"Playing this big, huh!"
Karatachi Makoto, who had hidden in the dark early on, naturally took in the scene below, gasping in cold air.
He finally understood why the three Swordsmen were running so frantically.
With this lineup, they had no choice but to run!
Wicked Eye leading the way, and although Makoto didn't know the names of the other four Konoha ninjas, their appearance, attire, and the clan crests on their clothes allowed Karatachi Makoto to recognize their identities.
Nara, Akimichi, Yamanaka.
Even if this Ino-Shika-Chō trio weren't the representative Ino-Shika-Chō of the current generation, they were still Ino-Shika-Chō.
Plus an Aburame who plays with bugs.
He originally thought the pursuers would be at most a few ordinary Jonin, but with this lineup, let alone the Three Auspicious Treasures who only had half a life left, even if the Seven Ninja Swordsmen were in their prime, it would probably be a fierce battle!
"Maybe I should just retreat."
Karatachi Makoto couldn't help but mutter.
It's not that the brother isn't loyal; it's just that the enemy is too perverted.
Leaving the Gundam aside for now, what Fugaku's Mangekyō pupil technique actually is was never revealed even until his death.
Mangekyō pupil techniques are bizarre. If the Wicked Eye at this moment already has the Mangekyō, his winning chance is at most fifty percent!
Anyway, even without him, in the original plot, the Three Auspicious Treasures returned to the village safely...
Hmm?!
Just as Karatachi Makoto was hesitating whether to make a tactical retreat, a kunai cut through the air, shooting towards Makoto's throat.
"Clang!"
"Didn't expect another one hiding here!"
The incoming kunai was blocked, and a figure slightly slimmer than Karatachi Makoto had already appeared in front of him.
Round nose, short black hair.
And...
A pair of blood-red three-tomoe!
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
Four eyes met.
The moment he saw those blood-red three-tomoe, Karatachi Makoto's expression became dazed for an instant.
But it was only for an instant. He regained clarity, and his figure instantly disappeared from the spot.
"What?!"
Uchiha Shisui, who had launched the sneak attack, was shaken to the core.
He had extreme confidence in his Genjutsu. An ordinary Jonin caught off guard and making eye contact would inevitably fall into it.
Even some ninjas skilled in Genjutsu couldn't withstand his Sharingan Genjutsu.
But this Mist ninja in front of him, who didn't look very strong, actually only dazed for a moment before regaining clarity.
How is this possible?!
"Don't think about running!"
Uchiha Shisui used the Body Flicker Technique to follow closely.
The two fled and chased, covering several miles in just a moment.
"Troublesome guy."
Karatachi Makoto frowned.
He was just paying attention to Wicked Eye Fugaku down below earlier and didn't expect a smaller one lurking nearby.
Chakra exploded under Karatachi Makoto's feet, increasing his speed a notch, weaving through the forest in an attempt to open up the distance.
However, Shisui followed like a shadow, those three-tomoe locking onto him tightly. The short sword in his hand danced, bringing up sharp cold lights, every move aiming for Karatachi Makoto's vital points.
Although young, his speed was extremely fast, and he had already made quite a name for himself in this war. Known to the world as [Shisui of the Body Flicker], the reputation of [Uchiha's Strongest Genius of the Current Generation] was rising rapidly.
"Clang! Clang! Clang!"
Kunai and short sword collided constantly during high-speed movement, sparking a series of fire stars.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Shisui's figure swayed, easily dodging the water stream.
The Sharingan accurately captured the Chakra flow on Karatachi Makoto.
"This level of feint is useless against me."
Shisui shouted low, increasing his speed again, instantly closing the distance, his short sword thrusting straight at Karatachi Makoto's back heart.
Karatachi Makoto seemed to have eyes on his back. Just as the attack was about to land, his body tilted slightly, dodging the fatal attack just in time, but he could only use the momentum to land.
"Your movements are very strange."
Uchiha Shisui steadied himself, the three-tomoe rotating slowly, staring tightly at Karatachi Makoto.
"Seemingly panicked, but every time you can block or avoid at the most critical moment. Are you deliberately hiding your strength, Mist ninja!"
"Don't joke around, little brother."
Karatachi Makoto patted the dust off his body.
"I'm just a logistics personnel responsible for support. Look at my skills; they're very weak. That Water Release just now was my ultimate trump card."
"Let's make a deal. You let me go, and I promise to return to the Land of Water immediately and never come to the Land of Fire again, okay?"
"Do you think I'll believe that?"
Shisui was expressionless, gripping his short sword: "Besides, letting an enemy leave is a betrayal to my comrades, so... surrender!"
As his voice fell, Shisui's figure disappeared again.
The cold light was biting, and the short sword in his hand was already striking towards Karatachi Makoto's neck in an instant.
"Clang!"
"Do you really have to fight me?"
The kunai blocked the short sword again. Karatachi Makoto looked at Uchiha Shisui right in front of him, his brows sinking slightly.
"You should turn around and chase the Swordsmen with your clan leader right now. That would be a great achievement. Why pick a fight with a passerby A like me?"
"Eliminating potential threats is also a ninja's duty."
Shisui's eyes didn't waver in the slightest. The three-tomoe rotated slowly, staring closely at the unfamiliar face in front of him that had never appeared in intelligence reports.
"Moreover, you are definitely not ordinary logistics personnel."
Whether it was the speed, the ability to break Genjutsu instantly, or the Taijutsu contest displayed at this moment, all indicated that this guy was an experienced ninja.
Since he had run into such a person, naturally, he couldn't let him stay!
Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!
Shisui's figure suddenly blurred. Scorching Fire Attribute Chakra coated the short sword, turning into several sharp flame slashes, sealing off all of Karatachi Makoto's dodging space.
However, just as the attack was about to hit his body, Karatachi Makoto's figure suddenly became blurry, as if merging into the wind. His speed abruptly increased several times over, leaving a faint afterimage on the spot.
"What?!"
"Whoosh!"
Shisui's pupils constricted violently.
Karatachi Makoto's figure dragged several elusive afterimages through the forest. The speed was so fast it almost exceeded the limits of vision.
A piercing sound of breaking air rang out. Karatachi Makoto's original position was left with only a trace of rapidly sliced airflow.
And this time, he wasn't retreating; he was actively closing in on Shisui!
"So fast!"
Alarm bells rang in Shisui's heart. The three-tomoe Sharingan rotated frantically, barely capturing that blurred figure.
Subconsciously, he slashed the flame-coated short sword horizontally, attempting to attack instead of defend.
But...
Missed!
"Clang!"
A sound of metal clashing, far crisper and louder than before, exploded!
Uchiha Shisui made a fist with his right hand and held it against his chest. The ninja emblem on the back of his hand pressed firmly against the kunai. The powerful impact numbed his wrist, but fortunately, he blocked it.
"So heavy! So fast!"
Shisui was awe-struck.
The speed that suddenly erupted just now was definitely not a normal Body Flicker Technique.
If not for the Sharingan's amazing dynamic vision, which could predict through muscle movement trajectories, and the fact that he himself was extremely skilled in the Body Flicker Technique, he probably really couldn't have blocked this strike!
What shocked Shisui even more was the timing and angle the opponent chose.
He had just used the [Halo Dance]; his old strength was spent, and new strength had not yet generated. Extremely minute gaps appeared in both his defense and movement.
The opponent seized this fleeting gap and launched a thunderous strike!
This combat intuition and grasp of timing...
"You guy, who exactly are you!"