"Darkness Technique"
In an instant,
the hut was plunged into darkness.
"Just as I thought, the Sharingan is impressive. The moment you sensed the genjutsu, you immediately cast your own to counter mine." Raven chuckled.
Then,
he stood where he was and closed his eyes.
The next second,
BOOM!!!!
The Kusarigama flew out and slammed into Raven. Raven suddenly exerted himself, and his frail, shriveled body swelled in an instant. In just a few breaths, he changed from a man in his fifties or sixties into a young man of about twenty!
Raven suddenly punched at the scythe!
Another familiar explosion rang out.
"What?" Uchiha Chiba felt his scalp prickle. This guy had a second phase? Wait, he hadn't even finished the first one!
The young Raven still had his eyes closed as he rubbed his chin.
Then,
CRACK!
He did something that made Chiba's pupils contract! He crushed the pocket watch in his hand—the one that had released the genjutsu!
"Dispelling Technique: Scatter."
Raven laughed. "I thought you were coming to attack me yourself, kid. I didn't expect you to use a weapon. You're pretty cautious. Too bad I didn't get to smash your skull with one punch."
The pocket watch hadn't been inscribed with a genjutsu at all. It contained Dispelling Technique: Scatter, which could dispel most genjutsu apart from forbidden techniques.
In other words, if Uchiha Chiba had approached the watch to attack just now, Raven would have entered his current state in an instant and thrown a full-power punch to smash Chiba's skull! It would have been a fatal blow!
"Actually, I'm a Taijutsu ninja, kid. The only reason I haven't attacked you is that I'm stalling for time. Hahahaha!" The young Raven seemed to have a younger temperament, too. He laughed wildly. Gone was the restraint he'd shown in his old-man form; all that remained was the constant, violent aura radiating from him.
Damn!
Where were all these monsters and demons in the original story?!
Chiba: I'm requesting that the system show up! Show up! Damn system!
RUMBLE!!!!
A tremendous force hurtled toward him.
A punch slammed into Chiba's nose.
He could feel the bone break.
"So fast! I can't see him!" Uchiha Chiba suddenly felt as if his head and body had switched places. A mouthful of metallic-tasting blood surged up his throat!
Not far away,
Raven wiped the blood from his fist and hummed nonchalantly. "You've already spent forty minutes. Your little companion has only an hour and twenty minutes left. Can you beat me and then make it over there?"
He'd have to take a gamble.
He didn't know whether a forbidden technique could let him kill someone of a higher level.
"Can you tell me what kind of technique this is?" Uchiha Chiba asked, while secretly gathering blood in his right hand, preparing to launch a sneak attack.
Raven immediately replied cheerfully, "Oh, you finally asked! I've been waiting ages for you to ask me that. Since you want to waste time, kid, I'll indulge you. This technique is my Taijutsu Kekkei Genkai: Body Binding Technique."
In the Ninja World, rare nature transformations were usually Kekkei Genkai. The most famous were Hashirama Senju's Wood Release and Ōnoki of Both Scales' Dust Release. Bodily Kekkei Genkai, such as the Sharingan of the Uchiha Clan, the Byakugan of the Hyuga Clan, and even the Ketsuryūgan, were rarer still—and even more powerful.
However, some ninja had such poor talent for ninjutsu that they could only train in Taijutsu. That was how Taijutsu Kekkei Genkai came about. Still, people with such Kekkei Genkai generally couldn't beat ninjutsu users. After all, no one was going to stand there and let you use them as a training dummy for close combat.
Of course, there were also ninja who took their Taijutsu Kekkei Genkai to the extreme. The "Raven" standing before Uchiha Chiba was one such ninja.
"I can compress my flesh and then expand it. But I'm old, so this technique has its drawbacks... Of course, I'm not going to tell you what they are! Hahahaha!" Raven held his forehead, seeming quite pleased with himself for teasing a child.
Whoosh! Whoosh!!!
Uchiha Chiba frowned. He thought he'd picked up on something and threw two kunai!
Raven first looked a little dazed, then immediately knocked the kunai away.
"If I'm not mistaken..." Uchiha Chiba smiled. This time, it was his turn to smile.
He'd originally planned to use Thorn Shatter, a technique that would injure him a thousand times to injure his enemy eight hundred, and kill this guy by way of his blood. It would work, but it would cost him a lot of time. There was a high chance he wouldn't be able to save Konan in time. Still, that would only be a last resort.
"Kid, your smile reminds me of an old acquaintance from the Uchiha Clan, Kagami Uchiha... Forget it. You don't deserve to know. I'll break your legs now. Hey, Smiley! After I break this kid's legs, search his memories. Don't worry about whether he lives or dies." Raven seemed to have lost interest in playing around because of Chiba's smile. His eyes narrowed as he stared at Chiba.
The next second,
Chiba threw out the Kusarigama.
"The same trick won't work the first time, and it won't work the second time either." Raven swept out a hand and caught the scythe. Then he yanked hard, intending to pull Chiba straight toward him and kill him with a punch!
This guy was strong.
In an instant,
Uchiha Chiba was pulled to within five meters of him.
"Old geezer, let me clear out your poison." Uchiha Chiba swung his left hand hard.
"Not good!" As a Kage Level powerhouse, Raven naturally reacted in time, but his arm was caught in the chain of the Kusarigama, slowing him down for a moment.
The next second,
SHING!!!!
The blood formed a straight line, but only a little appeared as it was cut. It seemed no blood had actually spilled out.
A gash, a finger's width across, opened in Raven's abdomen.
"Kid, I let my guard down. Is it because I'm old? After expanding, my body really can't quite keep up with my muscles' reactions." Raven muttered to himself.
"As I thought... I was right. Expanding comes at a cost." Uchiha Chiba held the Blood Scythe, then put it away. That one move had already used up a tenth of his blood reserve. It seemed that breaking through his opponent's defenses with his current strength took that much blood.
"Konoha Fist."
Raven's figure flashed into view above Uchiha Chiba!
A powerful blow blocked out what little light remained.
The next second,
"Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!"
A terrifying gust of wind sent Raven, who had been closing in on him, flying. A Kage Level powerhouse shouldn't have been blown away so easily, but this proved Chiba's guess was right.
"Old geezer, I've got a gift for you." Uchiha Chiba formed Hand Seals.
"What?" Raven looked confused, but the force in his legs didn't let up. He attacked again, feeling that something ominous was about to happen.
"Wind Style: Wind Vortex Barrage!"
Katsuzuki had taught him these Wind Release techniques.
"I'm giving you an explosive balloon. Think of it as a firework, old geezer." Uchiha Chiba abruptly hurled several green balls of wind.
Before you continue