The ninja moved with ruthless agility, diving down along the branches as his Wind Release ninjutsu turned into countless tiny wind blades that hurtled toward Uchiha Zongyan.
"You three, hold formation. I'll finish him as quickly as I can."
After giving that careful reminder, Zongyan reached up and drew the Cursed Blade: Murasame from his waist.
He planted both feet firmly on the ground. His Sharingan made the incoming attacks seem to move in slow motion as he faced the veteran Jonin's lethal assault head-on.
Wind blades filled the air. Relying on his supreme swordsmanship, Zongyan parried them, his blade flashing as he swiftly intercepted them all.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
While steadily holding off his opponent's assault with swordsmanship alone, Zongyan rapidly formed hand seals with one hand.
"Fire Release: Flame Bullet!"
A terrifying fireball tore through the air, heading straight for his opponent's face.
The Jonin's pupils abruptly contracted, and he dodged at speed.
As the man dodged, Zongyan darted forward, sending Murasame straight toward him.
The distance closed in an instant. With nowhere to dodge and no time to form hand seals, the Jonin could only hastily raise an arm across his body, trying to block the blade with it and protect his vital points.
Slash-
The sharp cursed blade easily sliced through flesh, opening a long, narrow cut across his arm. Warm blood gushed out.
Zongyan withdrew his blade and retreated, steadily putting distance between them as a glint of understanding passed through his eyes.
It worked.
With Murasame's curse in effect, the man was already trapped, with absolutely no chance of survival.
Ignoring the Jonin, who was already beyond saving, Zongyan turned and immediately raced toward his teammates' battlefield to reinforce them.
At that moment, Takuma and the other two were being relentlessly harried by several rogue Genin, trapped in a perilous situation and on the brink of disaster.
Seeing this, the rogue Jonin behind him could hardly let him leave. He quickly formed hand seals, intending to intercept him with ninjutsu.
But he had only gotten halfway through the seals,
Zongyan turned and darted toward the other ninja, intending to rescue his three teammates.
The Jonin fighting him was hardly willing to allow it and tried to intercept him with ninjutsu.
He rapidly formed hand seals, only to suddenly cough up a mouthful of blood.
At the wound on his arm, dark red curse markings instantly erupted from the cut, racing along his blood vessels toward his heart.
"No... the blade is poisoned!"
The man's pupils abruptly contracted. All his muscles instantly lost their strength, and before he could even scream, he toppled stiffly to the ground.
On the other side of the battlefield, Zongyan had already charged into the enemies harrying his teammates.
He wove through the forest as swiftly as the wind. Murasame flashed again and again, its cold gleam rising and falling in clean, decisive strokes.
Every flash of his blade landed precisely on the Genin's bodies. He did not seek to strike their vital points; as long as the cursed blade drew blood, they were certain to die.
In just a few breaths, every rogue ninja relentlessly harrying the team was wounded. They fell one after another as the curse's poison ate away at them, completely ending the mortal danger facing the three.
Zongyan put away his blade and stood still, turning toward the three, whose breathing was ragged and whose bodies were a disheveled mess. "Rest here, recover your chakra, and keep watch for any remaining threats nearby."
After giving the three their instructions, he wasted no more time, turning to race toward the main battlefield deep in the forest to provide reinforcements.
Smoke rose everywhere at the center of the battlefield. Four Jonin faced off in pairs, clearly dividing the fighting into two separate areas.
Ninjutsu crisscrossed the sky. Wind and fire chakra exploded with thunderous roars, and shock waves swept through the entire stretch of forest as broken timber and shattered rocks flew endlessly.
Uchiha Kiyoshi and Uchiha Makoto each fought an opponent, keeping the two elite enemy Jonin firmly occupied in a stalemate where neither side could overcome the other.
Zongyan narrowed his eyes and accelerated again, charging straight into Teacher Makoto's battlefield and instantly establishing an overwhelming two-on-one advantage.
Caught between attacks from the front and rear, the Jonin's expression changed drastically, his nerves tightening. He hurriedly raised his hands to form seals, hoping to block both attackers at once and break free.
But with Uchiha Makoto's unrelenting Fire Release pinning him down on one side and Zongyan's lightning-fast, fierce advance on the other, the two assaults connected seamlessly, leaving him no time to defend himself fully.
