, Ogata had prepared far too many of these things for him; they were finally coming in handy tonight.

Without a word, the three of them greeted Qi by firing dozens of kunai, and this time, several of those kunai were also attached with Explosive Tags...

Explosive Tags are forever a ninja's favorite.

BOOM!

The Explosive Tags detonated one after another, blasting the area where Qi stood into a complete mess.

"Hm?"

A ninja suddenly felt something graze his face, causing a sharp sting.

"This is... an ice shard?"

He reached up to wipe it, seeing the object that had cut his skin; it was a thin sliver of ice, and it melted in his hand almost instantly.

"Watch out!"

A young man's voice came from behind them, his tone urgent and anxious!

"He is behind you! This is the secret Ice Release technique, Demonic Mirroring Ice Crystals! What is in front of you is an ice mirror!"

Unfortunately, the warning came too late. By the time the young man uttered the final syllable, an ice spike had already pierced the back of each of the three men's heads. With a series of thuds, they collapsed in unison, dead on the spot!

"Damn it! A bunch of trash!"

Though he had rushed over, the young man had arrived too late. He finally dropped his polite facade and let out a curse.

"Oh? You can curse? I thought you'd be stuck in that nauseating, sissy act forever. Pale-face, you're next."

Having finished off those three in one breath, Qi was in high spirits. He turned, brandished his twin blades, and charged toward the young man.

"Pale-face, state your name!"

"..."

The young man's face twitched.

"Qi-kun, I must remind you, you are paler than I am..."

The remark was quite factual; the young man was born with brown skin and really couldn't be associated with the term "pale-face."

"I'll pale your mother!"

Qi was instantly choked with anger; the opponent's retort made him feel like a complete fool.

How could he have forgotten that many Cloud Ninja had brown skin?

"Wind Water Ice Formation, Triple Chain Kill!"

Feeling disgruntled, Qi finally unleashed for the first time the true path of taijutsu he had begun to forge during his recent string of high-intensity battles, combining the Kaguya Clan's physical techniques with the Yuki Clan's elemental arts.

As he swung his twin blades, the air around him plummeted in temperature. Water and ice, accompanied by wind blades capable of slicing an ordinary person into countless pieces, merged together, quickly churning the space around him into a vast, white blur!

"Die!"

With this shout, the cold current he had created with his own chakra—which had been swelling like a balloon pushed to its limit—exploded!

In an instant, the entire street transformed into a world of silver.

The other six people on the scene, friend and foe alike, were all caught within it!