"What kind of ability is this?"
She communicated with Matatabi inside her.
But even Matatabi, with all its knowledge and experience, was bewildered.
It had never seen such a strange ability!
"All right. In that case, I'll just have to use speed to take him down!"
Though she couldn't figure out Uchiha Ye's ability,
there was one thing Yugito could be sure of.
In this state, with his body turned to lava, Uchiha Ye could indeed ignore attacks from sharp weapons.
That was why her claw strike had failed just now.
But she believed that since it was an ability he had to activate,
all she had to do was move faster than Uchiha Ye could react. Then she would surely hit his real body and inflict genuine damage.
"Whoosh!"
She disappeared again, moving so fast that Kamui and the others couldn't even follow her.
"Splurt!"
"Splurt!"
Tearing wounds appeared across Uchiha Ye's body one after another, splashing out astonishing amounts of lava.
Yugito was practically a god of slaughter, relentlessly inflicting "terrifying" damage on him.
So much so that, for a time, he could only stand there and "take a beating"!
But!
"You're not having an easy time of it either, Lady Yugito!"
Facing Yugito as she kept appearing around him, searching for an opening to deliver a fatal strike,
Uchiha Ye let out a mocking laugh. "Even with Matatabi's power, constantly coming into contact with my scorching lava must still burn your claws a little!"
"Maybe you're thinking of outlasting me, to see which of us gives out first."
"But by all means, give it a try. Let's see whether you, moving at high speed, run out of steam first, or whether I do, standing still and only having to maintain this state."
Uchiha Ye's words were like a demon's whisper, carrying an uncanny power that made Yugito immediately retreat.
Clearly,
Yugito wasn't confident she could outlast Uchiha Ye either.
"Were you really that easy to rattle, Lady Yugito?"
Seeing this, Uchiha Ye chuckled. His Observation Haki had already locked onto the general area where Yugito would appear. "Lava Scorch Shot!"
The pressure brought on by Yugito's terrifying speed had helped him improve his Observation Haki a little.
His ability to strike accurately had improved as well.
"And what's more..."
Feeling a scorching sensation in his eyes, Uchiha Ye thought excitedly, It seems even my Sharingan is showing signs of evolving again!
The same sensation had appeared the last time he faced Orochimaru, but in the end, the evolution hadn't fully succeeded.
Now, however, the sensation was especially strong!
In that case, I'll take this chance to complete the evolution in one go!
The Sharingan was said to be the eye that reflected the heart.
It could evolve when one's emotions surged violently.
Sadness, pain, fear, excitement, joy...
All of them fell into that category!
"Boom!"
"Boom!"
The earth shook relentlessly as pillar after pillar of lava erupted, each one skimming past Yugito's body.
Though the attacks missed, they forced Yugito to keep her distance, leaving her unable to approach Uchiha Ye again.
"Damn it, how can this guy's reactions and perception be so sharp!"
After dodging another burst of lava, Yugito retreated far away, unable to help thinking this.
His reaction speed made her feel as if she were facing the Raikage while he was still holding back.
"But even with the Sharingan, his movements shouldn't be this quick!"
Looking at Uchiha Ye's spinning Two-Tomoe Sharingan, Yugito had naturally recognized who he was.
Yet she still found his astonishingly fast reflexes hard to accept.
Such a powerful ability really shouldn't belong to a kid.
"But no matter what, I have to deal with him as quickly as possible!"
Kamui was still waiting for him to come to his rescue. He couldn't afford to waste time here trading blows with Uchiha Ye.
Besides, the fight so far had taught her one thing!
Speed alone couldn't do anything to Uchiha Ye. She would have to combine it with ninjutsu if she wanted a chance to defeat him.
"Whoosh!"
She charged in with another Body Flicker Technique, apparently trying to evade Uchiha Ye's lava attacks.
She darted from side to side, making her exact position impossible to pin down.
"So this is how you're avoiding my attacks!"
Uchiha Ye's heart tightened at the sight. Lava already coated his body. "That's quite effective!"
As he thought this, Yugito flashed into existence behind him. The sharp Cat Claws made his back tense.
A torrent of lava immediately burst from his body and surged toward her.
But Yugito was truly formidable.
She vanished from behind him again in an instant, then appeared in front of him.
Clearly, that attack from behind had only been a feint to distract Uchiha Ye, leaving him no time to deal with the attack from the front.
"Mouse Fireball!"
She spat out a mouse-shaped blue fireball that surged toward Uchiha Ye. Its temperature was astonishingly high, no less than that of his lava.
"If I remember correctly, this technique can split apart when needed and automatically track its target!"
Facing the attack, Uchiha Ye didn't turn his body into lava to dodge. Instead, he retreated.
If he wanted to seize this chance to evolve his Sharingan, he would have to make some sacrifices.
How could he make his Sharingan evolve without putting himself in a desperate situation?
"Good, the diversion worked!"
Seeing Uchiha Ye retreat, Yugito was delighted.
She believed he had backed away because he hadn't had time to react.
Otherwise,
judging by what she'd figured out about his abilities, he should have turned his body to lava to avoid the attack.
"Scatter!"
The instant Uchiha Ye retreated,
she focused her mind, and the single mass of mouse-shaped flames immediately split into countless blue fireballs that homed in on him from every direction.
"I'm surrounded in an instant?"
Though fireballs had surrounded him in the blink of an eye, Uchiha Ye remained calm. "This is exactly what I want!"
The burning sensation in his Sharingan grew stronger and stronger.
Evolution was at hand!
He immediately stopped using Observation Haki to assist him.
He would use this intense danger to bring about the Sharingan's evolution.
Of course!
The instant he shut off his Observation Haki, a powerful sense of discomfort washed over him.
It was like being plunged into darkness, his perception vanishing completely.
His Sharingan's existing perception wasn't nearly enough to help him evade every attack.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Uchiha Ye was instantly engulfed in an explosion of fireballs.
Seeing this, Yugito was overjoyed. "Excellent!"
Though she didn't know why Uchiha Ye's ability to move had suddenly declined,
it made sense when she thought about it!
After fighting her at such high speeds, even his Sharingan must have been under considerable strain.
It was only natural that his ability to move would suffer as a result.
Yugito immediately moved to press her advantage. The chakra behind her gathered into a giant cat's paw that lunged into the explosions.
"Whoosh!"
The next moment, a human-shaped shadow burst from the smoke of the violent explosions.
It was Uchiha Ye, dodging Yugito's giant chakra paw.
Before you continue