As Seimei was burning with determination, he suddenly felt his chakra flow becoming smoother.
He felt he could mobilize and mold chakra a bit faster than before. Now, he could use more chakra to reinforce his body without being distracted while fighting Tobirama.
He didn't know why this was happening, but this was a good thing.
He quickly began to plan how to use this to his advantage.
Seimei was already planning to distance himself from Tobirama in exchange for another wound and resort to Ninjutsu.
But now, he could fully form a Rasengan to distract his father while exchanging blades and take advantage of that distance himself.
Why didn't he do that before?
Of course, because he couldn't.
He was already engaging in a deadly melee with his father.
Although he could use Rasengan, Tobirama would quickly sense him channeling an immense amount of chakra into his free left hand and immediately take action to disrupt it.
To use Rasengan, he must be able to channel and mold chakra fast enough to give Tobirama no room to interfere before the Ninjutsu is formed.
For this very same reason, he couldn't use other complex and powerful Ninjutsu even if he could form single-handed seals with his free hands.
As for other Ninjutsu that he could perform without hand seals…
Using the Body Flicker Technique would be foolish. Although this Ninjutsu could help him retreat for up to 100 meters, Tobirama, an experienced war veteran, would definitely sense his location of retreat.
He would immediately follow him and launch a fierce assault. Plus, this would give Tobirama the initiative to deal a decisive blow to him.
Moreover, what if Tobirama decided not to follow him and just cast a powerful Water Release Ninjutsu at his retreat location to wash him away?
It would be an instant defeat.
In an actual battlefield, such foolishness could get him killed.
Meanwhile, using the Substitution Technique was even more useless.
Tobirama would directly ignore the substitute and attack him instantly.
He was a powerful sensor. Seimei couldn't hide from his senses at all.
He just didn't have any opportunity to retreat safely.
Even though Tobirama was using the strength and speed of an average Senju clan Jonin, his decades of experience made it impossible for Seimei to retreat without exchanging a fatal blow.
But now, it is different.
My chakra is flowing more smoothly.
My Sharingan's Insight ability seems to have improved a little, too. I can now see his actions with better clarity and predict his next actions more accurately.
Although the improvement is minimal, it will come in handy.
Now, I just have to wait for the perfect opportunity to form a Rasengan quickly and disrupt him.
As for hitting him with the Rasengan? Forget about it. Even at such a close distance, he would still dodge it. His reflexes are just that insane.
All these thoughts passed through Seimei's mind in a mere couple of seconds.
All while still engaging with Tobirama in a deadly melee.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Seimei and Tobirama kept clashing their blades at lightning speed.
It was so intense that the air generated from the clash caused Seimei's snow-white hair to flutter.
However, the improvement in his Sharingan's insight ability and the boost from better chakra reinforcement helped him dodge many deadly attacks from Tobirama's kunai, kicks, and punches.
As a result, he suffered from fewer kunai slashes.
But he was still being pushed back.
After all, the difference in physical strength is still impossible to bridge, even though Tobirama was just using a fraction of his actual power.
At the very least, the improved chakra flow and reinforcement are helping me withstand the pain coming from the direct clashes better.
If not for that, a few of my bones would have already been fractured.
Father, you're really ruthless.
Seimei lampooned inwardly while dodging a kunai slash coming at his right shoulder.
He stepped back to let the kunai pass through. Then he suddenly stepped forward and slashed his Ninjato at Tobirama's right rib cage with deadly precision.
But Tobirama quickly brought his right hand forward and blocked the trajectory of Seimei's sword slash with his kunai.
CLANG!!
Yellow and red sparks danced in the air as their blades met once again.
Father and son continued to exchange deadly attacks at an insane speed, as if ghosts were dancing in the middle of the battleground.
Seimei's sudden improvement didn't escape Tobirama's sharp eyes.
He thought…
His chakra flow has improved. The ocular power of his Sharingan seemed to receive a boost, too.
He can now make his chakra flow quicker than before, and his chakra reinforcement made his movement a little faster.
This improved chakra reinforcement, coupled with Sharingan, made it easier for him to dodge many of my attacks.
Should I increase my attack speed and strength as well?
Tobirama thought for a bit and then shook his head in his mind.
No. This would be unfair.
Let's keep this up.
Let me see your resolve, my son.
I can see the determination in your eyes.
But can you stay determined until the very end?
Or will you collapse under pressure?
I will witness everything with my eyes.
With that, Tobirama's attacks became even fiercer.
Although the strength and speed of the attacks were still the same, the timing and angles of his kunai strikes and Taijutsu attacks put a lot of pressure on Seimei.
He really wanted to use Chakra Enhanced Strength to break this deadlock. But it was useless.
There was no way Tobirama would let those attacks hit.
If Tobirama had used Chakra Enhanced Strength instead, Seimei could have used the destruction caused by his father to slip away and retreat.
But clearly, Tobirama was far too smart to make such a mistake.
Damn it. Why did his attacks become even fiercer?
Although the speed of his attacks is still the same, somehow, they are getting even more difficult to defend against.
I see no gap to outmaneuver him. No room to retreat.
It is as if his Taijutsu evolved mid-fight to match the improvement of my Sharingan insight and the boost I received from my smoother chakra flow.
It seems…exchanging an injury as the price of retreat is inevitable.
The most I can do is ensure that the wound won't hinder my movements too much.
Seimei hardened his resolve and got ready to take action.
Alright!
Here goes nothing!
With a thought, Seimei charged his Ninjato with potent Lightning Release chakra.
