Shimura Hidetree's surging chakra raged like a colossal cutting machine, lifting debris and splintered wood from the gambling den's floor before pulverizing them into dust midair.
Yet Aozora emerged from the storm untouched, not even a strand of hair disturbed.
Shimura Hidetree sneered at the sight. His hands became blurs of motion, continuously hurling shurikens.
Swish! Swish! Swish!——
Clang! Clang! Swish!——
In less than two seconds, dozens of shurikens had flown forth. They collided mid-air, altering their trajectories and instantly weaving into a massive metallic net descending upon Aozora.
Though Shimura Hidetree had become a rogue ninja, deep inside he still considered himself a Leaf shinobi, looking down on those outside the Five Great Ninja Villages.
A bounty hunter? How narrow-sighted and limited in power could such a person possibly be?
Out of contempt for Aozora, he intended to teach him a lesson using his own specialty—ninja tool throwing.
Aozora indeed looked surprised.
Wasn't this flashy ninja tool technique exactly what his beloved Uchiha clan enjoyed playing around with?
If Shimura Hidetree used this elaborate throwing style against other shinobi, it might very well succeed.
But attempting it against an actual Uchiha? That was nothing but showing off in front of a master.
As an Uchiha himself, Aozora had studied these family-prized [Ninja Tool Throwing] techniques and learned these ornate throwing methods.
After learning them, however, he quickly discarded them.
He discovered that while [Ninja Tool Throwing] was described as precise and elegant, it was actually showy and ineffective.
Moreover, the core of Uchiha's tool application relied heavily on the Sharingan's powerful dynamic vision. Although one could learn without the Sharingan, the techniques were difficult to master and full of flaws.
Shimura Hidetree was precisely an example of someone lacking the Sharingan yet stubbornly trying to emulate these techniques. The metallic net he wove now seemed impenetrable, blocking out sun and sky, seemingly leaving no room for evasion.
Yet due to minute imperfections in his force application, the flying shurikens arrived at slightly different times and uneven densities.
Such flaws might escape others during high-speed combat, but for an Uchiha, they were extremely deadly.
Under his sunglasses, his Sharingan's Three Tomoe spun rapidly. Spotting the opening, Aozora hurled four shurikens forward with his left hand.
Then he shifted his body and rushed forward alongside the projectiles.
Ding! Ding! Clang! Clang!
Instantly, the shurikens he threw struck the front row of the metal net, altering their directions—meeting one with two, countering two with four...
Ding! Ding! Clang! Clang!——
The dense net of shurikens before Aozora tore open like paper, creating a wide gap that allowed Aozora to dart right through.
"What?! How did he break it? How could he break it?"
His long-practiced [Ninja Tool Ultimate Art] shattered in an instant, Shimura Hidetree completely lost his composure, eyes filled with shock.
Nonetheless, as a seasoned Jonin, he recovered within moments. Quickly drawing more shurikens from his ninja tool pouch, he launched them to suppress Aozora.
Years of muscle memory kept his aim sharp, though the pressure cost him a bit of power.
Aozora shook his head slightly, gripping a kunai backward in his right hand, easily deflecting the incoming shurikens, then continuing his advance.
At this distance, Aozora's throwing knives could seriously wound or even kill Shimura Hidetree.
But his throwing techniques had already gained some fame, so he decided not to use them so as not to reveal his techniques or identity.
Comparatively speaking, for kunai to effectively damage a Jonin opponent, he needed to move closer.
Kunai needed some distance to pick up speed after being thrown.
Too close, and they'd lack both speed and punch.
Too far, and their path would be obvious, making them easy to spot.
Aozora had previously tested and determined forty meters as the most suitable distance.
Soon, Aozora reached his ideal position.
Meanwhile, Hidetree had already suppressed his shock and instantly threw two kunai forward.
As Hidetree released his kunai, Aozora simultaneously launched one of his own.
The three kunai crossed midair, missing each other by inches, and kept flying toward their targets.
In the face of such sharp kunai, even a normal ninja would instinctively evade.
But Aozora acted differently—he began making Hand Seals.
Actually, these seals were just a feint.
More importantly, beneath his sunglasses, the Three Tomoe within his Sharingan spun rapidly, pulling Shimura Hidetree instantly into an illusionary world.
Both kunai aimed directly at the hearts of their targets.
The genjutsu controlled both Hidetree and seemingly also affected Aozora himself.
No one expected the first desperate clash to be launched by a bounty hunter.
As Aozora fought desperately against his enemy, Shisui concluded his testing phase.
His expression turned stern. He slammed his long sword into the ground and quickly formed a new sequence of hand seals.
Instantly afterward, wave upon wave of illusions emerged from his body. Unlike the earlier projections, these were only faint human outlines with blurred faces—nowhere near as real as before. The only clearly defined part about them was their blood-red eyes.
These illusory figures didn't hesitate—they rushed forward, drawing phantom blades from his main sword toward Danzo.
Within just several breaths worth of time, dozens of ghost-like replicas charged at Danzo. Looking back at the original spot where Shisui stood, even that image transformed into yet another sword-wielding illusion.
"Genjutsu? Body Flicker Technique? Bunshin?"
Danzo observed Shisui's ninjutsu display with narrowed eyes. Urgently, he shut his left eye and relied solely on his right—the Sharingan with its Three Tomoe rotating visibly inside his socket.
Inside Danzo's Sharingan, the tomoe shifted erratically sideways and vertically.
He barely made out Shisui weaving through the illusions, but his figure flickered too quickly even for the Sharingan to track.
Before identifying the real Shisui among the illusions, all the clones converged rapidly upon him.
[Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!]
An enormous gust surged toward the dozens of illusions. Danzo didn't expect this jutsu to actually harm Shisui—but hoped it might stall him or reveal weaknesses in the phantoms.
Yet he was disappointed—tangible winds could never disperse intangible shadows.
One after another, the looming figures surrounded Danzo. Blade by blade, glowing arcs slashed toward him.
Danzo understood these strikes contained both truth and falsehood; their reality depended entirely on whether they made contact with him.
He had no desire to test whether Shisui's blade remained sharp. Instantly, his right arm swelled.
[Wood Release: Frenzy Spear Tree!]
Danzo dropped onto one knee, burying his right hand into the earth. Immediately, a huge tree erupted from the ground, blocking the incoming attacks.
At the same time, the ground suddenly exploded, and hundreds upon thousands of vine-like tendrils shot upward like arrows, piercing through the endless sea of phantoms.
This vine attack had an enormous range, engulfing every last phantom. Fast as Shisui's Body Flicker Technique was, he couldn't dodge the vines' relentless assault.
Hiss! Boom!
The vines struck solid bodies—only for those bodies to dissolve into smoke.
Realizing something was wrong, Danzo immediately turned around.
Sure enough, a phantom had appeared behind him.
In the next moment, the phantom solidified, and a long blade fell like a silver moon.
Danzo's pupils contracted. His eyes burned with cruelty. He raised his right arm to block while throwing a punch straight at Shisui's chest with his left.
So it's a death match? Hmph! I've faced worse than death before!
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