How Much Longer Can You Hold On?

Karatachi Yagura wore a smile, his short, pale green hair remaining perfectly still in the sea breeze.

"Naoki..." Uchiha Zongxin's voice rang out, "What... what do we do?"

Naoki did not answer.

He looked behind him.

Uchiha Setsuna's expression was grave, his right hand already pressed against the hilt of his blade.

Shi breathed heavily, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes.

Uchiha Zongye struggled to stand straight, gripping a kunai.

Though Uchiha Zongxin and Itachi were young, they showed no signs of retreating.

Hyuga Hiroshi stood beside him, his eyes, obscured by goggles, fixed intently on Karatachi Yagura in the distance.

"There is no escaping," Naoki said calmly.

This was the truth.

With nearly a hundred Kirigakure ninja and Karatachi Yagura himself presiding over the scene, given their current state, let alone fighting, the possibility of breaking through was slim to none.

"Then we fight," Uchiha Setsuna's voice was raspy and calm, as if he were discussing the weather.

Hyuga Takashi, standing to the side, looked ghastly.

He had not expected that hunting down an Ao would lead to Karatachi Yagura taking the field himself.

"Takashi..." Hyuga Hiroshi instinctively moved closer to his clansman.

Hyuga Takashi glanced at him and nodded, his gaze lingering for a moment on Hyuga Hiroshi's damaged goggles before shifting to Ao, who had walked into the cluster of Kirigakure ninja.

Damn it, we were so close to success, only for Karatachi Yagura to suddenly show up! he cursed inwardly.

"What do we do?" He looked back at Naoki, who was standing not far away, clutching his chest.

"Actually..." Karatachi Yagura suddenly spoke, "As long as you tell me who exactly killed Meido and Hozuki, I can let most of you leave."

Karatachi Yagura was carried by the waves until he stood right before Naoki and the others.

"I don't know who Hozuki and Meido are, but I did personally slaughter a Kirigakure ninja wearing black clothes..." Naoki feigned a moment of recollection, "Oh, right, the death of that Kirigakure ninja in the heavy black armor also had something to do with me."

"It seems you are quite fearless."

Karatachi Yagura looked Naoki up and down.

"Then today, we shall start with you!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Karatachi Yagura raised his hand, unleashing a deluge of water arrows.

Naoki had been prepared; he performed hand seals with lightning speed, then spat out a massive amount of Fire Style chakra.

Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame

Flames like a sea of fire manifested before Naoki, surging toward Karatachi Yagura.

Although Water Style countered Fire Style, when the fire was powerful enough, the water would be instantly evaporated.

The water arrows hissed and vanished the moment they entered the sea of fire.

Taking the opportunity, Naoki turned and shouted to Uchiha Setsuna.

"Senior, do you remember what I said? Take the chance, go now!"

"Have you already resolved yourself to die?" Uchiha Setsuna muttered to himself, "Since you are a smart person, why do such a foolish thing..."

Itachi drew his short blade and shouted, "Senior, if we die, we die together! We will never run!"

Uchiha Setsuna looked at this child, barely seven years old, then at Naoki's resolute back, and suddenly laughed.

"Good, good! If the Uchiha clan had more juniors like you, why would we ever worry about not rising again!"

As he finished, blue-white electricity erupted from Uchiha Setsuna's body.

Blinding lightning burst from within him, instantly shrouding his entire frame. His graying long hair whipped wildly under the agitation of his chakra, and those Three-Tomoe Sharingan glowed with an eerie red light in the reflection of the lightning.

"Senior!" Naoki turned in shock.

"Kid." Uchiha Setsuna did not look at him, his gaze locked firmly on Karatachi Yagura, "Thirty years of imprisonment couldn't take my life. Today, let me show the brats of Kirigakure what a true Uchiha is!"

With that, his figure vanished from where he stood.

The next moment, he appeared before Karatachi Yagura, his fist wreathed in lightning crashing down.

Karatachi Yagura's pupils constricted as he blocked with his hook staff.

BOOM!

The lightning exploded, and the waves beneath their feet were sent scattering by the shockwave, forming a massive, circular wall of water.

Karatachi Yagura retreated several steps, surprise flashing in his pale purple eyes.

"This power..."

Uchiha Setsuna did not give him a moment to breathe, his second punch already thundering toward him.

Karatachi Yagura let out a cold snort, brandishing his hooked staff as he clashed with Uchiha Setsuna.

Lightning and water currents intertwined, each collision whipping up towering waves that left everyone on the beach struggling to keep their footing.

"What are you standing there for!" Uchiha Setsuna's voice rang out from the fray. "Take them and go!"

Naoki gritted his teeth, looking at his surrounding companions.

"Go!"

"But the senior..." Uchiha Zongxin hesitated.

"Go!" Naoki grabbed him by the collar. "Don't let Senior Setsuna die in vain!"

The group turned and bolted toward the north.

"Trying to run?"

Kirigakure ninjas swarmed forward, and the two sides were soon locked in a chaotic skirmish.

Uchiha Setsuna's lightning flickered in the distance, but as time passed, the light grew weaker and dimmer.

Approaching sixty, he had begun to slip from his peak, and having spent the recent days fleeing with Naoki, he had been unable to recover his stamina, chakra, or mental state.

Now, facing a powerhouse of Karatachi Yagura's caliber, Uchiha Setsuna faced certain defeat if he could not end the battle quickly.

Karatachi Yagura, locked in combat with Uchiha Setsuna, also realized that the old man's condition was steadily declining.

He forced an opening in his opponent's defense, then freed a hand to rapidly weave signs.

"Water Style: Water Mirror Technique!"

The water beneath Karatachi Yagura's feet rose, rapidly condensing into a massive water mirror.

The surface of the mirror reflected Uchiha Setsuna's figure: the same graying hair, the same Three-Tomoe Sharingan, and the same blue-white lightning wreathing his body.

"What!"

Uchiha Setsuna's pupils constricted.

The next moment, the "Uchiha Setsuna" from the water mirror burst forth, carrying the exact same lightning as the original, and threw a punch.

BOOM!

The two currents of lightning collided, forcing Uchiha Setsuna to retreat as a numbing sensation surged through his arm.

"This jutsu..." he gritted his teeth, "it copied my abilities?"

Karatachi Yagura stood behind the water mirror, a mocking glint in his pale purple eyes.

"My jutsu can copy an opponent's ninjutsu and taijutsu, creating a clone with identical abilities. Old man, can you beat yourself?"

Uchiha Setsuna did not answer; he flashed forward and charged again.

Lightning clashed with lightning, fists and kicks intertwined.

Two "Uchiha Setsuna" battled fiercely on the surface of the sea, each collision churning up massive waves.

But soon, Uchiha Setsuna realized the problem: his chakra was depleting rapidly, while the copy seemed tireless.

"Noticed it?" Karatachi Yagura's voice drifted from afar. "The copy is sustained by my chakra. In your current state, how much longer can you last?"