The Cloud ninja jonin remained crouched in place, unmoving.
His gaze was fixed intently ahead.
In front of him, the other Cloud ninja were besieging that Uchiha brat.
Even if the kid was formidable, being surrounded by a group of ninjas made it difficult for him to break through.
Moreover, the boy had no way of knowing whether this was a trap.
Even reckless Cloud ninja were experts in such tactics.
Glancing at his fallen comrade, the jonin muttered,
"Careless."
They hadn't expected such a young brat to possess jonin-level strength.
It had cost his comrade's life.
A ninja's combat prowess depended on many factors—especially for a jonin.
Raw ability accounted for only half of it. The other half came from experience, terrain, strategy, timing, and sheer luck.
The Uchiha currently being surrounded surpassed them in raw ability, though not by much.
What baffled him was how a kid so young could be this strong.
At his age, they'd still been bumbling around as genin.
The boy's combat experience wasn't lacking, and the open terrain actually worked in their favor.
That left strategy, timing, and luck as their only paths to victory.
His eyes sharpened as his hands flew through seals.
"Lightning Release: Thunder Domain—Ten Directions!"
He thrust his hands skyward, unleashing a torrent of lightning that arced into the air like scattered petals. In an instant, the entire area became a domain of crackling electricity.
The bolts didn't vanish after striking—they lingered where they fell, flickering ominously.
This was a lightning-style jutsu designed to restrict the enemy while empowering the user.
The jonin plunged into the electrified field without hesitation.
Though the searing bolts brought pain, Cloud ninja were accustomed to it after years of lightning-style training.
Kin slashed back an attacking chunin, but as he moved for the kill, the others lunged at him recklessly.
He countered, forcing them to retreat, and the chunin seized the chance to escape.
For now, he'd gained little ground.
When the sky rained lightning, Kin flipped mid-air, landing in a rare pocket free of bolts.
He was unharmed, but some of the Cloud genin weren't so lucky—their charred bodies collapsed, unable to rise.
The jonin's own technique had nearly wiped out their genin.
"Not very considerate of your reputation," Kin remarked.
Weren't these guys supposed to care about comrades?
He pivoted and blocked just as—
"Clang!"
A blade shot from the lightning, meeting his sword.
"The weak have no right to exist," the jonin growled before retreating back into the storm.
Kin, however, was left momentarily paralyzed by residual electricity.
The remaining Cloud ninja seized the opening to attack.
In this state, even Kin would struggle against so many at once.
Forcing his numb body to move, he leaped clear of two lightning strikes.
The colliding bolts dissipated harmlessly.
His crimson eyes darted rapidly.
The enemy numbers had shifted drastically:
One jonin (injured), four chunin, three genin.
His own tally? One chunin killed. The genin's losses were courtesy of their ally's reckless jutsu.
By the time he landed, the paralysis had faded.
"How ruthless, Cloud ninja."
He'd heard rumors of their survival-of-the-fittest ethos.
Turns out, they weren't exaggerated.
Two chunin closed in while the others circled warily, ready to intercept.
This formation was why they'd survived so long against him.
Any jonin without large-scale ninjutsu would be hard-pressed to escape it.
As for clones or substitutions?
The chunin were watching for those.
In the past, Kin had possessed such techniques.
But since his chakra developed an affinity, they'd become temporarily unusable.
One-on-one, he was stronger than before.
But against groups?
He was worse off.
Probably.
He broke from the encirclement, but they pursued relentlessly.
Then—
The jonin emerged from the lightning once more. This time, Kin hurled a kunai trailing an explosive tag.
"Boom!"
The blast's smoke obscured the crackling bolts.
As the chunin pressed their attack again, Kin sighed, hearing distant explosions.
White Fang's battle was equally intense.
"Dragging this out won't end well."
These chunin and genin were no match for him. Withstanding his attacks was already a struggle.
One slip-up, and he'd kill another—like that first chunin.
They couldn't keep this up forever.
But they could stall him long enough.
The real threat was the jonin.
Though Kin surpassed average jonin, any elite could kill him in a moment of carelessness.
No one reached jonin rank without being exceptional.
"I didn't want to use this, but I need to end this now."
Kin crouched low, his sword somehow already sheathed.
His breathing shifted.
"Moon Breathing."
"Fifth Form."
"Moon Spirit—Catastrophic Vortex!"
He spun violently, generating a massive vortex of slashes adorned with crescent blades.
A defensive technique.
Also a killing one.
The whirlwind caught two charging chunin, shredding them mercilessly.
The others tried to intervene but froze mid-step.
Even the trapped chunin couldn't escape their gruesome fate.
"Shadow Imitation Technique?!"
Someone recognized it—Kin's shadow had linked with theirs unnoticed.
"Shadow Imitation Technique—Modified: Binding Art!"
Kin halted, still in his sheathing stance.
Two mangled corpses hit the ground.
In that instant—
The jonin struck.
"Lightning Release: Instant Thunder Technique!"
A blue streak connected through the lingering lightning—
Right where Kin had stood.
But Kin now stood behind the immobilized ninja, his drawn blade dripping blood.
"Shunpo: Instant Kill Technique!"
Useless against moving targets, but devastating against stationary ones.
"Just you and me now."
Kin's eyes locked onto the jonin hidden within the storm.
Chakra sensing revealed his position clearly.
Sweat beaded on the jonin's brow.
The Sharingan was troublesome enough.
But the Shadow Imitation Technique? That was a Nara clan secret!
Just how many bloodlines did this Uchiha have?!
...
Read 50 advance at patreon.com/CNBLUE
(End of Chapter)