But it was useless; no matter how carefully she observed, she couldn't find any trace of the opponent.
If it were Iwagakure Anbu's Camouflage Hiding Technique, there should at least be subtle clues left in footsteps, sounds, or the surrounding environment.
But nothing was detected.
No, there was something.
The corner of her eye caught a subtle difference in a patch of snow compared to its surroundings.
It was a faint impression of someone having stepped on it.
What exquisite Shinobi footwork, to be able to eliminate footprints to such an extent.
It's there!
Instantly, the Shinobi moved, launching an attack, and a flaw was exposed at the same time; when one action transitions to the next, that fleeting gap is a fatal vulnerability.
As a brilliant flash of a blade streaked past, a masked head flew up and rolled onto the snow.
The illusionary layer covering reality dissipated, revealing moving footprints all over the ground and Chiri's figure quietly sheathing her sword in the snow.
The Kumogakure Shinobi were in an illusion, while Chiri was in reality; the segmented and overlapping layers ensured that the Kumogakure Shinobi could never discover Chiri.
In a sense, this was a dimension-reduction strike.
The killing was clean and swift, Chiri looked at the corpses strewn across the ground.
A pair of scarlet Sanba Pattern quietly revolved in her eye sockets, and after a moment, Chiri slowly closed her eyes.
Do not make eye contact with Uchiha.
This has been the consensus of everyone since the Sengoku period.
But in front of Chiri, whether one made eye contact or not, one would be completely unaware.
Her dark eyes looked at her left arm, at the biological wire tied beneath the sleeve guard on her forearm, dripping crimson.
It was this thing that could cut a person into pieces in an instant.
This cruel killing technique was jointly developed with Miki.
"So terrifying..."
The hand resting on the sword hilt couldn't stop trembling slightly.
What was terrifying?
Killing?
Or herself?
Or this world?
After taking a deep breath, Chiri turned and left.
The increasingly howling wind and snow covered the bodies on the ground.
And the wind and snow grew even heavier.
In the biting wind and snow, killing intent clashed in the air.
The two met on a mountain path, with a bottomless abyss on one side and a steep mountain wall on the other.
The hooded figure advanced with firm steps towards the four wary individuals, accompanied by the increasingly rapid snow and wind.
When they were fifty meters apart, the four Shinobi suddenly launched their attack.
A dense volley of Kunai shot towards the lone figure.
Without any superfluous movements, as the hooded figure pressed his sword and dashed, the Kunai already struck his entire body.
Amidst crisp, continuous clanging, the rapidly fired Kunai were all deflected, spinning.
His unhindered footsteps quickly closed the distance.
Seeing that the Kunai attack was ineffective, the four-person squad uniformly drew their swords.
At this moment, the distance had closed to ten meters.
A horizontal slash of a blade suddenly flashed like lightning across the air, reflecting the crescent moon above.
Like another ray of moonlight.
Secret Sword: Left Pheasant
In an instant, the blade advanced, and a cold chill gently pressed against a neck.
A Genin who couldn't react in time was instantly decapitated.
Another Genin barely managed to jump, but was even more tragically cut into two pieces.
The last Genin, positioned further back, rolled in the snow, wailing with a pair of severed legs.
The desperate cries mixed with the wind and snow and dissipated in the mountain gorge.
The only Jonin who had dodged had no time to worry about the Genin's situation.
That figure had already closed in.
"You bastard!!"
Roaring, the Jonin swung his sword, but what met him was a sky full of sword shadows.
Secret Sword: Heavenly Revolution Sword Dance
The storm of blades, mixed with wind and snow, was beautiful and dazzling.
The Jonin's figure was swept into the storm.
A moment later, the girl's figure emerged from the swirling wind and snow.
"You've got some skill."
Saying this, she looked at her opponent.
Neither Lightning Clone nor Substitution Jutsu or similar tactical deceptions could fool her eyes.
The opponent was using a Lightning Release armor.
He had endured this wave of Heavenly Revolution Sword Dance.
