c 41 – Ninjutsu Showdown
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" (Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!)
"Secret Art – Suizuki: Ice Heart Technique!"
Golden-orange flame bullets shot forward in rapid succession under Uchiha Gen's precise chakra control. Minazuki Kiyoshi weaved through the barrage like a phantom. The flaming embers struck the surrounding trees, leaving black scorch marks and igniting dry foliage in a spreading crown of burning leaves.
Huh? Not pure offense...?
It's a cover fire technique... Gen's Sharingan narrowed as he noticed a faint, crystalline glow forming between Kiyoshi's brows an icy-white sigil in the shape of a snow heart.
He's enhancing his genjutsu resistance?
Indeed, Minazuki Kiyoshi, despite his composed demeanor, didn't dare underestimate an Uchiha in close quarters. He instantly activated the Minazuki clan's Kekkei Genkai secret art: the Ice Heart Technique a rare sensory buffer that stabilized emotional fluctuation and repelled genjutsu interference by chilling the chakra network.
With his "heart like ice," illusions even ocular genjutsu like the Sharingan's basic techniques had their effects noticeably dampened. Against high-level pupil-based genjutsu, it might not fully negate them, but it certainly reduced their clarity and duration.
Even while evaluating the technique, Gen didn't let up. His Sharingan calculated timing and angles. His arms flicked in a swift arc two kunai trailed by explosive tags, followed by three precision-thrown shuriken.
Kiyoshi twisted through the air like a monkey in the mist. The kunai detonated with thunderous bursts, but none touched his lithe body. The shuriken followed a clean line until Gen's trick activated.
Clink!—Two of the airborne shuriken collided with the third in midair, shifting its axis sharply.
Shurikenjutsu: Curved Trajectory Technique.
Gen's mastery of projectile timing caused the redirected blade to veer toward Kiyoshi's blind spot—l his neck.
Eyes widening, Kiyoshi instinctively raised his left forearm. Ting! The shuriken deflected off the reinforced bracer on his combat gear.
His shuriken control is insane… I almost got hit.
Minazuki Kiyoshi landed with a faint skid, his movement arc broken.
Gen was already on the move momentum surging forward with the killing intent of a seasoned ANBU operative.
In a split-second decision, Kiyoshi pulled a smoke bomb from his pouch and lobbed it between them. A puff of dense, choking white vapor erupted outward, momentarily masking the battlefield. Simultaneously, Kiyoshi jumped backward and began forming hand seals in midair.
"Suiton: Mizu Teppō no Jutsu!" (Water Style: Water Shot Technique!)
But Gen didn't stay put. Kiyoshi executed a dual-casting technique, splitting his chakra to maintain a second set of hand signs with shadow-trained precision.
Tiny spheres of water shimmered into existence hundreds of them floating briefly before launching like rapid-fire bullets. Each drop carried the velocity and impact of a high-caliber round.
As the smoke cleared, the attack revealed only two substituted tree stumps, shredded and perforated by water impacts.
Then
CRACK!
The earth split open below Kiyoshi. From beneath the forest floor, Uchiha Gen burst upward, Kusanagi blade in hand, slicing toward Kiyoshi's lower abdomen a vital spot, upward angled.
Pain flickered across Kiyoshi's face for just a second before his entire body melted into water.
Water Clone Explosion!
From the dispersing water mass, a hidden explosive tag lit up.
BOOM!
A blast of fire and force surged outward, scattering leaves, tearing bark, and hurling dirt in all directions.
As the smoke lifted, only Gen's clay-reinforced clone body stood its lower half crumbled into earth.
Substitution with Earth Clone…? Tch.
Meanwhile, behind a thick cedar, Minazuki Kiyoshi poked his head out cautiously, confirming Gen wasn't visible. He bit his thumb, made a quick series of seals, and slammed his hands into the ground.
"Kirigakure no Jutsu!" (Hidden Mist Technique!)
Instantly, a cold, dense mist swept across the forest, thickening rapidly into a white shroud that obscured sight beyond a meter. The silence became unnerving.
Though native Kirigakure shinobi were trained to fight within this silent killing field, they were only fully effective when they themselves produced it otherwise, chakra sensing and subtle signals were compromised.
The effect rippled outward, overtaking the wider battlefield.
Even the four other combatants nearby—Yūhi Kurenai, Baiyun Asa, and their opponents staggered and immediately disengaged from their current clashes, retreating from the thick fog.
Hyūga Tokuma, with his Byakugan, remained unaffected. He calmly stepped out of the mist's edge, scanning the terrain.
But inside the mist, vision, orientation, and even chakra suppression were all being manipulated.
Only the best would survive this showdown in silence.
With the aid of the dense, rolling white mist, Minazuki Kiyoshi carefully tracked Uchiha Gen's movements using his enhanced Water and Ice Style sensory perception. He crept forward with the silent grace of a seasoned Hunter-nin...
"Katon: Hiding in Ash and Dust Technique!" (Katon: Haisekishō no Jutsu!)
