When the towering Panda Ming, over four meters tall, appeared, the young man named A was taken aback.
"A summoning beast?"
Still, he didn't accuse Yuki Seisui of playing unfairly. Summoned beasts were considered part of a shinobi's strength. If someone had one and you didn't, that just meant they were stronger, it wasn't cheating.
You couldn't exactly cry "unfair" in the middle of battle just because the other guy summoned a beast.
The moment Panda Ming appeared, he turned and looked at Yuki Seisui with a hint of resentment.
Their eyes met, and for some reason, Yuki Seisui felt like Panda Ming's dark eye circles looked even darker today.
"Why is it never a fun occasion when you summon me?" Panda Ming muttered as he turned his gaze toward Ai.
"Another blondie, huh?" he said. "Though the other one, Minato, was even blonder."
White light shimmered over Panda Ming's body. Without another word, he charged in with a powerful elbow strike.
"Watch out for my Panda Elbow Slam!"
Seeing the light surrounding Panda Ming, A got excited and countered with an elbow of his own.
"Liger Bomb!"
A moment later, man and beast collided elbow to elbow. The impact sent a shockwave through the area, blowing away leaves and stones in a burst of energy.
Yuki Seisui took this moment to stretch, his body loosening.
"Iaijutsu: Swallow Reversal"
As soon as he finished speaking, his form flickered and vanished, only to reappear behind A just as the latter was still locked with Panda Ming. In an instant, several slashes appeared across A's back.
Previously, Yuki Seisui had held back his attack for fear of accidentally killing Ai. He hadn't used the full impact of his Flowing Mode.
But now, he had no such reservations, he struck with his full strength.
And it worked. The gashes on A's back were deep.
With a cry of pain, A lashed out with a kick, hoping to send Yuki Seisui flying. But Seisui had already vanished the moment his blade connected, avoiding the blow entirely.
Instead, A's kick left him open. Panda Ming took the opportunity and slammed into him, sending A flying through the air. He tumbled several times before landing squarely on his feet.
Still reeling from the searing pain in his back, A looked over at the now-visible Yuki Seisui.
"That technique is really hard to defend against!"
Yuki Seisui only smiled in response.
So what if he had Lightning Armor? That didn't make him invulnerable.
It was likely A hadn't fully mastered it yet. Once he did, breaking through his defense might not be so easy.
But that was fine. If A could improve, so could he.
After all, he still had Sage Mode up his sleeve.
He hadn't mastered it yet, hadn't even fully learned it, but his shadow clone was still training in the Panda Clan's territory. All he had to do was summon Panda Sage, and the clone could return with Sage Chakra.
Once Sage Mode was activated, Lightning Armor, strongest spear, strongest shield… none of it would matter. All would crumble like paper!
"But don't count me out yet!" A roared, erupting with an even greater surge of chakra. The lightning coursing over his body flared wildly, more violent than ever.
"Lightning Style: Liger Bomb!"
This was a powerful taijutsu technique used only in the Lightning Chakra Mode.
A secret art passed down in the Hidden Cloud Village.
With it, the user charges at high speed and delivers a devastating blow using sheer arm strength.
This was A's trump card!
When Yuki Seisui heard the name of the move, his expression turned serious. In the original story, Killer Bee used this very technique to shatter Kisame's ribs and internal organs.
"Panda Ming, be careful! This technique is incredibly powerful!"
Fortunately, A hadn't yet partnered with his tailed beast.
Otherwise, if he used the Lightning Style: Double Liger Bomb, even Panda Ming might not be able to block it.
Hearing the warning, Panda Ming's expression turned grim.
He trusted Yuki Seisui not to exaggerate.
With that in mind, he activated his full Overlord Sage Art. The white light on his body intensified, focusing around his arms and drawing inward.
His arms now gleamed like polished white jade.
With a thunderous crash, Panda Ming drove his feet into the ground and caught A's charge head-on.
A was sent flying backward, but midair, he was blindsided by a flash of steel. Yuki Seisui's blade struck his still-uninjured shoulder, carving a deep X-shaped wound across his chest.
One slash was shallow, but the other was so deep the bone was visible.
Yuki Seisui had been preparing for this ever since Panda Ming stepped in to shield him.
A's two teammates exchanged a glance and rushed forward to catch him, quickly retreating with his battered body.
Yuki Seisui made no move to pursue. Instead, he shouted after them:
"Leave your badge behind!"
"Or don't blame us for hunting you all down!"
The two who had been about to flee glanced at each other. One of them pulled a badge from his pouch and tossed it behind them without looking back as they carried A away.
A struggled the entire time, but he had been wounded front and back. Plus, the Liger Bomb had drained all of his chakra. He had no choice but to let his teammates carry him.
Far off in the distance, the Third Raikage chuckled as he looked at Sarutobi Hiruzen.
"Your Konoha sure is full of talent."
Sarutobi took a puff of his pipe and said calmly, "Of course."
"That's my grand-student, after all."
The Third Kazekage quietly noted down Yuki Seisui's name.
He had seen firsthand how Seisui had chased down Rasa and his team earlier.
Onoki, meanwhile, could barely contain his envy.
Why did Konoha have so many prodigies? In Iwagakure, they only had the advantage of numbers, but not a single individual who could carry the weight of the village.
Either way, Yuki Seisui had now caught the attention of every major village leader.
At that moment, Danzo spoke from behind Hiruzen, his voice low and calm.
"Yuki Seisui is indeed impressive. But your Hidden Cloud Village has talent too."
"Kitsuchi, Rasa, Pakura, Karura… they're all exceptional."
Though Danzo's voice was quiet, everyone heard the underlying warning.
Even the brash Raikage wasn't immune to the implication.
Hiruzen gave Danzo a subtle nod of approval.
As expected of my old comrade. He always knows what I want to say, but can't, and says it for me.
The three Kage just snorted coldly and didn't respond further.
Back in the Forest of Death, after Yuki Seisui promised to bring Panda Ming some sake next time, the beast disappeared. Seisui turned toward a nearby tree.
"You can come down now."
At first, he hadn't noticed them. But during his fight with A, he'd caught a glimpse of three people hiding in the branches of another tree.
Hearing his words, the three of them, Uchiha Fugaku and his teammates, looked at each other, then dropped down to the ground.
Fugaku stared at Yuki Seisui, his expression complex. Just earlier, he'd thought about testing Seisui's strength.
Now he realized, against this guy, he'd be a one-hit kill.
At the same time, though, he felt a bit more at ease.
Looks like Elder Setsuna's plans might not work out after all.
Yuki Seisui wasn't thinking that far ahead. He just weighed the badge in his hand and asked:
"Want to buy a badge?"
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