"Get out here!"
A's voice thundered as he leapt high into the air.
"Lightning Release: Guillotine Drop!"
His axe kick came crashing down again.
BOOM!
The earth within dozens of meters shattered and split apart. From the flying debris, Jin's figure burst upward, flames trailing behind him.
"Lightning Release: Lariat!"
A pushed his Lightning Release Chakra Mode to its absolute limit. His body blurred out of sight, giving Jin no time to react. In a blink, he was already in front of him, fist roaring forward.
"Flash!"
Jin's expression sharpened. Fire exploded beneath his feet, propelling him sharply upward.
Now!
A's eyes flashed.
Mid-punch, he forcibly withdrew his fist and shifted techniques on the spot.
"Lightning Release: Chop — Thousand-Fold Dance!"
He leapt upward as well, lightning gathering into a blade along his palm.
Jin's flame-propelled movement was linear. The instant he stepped forward but before his next foothold landed, he could not alter his trajectory.
That split-second window—
That was the key to victory.
Bang!
A's lightning-wreathed hand cleaved into Jin's waist—
But there was no spray of blood.
Jin's body burst apart again—
Into flames.
"A fire clone?!"
A froze for a heartbeat, then immediately shook his head.
"No… impossible. That was the real body."
The sensation was completely different from the earlier clone.
And this time, although Jin's body had dispersed into flame, the fire did not scatter.
Instead—
It trapped A's arm inside it.
A trusted his instincts.
"Genjutsu…?"
The thought struck him like lightning.
The Uchiha clan was infamous for illusion techniques. A single glance into those crimson eyes could drag a person into a fabricated nightmare.
There was even a saying circulating in the ninja world:
If you encounter an Uchiha one-on-one—run.
Exaggerated, perhaps.
But not without reason.
In battle, eye contact was nearly unavoidable.
And in a duel, one mistake meant falling into illusion—helpless.
That was why group combat against an Uchiha offered a better chance. Teammates could disrupt each other's chakra and break illusions.
It was also one reason Jin had assigned Killer B to Minato earlier.
Though the Sharingan suppressed tailed beasts, B was a perfect jinchūriki. In essence, he was never truly alone.
From the beginning, A had avoided direct eye contact with Jin, tracking him solely by body movement.
So when had he fallen into genjutsu?
If it wasn't illusion—
Then what was this?
"It's called elementalization."
Jin's calm, almost amused voice drifted into A's ear.
A instinctively turned his head—
And met a pair of crimson eyes.
Damn—
His body stiffened.
The world shattered.
In an instant, his consciousness was dragged into a black-and-crimson void. Massive iron spikes pinned him midair, piercing through his limbs and torso, immobilizing him completely.
"Demonic Illusion: Binding Stakes."
In the real world, Jin's form reassembled from flame. He placed a hand on A's head, reinforcing the genjutsu's hold.
Capturing someone alive—
Genjutsu was still the cleanest method.
Jin had realized earlier, when A converted his downward strike into acceleration, that part of his Fire Release Chakra Mode had already been analyzed.
From the very start, Jin had no intention of killing A.
Only capturing him.
So when A believed he had deciphered Jin's abilities and relaxed even slightly—
Jin used elementalization to disrupt his judgment and seized the moment to cast genjutsu.
Elementalization—
The ability to transform one's body into a natural element to nullify attacks.
That was the true power granted by the Flame-Flame Fruit.
In its original world, Logia users were nearly untouchable without Haki. Those unable to use it couldn't even qualify as opponents.
However—
Jin had discovered something after arriving here.
Attacks infused with chakra could still damage him.
Whether due to the similarities between chakra and life force, elemental immunity was not absolute in this world.
But—
Preemptive elementalization to avoid fatal strikes?
Still possible.
Used correctly, it was enough to decide a battle.
Just like now.
Jin exhaled slowly, the three-tomoe Sharingan fading from his eyes.
He hoisted the unconscious A over his shoulder.
With several flickers of flame, he returned to Minato's position.
The battle there was already over.
Without A's speed to restrain him, Minato's abilities had been unleashed in full.
Among the Kumogakure squad, only Killer B had been able to exchange several blows with him. The rest had fallen almost instantly.
With the support of Inuzuka Gaku and Akimichi Dōtō—both elite jōnin—
Killer B hadn't even had time to fully transform before Minato sealed him.
"Jin!"
Minato Namikaze called out as Jin approached.
"I've subdued him with genjutsu for now," Jin said, dropping A to the ground. "But to be safe, seal his chakra."
Minato nodded.
"Understood."
He formed hand seals swiftly. Five tongues of chakra flame ignited across his fingertips.
"Five Elements Seal."
He pressed his palm to A's abdomen.
Five tomoe-shaped markings spread outward, sealing the flow of chakra within him.
Minato stood, wiping sweat from his brow.
"I used a large amount of chakra sealing the Eight-Tails' jinchūriki earlier. This seal will only disrupt his chakra flow—it won't sever it completely. But he won't be able to use any techniques."
"That's enough," Jin replied calmly. "We'll place full restraints once we return to the village."
A faint smile curved his lips.
"With this… the war ends."
Minato and the others felt the tension leave their shoulders.
The Third Great Ninja War had dragged on for nearly eight years.
At last—
It was coming to an end.
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