At the valley entrance, Uchiha Kazuhiko narrowed his eyes slightly, surveying the environment inside.
Since he began cultivating the Blood Demon Indestructible Body, his five senses had become exceptionally sharp. Upon arriving here, he had an inexplicable feeling that something was amiss.
"That's it there's no sound from small animals."
After a moment's thought, Uchiha Kazuhiko pinpointed the anomaly. A single black tomoe appeared in his eye as he scrutinized every blade of grass, flower, and stone within the valley with even greater care.
Sure enough, under the superior observational power of the Sharingan, the meticulous camouflage of six examinees was laid bare one by one.
It went without saying that these individuals had undoubtedly teamed up specifically to ambush other examinees passing through this area.
From Uchiha Kazuhiko's sensing, their auras weren't particularly strong. They were perfect for testing out the other basic forms of the Wind Spirit Sword Art to see their actual effectiveness.
Thus, Uchiha Kazuhiko pretended to be completely unaware and charged straight into the enemy's ambush zone.
Once Uchiha Kazuhiko reached the center of the ambush point, the ninjas hidden in the valley instantly leaped out, surrounding him.
A ninja with dark skin and a Cloud headband looked at Uchiha Kazuhiko with disdain, laughing arrogantly, "Hahaha, you Konoha fool, you've fallen into our trap!"
"Haha, Bemoi, didn't you see he's alone? Seems he's not just a fool, but also a coward who abandoned his teammates and ran away alone when danger came,"
another Cloud ninja wearing steel knuckle-dusters chimed in, eliciting uproarious laughter from his companions.
They all looked at Uchiha Kazuhiko, who seemed frozen in fear, with contempt.
"So it's a few little mice from the Cloud Village hiding here,"
Uchiha Kazuhiko's eyes flashed with anger as he spoke, his expression icy.
"That way, if you're buried here, it can be considered falling leaves return to their roots."
"Hmph, Konoha bastard. I was going to let you live a little longer, but now it seems unnecessary."
The knuckle-duster Cloud ninja's laughter ceased. He glared sullenly at Uchiha Kazuhiko, furious, and said to his companions,
"Don't interfere. Let me have some fun with him."
"Haha, Domui, go for it! Show this Konoha ninja the power of the Cloud!"
Domui's companions clearly had great confidence in his strength. They heeded his words, crossed their arms, and watched from the sidelines.
"Nin-Taijutsu: Violent Thunder Fist!"
Domui's body surged with Lightning Release chakra. A large amount of chakra converged on his arms, coating his knuckle-dusters.
With a crackling sound, he shot directly towards Uchiha Kazuhiko.
Stimulated by the Lightning Release chakra, Domui's figure flashed past. In an instant, he was right in front of Uchiha Kazuhiko.
This was Uchiha Kazuhiko's first time fighting a Cloud ninja who practiced nin-taijutsu.
He hadn't expected Domui's speed to be so astonishing. He slightly folded up his feeling of contempt towards Cloud ninjas and used a Replacement Technique to evade the attack.
"Whirling Wind and Scattered Clouds!"
Seeing Domui charging again, Uchiha Kazuhiko drew the Bloodwing Black Blade from his system space and used the second form of the Wind Spirit Sword Art.
Cyan wind-attribute chakra surged from Uchiha Kazuhiko's body, converging on the blade. The already light Bloodwing Black Blade became even more agile.
He swung the blade continuously. Dozens of half-meter-long cyan wind blade projectiles tore through the air, whistling menacingly as they slashed towards Domui.
"Lightning Release: Lightning Shield!"
Sensing the power of Uchiha Kazuhiko's sword technique, Domui's face changed dramatically. He hurriedly used his strongest defensive move.
"Not good! Earth Release: Earth-Style Wall!"
"Domui, careful! Wind Release: Wind Cutter!"
The watching Cloud ninja companions also realized Domui's peril. They quickly formed hand signs, attempting to block Uchiha Kazuhiko's attack for him.
Unfortunately, their hand sign speed couldn't match the flying speed of the blade projectiles. Before their ninjutsu could form, the projectiles had already struck Domui's chest fiercely.
The terrifying blade projectiles were amazingly powerful, instantly shredding Domui's chest and revealing white bone.
"Ahh!"
Domui screamed, looking incredulously at his pierced chest before his head lolled to the side, and he fell to the ground, face filled with not willing to die.
"Domui?!"
"How is this possible?!"
"Damn Konoha ninja!"
Expressions of disbelief appeared on the Cloud ninjas' faces. They couldn't believe that Domui, who possessed considerable strength, would be defeated so swiftly, even losing his life here.
After shock came rage.
Daring to kill their comrade on Cloud territory was utterly unacceptable to the short-tempered Cloud ninjas. They drew their weapons, ready to avenge their companion.
Uchiha Kazuhiko glanced at them, completely dismissive.
"Come at me together. I don't want to waste time on you."
"Kill him! Avenge Domui!"
"Everyone, attack together!"
"Die, Konoha ninja!"
The Cloud ninjas shouted angrily, charging at Uchiha Kazuhiko together.
Seeing the Cloud ninjas pouncing from all sides, Uchiha Kazuhiko swiftly spun the Bloodwing Black Blade in his hand. Dozens of spiral sword auras, condensed from wind-attribute chakra, slowly materialized above the blade.
"Thousand Wind Sword Auras!"
Once the spiral sword auras fully formed, Uchiha Kazuhiko let out a soft cry. Dozens of small yet razor-sharp sword auras detached from the blade, splitting into five different directions. With sharp whistling sounds, they shot like lightning towards the five Cloud ninjas.
The Cloud ninjas clearly hadn't anticipated Uchiha Kazuhiko could unleash such an amazing area-of-effect sword technique. Only two reacted quickly enough, using the Replacement Technique to escape unscathed.
The other three Cloud ninjas had no time to react. Their bodies were lacerated by countless tiny wounds from the sword auras, flesh flying.
They, along with everything around them, were utterly shredded by the auras.
With the three's gruesome deaths, the remaining two Cloud ninjas finally came to their senses. Realizing they were no match for Uchiha Kazuhiko, they created Lightning Clones to delay him while their main bodies fled for their lives.
Just as Uchiha Kazuhiko destroyed the Lightning Clones and prepared to give chase, the sound of ninjutsu being activated came from afar.
"Earth Release: Pillar Prison Technique!"
"Earth Release: Earth-Style Spears!"
A Rock ninja team, likely observing from a distance, suddenly appeared on the escape route of the Cloud ninjas. They created over a dozen earthen pillars, trapping the Cloud ninjas inside.
Then, numerous sharp stone spears erupted from the ground below, piercing through the Cloud ninjas' bodies and killing them both.
Perhaps having witnessed Uchiha Kazuhiko's display of power, the Rock team immediately fled into the distance after killing the two Cloud ninjas, not daring to engage with Uchiha Kazuhiko in the slightest.
Since the Rock ninjas hadn't attacked him, Uchiha Kazuhiko saw no need to pursue them relentlessly.
He used the Bloodwing Black Blade to restore his state and continued on his way towards the Cloud Rock Platform.