Think only you can play with mist? You cast fog and I can turn it into fire!
Uchiha Gen inhaled sharply and unleashed a wave of high-temperature flames laced with burning ash and gunpowder dust. The searing cloud surged outward in the direction where the mist first rolled in colliding with it, evaporating moisture instantly, and replacing it with a dangerous haze of flammable particles and radiant heat.
Not good!
Minazuki Kiyoshi's eyes flashed with alarm. Without hesitation, he weaved hand seals.
"Suiton: Suijinchū!" (Water Formation Pillar!)
A towering wall of water erupted upward in front of him—just in time. The ash-cloud-flames collided with the aqueous barrier with a vicious hiss, and thick clouds of white steam exploded outward. But the scorching ash circumvented the wall's edges, creeping like lava.
"Fūton: Daitoppa!" (Wind Style: Great Breakthrough!)
Just as the water wall collapsed, Kiyoshi's chest expanded then unleashed a massive gust of pressurized air. The wind howled through the battlefield, dispersing both the residual ash and the thick mist. For a brief moment, vision returned.
A ninjutsu exchange... I'm enjoying this.
Uchiha Gen's lips curled into a confident smirk. He noted again the glimmering frost sigil between Kiyoshi's brows an active sign of genjutsu resistance.
So that's how he's resisting my Sharingan. No matter—I'll just go around it.
With practiced precision, Gen sank into the earth using Doton: Moguragakure no Jutsu (Earth Style: Hiding Like a Mole Technique), silently burrowing beneath the battle-scarred ground. Circling behind Minazuki Kiyoshi, he resurfaced into the cover of lingering steam and ash.
The area was still partially shrouded. Within the murk, Gen silently formed hand seals. His left forearm shimmered Zhurong, his elemental chakra construct, began to manifest its flame-like eyes eager and twitching.
Simultaneously, Minazuki Kiyoshi his sensory finely tuned through Water and Ice release—detected the underground chakra disturbance. He spun, reacting to Gen's emergence behind him.
"Katon: Gōka Mekkyaku!" (Fire Style: Majestic Destroyer Flame!)
From Uchiha Gen's mouth, massive torrents of golden-orange flame erupted. The intense blaze immediately evaporated the surrounding mist, turning it into a white cloud of steam. Then Zhurong, cheeks puffed full of chakra, joined the attack blasting a concentrated beam of fire through the larger flame wave.
The dual flame jutsu merged, intensifying the effect. The temperature soared. The air distorted. Vegetation within a 20-meter radius was consumed. Bushes vaporized into soot. Even thick green trees combusted instantly, trunks glowing red from residual heat.
Hiss... This is beyond typical Fire Style…
Kiyoshi's breath caught in his throat. He couldn't afford to conserve chakra any longer.
"Hyōton: Tōketsu Jūheki no Jutsu!" (Ice Style: Multiple Ice Crystal Walls!)
Slamming his palms into the earth, chakra surged from Minazuki's core into the terrain. One by one, colossal ice barriers burst from the soil each tall and broad, radiating biting cold. The temperature dropped in seconds.
The first wall met the fire Ssssht! and vaporized instantly. The second one resisted slightly longer before shattering. Third. Fourth. Fifth each fell in turn, unable to withstand the onslaught.
When the final wall began cracking under pressure, Kiyoshi's eyes widened in desperation. Gritting his teeth, he forced more chakra through his already strained tenketsu. Fresh crystal formations began spreading across the weakening wall like frost refreezing a crack.
Yoho... still holding up, are we?
Gen's voice echoed lowly behind the flames.
"Zhurong, keep the pressure. Don't let up."
"Wusheng, time to move. Target his hand seals."
Zhurong flared with joy, spewing flame relentlessly.
Wusheng—Uchiha Gen's other summoning, cloaked in a shifting shadow form—crept low and silent. Drawing a black sheath from his hip, he began circling to Minazuki's right flank.
Like Sasuke's later-day setup, Gen wore the Kusanagi blade at his waist for quicker access. The long weapon, hard to maneuver in back-slung fashion, suited their fast-paced skirmish tactics better when worn traditionally.
Meanwhile, sweat dripped from Kiyoshi's temples. His hands trembled from exertion. The ice sigil still shimmered, but the chakra drain was overwhelming.
Is Gen trying to burn through my chakra? Force me to collapse under pressure?
He's baiting me into a last stand… but as the defender, I've lost initiative. I need a way to escape—but with this wall being all that stands between me and incineration…
Any lapse in concentration, and the wall would melt away. No time for elaborate seals. Only a high-level counter could save him.
If I try a one-handed jutsu while it collapses, it must be something strong enough to match S-rank Fire Style...
It was originally a B-rank technique—Haōkōka no Jutsu (Blazing Roar Fire Technique). But with Zhurong's augment, the flames surged well past A-rank, brushing into S-rank territory, rivaling Madara's battlefield incineration methods.
As Minazuki Kiyoshi hesitated
Wusheng moved.
And made the decision for him.
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