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"Stop!"
The young man, who had suddenly appeared on the other side of the rooftop, roared.
However, Sawara Kiri seemed completely unaffected, gazing at him calmly with his azure eyes, a faint, mocking smile on his face.
Then, he abruptly took a step towards him.
Noticing this, Yagura Karatachi immediately realized something, his brows furrowed deeply.
At the same time, he immediately released the Sealing Technique hand signs and dashed towards him.
A matte black Kunai was held reversed in his seemingly tender hand, silently arcing a fatal path through the air.
"Clang!"
Kunai clashed, and a piercing metallic scraping sound echoed in their ears.
During the standoff, Yagura Karatachi looked into his azure eyes.
Sawara Kiri's Kunai, held at his neck, flicked upward, his body rotating half a circle with the momentum, his horizontal elbow strike aiming directly for Yagura Karatachi's temple, while his left foot's tip touched the ground, a powerful knee strike poised to launch.
Clearly, every move was aimed at taking the opponent's life, showing no intention of holding back just because he was a fellow Village Ninja.
However, there was a reason why the seemingly short Yagura Karatachi could become the Hidden Mist's top young Jonin at such a young age.
The moment the heavy, axe-like elbow strike swept past, his steps advanced instead of retreating, his free left hand hooking in diagonally, his thumb precisely poking into the numb nerve point along the elbow.
"Thud!"
At the moment of impact, Sawara Kiri's entire arm instantly lost all sensation.
At the same time, Yagura Karatachi's left thumb joint also made a crisp 'snap' sound as it dislocated.
Immediately after, the flying knee strike was anticipated by him; the small leg that had entered between his two legs suddenly tensed and exerted force.
As his body tilted sideways, his seemingly short body pressed against the wind-whipping knee strike, diving entirely into Sawara Kiri's embrace, his right pinky finger hooking the Kunai to rotate half a circle, thrusting upward with force, aiming directly for the carotid artery in the neck.
At this critical juncture, Sawara Kiri remained calm and composed, enduring the intense pain in his arm, which felt as if it had been pierced by a steel rod, and swung his left shoulder with the momentum.
That numb arm immediately whipped like a lash, and the tips of his joined fingers even made a crisp 'snap' sound as they cut through the air.
The Kunai held in his other hand was reversed and thrust diagonally, using the advantage of his arm span to point directly at Yagura Karatachi's heart.
A killing move against a killing move!
"Clang—!"
At the very last moment, Yagura Karatachi's Kunai finally spun back, clashing with his own horizontally across his chest.
A fierce burst of sparks erupted in the night.
The entangled figures in the combat zone suddenly split apart, each retreating several meters.
"Truly terrifying, Ren-kun."
Yagura Karatachi expressionlessly reset his thumb joint, his voice devoid of any emotion: "Although the Village had anticipated your strength increase, to reach this level truly exceeded my expectations."
"Not only did you break the Sealing Technique on your own, but even your Taijutsu has grown to this level?"
"The one who should be afraid is clearly me."
Sawara Kiri still wore his smiling expression, as he forcibly rubbed the bruised skin of his elbow, he spoke in a neutral tone: "Lord Yagura actually attacked one of the Village's most important intelligence personnel—I wonder if this is your personal action, or the will of the Village?"
"If it's the latter, this subordinate's loyalty to the Will of Water might start to waver."
"A Ninja who refuses Village missions and breaks Village seals, is he even worthy of discussing loyalty with me?"
With that, Yagura Karatachi's gaze grew even colder, and he raised two fingers.
Suddenly, his body erupted with a violent Chakra reaction, rapidly spreading in all directions.
The street under the moonlight suddenly became covered in a thin layer of mist.
Like the dark buds wrapped in dew within piles of petals during a late spring breeze, it carried a touch of chill.
It was the signature opening Ninjutsu of the Hidden Mist Ninja.
"Water Release: Hidden Mist Technique."
Although the Village's order was merely to give Ren-kun a small lesson, to make him truly realize the Village's necessity to him.
However, after that exchange, Yagura Karatachi had already realized.
Even he, if he didn't go all out, would likely find it difficult to completely suppress the opponent.
If that's the case...
"Then, let's make a big fuss."
Yagura Karatachi murmured to himself, his short figure completely disappearing into the dense mist.
However, just before he vanished into the deep mist.
He glimpsed Sawara Kiri already joining his two fingers, staring straight at him.
Under the faint moonlight.
Those azure eyes shone brilliantly.
"Shatter..."
Almost at the instant this sound rang out, the deep white, dense mist completely engulfed his vision.
"Whoosh—"
Suddenly, silent footsteps trod across the ground, stirring a swirling breeze in the thickening mist, yet his figure was almost imperceptible.
Yagura Karatachi's figure changed rapidly, his matte black Kunai piercing through the mist, soundlessly.
The mist, entirely composed of Chakra, acted as the Ninjutsu user's 'eyes' in this visually impenetrable environment, illuminating every corner for them and being unilaterally transparent to them.
At the same time, combined with extremely fast and silent special footwork.
This was the true essence of the Hidden Mist's Silent Killing Technique.
