Under the cover of the rain curtain, that nearly nature-blended slash didn't hit Gojo Yoru.
But the moment Yoru saw a strange-looking rat drill out of the wet ground, he instantly realized something was wrong.
That kind of scene was eerie in the exact same way as Team 7's first arc in canon—seeing the snow rabbit in the forest.
Since he couldn't see the enemy, Yoru's first thought wasn't "where is he hiding," but "disrupt my chakra flow so I don't get caught in a genjutsu."
And it turned out… he really had been caught.
Luckily, Yoru reacted fast. Facing the incoming blade, with space–time chakra already circulating inside him, he didn't use intangibility to dodge—he turned into a silent afterimage and vanished.
"Fast Body Flicker…"
Tokiya's figure solidified, and he stared in slight surprise at Yoru, who had pulled more than ten meters away. He hadn't expected this kid—who seemed skilled in earth-movement—would be that fast on open ground too.
Because the rain was so loud, Tokiya didn't notice that Yoru's movement made no sound at all.
"Looks like a nasty one."
Yoru tore off his raincoat, drew the chakra blade sealed in his wristband storage scroll, and fixed Tokiya with a grave stare.
He'd felt the "scent of death" many times with Orochimaru, but none of it pressed on him like this.
A survival drill was still just a drill.
This fight was Yoru's first true life-and-death battle in this world.
And the enemy seemed to be the most disgusting kind of opponent—an illusion-type specialist. One slip, and Yoru could end up dead in his hands.
"Kid. Hand over that scroll and I'll leave you a whole corpse," Tokiya said coldly.
Yoru held the chakra blade in one hand, while his other hand stayed hidden inside the sleeve of his open-front coat. He wore a provocative smile. "If you want it, take it off my corpse."
"As you wish."
The instant the words fell, Tokiya turned into a puddle of water.
In the next second, Yoru became "Gojo Yoru 2.5"—his body cut clean in half at the waist.
Even the rain curtain seemed split open.
Yoru lowered his head, staring at his severed body, and murmured, "What a fast blade…"
Plop. The two halves turned into mud and were quickly washed away by the rain.
Then three Gojo Yorus rose from the ground not far away and charged at Tokiya.
Tokiya glanced at the three and let out a cold laugh. "Clone tricks? Save the ninja games for your next life."
He flicked out three senbon needles.
If assassins didn't have to be cautious, he wouldn't even bother "dispersing" these illusion clones—things that even Yin Release chakra couldn't truly touch.
The senbon passed through them, as expected. Tokiya was about to join his summon and start searching for Yoru's real body—
Then something hit him, and his expression changed sharply.
"No—wait!"
Staring at the three Yorus already upon him, Tokiya's eyes filled with shock. But his hands moved fast: he pulled a pellet from his tool pouch and bounced it against the ground.
Bang! Purple smoke engulfed Tokiya and the three Yorus.
Slash-slash-slash—
The toxic smoke had barely appeared before several arcs of blade light cut it apart.
Not Yoru—
Tokiya.
Tokiya shot out of the smoke, landed, and Body Flickered to the top of a rocky hill. With one hand forming seals, he stared at the three Yorus—still not dispersed—and his face darkened.
"What kind of clone is this? Not an illusion clone, not a genjutsu… and the real body isn't in there either. A special secret art? A bloodline limit?"
He turned to the summon that had popped its head up beside him. "Did he run?"
The rat shook its head.
Tokiya frowned. "Can you smell the ones down there?"
The rat shook its head again—either it couldn't smell anything, or there was no real body among them.
Yoru kept the same blank expression as his phantom clones, pretending to be nothing but a shadow—yet inside, his heart was pounding with leftover fear.
That was close. He nearly got screwed.
This guy was definitely not ordinary.
Most people, when they first noticed something was off about the phantom clones, could only respond passively.
Tokiya actually chose to throw a poison-smoke pellet.
Good thing that after Yoru developed phantom clones that couldn't be sensed for chakra, he'd gotten used to using full-body intangibility to "merge" into them.
Once he entered intangibility, even the strongest sensing couldn't detect his chakra—it would treat him as just another phantom.
Genjutsu didn't work on phantom clones—and it also didn't work on Yoru while he was fused into space.
When Yoru saw Tokiya pull out the poison pellet, he immediately heightened his guard and didn't reveal his real body to attack.
Otherwise, he would've breathed in the poison.
That summon could burrow underground and track Yoru even in a downpour—this wasn't an ordinary rat.
It definitely knew Yoru's real body hadn't left.
If Yoru attacked again with Phantom Body Flicker and Tokiya realized the real body was hiding inside the phantoms, Tokiya would surely infer Yoru had the ability to merge into space. Once that intel was exposed, this fight would get ugly.
With earth-movement and intangibility, Yoru could escape easily—but genin-level space–time chakra, spread across his whole body, could only be maintained for a few minutes at most.
The rat's tracking range was unknown. Yoru couldn't afford to burn through his strongest energy just to run—if he got caught afterward, he'd die.
It was only him and this guy here. Nagato was still young; Black Zetsu and White Zetsu—who could use the Mayfly Technique to merge with the earth—were probably protecting Nagato or monitoring Madara.
This fight shouldn't be unlucky enough to get noticed.
So—
Kill him.
Yoru made the decision instantly, and something in his eyes changed.
In the next second, right in Tokiya's line of sight, Yoru and his two phantom clones slowly sank into the ground.
"Chirp-chirp…"
Soon the rat squeaked.
Tokiya formed seals and vanished from the hilltop with a Water Body Flicker.
When he reappeared, he was back on the rain-soaked ground. Ahead, not far away, was Gojo Yoru running with his back to him.
Tokiya didn't rush in. Under the cover of the rain, he cast a genjutsu—his invisible Yin Release chakra seeping into Yoru's brain.
Yoru's steps faltered slightly… then he kept running, as if he hadn't noticed he'd been caught.
Sensing that Yoru's chakra wasn't at a level that could instantly break the illusion, Tokiya still didn't close in. Instead, he formed seals and controlled the rainwater, shaping it into a high-speed rotating water column that shot toward Yoru.
Water Release: Water Fang Bullet!
The water column hit Yoru—but instead of tearing flesh, it made a crisp pop, and the "target" turned into a puff of white smoke.
Tokiya's expression darkened again.
Just as he prepared to continue searching for Yoru's real body, a casual glance out of the corner of his eye made his face change violently.
"Goodbye."
Three Gojo Yorus had somehow already positioned themselves to Tokiya's left, right, and rear—each in an iaijutsu stance.
Grinning at him, the three Yorus turned into three black streaks, crisscrossing around Tokiya.
A few seconds later, Yoru appeared in front of Tokiya with his back turned, sheathing his blade.
Click.
As the last inch of steel slid into its sheath, Tokiya's frozen expression remained locked in place.
Then his body—like a jigsaw puzzle—split into countless lines, and chunks of flesh and blood began falling away piece by piece.
~~~
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