Chapter 18

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—

As Yuzhi's words fell, the kunai in his hand shot out swiftly.

These kunai seemed haphazardly thrown, even constantly colliding in midair due to their flight paths.

But Shou dared not be the slightest careless; he had already been tricked by Yuzhi, and he absolutely would not believe this brat would do anything meaningless.

However, he did not inwardly curse Yuzhi as 'sneaky' or the like.

A ninja ought to use his advantages and, to defeat the enemy, leave no means untried!

But inwardly he was cursing the Rock Village people who had brought him here.

He didn't even know who his opponent was, nor what the deployment was—this was practically a death sentence!

Clang, clang, clang—

After the kunai in the sky collided, they instantly formed flight trajectories, completely surrounding Shou with no blind spots.

Seeing this, Shou's face changed, and he quickly drew a ninja sword.

After all, he's a Jonin; even though he prefers using kekkei genkai power, it doesn't mean his swordsmanship is lacking.

Watching the kunai rain down from the sky, Shou danced out dazzling sword blossoms, accompanied by piercing metallic clashes, and he blocked each kunai one by one.

"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"

Yuzhi didn't stop either; he quickly formed seals with both hands, and a huge fireball roared toward Shou.

"Hmph!"

Shou gave a cold snort; while blocking the kunai, he raised his left hand, and chakra instantly gathered in his palm.

"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"

Violent chakra surged within him, and an invisible shockwave instantly expanded, striking Yuzhi's fireball.

In an instant, firelight scattered, and that fireball was destroyed by him midway.

Yet Shou felt no joy, for he sensed his weakness might have been grasped by this Uchiha brat.

There are many ways to use Explosion Release, whether long-range blasts or close-quarters explosions, entirely evolving from personal combat habits.

Shou is more inclined toward close combat, so his Explosion Release only shows its advantage at shorter range.

However, the embarrassing problem he now faces is that he can only exert his strength up close, yet his opponent is an Uchiha with Three Tomoe.

Moreover, the opponent seemed to have noticed his fighting style, deliberately keeping distance to engage, and he didn't dare get too close.

"This is truly terrible, those bastards."

For a moment, he was also somewhat caught between a rock and a hard place.

Besides cursing those who gave him no intel yet sent him here, he really seemed to have no other recourse.

Still, his mindset was okay; after all, this is their turf, and reinforcements will arrive soon.

Besides, Yuzhi is just a brat; his chakra absolutely cannot sustain this kind of fighting!

But unfortunately, his thought is clearly going to come to nothing.

Yuzhi has indeed seen his problem, and although the tactic he's using now consumes a lot, it can absolutely be sustained.

After all, he's an Uchiha; his powerful spiritual power means his chakra is not lacking, and he won't run out after just a few jutsu.

Moreover, Yuzhi has his own ideas; he can't afford to drag this out with Shou here—he must find a chance to quickly finish this guy!

For a time, both fell into frequent tugging.

While Shou was wearing down Yuzhi, he continually tried to get in close to end the fight, whereas Yuzhi kept countering with hand swords, kunai, and ninjutsu.

Roar—

Just as they were fiercely battling, suddenly a beast-like roar erupted in the forest.

At the same time, a strange chakra instantly spread throughout the forest.

Feeling this chakra, Yuzhi and Shou both involuntarily paused, then their expressions differed.

"That's... the tailed beast's chakra?"

Yuzhi murmured; even though he had never witnessed a tailed beast's power burst, this chakra seemed to seep into the heart, making one instantly understand what it was.

"A jinchuriki has come to guard the rear; this change."

Yuzhi now seemed to truly feel it; everything he had done behind enemy lines, what kind of change it had brought to the whole war!

Before this, his bodily sensation was actually not deep.

Although it forced Minato Namikaze to be late and made Kakashi face more enemies, all of this was resolved smoothly.

Afterward he also received Minato Namikaze's protection, letting him live relatively easily, without a sense of imminent danger.

But now this suddenly appearing jinchuriki told him their situation could be worse than imagined!

"Explosion Release: Landmine Fist!"

Almost the instant Yuzhi zoned out, Shou's face suddenly showed a feral grin.

He instantly charged over, his fist surrounded by a chakra aura, shooting straight at Yuzhi!

Yuzhi appeared to have a hint of dazedness, but his attention remained focused on the battle.

Indeed, one could say that this hint of dazedness was put on for Shou to see.

The jinchuriki have appeared; he must end the fight faster!

Almost the instant Shou struck, Yuzhi's body had already swiftly shifted sideways, and at the same time he reached out to grab Shou's wrist.

Shou kept his head slightly lowered, never giving Yuzhi a chance to meet his eyes, preventing Yuzhi from using the Sharingan's genjutsu.

But this also limited Shou's movements, allowing him to face everything more calmly.

The intimidation of the Sharingan is evident!

"Hmph!"

Shou is no novice; he instantly noticed Yuzhi's intent, and the chakra on his fist immediately began to swell and explode.

Seeing this guy about to directly detonate Blast Release, Yuzhi's wrist paused, then he quickly turned and kicked Shou in the stomach!

Boom—

The roar rang out in midair instantly, Shou's body flew backward; although his stomach felt intense pain, he quickly steadied himself.

"Little brat, you have no chance left!"

Warily watching Yuzhi stand still without moving, Shou suddenly spoke in a cold voice.

"Although I don't know exactly how many of you there are, but behind us, do you think you can still escape?"

"I don't know about this either, but I can be sure of one thing."

Yuzhi stared directly at Shou, noticing that this guy tilted his head again, and he couldn't help but let out a light laugh.

"You won't be able to see the final outcome!"

Just as his words fell, Yuzhi suddenly raised his hand; almost in an instant, Shou suddenly felt his body tense up involuntarily.

"This is."

Shou's face changed drastically; in the reflection of the surrounding firelight, he only now realized that his body had been entwined with fine steel wires at some point.

These steel wires are invisible to the naked eye; they were brought by the earlier kunai and hand swords.

"You"

Shou's face changed drastically; he now understood why Yuzhi, after throwing the kunai, immediately used a ninja technique to drive him away, just so he wouldn't notice these steel wires.

It can be said that he had been schemed against from the very beginning!

"You want to trap me like this? Dream on!"

Shou let out an angry roar; chakra surged wildly inside his body, and his fists also glowed with chakra.

However, Yuzhi controlled the steel wires, causing him to lift his head involuntarily.

"Don't struggle; when you face the Sharingan head-on, your fate is already sealed."

Almost instantly, the Sharingan with three tomoe appeared before his eyes, and a strange power forcibly invaded his mind.

In his consciousness, the world had already changed dramatically.

At this moment, the sun in the sky turned into a scarlet, slowly rotating Three Tomoe Sharingan!

And at this moment, Yuzhi quickly formed seals, and the blazing flames followed the steel wires, turning into a fire dragon that lunged at the dazed Shou.

When the fire dragon converged, the scorching flames instantly engulfed him!

"Ah!"

The intense pain pulled Shou out of the illusion; his shrill cry seemed to come from hell, echoing across the wilderness.

PS: The war in Grass Country is finally about to be wrapped up; it's time to go back and make preparations, and at the same time go recruit people.

Newbies beg for follows; now getting follows will decide a book's fate, and raising books is easy to kill them.

Thanks, everyone, Onz.

(End of chapter)