Shisui Arrives

Clang—!

An explosion sent a stray shockwave striking Goenji's forehead protector. The Sharingan reflected the enemy's figures as the protector slowly fell away.

Pfft—!

Dropping to one knee, Goenji panted heavily as his Sharingan slowly reverted to ordinary eyes.

"Damn it, is this where it ends for me?"

Though he was already utterly exhausted, Goenji still made the move most likely to keep him alive. A Soldier Ration Pill appeared in his hand, and he quickly stuffed it into his mouth.

This was not the first one he had taken.

It felt as though every bit of cellular energy had been wrung dry, enough to shorten his life. This battle had cost him at least ten years of lifespan, and he might not even survive it.

If only he had awakened the Mangekyō Sharingan when his teammates died. If he had unleashed Susanoo, he definitely could have taken down these guys.

Unfortunately, he could not...

"It's over, Uchiha brat. Your Sharingan will belong to Kirigakure too. Once we have the Byakugan and the Sharingan, Konoha really will be a treasure trove."

Across from Goenji, Hozuki Longyue pointed at him. He did not waste any more words; even as he spoke, he had already formed his seals, and a droplet appeared at his fingertip.

"Water Release: Water Gun."

Whoosh—!

The droplet exploded with a roar, tearing through the air and piercing straight toward Goenji's forehead.

Cruel smiles spread across Hozuki Longyue's and Munashi Jinpachi's faces. They were finally about to kill the Uchiha brat, and they would gain a pair of Sharingan as well. The mission was finally about to be complete.

The instant Goenji saw the enemy form seals, he used the medicine's effects to squeeze his cells dry once more and refine chakra. His Sharingan reappeared.

He forcibly caught the Water Gun's attack path. Under his powerful dynamic vision, the Water Gun looked like it was moving in slow motion, its trajectory perfectly clear.

But he was at the end of his strength. When the Water Gun came within three meters of him, he forcibly twisted his body, and the crisp tearing of muscle fibers beneath his skin was clearly audible.

Bang—!

He dodged the attack, and the Water Gun punched through the massive tree behind him. The struck section of the trunk was pulverized, and deprived of support, the giant tree crashed down.

"Brat, you're quite tenacious."

At that moment, the massive blade of Exploding Blade Shibuki entered Goenji's Sharingan vision. Damn it, there's no time!

At the same time, Munashi Jinpachi's mocking face, offering not the slightest chance, filled his view.

Just as the exploding blade was about to cut Goenji in half at the waist, a flash of emerald blade light cleaved through the mist.

Shisui Uchiha's Body Flicker Technique was so fast that it left not even an afterimage behind. He stepped directly out of thin air, and with a clang, he gripped the short blade Emerald Gale in his right hand in reverse. The chakra wrapped around its blade knocked Exploding Blade Shibuki off course.

With his left hand, he flung out eight shuriken that collided and changed direction in midair. Three pierced through Hozuki Longyue's liquefied arm, while the other five precisely sealed off Munashi Jinpachi's opening stance with the exploding blade.

"Big Brother Goenji—" Shisui grabbed Goenji by the back of his collar and leaped into the air. "Hang in there!"

Whoosh—!

As he retreated with Goenji, Emerald Gale slashed downward, and flames surged forth. Flame Leap struck toward Munashi Jinpachi.

"Fuck, you damned brat! Konoha's reinforcements are here?!" Munashi Jinpachi changed Exploding Blade Shibuki's opening stance, shifting to defense and sweeping away the shuriken. Seeing the Fire Release attack, explosive tags flew from Shibuki and burst with bang bang bang, blocking the flames.

Hozuki Longyue was the same. His liquefied arm recovered as he stared at Shisui with an ugly expression. "Another Uchiha. This is troublesome."

"Let's go. Since Shisui Uchiha has arrived, Konoha's follow-up reinforcements will definitely be coming. We have no chance left."

Behind them, Fubuki Shiro, who had recovered a tiny bit of strength after taking a Soldier Ration Pill, spoke to his two teammates.

"Lucky bastard. Looks like Lord Mizukage's mission can no longer be completed, but at least we got rid of one of Konoha's swordsmanship experts." Munashi Jinpachi knew the mission was impossible now, but Konoha's sword-wielding expert was dead.

Hozuki Longyue said, "Even if we're leaving, we can't let them off so easily. If there are troops behind them, they probably won't let us leave without a fight. Use our final move to stop Shisui from pursuing us."

"Mm, let's begin."

"Water Gun: Barrage."

"Exploding Blade: Thousand Crack Blast."

The Water Guns fired like a machine gun, launched as though they cost nothing. Countless droplets shot toward Shisui and Goenji.

On Munashi Jinpachi's side, he hurled Exploding Blade Shibuki high into the air and rapidly formed hand seals. Shibuki's scroll spun open, and dark shapes poured down toward Shisui like a torrential rain.

A closer look revealed that every one of those dark shapes was an explosive tag.

Neither of them cared about the outcome. Together, they supported the weakened Fubuki Shiro and fled.

Yet as Hozuki Longyue ran, he kept looking back from time to time, wanting to see whether their ultimate move had worked.

Bang bang bang bang—!

Endless explosions and thunderous roars.

"This is bad. Shisui has already engaged the enemy." On Nara Yiming's side, the sensory ninja sensed something and reported it.

Nara Yiming said, "You didn't need to tell us. We can see it already. That attack is spectacular and dangerous."

They had already seen the region ahead where ice and fire intertwined. Now another massive explosion had erupted, and even the blast's shockwaves had reached them.

Everyone raised their hands to shield themselves from the gale.

The overlapping explosions merged into a sustained sonic boom. They could only push forward through this environment, hoping Shisui and the others were all right.

This was clearly the enemy's handiwork.

Shisui and Goenji's squad did not possess this kind of ability.

"Captain, the enemies have fled. It looks like they threw out one last move and ran," the sensory ninja continued.

Nara Yiming said, "Hurry and save them. Ignore the enemies for now."

The two Uchiha were both battlefield geniuses. They could not be lost here.

Whoosh, whoosh—!

Rumble rumble—!

The explosions compressed the air into transparent ripples. Wherever those ripples passed, birds plummeted from the sky and beasts were thrown onto their backs.

Black smoke spread from the explosions, surrounding the battlefield and even covering the earlier scene of intertwined ice and fire.

Slowly.

The black smoke gradually dispersed in the natural breeze, and a massive green Susanoo emerged from within it, its half-body skeletal frame imposing and majestic.

Within the skeleton, Shisui held Goenji close as the Mangekyō Sharingan in his eyes slowly changed into three-tomoe Sharingan, then gradually reverted to ordinary eyes.

As his eyes regressed, the skeleton slowly faded away as well.

Bloody tears streamed from Shisui's left eye.

"So this is Susanoo, the ability of the Mangekyō Sharingan. It truly deserves to be called the strongest defense!"

From the moment Shisui arrived, Goenji had already breathed a sigh of relief.

But when he saw Shisui use the Mangekyō Sharingan and unleash Susanoo to defend against the enemy's ultimate move, he was still deeply shaken.

There was nothing to criticize about that defense. Just a half-body skeleton had achieved this level of protection. It was hard to imagine how powerful the defense and offense of Susanoo's third stage would be.

In any case, he was saved!