In the span of a single thought, the winds on the battlefield shifted violently!
Ren Uchiha snapped his head to the side, his pupils bleeding into vertical slits. Natural energy surged through his bulging veins and flooded his eyes. As his 360-degree infrared vision flared to life, he saw it—
A blurred, crimson shadow had already somersaulted into the air.
The two blades previously held in Killer Bee's armpits and elbows slid toward his neck, clamped tight by his raised shoulders. Mid-flip, Bee kicked upward, tossing the blades from his knee pits into the air, catching them perfectly with his hands.
He lunged with a massive dual-blade cleave aimed at Ren's arms. Simultaneously, the blade in his mouth and the two held by his neck and shoulders followed the twist of his head, carving three streaks of cold light toward Ren's eyes and throat!
But he wasn't done. Using a dazzling sleight of hand, Bee kicked the remaining two blades into the air; one spiraled toward Ren's midsection, while the last was driven straight toward Ren's heart by a powerful thrust of his foot.
Seven blades, seven different trajectories! It was a chaotic, lethal dance of steel!
Ren's snake-like pupils constricted. Despite his 360-degree vision and his masterful shurikenjutsu experience allowing his brain to calculate the complex math of multiple incoming attacks, his body simply could not block them all.
Ren only had one sword. He couldn't parry seven points at once!
In the original story, Sasuke (the "Sun-soaked Assistant") faced this exact dilemma. To save his eyes and heart, he had been forced to retreat, parrying only two blades while dodging three, losing all momentum and eventually getting shredded by a vibrating lightning blade. The moment Sasuke chose to back down, the duel was over.
But...
Ninjutsu is about making the impossible possible—turning a desperate situation into a miracle! To win against the Acrobat style, one must never lose the initiative!
Ren didn't have time to worry about the fact that he had only just learned the theory of this Uchiha sword style and had never actually practiced it. He had to wing it!
Unlike Sasuke, who relied on three teammates to heal him, Ren's solo "error tolerance" was higher than a whole medical squad. In the spark of a second, he formed his battle plan.
Facing the seven spinning blades, Ren stood his ground. He didn't move an inch to dodge. Instead, he twisted his hilt and thrust his blade straight at Bee's forehead!
He wasn't going to hide. Because he wasn't sure if his Sharingan could regenerate, he had to protect his eyes, but he couldn't let Bee know they were a weakness. So, he countered with a life-for-life trade: If you slice my eyes with the blade in your mouth, I'll blow your head open with my sword!
Seeing this, Old Man Chen, who had been watching with sweaty palms, screamed in terror, "Kid! You can't beat him like that! Pull back! Dodge!"
Even Killer Bee, mid-air, was momentarily startled. But quickly, seeing Ren's refusal to flinch, a look of mockery flashed behind his sunglasses. He tilted his neck to avoid the thrust, and while releasing the blade in his mouth to clear his vision, the other five blades came crashing down!
"Utterly foolish! This is the end!"
"Dance! Like a butterfly, I'll send you to the sky!"
Slash! Flash!
Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!
Five geysers of blood erupted from Ren's body!
Bee landed steadily, his hands moving in a blur as he reclaimed his blades and transitioned into a relentless follow-up. He kicked three swords into Ren's shoulders and forearms, launching the boy into the air. Then, he fired three more blades from his elbow, hand, and armpit, burying them deep in Ren's chest, abdomen, and thigh!
Finally, with his left hand, he delivered a sweeping slash that carved a massive opening from Ren's neck down to his left kidney.
Wrapped in explosive lightning, Bee prepared the final blow—a crimson Lariat.
"Eight-Tails! Sting like a bee!"
Schwing! Schwing! Schwing!
Ren was pinned in mid-air like a human pincushion, the sound of steel entering flesh echoing through the clearing.
"Gah—!"
Ren's eyes bulged as he coughed up a huge spray of blood. Yet, there wasn't a hint of fear in his gaze. He looked down at Bee, who was preparing the eighth strike, and bared his blood-stained teeth in a manic grin.
"You finished your seven swings and still want another?"
"Eight-Tails... you're too greedy!"
"Now—it's my turn!"
Seizing the gap as Bee pulled back to launch the Lariat, Ren's expression turned savage. He swung the Kusanagi Sword downward, using the inertia to spin his body! A spark of ignition flared between his teeth.
Next moment—
Four Symbols Seal: Release!
Eight Trigrams Seal: Release!
Evil Suppressing Seal: Release!
Limb Heavy Seal, Finger Carving Seal, Four Black Snakes...
RELEASE! RELEASE! RELEASE!
Long-dormant power surged through his veins!
Zero-Tails, Immortal Body, Tailed-Beast Constitution, Forbidden Art: Body Revival, Fire Style: Chakra Mode, Earth Grudge Fear, Heaven's Cursed Seal Stage 2...
EVERYTHING BURST FORTH!
Bolstered by a constitution forged from forbidden arts, his flesh reorganized and his bones regenerated instantly! The six blades embedded in his body were forcibly spat out by his healing muscles. High-intensity white-hot lines flowed from his heart, linking with the massive glob of dark chakra in his gut!
BOOM!
A miniature sun flared to life in mid-air!
Soaring within this radiance, Ren showed no fear. He twisted his hilt and struck downward with all his might! He channeled every ounce of chakra and ocular power into his blade, exactly as the Halo Dance scroll described.
A white-hot blade, brighter than the sun behind him, materialized!
This was the first form of the Uchiha Style: Halo Dance!
SWORD LEAP FLAME!
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