Surrounded on all sides, Uchiha Yuan twisted and shifted, his body blurring into overlapping afterimages. For a fleeting instant, it looked as though he had grown three heads and six arms.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
His fists roared like dragons, his legs flashed like lightning.
Under a storm of heavy impacts, the surrounding ANBU were blasted backward in unison. More than a dozen figures were sent flying in chaotic arcs.
Then—
A piercing, shrill cry tore through the air.
It sounded like a thousand birds screaming at once.
Yuan's gaze sharpened. A blazing sphere of lightning reflected in his eyes.
A figure streaked forward, its path erratic and unpredictable. In the blink of an eye, it closed the distance—
The searing lightning in its hand thrust forward like a spear.
Sorry.
It was Kakashi.
The crackling mass in his palm was his self-created A-rank technique—Chidori.
His Sharingan locked onto Yuan's shoulder.
Piercing there would subdue him while minimizing lasting damage.
But just as Chidori was about to strike—
Kakashi's charge halted abruptly.
His pupils contracted.
A pale hand had seized his wrist mid-thrust.
Yuan's hand.
So fast!
Chidori was a high-speed thrusting technique. Without the Sharingan's predictive vision, it was uncontrollable at such velocity.
And yet—
A moment ago, his Sharingan hadn't even seen Yuan's movement.
That meant one thing.
Yuan's reaction speed had surpassed the Sharingan's tracking threshold.
"So this is the Chidori you created, senpai." Yuan's voice was calm. "A terrifying technique. I had to take it seriously."
Their eyes met.
A faint chill entered Yuan's gaze.
"You strike without hesitation. Do you truly intend to kill me?"
Kakashi's tone remained cool.
"We are carrying out orders."
Yuan held his gaze for a long moment. Then he smiled.
"Then let me see what you're capable of."
He released Kakashi's wrist and flipped backward, narrowly evading a blade descending from behind.
Yellow Flash had appeared, sword cleaving downward.
Yuan blurred behind him and tapped a finger against his back.
A burst of force exploded outward from Yellow Flash's chest, tearing a hole through his vest.
He froze where he stood, unable to move.
Two more ANBU slashed in—
Yuan slipped between them effortlessly.
The birds' shriek intensified.
Lightning flashed again.
Chidori streaked forward a second time.
This time, Yuan answered with a straight punch.
Boom!
Lightning scattered in a violent burst.
Kakashi staggered back, breathing heavily. His lightning-clad hand had collided directly with Yuan's fist.
The Chidori had been dispersed by brute force.
He punched through it…
Kakashi felt a chill.
A warning surged in his instincts—
He leapt back just as a violent gale sliced past his face.
When he steadied himself, faint cracking sounds echoed from his mask. Fine fractures spread across its surface.
It had only been the wind pressure from Yuan's sweeping kick.
More ANBU rushed in.
Yuan weaved lightly through their combined assault, then answered with a volley of punches.
One by one, the attackers were blasted backward, their uniforms shredded by the explosive force.
Kakashi exhaled quietly upon sensing they still lived.
Yuan leapt forward now, shifting from defense to offense.
Two ANBU charged—
Thud! Thud!
They hit the ground instantly, felled by blade-like palm strikes.
Kakashi appeared beside Yellow Flash.
"What happened?"
Yellow Flash's voice was strained. "I can't move… He struck some kind of vital point. Like the Hyūga's Gentle Fist."
Kakashi's eye flickered.
"Pressure-point severing. I've heard of it."
"Can you undo it?"
Kakashi shook his head. "Not without a Hyūga."
Above, Danzō's expression darkened further.
Useless… all of them.
Yuan moved like a tiger rampaging through a pack of wolves. No one could stop him.
Elsewhere, a series of sharp metallic cracks rang out—
A katana shattered into pieces.
The ANBU wearing a crow mask, skilled in swordsmanship, had briefly restrained Yuan with rapid slashes—
But even that blade could not endure.
After kicking the crow-masked ANBU away, Yuan faced another barrage of kunai.
He pivoted sharply, flickering like a phantom.
Then—
An ANBU suddenly appeared above him.
In one hand, the shinobi controlled a violently spinning, spear-shaped vortex of water—
The S-rank Water Release technique—
Hard Vortex Water Blade.
The spiraling torrent roared downward like a drill, aimed straight at Yuan.
The battlefield held its breath.
Lightning had failed.
Steel had shattered.
Now—
An S-rank water technique descended from above.
And Uchiha Yuan stood directly beneath it.
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