The might of the Wind Spirit Sword Art

At the entrance in the mountainside, Kazuhiko Uchiha narrowed his eyes slightly as he surveyed the valley.

Ever since he had begun cultivating the Bloodfiend Undying Body, Kazuhiko Uchiha's five senses had become exceptionally keen. After arriving here, he had sensed that something was off.

Right, there aren't any sounds from small animals.

After a moment's thought, Kazuhiko Uchiha identified the anomaly. A single black tomoe appeared in his eyes as he examined every blade of grass, tree, flower, and stone in the valley more carefully.

Sure enough, the Sharingan's exceptional perception allowed him to see through the elaborate camouflage of all six examinees.

It was obvious that they had banded together to ambush other examinees passing through.

From what Kazuhiko Uchiha could sense, none of them were particularly powerful. They would make perfect targets for testing a few of the Wind Spirit Sword Art's other basic moves.

So Kazuhiko Uchiha feigned complete ignorance and charged straight into their ambush.

As soon as Kazuhiko Uchiha reached the center of the ambush, the ninja hidden in the valley sprang out and surrounded him.

A dark-skinned ninja wearing a Cloud Ninja forehead protector looked at Kazuhiko Uchiha with contempt and laughed arrogantly. "Hahahaha! You Konoha idiot, you walked right into our ambush!"

"Haha, Bêmui, haven't you noticed he's alone? Looks like he's not just an idiot, but a coward who abandoned his teammates and ran off on his own when things got dangerous."

Another Cloud Ninja wearing steel gauntlets joined in the mockery, drawing raucous laughter from his companions. They all sneered at Kazuhiko Uchiha, who seemed frozen with fear.

"I was wondering what little rats were hiding here. So you're ninja from Kumogakure." A flicker of anger crossed Kazuhiko Uchiha's eyes as he spoke, his expression icy. "Then dying here will count as returning to your roots."

"Hmph, you Konoha bastard. I was going to let you live a little longer, but now I see there's no need."

The gauntleted Cloud Ninja stopped laughing. He glared darkly at Kazuhiko Uchiha and told his companions, seething with anger, "Stay out of this. Let me have some fun with him."

"Haha, Domui, go for it! Show that Konoha ninja what we Cloud Ninja can do!"

The gauntleted Cloud Ninja Domui's companions clearly had faith in his strength. They complied and stood off to the side with their arms folded to watch.

"Nintaijutsu: Explosive Thunder Fist!"

Lightning Release chakra surged around Domui. A large amount gathered in his arms and coated his gauntlets as he rushed toward Kazuhiko Uchiha amid faint crackles.

With his body stimulated by Lightning Release chakra, Domui flashed forward and appeared before Kazuhiko Uchiha in an instant.

This was Kazuhiko Uchiha's first fight against a Cloud Ninja who practiced Nintaijutsu, and he had not expected Domui to be so fast. He tempered his disdain for the Cloud Ninja somewhat and evaded the attack with the Substitution Technique.

"Wind Sweeps Away the Clouds!"

As Domui came after him again, Kazuhiko Uchiha retrieved the Bloodwing Black Blade from his system space and unleashed the Wind Spirit Sword Art's second move.

Green wind-aspected primal energy poured from Kazuhiko Uchiha's body and gathered along the blade, making the already light Bloodwing Black Blade even lighter.

He swung the Bloodwing Black Blade repeatedly, sending half-meter-long arcs of green, wind-blade-shaped blade energy tearing through the air toward Domui with fierce howls.

"Lightning Release: Lightning Shield!"

Sensing the power of Kazuhiko Uchiha's sword move, Domui's expression changed drastically, and he hastily used his strongest defensive technique.

"Oh no! Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"

"Domui, watch out! Wind Release: Wind Blade!"

The Cloud Ninja watching nearby also realized the danger Domui was in and hurriedly cast ninjutsu, trying to block Kazuhiko Uchiha's attack for him.

Unfortunately, their hand seals were slower than the flying blade energy. Before their ninjutsu could take shape, the blade energy slammed into Domui's chest.

The terrifying blade energy shredded Domui's chest in an instant, exposing stark white bone.

"Aah!"

Domui screamed and stared in disbelief at his pierced chest. Then his head tilted to one side, and he collapsed with unwillingness written all over his face.

"Domui?!"

"How is that possible?!"

"Damn you, Konoha ninja!"

Disbelief filled the Cloud Ninja's faces. They could not believe that Domui, who possessed considerable strength, had been defeated so quickly and had even lost his life here.

After the shock came anger.

For the hot-tempered Cloud Ninja, someone daring to kill their teammate on their own turf was intolerable. They drew their weapons, ready to avenge their companion.

Kazuhiko Uchiha glanced at them, utterly dismissive, and said flatly, "Come at me together. I don't want to waste my time on you."

"Kill him! Avenge Domui!"

"Everyone, attack!"

"Die, Konoha ninja!"

The Cloud Ninja cursed furiously and charged at Kazuhiko Uchiha together.

As the Cloud Ninja lunged at him from all sides, Kazuhiko Uchiha rapidly spun the Bloodwing Black Blade in his hand. Dozens of spiraling sword auras condensed from wind-aspected primal energy gradually appeared along its blade.

"Thousand-Wind Sword Aura!"

Once the spiraling sword auras had fully formed, Kazuhiko Uchiha gave a sharp cry. Dozens of small but deadly sword auras broke away from the blade and split off in five directions, shooting toward the five attacking Cloud Ninja like lightning with piercing whistles.

The Cloud Ninja clearly had not expected Kazuhiko Uchiha to unleash such an astonishingly powerful area-attack sword move. Only two reacted quickly enough to escape with the Substitution Technique.

The other three had no time to react before the sword auras carved countless tiny wounds into their bodies. Flesh and blood sprayed as the sword auras shredded them and everything around them.

The three gruesome deaths finally brought the remaining two Cloud Ninja to their senses. Realizing they were no match for Kazuhiko Uchiha, they created lightning clones to hold him back while their real bodies fled desperately.

Just as Kazuhiko Uchiha destroyed the lightning clones and prepared to pursue them, he heard ninjutsu being unleashed in the distance.

"Earth Release: Rock Pillar Prison!"

"Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!"

A squad of Stone Ninja, who had apparently been watching from a distance, suddenly appeared along the Cloud Ninja's escape route. They raised more than a dozen earthen pillars to imprison them, then sent numerous sharp stone spears jutting up from the ground below, piercing the Cloud Ninja's bodies and killing them both.

Perhaps because they had witnessed Kazuhiko Uchiha's overwhelming display of power, the Stone Ninja squad fled into the distance immediately after killing the two Cloud Ninja, not daring to have any contact with him.

Since the Stone Ninja had not attacked him, Kazuhiko Uchiha did not wipe them out. After using the Bloodwing Black Blade to recover, he continued toward the Cloudrock Platform.