Yechen's senses were sharp. He immediately stopped attacking and dodged the sneak attack.
Then he glanced toward his attacker. It was Danzo, ambushing him from the shadows.
At that moment, Danzo was opening his mouth to spit out a second sphere of energy.
Yechen knew this technique well. It was the B-rank ninjutsu, Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere.
Vacuum Sphere inflicted penetrating damage. Its energy could destroy solid objects and energy barriers alike, and it provided suppressive fire at medium to long range.
Yechen glanced at Danzo, then at the other Root Ninjas. As he pulled back, a thin film of lightning erupted across his body.
The film looked extremely thin, but its defensive power was formidable.
For a time, both sides traded blows, locked in a stalemate.
"Yechen, aren't you supposed to be so powerful? How come you can't even dodge my ninjutsu?"
Seeing his Vacuum Spheres hit Yechen one after another, Danzo sneered at him.
At those words, Yechen pulled back and put away the Flowing Shadow Thrust. He swept his gaze over everyone present, then gave a cold smile.
"Danzo, you're celebrating too soon."
As soon as he finished speaking, Yechen's figure dissolved into a mass of energy with a pop and vanished.
Danzo paled at the sight and cried out, "A Shadow Clone!"
That was right. All this time, they had been fighting nothing more than a Shadow Clone.
Because of the nature of Shadow Clones, even one with fifty percent of Yechen's combat strength could not truly unleash fifty percent of his power.
That was why he had held back throughout the earlier battle-all to give Danzo something to smile about.
He had let Danzo believe victory was assured and everything was under his control. In reality, Yechen had merely shown him what he wanted to