Masked Man Attacks

Lan's gaze instantly turned wary. His Sharingan spun by reflex, the single tomoe in each eye slowly rotating as he scanned his surroundings.

Obito and Rin also sensed something was wrong. Obito struggled to his feet and stood in front of Rin, nervously looking around. "Who is it? Who's there?"

No one answered.

Only the rustle of wind through leaves.

Lan's brow furrowed even tighter.

The other party was hiding well. Their chakra fluctuations were extremely faint. If not for his ki sense granting him perception of life auras beyond that of ordinary people, he probably would not have noticed at all.

The other party's target seemed to be him.

"Obito, take Rin and leave," Lan said in a low, calm voice.

"Huh? But..." Obito still wanted to say something.

"You'll only be dead weight if you stay here. Go, now!" Lan shouted sharply.

His tone allowed no argument. Obito was cowed by his presence. After hesitating for a moment, he finally gritted his teeth, grabbed Rin's hand, and ran toward the clan grounds. "Rin, getting help is more useful than staying here. Come on!"

Rin looked back at Lan, her eyes filled with worry, but in the end, she followed Obito and left.

Watching their figures disappear into the woods, Lan finally turned around and looked coldly in the direction that feeling of being watched had come from. "Come out. Hiding and sneaking around—what kind of look is that?"

As his words fell, a figure walked out from the shadow of a great tree like a ghost.

The man wore a dark set of night clothes, and his face was covered by a fox mask unique to the Uchiha clan.

He was tall, his aura steady, giving off an unfathomable feeling.

Lan's pupils shrank slightly.

This person... was strong!

Judging from his chakra fluctuations alone, he was actually not much inferior to Orochimaru.

The masked man did not speak. He only watched Lan quietly. Behind the eyeholes of the mask, a sharp gaze was sizing him up.

For a moment, the atmosphere turned heavy.

Suddenly, the masked man moved!

He was incredibly fast. He left only an afterimage where he stood, then rushed in front of Lan in an instant, driving a straight punch right at his face—the wind of the fist was fierce, carrying the sound of tearing through the air!

Lan's pupils contracted. His body instinctively flashed sideways. The punch grazed past his cheek, and the gust it brought up scraped his skin painfully.

So fast!

His heart tightened. His right foot pushed off the ground, and borrowing the momentum of his dodge, he spun and counterattacked, likewise driving a straight punch toward the masked man's abdomen. His fist carried the heavy, condensed force of Saiyan Chakra.

The masked man seemed to have expected it long ago. Instead of retreating, he advanced. His left foot shifted slightly to stabilize his center of gravity, and his body drifted half a foot diagonally backward like willow fluff, just avoiding the fist. At the same time, his right leg swept out with the momentum, his toe skimming the ground as he kicked toward Lan's ankle.

His grasp of timing was flawless. It was precisely the instant when Lan's old force had just ended and his new force had yet to arise.

Lan tapped the ground with the tip of his foot, and his body abruptly rose higher, narrowly avoiding the sweep kick. In midair, his hands were already forming seals rapidly. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

A massive ball of flame spewed from his mouth, carrying scorching heat as it swept toward the masked man who had just landed.

The masked man did not dodge. The instant he landed, he swiftly formed the same seals. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Another equally massive ball of flame sprayed from his mouth, and the two fireballs collided in midair with a thunderous crash!

Boom!

The explosion was deafening. Flames scattered in every direction, and a wave of heat swept across the entire field.

Amid the thick smoke, two figures almost simultaneously rushed out of the haze and instantly tangled together.

The masked man's use of the Three Body Technique had reached perfection, and his taijutsu was even more masterful. His movements flowed like clouds and water, offense and defense as one.

His left hand formed seals as fast as lightning. "Clone Technique!" In an instant, two more figures appeared and flanked from left and right. Their auras and movements were no different from the real body, and even Lan's Sharingan found it hard to tell truth from falsehood.

Lan had just locked onto the middle figure and swung his fist when that "real body" abruptly blurred. "Substitution Technique!" The true body had already used the wooden fragments scattered after the explosion as a substitute, circling to Lan's rear flank. His right palm, carrying the sound of breaking wind, struck straight at Lan's back, the follow-up seamless.