Lightning Release Kenjutsu: Chidori Katana
Chirp~ Chirp~ Crackle~
A dense amount of lightning flowed through his blade, making a sharp chirping sound.
Although he still couldn't use this technique efficiently without molding chakra with hand signs, he could bypass the requirement for hand signs by pouring an immense amount of chakra.
This was possible because of his vast chakra reserves, Lv.6 chakra control, and Lv.6 lightning affinity.
Otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to pull it off at this stage.
Sure, it wasted a lot of chakra to activate this technique without hand signs. But he had a vast amount of chakra to spare, so why not?
The special lightning release chakra flow made his sword attacks sharp and destructive, all while activating his body cells to an extreme.
The result?
His attacks became faster. His reflexes became sharper. Just a little graze from his Chidori Katana was enough to paralyze most opponents, allowing Seimei to deal with his enemies with fatal blows.
(A/N: If you are wondering why he didn't activate Chidori Katana before, it's because he didn't have the leeway to focus on activating it. But now, since his chakra flow became smoother in the middle of the battle, he was finally able to activate it.
The amount of chakra he wasted to activate it quickly without hand signs is monumental, though.
As for why his chakra flow suddenly became smoother, I will explain this after the battle ends.)
However, Tobirama still dodged most of his attacks with ease, though he looked a bit strained.
It was normal. Tobirama was still using the strength of an average Senju Jonin, while Seimei received a sudden speed boost by activating Chidori Katana.
As for the attacks that he couldn't dodge, he used Wind Release chakra flow through his kunai to block them.
Wind weakens lightning.
Although it couldn't completely nullify the power of Chidori Katana, it would at least protect his kunai and prevent it from being sliced in half by Seimei's Lightning Release Kenjutsu.
Seimei kept slashing his Ninjato, crackling with arcs of blue lightning, with all his might.
His Sharingan spun rapidly, trying to find an opportunity to distance himself from his father with the least amount of risk.
At the next moment, the kunai and the sword met again with a loud clang.
Clang!!! Crackle!!
Wild arcs of lightning sprang out from the point of contact between the two weapons, which were quickly suppressed by Tobirama's Wind Release chakra flow.
However, the resulting shockwave and the reaction force from the impact caused both Tobirama's and Seimei's weapon-holding arms to be flung in the opposite direction.
At this moment, Seimei's Sharingan shone with an even more eerie crimson glow, as if he had found something he was desperately looking for.
Finally, an opportunity!!!
Seimei screamed in his mind as he took action.
He immediately stepped back and tried to create distance between himself and Tobirama.
But how could Tobirama let him get away?
So, he charged forward with his kunai covered in Wind Release chakra and stabbed it at Seimei's right shoulder joint.
However, Seimei, already anticipating such an attack from his father, halted his retreat and decisively stepped forward.
He slashed his sword, charged with lightning chakra of Chidori Katana in a downward motion, while gathering a massive amount of chakra in his left hand.
Clang~
The sword and the kunai clashed once again as Seimei successfully redirected the incoming kunai from injuring his shoulder.
Instead, the kunai grazed past his skin, just below the right rib cage, drawing blood from him once again.
"Aaargh"
Seimei gritted his teeth to endure the pain. But it was worth it.
The fraction of a second of breathing space he got from retreating and redirecting his father's attack gave him enough time to finally cast the technique he was preparing.
Even though Tobirama noticed chakra condensing in his left hand, he could no longer disrupt it in time.
Chakra gathered in Seimei's left hand, creating a football-sized, rapidly spiraling, glowing blue ball of dense chakra.
The air started to spin around the blue gem-like chakra ball, indicating just how fast the chakra was spinning inside this sphere of pure energy.
Even Tobirama could sense danger from this ball of chakra.
His eyes widened as he thought. If this hits me, it will be disastrous.
Seimei wasted no time and thrust his left hand holding the chakra ball toward Tobirama while roaring in his mind.
RASENGAN!!!
Seeing this dangerous, no-hand seal, instant-cast Ninjutsu coming at him, Tobirama instinctively took action to protect himself.
Water Release: Instant Water
As Tobirama cast the Ninjutsu, a wave of water was released from under his feet, which acted like a jet, carrying him away from the Rasengan's range.
With his mastery over Water Release Ninjutsu, Tobirama didn't even need hand seals to cast this instant-movement type elemental Ninjutsu.
He also left a human-sized hard log of wood as his substitute to ensure Seimei couldn't follow him immediately with his Rasengan.
And it succeeded.
In a fraction of a second, Tobirama appeared 70 meters away from his previous location.
Meanwhile, Seimei's Rasengan hit the huge wooden log, reducing it into thousands of wooden splinters with a loud bang.
BOOOOOM!!!
The wooden splinters were blasted outward by the shock wave produced by the aftermath of Rasengan's spiraling eruptive force.
As the wooden splinters rained down, it became clear that the Rasengan couldn't hit Tobirama.
But Seimei didn't mind.
He never thought his Ninjutsu could hit his father, a powerful Shinobi with insane reflexes who could give even the Uchiha elites a hard time in close combat during the Warring States Era.
His goal was never to hit Tobirama with the Rasengan. He would be foolish to think that it would work.
However, it did create the opportunity he was desperately searching for.
Now, he had successfully distanced himself from his father.
So, before Tobirama could charge forward and entangle him in close combat once again, he must seize this opportunity to unleash the power that could give even the full-fledged Jonins a hard time.
It was time for…
Shinobi Combat Tactics Part Two—Ninjutsu!
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