Chapter 17: Before these eyes, you have nowhere to hide! (Please follow for updates)

Suddenly attacked, it indeed left Yuzhi and his two companions unable to react for a moment.

But the three of them were qualified ninjas; almost at the moment the explosion spread, they all leapt and scattered in different directions.

Merely affected by the blast's shockwave, they were forced to scatter; in an instant, the distance between them widened.

Continuous explosions filled the surroundings with mist; to avoid the blasts, Yuzhi had to dodge back and forth in the forest.

"Damn it, ambushed."

Yuzhi cursed silently; even though he had anticipated Rock Village's move, he didn't expect it to be so swift.

Moreover, he noticed something: the explosions just now were all triggered by explosive tags, which shows that

"Rock Village already knows where we plan to attack!"

Nobody is a fool, especially those who manage the village and command the battlefield.

One can imagine that the situation on Minato Namikaze's side probably won't go smoothly either.

But how that side goes has nothing to do with Yuzhi; at this moment his eyes turned scarlet, with three tomoe slowly spinning in his eyes.

Through the smoke, he could see a figure quickly approaching him; soon that figure stood before him!

"I never expected it to be an Uchiha."

The visitor, seeing Yuzhi's eyes, instantly turned his head slightly aside, absolutely avoiding eye contact.

"You are..." Yuzhi frowned slightly.

That slightly thin figure before him gave him a faint sense of familiarity.

But just who this guy was, he really couldn't recall right away.

"I am Shou of the Rock Village Explosion Unit."

This thin fellow had a cold expression, yet his conduct was very proper; still, his name made Yuzhi momentarily dazed.

Yuzhi now recalled who this guy was: he was the one skilled in Explosion Release, who in the future would be reanimated by Impure World Reincarnation together with Yaoshi Dou and Ye Cang.

"So it's you." Yuzhi gave a slight nod.

"How, surprising?" Shou's expression remained indifferent: "You managed to get here and cause such a commotion—that's what really surprised us."

"Actually we should thank Cloud Village." Yuzhi knew battle was unavoidable, and he didn't mind adjusting his mindset: "If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have gotten such a good opportunity."

As expected, Yuzhi's remark instantly made the already somewhat gloomy Shou's face turn even darker.

"What is your purpose, and how many of you are there?" Suppressing his anger, Shou spoke indifferently.

"You've already guessed it, otherwise you wouldn't have set an ambush here; as for how many"

Yuzhi shook his head; he noticed movement coming from afar as well.

Without a doubt, Akai and the others also encountered enemies, each falling into battle.

"At a time like this, you still have the mind to worry about others?"

Shou seemed to notice Yuzhi was distracted, and he scoffed as he spoke.

"Forget it, looks like you won't talk; no matter how many of you there are, you'll meet in the Pure Land."

"Before you say that, have you considered one thing?"

Yuzhi withdrew his gaze, yet at this moment he also showed a hint of disdain.

"Do you really have the courage to face me head-on, or are you just afraid of my Sharingan?"

As his words fell, the ground beneath Yuzhi's feet instantly cracked, and a figure shot up from the ground at high speed.

His speed was extreme; through the Sharingan, Yuzhi could still see chakra flowing on his fist!

Clearly, this is Explosion Release.

Although ambushed, Yuzhi felt no panic; he could clearly see Shou's attack trajectory.

At the instant the fist was about to strike him, his body shifted slightly, appearing extraordinarily fluid and graceful, easily dodging Shou's punch.

And taking advantage of Shou's missed strike leaving his body stiff, he quickly produced a kunai.

The kunai flew straight at Shou's chest, sinking into his torso in the blink of an eye!

But Yuzhi raised an eyebrow slightly, for he clearly saw Shou had already fled.

What remained in place was, just like before, nothing but earth clones.

"Is this how Rock Village operates?"

Yuzhi spoke with undisguised mockery, though inside he remained especially wary.

Once Rock Village personnel go underground, they are naturally hard to detect; even with Yuzhi's Sharingan, it's difficult to lock onto them immediately.

Moreover, this Shou exemplifies a standard ninja mindset: if his strike misses, he will immediately use his advantages to hide.

This is completely different from his appearance after being resurrected by Impure World Reincarnation, when he acted wildly unrestrained.

"You're really a turtle; it seems your Tsuchikage ought to live a long life, after all, are you all born under the sign of the turtle?"

Seeing Shou still showing no movement, Yuzhi, while searching for his position, also didn't forget to keep running his mouth.

Unfortunately, he overestimated his taunting ability.

Perhaps his chicken-soup-feeding ability could barely match Naruto's, but his taunting skill is obviously inferior to Sasuke's.

Maybe just having Sasuke stand here saying nothing would already make people unable to resist wanting to come beat him up.

"Since you have no desire to fight, we might as well not waste each other's time; I'll take my leave first."

Yuzhi thought, then spoke offhandedly; afterward he really walked straight forward.

However, just as he took a step, he instantly sensed movement behind him.

He quickly turned around, his gaze instantly locking onto the position behind him, the three tomoe spinning rapidly.

His face twitched slightly, then immediately broke into a smile.

"Got you!"

He rushed forward quickly, one hand behind his back, while the other hand drove a kunai hard into the ground!

The Kunai instantly stabbed into the ground, but Yuzhi's expression changed slightly.

Because the ground did not show blood as he had imagined, and the feel of the kunai after it stabbed into the ground was completely different!

"I've caught you, little devil of the Uchiha Clan!"

Almost at that moment, the ground behind Yuzhi suddenly split open, and Shou's figure truly appeared at this instant.

He fiercely threw a punch with his right hand, that fist surrounded by a chakra aura smashing straight at Yuzhi's body.

He had endured for so long, waiting for this very moment!

However, when he saw Yuzhi standing still without moving, as if he had no thought of dodging at all.

He suddenly felt a hint of alertness, but he did not retract his punch; instead, he slightly moderated the force.

Boom—

At the instant the fist struck Yuzhi's body, a violent explosion erupted on him.

However, this explosion did not shatter his body; instead, it instantly melted into surging electric current!

"Lightning Clone, when?"

Shou's face looked grim, but fortunately he had previously eased some of his force, giving him a chance.

He immediately kicked off the ground hard, using the ground and the massive explosion from his punch, and before the electric current could spread to his body, he quickly returned to his original position.

Not long after he had just left, a huge fireball pierced the smoke and slammed heavily onto the ground.

The surrounding grass was quickly ignited, the fire began to spread continuously, and amidst the shadow of the flames, Yuzhi's figure silently appeared.

"Truly foolish and ignorant."

Yuzhi had several kunai appear in his hand; he calmly looked at Shou hiding not far away, a hint of mockery on his face.

Those scarlet eyes, in the firelight, appeared especially cold.

"Indeed, hiding underground can indeed to some extent evade the insight of the Sharingan.

"But don't forget, as long as you make any move, you cannot escape the lock of these eyes.

"Before these eyes, you have nowhere to hide!"

(End of chapter)