Outside the barrier, everyone watched as Uchiha Haruki unleashed one powerful jutsu after another against the barrier—but to no avail. Reactions varied.
Uchiha Tekka and the rest of the Konoha ninja were tense, their faces grim with worry. Meanwhile, the Mist ninja—Yukikaze and the others—couldn't hide their joy.
In their eyes, there was even a trace of relief.
Finally, as the white mist once again filled the barrier and blocked their vision, Yukikaze and the other Mist Jonin who had previously fought Haruki withdrew their gazes and all turned to face Uchiha Tekka's group.
No words were needed. Yukikaze raised his hand and coldly ordered, "Kill them."
Since Tekka and the others had paused during their retreat, the Mist ninjas had already caught up to them. Escaping the battle now would be difficult.
A brutal clash was inevitable.
But just as the Mist ninja were about to strike, the barrier behind them suddenly dissolved.
"What's going on!?"
Yukikaze and the other Mist Jonin turned in shock toward the four ANBU maintaining the formation.
And that's when they saw it—Haruki snapping one of the ANBU's necks.
Stunned by the sudden appearance of Haruki outside the barrier, everyone froze. Their minds went blank—they had no idea how he had escaped.
Haruki didn't waste the opportunity. Forming hand seals rapidly, he gathered a massive amount of chakra, took a deep breath, and unleashed:
Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!
Luckily, because of the recent delay, most of the Mist forces had gathered in front of him—perfect for the attack.
The next moment, a howling gale erupted from behind them. The Mist ninja were caught completely off guard by the surprise rear assault.
The formation immediately fell into chaos.
Seeing this, Yukikaze stabilized himself by gathering chakra under his feet and pressing close to the sea surface. He shouted:
"Don't panic! Everyone, rally to me!"
While speaking, he raised his hands and performed seals at an unprecedented speed:
Ice Style: Ice Wall Technique!
He pressed his hands onto the sea, channeling large amounts of ice chakra into the water.
Moments later, a massive ice wall, around seven to eight meters high and dozens of meters long, rose from the sea—blocking the incoming gale.
Only then did the Mist forces regain their footing.
But trouble never comes alone.
Just as Haruki's wind jutsu had disrupted the Mist formation, Uchiha Tekka and the others launched a surprise counterattack.
This wasn't Haruki's command—it was their own initiative.
Although it disobeyed Haruki's previous order, even he had to admit: they chose the perfect moment.
With all the Mist ninjas focused on blocking Haruki's wind jutsu, no one was paying attention to the supposedly retreating Konoha shinobi.
Caught completely by surprise, many Mist ninja fell immediately.
Still, if Haruki didn't keep the chaos going, once the Jonin among the Mist recovered, Tekka's group would be doomed.
Luckily, Haruki had no intention of abandoning them.
Staring at the wall of ice ahead, Haruki didn't hesitate. He immediately stopped channeling Wind Style: Great Breakthrough.
In a flash, he moved close to the ice wall.
Then came that piercing screech again—
Zzzzzzz—
A massive, spinning shuriken of chakra appeared in Haruki's left palm.
It was the S-Rank forbidden jutsu—Wind Style: Rasenshuriken!
Yes, using it repeatedly damaged his body and chakra pathways.
Even though his Rasenshuriken was already at level 5, just one step from level 6, he still wasn't immune to its strain.
But with his level 8 Medical Palm Technique and 18 points in Constitution fueling his incredible regeneration, this level of use was still manageable.
These thoughts flashed through his mind as he slammed the Rasenshuriken directly against the ice wall.
An explosion of glittering ice shards followed, like powdered glass—he blew a massive hole straight through.
On the other side of the breach, a stunned Mist chunin froze, eyes wide.
Haruki unsheathed his blade and, without hesitation, slashed through the man's throat.
"Ah—!"
Another Mist ninja beside him finally reacted and lunged with a kunai.
But Haruki met his eyes.
The ninja immediately froze in place, caught in an illusion.
Whoosh—!
A shuriken pierced the air, slamming into the man's throat.
Splurt—!
Blood sprayed. The man's breathing halted. As suffocation and pain snapped him out of the genjutsu, it was already too late.
Clutching his throat, he stumbled backward before collapsing into the water with a splash.
Haruki glanced around. Seeing more and more enemies converging on his position, he felt a surge of battle lust.
So instead of retreating, he charged forward—blade in hand.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
Incoming kunai and shuriken were all knocked aside with swift, precise slashes.
He charged into the crowd. Activating Genjutsu: Sharingan, he froze one enemy and cut them down with a single stroke.
But more surrounded him.
Haruki pushed his three-tomoe Sharingan to its limit. Reading their movements, he entered a state of total combat immersion.
To him, every attack—its speed, angle, and type—flashed through his mind.
His brain rapidly analyzed, categorized, and prioritized, deciding whether to dodge, parry, or strike back.
In this moment, he was like a cold, calculating machine, devoid of emotion—running entirely on instinct and precision.
This robotic efficiency allowed him to move fluidly among the Mist shinobi—untouchable, unstoppable, terrifying.
Finally, the Mist Jonin specialized in auditory genjutsu could watch no longer.
He unleashed a wide-range, indiscriminate genjutsu, dropping dozens of combatants—including allies and enemies alike.
Haruki was affected too—but only staggered slightly.
He didn't fall.
Regaining his balance, Haruki thought back to the state he'd just entered and muttered:
"If this were a xianxia or fantasy world, that would've counted as an epiphany."
But in the shinobi world, it was simply him using his Sharingan to its fullest—pushing his emotions aside and achieving maximum combat effectiveness.
Though he had gained a decent amount of proficiency with his Illusion Sword Technique and Instant Sword Technique, it wasn't anything transcendent.
With effort, he could enter that state again. No "enlightenment" necessary.
Still, he couldn't help but feel annoyed.
After all, that blunt genjutsu attack had interrupted him. He would've earned far more technique proficiency had he continued.
And to Haruki, proficiency meant time and energy.
So to reclaim that lost time and energy… the culprit had to die.
With that thought, a layer of blue light enveloped Haruki, merging his body with his blade.
In the next moment, he activated:
Instant Sword Technique.
His body became a blur—a streak of motion slicing through the battlefield, bypassing the still-dazed ninja caught in genjutsu.
And in an instant, he was face-to-face with the Mist Jonin who had dared to interfere.