Before Joren could voice his inner complaints, Jie Uchiha dashed right in front of him.
"Hatake Kenjutsu: Chasing Wind!"
Jie's eyes were as cold as iron. The short sword in his hand slashed out streaks of white light. His speed was so immense that even Joren could only scramble away, struggling to parry the relentless blows.
"Wait, is there some kind of misunderstanding between us?" Under Jie's gale-like offensive, Joren had to force out that short sentence three times before he could barely finish it.
'A misunderstanding?' Jie thought. 'Starting to beg for mercy the moment things look bad?'
As expected of someone sent by Hiruzen Sarutobi. Birds of a feather flocked together; his style was exactly like the Hokage himself.
Jie turned a deaf ear to him, the Hatake Kenjutsu in his hands growing faster with every strike. Before Joren could even catch his breath to explain himself, he found Jie's offensive becoming increasingly fierce. Left with no other choice, he continued his frantic retreat.
'He really does have some skill. No wonder Hiruzen sent him,' Joren's information flashed rapidly through Jie's mind as they clashed. 'With this kind of reaction time and speed, he could even give Kakashi a run for his money.'
"In that case..." Jie muttered. "Hatake Kenjutsu: Severing Thunder!"
If Chasing Wind prioritized speed alongside unpredictable strikes, then Severing Thunder was pure velocity and lethality. Jie focused his mind, and his movements abruptly changed. The speed of his blade instantly increased by several notches.
'He can go even faster?!' Joren was caught off guard by Jie's sudden shift in tactics. Unable to dodge in time, the corner of his Anbu mask was instantly shattered by the flickering edge of the blade. A thin trail of blood slowly trickled down from the fresh wound on his face.
"This strength of yours is the real deal. No wonder you could challenge all the trainee Anbu alone and defeat every single one of them," Joren said. "But kid, you've successfully pissed me off!"
Dodging Jie's blade once more, Joren seized the opportunity to slip out of the endless barrage of attacks. Wiping the blood from his cheek, his fighting spirit was thoroughly ignited.
"Konoha-Style Kenjutsu: Dance of the Crescent Moon!"
It was the exact same Kenjutsu, but the Dance of the Crescent Moon performed by Zane and the one executed by Joren were on entirely different levels.
Two shadow clones, identical to the main body, attacked simultaneously from three different directions alongside the original. Even Jie couldn't help but furrow his brows. However, his brief moment of concern vanished in a flash, instantly replaced by surging battle intent.
'Hard to deal with?' That was exactly what Jie wanted. He needed a whetstone like this to give him a real challenge.
"Hatake Kenjutsu: Slash, Second Stage!"
A semi-circular arc of light erupted from Jie's blade. Poof! Poof! With two soft sounds, Joren's shadow clones were instantly shattered, vanishing into puffs of white smoke.
Even after his clones were destroyed, Joren remained completely unfazed. He rapidly closed the distance, viciously chopping down at Jie with his short sword.
Clang! The sharp ring of clashing steel echoed out as a shockwave rippled between the two, kicking up a sudden gust of wind.
"Secret Sword: Hazy Moon Night!"
Following Joren's soft shout, Jie suddenly saw thousands of sword shadows appear before his eyes. Phantoms mixed with reality, making it utterly impossible to tell them apart.
"A combination of Kenjutsu and Genjutsu?" Jie scoffed, his voice dripping with mockery. "A decent trick, but since you know my identity, you should understand exactly who you are facing. Who gave you the courage to show off Genjutsu in front of an Uchiha!"
"Sharingan, open!"
Jie's icy voice reached Joren's ears, instantly causing the Anbu's expression to drastically change.
'The Sharingan? He actually awakened the Sharingan?!' Joren thought, horrified. 'Impossible! He's only six years old! Even the ancestor of the Uchiha clan, Konoha's rogue ninja Madara Uchiha, didn't awaken it until he was eight! Could his talent have already surpassed Madara's?!'
Just as a violent storm of shock raged within Joren's mind, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly appeared before him.
'It's even a fully-matured three-tomoe Sharingan! A six-year-old Uchiha with the three-tomoe Sharingan?! The world is going to turn upside down!'
The moment he laid eyes on Jie's three-tomoe Sharingan, Joren instantly lost all will to fight.
There had always been an old saying passed down in the village: An elite Jonin of the Uchiha clan might not necessarily possess the three-tomoe Sharingan, but anyone who awakens the three-tomoe Sharingan is undoubtedly at the level of an elite Jonin. Even though Jie was only six years old, as long as he had those eyes, Joren knew he stood absolutely no chance against him.
He had to run. He had to escape from Jie's vicinity immediately.
"Trying to run?" Jie sneered. "Genjutsu Reflection!"
The three tomoe in Jie's Sharingan began to spin rapidly, and Joren's gaze immediately grew sluggish.
The illusionary effects of Hazy Moon Night were violently rebounded right back onto Joren. In an instant, Joren felt as though Jie's single short sword had multiplied into dozens, then hundreds, and finally thousands. An endless sea of blades came hacking down at him, one after another.
"It's over," Jie said indifferently. "If you have a next life, remember to stay far away from people like Hiruzen Sarutobi!"
With a cold expression, Jie swung his short sword heavily down toward the defenseless Anbu.
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