Seizing the instant when his opponent was locked into forming hand seals and his defenses were wide open, Zongyan suddenly surged forward. Murasame's cold gleam flashed through the air, precisely slipping through every gap in his opponent's defenses and striking his body hard.
The moment the wound appeared, dark red curse markings instantly spread across his flesh. The incurable poison invaded his flesh and blood in an instant, and the Jonin's struggles abruptly ceased.
Watching his opponent crash to the ground, Uchiha Makoto froze briefly before exclaiming in amazement, "One slash? This poison... it's far too potent!"
"It's the blade's effect. It kills as soon as it draws blood," Zongyan explained simply. "Come on. Teacher Kiyoshi is under more pressure."
Neither had a moment to spare. They immediately turned and raced without pause toward Uchiha Kiyoshi's battlefield to reinforce him.
Elsewhere, Uchiha Kiyoshi's battle remained deadlocked.
The Jonin facing him had been fighting him for a long time without managing to break free of his restraint and was already restless and irritable.
The instant he caught sight of his two companions falling one after another nearby, dying without a sound, every hair on his body stood on end, and he thought of retreating immediately.
He immediately abandoned every attack and poured all his chakra into his feet, preparing to leave the battlefield at once and flee for his life.
But the moment he thought of retreating, Uchiha Kiyoshi saw through him. He abruptly shifted sideways, firmly cutting off every escape route.
"Trying to leave?" Uchiha Kiyoshi's gaze was cold and fierce. His attacks intensified again, his ruthless swordsmanship shutting down every opening to dodge or escape as he spoke with a trace of icy mockery,
"Since you're here, you're staying."
"You really think you can keep me here?!"
Forced into an impossible position and consumed by anxiety, the rogue Jonin could only forcibly muster his chakra and launch a desperate counterattack, trying to escape.
Just then, Zongyan and Uchiha Makoto arrived at full speed, both charging into the battlefield.
Uchiha Makoto shouted loudly, "Your partners are gone. Now it's your turn to die!"
In an instant, the battle completely reversed.
What had been a one-on-one stalemate became an overwhelming encirclement by three powerful Uchiha.
Uchiha Kiyoshi pressed him relentlessly at close range, restricting his movements; Uchiha Makoto suppressed him with unceasing Fire Release; and finally, Zongyan darted in with ghostlike speed.
Attacked from front and rear, the Jonin could not cover every angle. He was utterly unable to withstand their combined assault, and his defenses were riddled with openings.
"Impossible... how can you be so strong!" The Jonin's pupils trembled as he stared at Uchiha Zongyan, his face filled with disbelief.
Seizing the fatal opening left by his opponent's panic, Zongyan flashed forward, abruptly closing in. The Cursed Blade: Murasame gleamed coldly in his hand as he cleanly inflicted a shallow cut, landing precisely on his opponent's shoulder.
Once again, it was only a shallow line of blood, yet the man stiffened before crashing rigidly to the ground, his breathing extinguished.
In an instant, the last enemy fell, and the entire forest battlefield became completely quiet.
Uchiha Makoto and Uchiha Kiyoshi reined in their chakra at the same time, their tense bodies relaxing slightly. Almost in unison, their gazes locked firmly onto the plain, unadorned Ninja Blade in Zongyan's hand.
They had seen it clearly: anyone who received even a shallow, bleeding cut from that blade would instantly stiffen and drop dead.
Uchiha Makoto merely wore a shocked expression, his pupils slightly contracted and his mind filled with disbelief.
But Uchiha Kiyoshi's reaction beside him was entirely different.
As a powerful member of the Uchiha Clan who specialized in swordsmanship and had spent his life in the company of weapons, he had a particular fondness for famous swords and divine weapons.
His feet shifted slightly, and he involuntarily edged half a step closer, leaning forward a little. His gaze traveled inch by inch over the blade's patterns, utterly focused.
It killed as soon as it drew blood, leaving not even enough time to take an antidote.
Zongyan took in his entranced expression and understood that this teacher of his was a true lover of blades.
So he volunteered a promise. "Since you love weapons so much, Teacher Kiyoshi, if I find a divine weapon of the same quality in the future, I'll give you one."
At those words, Uchiha Kiyoshi paused slightly and composed his expression, deeply moved.
Zongyan said no more. With a slight turn of his wrist, he neatly sheathed his blade, then turned and walked toward the teammates he had left resting where they were.
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