A chill ran down Lan's spine. His Sharingan caught the chakra fluctuation to his rear side. His left foot ground hard into the earth as he spun, raising his left arm to block.

Bang!

Palm and forearm collided, and his arm was actually shaken numb.

Before he could steady himself, the masked man had already changed moves. His left hand shifted from palm to claw, precisely clamping toward Lan's right wrist, the hand he used to form seals. At the same time, his right foot swept sideways like a whip, forcing Lan to jump back and shed the force.

The instant he landed, the corner of Lan's eye caught sight of a "wooden block" attacking from the side—it was the very object left behind by the Substitution Technique earlier.

He instinctively twisted aside to dodge, only to see that "wooden block" abruptly turn into the masked man. "Transformation Technique!" A hand chop was already slicing at his shoulder and neck from a tricky angle! Lan hastily raised his arm to block. With a hiss, a bloody gash was cut across his shoulder armor.

What sharp prediction! Lan was shocked. The other party had not only combined the Three Body Technique and taijutsu tightly, but could also capture his dodging route in advance—when Lan had dodged left just now, the masked man had already stepped half a pace forward-left ahead of time, perfectly cutting off his retreat.

That was not all. Exchanging taijutsu with him was even more dangerous.

The masked man's footwork was as steady as bedrock, every step landing in Lan's blind spots;

His fists and palms carried wind like sharp blades. A seemingly slow straight punch actually hid a follow-up change, and when Lan blocked, the edge of the fist suddenly sank to lock onto his elbow joint;

His palm techniques were even more tricky, every strike sealing toward vital points like Lan's throat and heart.

While this shocked Lan, it also ignited an intense desire to win.

"Interesting! Again!"

Lan let out a low shout, and his offensive suddenly became fierce.

He no longer deliberately formed complex seals, instead integrating Ki Control into basic ninjutsu.

The Transformation Technique needed only one seal to be completed instantly, and the transformation became even more lifelike;

The Substitution Technique also used one seal, and the replacement speed was several times faster than usual;

The Clone Technique produced five figures with one seal, the chakra content extremely high, almost reaching the level of solid clones!

This was the advantage of ki! In the Dragon Ball World, when powerful fighters erupted with ki, they often needed only a gesture or a look.

Now that Lan had integrated this energy control into ninjutsu, the effect was immediate.

The masked man's movements paused slightly, clearly surprised that Lan could release ninjutsu in such an extremely simplified way, but he quickly adjusted. The speed of his hand seals abruptly increased. "Fire Style: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique!"

Countless tiny fireballs shot toward Lan like a meteor shower.

Lan's gaze sharpened. He neither dodged nor avoided them. The Saiyan Chakra inside him rapidly condensed. "Saiyan Energy Bullet!"

He thrust his right hand forward, and a highly compressed small energy bullet shot out like a projectile. In flight, it abruptly split apart, accurately hitting every small fireball.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions rang out one after another, and all the fireballs were detonated.

"Interesting." The masked man finally spoke, his voice low. "Your way of fighting really is different from other Uchiha."

"Cut the crap!" Lan snorted coldly. "Show me what you've really got! Otherwise, get lost!"

"Heh heh..." The masked man gave a low laugh. "So young, yet such a temper. Since you want to see it, I'll oblige you."

As his words fell, the aura around him suddenly surged! His hands formed seals so fast only afterimages remained. "Fire Release: Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

A massive fire dragon condensed from flames roared out, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws as it pounced at Lan—its scale and power far surpassed the Great Fireball from earlier!

Lan's gaze became more solemn than ever.

He could feel the terrifying energy contained in the fire dragon, while the other party's breathing remained steady. Clearly, he had yet to use his full strength.

This was absolutely no ordinary jonin. Even in the Hidden Leaf Village, he was probably among the top experts!

If Lan wanted to deal with this move, he could only try the strongest attack he had never used before.

"Fire Release: Galick Gun!"

He took a deep breath, and the Saiyan Chakra in his body circulated wildly, all of it gathering into his hands.