Rip~
The sound of a blade slicing through flesh cut through the air.
Seimei's sword, enhanced by "Wind Release: Vacuum Blade," shattered the Stone ninja's kunai in front of him, carving a deep, bone-exposing gash across the guy's chest.
Blood gushed out instantly, staining his clothes red.
With a scream, the ninja flew backward.
Seimei stepped forward, ready to finish him off.
But just then, whoosh whoosh—two sharp sounds hit his ears. He froze mid-step, then leaped back instinctively.
A split second later, two kunai whizzed through where he'd just been standing, embedding themselves in a nearby tree.
Sizzle~~~
The explosive tags tied to the kunai ignited, flaring into massive fireballs that erupted with a bang.
Seimei raised a hand to shield himself from the shockwave.
His Byakugan flared again, locking onto every Stone ninja's position in an instant.
Then, with a flicker, he dodged a sneaky Earth Release technique one of them had tried to pull off.
In the blink of an eye, he unleashed "Flash Sword Technique" again, closing in on another Stone ninja.
Clang~
That familiar metallic clash rang out once more.
Too bad he hadn't had time to layer "Vacuum Blade" onto his sword this time—no chance to shatter the guy's kunai in one go.
So, no surprise sneak attack either.
Didn't matter, though.
He'd picked this target on purpose. The guy he'd locked onto was just a chunin.
Staring down the Stone chunin struggling to hold his long blade at bay, Seimei smirked. "Illusion Technique: Sharingan" activated in a flash.
The guy was on guard, but still too slow. Seimei's illusion snared him effortlessly.
Seizing the moment, Seimei twisted his wrist. His blade slid past the kunai and plunged straight into the chunin's chest.
"Ahh~"
The sharp pain snapped the Stone chunin out of the illusion.
Too late, though!
Shnk~
Seimei yanked his sword free.
Blood poured from the wound. The guy was done for.
Right then, a few more shuriken zipped toward him.
Without even looking, Seimei dodged with a quick sidestep.
Then, he repeated the trick, targeting another nearby Stone chunin.
As the guy blocked his strike, Seimei's left hand darted out, unleashing "Chakra Scalpel" to slice the chunin's throat in an instant.
By now, five or six Stone ninja had fallen to him—about a quarter of their group.
But that was the limit.
He was fast, sure, but these Stone ninja weren't pushovers.
He could catch them off guard and take out the weaker ones, but wiping them all out like this? Not happening.
Case in point: while he'd been busy with those two chunin, the rest had encircled him and cooked up a plan.
Watching a handful of Stone jonin charge his way, Seimei knew he couldn't let them tie him down.
Not that he was scared of them.
With his current strength, even if they pinned him in a straight fight, he could take them out. It'd just take time and a minor cost—nothing big.
Problem was, he didn't want to waste that time.
And if he wasn't mistaken, the ten Stone elites who'd been holding off the Leaf Anbu earlier were now headed this way.
If they joined the fray, he'd end up in the same mess as those four Leaf Anbu—stuck here by some of them while the real targets slipped away.
Since they'd tracked him this far, they had some trick up their sleeve. He'd jumped in to eliminate that threat—no way he'd let anyone escape.
Thoughts raced through his head as he scanned the battlefield with his Byakugan and Sharingan.
Finally, he reached into his gear pouch, pulled out three smoke bombs, and tossed them down with a bang.
Purple smoke billowed up, covering a three- or four-meter radius in seconds.
Seeing this, the Stone jonin closing in to pin him halted mid-step.
They exchanged a glance. One of them flashed through hand signs and unleashed a Wind Release technique.
Whoosh~~~
A gust swept through, clearing the smoke in no time.
But along with it, Seimei had vanished.
The Stone jonin's pupils shrank. They'd been watching him like hawks—there's no way he should've slipped through their net right under their noses.
Underground, maybe?
Their sensing skills weren't as sharp as the team's dedicated sensor, but at this range, they'd pick up something if he'd gone subsurface.
Yet—nothing.
"What the hell?"
The same thought hit them all at once.
Before they could figure it out, shouts erupted from the edge of their encirclement.
"Watch out!"
They whipped around toward the sound.
Somehow, Seimei had popped up outside the ring, cutting off a few Stone ninja trying to peel away from the fight.
Boom~
A "Rasengan" blasted out, slamming into a Stone special jonin who couldn't react in time.
Crack~
The crisp sound of breaking bones followed.
The guy's chest caved in, blood trickling from his mouth—he was down bad, barely clinging to the fight.
And that was just the start.
Using the smoke as cover, Seimei had activated his Mangekyo Sharingan and "Amaterasu" to slip out silently. He wasn't stopping at one kill.
Before the others could react, he swung his blade at the closest ninja.
It was none other than the female Stone ninja who'd first sniffed out his underground hideout.
She was just a sensor—her combat skills were nothing special.
So, when he caught her off guard with a slash, even though the earlier special jonin's warning gave her a heads-up and she blocked with a kunai, his strike still sent her flying.
Seimei was about to press the advantage and finish her off when—
Suddenly, the surrounding Stone ninja all launched attacks at him in unison.
Judging by their expressions, they cared a lot about this woman's safety.
Seimei didn't buy that they all had a crush on her. For them to react like that instinctively, her identity had to be something special.
"Wait a sec…"
A thought clicked, and his expression shifted slightly.
Keeping his cool, he dodged their attacks without a fuss.
Then, he formed hand signs and unleashed a technique—"Fire Release: Majestic Dragon Flame!"
In an instant, three blazing dragons roared from his mouth, radiating searing heat.
Under his control, they curved around the ninja in front, boxing in the female Stone ninja who'd just staggered to her feet.