Uzukage vs. Mizukage, the Battle Begins

The battle on the battlefield raged on fiercely.

The fighting centered around Minazuki Junhyo's Magic Cube Ice Crystal.

It was divided into five major battlefields: north, south, west, and east.

The duel between the Uzushio Ninja and Kirigakure's ninja had already become a meat grinder.

Thanks to the Umaki Clan's enormous chakra reserves, they would not run out of chakra and be forced to end the battle even when facing a vastly superior number of enemies.

Genin struggled to protect themselves in this environment, while Chunin could only strike when the opportunity arose.

Even Jonin were besieged by large numbers of Genin and Chunin, forced to remain wary of every direction at all times.

Two men observed the movements of the battlefield from the outskirts.

Mizukage Hozuki Gengetsu watched the ninja fight to the death, his eyes gleaming with excitement.

His gaze swept across the battlefield before finally settling on Uzumaki Shori.

"Our battle should begin now."

Uzumaki Shori watched the battlefield, yet he was the calmest of them all. He had already given the necessary arrangements, and now it was time to test their individual strength.

Uzumaki Shori was facing Mizukage Hozuki Gengetsu. They would see which of them made it to the end.

Hozuki Gengetsu moved swiftly, charging forward.

Killing intent surged in from every direction.

The killing intent stung Uzumaki Shori's skin. Watching his opponent rapidly approach, he formed hand seals.

"Fire Style: Great Fireball Technique!"

Fire-nature chakra gathered in his throat, and he spewed a massive fireball at Hozuki Gengetsu. The fireball instantly struck Hozuki Gengetsu.

Before he could even rejoice, the scene changed again. There was nothing at the place that had been struck, while a crushing pressure rushed at him from the right.

Body Control activated. The muscles in his arms swelled, bolstering his defenses and reinforcing his chakra.

"Your life is mine."

Hozuki Gengetsu's excited voice came from the right.

"Water Style: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"

Chakra condensed into the shape of a shark and lunged to bite its target.

A massive shark opened its jaws and bit down on Uzumaki Shori.

Uzumaki Shori felt the shark's sharp teeth bite into his skin, but they failed to pierce his tough flesh.

The chakra shark could absorb its opponent's chakra. If it drained away the chakra covering his skin...

Its sharp teeth will pierce my skin and tear my body apart. My entire body has to resist the chakra shark's pulling force right now.

Seeing Hozuki Gengetsu charging toward him, he needed to break the deadlock. He increased his chakra output, allowing one hand to move, then formed hand seals with one hand.

"Wind Style: Vacuum Serial Waves!"

As he exhaled, he compressed air within his body with chakra and fired Wind Style shockwaves from his mouth at the shark.

He destroyed the shark biting him, then continuously spewed Wind Style shockwaves at the charging Hozuki Gengetsu, blocking the other's successive attacks.

Seeing that he could not attack again, Hozuki Gengetsu could only retreat to the side.

My eyes clearly saw my attack hit its target, yet he vanished in an instant. Recalling the earlier exchange, Uzumaki Shori realized what had happened.

"Genjutsu."

I fell under Hozuki Gengetsu's genjutsu. Did he cast it while staring at me, or when he moved toward me?

Hozuki Gengetsu launched another attack, and Uzumaki Shori once again saw his opponent sprinting rapidly toward him.

Is this another genjutsu attack? Body Control activated. His muscles relaxed, his senses sharpened, and his gaze swept repeatedly over the area. He spotted Hozuki Gengetsu and found, once again, a severe sense of discord on his right.

"Wind Style: Gale Palm!"

Wind-nature chakra quietly condensed in his palm. He drew out a shuriken and flung it at the Hozuki Gengetsu created by the genjutsu.

Hozuki Gengetsu's voice came from beside him again.

"Looks like I'm still one step ahead of you."

"Water Style: Water Shark Bullet Technique!"

It was the same move again, but he had already found the real target.

"Shadow Clone Technique!"

He created a Shadow Clone to remain in place and await the enemy's attack, while his real body had already hidden along the path from which Hozuki Gengetsu would attack from the right.

Watching his attack hit its target yet again, Hozuki Gengetsu grew even more excited. He wanted to know how many more ninjutsu attacks his opponent could withstand.

Just as Hozuki Gengetsu's Water Style: Water Shark Bullet Technique bit into Uzumaki Shori—

The Shadow Clone vanished before his eyes with a bang. Uzumaki Shori had been waiting for this exact moment, and Wind Style: Gale Palm struck Hozuki Gengetsu.

Water Transformation Technique activated automatically after Hozuki Gengetsu was hit.

His expression turned ugly as his body swiftly moved left, opening some distance between himself and Uzumaki Shori.

Because Water Transformation Technique had activated automatically, he had not suffered much damage. His face immediately twisted in fury. His genjutsu had actually been broken.

"Wouldn't it be better if you just obediently let me toy with you? Why resist me?"

Uzumaki Shori merely sighed. As expected, Wind Style was ineffective against Water Transformation Technique.

He had thought that Hozuki Gengetsu would not have time to activate Water Transformation Technique in the face of a sudden attack. He had not expected the other's reaction speed to be so fast.

Using Fire Style would give off heat, making a sneak attack impossible.

"Mizukage Hozuki Gengetsu, the opponent before you is Uzumaki Shori, the Second Uzukage of the Land of Whirlpools."

"I'll settle this battle soon enough."

A smile appeared on Hozuki Gengetsu's twisted face.

"Damn, this battle is starting to get more and more interesting!"

"In that case, I'll show you my true strength, Uzumaki Shori!" He formed hand seals with both hands.

"Summoning Technique: Giant Clam!"

A gigantic clam appeared before Uzumaki Shori. Hozuki Gengetsu leaped onto the Giant Clam, which sprayed out a vast amount of mist.

"Ninja Art: Mirage!" took shape.

Uzumaki Shori watched the enormous Giant Clam disappear from before his eyes in no time along with the enemy's Mirage technique.

He activated his sensory ability again, but this time, he could only detect his opponent intermittently.

Watching Uzumaki Shori stand still, Hozuki Gengetsu unleashed killing intent from all directions to disrupt his senses, then formed hand seals.

"Water Style: Water Gun Technique!"

He held his right hand like a pistol, then moved rapidly as he took aim at Uzumaki Shori. Chakra-condensed bullets shot from his fingers toward his opponent.

Uzumaki Shori saw Hozuki Gengetsu's figure appearing from all directions. He had to strengthen his sensory abilities. Chakra condensed.

"Mind's Eye of the Kagura!"

He closed his eyes and opened his mind's eye, observing the flow of chakra to sense Hozuki Gengetsu's movement trajectory and direction.

He detected the enemy's position—it was behind him. Mind's Eye of the Kagura also sensed the ninjutsu the enemy was using.

Chakra bullets are attacking me. I'll test him with shuriken first.

He immediately leaped up, grabbed shuriken, and flung them out in one motion. Each hand formed seals one-handed.

"Shadow Clone Shuriken Technique!"

"Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson!"

Using the Phoenix Sage Fire Technique, he infused the shuriken with fire-nature chakra.

The fire-nature chakra turned into blazing flames, wrapping around countless shuriken that pierced toward Hozuki Gengetsu like a celestial maiden scattering flowers.