In an instant, Yagura Karatachi's figure appeared behind Sawara Kiri, his Kunai suddenly thrusting out from his blind spot.
"Clang, clang!"
Two consecutive strikes, sparks flying.
However, Sawara Kiri's movements were noticeably half a beat slower than before.
By the time he turned and swung his blade, Yagura Karatachi's figure had reappeared in another blind spot, unhurriedly delivering another strike.
This time, Sawara Kiri seemed to sense it in advance, suddenly plunging the Kunai in his hand down.
Then, that figure transformed into a scattered wisp of mist.
Water Release: Mist Clone.
Sawara Kiri's eyes instantly widened.
Almost in the same instant, a strike, nearly twice as fast as before, suddenly thrust out from behind him.
"Pfft!"
Blood splattered, dark red flying.
The intense stinging pain made Sawara Kiri immediately abandon his search, leaping several meters in the opposite direction of the slash, his hand signs forming rapidly.
Monkey—Rooster—Dog—Ram!
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!"
Blazing high temperatures spewed forth, and along with the flames, condensed water droplets also burned.
The intense Fire Release Ninjutsu steamed the water vapor; the Chakra mist swirling around him was also stirred and churned by the rising air currents generated by this temperature difference, clearing a wide area around him and illuminating the entire rooftop with a roar.
In this brief instant, Yagura Karatachi's figure, originally hidden deep within the mist, was suddenly illuminated.
Sawara Kiri, whose stamina was rapidly draining with his blood, instantly brightened, a substantial burst of Chakra flames erupting beneath his feet, his body skimming the ground, rapidly rushing towards Yagura Karatachi, while simultaneously throwing several Shuriken to block the opponent's escape route.
"Swish, swish, swish—"
The spinning Shuriken one by one embedded into the rooftop ground, all of them dodged by the opponent.
Yagura Karatachi's footsteps shifted, rapidly approaching him from the direction the Shuriken had come, roaring:
"Coral Palm!"
A palm wrapped in a violent Chakra reaction suddenly thrust out.
Sawara Kiri, seeing the unfavorable situation, instinctively raised his Kunai to block.
"Squeak!"
The next moment, the palm that struck the Kunai's blade tip was not damaged in the slightest; instead, layers of pale pink, vein-like coral tubes formed on the steel surface of the Kunai, continuously extending towards his hand.
Sawara Kiri decisively flung away the Kunai.
Yagura Karatachi's next palm immediately followed like a persistent disease, aiming directly for his heart, his foot stepping forward.
However, a smile of successful deception appeared on Sawara Kiri's face.
His body suddenly leaned backward.
At the same time, his other palm pulled back forcefully.
Yagura Karatachi's expression instantly changed.
Almost simultaneously, fine matte steel wires, connected to those earlier Shuriken at some unknown point, were suddenly yanked from the ground, wrapping around Yagura Karatachi's short figure without warning, instantly bundling him into a ball.
Sawara Kiri bit down on a steel wire, his hands rapidly forming hand signs.
Snake—Monkey—Ram.
"Lightning Release: Ground Flash!"
Suddenly, a piercing, dense crackle of lightning resounded across the entire rooftop, and dazzling lightning bolts shot straight along the steel wires towards Yagura Karatachi, who was entangled in the center of the wires, erupting in a burst of bright light.
The short body suddenly trembled violently as if in an epileptic fit, and sharp wails echoed ceaselessly.
"Huff, huff..."
Sawara Kiri panted heavily, watching the scene before him, his voice growing deeper: "Do you see?"
"This is the gap between us."
However, almost at the same moment his voice fell.
"Splash—"
The figure struck by the steel wires and Lightning Release Ninjutsu unexpectedly transformed into a falling puddle of water, splashing onto the ground.
Sawara Kiri's expression froze.
Next moment.
"Click."
Yagura Karatachi's figure appeared behind him without warning.
A reversed Kunai lay silently across his neck.
The cold touch of the blade slowly crept up his skin, causing Sawara Kiri's entire body to freeze.
On Yagura Karatachi's somewhat baby-faced cheeks, the corners of his mouth instinctively curled up, his voice cold with a hint of mockery:
"You just said..."
"What was the gap between you and me?"
Just as Yagura Karatachi sneered and mocked.
The entire rooftop, just as it was when the two first met.
Dirty, quiet, dust-covered.
Yet, there was no trace of Ninjutsu.
Sawara Kiri still stood quietly at the edge of the rooftop, his hands resting on the railing, holding a scroll he had obtained at some unknown time.
He bent down, a rather bored expression on his face, looking down at the dark alley below.
At this moment, Yagura Karatachi was seen with a cold sneer on his face.
His beautiful, jewel-like purple pupils, however, were completely lifeless.
In his hands, he held a half-overturned trash can, sternly lecturing it with a deep voice, and as he spoke, his Kunai fiercely pressed against the trash can lid, leaving a deep scratch.
The night remained quiet, with only the distant chirping of cicadas occasionally heard.
Everything happened silently.
Without alarming anyone.
Sawara Kiri rested one hand on his cheek, gazing at the somewhat comical, earnest solo performance below, his gaze a little lost in thought.
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