Hearing Hyuga Yu's expressionless nonsense, the brown-haired Mist ninja's eyes snapped wide as he glared at Yu.
His lips twitched, seemingly holding back ten thousand curses he desperately wanted to scream.
But in the end, he could say nothing. With a look of pure resentment, he fell backward before Yu.
Yu remained silent, mentally noting the experience: "Next time, I need to wear a mask or sunglasses. These eyes are still too conspicuous..."
He quickly pushed the thought aside.
This squad of Mist reinforcements wasn't particularly strong. Judging by their attire, they consisted of one Chunin and two Genin—a standard configuration for most squads during wartime.
Even so, intercepting and killing them had consumed over half of Yu's chakra.
Given Yu's current chakra reserves, he could utilize the Wind Style: Vacuum Blade approximately five and a half times.
At the same time, actual combat had tested the effectiveness of this technique. By using Wind Style: Vacuum Blade to increase the velocity of his arrows, most Genin—and even Chunin with poor Taijutsu—found it nearly impossible to react within a two-hundred-meter range.
With his specially-made daikyu (Japanese longbow), assuming the draw weight, draw length, bow efficiency, and arrow weight were all consistent, a normal shot reached a velocity of about 150 m/s. A standard ninja could react to that. However, after attaching the Wind Style: Vacuum Blade, the projectile speed leaped nearly threefold, reaching 450 m/s.
This broke the sound barrier, reaching the muzzle velocity of a handgun bullet.
The effect was similar to a lower-budget version of the Hozuki Clan's Hydrification Technique: Water Pistol.
The limitations were primarily due to the poor materials and low energy conversion rate of the traditional longbow. However, this was already the highest energy-storing, highest-penetration bow Yu could find in Konoha that stood a chance of being effective in ninja combat.
In a world where bows and arrows had been phased out by ninja tools, this specific bow had previously been used by the Fire Temple for ceremonial rituals.
As for modern compound bows or weapons like Kidomaru's Spider War Bow, very few people in this era knew how to craft them.
If he wanted to continue improving this technique, the bow itself would need further reinforcement.
Yu calculated his remaining chakra.
He could fire two more Wind Style: Vacuum Arrows and then engage in Taijutsu for a few minutes.
Meanwhile, the current enemies included three Chunin—skilled in mist combat and Taijutsu—and one Mist ninja possessing the Ranmaru's Keen Eye (Kekkei Genkai). [Note: Referring to the "Red Eye" or Kuryu vision.]
Based on the numbers, it would be difficult for Yu to kill four people with only two arrows.
But a ninja battle isn't a simple comparison of Ninjutsu strength. Information is the factor that truly dictates the flow of the battlefield.
With that thought, Yu raised his giant bow once more. He looked up, gazing toward the battlefield two kilometers away.
"Byakugan, activate!"
On the other side, within the thick mist permeating the deep forest, the occasional clashing of kunai rang out!
Hyuga Eiki forced back a Mist ninja with an Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm.
The longer the fight lasted, the heavier his heart became.
With his Byakugan active, the influence of the Ranmaru's Keen Eye filled his vision with dense, phantom silhouettes. There were so many targets that he had no idea which one to strike.
But if he deactivated the Byakugan, he couldn't see his hand in front of his face in the pitch-black fog, making it impossible to locate the enemy.
Eiki's original plan was to use a Shadow Clone to intercept Ao and another Jonin who were pursuing Hyuga Genko, but the plan had failed.
Furthermore, he had learned that there might be even more powerful Mist experts lying in wait ahead of the clan's young master.
His backup plan was to quickly disengage from this battlefield, abandon Hyuga Tetsu, and rush to the front line to return the Shadow Clone's remaining chakra and gathered intelligence to his original body.
The Shadow Clone Technique allows for the transfer of chakra; manually dispelling a clone lets a large portion of its chakra flow back to the original, though the effect depends on distance.
For example, Naruto's clones at Mount Myoboku couldn't send chakra back to the original body until they were Reverse-Summoned back to Konoha by Fukasaku. Only then could the clones be dispelled to seamlessly transition the original into Sage Mode.
Eiki knew very well that the situation his original body faced was far more dangerous than what this Shadow Clone was dealing with; his true self needed that half-reserve of chakra desperately.
But...
The effects of the Ranmaru's Keen Eye were too troublesome. He couldn't find an opening to escape.
Sweat beaded on Eiki's forehead as he gritted his teeth. "Damn it... do I have to dispel the clone now just to prioritize getting the intel to Master Genko?"
Not far away in the thick mist, the wielder of the Keen Eye, Redmaru, stared at the Jonin with a playful, excited glint in his eyes.
"So this is a ninja of the Hyuga Clan..."
"Even if it's just a Shadow Clone, it doesn't seem like much. Even if the real body were here, the outcome would probably be the same."
"Heh~"
He couldn't help but let out a mocking sneer.
However, in that exact moment, Redmaru's heart suddenly skipped a beat. For some unknown reason, he felt as if something extremely dangerous had locked onto him!
Ignoring his dignity, he instinctively clutched his head and rolled to the side.
Barely half a second after he moved—
"Whoosh!"
An incredibly piercing sound tore through the air!
Immediately following, an arrow wrapped in a violent, spiraling wind blade plummeted from the sky!
"BOOM!!!"
The spiral arrow struck the ground. The wind blades coiled around the shaft instantly expanded and exploded, carving eight twisted fissures into the earth—each over four meters wide and a meter deep!
Redmaru scrambled to his feet, swallowing hard. He looked around in terror.
"Was that... an arrow? Who shot that?"
However, within his 0.5-kilometer perception range, he couldn't even detect a single hair of the attacker.
Suddenly, a chill ran from the soles of Redmaru's feet to the top of his head.
"What is going on!?"
Meanwhile, on a treetop one kilometer away.
Yu squinted his Byakugan and shook his head with a hint of regret.
"It seems to be the danger-sensing ability of the Keen Eye... I can't take him out with a Vacuum Arrow alone."
However, Yu was not discouraged. He raised his bow again, staring expressionlessly at the three targets hidden in the dense fog.
Then, he braced the giant daikyu with one foot pointing toward the sky and pulled the string with both hands, drawing the bow into a full moon. The bow's frame emitted an agonizing creak.
"Snap!"
In the next instant, the arrow shot toward the heavens, tracing a sharp and swift parabola through the air!
"Whoosh!"
The arrow diving from the sky plunged into the mist, aimed directly at the position of one of the Mist ninja.
This shot was not a Wind Style: Vacuum Arrow.
It relied solely on using chakra to perform the exaggerated physical draw and a basic chakra-infusion technique to slightly coat the projectile for increased range, finished with a high-angle lobbing technique.
Inside the mist, the Mist Chunin targeted by the arrow heard the whistle of the wind. He looked up, spotted the arrow, and instinctively moved to dodge.
However, in the next instant, he slammed into a solid, towering figure.
Hyuga Eiki looked at the Mist Chunin who had effectively jumped into his arms with a look of surprise, blinking his Byakugan.
Mist Chunin: "?"
Hyuga Eiki: "!"
Such close range, such a perfect opening.
He couldn't help himself—he immediately slammed a heavy Eight Trigrams Vacuum Palm directly into the opponent's forehead!
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