The Trembling Trump Card

Boom!

Might Guy's knee slammed into the ground.

The earth beneath it cracked outward, swallowing half his lower leg.

His right arm had completely lost its strength, and the remaining metal baton slipped from his grasp and hit the ground.

From the nunchaku defense, to Shisui's Body Flicker ambush, to Guy being forced to his knees by an uppercut, only two breaths had passed.

Shisui did not even have time to rush back into the battlefield!

Kurenai Yuhi's face turned pale.

"Guy and Shisui attacked together..."

"And they were still suppressed."

One had opened the Eight Gates to the Third Gate, while the other possessed a Body Flicker Technique renowned throughout the shinobi world.

Either one, on his own, was a true top-tier powerhouse of Konoha.

Yet now, despite being attacked from both sides, Lie Yang had not even disturbed his footing.

First, he severed the nunchaku.

Then, he knocked Shisui back with a single slash.

Finally, he heavily wounded Might Guy with Konoha taijutsu.

The entire process was so fast it left no room to breathe.

Lie Yang gripped Might Guy's right arm, his ninja sword already raised again.

Kakashi did not wait any longer.

His hands flew through a series of seals.

"Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld!"

The ground beneath Lie Yang instantly softened.

A vast stretch of earth turned into a viscous swamp, swallowing toward his legs.

At the same time, the Kakashi in front of Lie Yang abruptly collapsed into mud.

Swamp Shadow Clone Technique!

The real Kakashi had long since used Earth Release to change positions.

Lie Yang released Might Guy.

Lightning instantly covered his entire body.

Kurenai Yuhi only saw a flash before that figure vanished from where he stood.

"Behind you!"

The power in Kakashi's left eye spun wildly.

He had only just emerged from behind a tree when a sharp pain shot through the back of his neck.

There was no time to turn around.

Even less time to form seals.

Kakashi's body immediately sank into the ground.

The ninja sword swept across.

Pfft!

The struck Kakashi exploded on the spot, turning into a swamp that clung to Lie Yang's arm and blade.

Lie Yang pulled back his sword and retreated.

The mud missed, splattering onto the ground.

In the next instant, Kakashi and Kurenai Yuhi emerged together from behind a boulder twenty meters away.

Kurenai Yuhi stood beside Kakashi, her hands still held in a hand seal.

Kakashi's breathing was slightly labored.

He had used Shadow Clone Technique, Swamp of the Underworld, and Earth Release movement in succession, yet he had still nearly failed to evade that slash.

"Swamp of the Underworld was a decent idea."

Lie Yang flicked the mud from his blade.

"But your hand seals are too slow."

Kakashi did not deny it.

Lie Yang looked at the swamp beneath his feet, which had yet to fully form.

"From the moment you began forming seals to the moment your ninjutsu covered my position, I could kill you twice."

"Binding ninjutsu like this is meaningless against me."

Kurenai Yuhi stepped in front of Kakashi.

"As long as it makes you change direction once, it isn't completely meaningless."

"You planned to cast genjutsu while I changed direction?"

Lie Yang turned to look at her.

Kurenai Yuhi avoided those Mangekyō Sharingan.

"One has to try."

"Last time, you couldn't even dispel my genjutsu."

Kurenai Yuhi's fingers tightened slightly.

Lie Yang did not look at her any longer.

His gaze fell upon Kakashi's left eye, hidden beneath his forehead protector.

From the moment Kakashi had appeared, that ocular power had been impossible to conceal.

Heavier than a three-tomoe Sharingan.

And more stable than during their last battle.

"Your eye has changed."

Kakashi raised a hand and lifted his forehead protector.

His closed left eye slowly opened.

Three tomoe spun rapidly, then linked together, forming a brand-new Mangekyō Sharingan pattern.

When Shisui saw that eye, his pupils constricted slightly.

"Mangekyō..."

Although Kurenai Yuhi had known already, her breathing still paused briefly when she felt that ocular power again.

A non-Uchiha shinobi had truly caused the Sharingan to complete its transformation.

Kakashi did not hide it.

