Precise "Iron Ring and Guard"

Might Guy's pupils suddenly contracted.

Before the strands of hair falling across his forehead could touch the ground, he forcibly twisted his waist and swept his left leg at Lie Yang's ribs.

At the same time, his right hand reached back and drew the nunchaku from behind him.

His wrist turned.

The two metal rods spun with a heavy howl of wind, shielding his chest and throat as the other end smashed toward Lie Yang's sword arm.

His Achilles tendon had been severed, and his right foot could no longer support him.

Guy could only place all his weight on his left leg.

But the power of the Third Gate was still formidable.

The nunchaku tore through the air, its shadows and the wind from his kick arriving almost simultaneously.

"Guy changed his attack pattern!"

Kurenai Yuhi stared fixedly at the battlefield.

If his taijutsu habits could be seen through by the Sharingan, then he would use a weapon he had rarely employed in the past to disrupt the rhythm.

This was already the best response Guy could make in such a short time.

Yet Kakashi did not relax in the slightest.

"It's useless."

"His right foot is crippled."

"No matter how he changes his moves, his center of gravity can only rest on his left leg."

Sure enough.

Lie Yang did not pay any attention to the left leg sweeping toward his ribs.

He took half a step forward, deliberately closing into Might Guy's attack range.

The distance between them instantly shrank.

Guy's left leg had yet to fully extend when its strongest phase of exertion was forcibly cut short. Just as the spinning nunchaku rose before his chest, the ninja blade in Lie Yang's hand slashed down diagonally.

Clang!

The blade struck the iron ring connecting the two metal rods with perfect precision.

Blinding sparks exploded.

Might Guy's hand holding the nunchaku shook violently.

The next moment, the iron ring snapped in half!

Crack!

The two metal rods lost their connection. One remained in Guy's hand, while the other spun away and plunged heavily into the ground.

"Impossible!"

Kurenai Yuhi's breath caught.

What Lie Yang had cut was not the body of the metal rods, but the iron ring constantly shifting position as it spun at high speed.

That thing was only as thick as a finger.

With even the slightest error in judgment, the blade would have been deflected by the nunchaku, followed immediately by Guy's frontal blow.

But Lie Yang had not made a mistake.

The angle of his slash, its point of impact, and its force were all terrifyingly precise.

The ninja blade did not pause after cutting through the iron ring.

Azure lightning pressed downward along Might Guy's arm.

Guy hastily raised the remaining metal rod horizontally.

Clang!

The metal rod was forced back against his chest by the blade.

At that moment, his left leg completely lost its room to attack. He could only force it back and hop away on one foot.

Just as Lie Yang prepared to pursue, a blazing sword light erupted from his rear left!

No footsteps.

No warning.

Not even an obvious burst of chakra.

Using the Body Flicker Technique, Shisui silently entered the battlefield. The ninja blade in his hand was already completely engulfed in flames.

Fire raced along the blade.

The scorching heat warped the surrounding air.

"Uchiha Style: Sword Leaping Flame!"

The blade swept upward from below, aimed directly at Lie Yang's neck.

The timing was perfect.

Lie Yang had just severed the nunchaku, and his right arm was still exerting force downward.

Might Guy stood directly in front of him, limiting the space available for him to evade forward.

Shisui had not chosen a frontal attack.

He suppressed his speed, presence, and killing intent to their lowest point, releasing all his power in one burst only when his blade was less than half a foot from Lie Yang.

"It hit!"

Kurenai Yuhi had already raised both hands.

As long as Lie Yang was forced to turn around, she would immediately cast a genjutsu to interfere.

Yet Kakashi's Sharingan caught an extremely subtle change at that instant.

Lie Yang did not turn his head.

Nor did he look toward Shisui.

His right shoulder merely sank by an inch.

His wrist turned with it.

The ninja blade that had been pressing down on Might Guy suddenly withdrew. The edge flipped along his own arm and slashed back from an angle where exerting force should have been nearly impossible.

Too fast!

Shisui only saw a streak of azure blade light coming against the flames.

Clang!

The two ninja blades collided with a thunderous crash.

Flames and lightning erupted at once.

Shisui's expression changed drastically.

Lie Yang's strike had not met all of his power head-on. Instead, it had precisely struck the section of the blade near the guard.

That was the instant after Sword Leaping Flame had completed its upward swing, when the old force was fading and new force had yet to arise.

It was also the point where his wrist could least withstand an impact!

Violent force surged through the ninja blade and into his right arm.

Shisui's palm split open instantly.

The blood had barely spilled out before the flames on the blade evaporated it.

He could no longer maintain the Body Flicker Technique.

That slash forcibly knocked him out of high-speed movement, sending him sliding backward over ten meters with his feet scraping the ground.

The earth burst apart continuously along his path.

Only when his back slammed into a large tree did Shisui barely stop.

Crack!

Several thin fissures split across the trunk.

Shisui's sword hand trembled violently.

For the first time, the calm vanished from his gaze as he looked at Lie Yang.

"He didn't see me..."

Shisui suppressed his churning blood and qi, his voice tight.

"From the moment I approached until I struck, he never turned around even once."

Kurenai Yuhi said in disbelief, "Sensing?"

"No."

Shisui slowly shook his head.

A sensory ninja could detect an enemy's location.

The Sharingan could clearly see chakra and movements.

But what Lie Yang had done just now went far beyond that.

Not only had he detected the ambush, but before Shisui truly exerted his strength, he had judged the blade's trajectory, the change in its force, and its weakest point.

Even more terrifyingly, there had not been the slightest hesitation throughout the entire process.

It was as if Lie Yang's body had already produced the answer before Shisui even swung.

Kakashi's right eye darkened completely.

"He didn't think."

"What?"

"There was no pause in Lie Yang's movements from observation and judgment."

Kakashi fixed his gaze on Lie Yang's shoulders and back.

"That was instinct."

"His body discovered the opening before his mind did."

Shisui's fingers tightened around his sword once more.

He was known as Body Flicker Shisui.

There were very few in the ninja world who could keep up with his speed head-on.

Over the years, whether he faced Kirigakure ninja or jonin from other hidden villages, he had always been able to seize the initiative with the Body Flicker Technique.

But just now, for the first time, he had felt like there was nowhere to strike.

Speed was meaningless.

Concealing killing intent was meaningless.

Even carefully choosing the moment to attack was meaningless.

It was as if Lie Yang simply had no such thing as being caught off guard.

Any attack that entered his vicinity would automatically trigger that innate battle instinct.

"Shisui!"

Might Guy's voice suddenly rang out.

Shisui looked up.

As Lie Yang knocked him back, he had already stepped forward.

Might Guy only had half a metal rod left in his hand. The Achilles tendon in his right foot was severed, his left leg had just been pulled back, and his entire body weight rested on his arms.

Lie Yang did not swing his blade.

He released his left hand, dropped his elbow, and suddenly drove into Might Guy's guard.

"Leaf Rock-Destroying Rise!"

Boom!

The point of his elbow smashed heavily into Might Guy's raised right arm!

Explosive cracks rang out from bone after bone.

Crack, crack, crack!

The muscles strengthened by the Third Gate suddenly caved in.

Might Guy clenched his teeth, his entire right arm bent inward beneath that crushing force.

He wanted to retreat.

But his severed Achilles tendon could not provide any support.

His left foot had barely moved when Lie Yang's elbow strike pressed down once more.