Blood Manipulation!

Clang—!!

The crimson blade braced against the sickle's edge, rainwater splashing between their eyes.

The red patterns on the Crimson Blade spread, growing ever deeper. They were both the remnants left after harvesting lives and the manifestation of Kamizuki's will.

Swish—

Hanzo's chained sickle danced, silver arcs weaving into a net as the chain at the sickle's tail threaded through it.

The iron weight at the end of the chain was like a venomous snake waiting to deliver a fatal strike.

His weapon bore the distinct style of the Warring States Era, combining restraint, cutting, hammering, and interception functions. It could handle most combat situations.

In a sense, it was a weapon better suited to a lone warrior.

Kamizuki's pupils shifted, taking in every line of attack as he controlled his body to evade by the narrowest margins.

His blade swung no slower than Hanzo's, and the clang of metal striking metal exploded continuously across the long street.

A vacuum opened within the curtain of rain, containing nothing but flashing blades.

After one clash, Kamizuki twisted his blade and gripped the hilt with both hands. His knuckles turned white, veins bulging.

Whoosh!!

His body vanished.

It was not the Body Flicker Technique, but a pure explosion of physical strength!

The stone slabs beneath his feet shattered into powder as Kamizuki swung down at Hanzo, carving a dark crimson arc.

To outsiders, it looked like a fierce, wide-open slash. But in Hanzo's eyes, it was an entirely different sight.

Neck, heart, liver, kidneys, spine, knees, wrists—

Seven slashes!

Seven attacks aimed at him would arrive simultaneously in the next instant!!

A stunning sword technique!

Even faster than Mifune!

Boom—!!!!

The scarlet crescent fell, blasting a vast area into ruin.

Kamizuki had no intention of pressing his advantage. He immediately turned around and slashed upward!

Clang—!!!!

Blade and sickle collided once more. Hanzo had somehow appeared behind him.

A hoarse voice emerged through the breathing tube, carrying a trace of barely concealed excitement.

"I heard that old puppet hag mention you. For a brat, some of her praise sounded rather exaggerated."

"Before, I thought she was merely trying to praise you to death. But now it seems..."

"She still underestimated you!"

Delight appeared in Kamizuki's eyes, and the corners of his mouth curled upward. "Hanzo of the Salamander... you're far stronger than I imagined as well!"

There was no questioning Hanzo's strength if he could defeat the current Sannin.

Yet his later panicked flight before the Demonic Statue of the Outer Path, followed by his defeat at Mifune's hands after being reanimated during the Fourth War, truly disgraced the title of peak ninja.

Time was one factor, but faith was more important.

The current Hanzo was a hero who dared shoulder the Land of Rain and declare war on the three great nations, not a ruler who lost his faith after defeat and feared Akatsuki threatening his position.

Kamizuki did not care much about appearances, but he was highly sensitive to the beauty of one's will.

He could clearly sense Hanzo's turbulent emotions.

Only those afraid of losing would grow nervous before a challenge. Those certain they would win...

Would only feel excitement!!

"To receive such praise from the new generation truly delights me!"

Hanzo closed in from the side. The blade scraped across his armor, leaving a deep mark. With a flick of his finger, the chain wrapped around Kamizuki's arms, and he drew back a fist before smashing it toward his chest and abdomen.

Bang!!

The chain snapped, and Hanzo's fist was tightly clamped by long, slender fingers!

Hanzo tried to wrench his hand free, but it felt as though his fist had sunk into an iron-cast mountain. He could neither shake it nor pull away!

This body... was truly incredible!

Whoosh!!

In Hanzo's field of vision, Kamizuki tossed the crimson longsword away and brought down a fist with his other hand!

He would die!

If that punch landed, he would absolutely die!!

Years of combat experience told Hanzo this with unparalleled clarity.

Whoosh—!!

The punch that tore through the air missed. Just as before, Hanzo used the Body Flicker Technique again to evade.

A puddle in the distance gathered into Hanzo's form.

"For a ninja, your body is outrageously unfair."

Smack—

Kamizuki caught the Crimson Blade, turned, and smiled. "Even my eyes can't keep up with your movement speed. Aren't you the unfair one?"

In this environment, Hanzo's Water Body Flicker could practically be treated as a Flying Thunder God that required no markings.

