Uchiha Style

As soon as he finished speaking, Kakashi gritted his teeth, his expression turning fierce. He dashed over, hoisted the unconscious Sand ninja onto his back, then turned and fled at full speed!

Maki frowned deeply but made no move to stop him, his gaze fixed tightly on Uchiha Mo's face.

"Blood Ninja? I know you—the Uchiha Clan's greatest genius since Konoha was founded."

Uchiha Mo had never attended the Ninja Academy. In his eyes, it would have been a complete waste of time; his abilities needed the baptism of blood to grow rapidly.

So, from the age of five, he had stubbornly pestered Uchiha seniors into taking him along on missions. That was how, at only ten years old, he had attained the strength of a jonin. Even Kakashi, his peer, was no match for him.

"Blood Ninja" was the title he had earned for his ruthless habit of never leaving survivors on missions, regardless of his opponents' strength or identity. Though Uchiha Mo did not care what others thought of him, the name had indeed made him famous throughout the ninja world.

Uchiha Mo did not respond. Expressionless, he met Maki's gaze as he considered how best to slit his throat.

Maki was strong, but battles between ninja were not merely contests of raw power. Intelligence and elemental counters were equally important.

After being enhanced by Green Child's power, Uchiha Mo's Fire Release had acquired some of the properties of natural flame, and its might had become astonishing. Combined with Fire Release's advantage over Wind Release and his nearly heaven-defying control, Maki's ever-effective wind blades could not cause him much trouble. Furthermore, Maki's abilities were practically public knowledge to Uchiha Mo.

That was Uchiha Mo's source of confidence.

Kakashi's footsteps gradually faded until even their echoes could no longer be heard. Mo suddenly stepped forward, launching the first attack!

His longsword swept horizontally. Maki immediately crouched low and closed in beneath the blade toward Uchiha Mo's chest, thrusting the kunai in his hand toward Mo's heart.

Yet Mo's wrist turned nimbly in midair, switching from a forward grip to a reverse grip as he drove the tip of his blade toward Maki's back.

Clang!

Sparks burst from the blade's tip, and cold sweat trickled down Maki's temples. Had he not reacted swiftly and pulled back his kunai to block behind his back in that desperate instant, he would have been a corpse by now.

"So this is Uchiha Style Swordsmanship? Unlike that brat White Fang, this kid is stranger—and sharper."

Uchiha Mo pinned Maki down with his ninja blade, then raised his knee toward Maki's head.

Maki's pupils constricted. He hurriedly raised his other arm before his face.

Bang!

The knee slammed into his arm with a dull thud and could advance no farther. Generally speaking, a leg was far stronger than an arm, but Mo was only ten and still growing, while Maki was a ninja in his prime. There was a substantial gap in their strength. Even Mo's ability to suppress Maki with his ninja blade relied on the advantage of his weapon and Maki's awkward position, which made it difficult to exert force.

Yet Mo seemed to have anticipated this. Before his knee even reached its target, he had already swung his other fist.

Bang!

His fist smashed into Maki's cheek, sending his entire body flying along with several broken teeth!

Uchiha Mo gave Maki no chance to catch his breath. He held the ninja blade in his right hand, while his left hand flicked—and four smooth shuriken instantly appeared between his fingers. With a violent swing of his arm, he sent all four shuriken shooting toward Maki, who had just landed!

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The four shuriken carved arcs through the air, attacking from different directions.

"You damned brat!"

Maki braced himself with one hand and swiftly rose. Just as he prepared to knock the shuriken aside with his kunai, his pupils suddenly trembled. He noticed the wires tied behind them.

His extensive combat experience instantly formed an image in his mind: after the shuriken were deflected, Uchiha Mo would immediately pull them back with the steel wires, bind him in place, and then use the wires to channel Fire Release and end the battle.

"This is... Sharingan Windmill: Third Blade! Damn Uchiha brat, you actually dared to pull a trick like this!"

Maki's heart jolted. He froze for a moment, a chill running down his spine.

But in that brief instant, the first shuriken had already reached his face.

Maki gritted his teeth and barely twisted aside, his cheek cut open. But he had no time to care about the wound. He abandoned his kunai and began forming hand seals at high speed!

Wu—Chen—hands clasped.

Wind Release: Gale Palm!

As the words fell, Maki clapped his hands together, and a fierce gale burst forth, blowing every shuriken out of the sky!

Wind Release: Gale Palm was a C-rank Wind Release ninjutsu, an entry-level technique among Wind Release arts. Its power was quite limited, but it required few hand seals and activated quickly, making it one of Maki's best options in the current situation.

Seeing that all the shuriken had been cleared away, Maki finally let out a breath of relief. Then, a fierce sense of dread suddenly surged through him. Scorching heat came from behind, causing every hair on his body to stand on end. Following his instincts, he lunged to the side.

Splat!

A severed arm flew into the air before being instantly reduced to ash by raging flames. Uchiha Mo stood where the shuriken had landed, his flaming longsword angled toward the ground as he frowned slightly in dissatisfaction.

"Gah!"

Maki lay on the ground, his right hand clutching the shoulder where his left arm had been. Cold sweat streamed down his face like rain, and he kept sucking in sharp breaths through the pain.

Maki truly was a battle-hardened elite jonin. Uchiha Mo had concealed his presence perfectly, yet Maki had still sensed his killing intent at the very instant before he struck. Even so, he had paid for it with an arm.

Poof!

The Uchiha Mo at his original position exploded into a cloud of white smoke and vanished. Maki gritted his teeth as his mind raced.

"A Shadow Clone? When... When I was knocked away! This brat used a Shadow Clone to replace his real body while I was sent flying, then transformed himself into the first shuriken he threw! He knew I would recognize the Third Blade!"

"Konoha... has produced a terrifying brat indeed..."

Maki quickly figured out what had happened, but even so, he understood that in his current state, it would be difficult for him to return alive.

For an ordinary ninja, losing an arm was tantamount to crippling oneself. It meant being unable to form hand seals with both hands, and for most conventional ninja, being unable to form two-handed seals essentially meant bidding farewell to ninjutsu. They could only rely on taijutsu, genjutsu, or certain specialized ninja body arts. But Maki was clearly only a ninja proficient in ninjutsu with a slight understanding of taijutsu...

At that thought, Maki's expression changed. He extended one hand toward the approaching Uchiha Mo.

"Wait! Blood Ninja, Konoha's goal is simply to find out whether Lord Kazekage has truly gone missing, isn't that right?"