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Chapter 11: Eruption, Cherry Blossom Impact!
Ronin had been wary of Uvogin's reaction. When he heard the commotion below, he assumed Uvogin was heading for the cockpit to force a landing.
He didn't expect the man to stop halfway.
In that instant, Ronin knew he was about to be exposed.
When Uvogin's En swept over him, it confirmed his fears. Ronin immediately abandoned his hiding spot and sprinted toward the top of the airship.
Chakra adhered to the soles of his feet. After a brief stumble, he found his footing and ran along the smooth, curved hull of the airship as if it were flat ground.
The screech of tearing metal erupted behind him. It was Uvogin.
The brute had ripped through the airship's outer plating with his bare hands. Popping his head out, he instantly spotted the fleeing Ronin.
Without a shred of hesitation, Uvogin launched himself out of the corridor and onto the hull.
Ronin noted Uvogin's movement, a cold sneer forming on his lips.
He hadn't blown out the windows just to escape to the exterior; he had done it to force the airship to land.
Even if he couldn't beat Uvogin, a grounded ship gave him options—room to maneuver, places to hide.
Staying in the sky meant being trapped in a confined space, relentlessly hunted by a monster. That was a dead end.
Now that Uvogin was outside, he was a target, yes, but Uvogin couldn't match his mobility on the sheer, slippery surface of the hull.
And with Uvogin outside, no one was left to stop the pilots from bringing the ship down.
Running full tilt, Ronin formed hand seals. He spun around mid-stride, inhaled sharply, and expelled a volley of Chakra-infused fire at Uvogin.
Fire Style: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!
Unlike the massive, singular blast of the Fireball Jutsu, the Phoenix Flower technique unleashed a barrage of smaller fireballs, controlled individually like the seeds of a balsam flower. It was perfect for harassment and multi-target attacks.
Since discovering he could use C-Rank Ninjutsu, Ronin had focused heavily on mastering this and the Fireball Jutsu.
His control was precise. The fireballs curved through the air, converging on Uvogin from multiple angles in a pincer attack.
Uvogin, hanging onto the vertical hull, didn't have Ronin's freedom of movement.
To stay attached to the smooth metal, he had to dig his fingers into the plating.
Watching the fireballs scream toward him, his only option was to flare his aura, wrapping himself in a massive amount of Nen to tank the damage.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Every single fireball slammed into Uvogin.
They didn't knock him off the airship, but they made his climb significantly more miserable.
The intense heat burned through his Nen defenses, leaving scorch marks on his skin.
However, Ronin could clearly see that these superficial burns were negligible to someone like Uvogin.
Yet, the fact that the Phoenix Flower Jutsu could pierce Uvogin's defense at all confirmed Ronin's suspicion: this version of Uvogin was far weaker than the one who would fight Kurapika three years later.
I might actually have a chance to kill him here!
Once the thought took root, it was impossible to suppress.
There was no hatred in Ronin's eyes, only icy resolve.
Like Uvogin, Ronin didn't like leaving debts unpaid. He hated overnight grudges.
If Uvogin hadn't chased him, Ronin would have put revenge on the back burner. But Uvogin's relentless pursuit was an immediate, existential threat.
Since the opportunity had presented itself, Ronin wasn't going to let it slide.
Enraged by the fire attacks, Uvogin sensed the killing intent radiating from above. It only fueled his fury.
A rookie? Killing me? With what?!
Uvogin could feel that Ronin was stronger than during their encounter in the forest.
But he didn't believe for a second that this boy was his match.
He was confident that the moment he got within range, he would crush Ronin like a bug.
Seeing the limited damage of his Ninjutsu, Ronin stopped running away. Instead, he turned and accelerated, charging straight down the hull toward Uvogin.
He sprinted perpendicular to the ground, defying physics in a way that made the angry Uvogin grin.
Good.
Ronin didn't know the weather, but the terrain was definitely in his favor.
This was the best place to strike.
Whether he knocked Uvogin off the ship or just exploited his limited mobility, the advantage was his.
Uvogin didn't know how Ronin was standing on the vertical surface.
But he knew his own mobility was compromised. Does he think he can challenge me just because I'm stuck to the wall? He's looking down on me!
Hanging on the side of the ship, Uvogin suddenly raised a leg and stomped it deep into the metal hull with a deafening bang.
With his foot anchored, he flexed his ankle and used his immense leg strength to stand upright, perpendicular to the hull, just like Ronin.
At that moment, Ronin arrived.
In terms of raw physical stats, Ronin was no match for Uvogin. But he held a trump card.
The Two-Tomoe Sharingan.
Every micro-movement of Uvogin's muscles, every shift in his aura, was laid bare before Ronin's eyes.
As he closed in, Uvogin threw a punch. Ronin simply dipped his head, evading the blow with ease.
Simultaneously, Ronin drove his own fist toward Uvogin's chest.
In that split second, his eyes caught the rapid flow of Nen rushing toward Uvogin's chest. It was the advanced technique Ryu (Flow).
Uvogin had shifted from Ren to the combat-ready state of Ken (Fortify).
Ken is the combination of Ten and Ren, keeping a high volume of aura around the body for defense.
Ryu allows a user in Ken to instantly redistribute that aura, concentrating it in specific body parts for attack or defense—essentially a localized Ko.
Normally, Ken provides 50% defense compared to a focused Ko. But with Ryu, a master can instantly raise that to 70% or 80% at the point of impact.
To break through the defense of someone using Ken, one either needed more raw aura or superior mastery of Ryu to outmaneuver the opponent's aura distribution.
Ronin's mastery of Nen couldn't compare to Uvogin's.
But Ronin, in his Sharingan state, wasn't just using Nen. He was using Chakra.
And by instantly concentrating Chakra into his fist, he could unleash a devastating C-Rank Taijutsu technique.
A move derived from Tsunade's monstrous strength and refined by Sakura Haruno—the Cherry Blossom Impact!
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