Collision

Ueda Shin followed Senju Kotoha as she left the school. He didn't know whether Senju Kotoha had noticed him, but Ito Makoto had been paying special attention and still caught on to what was happening.

As fellow Transmigrators, there was a chance Ueda Shin had also discovered something wrong with Senju Kotoha. He must have been planning to do something. Whatever happened, a clash between two Transmigrators would surely reveal a lot of information. He couldn't miss this chance to learn more about them.

Ito Makoto wanted to follow them and see what happened, but Sakura was with him, and he had no excuse to leave.

When he spotted a public restroom by the roadside, Ito Makoto got an idea.

"Sakura, my stomach's bothering me. I'm going to use the restroom. You go on ahead!" Ito Makoto said, pretending to feel embarrassed.

"I'll wait for you, then," Sakura said without turning around.

It seemed he couldn't shake Sakura. Ito Makoto pretended to go into the restroom, but actually used the Body Flicker Technique to slip out of her sight.

He had other ways to keep an eye on Ueda Shin and Senju Kotoha.

Ito Makoto went somewhere deserted, formed Hand Seals, and slapped his hands against the ground.

Summoning Technique!

Spiderweb-like markings appeared on the ground.

After a puff of smoke, Xiao Jin appeared.

"I'm counting on you from here," Ito Makoto said.

The Golden Eagle flapped its wings as if agreeing.

Ito Makoto then used the Rinnegan to control the Golden Eagle's body. He used his size-altering ability to shrink it to a tenth of its original size, turning the one-meter-tall eagle into an ordinary bird just ten centimeters tall.

But the Golden Eagle's feathers were too eye-catching. To disguise its color, Ito Makoto used the Seal-less Transformation Technique to make it look like an ordinary crow.

Then he sent the Golden Eagle flying in the direction Ueda Shin and Senju Kotoha had gone.

The Golden Eagle circled the area in the direction Senju Kotoha had left, and eventually spotted the two of them in an alley.

They stood several meters apart, apparently confronting each other.

Ito Makoto had the Golden Eagle land on a nearby wall, tucked away in a spot where it wouldn't easily be seen, and began eavesdropping.

Since he could only share the Golden Eagle's vision, Ito Makoto couldn't actually hear anything. But the Sharingan's copying ability let him reproduce movements directly. He could copy their mouth movements with the Sharingan, then use those movements to produce sounds and figure out what they were saying by reading their lips.

The Rinnegan and Sharingan didn't conflict. Uchiha Madara, for instance, could still use the Sharingan's abilities even after both his eyes had become Rinnegan.

Senju Kotoha stared coldly at Ueda Shin, who stood some distance away.

"Ueda Shin, why are you following me?"

"What, you own the road? I'm not allowed to walk this way?" Ueda Shin replied with a carefree grin.

"Is that so? My home is nearby, and I've never seen you around here before," Senju Kotoha said.

"Haha." Ueda Shin suddenly laughed. "Don't be so tense, Senju. I'm only following you because I want to ask you something."

"What exactly do you want to ask?" Senju Kotoha furrowed her brow.

"Are you a Transmigrator?" Ueda Shin asked, dropping a bombshell.

Watching through the Golden Eagle's eyes, Ito Makoto was taken aback too. Was Ueda Shin actually planning to blow the whole thing open?

"I don't know what you're talking about," Senju Kotoha replied coldly.

But thanks to the Sharingan's insight, Ito Makoto could make out her microexpressions. Senju Kotoha was already starting to panic.

"Enough pretending," Ueda Shin pressed. "I know the original Naruto story inside and out. How could there be a member of the Senju Clan in Naruto Uzumaki's class? You stick out like a stain on a blank sheet of paper. You have to be a Transmigrator."

"I already told you, I don't know what you're talking about," Senju Kotoha insisted.

"Still pretending?" Ueda Shin said impatiently. "How much longer are you going to keep this up now that I've figured out who you are? Looks like I'll have to teach you a lesson."

Ueda Shin raised his right hand, and his entire arm turned into fire.

"Ueda Shin, the Third Hokage is keeping a close eye on me as a descendant of the Senju," Senju Kotoha shouted. "Aren't you afraid the Third Hokage will punish you for attacking me?"

Ueda Shin spat in disdain.

"What does the Third Hokage matter? I'm a Transmigrator with a system. I've even mastered the powers of a Logia Fruit. There's no Seastone in this world, so what can he do to me?"

Seeing that Ueda Shin truly didn't seem to care about the Hokage, Senju Kotoha stopped trying to talk him out of it. She pulled a Ninja Blade from somewhere.

"Heh, going to fight back? Then show me what you can do!"

Ueda Shin gave a sinister smile and shouted, "Heat Haze!"

His arm, transformed into fire, spewed a pillar of flame at Senju Kotoha.

Senju Kotoha stayed perfectly calm. Ignoring the flames right in front of her, she took a deep breath and tightened her grip on the Ninja Blade. The blade promptly turned black.

She took a stance, twisting her upper and lower body in opposite directions as she swung her blade.

A column of water appeared out of nowhere, spiraling around her body in a twisting vortex.

The flames racing toward Senju Kotoha were swept into the vortex and swallowed by the surging current.

"That's it!" Watching Senju Kotoha's ability, Ito Makoto perked up. It was the ability to use Natural Energy he'd seen before. He hadn't expected it to come from Kenjutsu.

Seeing Senju Kotoha block the flames, Ueda Shin was delighted rather than surprised.

"So this is your ability? The power of water, opposite to mine. What a pleasant surprise. Let's see just how strong you are."

He laughed as flames poured from his hands without pause, spraying out like a machine gun.

Senju Kotoha remained unfazed, dodging with practiced steps. With each breath, she drew on Natural Energy to strengthen her body. When she couldn't dodge an attack, she used that water-wreathed Kenjutsu to deflect it.

Flames and water clashed, and the surging heat seemed to gain the upper hand, raising the temperature throughout the alley by several degrees.

Seeing that ordinary pillars of flame couldn't stop Senju Kotoha, Ueda Shin gradually lost patience.

He drew back his right arm and charged it for a moment before throwing a punch and roaring, "Fire Fist!"

His arm, already transformed into flame, instantly swelled into a gigantic fiery fist that filled the entire alley and hurtled toward Senju Kotoha.

Senju Kotoha shifted her stance again and charged straight at her opponent. Water flowed around her Ninja Blade, and she surged toward Ueda Shin like a stream.

A series of slashes cleaved through the flames. She moved so fast that only a few afterimages remained, rapidly closing the distance between them.

The Fire Fist covered a wide area and left no obvious opening, but it originated from the user's fist. The farther it traveled from the fist toward its target, the wider its range became.

In other words, there was a blind spot close to the user's body.

By closing the distance at speed, Senju Kotoha occupied that blind spot.

"How is that possible?" Ueda Shin cried in shock. He couldn't believe his opponent had evaded the range of his ultimate move.

As Senju Kotoha closed in, he panicked. He could only turn his entire body into fire, hoping to render physical attacks ineffective.

Senju Kotoha didn't react to Ueda Shin's desperate defense. Her Ninja Blade continued its course, and the water-wreathed slash struck in an instant.

Like a fine thread, it severed Ueda Shin's head in an instant.

"Water Breathing, Flowing Dance." Only after severing Ueda Shin's head did Senju Kotoha calmly name her technique.