"Last time, it was your genjutsu that forced this power out."

"In a sense, I should thank you."

Lie Yang did not answer.

Deep within his consciousness, the hazy Fortune Balance trembled softly.

Kakashi should not have awakened Kamui at this time.

Nor should he have broken free so early from the mental shackles that had trapped him for so long.

Lie Yang's genjutsu pressure had changed this path of fate ahead of time.

The future had already shifted.

And Kakashi's already astonishing potential had gained a new variable because of it.

This change was clearer than the fortune gained from killing an ordinary jonin.

Looking at that Mangekyō Sharingan, Lie Yang felt genuine interest in this pursuit for the first time.

"Interesting."

His gaze then shifted to Shisui.

Shisui had raised his ninja sword again.

The web between his right thumb and forefinger had split open, blood slowly flowing down the hilt. Even the tip of his sword trembled faintly.

Lie Yang said, "Body Flicker Shisui, can't even hold your sword steady anymore?"

Shisui did not respond.

The next instant, lightning exploded beneath Lie Yang's feet.

"Shisui, be careful!"

Dazzling electricity lit up Kakashi's right hand at the same time.

The piercing sound of a thousand chirping birds rang across the plain.

"Chidori!"

Just as Lie Yang rushed before Shisui, Kakashi cut in from the side.

Two violent masses of lightning collided!

Boom!

Azure currents spread frantically in every direction.

The nearby grass instantly charred black, while lightning tore fine cracks across the ground.

Kakashi's Chidori met Lie Yang's blade head-on.

From the outside, the two Lightning Release powers devoured each other, neither able to advance.

But Kakashi's arms had begun to tremble.

His feet slid backward against his will.

An inch.

Two inches.

The ninja sword within the lightning slowly approached his chest.

"Kakashi is being suppressed!"

Kurenai Yuhi's expression changed sharply.

Shisui moved.

Several afterimages appeared around Lie Yang at once.

Fire-nature chakra covered his ninja sword again.

"Uchiha Style: Sword Leaping Flame!"

A blazing sword light swept in from the side.

This time, Shisui was not pursuing a surprise attack.

He had completely integrated the Body Flicker Technique into his sword style. Flames erupted alongside several afterimages at once, as though crimson edges had covered the entire plain.

Lie Yang turned his wrist.

His ninja sword pressed against the Chidori and guided it outward.

Kakashi's Lightning Release, released with all his strength, was immediately diverted to the side and blasted into the ground.

Using the impact of the two Lightning Release techniques colliding, Lie Yang turned around, his blade meeting the flames.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sounds of metal striking metal rang out in rapid succession.

Shisui slashed more than ten times in a row.

Every strike came from a different angle.

Lie Yang retreated only half a step.

His blade did not collide head-on with Sword Leaping Flame. Instead, it repeatedly slid against Shisui's blade, altering the flaming sword trajectories by the smallest margins.

An upward slash was diverted higher.

A horizontal slash was pressed toward the ground.

A thrust grazed past Lie Yang's shoulder.

More than ten flaming sword lights all missed.

Just as Shisui's final slash came down, Lie Yang suddenly stepped forward, his ninja sword sliding along the other's blade to the guard.

He twisted his wrist.

His blade swept sideways!

Shisui immediately leaned backward.

Azure sword light grazed across his chest, slicing open his shinobi vest.

He used the Body Flicker Technique repeatedly to retreat more than ten meters, his right hand trembling even more visibly.

"Deflected again..."

Shisui lowered his head to look at the ninja sword in his hand.

From beginning to end, his flaming sword style had never truly landed on Lie Yang.

Kakashi's Chidori had only forced Lie Yang to turn his blade once.

Even with the three of them joining forces, they had still failed to gain the slightest advantage.

Lie Yang, on the other hand, looked as though he had only just begun to warm up.

He flicked his wrist.

Several kunai tore through the air.

An explosive tag was tied to the end of each kunai.

"Spread out!"

Kakashi rapidly formed hand seals.

The moment the kunai landed among them, the explosive tags detonated.