"Watch out!"
Seeing hundreds of shuriken suddenly emerge from the forest, a middle-aged Jonin from the Cloud Village team immediately shouted a warning.
The Cloud Shinobi were already highly alert, and with this warning, they reacted swiftly.
Each of them either dodged or blocked, directly facing Seimei's Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique head-on.
Although Seimei had already mastered this technique to level 8 and was close to reaching **level 9 (0/0)**—the pinnacle of perfection—his attacks were still far from precise. The shuriken he launched couldn't be controlled with absolute accuracy.
As a result, the Cloud Shinobi's defensive formation remained intact despite the barrage.
Seeing this, Seimei frowned slightly.
Then, pushing off the ground, he executed multiple Body Flicker Techniques, transforming into a blur as he rapidly closed in on the Cloud Shinobi team.
Among them, Ibuishi, the most perceptive of the group, was the first to sense the approaching danger.
"Be careful! Someone's coming!" she warned.
The Jonin in the group reacted the fastest, immediately locking onto Seimei and hurling their kunai at him in unison.
The other Cloud Shinobi followed suit, launching their own kunai.
In an instant, dozens of kunai rained toward Seimei like a deadly storm, rivaling the intensity of his Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique from earlier.
However, Seimei's expression remained unchanged.
Before the kunai could reach him, he halted abruptly, forming hand seals in an instant.
Earth Style: Earth Flow Wall!
Boom!
The ground trembled as a massive earthen wall, about ten meters long and three meters high, erupted from the earth, shielding him from the incoming kunai barrage.
But he wasn't done yet.
Seizing the brief pause in the Cloud Shinobi's attack, Seimei quickly maneuvered around the earthen wall, flanking them from the side.
While sprinting, he formed hand seals again—
Fire Style: Phoenix Fire Jutsu!
In the blink of an eye, hundreds of fireballs spewed from his mouth, scattering like Phoenix seeds toward the Cloud Shinobi.
Faced with such an overwhelming barrage, dodging was far more difficult than blocking.
With no other choice, the Cloud Shinobi dispersed to evade the attack.
Seimei's three-tomoe Sharingan spun rapidly, locking onto three areas where the Cloud Shinobi were clustered.
Without hesitation, he formed another set of hand seals—
Fire Style: Dragon Flame Jutsu!
Whoosh!
A torrent of flames surged from his mouth, splitting into three massive fire dragons that roared toward the targeted areas.
One group of Cloud Shinobi reacted swiftly, countering with Water Style Jutsu to neutralize the flames.
But the other two groups weren't as lucky.
They were completely scattered by the fiery assault.
With that, the once-tight formation of the Cloud Shinobi had been thoroughly dismantled.
At that moment, the hidden Leaf Shinobi lying in ambush on both flanks revealed themselves and charged into battle.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
The battlefield erupted into chaos as blades clashed.
The Cloud Shinobi squad consisted of seventeen members—
One squad captain Four team leaders Twelve regular members
The team leaders and captain were either Jonin or Special Jonin, while the twelve members were Chunin.
On the Leaf Shinobi side, aside from a Hyuga Jonin who had yet to make an appearance—
Four team leaders and Seimei were all Jonin Twelve other members were Chunin
Seventeen versus seventeen.
Five Jonin against five Jonin.
At first glance, it seemed like an even match.
But in reality, it wasn't.
For the most part, the fights were fairly even—some differences in strength existed, but they weren't enough to decide victory immediately.
Except for Seimei's battle.
His opponent was a formidable Jonin, but compared to Seimei, the gap was substantial.
In just a dozen exchanges, the Cloud Jonin was already on the defensive.
With no other choice, he called for backup, hoping to fight Seimei two-on-one.
But this shift in tactics had consequences.
With one Cloud Jonin pulled away, the remaining Cloud Jonin had to endure greater pressure from their Leaf counterparts.
If fighting two opponents was all they had to worry about, it might have been manageable.
But even with two-on-one, Seimei was still winning.
As time passed, he gradually gained the upper hand.
Then, the moment came.
With his Sharingan's enhanced perception, he anticipated and dodged an incoming attack before it even happened.
Seizing the opening, he formed a Rasengan in his palm and slammed it into the second Cloud Jonin's chest.
Crack!
A clear bone-shattering sound echoed.
The Cloud Jonin was sent flying backward, coughing up a mouthful of blood midair.
By the time he crashed to the ground, his breathing was weak, making it clear he was out of the fight.
The first Cloud Jonin, witnessing his comrade's defeat, widened his eyes in shock.
His immediate instinct was to retreat and check on his fallen ally.
But Seimei wasn't about to let him escape.
With a swift sword strike, he unleashed Phantom Blade and Shadow Blade Techniques simultaneously.
In an instant, six sword shadows—three real, three illusions—slashed toward the Cloud Jonin from multiple angles.
The sudden unpredictable attack caught the Cloud Jonin off guard.
Unable to evade in time, he took a deep but non-fatal cut to the right side of his chest.
Seimei pressed his advantage.
Raising his left hand, he rapidly formed hand seals and unleashed—
Fire Style: Great Fireball Jutsu!
A massive flaming sphere, over two meters in diameter, formed in front of him before hurtling toward the Cloud Jonin.
The injured Cloud Jonin had tried to retreat, but he hadn't moved far enough.
With no time to block, he barely dodged as the fireball grazed his left arm, leaving a severe burn.
The fireball exploded against a nearby tree, engulfing it in flames.
Despite the pain, the Cloud Jonin attempted to retreat further.
But then—
A flash of blue light!
Seimei instantly reappeared in front of him, using Blink Blade Technique.
The Cloud Jonin's heart raced as he instinctively looked into Seimei's eyes.
The worst mistake he could've made.
Because the moment their eyes met—
His world turned red.
The last thing he saw was Seimei's blood-red Sharingan spinning ominously.
He realized the danger too late.
He tried to shut his eyes, but—
Seimei had already cast his illusion.
Genjutsu: Sharingan!
The Cloud Jonin froze in place, his mind trapped in the illusion.
The battle was already over.