If he possessed Minato Namikaze's terrifying reflexes, then in the Land of Rain, he truly would be invincible.

"The Sharingan... your eyes are very different from the Uchiha I encountered before."

Their shape was not greatly unusual, yet their color was richer, radiating the chilling aura of a deathly prison.

Based on the Shinobi World's common knowledge of the Uchiha, Hanzo had only glanced at them from afar and avoided looking directly at them again. During battle, he responded by watching changes in Kamizuki's limbs and muscles.

Although they were still in the two-tomoe state, no one would judge Kamizuki's Pupil Power by the number of tomoe.

Many Three Tomoe possessed less Pupil Power than he did. The Uchiha clan had already proven that, such as Uchiha Fugaku, the "Fierce Eye," who had made a name for himself on the southern battlefield.

Half a year ago, Konoha had withdrawn its battle lines for some unknown reason, and all its top combatants returned to the village to report.

Only the highest ranks knew the specific reason. Kamizuki guessed... it might have been related to the Nine-Tails.

Afterward, Kamizuki tried to activate the Pupil Power he had left on Kushina at the time and received confirmation.

Using a sparring match with Fugaku as an excuse, Kamizuki dragged him near Uzumaki Tower and quietly added more Pupil Power, so he could successfully establish a connection with the Nine-Tails in the future.

In his plan, Nine-Tails Chakra was indispensable if he wanted to completely restore that thing.

"I heard in my youth that there was a kind of eye superior to the Three Tomoe. Is it like yours?"

Could the Sharingan condense back into two tomoe after reaching Three Tomoe, or even one tomoe, achieving some cyclical state of returning to simplicity?

Hanzo only knew that Madara Uchiha possessed a Sharingan beyond the Three Tomoe. He did not know the details, after all, he came from a small ninja village.

Kamizuki shook his head. "That is called the Mangekyō Sharingan. I'm still some distance away from it."

"I see..."

Hanzo snorted. "Then, with your potential, you should have obtained those eyes before coming to find me!"

"It is good for young people to be ambitious, but you underestimate me too much!"

"You are the one underestimating the Uchiha."

Though Kamizuki clearly could not use ninjutsu, he formed a one-handed seal.

"If I waited until I obtained the Mangekyō Sharingan, then battles with someone like you... would be far too boring!"

"Heh, then let me see whether you have the strength to say that!"

Hanzo slung his chained sickle behind his back and rapidly formed hand seals with both hands.

"Water Style: Water Roaring Bullet!"

Water droplets in the air rapidly converged, forming a massive, roaring torrent!

—

"Piercing Blood."

The simple words left his lips, and a line of blood instantly tore through the torrent. The water pressure could not hinder it in the slightest!

Screech—!!

Hanzo's pupils abruptly constricted. By the time he saw that sharp scarlet point, it was too late to fully evade. He barely twisted aside as the crimson arrowhead carved a wound across his shoulder.

The curtain of water fell.

"Ha... You were injured first, so I suppose I won this round."

The corners of Kamizuki's lips lifted slightly. Blood flowed over his hand like wandering snakes, carrying an unusual beauty amid its strangeness.

"This is the rumored... Blood Manipulation!"

Hanzo's expression turned serious as he said in a deep voice, "To devise this kind of attack, you are the same kind of madman as those people."

He meant the Rain ninja who had implanted Black Salamander poison sacs into their own bodies, attempting to turn the human body into a weapon.

"It is merely a weapon like teeth and bones. There is nothing strange about it."

Scarlet surged, and Kamizuki standing within it looked like a blood-bathed demon.

The blood continuously compressed and condensed, gathering into a single crystalline droplet at Kamizuki's fingertip.

Hanzo glanced around from the corner of his eye. Most of the surrounding people had already scattered.

Pale purple poisonous mist slowly spilled from his mouth.

"Don't blame me for being underhanded, brat... as you said, this is also my weapon."

"You worry too much. Among ninja, there has never been such a thing as underhandedness."

Kamizuki pressed his palms together, enclosing the crystalline blood droplet between them as a crimson gleam shone through the gaps between his fingers.

"Blood Manipulation—Hundred Convergences: Piercing Blood!"

Breaking the sound barrier, the blood-red streak fell like a meteor!