The Vast Gap in Strength

One had to know that even among Jōnin,

there were fundamental differences.

With Shōji's current strength, even without activating the Mangekyō Sharingan, two or three ordinary Jōnin might not necessarily be his match. Unless his opponents possessed certain special abilities or were masters of genjutsu, even though Shōji was not particularly skilled in genjutsu compared to his fellow Uchiha Clan members.

Under the genjutsu control of the Three-Tomoe Sharingan,

ordinary shinobi found it difficult to resist.

Chasing down a heavily weakened Kumo Ninja alone was nothing to Shōji.

His figure sprinted away at top speed.

"Damn it!"

In less than a minute,

Shōji caught up with the fleeing Kumogakure Jōnin. As he closed in on the target he had firmly locked onto, the Kumogakure Jōnin immediately sensed Shōji's presence. Seeing that it was an Uchiha Clan Jōnin pursuing him, his expression instantly turned ugly. He would rather have been chased by Akimichi Motoyasu.

The terror of the Uchiha Clan

was clearer than anyone to the elites of the major shinobi villages.

The Sharingan's frightening suppressive power

was precisely why they dreaded facing them most. Especially in one-on-one combat, few of them were proficient in genjutsu. Against an Uchiha Clan shinobi of equal strength, the odds of defeat or death were as high as seventy percent!

That was no exaggeration.

Among shinobi of the same level, those who could defeat an Uchiha Clan member one-on-one were all among the very best in their villages, second only to the Kage. Clearly, this Kumogakure Jōnin was not among them.

Thus, the moment he realized the danger,

what this Jōnin considered was not how to drive Shōji back, but how to retreat safely.

"Earth Style: Earth Split Technique!"

He formed the hand seals directly.

"Rumble!"

The stone walls on both sides of the passage

collapsed.

Huge boulders came crashing down.

"!?"

Before his eyes,

Shōji snorted coldly.

"Lightning Style!"

Lightning Affinity Chakra erupted as well.

It coated his Chakra Blade.

"Buzz!"

A tremor flashed through the air.

The blade seemed sharp enough to slice through the surrounding space.

"Swish!"

With a turn of his wrist,

"Boom!"

"Crack!"

With one leap and one slash,

Shōji effortlessly cleaved apart every boulder hurtling toward him head-on.

His speed did not slow in the slightest.

Instead, he cut through the air even faster than before.

His figure burst forth.

"This guy!"

As he drew near,

at the angle Shōji had chosen,

from above,

Shōji brought down a vicious slash.

The Kumo Ninja's pupils contracted.

He shifted sideways by a small distance.

His deliberately halted steps

created a sliver of space.

"Swish!"

He likewise drew a Kunai from his waist.

"Clang!"

As the weapons collided head-on,

a piercing metallic screech rang out.

Intense sparks burst forth.

His stance remained steady.

This was a clash on an entirely different level.

"Hmm!?"

Without the slightest delay,

the Kumo Ninja borrowed the force of the impact.

He swung away sharply, opening up another short distance.

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

He forcefully flung out his right arm.

In midair,

more than ten cold glints flashed.

The chilling edges struck in a surprise assault.

Shōji remained unhurried.

With an extreme evasive maneuver and a sweep of his Tachi, he easily dodged the incoming Shuriken. Yet at that very moment,

"Explode!"

Following the Kumo Ninja's words,

a dazzling flash erupted.

Exploding Tags!?

Shōji's expression shifted slightly.

His body sprang back at high speed.

"Rumble!"

A chain of violent explosions resounded through heaven and earth at that instant.

At the same time,

"Earth Style: Falling Rock Technique!"

The Kumogakure Jōnin immediately brought his hands together.

He rapidly formed hand seals.

"Clap!"

With a sharp shout,

"Rumble!"

Rubble crumbled down from all around.

From their rushing trajectories,

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

"Whoosh!"

they converged on the core of the explosion.

"Bang!"

A violent impact.

Another terrifying roar rang out.

Shōji seemed to have been completely engulfed by this chain of attacks.

Just as the Jōnin breathed a sigh of relief, convinced that he had succeeded,

"Whoosh!"

the next moment,

brilliant lightning flared.

A fierce figure flashed into existence behind him.

"Not good!"

Before the Jōnin could react,

"Squelch!"

at ground level,

a cold glint flashed.

The Kumogakure Jōnin only felt a sudden pain in his heart.

A blade pierced through his chest from behind.

Its tip was drenched in blood.

"Truly worthy of the Uchiha Clan..."

His body trembled as all strength drained from him in an instant, like a receding tide.

After barely turning his head and taking one final look at Shōji's frost-cold face,

the next moment,

his consciousness sank completely into darkness.

"Shk!"

As Shōji pulled out his blade,

blood splattered in every direction.

The Kumogakure Jōnin crumpled limply onto the ground, having completely lost his last trace of life. Only his wide-open eyes seemed to reveal the deep unwillingness in his heart and his desperate yearning to live.

Phew...

Only after confirming his enemy's death did Shōji slowly let out a breath, then returned his Tachi to his back.

He glanced at his somewhat torn sleeve and his slightly charred right arm, unable to stop himself from shaking his head lightly.

A Jōnin was a Jōnin, after all.

And not the highly inflated sort from some minor shinobi village.

As one of the Five Great Shinobi Villages, with overall quality only slightly inferior to Konoha's, the Kumo Ninja

had Jōnin of truly solid caliber.

It was only because his reactions were so fast. Even without activating the Mangekyō Sharingan, the perception of his ordinary Three-Tomoe Sharingan was already among the best, allowing him to dodge this Jōnin's consecutive attacks with relative ease. Even so, he had still suffered a minor injury.

This made the vigilance in Shōji's heart grow even stronger.

This was a battlefield.

What he faced was a hellish situation where it was life or death.

Any carelessness or lapse in vigilance could cost him his life!

"Shōji-kun?"

Just as Shōji finished killing the Kumogakure Jōnin,

two or three figures flashed over from nearby.

The leader was Akimichi Motoyasu, captain of Shōji's squad.

They had arrived at this time because their own battle had just ended. Motoyasu was worried that Shōji might have trouble truly killing this Kumo Ninja alone, so he personally led people over to support him.