Entering the White-Hot Stage!

The Kirigakure ninja clearly had not expected Aoba to respond this way. He cursed under his breath and swung his blade through the smoke, trying to locate Aoba.

However, Aoba had already circled to the other side of the bridge pillar. He quietly formed hand seals and murmured, "Shadow Clone Technique!"

A clone identical to Aoba appeared within the smoke, brandishing a kunai and deliberately making noise to draw the enemy's attention.

Sure enough, the ninja immediately lunged at the clone, bringing his short blade down viciously—only to cut through a cloud of smoke.

The clone went, "Bang!"

and vanished, leaving nothing but empty air.

"Damn it, the brat's playing tricks!"

The ninja cursed furiously, turning to scan his surroundings in an attempt to find Aoba's real body.

Seizing the opportunity, Aoba darted out from behind the bridge pillar, his kunai stabbing straight toward the man's back.

He had not expected this strike to truly injure his opponent. He only hoped to force the enemy back and buy himself more room.

Sure enough, the ninja reacted with incredible speed. He spun around and met the kunai with his short blade, producing a crisp clang.

"Is that all you've got?"

The ninja sneered. With a twist of his blade, he pressed toward Aoba with fierce killing intent.

Aoba gritted his teeth and retreated, his feet sliding across the bridge as he tried to widen the distance between them.

He did not have much chakra. The Shadow Clone Technique had already consumed quite a bit, so he could only rely on basic taijutsu and ninja tools to hold the enemy off.

As he retreated, he pulled several shuriken from his ninja tool pouch and hurled them out, trying to disrupt his opponent's rhythm.

The shuriken traced several arcs through the air, only