The Jonin protected his head with both hands, his body covered in flickering blue lightning, densely surrounding him, and his burly, strong body was covered in gashes from sword cuts, bleeding profusely.
"I thought I could take you all out in one move. If I don't hurry, I might end up last."
She quickly flicked her hand, sheathed her sword, and turned to face her opponent.
"You fellow!" The Kumogakure Shinobi looked at her gravely and said, "That's a dangerous sword technique, but can you keep up with my speed?"
"That technique is known as the fastest in the Ninja World, the Lightning Release Chakra Mode, isn't it?"
"Hmph! That's right!" The Kumogakure Shinobi said in a deep voice, "I will cut off your head."
"How pitifully weak, rumors can't be entirely trusted after all." Her hand rested on her sword, Chakra was released, and then its nature began to change.
This was a technique developed for her own combat system.
Wind began to entwine around the sword, adhering to the blade, making it thinner, sharper, and more lethal; serrated wind fangs rotated like a chain on the blade.
The shrill shriek of the wind hummed incessantly under her hand.
The common knowledge for dealing with Lightning Release is Wind Release.
"Let me show you the terror of this technique!" The moment he finished speaking, the Shinobi transformed into a bolt of lightning and charged straight at her.
And at the same time, a new sword blade storm began to swirl synchronously.
Secret Sword: Super Heavenly Revolution Sword Dance
Compared to the previous Heavenly Revolution Sword Dance, its scale was smaller, but its power was concentrated.
And an attack at extreme speed simply cannot be stopped mid-way at will; even if an anomaly is detected, it's already too late.
The bolt of lightning collided with the sword blade storm, and a mixture of blood mist and fragments, along with snow, drifted down through the air.
With a powerful sword swing to shake off the blood, she quickly sheathed her sword and looked at the fragments on the ground.
"What's the use of being fast? A sword technique has to hit someone to be effective."
Saying this, she tilted her head to look at the young Genin struggling to crawl on the ground.
His face was covered in tears and snot, and he struggled to crawl through the snow.
Should she kill him?
She gripped the sword hilt tightly.
He didn't look very old.
Just a child.
But, he was already a Shinobi.
"I've made my resolve." She slowly stepped forward, muttering softly, "The resolve to be killed."
"As a Shinobi, you are the same, aren't you?"
"At the very end, don't put on too ugly a show, young Kumogakure boy."
"Well then, I'll send you on your way."
"Sorry and goodbye."
As she approached, the boy cried and crawled more desperately, but it was no use.
Her expression was hidden beneath her mask; she drew her sword, then swung it down.
The boy stopped moving forward.
"..."
After a while, she cleanly shook the blood from her sword, sheathed it, and turned to leave.
The wind and snow howled, like crying and weeping.
And on the last battlefield, slaughter was unfolding.
An unusual white light shimmered on a short blade, and the Shinobi who was clashing with it was split in half, man and sword.
Like a hot knife cutting through a block of butter.
The edges of the cut were charred, smoking wounds; blood couldn't flow out, having already been evaporated by the high temperature.
That white Lightning Release short blade...
"Konoha White Fang!"
The knowledgeable Jonin couldn't help but call out the opponent's codename, famous among the Five Great Nations.
The encounter began and ended in an instant.
The opponent emerged from the ground using Earth Release for an ambush, instantly killing three of his subordinates in less than a second.
Astonishingly fast.
Like a bolt of lightning.
At this moment, the figure crouching on the ground, holding his sword and poised to strike, was also like a hunting dog baring its fangs.
"Die!!"
Just as he was about to make a move and form hand seals, the ground cracked, and two Ninja Dogs burst out, biting his ankles tightly.
At the same time, the lightning advanced to his eyes.
As a flash of white light passed, his head flew off, half-cooked.
From start to finish, the entire process took no more than five seconds.
Too skilled, so much so that there was no waste of time whatsoever.
White Fang crouched down, affectionately stroking the heads of the two white wolf dogs.
He took out the specially made dog food he carried and fed it to the Ninja Dogs as a reward.
"Nice."
"Good."
These were the names of the two large dogs.
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